Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Once Upon A Time. ABC, Disney, and whoever else have that distinction. No profit is being made, and no copywrite infringement in intended.

AN: So this idea just wouldn't go away after watching last night's episode. There are already lots of Captain Swan stories about it, cause yeah they were just so adorable, so I wanted to take a slightly different look at it. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think as this is my first time writing for OUAT. Short and sweet. (and spoilers for 4.2 obviously)

Every Mother's Wish

by Lady Callista

"She asleep?" Mary Margaret asked the question softly, not wanting to disturb either her daughter, currently curled up in Hook's arms, or her son, who was curled up in her own.

"Yeah, for a little while now." Hook's voice was equally soft, his arms unconsciously adjusting as Emma shifted slightly, her face burrowing even deeper into his chest. "She's still not as warm as she should be, but she was so cold before..."

"She'll be fine." Mary Margaret whispered, sliding slightly awkwardly to the floor. She started rocking Neal automatically as he started to fuss before settling back to sleep, then reached out to tuck the blanket more firmly around Emma's feet. David had filled her in on what had happened before taking Elsa to Granny's to get her settled for the night, including what Hook had said when questioned on his intentions towards Emma.

"She was so cold." Hook's voice was haunted, and Mary Margaret looked up just in time to see him drop a kiss on the top of Emma's head before tilting his head to rest his cheek there, his heart in his eyes when they glanced down to meet her own.

"What David said to you earlier, about Emma, and how you answered him..." She trailed off when Hook's eyes sharpened.

"He told you?"

"Of course." Mary Margaret replied softly. "We're protective of her, probably more than we would be if we hadn't lost her as a baby, I don't know, but... but her life turned out so different than I imagined it when I was carrying her. So much worse, so much loss, she's been hurt so many times..."

"I won't hurt her." The sharpness was still there in Hook's eyes, but there was understanding as well, and his tone was almost painfully honest, almost as if he was promising himself as much as her. Mary Margaret found herself wondering how much Emma had told him about her past.

"You will." She hurried to explain as his face started to close down. "If it's real, if it's... you'll hurt her. And she'll hurt you. I don't mean intentionally, or out of malice. I mean like she hurt you today, like it hurt when you thought you might lose her. Believe me, David and I both know how that feels. And if you've been hurt enough, the way Emma has, it can be hard to let people in. It's hard to care when you know that the more you care the more you can be hurt."

"It's worth the risk though." Hook's voice was barely a whisper, but his eyes had softened again, and his hand came up to trail feather-light over Emma's hair.

"It is." Mary Margaret nodded, shifting until she was settled more comfortably, eyes tracking from Hook to her peacefully sleeping children. "It's completely worth it. But she'll need your patience."

"I've never been a patient man, and for a long time I just took what I wanted." It was said flippantly, but Mary Margaret had seen beneath his gruff, devil-may-care attitude just often enough to know there was a good man underneath, and she sensed he also had pain and loss in his past. When she only raised her eyebrows, he gave her a half-smirk and continued, "But she's different, or maybe I am. I don't want to take, I want to give. Give her whatever she wants, whatever she needs. And in return only take what she's willing to give."

"I believe you." Mary Margaret said simply, amazed that he had opened up to her as much as he had, and knowing that if she reacted too emotionally it would make him uncomfortable. But her heart wanted to sing, and she had come perilously close to letting out an awwww. Despite his rough edges, her daughter had indeed found a good man. "When I was carrying her, in that all too brief slice of happiness before we found out the curse was coming, I used to dream about what kind of life she'd have. And of course, even then, I dreamed about what kind of man she'd find one day. I wanted her to have true love, of course, I wanted her to have what Charming and I did, although I didn't want to her have to fight for it quite as much as we did."

Hook chuckled slightly at that, and although he didn't say anything Mary Margaret could tell that he was actually interested, so she continued, "I hoped she'd get the best of both of us, but she'd be more like me, you know? So she'd need a man like Charming. Someone who would think of her before himself. Someone who would respect her for who she was, and who had something unique and valuable coming from his own experiences to share with her. He would have to be loyal, intelligent, brave. Someone who never gave up, and who knew that nothing was impossible. Serious when necessary, but with a good sense of humor. Handsome would be a plus, but it's more about the inside anyway. I wanted her to have a hero, just like I did." She was the one who chuckled now, seeing how his eyes had widened, and the note of caution that was in them. "It was a long list but suffice it to say, it was what I wanted, and she's certainly old enough to make her own choices."

"I'm sorry you didn't get what you wanted." The flippant tone was back, but Mary Margaret could see the glimmer of hurt underneath. "But it doesn't matter what you think of me, only what she does."

Emma stirred then, eyes slowly blinking open, and Mary Margaret decided to give them at least the illusion of privacy in the small loft. But before she did that she had one final thing to say.

Laying her hand on Hook's knee, she used it to balance as she rose to her feet, then shifted it to rest briefly on his shoulder. Her smile was the gentlest one she had ever graced him with. "Who says I didn't get what I wanted?"

And with that she crossed the room to put Neal in his crib.

She didn't look back, but if she had she would have seen the faintest glimmer of tears in Hook's eyes before he blinked them back.

She fussed with the baby as she heard Emma speaking softly, still half asleep but sounding surprised that Hook had stayed.

"Where else would I be, luv?"

Mary Margaret's smile grew, and she slipped into the kitchen to make everyone more hot chocolate, wondering how long it would take for Hook to go from calling Emma luv to telling her that he loved her.

THE END