Chapter 11

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having an amazing week! Mine has been busy with no plans of slowing down! :/ But it's all good.

Here is the next chapter. I had one reviewer who felt these were short and that it was taking too long to move on. I was really trying to give background to the story and they are a tad short but the different cut off points just made sense. In the next few chapters it moves along a bit faster and a few chapters are a bit longer.

In this chapter there is one part where it may seem like Emma is undermining Killian but make sure to read all the way through and you'll understand why

As always, let me know what you want to see and I will do my best to incorporate it somehow!


Killian began to start cleaning up the dishes from breakfast, in a way this felt like a Saturday. It was going to be strange being home all the time for the next few weeks as he and Emma helped Zoe get settled in. It took him about 20 minutes to finish things up and put away the left overs. He then decided that he would sit down and see what was on TV. He knew that Emma would be home later and that Zoe needed some space so he saw no harm in relaxing for a little while after the emotionally draining morning.

He was starting to feel himself begin to drift off when the security alarm went off causing him to literally jump up off the couch. He looked around and didn't see anything that would cause the alarm to sound so he immediately ran to Zoe's room and threw open the door

Zoe held her breath as she executed her plan. She quickly threw the window open with one hand while moving the magnet into place with the other. However she wasn't fast enough and as soon as the magnets lost contact the alarm went off causing Zoe to jump and let out a small yelp which she quickly hid by throwing her hand over her mouth. She immediately went to work removing the magnet and shutting the window. Unfortunatley she wasn't fast enough.

"Zoe! What are you doing?" Killian yelled rushing over to where she was standing by the window.

"Nothing I was just standing by the window and the alarm went off" Zoe lied as she quickly slid the magnet into her pocket on her pants.

"Don't move" Killian said while he ran to the living room and turned off the alarm. He then returned to Zoe's room and found her sitting on the bed with her hands wrapped around her knee's. Killian took a deep breath before coming in and sitting on the bed facing Zoe. "Zoe, what happened?"

"I told you, I was just standing there looking out the window when the alarm went off. Maybe it's just super sensitive?"

"Zoe…"

"What?! Why do you think I'm lying?!" She busted out. She really just wanted him to get out and leave her alone.

Killian than got up and walked toward the window and found that the window was unlocked. He knew that he had locked the window the night before and figured that the security company would have relocked them once the alarm was installed. "Zoe….the window is unlocked" He said turning around and staring at her.

Zoe immediately looked down at the bed. She knew she had been caught. Killian went to sit on the bed again when he heard the front door open.

"I'm home" came Emma's voice.

"Come on Zoe, I'm not leaving you in here" Killian said gently touching her shoulder and willing her to get up off the bed. Zoe knew she wasn't going to be able to say no but she also didn't want to go and face Emma and have her be disappointed. However, she reluctantly got up and allowed him to escort her to the living room.

"Hey you two, is everything okay?" Emma asked as she was putting away the groceries

"We're fine" Zoe said while throwing a side look at Killian begging him not to tell

"We will talk about it later. Right now I think we all need to eat. What did you get for us love?" Killian said allowing Zoe a bit more time before he told Emma.

"Okay…" Emma said a bit curious why Killian was delaying telling her what was going on "I got us all some burgers and onion rings and I grabbed some mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert!" She said showing the pair before putting into the freezer

"Sounds great" Killian said guiding Zoe over to the table. They both took a seat and Killian handed out the food.

"Oh! Zoe! I almost forgot! I picked you up a few pieces of clothing for you to help tide you over till my parents are able to send you your things. I hope you like them but if not, it's not an issue to return them and get you something different."

"Thanks…I'm sure their fine" Zoe said picking at the remaining onion rings on her plate. Emma look at Zoe and then at Killian and knew that they couldn't keep going on like this.

"Okay you two. What happened while I was gone?" Emma finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Nothing happened…I'm going to go to my room" Zoe said standing up to move when Killian reached up and put a hand on her forearm and gently pushed her back down.

"Not so fast lass. She attempted to sneak out of her window effectively setting off the new alarm system"

"I DID NOT! I told you! I was standing by the window and it just went off"

"Then why was the window unlocked love?" Killian asked calmly.

"It had to have been the security people! I didn't touch the window!"

"Okay Zoe. I believe you" Emma broke in reaching across and taking her hand. "Killian, why don't you go watch some TV. I'm going to take Zoe into her room and show her the new clothes I got her" Killian nodded and allowed his wife to take things from this point.

Emma then led Zoe back to her bedroom and brought the clothes along with her. "So I got you a couple of shirts that I thought you may like. They may seem a little young but we are trying to make people thing you're 14."

"They're nice…thank you" Zoe said barely looking up to see the clothes laid out before her.

"Zoe…"

"Okay I did it! I tried to tamper with the window and it failed. But I can't stay here Emma! I have to go and help Heidi. I can't let her end up like I did" Zoe said starting to get up and pace the room.

Emma stood and took a gentle hand on both of her arms and looked her in the eye. "Zoe. I understand not wanting your sister to be in the system. I was in the sytem myself till I was 5. But I also cannot let anything happen to you. Killian and I can't let you go and that's how it has to be. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm not trying to keep you from your family; But I am going to do everything in my power to keep you safe"

Zoe broke down into another round of tears and Emma pulled her close and held her. Maybe she was better at this than she had originally thought. After a few minutes Emma pulled back and put Zoe's face into her hands "now, can we go talk to Killian? I think you owe him an apology" Zoe nodded and Emma hugged her again before putting her arm around her and leading her into the living room. She had her sit in between she and Killian.

"Go ahead honey" Emma said. Killian had shut the TV off when he saw them coming out and was not turned with his full attention on Zoe.

"I'm sorry"

"I appreciate that love. I forgive you. I only got upset because I don't want anything to happen to you" He said taking her hand in his like he had earlier when they were in her room. "I know that you are a strong and independent woman and that doesn't have to change. You can still be strong and be willing to lean on those around you"

"I don't know how" Zoe said through tears

"Let us help you figure it out" Emma said moving some hair out of her face

"We're all new to this love. We have to give each other room to make mistakes, but we also have to trust each other"

Zoe just nodded and Emma and Killian each wrapped their arms around her. "Now, how about I dish all of us up some ice cream and we watch a movie?" Emma said wanting to bring some lightness into the room.

"I think that's good!" Zoe said laughing at Emma's awkward transition. Maybe she could make this work. Maybe, just maybe, she could finally have a family.