Chapter 16
Happy Friday my friends! Here is our next chapter. This is a little Daddy Killian bonding. The next chapter will have Emma and Zoe bonding. As always let me know what you think and what you would like to see. I haven't decided what Emma and Zoe are going to do so let me know if you have an idea! :)
Enjoy!
The next day was Saturday so Killian and Emma had the day off and they had a few errands to run. Over the last few weeks they had had one of them stay home with Zoe while the other went out and then swap but today's list wasn't going to allow for that so they were going to have to take Zoe with them.
"Hey Zoe" Emma said lightly shaking her shoulder
"What?" Zoe said confused. She wasn't awake enough to comprehend what was going on
"Hey honey, I brought you a cup of coffee"
"mmmm Coffee" Zoe said reaching out and taking the cup. Emma helped her adjust herself so that way she could sit up and not spill on herself. "So what do I owe this to?"
"What do you mean?" Emma said moving to sit more comfortably on the bed
"I mean the coffee on a Saturday morning. This isn't normal" She said taking another sip. She was eyeing Emma because she figured this was going to mean either bad news or they were going to ask her to do something she didn't want to do. It was a classic move for any parent
"Can't I bring my daughter a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning?" Emma said mock offended
"Not unless there is a bribe attached" Zoe quipped back
"Fine, you caught me. We have a bunch of places we need to go today and in order to get all of it done…"
"You want me to come with you" Zoe finished for her "I'm guessing that after the events of the past day it's out of the question to ask to stay here alone?"
"OH yea! You're not going to be out of our sight for a while kid" Emma said getting up off the bed "But hey, at least I softened the blow with a cup of coffee right?"
"I'll give you that, doesn't mean it's nice to wake me up on a Saturday" Zoe jabbed back jokingly
"You'll live" Emma shouted back over her shoulder. Zoe leaned back and took another sip of her coffee. Today would be interesting
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A short time later Zoe emerged ready to go for the day. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans with a pair of white converse with a long green short sleeve shirt and a jean jacket with a baseball cap.
"You look really cute Zoe!" Emma said as she saw her approach
"Thanks, I'm trying to remember that I'm supposed to be 14. But at the same time I can still be a fashionable 14 year old right?" She said looking down at herself
"Of course!" Emma said coming over and placing a hand on each arm. "You can be as stylish as you would like to be. You have a young enough face that people aren't going to question you. Besides, this is what most teenagers are wearing today anyway!"
"So what are we doing today?"
"Well I have a meeting at work this morning so you'll go with Killian to do some grocery shopping and then I'll pick you up back here and we'll get to go run a few other errands while Killian does a few things at the station."
"Sounds good"
"Are you lasses ready for the day?" Killian said coming up behind her as he immerged from their room.
"Yep! You guys will hit the grocery store and then we'll flip flop" Emma said bringing him up to speed
"Sounds good love" He said as he came up and placed a kiss on the side of her head. She returned it with one on his lips
"Come on guys" Zoe said as she went to the sink to rinse out her cereal bowl.
"What? You mean this?" Emma said kissing Killian again but a bit deeper
"Come on guys! I'm just starting to come around to the idea of you as my parents, don't ruin it!" Killian and Emma started to giggle
"Well I think it's impressive that we can still provide you with a few traumatic childhood memories at this stage in the game don't you?" Killian said wrapping his arm around Emma's waist
"Oh my gosh you guys are 'that couple'" Zoe said rolling her eyes "Alright Killian let's get out of here" She said heading toward the garage.
"Well I think we're getting this parenting thing down don't you?" Killian said giving her one final kiss
"As part of that parenting thing…Killian"
"Don't worry, she won't leave my sight. It's going to be fine. We're just finding our normal. I promise, we'll get there"
"Thank you"
"You're welcome. I better get out there before she decides to drive off" Killian said heading toward the garage
"Not funny" Emma yelled back. She didn't know why but she was feeling a bit of apprehension as she watched her husband and daughter leave for the store. She knew that Killian would protect her with his life but she also wasn't totally convinced that Zoe fully agreed to not pull another stunt like she did yesterday. She just really hoped that she was wrong.
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Killian pulled up to the store and he and Zoe got out and headed inside. "Wanna grab a cart love?"
"Sure…so what's on the list?"
"Great question…Looks like a few basic items and then some healthy crap. We'll add a few things where we need" he said with a wink
"Sounds like a plan. Do you wanna' go ahead and split the list and I can take half…"
"No, this is father daughter bonding time" He said putting a finger on her nose
"Kil…"
"Ah ah ha"
"Dad, come on"
"I'm serious" He said putting his arm around her shoulders "This is the perfect time to get to know each other better. Now, what's first"
They walked around the store together grabbing each item and throwing it into the cart along with a few extra pieces of junk food that Killian knew Emma probably wouldn't have approved of. They were almost at the end when one of the guys from the precinct came up to them
"Sargent"
"Dobbs, how's it going?"
"Just picking up a few things for the game, you comin'?"
"Ah not today. I have a few things I have to get done at the station and I'm also spending some quality time with my daughter. Zoe meet officer Dobbs" He said putting a secure arm around her. He knew these types of meetings were awkward for her.
"Nice to meet you young lady" he said extending a hand that Zoe reluctantly took. "Sarg, I didn't know you had a kid, especially one this old"
"We adopted Zoe, a letter went out to the whole precinct about this" Killian said feeling a bit annoyed at the officers prodding.
"Sorry Sarg, I must have missed it. Well congratulations"
"Thank you. Now we better finish up and get home to Emma but good to see you"
"You too Sarg" They waited for the officer to walk away before Killian addressed the situation.
"Sorry about that love"
"It's okay, you being the Sargent and this being a small town kind of makes these types of interactions inevitable"
"True, but your comfort is my number one goal. If someone ever does something or approaches you…"
"I'll let you know. It was fine. This is still new…for all of us"
"I know…but Dobbs is one who doesn't understand what is appropriate and what's not unfortunately."
"It's fine Dad…let's grab these last two things and then get home before the ice cream melts" and with that she started pushing the cart toward the next aisle. He wasn't sure if she was really okay or putting on an act but he was so proud of how she handled it. It was also nice to hear her call him dad, even though he knew it wasn't real. He had hope though that soon it would be.
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Emma went into the office and sat through her monthly meeting. It was the only thing about the job that she didn't like but realized was necessary. However, she spent the whole meeting thinking about Zoe and Killian and if they were safe. This whole search for Heidi and almost having their location outed had made her want to hold on to Zoe and Killian more.
As soon as the meeting was over she bolted out the room and immediately called Killian
"Hello Love, how'd you're meeting go?"
"It was the same old same old, how is shopping coming? Are you almost done?"
"We're actually loading the car…Zoe can you grab that…we're loading the car right now"
"Good. How is Zoe? Did she do okay?"
"She's fine love. I know you're worried but I promise, we're both fine"
"I'm sorry…I just need to relax…I don't know what's come over me"
"I understand love. I feel it to, but we are doing everything we can to make sure we're all safe and that's all we can do"
"I know…I know…Thank you Killian"
"You're welcome Swan. Now, we're going to head home and put these away so we'll see you at the house"
"Okay, I love you"
"I love you too"
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"Is everything okay?" Zoe asked as they got into the car
"Yea, Emma was just making sure we're good"
"What was she worried about?"
"She was just making sure nothing happened. With everything going on she just worries but I reassured her, I didn't let anything happen to you" He said pinching her cheek.
Zoe immediately swatted his hand away "Oh please! Stop it!" she said trying to not laugh "What did she think I was going to do? Wander off and get lost?"
"Among other things, yes. She just isn't wanting to be away from us just yet, but she is doing a great job of taking it all in stride"
"Well, alright. I mean, I'm not really 14…I know how to take care of myself"
"Really? So running off and not telling us that you were in contact with a runaway minor was you taking care of yourself?"
"Hey, she's in good hands now and I was able to find her when police in two states couldn't so I think that deserves a little bit of credit!"
"You get no credit because you did it behind our backs and almost outed our location, you're lucky you ended up with people who were much more understanding than most adoptive parents would have been" He said giving her a look that let her know that within this playful banter was some seriousness.
"Which is also why you know I'm right" She said throwing her hip out and placing her hand on it. She wasn't going to let this one go.
"You are correct in that you were able to find her, however love, you were wrong in all other aspects. Now get in the car" Killian said effectively ending the conversation.
