4.
"Hey kid," Emma called in greeting.
"Hey." Henry glanced up from his phone as his mother and step-father arrived home. "How was the movie?" he asked, watching them remove their jackets and hang them up.
Emma began to giggle as she kicked off her boots and made her way towards the sofa and the warmth of the fire.
"It wasn't that bloody funny, Swan!" Killian grumbled as he slowly followed her.
"Oh, but it was!" she grinned back at him. "I think the movie freaked your step-dad out a bit, kid," she explained, not being able to keep her giggles under control as she took a seat beside her son on the sofa.
"Huh?" Henry asked as he actually put his phone down. "I thought you went to see the new Star Wars movie? He's seen all the old ones so he should know sort of what to expect."
"Yeah, but we decided to see it in 3D," Emma said as she bit her bottom lip, trying to stop her laughter when she caught the sulky expression her husband was giving her. He sat down in the armchair and folded his arms across his chest.
"You decided!" Killian muttered to himself.
"Oh. Why did you want to see it in 3D?" Henry wanted to know. He had recently become something of a movie snob and thought that 3D ruined the aestheticists of a movie.
"Because I thought it would be funny. And I was wrong, it was totally hilarious!" She lost control of the laughter she'd been trying to keep in check.
"All right, Swan! You've had your bloody fun!" Killian snapped as he got to his feet and headed towards the kitchen.
"What happened?" Henry asked, eager to hear the story now.
Emma animatedly began to recount the story of their evening out.
"Why do we have to wear these weird glasses?" Killian asked as they found their seats in the theatre.
"To see the movie better," Emma replied, sitting down and taking the bucket of popcorn from him.
"How? These glasses are dark, this room is dark, we won't see a damn thing!" he commented as he twizzled the arm of the glasses between his fingers, frowning at them.
"Just, trust me. Okay?" She patted his thigh and offered him some popcorn.
Killian heaved a sigh and slid the glasses on to the top of his head before taking a handful of the popcorn, pleased that it wasn't one of Emma's own concoctions that usually included random melted candy sprinkled in it.
As the trailers for forthcoming movies got underway, they settled into their seats, munching on popcorn and slurping their drinks. Killian's currently hookless arm (since they were out in the real world and needs must) slid around Emma's shoulder as she snuggled into him on their seat for two.
And then the lights dimmed completely and the movie began. "You can put those glasses on now," she whispered to him, doing just that with hers.
"What the bloody hell..." he loudly exclaimed just a few moments later. "Whoa!" he gasped anxiously as he yanked his arm back from Emma's shoulder so that he could dodge out the way of various spacecrafts that looked as though they were coming right for him.
"Ssh!" Emma hissed, trying not to laugh at him as she also heard someone chuckling a few rows behind them.
"What is this?" he hissed back. "Bloody Hell!" he shrieked loudly and almost spilled his drink as he literally ducked low in his seat, really thinking the explosions on screen were happening in the theatre. "Emma?" he asked, noting that she was watching quite calmly, although her body was shaking with laughter, "is this safe" he complained, looking around the theatre for a possible fire.
Emma almost chocked on a handful of popcorn as she squeezed his thigh. "It's fine," she told him, offering him the bucket of popcorn.
"But…" he was still confused, totally not used to this new bizarre experience. Over the last few months, particularly since their wedding, Killian had watched hundreds of movies and TV shows with Emma, but nothing seemed to come out of the screen before. "Holy shit!" He jerked back in his seat then, the handful of popcorn he had just taken scattering in the air all around him as his arms covered his head in a protective gesture whilst laser guns fired and more explosions seemed to leave the screen.
"Hey," Emma whispered, leaning close to his ear. "It's fine, nothing is going to leave the screen and hurt you, it's all just an effect," she told him, hoping to calm him down.
"Huh?" he gave her an unconvinced glance, jumping as the small spacecraft zoomed right through the fire and straight for him.
"I promise!" She took his arms from his face and held them down in his lap, still highly amused by his reaction.
Killian rolled his eyes and tried to settle into the movie, but the entire thing was a stressful experience for him and not one bit relaxing or even that fun when he had to prepare himself for any moment where something was going to make him jump out of his own bloody skin. "Stop watching me!" he hissed about half way into the movie. "Watch the damn screen!" he added, nodding his head towards it.
"But, you're more fun!" she chuckled and kissed his cheek, missing the scowl that he gave her.
"So, he spent the entire movie jumping and flailing around every time something looked like it was coming off the screen. It was SO funny, but those first few moments, when he ducked behind the seat and everything, that was hilarious!" Emma finished retelling Henry about their evening.
Henry was almost howling with laughter by the time she was done as he pictured it all. "Didn't you explain about the glasses and how 3D in a movie works?" he managed to ask between his chuckles.
"She did, when the bloody movie was finished!" Killian grumbled, returning to the lounge with a drink for himself and Emma that he set down on the coffee table.
"You're mean!" Henry informed his mother.
"Isn't she just!" Killian agreed, still rather irritable.
"Although I have to admit that I can't get the image of Killian ducking behind his seat from spacecrafts, explosions and lightsabers and stuff out of my head now," he giggled.
"Well, he was probably afraid they were going to take his other hand, like Darth Vader took Luke's!" Emma giggled.
"Killian, I am your father," Henry said, doing his best impression of Darth Vader from 'The Empire Strikes Back' movie as both he and Emma broke down into another fit of laughter.
"Someone behind us was killing themselves with laughter at him too," Emma added. "I suppose at least he was entertaining!" She was enjoying herself immensely.
"I wasn't even there and I'm highly entertained!" Henry smirked up at his step-father.
"Huh! I'm going to bed if the two of you are going to gang up on me!" he muttered, unamused.
"Okay babe, but I hope you don't have any nasty nightmares from the scawy movie," she mocked him in a baby voice.
"Swan!" he warned, becoming increasingly sullen with her constant jibes.
"Aaw, come here, you big lug." She pulled on the belt of his jeans and yanked him down beside her on the sofa. "I'm sorry," she said softly, giving him her best puppy dog eyes that she knew he couldn't resist. "I was just having some fun," she added and kissed the tip of his nose.
"It's bad form to be so amused at your husband's expense," he pouted and folded his arms.
"Aaw, my poor, darling husband," she placed her hand on his shoulder and gazed up at him, "having such a cruel, mean wife. How can I possibly make it up to you?" she asked as her hand moved up to the back of his neck where she began gently scratching her fingers against the base of his skull, a sensation that she knew had him almost purring like a kitten.
"I have some thoughts," he growled, taking her other hand and kissing her palm.
"I bet you do," she grinned and latched her hand to the back of his neck, tugging him down to share a tender kiss with him.
"Eurgh! And that's my cue to go to bed!" Henry muttered, getting up from the sofa and heading for the stairs, his absence completely ignored by the couple who had become too absorbed in one another to notice.
