Emma was so hard to write. She has so many levels, to capture them is a task. And yet, it is the biggest chapter yet. Go figure.

I hope I managed to do her justice, even if it is just for this little piece.

I love the idea of her as a big sister, so I explored that in here. Hope you guys like it.

Much love,

Nat'

.:.

Fairy tales are supposed to give you hope, and some comfort. Emma got more out of fairy tales than anyone she ever knew.

.:.

It was still so surreal to think it sometimes, even though it has been a while, and it was absolutely nothing like the stories and the movies.

But, still, sometimes she would chuckle and shake her head at the thought.

She was dating Captain Hook.

In love, really. She was in love with Captain Hook, and he was in love with her. He was handsome ("Devilishly handsome, wouldn't you say, love?" and that brow wiggle that only he, in the entire world, could pull off), he was caring, he had a way of kissing her above her ear that was so sweet it warmed her heart every time he did it. He called her "my Swan" when they were alone, as if he were referring to someone else ("Hey, can you pick up some coffee on your way here?" "Of course, love, anything for my Swan").

And Emma was used to it. Hell, her mother is Snow White, her father is Prince freaking Charming, and she shares a son with the Evil Queen, who is in love with Robin Hood and is the sister of the Wicked Witch of the West. So of course she fell in love with Captain Hook. That's her life, apparently. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

But yeah, sometimes the absurdity of it all hit her in the face, and all she could do was smile to herself.

Like now. Here she was, lying down on her bed – on her own place, finally -, holding a baby toy above a smiling Neal. It seemed like it was yesterday when she felt like the loneliest person in the world, and now she had a little brother.

"I'm gonna work so hard", she told him, "for your first word to be 'Emma'. You're gonna help me, right? You can say 'Emma' before 'mama' or 'dada', can't you? You're a smart baby."

Neal cooed and moved his chubby arms and legs around, reaching or the toy Emma still dangled in front of him.

The door bell rang, and Emma sat up, picking baby bro up and walking towards the living room. Opening the door, she smiled at the pirate standing there, looking better than he had the right to this early in a Saturday.

"Always a beautiful sight, my Swan in the morning", he said, stepping towards her and giving her a kiss full of so much love she felt she could cling to him for the rest of the day, right there on the front door. But, between their one arm hug, Neal made himself present by saying "Gah!" in a very high pitch. Backing away from her kiss, Killian looked at the infant.

"Hello to you too, little mate. How are you?"

"He's good. A little hungry, I think, it's past his breakfast time. Can you hold him for me, while I heat up his bottle?"

"Of course, love."

"Take your hook off first."

He rolled his eyes, but he did, hanging it in his back pocket.

"He is the best smelling baby I have ever met, your brother."

"Have you met many?" she asked, walking to the kitchen and opening the fridge, taking one of the bottles Mary Margaret had given her when dropping him off the night before. "I'd think that the baby ratio on the Jolly Roger was pretty low."

"Well, I wasn't a pirate for all of my life, you know. I met a few in my time. But none that smelled this good."

"Well, that's Johnson&Johnson for you. Making babies smell nice since... Well, since they started doing that."

Coming back to the living room, she stepped close to them and offered the bottle to Neal, whose little hands grabbed it eagerly, attaching it to his mouth fast.

"There you go", she smiled at him.

Killian dropped his head and gave her another kiss, this time on that spot above her ear.

"You know, you also smell very good, Swan."

She smiled.

"Thank you. I aim to please."

Walking back to the kitchen, she tied her hair up in a lose bun to prepare something for them. She had half a mind to just pour some cereal in a big bowl and share it with Killian, but Henry was pretty fond of that particular brand, so she got some eggs to make an omelet.

Turning to ask if he wanted coffee, she stopped in the middle of whisking.

There he was, the big bad pirate, famous villain, classic book and movie character, standing in her kitchen, feeding a small baby.

Why is that so attractive? Why does she feel so warm inside, watching her pirate boyfriend cradling her brother?

"What is it, love?" he asked.

Busted. And she knew better than to stare at him.

"Nothing. Just never thought you were so good with kids", she said, turning to prepare the omelets.

Neal finished with the bottle and Killian put him in his stroller, a toy in his hand. Attaching his beloved hook back on, he stepped behind her at the sink, where she was placing the big omelet on a plate, and put his arm around her, turning her to him.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, that face that said 'trouble' in place.

"What, since you left ten hours ago?"

"Yes."

She ran her hands up his chest and to his neck.

"Maybe a little bit."

He hummed happily and ducked to kiss her again, which she was more than happy to allow, and kiss back.

He told her once that they should learn to enjoy the quiet moments. And she definitely has, with Henry, with her parents, even with Regina, and with him.

It was funny, how she missed him back in New York, and didn't even know it. How she looked for him in every guy she met, how she liked when Walsh made a joke that might sound a bit with something that Killian would say, or do.

So funny how happy, how ridiculously happy she was when she looked at him outside that police station and recognized him, how her chest coiled tightly and expanded in fast relief when the year she went without him crashed into her and the comfort of immediately seeing him in front of her was like a bucket of warm water on her senses. Hook. Her Hook, even if he wasn't at the time.

But now he was. All hers, and she was his. His Swan, as he liked to say.

Making out with Captain Hook, in her kitchen, wearing PJ's, while he pressed her against the sink. Normal. Quiet. Good.

"Do you-", she said between his kisses. "Do you have to... Be somewhere this morning?"

"I was going to assist Eric with his boat, he's restoring one." His hand in her hair, lips hovering over hers.

"Can you canc-"

"Yes."

He was a good kisser, her Captain. Fantastic. They never did mention this fact in the books.

And she would be happy to stay there, kissing him, holding him, feeling his muscles under her hands and sliding her leg up his and feeling the cool metal of his hook sliding up her back inside her shirt, but Neal was right there, munching on the head of his toy, watching them, and she didn't want to traumatize him.

"My mom's coming to pick him up in a bit", she whispered. "You think you can keep your hand and your hook to yourself until then?"

"Can you?" he smiled against her lips.

Turned out she couldn't. Moving to the table, she took place on his lap instead of occupying her own chair. Sharing omelet and coffee with him, she kept running her hand on his hair, enjoying the pressure of his hook on her back and his hand on her leg, Neal demanding her attention every now and then.

Breakfast over, none of them were willing to move. So there they stayed, talking of nothing and everything on the kitchen, laughing and flirting and kissing and just being them.

Enjoying the quiet.

Her phone buzzed on the table, a text from Henry.

"Robin is teaching him how to use a bow and arrow. And then they're gonna have lunch in the woods with the rest of the Merry Men. So I guess my schedule is all opened up." She looked at him. "What am I gonna do with my day now?"

"I can think of a few things."

His hand was making it's way up her sweat pant covered leg when there was a knock at the door.

"That would be my mom."

Getting up, she walked to the door and opened it to the smiling face of her mother.

"Good morning!"

"Morning. How was your date?" Emma asked.

"Oh, it was good. I really did need a free night." Mary Margaret said, walking in. "But I thought it would be more romantic." She turned to her, a small smile on her lips. "All we did was have dinner and sleep. Didn't even eat the dessert. Woke up at eight thirty, starving!"

"Huh. Sleep deprivation is a real part of parenthood."

"It is!" She sat her bag on a chair. "How are you? Was he any trouble?"

"Not at all. Slept through the night."

Mary Margaret's eyes were big on her face.

"Did he, really? How did you manage that?"

"We played a lot. Like a lot. He passed out on my bed in the middle of peek-a-boo."

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Killian came in to the living room at that moment, pushing the stroller in front of him, a fresh mug of coffee on his hand. "There's my little prince! Did you miss mama? Did you?" she picked the baby up. "Hook, I didn't know you were here."

"Just arrived a few minutes ago."

Mary Margaret turned Neal in her arms.

"I hear you didn't cry at all last night. Is it because you had such a good time with your sister? Did you have a good time with Emma?"

"Emma!" Neal blurted out suddenly.

There was a stunned silence.

"I'm sorry. What did you just say?" Emma asked, stepping closer to her mother so she could look at the baby that was smiling at her. "Did you just say my name?"

He giggled.

"Neal", Mary Margaret coaxed. "Honey, who's this? Is this Emma?"

"Emma!"

This time both women let out excited shouts, cooing over the now laughing baby.

"Oh, this is so cool of you, Neal!" Emma said, getting him back from her mom and hugging him to her. "I'm so glad you know how to say my name!"

They tested his new ability for a few more minutes, asking "who is this" and "who is that" and pointing at her. Every time a finger was pointed at her, he said "Emma!", satisfied with the reactions he was getting.

"Oh, your father's gonna be so happy about this! We have to tell him!"

"Why don't you go ahead? I have to run a few things here, then get ready. We'll meet you guys somewhere?"

"Great. Call me and we'll meet at Granny's or something. Bye. Say 'bye' to Emma, Neal." She waved, and the boy imitated her, once again proving he could really say his sister's name.

"Bye, baby", she kissed his little forehead. "Bye mom, I'll talk to you later."

Closing the door after them, she smiled big at Killian.

"Can you believe that? I was actually talking about that with him before you got here. It's like he understood me or something."

"Well, love, if he's anything like me", he walked closer, touching his forehead to hers. "He loves you very much. We tend to learn the name of things that are precious to us."

Lifting her arms to hug him around his neck, she couldn't control her smile.

He was right. That word, her name being the first coherent word out of that baby's mouth was solid proof that he loved her, that she was not alone in the world anymore, that she had a family, that they all did love her for real, all of them. Her son, her parents, her brother, her friends, her... Boyfriend. Her Killian.

And she loved all of them back, with all her heart. And just the fact that she did, that she had so many people to love filled her heart with such a wonderful feeling, a joy she thought, for many many years, she would never know.

So she clung to him, with arms and legs.

"Now", he said from her neck, unbuttoning her top with his hook. "I believe I cleared my morning, as per your request, love. What shall we do, all alone in this apartment?"

Lifting a hand to glide her fingers around his metal extremity, she took a deep breath and touched her forehead to his.

"I can give you a tour of my bedroom."

"What, again?" he mocked, but she noticed his hand clenching on her waist.

"Oh, so you don't want one? Sure, we can go out, run to the mines and hang out with seven dwarfs, if you prefer."

He bent his knees and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder, making her gasp in surprise.

"Here's a thought. Why don't I give you a tour. Of my favorite parts of you."

She laughed and demanded him to put her down while he made his way to the end of the hallway, where he kicked her bedroom door open and deposited her on the bed, trapping her down with his legs and shedding his jacket.

"Yo ho", she whispered, pulling his shirt from his pants and making quick work of the buttons.

"A pirate life for you, love", his voice, so low and sensual, so close to her, as he kissed her slowly, passionately, as he lied down on top of her and got rid of her clothes.

He gave her the tour. Explaining every single detail, exploring the little corners of her that he adored and why he adored them, remembering facts about their life together, when she used to not trust him, when he used to lie to her, when they were so busy antagonizing each other, he told her secrets about how he wanted her in that particular moment, or how he imagined her when she said something, or how that part of her always distracted him.

"I love you, Swan", he would say from time to time.

"I love you too", she would answer right back.

Later, like two or three hours later, her phone started ringing. She hid her face on his chest a little further, feeling so pleasantly relaxed, her muscles like jelly, not at all willing to get up from their cozy spot on her bed, he felt so warm and good against her.

He reached an arm to retrieve the phone from the bed side table.

"It's your father."

Sighing, she accepted the phone and answered it.

"Hey, dad."

"Hi! So I heard the news. Congratulations, you are officially Neal's first word."

She chucked.

"Listen, I kinda need your help. Henry shot an arrow straight through the back tire of the truck, and I don't have a spare. Do you think you can rescue us?"

Forty minutes and a shared shower later, she was arriving to the woods, parking the bug behind David's truck, where, sure enough, she spotted an arrow sticking out the back tire.

Descending the car, she saw a big group of people sitting in what looked like an enormous camp, complete with tents and fallen logs to sit, the smell of food cooking on the big fire.

The Merry Men's camp was seriously cool.

There stood Henry, a bow on his hand, Robin Hood on one side of him, Mary Margaret on the other, both also carrying arrows. David sat with Friar Tuck on a log, Neal on his stroller, and Roland standing in front of it, making faces.

"Emma!" The baby shouted happily when he saw her, and that smile she found she was unable to control came right back.

Robin and her mom shared their best shooting tips with Henry, who was excited to show her how much he had improved already.

They ended up having lunch right there in the woods, sharing stories and talking of nothing important, just happy to not be chasing a monster, or each other. Regina arrived a little after Emma and Hook, with no urgent news from Zelena's cage.

They sat, ate and talked together, Enjoying the noise their combined talking made, but the quiet of their mid-crisis time.

Resting her head on Killian's shoulder, while chewing on a turkey leg, she thought about when he had knocked on her door back in New York, dressed in his pirate clothes, and she mentally repeated what she said to him then, just to reassure herself.

"My family is right here."

.:.

That "hook in the back pocket" bit is because I love that pic that Jen posted. So casually cool.