Author's Note: You guys are seriously so very amazing. Thank you so much for being the wonderful readers you are. I hope you've enjoyed this story!
Killian woke far sooner than he was physically ready. In an effort to ignore the fact that his mind was rousing even if his body wasn't, he shifted position in bed to make himself more comfortable. His turn was cut short when he rolled right into another warm body, one that didn't budge despite the accidental collision.
He blinked his eyes open to find his beautiful Swan beside him, curled up on her side and taking over half of his pillow. As his sluggish brain became more aware, he realized with a combination of amusement and awe that she'd unconsciously flung her arm across him at some point during the night … er, early morning.
How in the devil did this happen? he wondered even as a smile he couldn't help pulled at his lips.
He heard a soft chuckle from beside him and froze, afraid for the briefest of moments that Emma had awakened. A breath of relief escaped his lips when she remained still, eyes closed and breathing deep and rhythmic. The chuckle, then, must have come from the bed's other occupant.
Killian lifted his head to peek over Emma's shoulder and met the smiling eyes of her young lad. "She's a total bed hog," Henry whispered, a smirk on his lips.
The smile on Killian's face grew wider. His Swan may be a "bed hog," but he would most definitely take it if it meant being this close with her. "So I can expect more of this going forward?" he whispered to Henry.
The lad nodded, his smirk softening into a smile. "She won't believe you if you try to tell her when she wakes up, either. It's fun to tease her about it, though." Then the boy climbed out of bed, apparently giving up hope of going back to sleep himself. He made sure to tuck his side of the blanket tightly around his mother and then tiptoed over to the fireplace to join his grandparents and newborn uncle.
Killian guessed from the dusky light streaming in through the windows that it was still early, so early that he wondered why the lad was even awake. Though his own body was still weary, a couple of centuries of getting up with the sun had left Killian unable to "sleep in," as Emma put it. He was awake now, and no amount of lying still was going to lull him back into slumber.
Still, he didn't get up. During that year without her, Killian had been convinced that he would never see his Swan again … that is, until a bird landed on his ship with a message, a potion vial, and a glimmer of hope attached to its leg. And now not only was Emma Swan here but here she was, snuggled up with him. No, he wasn't moving at all, not until she did.
He could hear the lad and Swan's parents conversing softly in an effort not to disturb her. He could even hear the young royal gurgling happily as his parents doted on him. The simple sounds of a family enjoying an early morning together made him feel … content.
Back when Emma was pleading with him to give her the bean they wanted to use to escape a doomed Storybrooke – which felt like a lifetime ago – she offered him the chance to be a part of something. And she had certainly delivered.
Killian couldn't help glancing over at her again. He very carefully brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. She scrunched her nose and brow as his fingers grazed her forehead but she didn't wake.
As far as he could tell, her close proximity to him hadn't raised any eyebrows but his own. Henry hadn't seemed all that surprised by it and he was reasonably sure David at least would have said something if he'd noticed. Then again, her parents couldn't see her arm under the blanket and they'd probably assumed she'd huddled so closely in sleep because she was seeking warmth. Either that or Emma's "bed hog" tendencies were more well-known to her family than they had been to him.
Not that he was complaining in the slightest, of course.
He could have stayed with her for the rest of the morning and, to be perfectly honest, she probably could have slept another couple of hours. That, however, was apparently not meant to be. Her talking device chose that moment to begin making a godsawful racket, one that was loud enough to rouse her from her slumber.
Somehow a grumpy-upon-being-awakened Emma Swan was even more endearing than a cuddling-in-her-sleep Emma Swan. She turned over with a groan, muttering an incoherent string of curses under her breath that made Killian grin in amusement. The turn accomplished two things, which Killian now realized was the reason why she never believed her "bed hog" status: she removed her arm from his chest and returned to him full use of his pillow. She blindly groped for her talking device, just as blindly swiped her finger across the screen, and pressed the device to her ear. "Hello?" she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep.
The person she was talking to said something that woke her up immediately. Her eyes flew open as she sat up, the expression on her face one of cautious optimism. "Really? When?"
All activity in the shack stopped as everyone stared at Emma, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She seemed to be completely oblivious to their attention, as hers was focused solely on her conversation. "You're sure, Ruby?"
The wolf girl must have given her a satisfactory answer because a relieved grin lit her face. "Oh, that's great! Thanks so much. Keep us posted, okay?"
After a little bit more conversation – which, from Emma's side of it, seemed to be the wolf girl making sure everyone was okay – Emma set her talking device down and grinned at the five people staring at her in anticipation. "Leroy took off to plow us out about five minutes ago. He and Ruby figure we're only an hour or so from getting the hell out of here."
A cheer went up around the shack. Snow and David hugged each other and baby Neal while Henry ran at the bed to wrap both Emma and Killian in an excited embrace. Killian was surprised but soon relaxed into the hug.
Finally, they were going home.
"The polite thing to do," Snow instructed her family after they'd eaten their fill of the food remaining in the cooler, "is to try to leave this place in the condition we found it."
And so the packing began. Well, sort of. Snow and David packed the family's belongings while Henry occupied the squirt. For their part, Emma and Killian put the couch back together, snuffed the fire with the water from the cooler, and put away everything the family had taken out. "I'll call a window place when we get back to town," Emma mumbled, more to herself than to Killian. They didn't break the window themselves, of course, but Emma still felt somewhat responsible.
She paused in her task when she realized that she didn't even know if Storybrooke had a window place to call.
"Do you know how owns this structure?" Killian asked her, drawing her attention from the window repair.
"Not a clue," she admitted. "I didn't even know it was here. I'm hoping I can find out through town records, though." She felt like she should send the owners some kind of gift basket or chocolates or some other little token of appreciation. This shack pretty much saved their lives; she owed them something.
And then the answer came to her. "Actually … hold on a second."
Without another word of explanation, she crossed the shack to the bathroom. She took a moment to prepare herself for the inevitable blast of cold air and then slipped through the door. Killian followed her, more out of curiosity than anything. "What are you doing, love?"
"Trying something," was all she said.
She shut her eyes, which must have clued him in to her plans. "Love–"
"Shh."
He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Swan–"
"Shh!" she hissed, not unkindly, as she shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "It'll be fine."
She hoped.
Killian was left with nothing to do but watch her like a hawk. She could practically feel his concerned gaze on her, but she supposed she could allow it. After all, he was one of the two people who'd had to pretty much drag her out of the room when she'd tried this same thing the day before.
She felt her muscles relaxing as the magic began bubbling in her stomach. The warmth grew and somewhere in the back of her mind, she recognized that the little tendrils of power were responding to her call faster than it had even the day before. Maybe she could get the hang of this magic thing after all.
When the warmth was at just the right temperature, she lifted her head. A flash of brilliant white light illuminated the little bathroom, and when it cleared, Emma and Killian exchanged a nervous glance. She was worried that she hadn't accomplished what she wanted and he was looking her over to make sure she was all right.
"Moment of truth," she said hesitantly.
For his part, Killian didn't look at all nervous. Emma just hoped his faith in her and her abilities wasn't misplaced.
She removed the objects he'd set along the sill to hold the plywood in place and then grasped the wood itself. After another moment's hesitation, she removed the wood to find a perfectly repaired window. "Bloody amazing," Killian murmured.
Relief coursed through Emma's veins as she whirled around to face Killian, a proud grin lighting her eyes. And she only got the tiniest of headaches for her effort! "Forget food deliveries. Maybe I need to set up my own repair shop. Emma Swan's Fix-It Services. What do you think?"
Nothing got by a cunning pirate captain, apparently. He smirked as he gently swiped his thumb across her forehead. "Perhaps you should wait until you can fix things without giving yourself a headache before setting up shop, love, hmm?"
She smiled sheepishly. "At least it's nowhere near as bad as yesterday. That shit was awful."
"Aye, lass."
After a quick shared smile, the two of them exited the bathroom. Snow and David frowned at the both of them, clearly wondering what the hell the two of them had been doing together. Their frowns only deepened when Emma left the door standing open even though she held the plywood that had been keeping the cold at bay in her hands. She smiled at her very confused parents. "The window's fixed."
For a beat, everyone – minus Killian and the squirt, of course – stared at her in shock. Then Henry finally found his voice. "Fixed? As in … poofed whole again?"
"Yep." Snow and David stared at her in amazement. "Told you I could do it," she continued, her voice teasingly smug.
Killian hid a smirk at that. She may have done it hours later than she really wanted but she did it.
"So you did," David murmured softly, a soft, proud smile on his face.
Snow stepped up to her and brushed a wayward lock of hair out of her eyes, also smiling proudly. "And you only have a tiny headache."
Emma stared at her mother in wonder. How the hell did she know? How did she always know?
Before anyone could say anything else, Emma's phone rang, somewhat startling all of them. She pulled the phone from her pocket and glanced at the caller ID: Ruby. She answered the call and pressed the phone to her ear. "Please tell me you have good news."
"I have the best news," Ruby said. "Leroy's cleared a path to Snow's car. Miraculously, it was already cleared off and now he's working on digging it out enough to maneuver it out of the parking spot."
Relief washed over Emma like a wave. Finally! "Oh, thank God! Thank you so much, Ruby. We're all packed up and heading out now."
"You're very welcome. We'll be glad to have you all back in civilization."
And Emma was more than ready to get back to civilization. "See you in a little bit," she said, then disconnected the call. She turned to her family. "We're plowed out. Now let's get the hell out of here."
The relief in the shack was palpable. Snow took the squirt from Henry so she could bundle him up for the trek to the car. Everyone else gathered their belongings and Emma made sure the fire was indeed snuffed completely.
"You know what I think we should do next?" Henry asked as he hooked one of the totes over his shoulder.
"What's that?" David asked.
"I say we go to Granny's and have the biggest breakfast ever. I don't know about you guys but I'm starving."
Everyone chuckled. "That works for me, kid," Emma said, because she was pretty damn hungry, too. Half a sandwich for dinner at ten the previous night and some leftover macaroni salad for breakfast at six in the morning just was not cutting it for her. "And I think it goes without saying that we're blasting the heat in the way to car back into town."
"Oh, absolutely," Snow grinned as she buckled Neal into the car seat. "We'll be blasting the heat at the car and at home for the next few days, I think. At least until the chill in our bones wears off."
"Agreed," David smiled.
As soon as everyone had all their belongings in hand, Killian opened the door from the family. "Are we ready?" he asked.
"More than ready," Emma replied.
She watched as her parents and son tromped out into the snow-covered morning. They followed the trail of footsteps through the otherwise unbroken snow Killian had made the day before. David caught his wife's eye, then glanced over his shoulder at Emma. When he looked back at Snow, they both seemed to come to a mutual decision. They hung back a moment until Emma caught up with them. "Uh, hi?" a slightly perplexed Emma asked.
Killian took the silent hint and quickened his pace to catch up with Henry. "How are you doing?" David asked when he was reasonably sure of their privacy.
Okay, where the hell was this going? "Fine," she replied, wrinkling her brow in confusion.
"Good." There was a beat of silence and then Snow said, "You saved us last night, you know. Pushing yourself to patch the window … you saved us."
Emma's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't been expecting that. "We all saved each other," she said after a moment, partly to take the attention off herself but mostly because it was one hundred percent true. "I don't think I would have known what to do beyond 'try not to freeze to death' if we didn't your survival experience to guide us, and we would have been in even more trouble if Killian hadn't gone to get the extra blanket and sweatshirts."
"You're absolutely right," David said after a moment, smiling at her. "Now about you and Hook ..."
Emma groaned inwardly but managed to quirk a teasing eyebrow at her father. "What about us?"
David exchanged a smile with Snow, who nodded. Then he refocused on his daughter, his smile morphing from gently teasing to wise and loving. "Don't be afraid to let him in, Emma. Don't be afraid to let it all in."
"And once you've let it in," Snow continued softly, "nurture it because it'll be the most wonderful thing you've ever experienced." And with that, the two of them stepped forward to catch up with their grandson.
Emma stared after them, not quite sure what the hell had just happened. Killian, either sensing or seeing her confusion, hung back so she could catch up with him. "What was all that about?" he murmured to her.
Emma furrowed her brow. "I think … I think they just gave us their blessing."
At first, Killian looked surprised but then a glint of wisdom lit his eyes. "What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "You know something."
He smiled at her. "No, I don't. Not with any certainty, at any rate. I'm just wondering if David's remembered a certain long-ago conversation with a certain prince."
All right, what in the fresh hell? David had mentioned a conversation with a prince the day before. Killian changed the subject before she could ask for a clarification. "What I do know with certainty, however, is that you, Swan, are what your lad termed a 'bed hog.'"
She rolled her eyes. Henry kept teasing her about being a bed hog, and now Killian was starting, too? "Oh, please. I am not."
"You keep telling yourself that, love."
Before she had the time to think better of it, she crouched down, picked up a hunk of snow, and whipped it at her pirate. Most of it happened to catch him right in the face, which she hadn't been intending. "I'm so sorry!" she cried, ducking her head and stifling a giggle. "I didn't mean to–"
She stopped short as a snowball exploded on her jacket. Her pirate, she realized as the shock of the cold faded, and he'd retaliated so swiftly, she hadn't even seen it coming!
Henry grinned when he caught the snowball exchange and decided to get in on the action. From that moment on, it was all-out family snowball war until they got to the car (minus Snow, who was very obviously off-limits due to the newborn baby she was carrying).
The family arrived at the station wagon shivering and giggling, their hands aching from the cold. Leroy was indeed waiting by the car, just starting on the one last wheel left to dig out. "You all sure are chipper for six people who've spent a freezing night trapped out in the middle of nowhere."
They were, weren't they? It had been one long and uncomfortable night, but they'd made it.
Of course we did, Emma realized with a smile. There was nothing her family couldn't survive, as long as they did it together.