Christmas dinner that night was a festive, noisy affair. There were more gifts to be exchanged as each guest arrived, and Henry took off with Roland to show him all his new toys. Henry, although much older than the smallest of the merry men, took good care of him and loved playing big brother.
Mary Margaret had cooked a feast, and Granny was extremely grateful not to have done the work in the kitchen for once. The adults all sat around the table and told stories, reminisced, and shared. Everyone felt like all was finally well, and they could settle down in to real lives in Storybrooke, no longer waiting for the next curse to hit. They were all making plans for the future, and grateful to Emma for making it happen.
David and Emma volunteered to do the kitchen duty, while everyone else moved to the living room to drink cocoa and talk some more.
"Thank you, Dad," Emma said, as she and David washed the dishes.
"You're welcome, Emma, but for what?"
"I know you helped Killian and Henry with a lot of my presents, and I know how much work you all put into making sure I had a good Christmas. I appreciate it. I will never think of Christmas again without thinking about how special this one has been. I know I'm not the most demonstrative when it comes to my feelings, but I love you, and I'm glad we're all together now."
David put down the sponge and turned to his daughter. "I would give anything to have been able to do it differently, to watch you grow up, and to have been able to take care of you for those 28 years. But since I can't change any of that now, all I want is to do what I can to make you happy. If that means give you a good Christmas and be nice to the pirate, I think I can handle that."
Emma laughed, glad that the moment didn't stay serious for too long. "You like the pirate, admit it."
"Well, as far as Storybrooke's eligible bachelors go, I guess you've made an okay choice," David said, smiling at Emma and poking her in the ribs with his elbow.
\\\
Emma and Killian crawled into bed later that night, their last night together as an unmarried couple. Emma settled in to the crook of Killan's shoulder, with her head resting on his chest. She reached up to play with the charms on his necklace, and remembered that there was one present she hadn't put under the tree. Darting out of bed, she scooted over to the dresser and retrieved a small box and handed it to him.
"I almost forgot this. I didn't want you to open in in front of everyone. It's another Christmas present for you. Open it."
Killian unwrapped the small box and opened it to find a small silver charm in the shape of a heart. She took his necklace off from around his neck and quickly added it to the chain.
"It's my heart. I'm giving it to you to hold on to."