13.

"No! Daddy wait!" Hope screamed as Killian was about to close her bedroom door behind him.

"What is it, little lass?" he asked, stepping back into the room.

"You do the checks!" she insisted anxiously, her little hands holding tight to the edge of her blankets.

"The checks?" he asked himself, forgetting what she meant for a moment.

"Yes, check for monsters! You got to do it Daddy!" She sat up in bed, getting herself worked up.

"Oh right, those checks." He sighed and sat back down on her bed. "Hope, love," he murmured softly, stroking her back, "you know that monsters aren't real, right? They can't hurt you."

"But...but they scare me," she whimpered and pulled her duvet up to her chin. "You make them go away! Please Daddy?"

He was unable to resist the look on her face, peering up at him with a pout on her lips and her big blue eyes giving him her best puppy dog impression. "Okay, I'll do the checks." He gave in and kissed the top of her head before taking a step towards her closet. He opened the door, clicked on the light and poked around a bit. "There, all monster free," he told her, heading towards her bed. He checked under there, in and behind the dresser, her toybox and then behind the curtains at her insistence. "No monsters tonight, lass," he smiled at her. "But, I just want to say," he spoke a little louder, "if any monsters dare enter Hope's bedroom, you should know that my wife is the Sheriff of this town and I am a Pirate, so you don't want to mess with us, got it?" he asked the make believe monsters as Hope grinned up at him.

"That's good, daddy," she nodded, sounding much more relieved and lay down in her bed again.

"Now," he bent down and tucked her blankets in around her again, "off to sleep with you, my little cygnet. I love you."

"How much?" she asked, playing their little game.

"More than a human heart can possibly love," he smiled and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight my little lass. See you in the morning."

"Night night daddy. Love you too," she yawned and then snuggled down in her bed.

Killian smiled to himself, made sure her night light was on and then pulled her door to. "Sweet dreams," he added before heading back downstairs to join his wife.

"Did you get her settled?" Emma asked, not moving from her prone position on the sofa.

"Aye," he nodded and sat down, lifting her feet up first and then placed them on his lap as he began to rub her feet.

"Did you have to do the checks?" she asked.

"Obviously," he snorted.

"When is she going to get over this?" she wondered out loud.

"I wish I knew. I suppose it's understandable after what happened to her." The nightmares and being scared of her room had all started after her abduction and whilst she seemed fine most of the time, at night her subconscious took the graveyard shift. "Maybe we could take her back to talk to Archie?" he suggested.

"Maybe," she sighed. "But he said she was doing much better."

"She probably just needs more time. And I think it might help if you didn't let her watch scary movies!"

"That was over a month ago and how was I supposed to know that Hocus Pocus would scare her that much?"

"She's three, love."

"Yeah, I know," Emma agreed, realising it had been a bit silly to let her watch it. "That movie came out when I had just turned 10 and it was one of the few times I was actually taken to the movies. I loved it, I loved that the kids beat the witches and I tried to watch it every Halloween. But I probably should have waited to start that tradition with our daughter."

"Give it a few more years and I'm sure she'll love it too. Christmas will be here soon, hopefully that will distract her from her nightmares. How are you feeling now, anyway?" he asked whilst continuing to rub his thumb over one of her ankles.

"Not too bad, so long as I don't move. Like at all." Emma was almost 12 weeks pregnant with their second child and so far, the morning sickness was really kicking her ass and making her feel lousy.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked gently, being the loving husband that he was and wanting to take care of her.

"No thanks babe."

"Okay. I just hate that you're having such a rough time with this one. You weren't this sick with Hope," he commented as his hand rubbed further up her calf. "Are you sure you don't need something to eat? You missed dinner..."

"Eurgh! Don't mention food!" she grumbled as she almost gagged and put her hand over her mouth.

"Right, sorry. So, what are we watching anyway?" He turned his attention to the TV, hoping to distract her from her nausea. It worked for awhile and Emma was able to nibble on some dry crackers before they headed up to bed.

They hadn't been in bed long when Killian was awoken from his sleep. He had always been a light sleeper, which was both a curse and a blessing when you had kids. He rolled away from behind Emma to listen for the sound again.

"Daddy! Mommy! Daddy!" Hope screamed from her room.

He yawned as he sat on the edge of the bed and glanced back at his wife who was blissfully fast asleep, before pulling a t-shirt on with his shorts and stumbled across the landing to his daughter's bedroom. "What's wrong, lass?" he asked, standing in the doorway of her room, yawning and scratching his head.

"Daddy! Had a bad dream!" she hiccuped through her tears.

"Hey, it's okay my little cygnet," he whispered as he sat down on her bed and took her in his arms, pulling her onto his lap. "It was just a dream, it wasn't real," he told her gently, rubbing her back as she lay her head against his chest.

"Scary, daddy," she whimpered as she clung to him.

"I know, lass, I know. Daddy's got you, nothing to be scared of now," he murmured gently to her and kissed the top of her head.

Once she had calmed down a little, he managed to get her to lay back down in bed, promising to stay with her when she protested. He stretched out along side her in the small bed, his feet hanging off the end as he hummed gently to her. She never let go of him, even when he felt she had fallen back to sleep. He tried to slip away and head back to the comfort of his own bed, but she felt him move.

"Daddy, stay," she whined and pulled him back.

He sighed in frustration. "Not going anywhere, lass," he whispered and settled her again. Eventually he fell asleep there himself, which was where Emma found them both in the morning.

"Nightmares again?" Emma asked over breakfast, whilst Hope was distracted with her cartoons.

"Aye," he yawned and rubbed his hand over his face.

"We have to do something about this," Emma said, watching their daughter with concern. "How about we try distracting her from it all? We could get a tree this weekend and put the Christmas decorations up?" she suggested.

Killian nodded in agreement. "Perhaps something cheerful will take her mind off her fears."

That night was the same routine, having to check her bedroom and scare the monsters away before she would settle, even though she had been excited about the idea of getting all the decorations out – she loved all the lights and the sparkle of everything, always had done.

"Whaizit?" Killian mumbled as he leapt up in bed after feeling something grab the big toe of his foot sticking out of the sheets.

"Daddy?" came a mournful little voice in the darkness.

"Hope," he breathed, realising what it was now.

"Daddy, I need a cuddle," she whispered.

He knew what that meant, especially in the early hours of the morning. She didn't want to be alone because she was scared about something or had a bad dream. "Come here, lass," he murmured softly, holding the blankets up for her to crawl in next to him.

She gratefully climbed in and soon settled down again, going back to sleep in the security of her father's arms.

Killian woke later that morning with an arm slung across his face, a pair of knees jabbed into his back and a small foot almost wedged somewhere uncomfortable. He so hoped this distraction technique was going to work or that something else would stop the night time scares soon, because he wasn't sure how much longer he could sleep like this!

But, for his little girl, he would endure it.