They don’t leave the house for two whole days. By some miracle, Storybrooke manages to leave its sheriff and savior alone long enough to allow her the relaxation. (Killian wagers that the prince and princess are behind silence of Emma’s talking phone, for which he will have to thank them profusely when he next sees them. He will not, however, mention to either of them exactly what he and their daughter have done with some of that time.)
On the third day, it’s not Storybrooke duty that calls but semi-parental duty: Henry sends Killian a little word message asking to go for a quick sail on the Jolly. A grin tugs at Killian’s lips. It’s an absolutely beautiful morning and a sail with the lad sounds lovely.
He’s surprised, then, when Emma vehemently says, “No.”
“Love, we’re just going for a sail around the harbor.”
“No.”
She’s even more of an open book to him now than she was when they first met, and he can see the fear swimming in her eyes. He softens. “Emma, you’re not going to lose me again.”
“Three times, Killian,” she says softly. “Four if you count Author World. I just …”
He pulls her into a hug. She melts into his embrace and holds on tight. “We have to go out and face the world sometime, love. I mean, I have no complaints about the time we spent christening the various rooms in this house” – he feels her chuckle – “but our future is beyond these walls as well.”
“I know,” she whispers.
She’s still clinging, though Killian can’t blame her. After all they’ve been through, he’d be more surprised if she wasn’t. But staying in the house isn’t the answer. “Why don’t you come with us?” Killian offers. “The lad and I will sail to a nice, quiet spot and the three of us can relax for a little while.”
That gets her to pull away and look up at him, a hesitant smile on her face. “You’re sure? I know the captain and first mate thing is your thing with Henry. I just don’t want to intrude.“
“You could never intrude, love,” Killian assures her before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “So. What say you?”
She glances to the window, where the bright sunshine is spilling into the room and making patterns on the hardwood floor. “I guess we’re going sailing.”
Killian grins. And his newly restarted heart skips more than a couple beats when she wraps her arms around him and whispers, “And after we come back to port and take Henry home, I believe there’s a few rooms on the Jolly we could christen, too.”
Totally random Henry dealing with one mom (finally) living with her True Love while the other one has an infant at home ficlet because of a stupid convo with @scapeartist that I don’t even remember anymore. And that’s the official title ;P
“Yeah, Mom, don’t worry. I’ll come by in the morning for pancakes. I’ve got to go, Mom and Hook are waiting for me.”
Henry hung up and immediately received a text.
Mom S: Hey kid, you sure you wanna stay at Regina’s tonight? Killian is grabbing ice cream for after dinner.
And have to wear ear plugs overnight? No thank you.
The lights, the noise, and the shaking ground sent him into autopilot, barreling into Granny’s without a thought. He’s grown used to being stared at over the years, usually welcomed the attention, the gazes trained on him either in admiration or well-earned fear, but this –
He expected shock. Perhaps even a bit of fear; he’s a dead man as far as everyone is concerned, but something about the prince’s words – we thought we left you –
– it stings. It shouldn’t, he knows, it was his choice to stay, to send Emma up that elevator, but.
But.
He doesn’t miss the flash of rage in the Queen’s eyes once the initial surprise wears off. He knows, doesn’t blame her one bit, wants to tell her that he of all people understands how she feels, wants to –
(knows that he of all people understands that words at a time like this feel hollow and useless, knows that grief and rage can be all-consuming and you simply can’t be talked out of it, knows that she’s raw and broken and he’s the last man she wants to see)
(knows that he shouldn’t feel the burn of guilt creeping up his face or the racing of his heart, Gods he never thought he’d feel that again)
(clings to the tiny smile on his love’s face, the only person who isn’t looking at him like he shouldn’t be here)
– he swallows down his words and watches as the Queen leaves with a withering look, Emma taking a beat before following her, squeezing his arm and looking helplessly at him as she goes.
And he stands there, feeling small and stupid and everyone is still staring, open-mouthed and dumbfounded.
“Right,” he finally says, speaking to the floor. “I should go.”
He’s barely started to turn to the door when a body collides with him with even more force than Emma in the cemetery, nearly taking him off his feet as he stumbles backwards and grips at the figure whose arms are wrapped firmly around his midsection.
His grips even tighter when he realizes it’s Henry.
He takes another breath and holds on, another piece of home falling into place.
Okay, so y’all can blame @gusenitsaa and @nothingimpossibleonlyimprobable for this one. I sent an ask in and their little back and forth turned it into a fic idea. Not gonna lie, this has what are possibly the seven most devastating words I’ve ever written (or at least Killian thinks so). As always, this can be found on ff.net (sorry, I haven’t gotten this drabble series on AO3 yet. It will happen eventually). Give the link a click if you want to boost my ego. And if you want to make my day, reviews there or in the tags are always appreciated.
The first week after he came back, Killian chocked it up to
the general mess left by Hades and the lad’s New York City adventure.
Three weeks passed and Killian still hadn’t seen much of
Henry, but then they had been busy. Homework piled up, even when you were in
the Underworld and Killian had been rather…preoccupied with making the most of
his second chance with Emma.
But by the fifth week, Killian was rather certain that Henry
was avoiding him. No, not rather. Completely certain. Henry turning down
sailing in favor of school work for the third weekend in a row fairly cinched
the matter. Killian thought it might be jealousy. Things had shifted, his
moving in with Emma changed things. Regina was still dealing with her grief.
Henry was feeling neglected and getting angry at Killian was easier than
getting angry at his mothers.
Though, insight didn’t help Killian solve the problem of the
sullen teenager currently pouting on his deck. As it turned out, Emma didn’t
cotton to teenagers sulking at the kitchen table all weekend long and had
frog-marched the lad out the docks, telling Henry he could come back when Killian
decided he’d gotten enough fresh air.
People don’t appraise about how good is Jared at his short age.
He play Henry so good that I can see how Henry’s heart broke when Emma told him that Hook will be move on but he won’t make it to SB.
SO GOOD PLAYED JARED.
#Givehimanaward #Heissogrownup
I’m gonna defend Jared Gilmore on this show in terms of his acting. Because, he’s developing his skills based on his experiences with such an incredibly talented cast – this kid is gonna go places someday… I hope ❤
is anyone seriously saying that Jared’s acting isn’t good?? Come on.
cshappybeginning 