Find My Way Back To You

Chapter 35

~~~ DAVID'S POV ~~~

"No, he isn't just a friend. Killian is Hope's dad and he's pretty damn great at that." Emma says with a soft smile on her face.

Both me and Mary Margret suck in a sharp breath.

How can this be true? He's a pirate! Is Emma really okay with that? She can't be, right? She's just protecting him from our wrath. But she can't. I'm going to kill him the next time we cross paths either way.

He knocked up my sweet little girl and he's going to pay for that.

As if Mary Margret can feel my unease about the whole situation, she reaches for my hand. I interlock our fingers and give her hand a slight squeeze to give her my support. I know she's probably not dealing well with this either.

"You had a baby with Captain Hook?" my wife says quietly. She is clearly still in disbelief.

I'm not. I heard Emma the first time she said it. I don't really need to relive that moment. It causes pictures to form in my mind – pictures of Emma and Hook I really hate to see. It's a wonder I haven't emptied the contents of my stomach, yet.

"Yes." Emma only says and I'm thankful for that.

Mary Margret looks down at the floor, then. She seems pretty upset. More so than me even, which is quite the surprise. I glance at her worriedly.

After a while, I hear her mumble "How?" under her breath.

Obviously my daughter heard it too, because I see her raise her eyebrows in my peripheral vision. Her face probably mirrors mine right now. That's not the greatest question Mary Margret could've asked. I really do not want to hear the particular answer to this.

It's not something a father needs to know, so I quickly say "We don't need to know that!" I sound quite agitated and that's exactly what I feel right now. I don't want to imagine my daughter with that pirate.

Ugh.

If I wasn't nauseous before, I sure am now.

Suddenly, Emma chuckles and smiles lightly at me. She really does seem happy. I have to admit that. But is that really because of Hook?

A minute later Snow says "I'm so sorry, Emma."

Emma snaps back "Why? I'm not."

"You had a baby with Hook. I'm sure your husband isn't happy about it. I mean how could you be so careless as to hook up with a pirate and not think about the consequences? Did Hook force himself on you?" Snow asks.

How haven't I thought of that, yet? I must respect the pirate more than I thought and maybe that's because my daughter does seem happy. Her happiness is all I ever wanted. She wouldn't be happy, if Hook violated her, right?

"Of course he didn't. That's not who he is. He's a good person and if you would listen for a second, you'd know that. Killian is a good man, a great father, and an amazing husband. I love him and I couldn't imagine my life without him. He made me happier than I've ever been." Emma says partly angry, but nonetheless with a big smile on her face. She seems to be proud to call him all these things. She's proud of him.

My jaw connects with the floor, but I can still see that she is saying the truth.

She has seemed very happy lately and if it's because of Hook, then I can only be grateful to him. He managed to make something happen, that I wished for every single day since I got reunited with my daughter...putting a constant smile on her face.

Trust doesn't come easily to Emma, so I'm sure she gave Hook quite a hard time. But he seems to have stuck around. He wouldn't do that, if he plans to hurt her, right? Unless it's all about the conquest. That does sound like him, right? I surely hope not. I want my daughter and granddaughter to be happy and I fear, that if Hook left them, they'd be crushed.

That's why I have to ask Emma if she's a hundred percent sure about Hook. I can't take the chance that she'll get hurt again. She's been through too much already.

"And you're a hundred percent sure that Hook has your best intentions at heart?" I ask. I feel Emma get angry again, so I continue in an attempt to calm her down. I put my hand up. "I'm just asking to protect you. I'm scared he's going to leave one day - go back to pirating. Maybe one day family life won't be exciting enough to stick around for. Are you sure you can trust him?"

"Yes. Of course, I trust him. I wouldn't have married him otherwise." Emma says. A small smile momentarily covers her face. She must think back to a happy memory. Their wedding, perhaps? "Look, I know you guys are worried about me because you love me, but there's no need to be scared here. Killian would never abandon me. He literally gave up his ship twice just to get back to me after we've been separated. That ship is the last thing he has of his brothers besides this ring." Emma pulls up a necklace from under her shirt. A ring is attached to it. "And he gave me this to protect me and so that I would always have a reminder that he loves me. Hope, Henry and I are his whole world. In my timeline you guys know that. So, please, trust me when I say he's a great person."

I want to be believe her. I really do. She seems so happy.

I turn to Mary Margret and give her soft smile. She returns the gesture and also nods softly. I'll take that as a sign, that we can trust Emma's judgment. Trust isn't easy for her after all, so I'm sure she's right. If Hook managed to get her to trust him, his intentions must be pure. I suppose, he really does love my daughter.

"If you trust him, then so do we, Emma." I say to my daughter and she smiles brightly.

"Not that I need your approval or anything, but thanks, dad." She returns and nods softly towards Mary Margret and I.

"So," Mary Margret starts curiously, "This was always supposed to happen? You hung out in your timeline?"

"Yeah, but not this early to be honest. This is actually my plan to get home right now. I took Hope to see Killian earlier to calm her down. It helped, too, she is delightful once again and not crying 24/7. But he accidently saw my engagement ring and it's his mom's, so he put two and two together. I just had to tell him then. I hate lying to him. Anyway, we figured that Hope's magic brought me here, so maybe we can reverse the spell with true love's kiss." Emma shrugs.

True Love's Kiss? But that means – The pirate is my daughter's true love? She has the same kind of love as her mother and I?

No wonder she didn't care much about our approval. I never would've listened to anyone either, if they tried to separate me and Mary Margret.

If it's true love between them, then I don't even want to stand in their way. It's what Emma deserves. The pirate has changed and I'm sure, he treats her well. Otherwise she wouldn't be this radiant.