Ok. This is it, I'm finally updating this fic again, yay! It's been 4 years since I stopped writing, life has been truly hard and there had been tons of life-changing moments. But I told you guys I'll finish it and most of the reviews made me do it.

As I re-read over and over the sneak peek and my drafts, I had to change a bit some stuff, since it was posted in such a rush of excitement for venturing again into Fanfiction.

This chapter is totally un-beta, I must apologize for the mistakes I'm sure I made, but I truly wanted to post this asap.

Disclaimer: I make no claim to these characters.

"I broke up with Graham."

16 hours earlier.

The night was falling while Emma was in the middle of a meeting with the new customer who had a mess with its new merge. Even though Gold was on the phone interfering every time he needed to, she was physically and mentally exhausted.

She needed to rest.

Lost in her thoughts, she was eventually interrupted by her phone ringing, which earned her a pointed look from some of the firm members, so she just smiled apologetically before leaving the room to answer it.

It was Henry's friend mom and her heart dropped at the thought that something could've happened at her son. "Hello?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"Oh Emma, hi, good you picked up." The woman on the other said replied. "I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, but I believe Henry needs to leave the party right now."

Emma's chest tightened at the thought of Henry being left out. "What, why? Did he pick up a fight or something?" She asked worried. "Because I assure you, he's a grea-"

"Oh no, Emma, he was being actually so nice to everyone in here." The woman replied quickly. "It's just, I think he caught a bug or something, he just threw up twice, and I'm worried I won't be able to assist him with 5 kids in the house."

"Oh." Now she felt as an idiot for being miles away while Henry needed her there for him. "Okay, listen, I'm not in town as you already know, I'll just make some calls to arrange for someone to pick him up." The woman on the other line hummed in response. "I'll just text you when they go looking for him, and thanks for the call, please keep me updated of how is he."

When she ended the call, tears formed in the corner of her eyes, she'd always been there for Henry, and today she wasn't, and it broke her heart.

Having someone to pick up Henry was harder than she'd imagined because she had to return to her meeting as soon as possible, but odds seemed to be against her.

Her first option had been Regina, but the woman never picked up, she assumed her friend was more than engaged with mystery lover boy. Damn you Regina.

Being a Friday night, Ruby was probably already at a club drinking into oblivion. Damn you Ruby.

Then something clicked on her and it seemed as an obvious thing to do, and her cheeks turned red just at the thought of it. She called Graham.

In some part of her mind it seemed the perfect opportunity for them to spend some time together, hoping Graham started to grow on Henry, for the sake of their future relationship. Not that she saw a future of them, not just yet… maybe sometimes, but she wasn't sure. It was more like a blur vision, so she avoided thinking of it.

She called him seven times, and those seven times it hit directly the voicemail. Well done idiot.

She sighed at the thought of the first person she'd considered calling, but the one her pride told her not to, because it wasn't his business, although maybe it was, in view of his strong attachment to her son, that secretly warmed her heart thinking of the love between them.

When Emma made the call, she wasn't surprised to hear Tink's voice considering she decided to call directly to his office trying to avoid being ignored since the beginning. Even though one tiny part of her brain scolded her for being this ridiculous, knowing Killian wouldn't do anything like that.

She's been a drama queen lately, and she hates her sudden attitude even more.

"Uhm, Swan?" She hears through the phone, and she swears her heart didn't skipped a beat at the accented voice on the other side of the phone.

"Oh... hey Killian." Emma says nonchalant trying to sound casual. That it appears to be working on her favor. Good.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, love?" she can hear the joke in his tone before he asks. "Is everything alright?".

Emma sighs deeply. "No Killian… that's why I'm calling you."

"What happened Emma? Is it Henry?" she hears the concern in his voice.

"Yeah, he's fine, I mean… apparently he got a stomach bug and he's been throwing up on one of the kids' sleepover party." She tries to say slightly, but she fails miserably. She wants to kick herself out for this, sometimes she's just a loser.

"Do you want me to take you both to the hospital?" Killian's response is immediate and she just thanks life and heaven for sending her the best friend of all.

"Oh my god, no, just… the thing is, - "

"It's fine Swan, what's going on?" Damn the bastard for knowing her too well.

"I'm not in the city right now…" She sighed disappointed. "I had to come and meet with a client over here in California and Henry is in a friend's house." Emma needed to hold it together for the sake of her job.

"Don't worry Swan, I'll pick the lad up in fifteen minutes and take him to the hospital. Just give me the address." Killian's response filled Emma's heart with love at the thought of him being there for Henry, while she was away.

She shook her head, as if he could see her, while a small smile formed on her lips. "Okay buddy, calm down, Henry will be fine. The worse that can happen is that he starts to throw up everywhere. But I do need you to pick him up and be there for him, you know?"

"Emma… I don't intend to let you down nor the lad, ever." Her heart did not skip a beat. Nope.

"I know, that's why Henry and I choose to see the best in you." She replied immediately. Where was this coming from? She was just a sap.

"Thank you for your trust Swan… I've missed this… our-old-selves." a sad smile formed on her lips at the thought of the distance and walls they've put through them during the past weeks.

It hurt.

"I know… life has been chaotic for both of us." Emma said with a sad chuckle. "Anyway, there will be time to still be back together…" quickly adding. "I mean, you know, like best friends as always."

"Yeah, of course Swan."

She would've loved to continue the conversation forever if it wasn't for the firm owner peeking through the door, looking for her, she just nodded smiling apologetically, again.

She changed quickly the subject to the cause of the call. "Well, first of all I'll text you in a minute the address of where's Henry, then you're gonna head to the pharmacy and pick up some bismatrol and…"

"Swan isn't better to take him to the hospital? You never know how serious this could be." Killian interrupted.

"Buddy, please don't Killian this." Emma replied with a sigh.

"Did you just use my name as a verb?" She could hear the confusion in his voice and she just cursed under her breath.

Shit.

She never intended to say that out loud. Sometimes when Henry did something out of the ordinary, or certain things she supposed he learned as a kid with Liam Jones, she just thought Henry Killianed it. It was easy, to just adopt his name as a verb during all those years he was absent from her life.

"I guess I did… you know there are some things that 'Killian it'… you know what I mean…" she tried to compose her tone, hoping he wouldn't stick to it. "Just, please be there for my son… he needs you." Honesty was pure in her voice.

"I know" Killian replied. "Send me the address and I'll take him to the E.R. just to be sure, I don't want to risk anything love, and I promise I'll call when I get him."

"Thank you… Killian." Emma paused. "For everything." It did warm her heart all the love and attention he had for them both.

Emma loved Killian Jones way more than she would ever admit.

As friends, she repeated herself. As best friends.

"Anytime Swan." He replied before they ended the call and she headed back to the meeting room, trying to survive a few more hours.

After almost 13 hours, the companies merge was a success and that gave Emma some of the peace she needed.

During the meeting she received several texts from Killian updating her on Henry's condition, he took him to the ER, where they had to place some medicines through an IV, merely to prevent dehydration.

When Emma arrived at the hotel room she walked straight to the bed, due to the weariness in her body. She needed to call Henry... and a shower. She took her phone and called Killian wanting to apologize to Henry but found out he was soundly sleep in the hospital, now she had to wait.

Time to shower. She got up to her suitcase until there was a knock on her hotel room door. What? When Emma looked through the peephole she was frozen in place, at the sight of Graham with a charming smile waiting for her to open the door.

What the hell?

Emma opened the door slowly. "Graham?" she asked, astonishment clear in her tone.

"Hey babe" Graham smiled cockily. "Missed me?"

"Graham... what... are you doing here?" she asked confused.

"Surprise?" He said more like a question. "I missed you babe." He closed the space between them, placing his hands on her waist and trying to kiss her, but she turned around.

Emma placed her hands in front of his chest, trying to pull away. "Hey buddy, I mean it... what are you doing here?" she said firm.

"Buddy?" He asked concerned. "Aren't you happy to see me?" he dropped his hands and took a step back.

"I... I don't know" Emma shook her head and closed her eyes before exploding. "You know, it's been a rough day. The meeting was endless, there's an emergency with Henry and I'm at the other side of the country, then I needed you in there and you weren't picking up" she continued stressing out. "Then I had to call the person I trust most in the world with my kid, because none of his parents were there for him, and then you appear right through my door knocking." She exhaled and turned to see him. "How did you know I was in here? I can't remember mentioning any detail of this trip".

Graham opened his eyes in surprise. "Emma, is everything ok? Where's all this coming from?" he asked.

"Answer me, please. How did you know I was here?" She repeated.

"I talked to Gold." he replied nonchalantly. "I asked him if it was ok that you took some days off and tried to relax, you've been under a lot of pressure."

Emma looked into his eyes. Liar. Why is he lying? "Are you sure?" she asked again, trying to give him a chance to come clean.

"Absolutely" he nodded. "Now, can you just relax and let me help you forget this long day?" he took one step closer.

"I... I need a shower" Emma took a step back.

"Want me to join you?" Graham asked with confidence in his voice.

"No." she replied drily. "Please, stay here." Emma walked to the bathroom and opened the shower so Graham didn't hear what she was about to do.

A lot of things were running around her head and there was stuff she needed to solve, so she made the call. Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up.

"Hello?" The other side of the line answered.

"Gold! Hi, sorry to bother you this late" she was already regretting the call. "But there's something I'd like to ask you." she went straight to the point.

"It's ok dear, the day was exhausting for both us, tell me how I can help you." Gold replied.

"Did Graham, my... uhm, boyfriend... called you or asked you where I was staying?" she asked calmly. Damn, why did it felt so wrong to call him – boyfriend – ugh.

"Who?" Gold asked before adding. "Miss Swan, honestly I respect you and your personal life, and I wasn't even aware you had a fling going on right now."

"Oh, it's ok, just wanted to confirm certain details, and Mr. Gold, again, I'm sorry for this late call." she replied while closing her eyes exhausted.

"No problem Miss Swan, is anything else I can help you with?"

"You know, yes... there's one more thing, I need to flight asap to New York...Henry, my son, he's in the hospital right now, I need to go and see him." Emma stated firmly.

"Ok, let me see what I can do, I'll text you the details." Gold replied.

"Thank you, Gold and good night." she said before hanging up.

Time to confront the liar.

Emma closed the bathroom door and walked to the bed where Graham was scrolling through his phone. "Why did you lie to me?" She asked wryly.

Graham turned around to look at her. "What are you talking about babe?" he furrowed his eyebrows surprised.

"I called Gold". She crossed her arms over her chest while Graham's eyes opened in surprise.

"Why would you do that?" he asked. "Why don't you trust me?"

"I can't trust you, and now it's less likely I will." she countered back. "Now, will you tell me the truth?"

"I stalked your phone" he answered and turning his gaze down, while her eyes opened widely in surprise.

What? "You did what?!"

"I was scared of losing you and Henry, Emma." he got up the bed. "I saw some texts between the girls and you, where you said you still weren't sure of us... I wanted to show you how special you are."

"You know that's not ok, right? It's just, so wrong..." she shook her head. "I can't believe this, it's just... too much." she responded while making circles with her fingers at the side of her head. "Please, leave." Emma added firmly.

"Babe, please stop this. I just went honest with you, why are you acting like this? Because of me coming or because you have unresolved feelings for another guy?" Graham's said sharply.

"Excuse me?" Emma's mouth opened in shock. "You're invading MY privacy and you're wondering if I'm cheating on you? That's absolutely ridiculous."

"Don't play the victim in here Emma, I know you have feelings for Killian, it's been obvious why you've let my son near him."

That was it. Emma walked straight to Graham and before she could control herself, she slapped him right through his face.

"Don't ever say again Henry is your son. Just because you were the seed guy, you have no right to claim him yours, he's been mine all these years." Her tone was full of anger. "Don't ever come again near us, Henry doesn't even like you, you've never tried to understand his hobbies, what he loves the most. And I'm finally realizing why... your attitude tonight made me realized what my son sees every time he's near you... and how toxic this has come." she motioned her hands between them.

Graham still holding up his red cheek from the smack in his face, replied between his teeth. "You're absolutely crazy. Why the fuck did you punched me? And you say he's not mine, but you were the one who looked up for me?" He reported ironically. "You must be joking, I don't know why I decided to continue this façade. The only thing good you have is that nice face, otherwise you're a fucking farce, pretending to be that perfect woman who is al-."

Before he could complete the sentence, Emma Swan punched him again, and that was the last time Graham Humbert saw her brilliant blonde flocks flying around, at least for now.

Emma ran away from her room with tears around her eyes, she took her suitcase and went directly to the hotel's lobby, she handled rapidly the room key and asked for a cab to the airport immediately.

She was determined to find a fly back home to her boy, he needed her, and she needed him to comfort herself.

On the way to the airport, Emma received a text from Gold confirming the flight change, it was leaving pretty early next morning, and decided to camp inside the airport.

Waiting to go home was longer than she imagined, she was exhausted, and a lot of emotions were running around her. I need to compose myself. She repeated constantly during the night.

She left California at dawn and arrived at NY pretty early, she wanted to call Killian to let him know she was back but decided not to since he probably was tired from Henry's hospital.

When Emma opened her home's door the last thing she was expecting to see, was Killian Jones in a thin white shirt and boxers. Don't even dare to stare Emma, please don't. And in order to avoid the sight she just looked around for Henry, until he called her.

"Mom, why are you crying?" Henry asked concerned.

"I'm not buddy, I'm just tired, it was a long flight." She lied and remember she had forgotten to check the redness around her eyes.

"Well, Uncle Killian is doing potatoes, do you want some?" He responded.

And at the mention of his name, Emma turned her eyes to him, and she swears her heart didn't skip a beat at the sight of his warming smile.

Remembering the thin shirt and the boxers sight she turned to Henry, because damn that sight. "I'd love to have breakfast with my two favorite men in the world" She smiled. "Now go and put some pants on." She teased Henry and subtly included Killian in her joke.

"Yes ma'am." Both, Henry and Killian, said in unison.

He'll know you're lying. Pretend Emma, just pretend.

She decided to help them with breakfast by preparing the table to eat, when Killian reappeared with what she believed were his previous clothes.

"Hey." He said to her. "Are you okay Swan?"

"Not now Jones." Emma shook her head. Damn him.

"You know you're a terrible liar, and that façade of 'everything's okay' won't work with me darling." He quirked an eyebrow while Emma fixed her gaze on the floor.

Awkward silence passed between them, before Emma took a deep breath and whispered as she stared back at Killian. "I broke up with Graham."

She observed how Killian's eyes opened in surprise before adding. "Are you ok?"

She just looked at him and couldn't believe he was asking first about her well-being, and it reminded herself how lucky she was of having Killian as part of her life, and how much she loved him. As a friend, of course. A brother.

"Yeah, I just realized how toxic some things were..." she looked back to the floor. "I really don't want to talk about it now, later?"

He nodded with a sad look. "I'm sorry, love. You know I'll always be here" he said with tenderness in his voice.

"Anyway, right now I'm just concerned about Henry, what did the doctor said? How is he feeling?" she asked him worried.

"The lad is better right now" he replied proudly, and she saw the spark in his eyes talking about her son. "Last night, the nurses and doctors gave him the right medicine and he woke up much better, he looks healthier and better nourished than last night."

"Thank you, Killian" Emma smiled sadly. "I'm glad you were here, where we both needed you." Killian started walking in her direction. "And I'm sorry I wasn't here, and you had to do it all alone." She met his burning gaze looking for some pity but found instead pure love and honesty.

"I'll always be here for you and Henry, Emma" he placed his hand on her cheek. "You're the most important people of my life, and I'm thankful you came back to me."

Emma closed her eyes at the warmth of his touch, she felt safe with Killian in her life, and after a long time Emma Swan finally felt home.

Only if things were different.

"So… are we having potatoes?" Henry's voice echoed in the hall and they both chuckled.

"Coming, lad" Killian replied, before leaving to the kitchen and letting her go.

Things will be okay now. Emma thought.

1 month later.

Emma and Henry days were full of time with Killian, they started creating little routines that included going to the movies, sailing, cooking, and even singing. Their bond was so powerful, that some people told her they looked like a family, and it warmed her heart at the thought of it; although, she knew Killian didn't feel the same.

Killian's birthday was coming up, she wanted to surprise him with a party; she knew it was time for him to see Liam again, they'd been talking about their distance and how much Killian misses his older brother, and Emma would make it happen.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost missed Elsa, the new intern at her office, knocking the door. "Come in".

"Uhm, Miss Swan, this is for you" Elsa handled Emma an envelope with her name on it.

"Thank you" She said while taking the correspondence in her hands. "Oh, and Elsa, please call me Emma" she smiled at the intern.

"Yes, Miss Swan, sorry, I mean, Emma. It's just that Mr. Gold is so correct and… old" she said blushing. "And you're so fresh, vibrant and different from him." Elsa smiled.

"That's what makes this works, otherwise… I'm not sure" Emma laughed before turning to her seat.

"Probably." Elsa grinned and excused herself.

As Emma opened the envelope, confusion and anxiety filled her in. Graham sent her a Child Custody Order, claiming for Henry.

It'd been easy creating a routine with Emma and Henry at his side, he didn't felt any more lonely, ever since Emma broke up with Graham the three of them could spend every weekend doing different things, from sailing, visiting art exhibitions, to even cooking and doing laundry; he was a neat freak, sadly Emma and Henry weren't, he inherited that from her.

He had had his chance more than once to talk about her hijacked pregnancy, and although he considered a man of honor, sometimes he was just a coward. He was death scare of losing them both, again, that he didn't want to ruin things as they were right here, right now.

Little did he know life had something else planned by itself, the moment his doorbell rang.

When Killian went to open his apartment door, he never expected to found Emma Swan in tears, and if his gaze of concern didn't say enough, he opened his arms for the woman of his life, not that she knew that.

Emma hugged him tight and whispered sobbing. "Graham wants to take Henry away from me."

Killian's jaw clenched, his back went rigid as his muscles tensed, then he felt how blood rushed through his veins. "The git can't do that, he can't take away Henry from you."

"He can actually, Killian." Emma's sobs crushed his heart even more. "He's his biological father, maybe he won't take him completely from me. But he can arrange something to have half the custody." She tightened her arms in his chest.

This is it. Killian thought, he had to tell her. Right here, right now.

He inhaled and exhaled briefly before murmuring into Emma's ear. "He can't do that Swan... because he's not his dad…"

Emma pushed him lightly to look into his eyes "Killian, I know that being the sperm guy didn't have him the right but-"

"No Emma, you don't understand, what I meant, what I intend to say is, Graham isn't Henry's dad." Killian interrupted her while looking into her too green eyes, eyes that he could get lost easily.

"What are you talking about?" Emma shook her head and took a step back crossing her arms over her chest. "If Graham isn't Henry's dad, then who is it?" Emma furrowed her brows together exasperated.

"I… I just, Emma… I really wanted to tell you before about this-"

"Killian stop rambling and just stop talking nonsense just to –"

"I hijacked your pregnancy Emma!" He shouted. "Henry's my son"

Emma's face went blank, her mouth opened in surprise, and before he could say anything else, he felt pain in his nose, and when he touched it, he saw red that almost made him nauseous if it wasn't for the blonde halo he saw leaving through his door.

Ahhhh I did it, I'm already writing the next 3 chapters and then we're done with this! :)

Penny for your thoughts?

- Jare