The Ever After of Captain Swan

Chapter 2

     

Milah was dead. Her heart had been reduced to ashes by the hands of the Crocodile. Her death had created an emptiness in Hook that he didn't think he would ever fill. The bloody Crocodile had killed her and cut off his hand, and then just left. Once a coward, always a coward. Hook was sobbing as he held Milah's body, down in the captain's quarters. He couldn't let his crew see him cry; they couldn't know he had weaknesses at all. Milah had been one of his greatest weaknesses. A few weeks ago, she had told him that she was pregnant, and now that was another thing she would never get to experience with him. He broke into a whole new wave of sobs, now for the child that the Crocodile killed. He didn't even know he had done it, probably never would. Right in that moment, Hook knew that he wanted to, no, had to get revenge on this man, this Rumplestilskin.

Killian woke up in tears, some left over from the dream and some fresh ones. Because he knew that wasn't a dream, it was a memory. He didn't want to wake Emma up, so he went downstairs and sat on the couch, sorting through his feelings. He and Emma were similar in several ways: they both had known the darkness and overcame it, they both had somewhat shady pasts, but most importantly was they had both loved and lost. He knew he could tell her about this dream and she would understand. Some women were very jealous, but she would understand that he loved her with all his-er, her heart, now, but that there would always be the memory of the love he had for Milah. He decided to go back to bed, and if he still felt like telling her in the morning, he would, just to help him discover what this dream meant.

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The next morning, Emma rolled over to face Killian and found that he was still asleep. She wasn't one of those nice people who would let others sleep once she was awake, so she kissed him on the nose to wake him up. "Morning love," he drawled in his amazing accent. "Good morning. You look a little rough," she told him, stroking the dark circles under his eyes. "Had a weird dream that kept me up, nothing to worry about," Hook reassured her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. "Well, as long as you're not too tired, I think you should make breakfast," she told him playing with his hair flirtatiously. "I think that's a grand idea," he agreed. He kissed her and then she rolled away playfully when her stomach growled. "This little one agrees that breakfast needs to come soon," she said over her shoulder.

They got out of bed and Emma went to take a shower while Hook made breakfast. Emma wasn't showing much yet; she was only 3 months along. She hadn't told Killian until yesterday because she didn't know how he would react. Now that he seemed happy, she finally let herself get excited about this. As much as she loved Henry now, as an 18-year-old girl she had not been ready to become a mother. This time, she was older, she had her family with her, and she knew Killian would be there for her. She knew now why Neal left her, and he didn't even know she was pregnant when he did it, but even after his death she couldn't quite let go of the fact that he abandoned her to go to jail. There was no way anything like that, or anything at all, could go wrong this time.

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After breakfast, Emma had to go to work. Killian still hadn't found a job yet, but he was really going to start trying now. He didn't want Emma being active as Sheriff much longer, for the safety of her and the baby, so they were going to need him to have a job. He needed to start the search today, but there was just too much going on in his head right now.

First of all, he didn't know how long he could keep Emma's pregnancy a secret from the whole town, or Emma's parents for that matter. She said she told Granny, in apparently misplaced confidence, so she could give her advice. Granny told Ruby, and Emma told Killian, but they were the only people who knew so far. She needed to hurry up and tell at least her parents, because they knew her well enough that they were going to notice on their own soon. f

Second, there was the issue of his dream last night. He didn't usually have dreams, unless something related to those dreams was about to happen in his life. But what could something that happened hundreds of years ago possibly have to do with now? A wave of terror enveloped him as he realized the parallels during the two situations: the woman he loved was pregnant. Milah had been pregnant when the Crocodile killed her, and now Emma was pregnant. Suddenly, he couldn't be in the house anymore. He had to go be with Emma, and if he couldn't find her he would go annoy the Crocodile. He knew he was supposedly a changed man, but he couldn't take the chance of Rumplestilskin hurting Emma.

He started walking towards the Sherrif's station, hoping that Storybrooke was quiet today and Emma would be at the station. When he walked in, Emma was there, but so was David. They both turned to look at him. "Oh, great. You're here," David said flatly. Emma lightly shoved him as she came to embrace Killian. "Just thought I'd come hang out here for a little while," Killian responded. "In that case, I'll go find something to do," David said, "Can't someone just rob Gold or something?" he mumbled on the way out.

Once he was gone, Killian asked Emma when she was going to tell everyone. "I want to tell my parents either tonight or tomorrow. We need to get married within the next few weeks if I still want my dress to fit, so everyone else can find out after that." Emma responded. "Whenever you want, love," Killian told her, kissing her forehead. She blushed as the corners of her mouth turned up.

"Shouldn't you be looking for a job?" she teased. "Yes, but I wanted to see you," he said. "Ok, but we just saw each other at home," she said, her smile falling, "Killian, what's up?" He sighed before answering: "That weird dream I had last night...it was about Milah," he said. Emma looked at him understandingly. "It was just a dream. I dream about Neal sometimes too, so you don't need to feel like I doubt your love because you dream about her," she said. "But Emma, it wasn't a dream. I dreamt of a memory, something that really happened. Something I've never told anyone," he said.

"Well, you can tell me anything. That's part of being in a relationship," she said. "When Rumplestilskin killed Milah, she was pregnant." Killian stated. Emma gasped. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "No one did," he said, a lump forming in his throat, "not even the bloody Crocodile." He clenched his jaw, trying to hold back the sob that was trying to escape. "Killian, what does this have to do with me?" Emma asked warily.

"I don't know that it has anything to do with you for certain, but usually when I have dreams, something similar to those dreams happens in my life." Killian said. "Why would Gold try to kill me?" Emma asked. "I don't know, but I intend to make sure that he never lays a finger on you," he said, pulling her close. "I'd be more worried about his magic than him actually touching her, Dearie," said a familiar voice, sending chills down both their spines. They turned around to see the Crocodile himself, a malicious look on his face.

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