Chapter Six: Let Your Words Heal My Insides
"Captain Hook is kissing my mother." Henry's voice called out from across the space as the small boy exited his bedroom.
Emma and Hook immediately parted, the savior running her hand over her lips as if to erase time itself.
"Henry, I-" but he kept on with his rambling.
"Why is Captain Hook kissing you?" He exclaimed with surprise, walking over to the two adults, standing between them. Hook raised his hands in surrender, backing away from the blonde.
"It's nothing, kid. I was just thanking him for breakfast." Emma replied, keeping her voice casual and steady, hoping to make him believe the kiss was a simple exchange of friends.
"Oh please. I'm a kid but I'm not 5. You told me you kissed him in Neverland too. Are you guys like a couple? Like my grandparents?" he asked, sitting at the kitchen table with his large book of stories. He silently waited for their response.
"I don't think anyone is a couple like the royals, lad." Hook chuckled, abandoning Emma and leaning over Henry's chair to look at the pages behind him.
"Is that my ship?" he asked, laying his hook on the page that was currently being read by the truest believer.
"Yea, this is your story." Henry explained, turning to the start of the chapter.
"Don't tell me how it ends. What's life without a bit of whimsy?" Hook said quickly, sitting across the table from the boy, never letting his eyes fall on his future.
"Mom's in your story too." he continued, turning a few pages.
"Henry, remember what Regina said about that book. You're not suppose to tell people their own stories. It'll change how their lives could play out." Emma scolded, sticking her hands into the hot water at the sink, scrubbing the dishes and distracting her mind.
"I wish I could've told you about dads story." Henry muttered, shutting the book and leaning on it lazily. "Maybe I could've stopped him from hurting you."
When those words reached her ears, Emma held her breath for a moment, rinsing her hands free of soap and walked over to her son quickly. Hook sat respectfully aside at the table, watching the family resolve their regrets.
"You shouldn't think that way." Emma assured him, crouching down so she was at eye level with him. She put her hand on his knee as she continued. "I know you don't know everything about your dad and I because we lost so much time together but unfortunately, your father was always this way." she explained, Hook narrowing his eyes with contained rage across the way.
"What do you mean? I thought you guys were happy." Henry asked, wanting to hear the history of his family after missing out on so much.
"We were, kid. For a few years. But the reason I gave you up wasn't because I didn't want you; I never want you to think that. It was because, at the time, I was homeless and a thief. Your dad and I met and once I was pregnant with you, things got complicated and he sold me out to the police and I spent my pregnancy in jail." she explained, tears brimming her eyes at the memories. "I wanted to keep you so bad, Henry. I swear I did. But how could I give you the life you deserve when I was living in my car, starving every day? I did what was best for you, and Regina was able to give you everything you needed when I couldn't. And you found your way back to me when you were ready. And when I had gotten my life together and was able to be a parent I thought you could be proud of." she explained honestly, knowing it was a lot for him to take in. She could already imagine the words the pirate behind her would have for her later.
"He knew you were pregnant and he let you go to jail?" Henry exclaimed, angry with his birth father.
"That is pretty devious, Swan. And I'm a bloody pirate." Hook commented, crossing his feet up on the chair beside him.
"Don't think of it like that, kid." she told Henry. "I deserved to be in jail, I was stealing. And that's wrong."
"You were stealing to survive." Hook mumbled, scratching a small notch in her worn out table casually with his blade.
"The point is." She shot Hook a scolding glare before looking back at Henry. "The point is that no matter what you could've told me in my story or your father, it still would've played out this way. Because I am a stubborn person who thought I could fix him." she admitted, pushing up to stand again, kissing the top of Henry's head.
"Now go get dressed. I told Regina I would take you over to spend the night at her place." Emma urged, shoving him playfully into his room.
Once they were alone, Hook reached across the table, sliding the book over in front of him.
"Hey, did you hear a word I just said to him?" Emma exclaimed, reaching over his chair, attempting to snatch the book away. He swatted her hands lightly in denial.
"Aye, but he is a child. I am a stubborn pirate. Not to mention curious." he smirked, flipping through the book until he came to a page illustrated with a dark forest scene, a simple, blonde woman standing in the center of the trees, her eyes looking into the distance.
"You can't read my story!" she shouted, moving around him to block his view.
"Ah, ah, ah, love." he teased, taking her wrists gently to stop her attempts, pulling her down into his lap. He snaked his hooked arm around her waist, holding her still as he turned the next page painted with the same woman, now accompainied by a man with the dark aura of Pans shadow.
"Is that suppose to be your true love?" he asked, pointing to the man beside the blonde woman on the page.
"That would be Neal, yes. Now Hook, I mean it. I can't read my own story. It would change everything." she said, squirming in his lap in a failed attempt to get free.
"Two things, darling." he said, kissing his neck chastely before turning the page again, much to Emma's dismay. "One, I am only looking at your past to see what has already happened, I would never ruin your future." he promised, studying the page that showed the blonde savior bloody on the ground of a alleyway, the shadow man standing above her. Anger raged in Hooks eyes. Emma struggled against him again, her hips bucking in his lap.
"And second." he continued, shutting the book and using his hand to grip her hip bone, stilling her hard against his front. "That is not helping me keep things age appropriate for your boy." he said through his teeth, trying to calm himself down from her arousing struggles.
"Then I guess it's a good thing you closed the book then." she whispered, nipping his ear playfully with her teeth, a masculine moan escaping his lips as his arm tightened around her waist. "Cause I could easily make you stop looking into my future." she smirked, grinding her hips once against him, laughing with victory as he through his head back in agony.
"It's not polite to tease a man like me, Swan." he said, his voice rough as he ran his hand up her side, under her shirt. His eyes never left hers. "I don't play nice." he finished, kissing her lips quickly before lifting her gently off his lap as Henry's door clicked. Emma walked casually over to meet her son as he came out of his room, backpack in hand.
"All ready, kid? Do you have your phone so I can call you tonight?" she checked, taking his bag from him and heading towards the door.
"Yes, Emma." he drawled, following in front of Hook as the three of them left the apartment and started the short walk to Regina's luxuries home
Review Please. And heres a little spoiler for the next chapter. It's titled "Ill Break Down Your Door If I Have To" If work doesn't exhaust me tonight, I should have it up late this evening. Your reviews are like crack to me 3