Thank you for reading and for all your words of encouragement, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.
"And then he asked if I wanted to go take a ride on the Ferris wheel", Elsa says and she sounds so bewildered that Emma can't help but laugh.
"And you told him no?"
"I wanted to say no, but that man must've put some kind of a whammy on me because fifteen minutes later I was sitting on a tiny seat next to him and the wind was blowing through my hair while he described the sights for me", Elsa says and Emma can clearly hear the smile in her voice.
"So the date went well?"
"Extremely well. If you told me a week ago that I would be kissing Will Scarlet on top of the Ferris Wheel I'd have called you crazy."
"I'm glad you gave him another chance", Emma says and sends Killian a text to let him know that the date went well.
"That bouquet was truly amazing", Elsa murmurs, her voice dreamier than Emma had ever heard it before.
"Will really likes you", Emma tells her and bites her lip because she had promised Killian she wouldn't tell Elsa that Will can't shut up about her.
"Don't tell anybody, but I really like him too", Elsa says, then pauses for a moment before adding: "you're going to tell Killian, aren't you?"
"Sorry. But I'll make him promise not to say anything to Will."
"You guys have it so bad for each other", Elsa says and Emma can't argue with that.
David calls around three and tells Emma that he's already at the airport, asking if he can come meet her first, before going to see Mary Margaret.
Emma is both excited and apprehensive, but they've been talking on the phone every other night and there won't be much difference if they meet because her father is still going to be just a voice in the darkness.
"You can come meet me in front of the City Hall, if you want", she says and he assures her that he's going to wait for her there, and it's impossible to miss the excitement in his voice.
Emma leaves work at precisely 4 p.m. and descends the stairs to the sidewalk, pausing uncertainly because now it's up to her father to come up to her since he knows what she looks like from all the pictures Mary Margaret has been sending him.
"Hello, princess", David says and Emma turns around, a smile pulling at her lips because he is so cheesy and yet she can't help but love that about him.
"Hello", she tells him and shifts her cane into her left hand, offering her right for a handshake, but just like her mother, David pulls her into a bear hug and doesn't let go of her for a full minute.
"I am so glad we're finally meeting", he says and he sounds like he might cry so Emma squeezes him tighter, feeling like something is finally sliding into place inside her heart.
It is safe and warm in her father's arms, and it is only now that she's experiencing an embrace like this that Emma realizes how much she had missed growing up.
"Would you like to go have coffee with your old dad?" David asks and Emma hesitates because she had forgotten to text Killian, as busy as she'd been obsessing over finally meeting David in person, and he's expecting her to come help him with a few bouquets.
"My boyfriend is expecting me, but you can come with if you want", Emma says, blushing to the roots of her hair because she had never before called Killian her boyfriend.
She had never called anybody her boyfriend.
"I promise I'll behave", David says and falls into step next to her, and she realizes that Killian might not be ready to meet her father because her mother seems to scare him as it is.
"He'll probably make you tea and call you sir", Emma chuckles to hide her uncertainty and curses herself for not thinking this through earlier.
"Back room, love", Killian calls through the shop as soon as Emma opens the door and she smiles to herself because somehow he always knows when it's her, then wonders if he occasionally calls his customers love by mistake.
"I have David with me", she calls back and there's a sound of something falling on the floor before Killian emerges into the main part of the shop smelling like orchids and probably looking incredibly cute.
"Pleasure to meet you, sir."
"Told you", Emma whispers to her father and he chuckles, then moves forward, probably to shake Killian's hand.
"David Nolan."
"Killian Jones, sir."
"Relax", David says and Emma makes her way to Killian's side, slipping her arm around his waist and leaning into him slightly, wishing she had at least warned him before she brought her father with her.
"Emma talks about you quite a lot", Killian says and Emma presses her face against his chest because her father didn't have to know that.
"All good things, I hope", David says and Emma can imagine him studying her face, trying to see how much of himself there is in her.
"Absolutely."
As Emma had anticipated, Killian makes tea and they sit around the worktable chatting, David and Killian quickly taking a liking to each other, and Emma marvels at the fact that two men from different sides of the world working entirely different jobs can be so alike.
"I should go see your mom, finally convince her to marry me, now that we've found you", David says a while later and stands, pressing a kiss to Emma's temple as he tells her that he'll call her tonight with hopefully happy news.
"You never said that your parents aren't married", Killian murmurs as he leads Emma to stand between his legs, his arms wrapping around her waist while she rests her hands on his shoulders.
"Mary Margaret never said anything, so I just assumed they were", Emma tells him and leans in until her lips encounter his cheek, then peppers kisses to his mouth.
"You don't seem upset", Killian says gently and Emma lifts her eyebrows in question.
"Why would that upset me?"
"You used to believe your parents were a king and a queen of a faraway country."
"I was ten!" Emma admonishes and pulls away, busying herself with picking the flowers for the bouquet.
She's pretty sure that her parents remained unmarried because they wanted to find her first, and it's something she'd rather not think about it.
Killian kisses the back of her neck and then tickles her nose with a violet before he puts it into the button hole of her cardigan, distracting her from dark thoughts before they fall into the now-familiar task of making something both fragrant and beautiful.
"I can't believe you don't have a dishwasher", Killian tells Emma as he splashes in the sink, washing the dishes from the dinner he'd cooked her.
He thinks that it's slightly unfair she's making him do that when he cooked too, but Emma is too cute to resist, and besides, she took up wiping the dishes so he doesn't complain.
"I usually don't have so many dishes", she tells him and Killian chuckles, then nudges another plate into her hand, watching her carefully dry it.
"And you do have more hands than me", he tells her and ducks when she attempts to slap the dishrag against his shoulder.
"Calm down with the hand jokes before I make you do my laundry too", Emma tells him and squeals when he wraps his arms around her waist and picks her up, depositing her on the counter and kissing her until she's breathless.
"I would do your laundry if you wanted me to", Killian says and Emma pulls him closer, nuzzling his neck and pressing kisses along his jaw.
"Is that an euphemism for sex?" She asks and he scoots her forward, nudging open her knees so that he's standing between her legs, pressing against her and watching her face, trying to gauge her reaction.
"It could be", he says softly and gives her another kiss, smiling when her legs wrap around his waist eagerly; she wants him as badly as he wants her, and it's just their past that's holding them back.
"Soon", she murmurs and traces her thumb along the scar on his cheek, a tiny frown etching itself between her brows.
"I've got all the time in the world", Killian tells her and tilts his head into her palm, his fingers playing with her hair while she traces the lines of his face, her long eyelashes hiding her eyes from Killian's gaze.
"Mom says you're really handsome", Emma murmurs and presses her lips against his chin, then kisses him lazily, spinning his head and making him wish they were both brave enough to take their relationship to the next level.
"Is that so?"
"No reason to get cocky", she admonishes playfully and applies her lips to his neck, making him groan and press her closer. "Killian."
Emma says his name like a demand, then pulls his head down and kisses him hungrily, her hand sliding underneath his shirt and brushing against his stomach just as the doorbell rings.
"Oh bloody Hell", he says vehemently and Emma gives the base of his throat a comforting kiss before she pulls back and pushes him toward the door.
"Go see who it is", she says, running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make herself look presentable, but her cheeks are pink and her lips look thoroughly kissed, the slightly dazed look in her eyes impossible to hide.
Killian steals another kiss from her unsuspecting lips and finds Emma's parents in front of the door, David's arm around Mary Margaret's, their faces beaming with happiness.
"Who is it?" Emma calls from the kitchen and Killian invites her parents in, taking the coat from Emma's mother and going to the kitchen to get the glasses because David had brought champagne.
"We want you to be the first to know", Mary Margaret says and takes Emma hand, pulling her down to sit on the couch.
"Know what?"
"Your mother and I… we're getting married", David says and Killian turns toward the cupboards, still looking for the glasses.
For a moment there's no response, then Emma congratulates them and Killian stays in the kitchen, letting them have some privacy, opening more cupboards even though it's pretty clear that Emma does not have any champagne glasses.
"Is Killian still here?" Emma asks uncertainly and Killian grabs the first two glasses he sees, balancing them in his hand and returning to the living room.
"I was just getting glasses, love. Congratulations, mate."
"Glasses?" Emma asks in confusion, her eyes darting around the room as if looking for somebody to explain what's happening.
"We brought champagne to celebrate", Mary Margaret says and goes to get two more while Killian shakes David's hand, then sinks down on the armrest of the armchair closest to Emma, chewing on his lip when she reaches out her hand for his.
She's on his bad side and he doesn't have any choices but to give her his fake hand, watching her squeeze it; she keeps holding on even after David had distributed the champagne and they all lift their glasses in a toast.
"To my beautiful bride and my lovely daughter", Emma's father says and they all take a sip, but Killian is finding it hard to concentrate on the conversation because Emma is still holding his hand and he can't believe she doesn't mind that it's not the real one.
On some level he knows that it shouldn't surprise him, but it still throws him because he can't remember another human being ever touching his prosthetic aside from the doctor who had fitted him with it.
Emma drags him to the kitchen on the pretense of needing help to make coffee for her parents, then takes his face between her hands and asks him if he's okay.
"You've been so quiet tonight that I would've thought you'd gone home without saying goodbye if I wasn't holding your hand."
"I am sorry, love", he says and assures her that he's alright, but he can't bring himself to tell her how much it means to him that she accepts him as he is.
Emma smiles and slides her hands down his arms, taking both his hands in hers and standing on tiptoes to give him a kiss before she goes to make coffee.
It's suddenly perfectly clear that she already knows.
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