A/N: Much faster upload this time, woohoo! Many thanks to my wonderful beta (bravebuttercups). She has been instrumental to this chapter and has also written wonderful stories, so check her out! Disclaimer: I don't own these characters

Enjoy!

Chapter Four

When Sunday night arrived, a soft silence had fallen over the Swan household. Emma was propped up on the couch in her living room, Henry perched on her stomach, his breathing steadying out as sleep took over him. She felt his soft breath fan across her face as she stroked his back, not able to bring herself to take him to his bed, selfishly loving the snuggles he gave her.

She thought back to the early days with Henry, the days she spent panicking, insane with worry over how she was going to make it work. She loved Henry, but living on one income and being away for long and odd hours of the day were not conducive to raising a child. Emma remembered many long nights crying on David's shoulder, despite his reassurances that she could raise her son alone. But every rough night was worth it when she got her monkey all to herself. Every smile made her worry fade a little more.

Through this thought process, she found herself drifting, heading towards a well-earned nap before putting Henry to bed. She was all set to fall into oblivion, until her phone started vibrating.

She peeled her eyes open, trying not to let the angry vibrations wake her sleeping child. She shifted slightly, trying to get her phone out of her pocket without jostling Henry, but Henry was in no mood to cooperate tonight. He started fussing at her small movements, eventually waking up in tears, shrieking, his fists clenched tightly on Emma's shirt. He buried his head into Emma's chest as she tried to soothe her normally sweet-tempered baby. While the boy rarely chose to express his displeasure in this way, he sure had a set of lungs on him.

His crying broke her heart, but Emma knew he just needed to get prepped for bed time. He'd already had his bath and was in his pajamas, so Emma headed to his room with her game plan in mind, her phone long forgotten.

She sat down in the wooden rocking chair Mary Margaret had given her and gently rested Henry against her body. His cries began to soften as she started rocking, his brown eyes gleaming up at her.

"There you go, monkey, you're okay." He moved his lips as his eyes started to droop, his grip on her shirt getting weaker by the second. She didn't know why, but this rocking chair always had that power over him. Within minutes, he'd be back asleep and sleeping soundly in his crib.

Once the baby monitor was all set up and Henry was comfortably resting in his crib, Emma headed back to the living room and poured herself a glass of wine. Typically, she didn't drink, but she had a feeling that she was going to need it for tomorrow. If anything, she was celebrating her last Killian-Jones-free night. Or that's what she was telling herself, at least.

She instantly remembered the time she had to awaken. A rude five am. She hadn't willingly been up that early since her training days. She pulled out her phone, aiming to set an alarm.

Instead, she was met with a text from an unknown number.

"Miss me yet, Swan?"

She stared at the screen, confused. Who in the world would she miss? It couldn't have been David or his wonderful wife, so who else did she have regular contact with? Walsh crossed her mind, but not for long. She didn't think he had the guts to keep coming after her.

Defeated and curious, she decided to respond. "I can't miss you if I don't know who you are." The response was almost instantaneous.

"Well played, Swan, but maybe you should've researched me a little better. I'm sure this number is listed somewhere. See you bright and early tomorrow morning! (Oh, and wear that red swim suit you wore back when you won your medal. That outfit is still burned into my brain.)"

She couldn't believe the nerve of him as she felt her face heat with anger. How dare he have the nerve to talk to his coach like that, how dare he snoop around and find her number, how dare he… yes, how dare he! She silently fumed, considering telling him off and not going in tomorrow. But she couldn't walk away. Not yet. Against her better judgment, she replied.

"You mention that suit one more time and you're once again out of a coach," she threatened.

After several minutes, her phone still lacked a response. She briefly considered feeling regret over the text, over so casually mentioning his dead brother, but she forced herself to move on. Killian was another job, not a friend.

Her phone lit up again with a light vibration accompanying it. "Oh, Swan, you wouldn't walk out on me already. I'm your way back in to these beautiful Olympic Games." She could feel his confidence through her phone. She found it slightly unsettling, more than she'd care to admit.

She began constructing her response immediately. "Okay, Mister 'I'm-ranked-28th-in-the-country,' whatever you need to tell yourself. If I wanted back into the Olympics so badly, I would attend the trials as a swimmer, not a coach." She paused, considering how to approach her next question. "Since you are in the 28th spot, I was hoping we could get you back into the pool as soon as possible. Tomorrow. I assume the pool is in good condition?" She clicked send.

This time, he took half an hour to respond and his message felt far too breezy for her liking. "Actually, I was hoping to start on dry land tomorrow. I should really build up my muscles and wait for that to translate into my strokes. And with that, dear Swan, I am afraid I must call it a night. Sweet dreams, love."

She was frustrated. She was his coach. She decided what programming they would follow during training. If he didn't respect her coaching decisions, how could she possibly turn him into an Olympian? She deleted her alarm and the event in her calendar, fully intending to skip out on this job, until she heard Henry's soft snore from the other room.

She couldn't abandon this job. She had a son to take care of now. She had walked away from Walsh so easily, never having considered how it could affect her baby, but this was a good chance to get back to the Olympics.

While Emma didn't like reliving her past, she always enjoyed thinking about the Olympics and the strong women she raced with and developed friendships with. She wanted to be back and to see everyone, but she knew she couldn't go back as a swimmer again. Not with everything that happened and not with Henry being as young as he was. She simply needed to find a way back as a coach.

And Killian was her ticket.

Groaning, she reset her alarms and alerts. She would have to tame him pretty quickly and never let him get under her skin, but she believed that she could do it. She would've never taken the job if she thought there was any kind of chance that Killian Jones would break her rules.

With that thought in mind and training exercises running through her head, she drifted into a blissfully deep sleep.

Emma woke up the next morning to a blaring alarm clock and a fussy baby. She groaned and smashed her phone a couple of times, thankful when it finally turned off. Today was the day she was finally taking on her new project.

With that in mind, she went about her normal routine of getting Henry ready to head over to his beloved Uncle David and Aunt Mary Margaret's house. She got him into his favorite summertime outfit, the ensemble complete with sunglasses and a cute little hat of his. Emma couldn't help but take his picture.

By the time they had left and Emma had dropped her smiling sweetheart off with some of his favorite people, the dread began to slide into her heart. She was playing the 'What-If' game and she knew it, but she couldn't bother stopping herself as she headed over to Killian's.

She pulled into his driveway before she knew it. She sat and stared at the door for a long few moments until she finally gathered up her courage and walked up to the door.

Three light knocks and Emma Swan's life was about to change forever.