10.
Killian glanced up from the book he was reading to once again check the time on the clock on the mantelpiece. He heaved a long sigh and turned his gaze towards the staircase. "Emma?" he called, a little impatient.
"Five minutes!" Came her harried reply.
"She said she'd be ready in five minutes, twenty minutes ago!" Killian informed his step-son and rolled his eyes good naturedly as Henry chuckled.
"Daddy! Read!" Two year old Oliver demanded and patted the book open on his father's lap.
"Sorry mate." Killian ruffled his son's head and proceeded to read the book to him as the little boy snuggled into his father's chest. Hope was sat on the floor with her much older brother, playing a game of Candy Land, and cheating, as she chittered along, excited to have everyone here and all of their attention.
The click of her high heals on the stairs announced Emma's arrival as she finally emerged from upstairs. Standing in the archway of the lounge, she gave Killian a little twirl when he looked up. "Well?" she asked.
"Wow!" he gasped, his mouth hanging open as he looked his wife and up and down admiringly, seemingly she'd taken his breath away.
"Too much?" she questioned, smoothing her hand down her dress. It was a halter-neck black dress with a full skirt ending just above the knee. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, reminiscent of their first date and her outfit was completed with silver heals and the diamond earrings that Killian had bought her for their anniversary.
"Bloody perfect!" He grinned appreciatively as he gently moved his son from his lap. He stood and the book fell to the floor forgotten. "Are you ready now?"
"I am," she replied and handed him her red wrap that had been folded over her arm. He draped it over her shoulders, taking the moment to brush his knuckles against the soft skin of her back, before grabbing his own jacket and pulling it on. "Thanks again for babysitting, we shouldn't be too late," Emma told Henry and Ella who had volunteered to babysit the kids.
"But we probably won't be that early, either," Killian cheekily amended whilst sliding his arm around his wife's waist.
"Don't you worry about it. Just go have a good time and we'll be fine here." Henry assured them.
"Wait!" Hope leapt to her feet, suddenly taking notice of the adults' conversation. "Where are you going Mommy?" she demanded of her parents, hands on her hips, looking rather comical.
"We told you earlier sweetheart," Emma crouched down and gave her daughter a hug. "Daddy and I are going out for dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary."
"Aye, 10 years ago today your mother finally made an honest man out of me!" Killian laughed, finding himself amusing as Emma merely groaned.
"But…" Hope's bottom lip began to wobble. "I don't want you to go."
"We're coming back," Emma promised. "We'll be home a little later and Henry and Ella are staying with you now. You'll have lots of fun with your big brother." She tried to cajole her.
"I want to come with you!" she whined.
"Hey, come on now my little cygnet." Killian got down on his knees and brushed her blonde curls back from her face. "You'll have much more fun here with your brothers and Ella, because I know they'll let you stay up past your bedtime and watch movies."
"And he'll probably feed you ice cream before bed!" Emma added enticingly whilst eyeing her firstborn, because she knew that giving into their every whim was something that he did whenever he was left with his tiny siblings.
"Who? Me?" Henry smirked.
"But, I want you to stay home with us too," she whimpered. "You didn't even finish the story daddy!" She pointed crossly to the book on the floor.
"You weren't even listening to the story, love," he pointed out.
"I want to hear it now!" she sobbed.
Killian glanced at Emma and sighed softly, not really knowing what to do. "We're just going to get dinner and then we'll be straight home," he promised her.
"Then I can come too. Please?" She looked up at him with her big blue eyes.
"And me!" Oliver clambered off the sofa and joined in. "Me wanna come!"
"Neither of you are coming with us. You're staying here with your big brother. Daddy and I are going to eat a nice dinner and then we'll be home," Emma told them firmly. She'd been looking forward to tonight all week and damn-it, she was going to have her night out!
"No!" Hope wailed and then Oliver joined in as he began to cry.
"Hey come on now," Henry tried to help as he picked up little Ollie. "Don't you want to stay here with me and Ella? I promise we'll have loads of fun!"
Oliver shook his head, becoming more and more upset even though his parents were quite sure he didn't fully understand what he was upset about.
"Hey, Hope. Why don't you come and choose what movie you would like to watch?" Ella tried whilst turning the TV on to Disney+. "I'll sing all the songs with you," she offered. "We might even get Henry singing too," she chuckled.
"Yeah, right," Henry scoffed. "Hey, listen," he crouched down to Hope's level and whispered conspiratorially with her, "as soon as we get rid of your mom and dad, we can go make some of my infamous ice cream sundaes that you like so much."
She stopped crying and swiped her arm across her little red face. "With sprinkles and crushed up cookies?" she asked curiously.
He nodded. "But of course! And chocolate sauce and M&M's and anything else we can find," he grinned at his little sister.
"Well...okay then." She sniffed back her tears as she gave in.
"Come on then, let's go see what we can find, shall we?" He took her hand and led her towards the kitchen with Oliver still in his arms.
"Thank you," Emma mouthed as she and Killian got to their feet.
He nodded and shooed them away towards the door whilst he kept the kids distracted looking through cupboards. Emma and Killian were able to leave, sneaking out of the house without any more upset and knowing that the kids would settle down and be perfectly fine without them.
Much later that evening, after enjoying a delicious meal at Tony's, Emma and Killian were strolling along, hand in hand by the waterfront, all reminiscent of their first date. It might not have been the fancy evening that Killian had wanted to plan for their 10th wedding anniversary, but it was exactly what Emma had wanted. She had a soft spot for Tony's restaurant, being that it was the location of their first date and something Killian had planned by himself back when this world was still very foreign to him.
"I'm curious," Emma spoke after walking along in contented silence.
"The kids are fine, love. Henry has sent you half a dozen texts in the past couple of hours to tell you as such. Besides, he said they're both fast asleep now."
"I know, I'm not worried about them. Though I am feeling little guilty that we had to bribe our children in order to go out tonight."
Killian smirked. "Maybe we should go out more often, get them used to it?" he suggested.
"I'm all for more nights out with you," Emma agreed and lay her head on his shoulder as they walked slowly along. "Anyway, as I was saying, I was just wondering how our first date would have ended if you'd been in possession of your ship at the time?"
"How would you have wanted it to end?" he replied, sounding a little cocky as he lowered his voice.
"You're avoiding my question mister." She poked him with her finger, not wanting to answer his question and reveal just how willing she would have been to sleep with him that night. "Would you have been the perfect gentleman and walked me home or would you have tried to entice me back to your quarters?"
"I...would have done whatever the lady wished for me to do," he answered diplomatically.
"Sure." Emma rolled her eyes, not believing him for a moment. "Just imagine that I had let it be known that I would have been willing for anything to happen between us, then what?"
"If I hadn't taken you home, I think your dad would have been hunting me down with that damn sword of his," he chuckled. "Weren't your parents waiting up for you that evening?"
"Killian," she whined his name and wound her arms tightly around his. "Just, indulge me for a moment and answer the question."
"Fine," he stopped walking and pulled her against him. "Would my wife like to find out exactly what I would have liked to happen back then?"
"Yes," she nodded eagerly and grinned up at him.
"Then, let's go!" He swooped her off her feet as she squealed with laughter and he carried her towards his ship moored in the harbour. They spent the next couple of hours enjoying some perfectly dirty adult time, completely alone with no distractions or disturbances.
Killian had been right, the couple wouldn't be home early that night.