8.
Killian woke early that morning with his wife tenderly snuggled in his arms beneath the sheets. Just like every blissful morning he'd awoken since he moved into this house and something he would never take for granted or grow tired of.
He yawned and stretched his limbs before placing a kiss to her temple and gradually extracted his arm from beneath her so as not to disturb her. She merely moaned softly as she rolled onto her front, burying her face in her pillow with her blonde hair spilling out behind her. Smiling to himself as he watched her in her relaxed state, he kissed the top of her head and carefully slid out of bed.
After visiting the bathroom and pulling on a T-shirt with a pair of pajama pants, he left their room and quietly poked his head around the doors of each of their two young children's rooms to check on them. Their four year old daughter, Hope, was still fast asleep, spread eagle on her mattress, her quilt kicked from the bed and her pillow perpendicular to her body, like most mornings. In the next room, their five month old son, Oliver, was sleeping soundly, almost sideways in his crib with one foot poking through the bars and his arms thrown over his head in wild abandon. Killian smiled to himself as he headed downstairs, unsure who their kids had inherited their sleeping habits from.
He got the coffee machine going before he set about preparing a breakfast in bed fit for a queen, his queen. Because today was Emma's 40th birthday and he fully intended to spoil her, despite her protests on the matter.
Before he was done, Hope had woken and joined him in the kitchen where she was eager to help. She climbed up on her stool beside him at the counter. "What doin', daddy?"
"Making your mother breakfast," he gave her a smile and kissed the top of head. "Want to help?" he asked.
She nodded eagerly as she reached for the box of eggs on the counter. "I crack it?" she asked.
"Okay, but be careful. Your mum doesn't like crunchy waffles," he chuckled as he slid over the box.
Hope carefully took one and attempted to crack it on the side of the bowl as she had seen the adults do. But instead, the egg smashed completely, the entire thing plopping out onto the counter top in a slimy puddle and shell going everywhere. "Oops!" she giggled and looked up at her dad.
"Never mind," he said as he began to pick bits of shell out of the flour before grabbing a cloth to clean up the mess with a weary sigh. Having kids and being a father was great and he loved them both in a way he'd never understood before. But he hadn't been prepared for how much patience it sometimes took to be a parent. Not to mention the constant exhaustion and the knowledge that sometimes it was just easier and quicker to do things by yourself than having their 'help'. "Perhaps I had best crack the eggs and you can do the mixing?" he suggested.
"'kay daddy!" she beamed up at him. And there it was, exactly what made being a parent so rewarding despite everything else. Just hearing his little girl call him daddy and seeing her smile just for him always warmed his heart better than any bottle of rum ever could.
Somehow, between the pair of them, they created a decent plate full of waffles, bacon and sausage all covered in syrup. He poured Emma a glass of juice as well as preparing her requisite mug of hot cocoa with the usual whipped cream and sprinkle of cinnamon. He finished the tray with a napkin and a single red rose.
"Think your Mum will like it?" he asked for Hope's approval.
"It pretty daddy!" she giggled.
"Good." he smiled. "Grab those cards you and your brother made," he nodded to where he had left them on the table, "and we'll go surprise mummy. You go first and open the door for me, okay?" he asked as the pair of them made their way back upstairs.
"Mommy!" Hope called cheerfully as she pushed open their bedroom door.
Emma was startled, awaking with a snort before she slowly raised her head and looked over her shoulder. Upon spying Killian setting a full tray down on the dresser, she groaned into the pillow – she'd been in the most peaceful of sleeps.
"Happy Birthday, love," Killian whispered as he slid onto the bed beside her, kissing the top of her head and brushing her blonde locks aside to find her cheek to kiss.
"No," she mumbled from the pillow, whilst Hope had managed to pull herself up at the bottom of the bed and was crawling towards them.
"No, what? No happy birthday?" he chuckled as he looked to Hope with raised eyebrows, who giggled in response.
Emma sighed and rolled onto her back, tossing her hair out of the way. "I told you I wasn't doing my birthday. Not any more. We were ignoring it!" she grumbled, pulling herself into a sitting position just as Hope plopped down in her lap, thrusting the cards at her.
"Aye and I still don't understand why." He watched as she hugged her daughter, gave her a kiss and then patiently took the cards from her that she was enthusiastically waving in her face.
"Thank you sweetheart," she said, briefly admiring the childish artwork to appease her. "Because, I'm old!" she replied to Killian. "I'm 40!" she whispered as though it was a terrible secret.
Killian laughed, loudly. "You realise that I have more than 200 years on you, right love? You're practically a spring chicken."
"I was barely 29 when I first met you and now, somehow, I'm 40!" she whined.
"That simply tells me that I have spent 11 of the most fantastic years of my long life loving you," he smiled.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Smooth talker!" she grumbled.
At that moment, their son announced that he had awoken and wanted some attention. "I'll grab him, you stay," he told her and went to collect their little boy.
"Momma?" Hope asked as she lay her head against Emma's chest and peered up at her. "You sad for bifday?"
"No, I'm not sad, baby," she replied with a kiss on her forehead as she curled her blonde locks around her finger. "Mommy is just being silly," she smiled. "And I love the cards you made me. You're becoming quite the artist with your drawings, and your writing is getting better," she admired the scribbled attempt at signing her own name. "I think your brother's bright green handprint is cute too." She admired the cards closer and then stood them on her night-stand.
"Daddy help Ollie. Got paint ebrywhere!" She giggled as she waved her arms out wide.
Emma chuckled. "I remember when you were tiny, I wanted to make a Father's day card for daddy and I tried to do your foot prints, we got into rather a mess too. Your Grandma had to help me." She told her as Hope gazed up at her, a wide smile on her face. The little girl loved to hear stories about herself.
"Me and daddy maded bekfas'!" she announced proudly then, pointing to the tray. "But, I bwoked egg. And spillded juice and dwop bacon," she frowned.
"Did daddy get cross?" Emma wondered. She knew what he was like first thing in the morning.
Hope shook her head. "He sigh lots," she answered with her own sigh.
Emma grinned to herself, she knew that sigh, it was the sigh of her husband trying to hang on to his patience. It had become a rather frequent sound since they became parents to little ones. She knew that he absolutely adored their children and he was so proud to be a father as well as being so good at it. Life wouldn't be the same without them now, but that didn't mean that parenthood was easy.
"Well, you dodged a bullet there, love," Killian announced, elbowing open the door with a now happy baby Oliver cradled in one arm. "This little sod had pooped everywhere!" he groaned and placed the cleaned up baby on the bed beside his Mom.
"Did you do a stinky for daddy?" Emma asked him, picking him up for a cuddle, breathing in that delicious baby smell as she kissed his chubby little cheeks. Ollie giggled and grasped a handful of her hair.
"Are you ready to celebrate your birthday now?" Killian asked, retrieving the abandoned tray and bringing it to the bed. Oliver immediately stuck his hand in the plate, covering it with sticky syrup. Killian sighed and Hope panicked that he'd ruined it.
"No Ollie!" Hope shrieked and snatched the plate away. "Momma bekfas'!" she grumbled at her baby brother.
"Hey, it's fine sweetheart," Emma cuddled her and then licked the syrup from the baby's hand. "See, still delicious!" she told her as Hope smiled, sticking her finger in some of the syrup and licking it off herself. "Well, I suppose if you insist I celebrate, then fine. So long as there's no lame party planned!" she wagged a finger at him before picking up a piece of bacon and biting the end off it.
"No party, I promise." he held up his hand in a solemn vow. "All I have planned is for us to spend the afternoon on my ship. Just the family, Henry said that he and Ella would join us too. Not sure about your parents yet. But, I thought we could take a picnic lunch and enjoy the day out at sea before it gets too cold."
"That actually sounds nice. A day with my very favourite people. Thank you." She leaned over the kids heads and kissed him, a rather sticky and sweet kiss with her lips covered in syrup.
"And then later, your parents are taking the kids for the night so that I can take you out for a fancy dinner. And, perhaps later, we could maybe, you know…" He finished the sentence with a flash of his suggestive eyebrows.
Emma grinned and grasped his hand. "Hmm, someone hoping to get lucky tonight?" she asked him.
"A man can hope, love," he returned her grin.
"And here I thought it was my birthday,"
"Oh, you'll get thoroughly treated, believe me," he winked and Emma blushed. She didn't doubt that.
"Wait!" Hope screeched as she grabbed both of her parents arms. "I wanna be lucky too! Whatcha be lucky for?" she wondered, cocking her head to the side and eyeing her parents curiously.
"Erm…" Killian stammered.
"Er, we just...we're, erm…" she looked up at her husband.
"We might be lucky to get a good nights sleep!" he finished.
"Yes, because it's been such a long time," Emma added. "Since your baby brother came along, mommy and daddy haven't had any good sleep."
"'Cause he so noisy!" Hope sighed dramatically and gave her brother a disgruntled look. He'd been waking them all up during the night just recently as he'd began to cut his first tooth.
Emma and Killian laughed as they scooped both of their kids up in a big group family hug, covering them in kisses until they were all worn out from laughing.
"I suppose this isn't such a bad way to spend my birthday," Emma decided as she relaxed in bed with her family. "Even if I am 40!" she whispered in displeasure as Killian playfully rolled his eyes and then kissed her.
"I happen to love my beautiful, smart and sexy 40 year old wife!" He announced proudly. "Now, eat up and then you get presents," he smiled as he took hold of the baby, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Emma managed to have a wonderful birthday, sharing it with everyone she loved and doing what she most enjoyed. And yes, they managed to get lucky...and in more ways than just a jolly good nights sleep!