A/N: Okay, I finally finished the second part of my CS secret santa present for nothingimpossibleonlyimprobable! I'm so sorry it took so long, lovely, but I really hope you enjoy the ending!
"Lad, this year, we're going to do things a bit differently," Killian said, as he and Henry sat in a booth at Granny's for lunch while Emma was at work.
"I don't understand though, why doesn't Mom like Christmas?" Henry countered, his brows knitting together.
"I'm not entirely sure how much she's told you about it," Killian answered tentatively, trying to figure how much and what he should say, "but you know that your mother didn't have the best childhood, aye?" Henry nodded solemnly. "And the holidays were a particularly difficult time for her as a young lass, so I don't think she particularly enjoys celebrating them now."
"Oh," Henry said, sounding defeated.
"Aye, but, we're going to do the things that she did enjoy," Killian continued, an excited and slightly mischievous glint shining in his eye. "It'll be a bit of a surprise for her."
"Okay!" Henry noticeably perked up. "What should we call it?"
"Operation Armadillo?" Killian suggested, but Henry wrinkled his nose.
"How about Operation Reindeer?" Killian hesitated – the whole point of this is that they weren't going to be celebrating Christmas, or at least not exactly.
"Alright lad, if that's what you want."
"Great!" Henry grinned. "So what's the plan?"
"Well, I thought we could find some recipes for things your mum likes," Killian scratched anxiously behind his ear. He had sort of come up with a plan, but he wasn't entirely confident in it, and he was nervous to hear what Henry would think. "And then we could get all the stuff for it, and when she gets home, we can all make the things together. Or you and I could make it and have it ready for her when she gets home."
"Okay…" Henry answered, looking as though he expected more to the plan, but when Killian didn't speak he seemed to gather himself. "So are we doing presents? What about a tree?"
"No, no tree," Killian said firmly. That he was sure about. "I suppose, we could do presents. Maybe just one from each of us? Nothing elaborate. No Santa Claus."
"Alright," Henry replied, sounding a little glum. "So are we going to have any decorations?"
"Candles," Killian answered instinctively, and he knew right away that it was the right answer. "I think Emma would like candles."
Henry gave Killian a look like he thought filling their house with candles was way to gooey and romantic, but he shrugged and went with it anyway.
"So what are we making?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in an endearing echo of Killian.
"You'll be in charge of the Christmas cookies, lad, and I'll make a stew that my mum taught me to make. And when Emma gets home, we can all make latkes together," Killian replied with a satisfactory nod.
"Okay," Henry sounding confused, but he allowed himself to roll with it. "Let's go to the library to see if they have any cookbooks."
"An excellent idea."
Henry had been ambitious, wanting to make gingerbread men, frosted sugar cookies, and shortbread, and Killian had not been one to stop him, but as he looked around at the floury mess that had taken over their kitchen, he was beginning to regret that decision. Flour and pieces of dough covered every flat surface, and Killian was beginning to panic that they wouldn't be able to clean all of it up before Emma got home. All the cookies were now baked, and Henry was sitting at the table icing them meticulously, his tongue poking out as he concentrated. As he decorated, Killian took a sponge and began carefully wiping down the counters, trying to make the kitchen at least semi-decent, as he expected Emma to be home any minute. There were bowls with everything they needed to make latkes sitting on the counter, ready to go when Emma got there.
"Hey, what cookies do you think Mom is going to like back?" Henry asked, making Killian look up from where he was vigorously scrubbing some stubborn flour.
"Ah, I don't know lad, they all look delicious," he replied diplomatically.
"I think she's gonna like the ninja cookies the best, they're pretty cool," Henry grinned, and Killian glanced over at the rows of decorated ninja gingerbread men with a smile.
"Aye, you did an excellent job with those," he answered. "And it seems like the sort of thing your mum would like."
They heard the door open and both men perked up, Henry practically shooting out of his seat as he ran to say hello.
"Hi Mom! How was work today? Are you hungry?" Killian heard him chattering, trying to stall Emma long enough for Killian to toss the last few things back in their appropriate cupboards.
"Kid, what is going on, you're acting super weird," Emma laughed, and the two of them rounded the corner to stand in the doorway of the kitchen. Her green eyes flew open wide as she took in the state of the kitchen before finally landing on the piles of cookies sitting on the kitchen table. "What is all this?"
"We wanted to do something to help get you in the holiday spirit," Killian answered, nervously scratching behind his ear.
"So you made me cookies?" Emma asked, sounding a little emotional.
"And latkes!" Henry piped up, jumping up and down enthusiastically.
"Well, the latkes aren't made yet, we thought you might want to be the lead chef on that particular endeavor," Killian amended.
"You guys made me cookies and latkes," she repeated, surprise and disbelief written on her face.
"Yes," Killian answered, giving her a tentative smile, and Henry nodded next to them.
"You guys are the best," Emma gushed, pulling both of her boys in for a hug.
"Come on, Mom, lets start making the latkes, I'm so hungry," Henry whined as Emma leaned in to give Killian a kiss.
"Remind me to give you a proper thank you later," Emma whispered in Killian's ear, and he waggled his eyebrows salaciously in response.
The three of them moved over to the oven, where Killian placed a blue snowflake apron over Emma's clothes, and she began showing them how to make latkes. Everything came out perfectly, positively scrumptious, and they ate far more latkes and cookies than they should have while they watched Star Wars. All in all, it was probably the best holiday season Emma had ever had, and she made sure to show Killian just how much she had enjoyed it after Henry went to bed.