Captain Swan - A Date for the Holidays (and everyday too would be nice)

Christmas

"Are you sure you're ready for this again?" Emma asks her boyfriend as they head up the walkway, carrying gifts, soft snowflakes falling around them.

Killian chuckles and squeezes her free hand. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Yeah, that's true," she laughs as they step onto the porch.

He looks at her more seriously, those blue eyes piercing right through her, sending a shiver down her spine that has nothing to do with how cold she is. "You don't have to worry about me, Emma. I'm a survivor." He leans in to capture her lips before she can respond.

Releasing his hand, she wraps her free arm around the back of his neck and gets lost in the kiss, heat swarming through her as she tastes his tongue.

"Ah-hem."

The clearing of her father's throat causes them to break apart, their cheeks red —and not from the frosty weather—as they look at her father with apology.

"Merry Christmas, Dad."

They'd been so lost in the kiss, they hadn't even heard the door open.

He grins and pulls her and Killian into a hug. "Merry Christmas, princess. Merry Christmas, Killian."

As they head inside, she can't believe how much has changed since last year. She was single and lonely and felt like the family outcast. Now her mother is greeting her with open arms and asking how she's doing instead of criticizing her clothing. Now her cousins aren't trying to set her up with furniture shop owners—Elsa's too busy spending time with Liam, to play matchmaker anyway—her brother is teasing her about things other than her romantic life and her father doesn't look at his princess with pity anymore. Emma no longer has to sit at the kids' table numbing her pain with vodka, and Killian isn't stuck at work wearing an ugly Christmas sweater. Also, Aunt Ruby isn't bringing strange men with her on the holidays.

Ever since Thanksgiving, when she went to Graham to ask him for a second chance, they haven't been apart. So now, Emma is hopeful she won't have to catch her aunt getting her cookie licked by a mall Santa on Christmas. Or by any man on any other day. And who knows, perhaps Emma will get her own cookie licked on Christmas; her boyfriend is the master of cookie licking after all. And he enjoys it.

But even if all that hadn't changed, it wouldn't matter, because now she has Killian to help Emma deal with her family. And he's right; if he couldn't handle them, he would've left long ago.

She's glad she was able to tell him the truth on Thanksgiving. She had wanted so much more than to be his platonic holidate. Especially after their not so platonic Halloween. So she did what she does best and got scared and ignored his messages and phone calls. But that turned out to be a huge mistake. Because she could have lost the only man she's only truly loved (besides her father and brother of course). What she had with Neal was child's play, and she had no idea what love truly was until she met Killian. She had no idea what it's like to be truly cherished and cared for in a romantic relationship. Emma's the only one he sends dick pics to, and she doesn't have to snoop through his phone to know that because she trusts him.

Completely.

There are some things that haven't changed though. Her parents' house is still overly decked out for the holidays, her mother is still hoping for grandbabies and Emma still gets ugly plaid pajamas. But now she won't have to return them, because Killian seems to like them for himself. Whenever he's sleeping over at her place, he wears the ones she got last Christmas.

Emma hands him the two gifts she got him, and he peels back the wrapper of one and reveals a Hamilton Beach panini maker. "You can make paninis again." She adds with a smirk, "And I promise I won't steal it."