The Monster Within

Chapter 14

"It's beautiful, Love," Killian says, staring at the pictures Regina had sent of the house Emma had been looking at. Both sit at the kitchen table looking at the place they soon might call "home."

"Really?" she asks. "You don't think it's a bit much?"

"It's perfect Emma. Anywhere with you, Henry and our little girl is a home." He kisses her cheek.

"I'm just a little concerned about the price. Even with the money I've saved, it's not enough to buy it, plus to pay for food, things for the baby and for Henry's college fund..."

"We could split the cost..."

Emma looks at him. "R-Really?"

"Unbelievably, I do have a fair amount saved up for such things." He frowns a little. "I still receive some compensation cheques from the navy and it is unfortunate, but I was also Milah's beneficiary."

"Really, how come her parents or siblings didn't get it?"

"When she knew she was dying," Killian grimaces. "She updated her will so that I would inherit her money and her parents would get nothing. They never treated her right and she felt that they didn't deserve to benefit from her premature passing."

Emma swallows a large lump in her throat. She had long since forgotten about Killian's previous love, who had died from cancer a year before she met him. He was clearly still broken up about it when she found him drinking in the bar.

Killian gets a distant look in his eyes. "For the longest time, I didn't think I'd get over my first love, Milah, but then I met you Swan and I realized that I could love again. I knew the moment I met you that I loved you..."

"Do you mean that?" she asks quietly.

"Every word,"

The two lean forward to a kiss. Their lips meet and they inhale each other's scent. Their hearts beat almost in rhythm. Despite the flashbacks she may be having, Emma enjoys the quiet moment with him... the man she loved... She couldn't believe she had admitted it.

She smiles gently, cupping his face in her hand. She gazes into his bright blue eyes. "I felt the same way after Neal left and one night stands were as far as I'd go, but you changed something in me, Killian. You gave me hope and you showed me a level of devotion I've never seen before. I guess on some level I knew that you and I loved each other...Sorry, it took me so long to admit it."

"A broken heart takes a long time to mend," he says soothingly.

The baby begins kicking in her womb and Emma puts her hand on the spot. Killian follows suit and the two feel the rhythm of their tiny child inside.

"The Lass is ready to move," he jokes gently.

"Now we have to convince the teenage Lad," the pregnant woman mutters.

It's something that she'd been dreading. She was wondering how she was going to tell him. Her mind rolled over and over the possible scenarios of how this might play out. She knew Henry would hate moving, he hated change in general and he'd always been fragile since Neal had left. Her one-night stands with other men were not appreciated, but he kept it to himself. He wasn't exactly okay with Killian before her disappearance, he might've felt jealous or betrayed that his mother was dating again. That likely changed when her boyfriend became one of her son's protectors and guardians during those horrible months in captivity. Even then, he was still not 100% okay with the docks man. So much had changed when she came home pregnant, meaning he'd be getting a new sibling and would have to share his mother. Additionally, Killian now stayed with them to the point that he may as well be living with them. Plus, he was dating now and she wondered how this would impact his relationship with Violet. The house was only a bus ride away from school, so he could continue going there, but relocation is never easy.