AN: So...remember, how I told y'all this story was gonna be short? Well, surprise! This is the epilogue. I can't thank those of you who've reviewed your thoughts throughout this story enough, and for making my first OUAT fic such a wonderful experience. I may just write another CaptainSwan fic in the future. Feedback is everything for a writer; it can seriously make or break our inspiration, and y'all sent my muse insane, and she's fat and happy from your reviews.
Also, thank you Sandra. You've been such a great friend to me for a couple of years now, and I appreciate all your help – especially with this story!
Enjoy the final chapter of "Hooked on a Feeling!" ~Kate
Seven Months Later…
It started early in the morning, before the sun had started to rise, and before Killian was awake. He set his alarm clock every morning to wake him before six-thirty and lately, she was beating both him and the alarm. He'd insisted after she crossed into her third semester that she take maternity leave early. Once she'd finally given in, she actually enjoyed it. However, her body refused her more than a couple hours of sleep at a time now that she was just days from her due date.
She'd had a relatively smooth pregnancy, aside from the horrendous morning sickness she experienced a few weeks after her accident. But the last couple of weeks her body was screaming at her: her feet ached, her back throbbed, and whatever position she rolled her body into wasn't the one that would be comfortable enough for her to find the lasting sleep she craved so desperately.
She'd been begging for the discomfort to end when her bladder had her needing to visit the bathroom around three that morning. As she stood, she realized it wasn't her bladder, but her water that was giving her that familiar pressure in her lower abdomen and then it released before she could even try to stop it. Pajama legs soaked and her feet standing in a puddle, Emma took a deep breath and acknowledged the fact that Baby Jones was ready to meet the world.
Now, she breathes through her first contraction and once it passes, she walks to the other side of the bed. She brushes her fingers through her fiancé's hair, knowing he'll want to miss work for the big event. She'll fight it – she knows how much his Mayoral position means to him – but he'll fight it too, and she'll lose. When it comes to their family-to- be, he always does.
Since confronting their near-breakup when they first learned of her pregnancy, Killian has done his best to be honest about everything that's bothered him: fatherhood, marriage – his proposal was awkward, but beautiful, and she wouldn't change a thing – and if he should continue to try to further his political career, or if he should find another passion.
And she's been honest too, with her doubts on whether or not he'll stick around. She knows that he's a good man, a gentleman and that he isn't perfect and realizes his mistakes. He's begged for her forgiveness, and while he's earned it, she also knows that he knows he's got a little while to go before he re-earns her trust.
One thing is different now, than it was then: they're facing their fears together.
Eight Hours Later
He's holding her close, pressing her head against his chest as she grunts through the final, most grueling part of labor. The woman has the mouth of a sailor on her when she's in pain, and while he hates this for her, he knows it'll be ending soon enough.
"Emma," the doctor calls to her, and Killian looks down at his love to see her eyes slammed shut and her lips pressed in a tight line as she tries not to yell. "One more push, okay? One more and you're done."
His Emma is strong, and instead of whining, insisting that she's too fatigued, that she can't continue, she just gives a curt nod, digs her teeth into her lower lip, and bears down. When the shoulders pass, it's then that she can't hold back her scream and it rips his heart in half, until moments later the sounds of his child's cries tear through the air.
"Bloody hell," he croaks, pressing his lips to his fiancée's damp hair. "You did it!"
"Congratulations." The doctor rests the child on its mother's chest. "You have a daughter." He gives them a few moments to be alone as a family when he steps to the other side of the room after recording the newborn's measurements and cleaning her off.
"My brave Swan," Killian murmurs, stroking the child's chubby cheek while gazing at Emma. "You are –"
"Bloody wonderful?" she teases lightly and he laughs, remembering back to one of the first times they made love and those words were all he could utter. He watches as her fatigue finally sets in, her green eyes half-open, but full of nothing but love and he wonders how on earth he got to call such a beautiful women his. She swallows, smiles, and presses a kiss to their daughter's forehead. "I love her, Killian."
"Aye, love. As do I," he agrees. "My heart feels like it's swollen three times its original size. It's been minutes, and she's completely wrapped herself around our fingers."
"She'll be spoiled, won't she?"
"Rotten."
Emma nods before letting out a yawn and he kisses her again, never getting enough and always wanting more. "I love you."
"I love you more than words can explain, darling." He kisses her yet again. "Thank you for giving me Hope."
"In which sense?" she smiles, inhaling heavily and snuggling their newborn.
"Both. Hope Penelope Jones will be a force to be reckoned with," he tells her, gazing down at his child with pride. "She'll be as strong, determined, and loving as her mother, I have no doubt."
Meanwhile, there's a woman watching Emma, Killian, and baby Hope from the hallway, peering into the windows and trying to see through the blinds that have been flipped down to give the new family its privacy.
She's been watching them for months, having felt an inane amount of guilt over running the woman over with her Porsche. Cora, her boss, had hired her to complete a job. She was one of the best and upon reading the woman's file, she learned the target's name, age, whereabouts, and favorite go-to spots. The only thing that had been left out was who her romantic partner was, not that it usually mattered, but having as many details as possible helped.
Using her endless amount of resources, she contacted the right person and realized who she'd very nearly killed, and in the process learned that her victim was the love of her brother's life, and ever since she's been waiting for the right time to come clean. She's given the cold shoulder to her boss ever since…she'd never have taken the job if she'd known it was someone close to her brother. It's easy for people to get caught in the crossfire of an assignment and chills run up her spine at the thought she might have harmed Killian instead.
Family trumps career – every time. No excuses.
"How do you know the family?" a nurse asks, startling her. She snaps her eyes from the family in the window and focuses her attention on the nurse.
Tossing her frosty-white hair over her shoulder, she smacks on a bright smile and says, "I'm the child's aunt."
"Oh?" the young man in green scrubs frowns, looking down at his chart. "I don't have you on their Emergency Contacts list. What's your name so I can get it recorded?"
Her eyes sparkle with eagerness. She hasn't seen or spoken to Killian in years – having been estranged because of her being their father's favorite child. She's about to be reunited with him, and she's almost certain that he'll forgive her for the accident, but then again it has been years, people change, and she nearly killed the mother of his child.
"Miss?" The nurse brings her out of her head, looking to get the name she never gave him.
"Elsa," she answers with shaky voice and a matching smile. "My name is Elsa."
AN: I've never ended a story on a cliffhanger before, but I think I like it! ;) Final thoughts? Thanks again, so much, for y'all's support! Feed my addiction Once more (see what I did there)? Reviews are the same as chocolate and they will feed a happy muse that may just have me end up writing more OUAT/CaptainSwan stories! So pretty please review! ~Kate
P.S. Follow my Twitter account! The handle is: _ThisIsMyEscape. I'd like to think I'm pretty friendly and I talk about everything (especially CaptainSwan).