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What Emma will never understand is the fascination for pumpkins everyone has this time of year. Because seriously, why pumpkin of all things?
Pumpkin spice, Pumpkin carving, even pumpkin hummus! Pumpkin wasn’t even that good!
(She’d be lying to say she didn’t try the pumpkin hummus, it was as gross as she expected.)
“We need to find the biggest Pumpkin!” Leo announces proudly from the back seat of Emma’s bug. Emma smirks at her nephew’s assertion. At 12 years old, the kid thought he was ready to conquer the world.
“Nuh uh.” Henry disagrees. “We need to find the weirdest pumpkin. I want the one no one else wants.” Emma steals a glance at her big hearted kid. Henry, being 2 years Leo’s junior, always loves finding the underdog, whether it be the saddest pumpkin, or the smallest plant, Henry always wanted to give it a shot.
(Emma’s always surprised how well these smaller things blossom under Henry’s influence, as if he’s made them succeed with his pure belief)
“Smaller things are lame.” Leo retorts.
“You’re lame!” Henry replies bitterly.
“Hey, no calling your cousin lame.” Emma says immediately silencing them mid argument. If the boys are left alone, it would soon dissolve into a fight. “We can get both, how does that sound?”
Emma hears small mumbles of agreement. She suppresses a sigh herself.
Typically, it was David who did this kind of stuff with the boys, all the dirty messy stuff dads did with their sons. Henry was almost always included, something she was eternally grateful for. Emma hoped that David made up for Henry not having a father in some way.
It was why when David's shift got changed to work the afternoon before Halloween rather than the morning. She offered to take the boys instead to pick out pumpkins to carve. It was a tradition of sorts so she would hate for them to miss it.
"Alright, we're here." She announces, pulling into the parking spot besides Tiny's Farm. "Everyone remember the rules?"
"No talking to strangers, and always be within sight." Leo echoes in an annoyed tone.
"Good." Emma says unlocking the doors. The boys pile out of the bug and make a beeline towards the pumpkin patch.
She can see the one Leo has his eyes on, an absolute monster of a pumpkin that he most likely won't be able to carry.
"Maybe not-" but she's interrupted by the kid in question trying to lift the pumpkin.
“Leo-” She tried, before he managed to get it off the ground before nearly dropping it onto his foot.
“Easy lad.” says a voice, as a man came around to help support the pumpkin's weight and keep Leo from accidentally hurting himself. “That’s a big pumpkin for a little lad.”
That made Leo pout, and try once more to pick up the pumpkin“I’m not little” Leo says impatiently.
“Leo, do not pick up the pumpkin.” Emma snaps. “You can really hurt yourself if you’re not careful." The little brunette boy threw a glare her way.
"But I am being careful. Dad would let me." he says simply.
"Well your Dad's at work, so why don't you find a pumpkin that won't need a seatbelt." She glances around noticing Henry talking to a young boy, several appropriate sized pumpkins scattered about."Look, Henry's finding plenty." She points out.
With a huff, Leo crosses his arms and walks towards his cousin. Emma has no doubt that after seeing some more pumpkins he’ll forget all about the giant one.
"The lad is certainly spirited." The man says with a chuckle.
"Yup. Thanks for helping Leo." She says turning towards the stranger.
He was a bit taller than her, wrapped in dark leather, and more importantly handsome, very handsome.
"Anytime love," he says shooting her a brilliant smile. It makes her blush ever so slightly. She’s surprised she doesn’t recognize him, being a Sheriff in a relatively small town, Emma feels like she knows a majority of the locals by name.
“You’re not from around here are you?” She inquires with a smile, noticing him watching the young boy talking to Henry.
“What gave it away?” He asks, tilting his head slightly.
“I’m something of an expert of this place.” She says casually.
“Oh?”
“Plus the accent, not many foreigners in Storybrooke.” She says. “So what’s your story? Visiting family?”
His grin widens. “Killian Jones.” He introduces. “But not visiting family, hoping to use the holiday to help the lad settle in.” He says gesturing towards the boy. “His mother just got a job as the new District Attorney so here we are.”
Emma had heard David talking about that, with Spencer retiring, they were looking for someone new. Word around town was that she was a very blunt straight forward woman with a husband and son...
“Killy!” The boy calls out, beckoning their attention. They both venture closer to the boys “Can Henry come trick or Treat with us?” He asks, big wide eyes looking at the man.
“Why don’t we ask his mother lad?” Killian says smoothly, looking at the pumpkin the younger boy was holding. “That’s a mighty fine treasure you found.” He says.
“Can we Mom?” Henry asks. She looks to the two energetic boys, big wide eyes.
“Sorry kid, you know the rules.” She says. It had been a long held rule that holidays were for family. It was time for Leo and Henry to have fun as cousins. “Halloween is just for family, you’ll have a good time with Leo.”
Speaking of Leo...
"Leo. Put down the pumpkin!"
"Fine."
“Understood...” He confirms with a nod, trailing off.
“Emma.” She introduces. “Sheriff Emma Swan.”
"Swan." He says simply. "Well Swan”, he says fishing into his pocket. "If you change your mind about the trick or treating..." he hands her a card.
"Oh?" She says surprised. "Photographer?" She reads on the slip of cardstock.
"Usually weddings and the like, the address is outdated but the number...” He scratched behind his ear nervously.
“Do you usually give your number out to people you just meet?” She asks with a brow raised in curiosity.
“Typically that's how one gets business, besides you’re the sheriff.”
She smiles as he and his son walk off. He has the boy’s pumpkin in his arm, the other holding onto the boy’s hand.
For a moment, Emma wonders about calling the guy.
The next she wonders, if he was here with his son and wife, why the hell was he flirting with her?
//
They arrive back at the farmhouse with no less than five pumpkins. Emma’s not entirely sure how the boys swindled her into buying more pumpkins than they could possibly carve in a month, let alone the few hours till Halloween.
“Pumpkins Pumpkins!” The boys shouted the moment she pulled into her spot in the driveway, practically falling over themselves carrying their pumpkins into the house.
“We have Pumpkins Mom!” Leo calls rushing through the front door. Emma follows behind, holding the other two they just had to have.
Mary Margret, her sister in law looks like she just got home, purse still laying on the couch, kettle still simmering for her daily cup of tea.
“You did!” The pixie cut 4th grade teacher says, a brilliant smile as she embraces her son. She looks up at Emma thankfully, but with a curious expression.
Why so many?
Emma shakes her head.
Don’t ask...
“Go set them on the table and go wash your hands.” She says simply. The boys don’t miss a beat obeying Mary Margaret’s instructions. No one could disobey something when she used her teacher voice, even David and her sometimes caught themselves listening when she raised her voice to that teacher pitch.
“You know Emma.” Her sister-in-law says taking a seat on the couch “You’ll still be Leo’s favorite aunt if you say no to his demands.” Emma groans, collapsing into one of her nearby chairs.
“You know I’m not good at that, if it isn’t something that will put them in mortal danger I’m a sap.”
She laughs in agreement.
It’s then that they could hear a rickety truck pull into the driveway. Everyone in the house knew exactly what that was.
“Dad!” Leo proclaimed, racing towards the door as it swung open.
“Hey bud.” David says, giving his son a hug.
“Uncle David, Uncle David!” Henry exclaims behind his blonde haired cousin. “Look at the pumpkins we got!” He nodded, letting the boys pull him towards the table where the oddly shaped pumpkins waited for carving. Emma could vaguely hear all the ideas they had for the designs that David was going to help them make.
“Let him put his stuff down first.” Mary Margaret calls after them. “Don’t forget to wash your hands!”
“Yes honey.” David replies. There are moments like this that really remind Emma how perfect her brother’s life was. He ran an animal shelter on Main street, married his high school sweetheart, the most perfect person Emma had ever met.
It was really Emma to really feel like a screw up next to him.
Sure she was a sheriff, but that was more of an accident than anything else. The town really only needed two deputies with the sheriff. When Graham Humbert decided he wanted to leave town, Emma was the natural choice. Will Scarlet, the other deputy didn’t really fit the sheriff role.
“Are we going to cut the brain out of the pumpkin now?” Leo asks. “Are you going to use the big knife?”
She watches as Mary Margaret grabs the knife from the kitchen, helping David empty the centers from the pumpkins.
“Did you have fun with Emma today?” Mary says, once all the prep work had been completed and both Emma and she had a glass of red wine in their hands.
“Yeah.” Leo says casually, marker in hand as he draws a spooky face on the pumpkin. She could tell the blonde was concentrating as he had the same face both his father, and cousin had as they too were focused on their creations. “I had this huge Pumpkin I was going to get, like you wouldn’t believe it mom! It was so big!” He extends his arms trying to illustrate the size of the thing. “I tried to get it, but Auntie Emma said it was too big to fit in the car.” He explains.
Emma nods. “We probably wouldn’t have been able to get it to fit in the bug.” She agrees.
“The guy could have helped...” Henry pipes in rather cheerfully.
“Guy? What guy?” David repeats rather surprised, looking between the boys and Emma. He practically screamed over protective big brother mode, making Emma roll her eyes.
Emma closes her eyes, knowing what was about to happen.
"Emma was talking to a guy." Leo says, not even looking up, too busy carving the pumpkin while David helped Henry.
It certainly got Mary Margaret’s attention.
“There was a guy with his son...” She says at the excited look her sister in law was giving her. “He’s married, so obviously I’m not pursuing anything.” She says quickly.
“But this is the first guy you’ve gotten excited about since-”
“I don’t think I’m getting excited about anything.” She reminds her. “I just had a nice conversation. That’s it.”
It was silly, really, to read anything at all into this.
It was just a conversation. A conversation she’d enjoyed, but still just a talk. She'd talked to plenty of people. Perhaps she hadn’t smiled as much or laughed or been disappointed when it ended. Plus he never said anything about being married to his son’s mother. She knows better than anyone that just because you have a kid does not mean you’re married...
She should not be reading into anything.
“Maybe just consider it Emma. I know you don’t like talking about these things, but your walls, the walls you put up ever since Henry was born and Neal left...they may keep out pain, but they also keep out love too.” The older woman glances back at the boys carving. David overseeing them. “A lot can happen when you open yourself to the possibility of love.”
Emma shakes her head.
It didn’t mean anything.
Emma doesn’t need a man. She certainly doesn’t need to be fantasising about a married man, or one in the middle of a divorce or something, her life was complicated enough!
Ok, maybe being a simple sheriff in a small town wasn’t that complicated, but she had Henry to think about. Emma didn’t need tall dark and handsome to make her simple life ever the more complicated.
Mary Margret was going to take the boys trick or treating, and she was going to have a nice night to herself. Maybe she’d do her toes. She hates painting her own nails, so probably not, she’d certainly have a glass of wine. Maybe two.
It was going to be a good night. Emma Swan was determined to have a good night tonight if it killed her.
But of course, things never go according to plan.
“Mom! Leo set the pumpkin on fire!” She hears called over her thoughts.
Emma blinks, then looks up, seeing Mary Margaret’s ten year old standing in front of a currently aflame pumpkin.
Or maybe not...
//
“But it’s not fair!” Leo exclaims angrily. “Why does Henry get to Trick or Treat if I’m grounded?”
“Because your cousin didn’t put five candles in his pumpkin that caught the rest of the pumpkin on fire.” David says casually, from his seat on the couch.
Leo was in half of his green goblin costume glaring daggers at Henry in his knight outfit. When his parents saw what he was doing, they immediately jumped into action, putting out the fire and grounding their son effective immediately.
“The pumpkin wasn’t behaving.” The elder kid said darkly, arms crossed. “Why is that, my fault?” Mary Margaret sighs.
“Because we don’t light vegetables on fire in the house.”
“Can I go do it outside?”
“No!”
A very annoyed Leo slumped in his chair.
“But we’re supposed to trick or treat together.” He counters.
“Grounding trumps all family rules.” Mary Margret cuts in. “In addition, this is not the first time we’ve had trouble following fire safety Leo.” She too takes her seat on the couch, reality shows blaring in the background.
They had really spared no expense in teaching Leo a lesson. Not only was he grounded for a month, but right when she and Henry headed out, the plan was to play some informational movies about how not to set fires.
“But who am I going to Trick or Treat with?” Henry asks, glancing at his pumpkin pail sadly.
“Henry...” Emma says, not to sure how she was going to solve this problem. “Do you think any of your classmates would mind if you tagged along?” She asks. Henry instantly looks mortified at the suggestion.
“Henry doesn’t have any friends.” Leo says sarcastically. Throwing an eye roll their way.
“Leopold!” Mary Margaret says sternly. “You apologize to your cousin right now.” She orders her son.
Emma can’t help but glare at the boy as he mumbled through a half meaning apology. Henry barely glanced at the older boy, cheeks pink with embarrassment.
Did Henry really not have any friends?
“Henry...” She says simply, pulling her kid to the side. “Are you having trouble making friends?” She asks. They’d been in town for years by now, but when Emma thinks about it, Henry hasn’t gone to any birthday parties, no one had come over to their little apartment, he hadn’t gone over to anyone else’s....
Henry didn’t respond, which was answer enough for her usual chatty boy.
“Roland wanted to be my friend.” He says finally. “Can I trick or treat with him?”
Emma hesitates only a fraction, seeing her kid’s eyes light up when she pulls the business card out of her pocket. Jones Photos.
“I’ll give them a call.” Emma says. “But I’m going with you, non negotiable.”
Henry’s eyes light up, and regardless of Emma’s own worries about contacting Killian Jones, she’s determined to fix things for Henry.
Hey, this is Emma from the Pumpkin Patch, is it possible for Henry and I to come trick or treat with you and Roland?
//
“Are you sure this is going to fit?” Emma asks once more as Mary Margaret tightens the straps in the back of her costume.
“Of course Emma!” She says excitedly. “Bandit Snow is going to look so good on you!”
Emma hadn’t planned to trick or treat this year with the kids, so when Leo wanted to be the Green Goblin, and Henry wanted to be a knight, David and Mary Margaret decided to match the kids themselves, rather than going in couple costumes. David had gotten a perfect Spider Man costume, while Margaret had decided on going as Snow White, except Mary Margaret always hated the whole ‘Damsel and Distress’ idea so she had done some… alterations.
“So now that the leather vest is on, we can get you in the pants and here’s the bow and the sword, it’s a fake sword but it’s really realistic...” She rambles.
"Its fine, trust me. I really appreciate you lending it to me..." she says trailing off. It doesn't look half bad on her if she's being honest... She likes the look of the blue vest, the under shirt is a bit poofy, but its not unbearable. She got to wear her own khaki pants with some boots.
"You're phone buzzed." Mary Margaret notes handing her the device.
Absolutely! We're thinking of hitting Main Street first, would you like to meet us there?
"You said he was a photographer?" Mary Margaret asks. Emma nods as she types out her reply.
Yeah that works, what time are you thinking?
Emma barely takes notice as her sister-in-law takes the abandoned business card and types something into her phone.
“You didn’t tell me he was that handsome!” She hisses into her ear. It makes her blush brightly as she tries to get her hair tied up. She ties a messy ponytail, which Mary Margaret quickly undoes. Emma can see that she has the guy’s website pulled up, along with a photo of him taking some photos.
“Mary Margaret...” Emma says with a sigh. “You do know you’re married to my brother right?”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t admire hotness when I see it.” She says with a wink.
“Oh my God, stop please.”
She ties a much tighter one, letting a few strategically placed hairs escape the hair tie. It's much tighter than the one Emma had done.
45 minutes?
"Looks good." Emma says with a smile. But they have to get going. She stands, exiting the master bedroom. "Henry! Ready to go?"
He practically bolts from his chair looking every bit the knight from his fairy tales, flowing cape, dark blue puffy pants and a light blue tunic. He was practically beaming with excitement.
"Time for Operation Trick or Treat!"
//
I’m dressed like a pirate, Roland’s dressed as Robin Hood from the movie.
Emma takes another glance up from her phone, looking around carefully for them.
“Swan!”
She turns around, seeing a pirate and fox-bandit coming towards them. She waves at them, especially when she sees Henry jump to get their attention.
“Glad you could join us.” Killian says once they’re close enough. But Emma was too… distracted by his pirate get up.
“You look...”
His vest is a scarlet red color, his jacket is dark, long and flowy, his eyes were lined with eyeliner and his fingers have ruby rings on one hand, the other was...a hook?
He looks better than he did before, if Emma’s being honest.
She should not be thinking these things, not when he’s possibly married.
He smirks. “I know.”
Emma can’t help but roll her eyes at the smugness. “You look great too Swan.” Emma flicks her hair in agreement, watching as the boys chat excitedly as well. “Where should we start?”
It’s Henry that answers. “Granny’s, She always gives hot chocolate when we trick or treat, plus Ruby gives the best candy.” Roland nods in agreement and rushes in the general direction of the cafe.
“They’re getting along well.” Killian murmurs. “Henry goes to the local elementary school right?” Emma nods.
“4th grade.”
“Perfect, same as Roland. I’m glad the lad will have a friend when he starts school on Monday.” Emma didn’t expect that, she knew he was new in town, but the thought that he was about to be a new regular was a bit surprising. That meant PTA meetings, soccer games, bake sales, carpool lines...“Where’s your other boy, Leo?” Killian asks.
“Oh, he’s my nephew, Henry’s my son.” Emma clarifies. “Leo got grounded by his parents.”
“On Halloween?”
“There was a Pumpkin Incident...” Emma says casually, hoping he doesn’t press for details.
“Trick or Treat, Sheriff.” Granny says when they reach the dinner, handing her a styrofoam cup of hot chocolate, just the way she likes it.
“Hey Granny, have you met Killian yet?” She introduces taking a sip of her drink, inhaling the scent of cinnamon. The older woman nods, looking him up and down. The guy grins back at her.
“Didn’t realize I made an impression.”
“Of course, not many in this town are as fine as you.” She says with a wolfish smirk. This makes Killian’s cheeks turn pink as he scratches behind his ears.
He’s about to respond when Ruby, dressed as The Little Red Riding Hood, as always, quickly intervenes. “Granny! Stop hitting on people.” Pulling the older woman away. “We're nearly out of marshmallows!” She exclaims, shooting an apologetic smile their way.
“Come on Mom!” Henry groans, grabbing her hand. “Lets keep going!” Killian is also being pulled away by Roland. Not that she’s surprised, they decide to trick or treat down the stores on Main Street, before descending on the residential block just across from it.
“They seem to have this down to a science.” Killian points out, noticing that they’d only been at this for an hour and Roland had a completely full pail. She nods.
“It’s the usual route, most of the locals know what houses to hit first, and which to avoid. For example,” She points to a small quaint looking cottage filled with a beautiful garden. “Never visit Aurora and Phillip’s house, rumor has it they give out raisins.” Killian visibly shutters. “But they’re really nice people, just a bit too into healthy eating...” She points to the large mansion decorated with cobwebs and batts. “This is The Gold Residence, they give out...” She trails off as Henry and Roland race back from the large house, prize in hand.
“Movie Theater sized candy!” Roland exclaims, an entire box of whoppers clutched in his grip, one ear of his fox head hanging the wrong way.
“Wow...” Killian says dumb founded.
“The guy’s rich and his wife, Belle the librarian loves giving out candy. They always run out pretty quickly though...Be careful of the husband, he’s not nearly as kind as Belle.” She smiles and continues her introduction on How To Trick or Treat in Storybrooke.
“Marco doesn’t give out the best stuff, but his son August always hangs out in his garage giving the kids the good stuff.” She snickers at that one. “One time, Marco called me in because he thought August was dealing drugs, not Reese’s Pieces.”
That makes Killian laugh. “You certainly know the town pretty well.”
She does, doesn’t she? It hadn’t always been like that. When she came to town, she hated the fact that it was a ‘small town where everyone knew everyone. The rumors, gossip, but there was something homey about it too. Like everyone was talking about you because they cared about you, they warned each other about things they found fishy. A bit like a quirky family.
“I don’t know, it sort of snuck up on me...I wasn’t a small town kind of girl growing up...” She wasn’t an anywhere kind of person growing up.
“Too many happy families?” He assumes. It catches her off guard. She catches his expression and suddenly he knows. “You have that look Swan, the look we all get after being abandoned.”
Perhaps that’s what drew her to him. “Who was it for you?”
He smirks; even if the conversation was nothing to smile about. “My father. Left the day we buried my mother.”
Emma pauses. “My parents abandoned me on the side of the road. Then turned around and kept my brother.” She doesn’t resent her brother, not one bit, but to say that she never forgave her parents was an understatement. “I found this out after Henry was born, I wanted to know where we come from in case anything happened...”
Killian nods in agreement. “My brother tried to get custody of us, but a couple adopted us instead. We didn’t get along too well with the mother, but things did work out in the end… Sometimes things work out in bizarre ways.”
Emma definitely agrees on that. “Hey Henry!” Emma calls. Her kid looks up. “Why don’t we take them to the Haunted Mansion?”
“Ooooh, Good idea!”
“Haunted Mansion?” Killian repeats.
“Trust me, you both will love it.”
//
They did love it, even if the possessed monkeys did freak Roland out a bit.
“Does Henry’s father come to these very often?” Killian says suddenly, scratching behind his neck.
“He’s not a part of our life.” Emma responds automatically. His eyes widen with some sort of understanding.
“Aye. His loss then.” He replies. Emma raises a brow.
“Aye? Really getting into character aren’t you?” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively in response.
“Absolutely.” She laughs at that.
“Hey Mom, the house on the end has someone new in it.” Henry says, and he’s right, the white manner that had been empty for as long as she could remember had always been empty, a For Sale sign a permanent fixture of the neighborhood.
Now it was gone, in its place where graves and pumpkins, no less than six various carved pumpkins lines the walkway, bats hung from the arch. She could even see candles burning creepily in the windows.
“That’s our house.” Roland says. “Mom’s giving out caramel apple slices.”
Emma exchanges a glance with Henry.
Definitely not as bad as raisins.
“Can Henry come over?” Roland asks Killian, big puppy dog eyes that would have Emma hesitating. He glances at Emma.
“Just for a little bit.” She confirms with a smile. “We promised we’d bring Leo a few treats remember.” Henry nods in agreement. It sends the boys running in that direction. It takes a few words with the woman, dressed as an evil witch, before they disappear inside.
“We have a killer apple cider.” Killian says with a mischievous wink.
Emma’s not to sure what he’s getting at. Was he really inviting her inside to drink in front of his wife? This was getting too weird.
“Thanks, but technically I’m still on duty.” It was a lie, but it worked. He looks visibly disappointed. Not that she should care. Emma really can’t afford having rumors spread about crushing on the new District Attorney’s husband before the woman even moves into her office.
Not that she’s crushing on Killian.
“At least come in and meet Regina.” He says. “You’ll probably be working with her regardless.” Emma hesitates. “Besides, Henry and Roland are having a good time.”
That gets her, she’d do anything for Henry, even engage in pleasantries with the wife of the guy she did not have a crush on. Maybe just an interest? But not romantic. Not at all.
“Regina, this is Emma, Henry’s mom and the Sheriff.” Killian introduces. She smiles sheepishly.
She puts out her hand for Regina to shake. Emma’s rather impressed by her dark purple manicure. “Miss Swan.” She says “It seems we’ll be seeing a lot of each other soon.” She opens the door welcoming her inside. The home is...beautiful, white couches, beautiful marble floors, everything as pristine and perfect as possible. It has a forest sort of feel.
“Killy! Come see how much candy we have!” Roland says as soon as their inside. He grabs his hand and pulls. He looks back at them before he was pulled away into another room by the little Robin Hood.
Regina snickers. “He’s a total sap with him.” Emma nods.
“Roland obviously loves him.” Emma agrees.
“Cider?” Regina offers. She shakes her head. “Suit yourself.” She says pouring herself a glass. Then she sits on her couch, the woman’s gaze makes her feel nervous. She looks around for something to take the piercing gaze of the lawyer off her. “Are those family pictures?” She says suddenly, noticing the wall of frames in the far side of the room. It makes Regina’s expression soften instantly.
“Yes, this are when Roland was a baby.” Emma glances over, seeing a much softer version of the woman before her holding a toddler with the same curly hair as the boy she’s met.
“He looks so precious.” Emma says. Regina picks up another photo.
“This is him with his father starting little league in Boston, it didn’t really stick but they enjoyed it.” Emma sees little Roland in his uniform, it’s red with a shark on it, he’s holding a baseball bat grinning with a man.
A man who is not Killian. “Wait you said that he’s with his father in this picture?” Emma asks. It’s not making sense.
“Yes, my husband Robin. He’s a Marine overseas right now, but his tour ends December.” Emma looks at the photo and then back to the room where Killian disappeared.
“I thought...I thought Killian was your husband?!” she says still too shocked to understand.
“Killian.” Regina repeats. “You thought I’d marry him?” she seems genuinely appalled by the suggestion, but she lets out a laugh regardless. “Killian is my brother, adopted brother, but he’s family regardless. He moved with me when I got the job.” The woman narrows her eyes. Definitely looking like a woman who can read between the lines “But I assure you, he’s absolutely single.”
Oh my God. Emma thinks, face flushed with embarrassment.
“Honestly Miss Swan, he was over the moon when he got your text. If you’re going to be the key witness to a majority of my cases, you need to make sure you don’t jump to conclusions. ”
This can not be happening.
“Bloody hell, what did Regina say now?” Killian says coming into the room, chewing on something chocolate, his hook gone in favor of a small box of candy. “Milkdud?” He offers.
“I think I’m going to leave the two of you alone. I need to make sure that Roland isn’t eating too much candy.” Regina announces, giving her a pointed glance. A glance towards Killian.
“What was that about?” Killian asks. “Did she say something mildly offending? You shouldn’t take it personally, she can’t help herself.”
“Yeah, but it’s fine. She’ll warm up to me.” Emma assures him. “I tend to be prickly to most people.”
“You didn’t seem prickly to me.”
“You don’t strike me as most people.” She responds. “But anyway, I think I have to get going, candy for Leo, plus its technically a school night...” She says trailing off. “Henry! Finish up! It’s time to go.” She calls.
“Of course.” Killian agrees, scratching behind his ear sheepishly. He looks a bit sad by the idea of her leaving. Emma decides, in a spur of the moment decision, to fix that.
Ever so softly, she plants a kiss on his lips, until she feels him lean in and so she ends up grabbing him by the coat jacket, pulling him ever so closer. Killian Jones is a damn good kisser.
He’s wide eyed and surprised when they part. “That was...”
“...Gross.” Henry says, passing right between them. “Let’s go! I have to tell Leo all the stuff he missed!” Henry announces.
“Right.” Emma agrees, feeling her kid pull her away towards the door. “I get my coffee every morning at 8.” She announces in his direction, smirking. “See you then?” She asks.
“As you wish.”
//
Killian shows up for coffee that next morning.
And the morning after that...
The next year, Killian, Robin, David and the three boys bring home the largest pumpkin Emma’s ever seen.
It takes its place front in center in the new house they bought together.