"I never thought this day would come, but it's snuck up on me so quickly..." Kayleigh grins at her parents, giving each of them a tight hug, "I couldn't have ever done this without you two."
"It's come up so fast. It seems like just a few years ago that you just became a teenager. Oh, I miss my wild little tween."
"I'm still sixteen, Mom. You don't have to worry about me growing up anytime soon."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you supposed to be graduating high school at eighteen years old? That's how it works here, right? How come you're getting out early? Good behavior?"
"Dad, you know this! I skipped a couple grades, that's all. It's not a big deal." Kayleigh rolls her eyes and pushes her curly, dark brown hair away from her cobalt eyes. The tassel from her graduation cap hangs directly in front of her mouth, so she blows fast air onto it so that it starts swinging around.
Killian moves it out of the way and takes his daughter up in another hug, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.
"I'm just so glad I've been here for you, to watch you grow up and graduate. I don't want you leaving anytime soon," He withdraws and wipes his eyes quickly, trying to remain calm in the face of an emotion he's not comfortable showing in front of anyone other than family members.
Smiling at her husband, Emma speaks up, "Killian, should we show her the surprises now?"
"Surprises?" Kayleigh, like any other hyperactive teenager, loves surprises, "Let me guess! A car and a graduation party!"
Killian and Emma just stare at her with dumbfounded expressions, speechless.
"How does she always know exactly what the surprises are? She always spoils all the fun!" Kayleigh's much older brother, Henry, and slightly older uncle, Neal, emerge from the crowds of graduating seniors and their loved ones.
"I just have a gift. Mom got the lie detector and I got the surprise detector, I guess. What did you get, Dad?" Kayleigh has the same infamous smirk as her Dad, the famous Captain Hook.
"I got devilishly handsome looks and the skills of a pirate. It's a good thing you only got the good looks. We don't want out innocent little sixteen year old getting sticky fingers, now do we?" Killian returns the smirk, trading faux-sinister grins with Kayleigh.
"Well," Emma cuts in, grabbing Neal and Henry and setting off, leading them toward the three waiting cars, "Time to get to the not-so-surprise party then!"
Henry jumps into his own car and leaves without another word. Killian and Emma walk over to the old family car. Neal hops into the front seat of the completely new car, checking it out even before the new owner can.
"I love it, Mom and Dad! Thank you so much!" Kayleigh jumps into the driver's seat enthusiastically, inhaling the new car smell and glancing around at the caramel interior.
It's a yellow bug, just like the one Kayleigh had seen so many times in old photos of her Mom. Emma had owned one just like it when she was younger.
After a quick lesson in how to work the car's unique controls, the two cars are off. When they arrive at the apartment of Kayleigh's grandparents, Snow White and Prince Charming, Henry is waiting at the door.
"Grandma and Grandpa are inside, setting up the food. I decided I would rather wait up for you guys instead of help with putting cinnamon on twenty different cups of hit cocoa." He explained, not bothering to wait for anyone to ask in the first place.
Emma nods and reaches over, knocking on the door. It opens ten seconds later and the small group is greeted with a large shout of "Surprise!".
Kayleigh feigns surprise, but she doesn't have the acting skills to pass it off.
"She figured it out again, didn't she?" Charming gets only a nod in response and he shakes his head, "I told you not to tell her that there was a surprise to begin with! It's always safer to just straight on do it."
The adults mingle and Kayleigh meets up with some of her friends. Her other graduating friends are with their own families today, but her younger and older friends are all gathered around, congratulating her.
Neal has disappeared, and Killian had set off to look for him a few minutes ago. It's not that large of an apartment, so Emma and Kayleigh decide to go see whether or not the two are alright, or even if they're still in the building.
Killian and Neal are sitting on Snow and Charming's bed, flipping through and old photo album. Not surprisingly, Henry is sitting on the rocking chair nearby flipping through an even thicker one.
Henry always seems to find his way to the things he finds interesting, and apparently the albums are just that.
Emma and Kayleigh join them.
Kayleigh has already seen all the pictures of her own childhood. She even remembers some of them, like her first visit to the Enchanted Forest. Now that portals had been completely renewed, they could pop back and forth whenever they wanted.
What Kayleigh enjoys most, though, is the massive amount of pictures and videos from when Henry was a kid. Back then, villains were a daily thing in the lives of fairytale heroes.
There had been adventures galore, and Kayleigh always loved reading about a new adventure.
The five family members sit together for the rest of the party, the background noise fading to a buzz as they laugh and chat and reminisce, calling forth the memories of near-death situations and finding each other.