The crisp autumn leaves dance across the streets of Storybrooke as Killian Jones watched from the window of his and Emma's quaint estate. His attention to the outside scenery was interrupted by the sudden sound of something crashing on the floor in the kitchen. This abrupt outburst alerted him and sent him racing to the scene, as his mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenario.
What welcomed him was the sight of his six year old daughter sitting on the floor covered in Reese's Puffs, surrounded by what appeared to be the bowl she was trying to pour them in and the corresponding cereal box. Killian let out a sigh of relief as he approached his distraught daughter.
"Why lass, what have you gotten yourself into here?" Killian chuckled as he scooped Mara up from off the floor and into his protective embrace.
She sheepishly avoided fessing up to her mistake and hid her face into her father's chest.
"Awe, darling don't worry you're not going to be in any sort of trouble. I promise. And when a Captain makes a promise, he never breaks it" Killian assures while softly rubbing Mara on her back.
"I didn't mean to make a mess, daddy, I was just trying to have breakfast all by myself" Mara apologizes looking back up to Killian, wiping some stray tears from her face.
He sat Mara on the bar stool near the granite island table top and spun her around to face him.
"Now Love, there's no need to be somber about this wee incident, because you're just in luck. You're dashing dad is here to assist his little damsel in distress to clean this up." He reassured, tipping her chin up before momentarily slipping out to obtain the broom and dustpan from the nearby cleaning closet.
Upon returning, he handed Mara the bright yellow dustpan and lifted her up from the barstool and onto the floor to help assist him as he swept stray cereal into the pan. The father daughter duo worked together diligently until the mess was no more.
"See love, there isn't it anything better than when you work as a team to accomplish anything from climbing towering beanstalks to even simply cleaning the kitchen floor" Killian proudly stated gleaming towards Mara.
Her bubbly laughter filled the air as she ran and hugged her father's legs. "Thank you for helping, daddy!"
"Now, how about a proper breakfast, princess?" Killian asked upon hearing the soft grumble coming from his daughter's stomach.
He then proceeded to grab two sets of bowls from the cabinet, two spoons from the silverware drawer, and Frosted Flakes which just happened to be his favorite choice cereal, as all the Reese's Puffs were lost from the kitchen mishap.
Pouring the milk into their bowls and seeing the wide smile on his daughter's face, he thought to himself how lucky he was to be Mara's father and that he wouldn't trade this life he had made with Emma for anything in all the realms.
After finishing their most important meal of the day, Killian thought it would be nice to take Mara out for an adventure, as he liked to call it, to the park to spend some quality father daughter bonding, as Emma was on call today at the station.
"What do you say, Love, that today we go on a little adventure? Would you be up for it Miss Mara?" He gallantly asked bowing down before his daughter.
Her face lit up as she graciously took her father's hand as he guided her off from her chair.
"Why of course daddy, I love any adventure, especially if it's with you" she eagerly exclaimed poking him once on the nose.
They both gathered their coats, Killian being the gentleman he was, helped Mara put on her rather puffy pink coat as he noticed her struggling finding her other arm hole. When they were both bundled up Killian opened the door and they stepped into the brisk and windy environment that Friday fall morning had to offer.
Killian led Mara hand in hand to the rather bare garage and noticed that their only option of transportation to the park was the red wagon that sat in the corner because Emma had taken the famous yellow bug to work. Even if the car were here, Killian would not even consider taking that death trap of a contraption out for a drive because he still has not yet gotten used to understanding the stick shift.
Pulling the red radio flyer out from the now even more empty garage, he lifted Mara up into it and gently wrapped her up in a couple of soft fleece blankets. He did not want to risk Mara catching a cold because he knew that he would never hear the end of that from his wife.
Strolling down the sidewalks of Storybrooke with his daughter safely in tow, they made their way to the park for a hopeful day of fun ahead of them.
An hour at the park swinging as Killian diligently pushed from behind, playing with pretend swords made out of nearby fallen branches, and climbing all over the wooden play structure was all about Killian could handle before a marvelous idea popped into his head.
"Mara, what do you say instead of playing pirate here, we make our way to the Jolly Roger and I help you captain a real ship?" He intriguingly asked after catching Mara as she slid down from the twisting slide.
"Oh can we daddy?!" Mara blurted out. She had spent the day spinning the plastic wheel on the playground imagining she was a daring pirate captain, but she always was more fond of when her father took her out to the Jolly to get a chance to truly be out on the sea.
"Yes of course, anything for you, Love" He lovingly beamed before placing her in the wagon yet again to travel onwards to their next adventure.
The duo then proceeded to the docks to spend the rest of the afternoon out in the harbor.
Killian parked the wagon next to a nearby bench and lifted his daughter up onto his shoulders as they boarded the mighty ship.
To Killian, this ship held memories of his past and of his brother Liam, but now he was more eager to make new memories with Mara by his side and seeing the sheer delight on her face while sailing on the open sea.
He laughed to himself after letting Mara down and seeing her immediately being drawn to the wheel of the ship as she tried her best to reach up to get a firm grasp on it.
"Mara dear, slow down. You can't steer the ship yet before hoisting the sails and pulling up the anchor. If you are to be the captain, then you should know these things. Luckily you have the most skilled pirate that has ever sailed the seven seas with you to show you the ropes" Killian pointed out.
Together, well more effort from Killan than Mara, they got the Jolly in ship-shape to spend the rest of the day sailing. He was proud that Mara had such a keen interest in sailing and the sea, and could just tell that when she was older, she would be just as or even more proficient as he was at captaining the Jolly.
Time flew by as he taught Mara to sail, luckily he had checked his watch and noticed that it was drawing near to lunch time, so he brought the Jolly Roger back to the docks, much to Mara's dismay.
"Now lass, we can always take her out again anytime we want. It's getting a tad more cold, and I think your mother wanted to meet us at Granny's for lunch soon" he remarked, noticing the frown upon her face.
The second he said Granny's, Mara's mood turned around as she, like her mother, was always excited for food, especially from Granny's as that was her favorite place to go.
The sound of the bell chime welcomed Killian and Mara into Granny's as the delightful aroma of Granny's lasagna freshly out of the oven overwhelmed their senses. The familiar streak of blonde hair sitting in the back most booth caused Mara to bolt over with joy and jump on her mother as she gave her a large hug.
"Well, it's nice to see you two made it. What were you guys up today?" Emma inquired stroking her daughter's long raven locks.
"Oh the usual, Swan" Killian replied as he bent down to give her a quick kiss.
"Yeah mommy, we went on an adventure!" Mara exclaimed as her mother scooched down giving Mara some room in the booth to sit.
"And what kind of adventure did your father have in store for you today?" She asked glancing over to Killian as he sat across from them.
"Well we went to the park and played and then decided to have a quick outing on the Jolly Roger" he happily replied reaching over to the menu.
"It was amazing!" Mara blurted out as she bounced up and down in her seat.
"Sounds like quite a day" Granny chimed in as she happened to hear the family's conversation upon heading to their table to ask for their order and place three hot chocolates with cinnamon in front of them.
"Thank you, and it turned out to be a lovely day" Killian added looking between his gorgeous wife and daughter.
"Now what can I get for you?" Granny said pulling out a pad of paper from her apron and a pen from behind her ear awaiting their order.
"Oh, just the usual" Emma replied knowing that Granny was quite familiar with their food preferences since they frequented the establishment many days a week.
"Ok, so burger for Killian, a grilled cheese for Emma, chicken tenders for Mara, and finally a order of onion rings for the table as an appetizer" Granny confirms, not even writing down a single word on the pad.
"You got it" Emma affirmed before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.
"It'll be right out for you guys" Granny said making her way back to the counter.
Killian nodded and then reached out to take his wife's hand in his. "You missed quite the adventure, Swan" he noted stroking his fingers across her palm.
"I'm sure I did, but that's ok because everyday with you and Mara is an adventure in itself and I'm sure there are more to come" she fondly replied, gazing into his eyes.
"Aye Love, that there are."