These Dreams

At Home With The Joneses

"You have your laptop cord and that lamp from your room, right?"

"Yup." Henry picked up a box, moving it from the stack to the bed.

"And your allergy medicine?" Emma asked.

"It's in the medicine box - which contains pretty much every over-the-counter medicine known to man," Henry replied.

"Well, you can't be too safe," she insisted, turning to look around. "Where's your favorite blanket? The one Regina sent over? Killian - run back down to the car - "

"It's right here, love," he said, picking it up off the floor. "The lad has everything. And we need to be going - we've only paid the babysitter till nine."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. Maybe we should call and see if she can do an overnight..."

"Mom." Henry rolled his eyes. "It's okay. I've got everything. And you're only a few hours away - if I'm missing something, you can bring it next visit. Or ship it to me."

Killian raised his brows. "He's right."

Henry reached out, holding his mother by the shoulders. "Mom. It's okay. It's just college, and I'm going to be fine."

"I know that," Emma said firmly. Then her eyes promptly filled up with tears. "I know that," she said again. "You'll be fine. You will."

"Keep repeating it, love," Killian suggested gently. "It'll sink in, eventually, I promise."

"Okay," Emma said, looking around. "We're going to go. Just...uh...call if you need anything." She pulled Henry into her arms, hugging him tight.

"I will, Mom." He hugged her back, then moved to give Killian a hug.

Killian stepped back, clasping Henry's shoulder. "You'd better remember to call. And email."

"I will."

"Don't forget, you promised to read to Meriel one night a week through video chat," he reminded.

"I won't forget."

"Okay, then." Emma looked around once more. "Okay." She took a deep breath, nodding her head shakily. She stepped in, hugging Henry once again, and fiercely.

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom."

She turned and walked quickly through the door, before she lost it completely. Killian gave Henry a nod and turned to follow.

"Killian - take care of her." Henry's voice followed him to the door. Killian turned around, his own eyes a bit suspiciously moist.

"You have my word, Henry. Now get on with your life. Don't miss a second of it."

"Thanks." Henry closed the door gently behind them, took a deep breath, and went back to unpacking.

###

Killian reached for the soap, cursing when he dropped it on his foot. He'd been trying to stay as quiet as possible since Emma had been up so late the night before.

Between her and Henry (who had been emailing her back and forth), the presentation was now ready, and he and Henry were pitching to the bank tomorrow morning. Pirate Tours was branching out, taking on an entire line of adventure itineraries, and Henry was set to take over as CEO, once they were approved for the business loan. Killian would remain in charge of the seafaring tours aboard the Jolly, and five more guides would be hired to lead other package tours. This was mostly Henry's brainchild, and it was a good one. Considering how lucrative Pirate Tours had been, this had nowhere to go but up.