Chapter One
"Momma?" Hope looked up at her Mom with eyes as blue as her father's.
"Yes baby?" Emma asked from where she sat beside the bathtub.
"I's not a baby! I's a big girl!" Hope protested, kicking her little feet in frustration, which splashed the pair of them and capsized the plastic pirate ship in the tub she had been playing with.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry my little three year old!" she chuckled, rubbing the child's face with a soft wash cloth and making her giggle. "What is it my big girl?" she asked.
Hope paused as she rescued her pirate crew that had fallen overboard. She picked the ship up and poured the water out, before dumping the plastic figures back on it and then grinned up at her mom. "Is Daddy a piwot?" she asked.
Emma frowned. "A parrot? Like the bird?" she asked, searching for clarification on her question as she rinsed the soap from her daughter's back.
"Noooo!" Hope squealed with giggles, finding her Mom's question hilarious. "Daddy's not a bird Momma! A piwot that goes on a ship!" she stated, using her toys for emphasis as she held up one of the figures.
"Oh," Emma nodded in understanding then as she got what the meant. "A pirate. Yes, daddy is a pirate. Well not so much any more. But technically I suppose, yes."
Hope screwed up her face, thinking rather seriously about something before looking up at her Mom again. "But...is he a bad man?" she asked, rather quietly.
"A bad man? Why on earth would you think that?" Emma asked, immediately alarmed.
Her daughter sighed over dramatically. "Joey, at pwe-school...he said that all piwots are bad bad mens," she explained with a little pout.
"Oh baby," Emma murmured softly, stroking her little girls damp blond curls. "Do you think your Daddy is a bad man?"
She thought about it for less than a second before shaking her head fiercely and her face broke into a big smile. "My Daddy is the bestest! He funny and make me laugh and he play with me. He maked dinner and breakfast and takes me to school and does lots and lots of things!" she said as she waved her hands in a huge circle.
"So, do you think he's a good man?" Emma questioned.
Hope nodded. "And I love him and he loves me and mommy and Henwy."
"Yes, he does. Very, very much. So, don't you go listening to any silly things this Joey tells you, okay?" Emma asked, kissing Hope's forehead.
"Okay Momma," she grinned and resumed her game with her bath toys.
"Good. Now, you're all done. You ready to get out, kid?" she asked, already knowing what the answer would be.
"Just one minute?" Hope requested and launched an attack on the pirate ship with her wind up whale.
"One minute," Emma agreed, getting up from the floor to sit on the closed toilet seat as she waited.
Five minutes later and Emma found herself once again attempting to bribe her somewhat wilful daughter to get out of the tub. "Come on, Daddy is waiting to read you a story. And he might already have your milk ready."
"Chocolate?" Her little eyes lit up in hope.
"Perhaps," Emma replied, standing ready with a warm towel.
Minutes later, she was out, dried off and snuggled into her pajamas as Killian put her to bed, with the promised story and glass of milk, whilst Emma headed downstairs to finish up some paperwork she had brought home.
She was just saving the file on her laptop that she'd been wanting to get finished, when she heard Killian padding downstairs. "Is she asleep?" she asked, tidying up her papers and folders from the kitchen table and shutting down the laptop.
"Aye," he sighed wearily. "Finally, she was a little demanding tonight with the stories." he added, moving behind Emma and leaning on her chair as he nuzzled against her neck.
Emma smiled and reached back to ruffle his hair before shrugging him back so she could get up. "You're far too soft with her, you give into her demands too easily," she told him as she grabbed the milk from the fridge and poured some into a waiting pan on the hob.
Killian got out a couple of mugs and the hot cocoa mix for their evening drink ritual to wind down from their day. "And I suppose you never do?" he laughed, because they both knew they tended to spoil their daughter just a little.
She gave him a little shrug and pulled a playful face at him, before turning back to stir the milk. "Can you go stoke the fire? So we can get cosy?" she asked of him.
Once the drinks were made, adding a splash of rum to his, whipped cream to both and a dash of cinnamon to hers, she joined him in the lounge. After setting down their mugs and snuggling against Killian on the sofa, she tucked her socked feet under herself with a contented sigh. For the first time that day she felt herself relax, listening to the pops and crackles from the logs in the fire. This was her favourite time of day, when all the chores were done, their little girl was safely tucked up in bed and it was just the two of them in the peace of the evening.
"Did Hope ask you about anything at bedtime?" she wondered, blowing over the rim of her mug cradled in her hands before taking a sip.
Killian groaned and let his head fall back against the sofa. "What didn't she ask me?" he asked. "Why is our little lass so inquisitive?"
"Because she's our daughter." Emma replied with a laugh. As well as her blonde hair and blue eyes from her parents, Hope had also inherited two sets of stubbornness, quick tempers, passion and impatience.
He chuckled and nodded his agreement. "Let's see...tonight she asked me why it gets dark at night. Why we have to go to bed. Why she has to sleep on her own when you to sleep with me. What we were having for breakfast tomorrow and then what she could be for Halloween, what Henry was going to be and what her Uncle Neal was going to be. She seems to be quite into Halloween this year," he finished.
"Hmm," Emma murmured in agreement. "I suppose we need to get a move on with Halloween stuff. I wanted to take her to the pumpkin farm to pick her own and we need to find a costume for her. It's only a couple of weeks away now and this will be the first year that she really understands what's going on. Did she give you any ideas?" she wondered.
"No. But I told her she could be anything or anyone she wants to be," he said, reaching for his own mug.
Emma nodded and took another drink of her cocoa. "So she didn't ask you anything about being a pirate?"
"You mean for Halloween?" he asked.
"No." Emma set her mug down again and turned slightly to face him. "The reason I asked you if Hope asked you about anything was because during her bath she suddenly asked me..." she paused, not sure of his reaction to what their daughter had queried and not wanting to hurt him, "well she asked me if you were a bad man because you were a pirate," she explained and waited for his reaction.
"Where the bloody hell did she get an idea like that from?" he asked. And she could see it, in his eyes that he was keeping from her gaze, that he was hurt his daughter might think the worst of him.
"Apparently some kid at nursery school told her that all pirates were bad men. And she wanted to know if that was true."
"So what did you tell her?" he asked in a hesitant soft voice as he reached forwards to put his half drunk mug back on the table.
"I asked her what she thought her daddy was."
"And she said?" he wanted to know as he fiddled with the rings on his fingers.
"Oh Killian," she softly touched his cheek to turn him to face her, "there's nothing for you to worry about, you know Hope loves you. Our daughter simply adores you. And she told me that she thinks you're the best because you do fun things with her and play with her, you make her smile and take care of her. She knows how much you love her and her mother. See, she sees the best in you, just as I do. The loving, big hearted man that you are now," she whispered as she leant forward to place a soft kiss on his lips.
Pulling back, he gave her a brief smile. "I know that's how you see me, love," he said whilst taking her hand and lacing his fingers through hers. "And how my family does. But...if after all this time that's still the way others in this town see me, I-"
"Hey," she interrupted him with a tug on his hand. "That was just the assumption of a three year old boy. He's probably just watched Disney's version of Peter Pan or seen other pirate movies or something," she shrugged. "He doesn't know you...although I do want to find out who this Joey's parents are and give them a piece of my mind, if they're encouraging those kind of thoughts and..."
"Swan, let it go," he murmured and kissed the back of her hand. "You're probably right, he's just seen one too many of those absurd pirate movies and got the wrong idea."
"Exactly," she nodded. "Besides, it doesn't even matter what he thinks because your daughter loves you and I love you," she replied, leaning in for another soft kiss. "Incidentally," she began as they slowly parted, foreheads pressed together, "How did you answer Hope's question about why she sleeps alone when I sleep with you?"
Killian smirked to himself and licked his lips as he sat back again. "I told her that I have to sleep with you because you get very cold and I need to keep you warm," he grinned, quite pleased with himself.
Emma chuckled softly as she stroked his neck, her fingers disappearing into the wide opening of his shirt. "Well, that is one advantage of sharing a bed with you."
"Is it now?" he asked, leaning in close, his lips almost touching hers. "Are there any other advantages?" he asked rather seductively.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" she asked, looping her arms loosely around his neck as she lay back on the sofa, pulling him down with her.
"Oh, I would," he grinned, cupping her cheek and claiming her lips in a sweet kiss. Emma sighed, tasting the heady flavour of chocolate and rum on him as her fingers began to fumble with the buttons on his shirt.
Emma grinned at him mischievously when they paused to breathe a moment. "Do you fancy watching a movie now or would you rather go upstairs for an early night?"
"What do you think?" he asked, diving in to kiss her again.
Their kisses became hungrier and more heated as Emma hooked a leg around his, entwining their bodies closer together. His hand slipped beneath her sweater, emitting a soft groan from her as she arched against him when he cupped her breast over her bra.
Even though they were rather engrossed in their kissing, Killian suddenly became alert with the practice of a sailor, and felt there was something amiss in the room. Cracking one eye open and peering over Emma's shoulder, he paused the kiss and swiftly removed his hand from beneath her sweater when he discovered Hope standing beside the sofa, giggling with her hands over her mouth.
He wrenched his lips away from Emma's as he backed off. "We have company," he whispered to Emma, nodding his head towards their daughter. He sat up sharply and gave his wife a hand to pull her up also. "It's not good form to spy on people, little lass," he told her as Hope giggled further and threw herself onto his lap.
"You're supposed to be asleep you little monkey," Emma told her whilst tugging her sweater back down.
"You's was kissing!" she giggled. "Why you always kiss Momma?" She looked up at her dad.
"Because I love her and she's beautiful," Killian answered, turning her on his lap to face Emma. "Don't you agree?"
Hope nodded and then lay her head on her daddy's shoulder as she gave a yawn.
"Come on little monkey, back to bed," Emma sighed, holding out her hand for Hope as she began to get up off the sofa.
"No. I wanna watch movie with you and daddy!" she whined clinging to him.
"But we're not watching a movie, little lass, look," he said, pointing to the TV they hadn't even turned on.
"But you just said you was. I heard you!"
"I believe that your mum and I had decided to go to bed," Killian winked over the top of her head at his wife.
"Yes, we had. Which is where you should be. It's late for little girls." Emma tried once again to convince her to return to her bed.
Hope sulked, sticking out her bottom lip. "Daddy can take me?" she asked, rather sulkily before sticking her thumb in her mouth, something she only still did when she was tired or unsure of something.
"Fine, daddy can take you back to bed," Emma rolled her eyes and backed off. "I'll finish clearing up down here and lock up. You can take our-"
"Little scallywag," Killian interjected.
"Back up to bed," Emma finished.
"Come on, up you go." He stood and hauled Hope up over his shoulder so that her head was dangling behind his back, making her giggle. "Say night night to mummy." He stepped towards Emma and turned so that Hope was facing her.
"Goodnight sweetheart," Emma said, having to bend slightly to kiss her cheek. "I love you, sweet dreams."
"Love you Momma!" she giggled and waved as Killian marched them back upstairs to her bedroom.
"Hey." Emma smiled upon spying Killian enter their bedroom in the reflection of the mirror at the dressing table. "Did you get her back to sleep?" she asked whilst brushing her hair.
"Aye," he sighed wearily as he sat on the bottom of their bed and simply watched his wife. He was tired, it had been a rather a long day entertaining a three year old.
She turned on the stool to face him. "You gave in and told her another story, didn't you?" She knew.
"Perhaps," he admitted with a shrug and began to unbutton his shirt.
Emma chuckled and turned back towards the mirror. "That little girl has had you wrapped right around her finger from the moment she was born," she said whilst piling her hair on top of her head and fixing it with a clip.
Killian didn't deny it, they both knew he had been enamoured with their child from the moment she'd told him he was going to be a father. Although it couldn't be denied that they both adored the sweet, cheeky little girl with her cherubic face, golden hair and huge blue eyes – the product of their true love.
"When she's so much like her mother, how can I resist?" he asked with a wink.
Emma smiled as she got up and came to stand before him. "Now that your daughter is content and settled, how about you make your wife happy?"
He looked up at her, a concerned frown marring his handsome face. "Is my wife unhappy?"
"No," she smiled, moving to straddle his lap and loop her arms around his neck, "but she is a little...frustrated," she whispered, sliding one hand around his neck and down the expanse of his chest on display from his splayed shirt.
"Hmm," he groaned as he grasped hold of her hips and gazed up at her. "We can't have that, can we love?" he asked with one arched eyebrow high on his forehead.
Their lips met in a rather heady kiss as his hand moved up her back and pulled her in close, her breasts pressed against his chest. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss as she moved on his lap, causing him to groan against her lips when she brushed against his arousal.
"Mmm..." Emma hummed as she broke the kiss, their lips still hovering close. She licked her lips, tasting him on them before she grinned, pressed her lips against his again and then began to shuffle back.
"What are you doing?" he asked, as she slid off his lap, stood up and fiddled with the tie on her robe.
"Well, I thought since it was still rather early that I might indulge in a long soak in the tub," she smiled, pulling the belt on her robe undone and then shrugging it off her shoulders. Killian gaped at her as she now stood before him completely naked.
"Uh huh," he gulped, eyeing her up and down. It thrilled Emma that even after seven years of marriage and a pregnancy he still looked at her that way, with desire and want in his eyes, as though she was the most beautiful creation he had ever seen.
She walked past him, purposefully close by as she exaggerated the sway of her hips. His eyes never left her until she paused by the bathroom door. "Are you not joining me?" she asked, looking back at him over her shoulder.
"Well, I didn't know I was invited, love," he replied as the smile grew wide on his face.
She turned and smirked, beckoning him to follow her with a curl of her finger as she backed into the bathroom. Killian was off that bed, his shirt torn off and thrown behind him in a matter of seconds as he eagerly chased after her.