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PART 1
Emma and Killian were sitting on the couch, drinking hot chocolate and talking after a long day when Henry walked into the room with a camera.
“Hey kid, where’d you get that?”
“Belle gave it to me. I was helping her in the shop and I noticed it on a shelf, so she said it could be an early Christmas present.”
“That’s nice of her.” Killian said. “She seems to be getting better, that mess with the Dark One really did a number on her.”
“Now, smile!” Henry said.
As Henry lifted the camera to his face, Emma hid hers in Killian’s shoulder. “No way. It’s been too long of a day for a photoshoot.”
“But Mom, you need a picture for the Christmas card.”
“What’s a Christmas card?” Killian asked.
Temporarily lifting her face from his shoulder, Emma explained. “It’s a card that you send to your friends and family around Christmastime. If they live far away, sometimes people add letters about what has happened over the past year.”
“And it has a family picture.” Henry added. “So smile.”
“Why do we need to send a Christmas card?” Emma asked. “Everyone we would send it to lives in Storybrooke already. I don’t think any of them need a recap of this year.”
“Come on love, it’s not like taking a picture’s going to do any harm.”
“Can’t we do it later? I’m wearing my glasses, I’m exhausted, and my hair desperately needs to be brushed before I’m willing to be caught on camera.”
“I could be persuaded with hot chocolate…”
“You got it, kid.” Emma responded.
Killian winked at Henry as Emma went to fill up a mug for him, knowing Henry had snapped a picture while they had been talking.
Of course now Henry wouldn’t let it go. The damn camera was out bright and early the next morning. They were having breakfast at the kitchen table and putting off getting ready for the day when Henry walked out and took a picture before either of them could say anything.
“I don’t care what you say, that’s not going on our Christmas card.” Emma said immediately, sleepily glaring at Henry over her coffee mug.
“But you agree we’re going to have a Christmas card. Don’t worry Mom, it’s only December 2nd. We have plenty of time to get an awesome picture to use.”
After that, Henry didn’t pull out the camera until that weekend. This time, though, Emma was prepared – she had seen him trying to sneak it in his backpack, while she grabbed his duffel bag full of everything he’d need to spend the weekend at Regina’s. The four of them were eating dinner at Granny’s before Regina took Henry home when he pulled it out. Emma’s hands instantly came up to cover her face, and Killian looked at her strangely.
“What’s your excuse this time, love?”
“I just don’t like having my picture taken.”
“What’s going on?” Regina asked Henry, while Killian tried to coax Emma out of hiding.
“I’m trying to get a picture of them to put on a Christmas card.” Seeing the perfect moment, he snapped the picture. Emma responded with an icy glare.
Emma thought she would be free of Christmas card talk for the weekend, but Henry had apparently told his grandparents about his scheme. David and Mary Margaret kept pestering her about how cute it would be to get a Christmas card from them. So when Emma picked Henry up from school on Monday, she caved. They ended up sending their only Christmas card to David and Mary Margaret, featuring a cheesy photo of Emma and Killian making a heart with their hands. Or rather, Killian’s hook and Emma’s hand.
PART 2
How David and Mary Margaret had managed to get the tree up the stairs, Emma would never know. But it was here now and they were insisting she and Killian help decorate the entire apartment. “Hello love, is there a reason your mother gave me this ridiculous hat when she answered the door?”
“It’s a Santa hat. It’s supposed to be festive.”
“Well, I suppose I can wear it for the afternoon.”
That’s when David handed Emma a box of decorations. “You two ready? Snow and Henry are taking care of the tree first, and then they’ll help us decorate the apartment.”
“No offense mate, but I don’t think this box is going to take us all that long.”
“This is the first box. There’s four more.”
Henry and Mary Margaret decorated the tree surprisingly fast, joining Killian, David, and Emma when they were about halfway through the second box. The box, unfortunately, that had a smaller box of mistletoe in it.
“Mom, why do you have so much mistletoe?”
“Because Emma, true love’s kiss breaks any curse.”
“I didn’t realize the holidays were such a curse.” Killian said.
“Nah, it’s only a curse if you try to put my entire family tree under one roof.” Henry said.
David and Mary Margaret shared a look before he said, “Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have Christmas in the Enchanted Forest. Anyway, we can take care of that.” Emma was all too happy to hand the box to her father.
While she, Killian, and Henry hung up garlands and lights, David and Mary Margaret hung up the mistletoe – in every doorway, and in the Christmas-y centerpieces on each of the tables. Even their wreath had mistletoe in it. And they proceeded to kiss every time. Emma thought the cutesy-ness of it all got annoying after about the fifth time. But maybe that was just because she couldn’t walk ten feet without seeing some, which also meant every time she passed Killian it was nearby.
She was carrying a stocking over to the wall, where her mother insisted on hanging them despite her lack of a fireplace, and Killian was walking over to grab one when her mother noticed it.
“Emma! Killian!” the two of them looked up at her. “Mistletoe.” Emma rolled her eyes.
“Mom, is this really necessary? There’s mistletoe everywhere.”
“I didn’t make the tradition, Emma.”
“Yeah, you just overenthusiastically enforce it.” She mumbled before Killian kissed her on the cheek.
This continued all afternoon, long after decorations were up. Emma was starting to get annoyed. It’s not that she didn’t like kissing Killian, but having to do it any time she walked more than two feet was extremely inconvenient.
“Love, are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just sick of all this damn mistletoe. It’s literally everywhere.”
“I think I may know a way around that.”
“Oh really, pirate?”
“Well it’s no secret that your parents still don’t completely approve of you dating me…”
“I like the way you think.”
So the next time they heard someone yell mistletoe, Killian smirked. He took her hand, gave her a twirl, and claimed her mouth in a deep kiss. It went on – Henry probably caught a picture – until David interrupted.
“That’s long enough, pirate. Not with my daughter!”
PART 3
Killian crossed out another item on the list. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of a present idea for Emma, and he really needed to get this done today – she would be at the station all day catching up on paperwork. Luckily, that’s when Henry walked in.
“Do you mind if I ask you a question, lad?”
“Sure, Killian. What do you want?”
“For the life of me, I can’t think of what to get your mother for Christmas. Have you got any ideas? What are you getting her?”
“Well, I can’t tell you what I’m getting her because I’m giving the two of you one gift. People usually just give each other gifts that have a special meaning for the two of them. Can you think of anything like that?”
“She’s taught me basically everything I know about this land and their technology, not to mention saved my life on more than one occasion, I don’t know if I could sum it up in one gift.”
“So don’t try to make it about everything, make it about one. Pick one important memory and get her a gift based on that. You’ll figure out something.”
“Thanks Henry. And don’t tell your mother about this.”
“No problem, Killian.”
Emma wasn’t having a much better time coming up with a gift for Killian. Every time she took a break from her paperwork she tried to think of a gift for him, but nothing was coming to mind. And with Christmas a week away, time was running out, what was she supposed to do?
“Hey Mom, that doesn’t look like paperwork.”
“It’s my list of potential gift ideas for Killian, but nothing’s good enough. He takes you sailing all the time, has he mentioned anything he needs for his boat?”
“Do you realize how much boat supplies cost? It’s a bit out of the price range of a small town sheriff. Plus, that’s not much of a gift. You two have been through so much together. You can think of something better than that.”
“True… Hey kid, what are you getting him?”
“It’s for both of you, I can’t tell you.”
“Fine, just don’t tell him I haven’t figured anything out yet.”
PART 4
On Christmas Eve, Emma walked into the apartment to the smell of hot chocolate with cinnamon. Killian greeted her with a steaming mug and Henry walked in from the living room carrying a stack of DVDs.
“Merry Christmas Eve, Emma.” He said.
Emma took a sip from the mug before glancing at Henry. “What are those for?”
“We’re starting a new tradition: Christmas Eve movie marathon. I borrowed these from Regina to teach Killian about them anyway.”
“I’m quite interested in learning about all these characters I’ve heard about.” Killian said with a smirk.
“Well then, I’ll make the popcorn.”
They watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first, and Henry was getting a kick out of explaining things to Killian.
“So tell me about this Santa fellow again. What exactly does he do?”
“He visits all the houses in the world and leaves the kids gifts under their Christmas trees. If the kids are bad, he puts coal in their stockings instead of presents.”
“Who came up with this idea?”
“He’s based on a real bishop. He used to give presents to kids in poor towns around the holidays.”
“Other than that bit about coal, he sounds remarkably like Robin Hood.”
“Huh, I guess he does.” Emma said.
Their marathon continued with A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Polar Express, and eventually the Nightmare Before Christmas when they got sick of the cheeriness. Somewhere between Jack escaping Halloween Town and kidnapping Santa, Henry snuck back to his room to grab his camera. When he came back, Killian and Emma were cuddling on the couch, with presents piled high under the tree next to the window. Ever so quietly, he snuck a picture. It may be too late for a Christmas card, but it was still cute. When the credits rolled, Emma sent Henry to bed.
“It’s 12:03, Emma. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Killian.” She said as she turned to kiss him.
PART 5
On Christmas morning, Henry, Killian, and Emma were up at ten, getting ready to drive over to Mary Margaret and David’s apartment for the gift exchange at eleven. With everything that happened recently, Emma’s parents had invited the three of them plus Regina to their house for a gift exchange and Christmas dinner. Henry was putting all of the gifts into a laundry basket for transportation when Killian pulled Emma aside.
“I wanted to give this to you before we left. Merry Christmas Emma.”
He pulled out a small box, wrapped in red tissue paper tied with a gold ribbon.
“Not a bad wrapping job for one hand.”
“Aye, I might’ve gotten Henry to help me out with that part. Open it.” He handed her the box, and she carefully untied the ribbon and opened it, revealing a simple heart shaped locket. “I realize it isn’t much, but unfortunately there isn’t much pirating to be done in Storybrooke. My other option was giving you my actual heart, but I didn’t think either of us would like a repeat of that.”
“No, I definitely prefer your heart where it is.” She lifted it out of the box and fastened it behind her head. “I love it, thank you. One sec, I have to go grab your gift.”
She dashed into her bedroom and grabbed the little green bag from under her bedside table. Walking back into the hallway, she hung one of the straps on his hook. He lifted the gift out of the bag with his hand and realized what it was – a tiny pirate ship ornament. A tiny pirate ship ornament painted to look like the Jolly Roger.
“Merry first Christmas, Killian. Do you want to hang it up?”
However, Killian was still perplexed by the ornament. It wasn’t particularly detailed, but it was a cute wooden thing that had clearly been hand painted. He was touched that Emma would do something like that for him. He caught her lips in a tender kiss, forgoing verbal thanks.
“Um, guys,” Henry called from the living room, “We need to leave soon.”
“We’ll be right out.” Emma responded.
“I need to hang up your mother’s gift and then we’re good to go.”
He daintily hung it up a few branches below the star before taking Emma’s hand and leaving the apartment.
As soon as they got to David and Mary Margaret’s, Henry bolted up the stairs, Emma following behind with the basket of gifts while Killian opened the doors for her. When they reached the apartment, David took the basket before Mary Margaret caught Emma in a hug. Killian helped him set the presents under the tree. Emma was roped into helping set the table for dinner. Regina arrived about ten minutes later, but was immediately dragged away by Henry.
“Sorry, last minute present emergency.” She said as she walked back in.
“Merry Christmas, Regina.” Snow said.
“It is Christmas, yes.”
“Well maybe some presents will cheer you up.” David said. “Henry, where are you?”
“Coming!” Henry emerged, hiding something behind his back. “Sorry about that.”
“Time for presents. Why don’t you start?”
“Okay.” Henry brought the small photo album in front of him. It was simple and classy, with a black cover. Henry had opted to tie a ribbon around the corners instead of truly wrapping it. “So this is for Mom and Killian from Mom and I. There’s one last page for you to fill up.”
Emma took the photo album from him, pulling the ribbon off the corners without untying the bow. She flipped open the cover to reveal a picture of her and Killian on the couch. Her face was half buried in his shoulder, and he was smiling down at her. The second page featured another picture of her and Killian, only this time they were smiling at each other in their pajamas at their breakfast table. On the third page, the picture was from Granny’s. Killian was holding Emma’s two hands in his one, and they were smiling at each other. Several more pages had photographs from the previous month – picking out a tree for their apartment, decorating it, making hot chocolate… One of the last pictures was from their movie marathon the night before, Emma and Killian laughing while cuddled up on the couch. The next one was the one they had sent to David and Mary Margaret. The second to last page with a photo was from decorating David and Mary Margaret’s apartment, the last time they were stuck under the mistletoe.
“Thank you so much, Henry.” Emma said, pulling him into a hug immediately before walking over to Regina. “Thank you, Regina.”
“It was Henry’s idea, all I did was buy the photo album.”
“Still, thanks. Things are rough, focus on the good things.”
“You’re welcome. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.”
The rest of the day was happy and relaxed. Presents were exchanged – everyone laughed when David and Mary Margaret gave Emma and Killian mistletoe, until David had to threaten to kick them out again – and Henry insisted on taking a group photo before they all sat down to dinner. Needless to say, it soon found its way into Emma and Killian’s new photo album.