Chapter 13

Emma gasped.

In all these years, she had dreamt of this moment hundreds of times. She had imagined how he'd look, and how she would tell him who she was, and how he would react to the news. But in this moment when it was actually happening, she was completely unprepared.

She stood frozen as Henry finally detached himself from Killian to look at his companions. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She had no idea what to say.

But she didn't need to. Henry's face slowly morphed into an excited smile as he took her in, then he turned to Killian, who gave him a slight nod. That was all the confirmation he needed before barreling straight into Emma with a scream of "Mama!"

Tears filled her eyes as she slowly hugged him back.

Henry chattered away the entire time. "I knew you would find us! I mean, Papa told me we would find you, but he thought we would have to cross realms, and make you believe, but you came back on your own!"

Emma couldn't do anything but let out a sob. Henry looked up, worried, "Mama? What happened?"

Emma bent down to his level and wrapped her arms around him, crying. "Oh, Henry… my baby…"

Killian smiled at them, blinking away his own tears.

Emma observed the drawings on the wall as Henry got better acquainted with his grandmother and their friends. It still felt weird to think of Mary Margaret as a grandmother, let alone her mother. She was still having trouble coming to terms with that. All they could hope was that someday, it would be as easy as breathing.

Her fingers traced a portrait of, surprisingly enough, her. At least that would explain how Henry could recognize her at first glance. She quickly discovered that this wasn't the only picture of her. There were a number of drawings, varying in skill, of her with Henry, her with Killian, and most of them were of the three of them together. There were a few scenes of nature thrown in, mostly the sea, which made sense considering the location. She chuckled at a drawing of a ship, its captain wearing an elaborate pirate hat and raising a hooked hand. The drawings became simpler and messier as she neared the end of the wall. She sucked in a breath, realizing that they were all drawn by Henry as he grew up. Realizing, that even though she wasn't here, she was always in Henry's life. And she had Killian to thank for that.

At the very end of the wall, there were two portraits, slightly separated from the rest, and not just in position. She gasped at the sight of her face drawn to perfection. Immediately below that, was another picture of her, her hair braided, wearing a dress that screamed Enchanted Forest, a loving smile on her face as she looked at the baby cradled in her arms.

"I see you found Henry's gallery."

She turned to find Killian, whose gaze fell on what she was looking at and he trailed off awkwardly in surprise.

"You draw well." She commented with a smile. He didn't reply, but his cheeks flushed red as he scratched the back of his head. Did he have to be as adorable as her daughter? To think of it, he's the one she probably got it from.

Deciding to leave that train of thought until she knew how to approach it, she continued, "Apparently, so does Henry."

His smile became fond as he replied, "Aye, that he does."

"Did you teach him?" she asked.

He nodded, "I did."

"What is this place, anyway?" She asked, looking around.

Killian sighed. "This used to be our home for nearly ten years. We left it as your 28th birthday approached because Cora knew this place and I was afraid she might use Henry to get to me, or you. Evidently, moving didn't do any good either."

They lapsed into a silence for a moment, but Emma could anticipate the conversation that was coming. They had so much to talk about, it was only a matter of time before one of then broke and said it.

Killian took a deep breath, as if gathering his courage before starting. "Emma, I know this is a lot to take in and you're not ready for it. I'm sorry for subjecting you to this, but I had no choice. I promised Henry – and I promised you – that I would reunite you both. I had to fulfil that promise."

"And you did, and I'm grateful to you for that. There's no need to apologize, you did the right thing. I don't care how out of the world this is, or how jumbled my thoughts are. If this is what I have to face to finally be with my son, I will."

Killian smiled at her. "What?" she asked.

Killian shook his head. "Just that… you've changed a lot in the past years, but deep down, you are still the Emma I knew. It's… reassuring."

They stayed silent for some time. It was as Killian turned to leave, that she plucked up the guts to ask the question tingling in her mind since she first saw him.

"Killian?" He stopped and turned around, surprised that she called him by his name. She went on before she could lose her nerve, "How close were we?"

Killian was lost in thought for a moment, a small reminiscent smile on his face. "Quite close."

Not satisfied with the vague answer, Emma probed further. "Were we, um, married?"

"Well… we never really got a chance to make it official. But we were as good as." He replied.

Emma thought that should be a positive enough response, but apparently she really needed him to spell out the yes. "Did we ever… uh… you know… did it?"

Catching her drift, his face broke into a wide smirk. "Did what?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"You know what I mean." She said, rolling her eyes. Apparently, this was amusing him.

"Well, we did quite a lot of things, so you will have to be more specific, love." He teased.

"Hook." She said sternly. He sighed.

"Aye, we did." He replied with a straight face. "Quite a few times, actually. In a night. Every night. For – "

"Okay, I got my answer!" she said, holding up her hand to shut him up. He was outright smirking by now.

"Well, love, if you want more detailed – "

"No, I don't." she said as she walked away, making him chuckle. Despite herself, she grinned, shaking her head.

"So…"

Emma looked up, startled to see her mother (right, that was really gonna take some getting used to). "Hey, Mary Margaret. You're still up?" It was pretty late, she had tucked Henry in as per his request a couple of hours ago. She had decided to sit down beside the window and look at the stars for a while, but soon she was deep in thought and hours passed.

"Could say the same for you." She replied. "I get it, it's a lot to think about: Henry… and Hook."

Emma gave her an incredulous glare, despite the fact that she was indeed thinking about Hook.

Mary Margaret chuckled. "I'm not blind, you know. I see the way he looks at you, and I see my granddaughter's eyes in that pirate's face and wonder if it's a mere coincidence, and then it turns out you left your long lost son in his care. How hard do you think it is to put together?"

Emma sighed, and looked away.

"Did you tell him?" Mary Margaret asked. She shook her head. "He needs to know, Emma."

"I know." She mumbled. "I – I don't know how to tell him. How do you tell someone you don't even remember knowing that you have a child together?"

"Well, the good thing is, he remembers." Mary Margaret replied.

Emma nodded. "Okay, I'll tell him."

"Go tell him now," Mary Margaret said, "if I know you at all, you would have convinced yourself not to by morning."

Emma chuckled, before getting up to leave.

He was sitting outside, on the steps. She cleared her throat as she approached. He turned around and smiled pleasantly at her. "Swan."

"Hook." She replied, before sitting down beside him.

"Is there something you want to talk to me about?" Killian asked, curious. Emma didn't answer immediately, instead choosing to gaze at the sea. Killian waited, turning his gaze back towards the sea as well.

"Killian?" she said eventually, not looking at him.

"Yes, love?" he asked.

"Remember I mentioned a child I need to get back to?" she said, and felt his gaze turn away from her. Curious, she looked at him, surprised to find him rather stiff, his smile faded. Is he jealous? She bit her lip to keep herself from smiling; so he thinks she moved on and had children with someone else (a part of her mind wonders how it can be called 'moving on' if you don't have any recollection of the relationship in concern, but that's not the point).

She turns her gaze back in front of her to match his stance. "Well… her name is Eleanor, I call her Lennie, she's nine, and it's a good thing she got your eyes."

She lets it sink in.

"Wait… what?" he said incredulously.

She gives him a slight grin. "Well, Captain, as it turns out, I didn't leave this place all alone." Her tone turned serious. "You have a daughter… Or rather, we have a daughter."