Never Forget (Captain Swan)

Coming Home

Emma stood in front of the white wooden door. Her heart feeling heavy and her surroundings were surprisingly quiet. She was used to the car honking, and the loud chattering of people, but here in the quiet land where her mother lived, all she heard was the wind rustling the trees and the far off tweets of birds.

For a second she wondered if her father's body would be in there, maybe already in a coffin, maybe discreetly in the corner. She honestly just needed to know where he was. And she knew that he was most likely in the hospital, they probably left him there after the autopsy and they were waiting for the family to get him.

"Love, you might as well knock now."

Killian's voice brought her back to reality, she reached out and gave three sharp taps with her knuckles on the door.

There was a rattle on the door knob from the inside then it opened, and she saw Aaron, short with his shaggy blonde hair and bulging blue eyes, "Mommy, Ems here!" He shouted at the top of his lungs with an outstanding grin before running towards her.

She fell to her knees and he flew right into her arms, she hugged him tight, her hand on the back of his head caressing the soft strands there, "Oh I missed you so much."

He was holding onto her for dear life, and he stayed like that for a while, quiet with his chin against her shoulder.

Mary Margaret was at the entrance shortly, and surprisingly enough the first thing she said was, "Emma. You cut your hair."

She could see the tears in her mother's eyes, eyes that were once vivid green and full of happiness, now they were surrounded by darkness and they were red with grief.

"Yeah, I did." She smiled weakly and stood back up, holding Aaron on her hip.

"And you dragged Killian here with you, too." A sad laugh came from her and she placed a hand on her chest, "Well, come on, get inside."

They all went back inside the big house that was pretty wide, nothing but grass surrounding the property. Her parents had bought the land when Mary Margaret was pregnant with her, and they built the house to their liking.

She put Aaron on the couch and kneeled before him, "How are you holding up?"

Her brother was five, but not dumb. They boy was incredibly smart.
And Emma knew he comprehended what was going on, he knew his father was gone for good.

He shook his head, "Not good, but mommy says he's in a better place now." He nodded at the end.

She couldn't help but smile at his words. She kissed his forehead before joining Killian at the kitchen island, her mother off to the side preparing tea.

"You alright?" He asked in a whisper so their conversation would be heard just between them.

"Killian, let's face it, I'm not." She said truthfully, taking his hand in hers, "But I'm getting by for now, and I get you want to make sure I am, but don't ask that again for a while. Please."

He nodded understandingly and squeezed her fingers before letting go of them when Mary turned back to face them with two mugs in hand.

"So, tell me, why didn't you tell me we were coming? I would of set up rooms for you two before you arrived."

"Mom." Emma said with a sigh, "We both know I don't want to talk about that... What happened to dad?"