"Do you really have to go already?"

Her smile widened and her hand, which had paused on my chest, started to wander again. "It's half past ten already. If we don't reappear in town soon, my father may look for me and directly come here."

What's the problem? "You locked the door," I reminded her.

"True."

Her hand, then on my stomach, kept moving down, and I bit my lip just in time to stop any sound from coming out.

"Caressing me like you do won't make me want to let you get out of this bed."

She looked rather pleased and kept going. "And what are you going to do to stop me? Are you going to make me your prisoner?"

Good idea, I thought with a crooked smile. I rolled on the side to switch positions, trapping her under my body. "That's a possibility."

She giggled and the musical sound filled the room, making my smile even wider. She looked nothing but happy, and I fancied thinking she was experiencing the same bliss as I was.

"You won't need to keep me captive. I'm staying. But at a quarter to eleven, I'll go."

I looked up at the clock and groaned when I noticed that was giving us less than fifteen minutes. "That's too soon."

"Eleven," she said.

"Still too soon, but better." It would always be too soon; if it was up to me, I'd stay with her in this bed all day.

We were gazing at each other, and it was one of these times when silence was speaking louder than words. A simple shift would be enough. We had half an hour left, and all I wanted was to love her and to leave trails of kisses all over her body, letting my lips explore all of her lines like I had done at night. I was looking her in the eye, and it was obvious she was thinking of the same activities.

Her eyes were closed and I wondered whether she had fallen asleep again. Or perhaps my kisses were just too delightful for her to keep her eyes open. But, glancing up at the clock between two kisses, I could see we were running out of time. At first not saying anything because I just wanted to keep her here with me, I ended up deciding she had the right to know. With a bit of luck, she would decide to stay longer.

I pressed one more kiss on her back before warning her, "It's eleven."

Her voice being muffled by the pillow, she grumbled something unintelligible. Good sign.

"What did you say?" I asked teasingly.

"Five more minutes."

Success! "I have all the time in the world." Focusing again on her back, I brushed her hair aside to clear her neck, and went back on kissing her, reaching her ear before whispering, "But be careful, love. You could make me think you're as unwilling to leave this bed as I am."

A muscle tensed in her cheek, betraying the presence of a smile across her lips. The smile was indeed there when she looked at me. "Maybe I am."

Let's stay there all day, then. She turned around to lie on her back and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her to reunite our lips.

Her fingers were curled around my biceps and it was when her attempt to push me became insistent that I understood her intentions: she wanted to switch positions. I rolled on the side and let her be on top, with her hair cascading over my chest and my neck. I watched her every move as she played with my hair and lightly scratched my jaw. She looked captivated and I quietly remained there, lying under her and not taking my eyes off her for a second, letting her enjoy whatever she was finding enjoyable.

Her fingers paused on my neck while she seemed to drown in my eyes. Gazing at her, I thought of her magic, and took her hand. Playing with her fingers and caressing her palm, I tried to imagine how it had to feel to have some warm golden flares coming out of it – even about the warmth, I was not certain. I mused over the reason why she had magic, and from there my thoughts drifted; something she noticed.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, pulling me out of my daydream.

"I'm just…" I trailed off, not knowing where to start. Even I wasn't sure about the twists and turns my mind had followed to get there.

"Usually, I'm the one not finishing my sentences," she remarked with a soft voice.

"Well, there's a first for everything," I replied distractedly.

Gazing at her hand, I was hesitating to bring up the subject again; it would be the third time since the day before. In the evening, she had asked me whether I'd like to be a father. I had never taken the time to seriously consider the possibility, but the path my thoughts had just followed probably meant the answer was affirmative, even if I hadn't been aware about it. This revelation about my expectations for our future was enough to get me lost in thoughts.

"There's something you want to say," she said, interrupting my musings.

Yes. I love you. I lifted my head up, just enough to capture her lips and passionately kiss her.

She was searching my eyes, obviously confused, and perhaps even slightly worried. "What is it that you wanted to say?"

I glanced at her hand in mine, remembering the thoughts which had initially got me lost. "It's more like something I want to ask," I told her, and her reaction was rather unexpected; at first looking anxious, she opened wide eyes and looked at our hands while clutching Liam's ring. "What is it, love?"

"I'm just thinking of the answer."

"The answer?" You don't even know what my question is. Or, do you? "You're also wondering that about your magic?"

"What?" She looked bewildered; obviously, we hadn't been thinking of the same question.

"Your magic. Your hand, that's where it comes from. I was wondering if… well, they say you have magic because you're the product of true love." She let go of the ring and looked me in the eye so intensely that I needed to focus to keep track of what I was saying. "But since it's true love for us as well, do you think that, if we had a baby, she, or he, would have magic as well?"

"Killian."

Among the different ways she had to call my name, I knew this one was associated with feeling overwhelmed. This was confirmed by the tears filling her eyes and the energy she put in the kiss that followed. She hugged me and I wondered whether sharing my thoughts had been the right thing to do.

"Are you alright?" I inquired.

"More than alright," she said, looking me in the eye and allowing me to see that she was fine indeed. "I love you."

"Good!" And I love you even more. I realized she had not answered my question. "Magic already runs in your veins, and we are true love. It must be possible; don't you think?"

"I don't know."

The love and tenderness I could see in her eyes left me speechless for a moment, but my thoughts soon started to wander again, and I pictured two miniature versions of Emma creating these beautiful golden sparks of magic. This looked perfect. My mouth quirked at the corner. "Henry and I would be the muggles of the family."

Hearing her laugh was delightful. It was undoubtedly the first time I was the one using such references, and the fact it had amused her was making me feel rather proud of it.

"How do you even know what a muggle is?" she asked.

"Henry, of course. He loves those books. I hear about it every time we go sailing."

I could see her gaze shifting between my eyes and my lips, and I expected her to kiss me, but she didn't. "I can already say you and Henry are my favorite muggles in the world."

I would despair if we were not. I wanted to taste her lips, and went to capture them. I pulled her down to me and kissed her until she was breathless.

Leaning her forehead against mine, she sighed. "I really should go."

That was when I remembered that there was a world outside this bedroom. She gazed at me and I guessed she was waiting for some sort of confirmation; I nodded. But she still didn't move and I smirked, thinking of alternative activities. "Go, before I give in to another attempt to make half-blood babies."

I was hoping I had used the reference properly. Emma dispelled the doubt when saying, "Henry taught you well!" Her playful smile made me feel like she was about to tease me. "No more attempt," she said. She pecked my lips before adding, "For now."

For now; these two words were making all the difference. The bed suddenly felt much less warm as she got up. My eyes lingered on her silhouette while I resisted the temptation to follow her, but I had something else to do, and I didn't have time to fantasize. I would need a moment in the bathroom, but I'd go there later. Getting up in my turn, I wondered whether I could wait for a shower before dressing up. I pictured her coming out of the bathroom and seeing me wandering around wearing nothing. She couldn't handle it. I chuckled and put on my pants before going down to the kitchen.

Of course, it was the first time I was doing all of this, but I had seen it enough times to know what I was supposed to do. Opening all the cupboards, I was discovering what was inside each of them, locating what I would need while looking for what seemed to be the most important to be found. At last, I found it: ground coffee. Now was the time to face the coffee maker. I had never used that kind of device, but I had tried to pay attention purposefully, to know how to do it myself on the day when I would find myself in charge of breakfast; this day had come. After adding some water in the appropriate compartment, I was about to add the coffee when I realized the thin parchment-like paper was missing. Again, I opened several cupboards, and found the filters next to the ground coffee. Makes sense. Not sure about the proportions, I quickly read the instructions to make sure I was doing it right before adding the coffee, and pressed the button. This was only one part of the plan; I needed to get everything else ready for breakfast before she would come down to the kitchen. Upstairs, I heard the tap being turned off. I didn't have much time left. Knowing that what she was spreading on her bagels depended on her mood, I put on the table everything that could be used for that purpose. There was actually no bagel, but toasts would do.

My haste made me inattentive and, whilst intending to grab two mugs, my elbow hit the pile of plates which crashed on the floor with a resounding shattering noise.

Bloody hell!

Emma ran down the stairs. She was wearing a dress I had never seen, and I couldn't help noticing she didn't seem to be wearing one of those modern corsets under it. She was staring at me and it reminded me of what had just happened.

"Sorry love, I've broken the plates." I looked down at the mess I had just created. None of the plates had survived. "The whole pile, it seems."

I glanced up and it was like she was frozen on the spot, gazing at me. That's alright, love, we can buy other plates. I bent down, about to pick up the pieces, but she interrupted me.

"Don't touch this!"

The fragments vanished; her magic was undoubtedly behind this.

"Well, that's an easier way." Getting up on my feet, I noticed she still hadn't moved. "What is it, love? Aren't you coming?"

"You're shirtless."

I burst out laughing, not expecting this. "That's nothing you haven't seen."

"I know but…"

I felt her looking me up and down and I couldn't miss this occasion to tease her. "But what?"

"I'm not used to how handsome you are, yet."

Admitting it, at last! "That's not something you can get used to."

"I thought you'd be dressed by now."

"I already made the effort of putting my pants on. If you don't mind, I'll have a shower before putting on the rest."

"Oh."

This was definitely a sound of surprise and, though amused, I pretended to be offended by this. "Why is it that everyone seems to think of pirates as dirty? I do bathe quite frequently, love, you know?"

I was obviously not good at pretending, as she didn't take me seriously and laughed instead. But at last, she moved from her spot at the foot of the stairs and closed the distance between us, wrapping her arms around me.

"Well, next time you can join me," she said.

Now, that's interesting. "Careful, love, I could take you at your word."

"I'm serious. You could have come." She was flirting with me, looking up at me through her eyelashes; there were times when I was the one who couldn't handle it.

"Someone had to get the coffee ready." I made her notice the coffee pot.

"You made some coffee?"

"Aye," I said, wondering whether I should feel proud or offended by her tone of surprise.

The sound of something vibrating interrupted us and she glanced at her talking phone. "Maybe I should check."

I nodded and took advantage of her distraction to quickly place some toasts in the machine which was fortunately easier to use than the coffee maker.

"Oops," I heard her say.

"What is it?"

"Six texts from my father."

"Is everything alright?" I asked on alert; six texts in one night were possibly not a good thing.

She didn't answer right away and I sat down to stop myself from joining her and give her time to read the texts. Convincing myself that we would already know if something bad had happened, I filled the two mugs with coffee.

At last, she laughed and tore her gaze away from her talking phone. "Relatively alright. Considering we're in Storybrooke, it could be worse. Look."

She came to stand behind me, wrapped an arm around me and pressed the side of her face against mine with a tenderness which momentarily made me forget her father's texts, despite the fact she was holding the device right in front of us.

I read the first one I saw, 'Might be in trouble: Hyde is in town. Nothing urgent for now, everyone safe. See you tomorrow.'

"Bloody hell, Hyde followed us."

"We'll deal with him," she said. "He can't be worse than Hades." I hope so. "Look at the two texts right above."

I laughed when I read them, and reread them.

'Wait, are you spending the night with him?'

'Don't answer the previous message, I don't want to know. Just… be careful.'

"He knows we moved in together but is still shocked at the idea we're spending the night together," I commented with a chuckle. "Your father is one of a kind. You said there were six texts?"

"Yes." She made the other texts appear on the screen and warned me with a sigh, "These ones are less fun."

'Meet me at the sheriff station. Don't worry, nothing too bad for now.'

'Emma, where are you? I don't want to take the risk of finding you and Killian, but if you're not here by 11:30, I'll come and knock on your door.'

I sighed in my turn. "Half past eleven."

It was possibly that time already and, willing to check there was no one on their way to our house, I turned back and looked through the window with a street view. I closed my eyes before I had time to see anything, loving the unforeseen feeling of her lips on my neck.

"Love, what are you doing?" I asked with a chuckle, slowly coming back to my initial position.

She took her lips away from my neck. "I just… Nothing," she said before adding, "We don't have much time left."

"What time is it?" Is there even the time indicated anywhere in this kitchen? I looked around but saw nothing.

"It's written here." I could hear amusement in her voice as she pointed her talking phone she was still holding right in front of me.

"Yeah, right." Still not used to all these modern devices. Twenty-five past eleven. I sighed. "Five minutes."

"Or, actually, a bit more than that."

"What do you mean?"

I watched her type, and a smile stretched my lips when I saw she replied to her father, 'I'm coming. At 11:45.'

"Twenty minutes," she said while putting her phone down on the table.

She wrapped her arms around me so tenderly that it felt like a wave of love surged through my veins. I crossed my arms over hers, my thumb brushing her arm like hers were brushing the base of my neck. She pressed her lips on my cheek, with enough strength to make me tilt my head on the side.

"What is that for?" I asked before pressing a soft kiss on her shoulder.

"To thank you, for everything; the evening aboard the Jolly Roger, followed by the night here, and…" She lightly frowned. "I actually don't need any specific reason to kiss you."

Point taken. This statement applies to me as well. She kissed my cheek again, and made me start with surprise when she jumped as the toasts came out of the machine.

"You made some toasts," she said, not less startled than when she had realized coffee was ready.

"Did you really think I would prepare you a breakfast consisting only of coffee?" Love, you're underestimating me.

Her eyes shifted between me and the toasts and the coffee and everything that I had put on the table and that she was obviously only now noticing. A smile tugged at her lips. "Since when do you know how to use a toaster?"

"Swan!" I playfully complained and, as usual, she laughed. "I've been in town long enough to know how to use the toast thing."

She giggled before correcting me, "Toaster."

"Whatever the name is, I know how to use it." How was I supposed to feign offense when she was being so adorable? I kissed her cheek and went to get the toasts, which were perhaps a tad overcooked.

"Am I entitled to this kind treatment every morning to come?" she asked.

I turned to her with a bright smile, delighted that I had apparently not failed our breakfast. "If you want, that can be a part of our happy forever."

A dreamy expression took over her features, and watching her was enough to make me drift as well, thinking of what our future could look like. Of course, I had already tried to picture it, but it all looked much more real after moving in and spending the night together. While eating mechanically, my thoughts went back to where I had left them: to the fact that, over the past twenty-four hours, I had considered the possibility of becoming a father too many times for it to mean nothing. I didn't know what had triggered this; was it because seeing her with her brother had made it easy to picture her – or rather, us – with a baby of our own? This theory had just crossed my mind as I was thinking of this moment we had spent at the hospital, on the day when her brother was born; of this moment when the smile on her lips was one of the brightest I had ever seen until then. Or was this secret desire simply due to the fact that I was unconditionally in love with my Emma? My Emma. From there, I drifted to another aspect of the future I was picturing for us. I had been musing about it from time to time since the day when I had given her Liam's ring. Gazing at her over my mug, the idea of making her officially mine was thrilling. I would need to find her a ring. But for now, it could wait; I had to give her some time when we were not chasing some snow monster or worse evils. In the meantime, we could enjoy evenings stargazing aboard the Jolly Roger, nights like the one we had just had, and breakfasts prepared by me; we could live the pirate's life for a while, with no rules nor customs to dictate our deeds, before the day when we would conform to royal traditions. But if it allowed me to be officially hers and her to be mine, this was a tradition I would gladly conform to, and I wouldn't wait too long; I had already let her ask me out first, I wouldn't let her be the one to propose.

We had both finished eating when she came to sit on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck while I slipped my left one in her back and placed my hand on her thigh. My Emma. My lips captured hers. We were running out of time, and we both knew it; we let the kiss last as long as we could, and it was the need for air which made us stop.

"We should go," she sighed.

"I just need to take a shower." I'm not a dirty pirate, love, remember? The thought made me smirk. "But you don't have to worry, love. My devilishly handsome self will soon be back in your sight."

She laughed. "I'll survive. I have to change, anyway."

"Aren't you ready to go?" She only laughed more and I glanced down at her dress.

"This is my nightgown," she said, holding the fabric between two fingers. "First thing I've found before I rushed downstairs. You scared me when you broke all the plates, remember? I thought you were being attacked, I didn't have time to find something better."

"Sorry?" Not at all, actually, and you know it. I went back to examine what she was wearing. "Well, you still look good in it."

"But I can't go out like this," she said with a laugh. "I'm not even wearing anything under it."

"Emma…"

There were things not to tell a man, and this was undoubtedly one of them. I had noticed the absence of corset of the modern world, but I had stopped myself from wondering any more about what she was wearing under her dress. Her words were enough to make my imagination run wild as I thought of the different activities we could enjoy.

Remembering we were supposed to go to the sheriff's station, I shook my head and was about to remind her we were running out of time when she said, "We need to go."

I nodded and we both went upstairs. I got ready as fast as I could, because we were supposed to be on our way to the sheriff's station already, but especially because I wanted to be back by her side. She was already in the entrance when I came out of the bathroom, putting on her leather jacket while I went down the stairs. Stopping right behind her, I reckoned one last quiet moment was appropriate before we would go outside and face whatever was awaiting us there: I wrapped her in my arms, pulling her back against me and kissing her cheek, my lips lingering there.

"Was your shower long enough for you to miss me?"

"Aye."

She leant back against me, crossing her arms over mine and closing her eyes, our cheeks pressed together. We stayed like this for a moment, defying the outside world with every second we were stealing.

"What do you think this Hyde guy wants?" she whispered, seemingly deciding that it really was time to go.

"I don't know, but it can't be good."

"Well, nothing can come against true love. No matter what he wants, we'll face him together."

"Or find our way back to each other if he manages to pull us apart, like we said last night," I added.

"Yes. Just like my parents, we'll always find each other."

I nodded approvingly before opening the door. Whatever was up in town, the earlier we'd be back home, the better: we had a future to plan out.

Emma's version is also available: same story, but with her own amusing thoughts.

This was the last chapter of this story, I hope you enjoyed! Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought!