And here it is; the happy ending. This has been a rocky ride, so I've extra grateful to all of you who've come on this journey with me and stuck through all the angst. Thank you so much, and enjoy the fluff.

Queen Emma marries Captain Killian Jones for the second time on a bright spring morning with princess Rapunzel and her husband Flynn Rider standing up as maid of honour and best man. Their story hadn't turned out any less extraordinary than Emma and Killian's, and Emma only regrets that they had tied the knot while she was chasing the cure for her curse with Killian even though the cure was always safely stored in her heart.

The Kingdom rejoices, and for their first wedding anniversary, Emma gives Killian two gifts, a small ship that looks exactly like the Jolly Roger minus the pirate flag, and the news that he's going to be a father.

It seems fitting to tell him by their lake, so after a little sailing she makes him race her and Tornado there on his noble seed, and then they sit on the old fallen tree side by side, looking out at the clear blue water.

When she utters the words and turns her head to look at him expectantly, Killian freezes for a moment, his mouth slowly quirking upward when he sees her encouraging grin, then wraps his arms around her and just holds her silently for a long, long time.

"Are you okay?" She asks him softly when they finally separate, realizing that there are tears trembling on his long eyelashes, his head down; he stares at her stomach as if he's trying to see through her skin and look upon their unborn baby.

"This is the best news I've ever received", he tells her, his hand reaching out and pressing against a barely there baby bump infinitely gently. "Hello there, little prince."

"Or princess", Emma amends with a serene smile and he grins, moving to kneel in front of her and resting his elbows on her knees so that his face is level with her stomach.

"Or princess. It doesn't really matter to daddy what you are, as long as you're healthy, because you're undoubtedly going to be as beautiful as your mother", he says softly and she sifts her fingers through his hair, wondering how anybody can be as blessed as the two of them are.

She's still waiting for something bad to happen, but she keeps that fear locked tightly inside the back of her mind, refusing to let it spoil the wonderful like she and Killian had built together.

They stay at the lake until the light begins to fade, and then he pulls her up on his horse in front of him, Tornado following behind them unburdened because Killian refuses to risk anything happening to her again.

Emma wakes up in the middle of the night to find Killian sitting on the edge of their four poster bed, his shoulders hunched and his head down, and he flinches a little when she sits up and lies her palm in the centre of his back.

"Hey, it's just me", she murmurs and absentmindedly caresses her stomach with her free hand, reaching for Killian's arm and wrapping her fingers around his bicep to bring him around to face her. "Did you have a nightmare again?"

"I just can't sleep", he tells her, her hand falling to her baby bump when he stands up and crosses over to the window overlooking the forest, his hand resting on the stone railing when Emma finally manages to scramble from the bed and join him.

"Are you worried about me having this baby?" Emma asks, leaning against the railing and covering his hand with her left and reaching to cover his heart with her right.

"I'm worried about everything to do with the baby", he says miserably and pulls his hand from under hers to run his fingers through his already tousled hair.

"Killian-"

"Do you know how many babies die during their first week in this Kingdom?"

"No, I-"

"Too many, Emma!" He exclaims so vehemently she almost jumps.

"Killian, just breathe", Emma says and lies her hands on his shoulders, trying to suppress a smile because this is clearly just a case of a daddy-to-be jitters.

"Babies are so fragile, Swan. And you are fragile too, and I can't-"

"Shhhh", Emma cuts him off and leads him back toward their bed, making him lie down with his head in her lap and resting her hand on his chest, talking to him in hushed tones until his hammering heart starts beating regularly. "Nothing is going to happen to me and our baby."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise", Emma says solemnly and Killian finally goes to sleep, curled on his side with his face pressed against her baby bump.

She stays awake a while longer, her fingers playing with his, caressing the rough skin of his palm and tracing countless little burns and cuts he'd acquired in a decade of forging swords.

Eventually, she dozes off too, content because both her husband and her baby are fast asleep.

Emma gives birth to William David Jones as the snow softly falls outside the castle windows, and she can't help wondering if it's her mother's way of greeting the grandson she's never going to meet.

When a tear rolls down Emma's cheek, Killian wipes it away, his lips pressing against her temple as she holds their baby boy close to her chest, overwhelmed with the amount of love for this tiny human being she and Killian had created.

"He's got your eyes", Emma says, tilting her head to make sure the colour is the same, and she finds herself mesmerized with the look on her husband's face.

Killian is in awe, but it's more than that; it's like he's looking at perfection itself and he's unable to believe that it had come partly from him.

"And your nose, thank the Lord", Killian chuckles, his index finger caressing over a frown on William's forehead, then leans down to brush his lips against their son's cheek.

"And my mother's chin", Emma whispers, leaning her weary head against Killian's shoulder and holding out her arms to give him the little bundle of joy. "Can you take him for a bit? I can't keep my eyes opened anymore."

Killian hesitates for the briefest of moments, but then dutifully folds his arms so that she can hand him their baby, his eyes softening even more when William sighs and turns his face into his father's chest.

"Well done, daddy", Emma mumbles and spends a while more admiring Killian's dimpled smile and the way William smacks his lips in his sleep before the exhaustion pulls her under and she sleeps.

William is crying and there's a panicked expression on Killian's face that gradually relaxes into a look of wonder when Emma takes and feeds their son, her eyes still half-way closed.

"Breathe, Killian", she says, her lips quirking upward, but Killian doesn't mind her teasing, too focused on their baby suckling happily and eagerly reaching for him as soon as he's fed. "I see you two have bonded while I was asleep."

"We're going to have so much fun together, aren't we, laddie?" Killian murmurs and sits against the headboard cradling William in his arms, Emma's hand reaching out to hold his tiny fist. "How do you feel, my love?"

"I'm alright, don't worry", Emma tells him, infinitely thankful that all the horror stories Killian had heard about childbirth and proceeded to panic about didn't come true.

"Maybe you should sleep for a bit longer, while I give him a tour of the castle?" Killian says uncertainly and Emma shakes her head at his antics, then shifts until she's lying with her head in his lap.

"You're not going anywhere, and I've had enough sleep", she says and wraps her arms around his waist, smiling when he murmurs something about stubborn lasses.

"Do you think they can see him?" Killian murmurs and Emma pulls back and looks up at him, her hand covering his on their baby's stomach.

"I think your brother and my father are beaming with pride, and my mother is probably telling them to simmer down while covertly brushing her tears away", Emma says, hoping that she's right, and that there is something after death, because anything else would be too painful to imagine.

"I think you're right", Killian says, then shifts his attention back to their son. "You know, little love, you've a lot of people watching over you from between the stars, and if you're ever lost or afraid, all you need to do is look up and they will help you find a way back home to your mother and me."

Emma thinks that if she lives to be a hundred, she's never going to forget this day, never going to forget the look on Killian's face when he first held their son and the sweetness of his voice when he talked to him.

"You're going to be the happiest little prince in the world", Killian says and smiles when William grabs his finger and holds on. "Daddy is going to make sure of that."

"What about mommy?"

"Mommy has already made daddy the happiest man in the world", Killian tells her and leans down to give her a kiss, careful not to squish William between them.

Emma tangles her fingers in his hair and sighs, finally letting go of all the fear that's been plaguing her since the curse because she's certain that the hardships are finally over.

There's nothing but happy times ahead of them.