Thanks to oncer4life11, Emilee Amethyst, Kelly and Araya for the reviews!
"Okay, now that we're here, what do you want to do?" Killian asked once we found ourselves in the street.
Hand in hand, we were walking through the crowd, taken away by this special atmosphere that was always reigning in the town that never sleeps. His fingers were woven together with mine, as if they had always been meant to be in that position. His thumb was gently stroking my skin as the sun of August was pleasantly warming the back of my neck. This trip was definitely starting very well.
"Eat, because I'm starving!" I answered, turning back to look at him with a little smirk, and he burst out laughing.
"So that's why you didn't want to stay in the room, your plan has been revealed, princess." He gently teased me, poking my shoulder. "Are you having any cravings?"
I took the time to answer in order to know exactly what I wanted. While watching all around me, my eyes met the stand of a street vendor, who was standing a few feet ahead of us. The smell of food reached me, and the baby gave a little kick, telling me that it was hungry as well and these fragances were pleasing it a lot. I turned back to Killian with a big smile, and asked, realizing we had never eaten what I was craving for right now together :
"Have you already tasted a hot-dog?"
"A what?" He said, raising a questioning eyebrow at me.
"I knew that wasn't the kind of food we could get at Granny's!" I laughed, dragging him behind me. "Come, you'll see what I'm talking about."
He followed me, looking a bit intrigued by my behavior, but stopped right before getting in front of the vendor. I turned back to look at him, surprised, and he gave me a skeptic look when he saw what the trolley was looking like. Not seeming convinced at all by my idea, he said in a concerned tone :
"Swan, are you sure this is good for the baby? I don't want to upset you, but it doesn't seem really… healthy."
"Come on!" I encouraged him with a big smile, tenderized by the fact he was worrying for such an unimportant thing. "It's not like I was eating that every day. We are on vacation. And this is what Peanut wants, look."
I drove his hand to my baby bump and he rested it on my stomach as our child was moving like a little devil inside of me. He laughed, gently stroking my belly with his thumb, looking quite amused by the baby's behavior. After a few seconds of silence, he ended up saying, shaking his head :
"Okay, you won. But you're two against me, this isn't fair."
"You at least need to taste this once in your life." I added, taking him with me to the vendor, and he let me do this time. "I promise you it's worth it."
He didn't try to protest again but, when he found himself with his hot-dog in his hand two minutes later, he was looking like he was regretting his decision a lot. He looked at me with a little wince from above his lunch, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop my laughter .
"You know it's not going to jump at your throat and kill you, right?" I scoffed after biting in my own hot-dog with a great appetite, and the baby finally calmed down, visibly satisfied by my choice of food.
"Are you sure this is eatable?" He replied, staring at me like I was coming from another planet.
"Hook, you just saw me eating it." I said, raising a falsely annoyed eyebrow at him.
"Apologize if I don't trust your pregnant lady's cravings. I'm starting to get used to that, and I know your choice of meal can be very strange."
I poked his shoulder as a kind revenge, what made him laugh out loud. I couldn't help but chuckle as well, and after a few minutes spent at annoying me about my choice, he ended up accepting to taste the hot-dog.
"Mmm." He finally stated with half a smile. "I have to admit it isn't that bad after all."
"See?!" I shouted in happiness. "Maybe next time you'll decide to listen to me instead of protesting for so long!"
While giggling, he leaned forward and pressed a quick peck on my lips, as my smile was widening even more. And then, still in this amazing good mood, we started to walk together in the streets of New York.
We were walking for hours in the streets of the Big Apple, and I was starting to get really tired. I was pretty good at sports, and I was used to physical efforts with all the monsters we always had to fight in Storybrooke, but I had to be honest with myself : I was six and a half month pregnant, the baby's weight was starting to get pretty heavy, and I had to be careful it was staying safe. I was then about to ask Killian for a pause, gently squeezing his hand in mine, but he started to talk before I had a chance to tell him what I wanted and said with a concerned look on his face :
"You look tired, love."
"I was just about to ask you to stop for a couple of minutes" I laughed, once again amazed by how connected we always were.
"Do you want to sit down for a bit?"
I nodded and smiled at him so he wouldn't get too worried, and looked around me to find somewhere to settle. Luckily, there was a low wall hidden in the shadow of a big building not far from where we were standing, and I immediately got pleasantly cooled down when I sat down on it. I took off the little backpack I was carrying with me and took the bottle of water I had put in it to drink a few long sips from it. I then looked up to notice Killian was staring at me like I was about to pass out, and I said with a giggle :
"Don't look at me like that, I'm tired, not sick."
"Are you sure you're okay?" He resumed, ignoring my teasing and gently tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "You look very pale."
"Hey, babe, don't worry." I reassured him, regaining seriousness when I realized he was genuinely worried. "I'm fine."
He didn't seem to feel that convinced about my statement, and carried on running his hand through my hair with a deeply worried look on his face. Wanting to show him I was honestly feeling great, I added with a little smile, placing a hand on my stomach :
"It's just that the little one is taking a lot of place, you know."
He quietly laughed and placed his hand over mine on my bump. He then leaned forward to press a gentle kiss on my forehead, and I closed my eyes, enjoying this quiet moment. I was so happy to be in this town with him, and the three days there were coming were going to be simply wonderful, I could tell.
"Do you feel good enough to carry on walking today?" He asked, driving me away from my thoughts. "If you don't, we can go and eat something, we can visit tomorrow."
"I'm okay." I shrugged. "I promise you I'm all right, I just needed some rest."
I was about to continue my sentence when my eyes met a board announcing an underground station not too far away from where we were settled. An idea suddenly emerged in my mind, and I asked, lifting my chin up to look at him in the eyes with a gentle smile :
"Do you know what a subway is?"
"Huh?" He answered with the lost expression he always had when I was talking about something he knew nothing about.
"You absolutely need to try this once!" I cried out without answering his question, suddenly getting back on my feet to take him by the hand, all my energy back.
He didn't protest, looking pretty intrigued once again, but once we found ourselves standing in front of the underground station, he stopped to ask, looking utterly perplexed :
"Where are you taking me?"
"It's a subway station." I explained, quite amused by the fact he didn't know this invention that had always been a part of my life. "It's like a bus, but underground."
"Are you sure it's safe?" He asked, his eyes widening as he was looking pretty worried by my last statement.
"Of course it is!" I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Do you trust me?"
He nodded without even thinking about his answer, but carefully looked at the stairs that were sinking into the ground and into which people were walking with an amazing confidence. It was still office hours, but the town was full of tourists and citizens going god knows where, all looking in a hurry. The underground was then far from being empty. After staring at the ballet of back and forth for a couple of seconds, Hook ended up smiling at me to show me he was ready, and we walked down the stairs, my hand still in his so we wouldn't lose each other in the crowd.
"Where are we going?" he asked once we arrived in front of the turnstiles.
I thought for a couple of seconds about an answer, and looked at him from the corner of my eyes. He was looking pretty tensed because of all these people rushing into one another, and was still holding my hand tight, as if he was scared I would disappear. I didn't have to search for a long time before finding our destination : Central park. We absolutely had to go to this famous place while we were in town, but, more importantly, I was convinced that a little bit of grass would make him feel better and would remind him of Storybrooke. I then smiled at him and moved to wrap my arms around his chest, lifting my chin up to look at him in the eyes.
"It's a surprise." I said with a purposely mysterious look.
My comment made him smile. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed a little kiss on my lips before I placed my head on his shoulder. We stayed cuddled for a little while, enjoying this unexpected embrace, before I pulled away to go and buy our tickets.
After a brief moment of confusion as Killian had no idea how to use the turnstiles, we ended up finding ourselves inside the station, where the crowd was almost running to join the good platforms. I felt Hook's hand squeezing mine even more as I was leading him to our destination, and I tried to reassure him by gently stroking his skin with my thumb so he wouldn't get to worried by all these people walking in this tiny place.
Once arrived on the platform, I winced seeing the amount of people bunching in such little space. I hadn't imagined for a second the underground would be that crowded, and I placed my free hand on my stomach, a bit worried at the idea I wouldn't be able to bear the heat that was without a doubt going to reign in the wagon. As if he had read my mind, Killian started talking in a concerned tone :
"Is there usually that many people here?"
"I think I chose the wrong hour." I admitted with a little shrug.
He winced as an answer, and the noises of the train grunting inside the tunnel rang against the walls. I turned to look at Killian, who had stiffened a bit hearing this unusual sound, that could seem a bit threatening as he didn't know anything about the subway. I said with a little sight, intertwining our fingers together :
"Get ready to be rushed"
Once the doors were open, I noticed with surprise that the passengers were standing aside to let me go first. Amazed by this unexpected politeness, I smiled and managed to make my way to the end of the wagon where, as I had guessed it, there weren't any sitting places left. Killian, looking a bit suspiciously at all these people bunched into such a tiny space, imitated me by grabbing a bar, right on time so he didn't fall over when the train started off.
"Bloody hell." He mumbled, frowning in confusion.
"Welcome to the modern world." I gently teased him. "I was taking the subway every day back when I was living in New York, you know."
"How have you been able to stand this thing for months?" He asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
"We get used to it." I laughed, placing my free hand on my stomach, trying to keep my living space while staying on my feet at the same time as the vehicle was moving quite violently.
"Are you going to be all right, on your feet like that?" He worried, wrapping his arm around my waist to discreetly help me.
"This is a short trip, don't worry. I'll be okay." I reassured him, right before a voice on my right made me turn.
"Do you want to sit down, miss?" A young girl with long black hair asked.
She was around twenty years old, and had an amazingly gentle expression on her face. She looked up to me with her two beautiful dark eyes, looking like she was impatiently waiting for my answer :
"That's sweet." I declined, smiling at her as a quiet thank you. "but I'm fine, we're only here for a short while."
"With the heat wave, maybe it's not a good idea to make efforts, you know." She kindly insisted.
"The lass is right, Swan." Killian, who had listened to our conversation, added.
Without giving me the time to refuse her offer once again, the young girl got up with a smile, and I settled at her place while warmly thanking her. I hadn't wanted to bother her, but I had to admit that between the stifling heat and the baby's weight, I was feeling much better sitting down than on my feet. I smiled at my benefactress once again, who answered by a kind nod, and Killian leaned forward to say in awe :
"I didn't know people were that nice in big cities."
"Me neither." I sincerely answered. "and I've lived here for a year, so I should know."
"You know what? As a resolution, I propose we try to raise our kids like that, because it's a good example to follow."
His comment made me smile as I was imagining our sons, who were always so kind and polite, and I relevantly answered :
"I think we're on a good path, because Henry and Liam are adorable."
He smiled as well, and the rest of the journey happened quite calmly. Killian was looking relieved I wasn't standing up anymore, and our conversation started to get lighter. I ended up getting up a few seconds before arriving to our destination and as, hand in hand, we were heading for the doors, the young girl who had left me her place said with an amazing honesty :
"You're forming a wonderful couple."
Surprised, I didn't have the time to answer that we were already down on the platform, and the train was going away with its familiar grunt. I stayed still for a few seconds, not really knowing how to react. I hadn't expected this declaration at all, and I was feeling very confused.
"Don't look that surprised, love." Hook whispered to my ear with laughter in his voice. "She's right, you know."
I turned back to him, shaking my head in amusement, and, together, we walked up the stairs to finally join the outside.
"Welcome to Central Park." I stated with a big smile once we were arrived into the huge garden.
"In case you've forgotten about it, I've already been here before." He teased, arching a eyebrow. "You even chained me to a bloody bench, if you remember correctly."
"I didn't have my memories anymore, so this time doesn't count." I defended myself as we were walking in one of the numerous paths of the park, biting my lower lip in order not to start laughing.
"So you're finally pleading guilty for the rest!" He kindly scoffed. "Between the giant's den and the hospital bed, I know things about you."
"And after everything we've been through, we're now married with two kids and a third on its way." I said with a giggle
"We come so far." He added, smiling as well.
With the marvelous weather that had taken over the town, the park was absolutely crowded. We took the time to buy bagels to a street vendor before managing to find a little place less staffed than the rest of Central Park. We sat down on the grass, our backs against a tree, to eat our sweets and enjoy the heat of the sun on our skins. After a few minutes, I found myself cuddled against his chest, my legs above his, as he had put his left arm around me and had placed his hand on my stomach.
"I can't wait to see the baby." He said, as our child was giving a slight kick.
"I'm the same." I answered with a smile, my head placed against his shoulder. "I can't wait to know if it's a boy or a girl too."
"Maybe we should start searching for ideas for the name, don't you think?" He offered, gently stroking my bump through my tunic.
"We still have time for that." I shrugged. "And, I don't know, I feel like things are going to be exactly like for Liam : when we'll see it, the name will come on its own."
He suddenly approached me to kiss every inches of my face, ending his path on the tip of my nose, and I burst out laughing. Sometimes, I was so amazed by the bound we were sharing that, far from disappearing through the years, was even stronger than before. We were so in love, and I would never have thought I would be lucky enough to live this kind of story when Neal had left a 17-year-old me in jail. But Killian had managed to make me trust the future, he had always supported me no matter what, and I knew our lives together were going to be so beautiful.
"I love you," I whispered, looking straight into his eyes.
He smiled, placed his forehead against my own, his hand going up to cup my neck as his prosthesis was still in the small of my back. He whispered with pure gentleness, almost against my lips as our noses were brushing against one another.
"I love you too, darling."
We stayed isolated together in our little bubble of happiness for a long while, and it's a drop of rain that hit my leg that made me join reality again. Intrigued, I looked up to the sky to realize the clear blue color had clouded, right when the thunder started to rumble not that far from us. Looking all around me, I noticed the park had emptied itself, and I wondered how the hell we had managed to not realize a storm was coming.
"I think a good storm is coming our way." Killian said, answering my thoughts, his head titled to look at the sky, right when the rain started to pour with such strength that we got drenched in a few seconds.
I shivered because of a drop that'd had the bad idea to enter my t-shirt through my collar, and was now rolling down the skin of my back. Killian looked down to his drenched clothes, and I couldn't help but giggle seeing how outraged he looked.
"You're not better than I am, you know." He defended himself, running his hand through my wet hair.
"Maybe we should try to find a shelter before one of us get sick." I offered, and he nodded with a little smile.
He reached for my hand to help me get up, and we ran in the rain, laughing without managing to stop because of this so unexpected situation. We ended up finding a little cabin, lost in a corner of the park, that was probably used to watch the birds and the squirrels peacefully. I entered the room first, and Killian closed the wooden door behind him, isolating us from the wind that was blowing in violent gusts.
It was dark in the cabin. I looked down to notice the damages, and realized my drenched tunic was sticking to my skin, while my hair dripping with cold water was making me shiver. I started to shake, my teeth clashing into my mouth, and wrapped my arms around myself to try and be a little bit warmer.
"Are you cold?" Killian worried, approaching me.
He didn't even give me the time to answer, and took off his jacket to place it on my shoulders. I laughed, wrapping the clothes around me, wondering how he was doing to always bear this jacket no matter how hot it was outside. I answered in a teasing tone :
"Thanks, but without wanting to upset you, your jacket is wet as well."
He chuckled at my comment and pulled me into a tight embrace, quite enjoyable solution to my problem. I buried my face into the crook of his neck, his also drenched hair dripping on my cheeks :
"Are you warmer that way?" He asked, rubbing my back.
"Not that much, but I like that position." I replied, what made him giggle once again.
The water that was falling on the cabin's roof was making a terrible din. Outside, we couldn't even see three feet ahead of us because of the rain and the wind, and the thunder was rumbling in a threatening way. I was ready to bet that the park was now completely empty, and the storm was going to last for a while. After a little time spent at trying to warm me up, Hook pulled away from me and started to kiss me, first gently, then more and more passionately. I decided to follow his lead, letting his jacket fall on the floor of our shelter, but stopped him when his hand started to pass underneath my tunic.
"I want this as much as you do, believe me, but this isn't very private." I stated, placing both my hands on his chest.
"We're lost in a cabin in the middle of the woods, Swan." He countered, running his hand through my hair. "We can hardly find more private."
"Imagine of someone walks in here and finds us like that." I said, amused by his comment.
"Who could come here in the middle of a storm?"
"Hikers searching for a shelter, just like us."
"Okay." He surrendered, pulling away from me. "If it's the only thing that's troubling you."
I stared at him looking all around the place, wondering what he had in mind, and understood his intentions when he walked toward the only piece of furniture in the room – a bench placed in the corner of the cabin, that was allowing the visitors to get some rest – and dragged it toward the door, placing it in front of it and forbidding anyone to enter the shelter. He then turned to look at me with a little smirk and stated :
"You okay like that?"
"Very well." I said, approaching him. "I have to say I'm pretty eager to take off these wet clothes"
He laughed, and we resumed our kisses even more passionately than we had done before.
We stayed for hours cuddled against each other, in this cabin lost in the middle of Central Park. The rain had slightly calmed down, but we hadn't paid attention to it, too lost in our little world. I hadn't seen the time pass, and was surprised to realize the sun was already setting in the sky when I turned my head to look by the little window.
"We should go." I whispered, my head buried into the crook of his neck.
We were both sitting against a wall, wrapped in such a tight embrace that I didn't know where he was beginning and where I was ending anymore. He let go of a little grunt and kissed my neck, as if he wanted me to change my mind.
"It's still raining outside." He noticed, looking by the window as well, pulling me even closer to his chest.
"Yeah, I know, but if we don't go now, it will be too late and we won't find anywhere to eat. And, even if I know you're going to mock me about the fact the pregnancy makes me hungry, I am starving."
He smiled, and ran his hand through my hair one last time before getting on his feet, finally convinced by my comment. As the good gentleman he always was, he reached for my hand to help me get up, and we quickly picked up the clothes that were still scattered on the floor – my shoes, my jeans, his shirt and his jacket, that he wrapped around me, refusing to put it on himself. And then, hand in hand, we finally got out of our shelter to face the little unpleasant rain that was still falling from the sky to tingle our faces.
The park was completely empty. In the streets, the citizens were bunching under big umbrellas, walking fast to avoid getting too wet. We walked in front of several restaurants, but they weren't accepting any new clients anymore : it was 10 p.m. after all, and we had gotten out of the cabin way too late. We ended up walking into a little Italian restaurant, lost in the middle of a big street, our clothes and hair wet because of the rain. There were still people in the main room, and for a moment, we had the hope to finally be able to eat something, but the owner, a forty-something woman, ended up approaching us with a sheepish look on her face :
"I'm sorry, but the kitchens have just closed a few minutes ago."
I saw Killian's face falling in despair, and I had to admit I was myself quite disappointed by these news. The smell of bread and tomato sauce that was floating in the air was making me even hungrier, and the baby was furiously kicking in my stomach, as if it was starving as well. I gently squeezed Hook's hand to ease him and forced myself to politely smile at the woman facing us :
"Don't worry, thanks anyway. Come on, let's go." I added, trying to take Killian with me to go out under the rain again.
"Are you sure you can't make an exception?" He asked, staying on his feet so I wasn't able to drag him behind me.
"Killian!" I cried out, surprised as I hadn't expected him to insist. "We're too late, it's our fault if nothing is open anymore."
"But..."
"No." I gently cut him off. "I'm hungry, I'm not sick. You don't have to worry, we'll end up finding somewhere to eat. We still have the hotel's room service, even if it's going to be quite expensive. At the worst, a fast food must still be open somewhere."
"I'm not sure this is very good for the baby." He said with a suspicious frown.
"It's not like I'm doing this every day, babe. Come on..."
He was looking like he was finally ready to listen to me, but, at my greatest surprise, the owner, who had listened to our conversation with a little amused smile on her face, called us back as we were about to get out of the place :
"No, wait."
I turned back to look at her in surprise, wondering what had gotten into her, and saw that her eyes were staring at my baby bump. She had probably not noticed I was pregnant before, because of Hook's jacket, too wide for me, that was hiding my curves. She suddenly placed a hand on my forearm and said in an almost maternal way :
"Stay, I'll make this work."
"You've just said the kitchens were closed. We don't want to bother you..."
"I'm not going to leave a pregnant woman out there, starving under the rain! I'll make you something to eat myself if I have to." She said, looking very confident about this statement.
"We really don't want to annoy you..." I started, afraid at the idea she was feeling forced to make us something.
"The only thing annoying me right now is your protestations. Follow me, now. I won't accept a rejection."
I felt my eyes widening, surprised by the bossy tone she had used to talk, and shared a look with Killian, who was looking quite amazed by what was happening to us. Giving up on the idea of protesting once again – I had to admit the offer was pretty tempting, because I was really starving – I let her guide us into the main room. She made us sit down at a little table in a corner of the restaurant, and without giving us the time to thank her, she headed for the kitchens with quick steps. I turned to look at Hook and said, completely confused :
"Wow, well, that was nice."
"People are surprisingly polite with us when you are pregnant." He said with a little smile.
"I'm certainly not going to complain, because Peanut looks very mad." I laughed, placing my hand on my stomach to try and calm its violent kicks down.
Hook laughed as well and grabbed my free hand to woven our fingers together above the checked tablecloth. A couple of minutes later, the owner came back with some bread and the menus, which she placed in front of us with a kind smile. We didn't take long to choose, and after going away again for a few more minutes, our benefactress came back to us :
"I haven't had the time to introduce myself." She said with a big, warm smile. "I'm Serena."
"I'm Emma." I answered, still surprised by how sweet she was with us. "And this is Killian."
"Are you from far away?"
"No." I answered, my fingers still intertwined with Hook's. "We are from Maine."
"You're here for a special occasion?"
"It's our honey moon." Killian explained, gently running his thumb against the skin of my palm in a pleasant stroke.
"Oh, you've just gotten married!" She cried out, as if it was the news of the century. "Congratulations! And congratulations for the baby! When are you due?"
"Around the half of November." I said, placing my hand on my bump again.
"What, already?! You barely seem pregnant!" She shouted, looking utterly scandalized. "You need to eat, you know!"
"Oh, don't worry, she does." Killian kindly joked.
I gave him a little kick under the table as a revenge, what made him laugh out loud. He resumed gently stroking my hand, and I let go of a little sight of pleasure, so happy to find myself there, with him. Serena chuckled as well before starting to talk again :
"Is it your first one?"
"No." I answered, shaking my head. "It's my third."
"You already have two kids?" She said, looking deeply surprised, her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yeah, well, the eldest, Henry, isn't my biological son." Killian explained with a little shrug. "But I almost see him every day, so he's like my own."
"This is wonderful, because it's so rare to see two people still loving each other so much after so many years spent together." She said with an amazed smile.
"We've been through a lot together."Killian then answered.
I pressed my lips together to avoid laughing, aware that Serena had no idea we had literally fought and won against death more than once. Killian raised an eyebrow at me, pretty proud of this private joke, and Serena smiled, looking tenderized by how close we were :
"I'll leave you two to it." She stated. "It's coming right away."
She hadn't lied to us : two minutes later, a huge plate fill in with spaghetti and meatballs was laying in front of me. We took the time to gratefully thank Serena, and I had to force myself to stay polite and not start eating right away, because my stomach growling was really starting to bug me.
The meal happened in a very good atmosphere, and the food was literally delicious. The restaurant was emptying gradually, and we ended up being the only ones who kept on eating. We hurried to finish and not bother Serena too much, as she had already been way too sweet with us.
"How was it?" She came to ask us when we had finished
"It was prefect." Killian answered with a smile. "We're going to go now, we've already bothered you way too much..."
"You should take a desert, you know!" She offered with a huge smile. "I'm offering!"
"That's sweet, but I couldn't eat another bite." I answered, wondering why this woman we were knowing for less than an hour was so nice with us.
"That wasn't a question." She said with in suddenly serious tone. "You're the skinniest pregnant woman I've ever seen, I have to change that!"
I burst out laughing, utterly surprised, and she didn't accept any of our following protestations. That's how Killian and I found ourselves eating a huge Italian ice cream, both laughing because of the owner's comments. This evening that had started pretty badly as we had thought we would never find a place to eat was definitely ending very well.
We ended up leaving Serena, warmly thanking her – and leaving her a generous tip – as she was wishing us the best, telling us, as the young girl in the metro before her, that we were forming a wonderful couple. Full, Killian and I got in the street, hand in hand. Outside, the rain had finally stopped, and it was beginning to warm up a bit. Smiling, we were walking fast, suddenly eager to go join our hotel and found ourselves in each other's arms once again.
See you Friday for the last part of the honey moon!