The Wedding Date—Deleted scene

A/N: That last episode was brutal, so I thought we could all use a special, mid-week edition of fluff. This is a kind of "deleted scene" to The Wedding Date. It takes place just after the wedding reception (but before the little epilogue where I basically told you what happened with Emma and Killian post-OQ wedding).

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It was nearing midnight by the time they all arrived back at the Nolan's cottage. It had been a long and busy day, and Emma's feet were swearing fluently at her after having spent a good fifteen hours trapped within the most uncomfortable heels in the known universe, but Emma wouldn't have traded this day for the world.

As they walked in the door and headed toward the kitchen for a late night cocoa (with cinnamon, of course), Emma rested her head against Killian's shoulder. She smiled as she felt him squeeze their entwined hands, as he turned his head to the side and brushed a kiss against the top of her head. It might sound ridiculously cheesy to say, but this might just have been the best day of her life.

Things were always fun and exciting at the start of a new relationship, but this…with Killian…things were different. She could feel it. This new relationship had the feel of forever about it, and Emma was amazed at how far from afraid she was at the thought.

Killian held the kitchen chair for her as they reached the table, and then promptly seated himself, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her toward himself. She leaned against him, placing one hand against his chest, just above his steadily beating heart.

"Are you hungry?" Mary Margaret asked, rummaging through cabinets. "Wouldn't take a moment to heat something up to go with the cocoa."

"None for me, Mrs. Nolan," Killian said. "I'd wager I couldn't eat another morsel."

Mary Margaret turned around and shook her head at Killian with an indulgent smile. "That's way too much formality, Killian! You're Emma's boyfriend; you're practically family. Call me Mary Margaret."

Emma noted the pleased flush that crept over Killian's face at her sister-in-law's words, and it suddenly occurred to her that she knew next to nothing about Killian's family. She remembered him mentioning a brother who still lived back in England, but she didn't think he'd mentioned anyone else. There was a certain loneliness she saw within him that spoke to her and her own past. She couldn't wait to spend the next fifty years or so helping him to heal his brokenness just as he did for her.

David chuckled. "Might as well put something together, honey," he said. "I'm good too, but I know how hungry you always get this time of night."

Mary Margaret smiled indulgently at her husband. "You know me way too well. The problem, though, is that I can't decide what I want. Am I more in an ice cream mood or more in a pickle mood?"

"Might as well go with both. You know you'll want it all before the night's over."

The Nolan's shared a quick, secret smile before Mary Margaret turned toward the freezer, and David sat at the table and shot a knowing look at Emma and Killian.

"Looks like you two had a good evening," he said, "I thought I was going to have to challenge Killian to a duel to get him to let me dance with my little sis."

"Can you blame me for wanting to hold on to her, mate?" Killian asked. "A man gets a woman as bloody perfect as your sister, he never wants to part with her."

A pleasant thrill ran through Emma at his words. How had she never heard the wonder and sincerity beneath Killian's ridiculously romantic declarations before? She'd always assumed it was just for show—or just to get under her skin—but after his revelation on the balcony, she knew he'd been doing no less than baring his heart to her.

"At the risk of sounding sappy," David answered, "I'm glad things are working out so well between the two of you. You're a good man, Killian, and you have no idea how grateful I am that Emma found someone who makes her as happy as you obviously do."

"As it turns out," Killian said with a slight smile, "I got a good piece of advice not long ago from someone I consider a true mate. I decided to follow his advice…and my heart...and now, having Emma with me, I've never been happier in my life."

Emma shot a suspicious glance between her brother and her boyfriend. There was something else going on here, something gliding just below the surface. As the two most important men in her life continued to grin at each other, she settled back on Killian's shoulder. Maybe she'd try to figure it all out later. For right now she was too tired and too happy to care.

"Here we go!" Mary Margaret said, taking her seat beside David, and plopping an entire half-gallon of Rocky Road and a jar of pickles down before her. "You sure you don't want anything?"

Emma laughed. "I think we're good."

Mary Margaret shrugged, and dug in with gusto. "I hope the guest room's working out for you and Killian, Emma," she said around a bite. "It'll probably be a few weeks more before the study's really inhabitable again. We've got a carpenter coming in on Friday, and then our interior decorator will be here the following week. Remodeling's a big job. Good thing we started now, before..."

It took Emma a few moments to catch up to her sister-in-law. The moment Mary Margaret started talking about Emma and Killian and the guest bedroom, her heartrate had picked up, and her mind had gone off on a haze of crimson dreams. She and Killian had already decided to take things slow, so she knew neither of them were ready for the kind of activities sharing a bedroom implied, but…well, maybe tonight they could start out in each other's arms. If it had felt so right last night, before they'd even confessed their feelings, there was no doubt it would be utter bliss tonight.

Emma chanced a look at Killian, and nearly melted on the spot at the look in his eyes. He understood. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and he couldn't agree more. It was amazing this connection between them; the way they could just read each other like open books. This knowledge, this awareness, this comfort and happiness…maybe that's what was meant by true love.

Gradually, Emma became aware that Mary Margaret had fallen silent, and suddenly it occurred to her that there was something very odd about what she'd just said. "Wait…why are you remodeling the study? You guys just redid it like a year ago. And, it's a good thing you started it before what?"

David and Mary Margaret shared a quick glance, linked hands, and then turned back toward Emma and Killian. "Well," Mary Margaret said. "We needed to remodel it before the newest member of the Nolan family arrives."

Mary Margaret placed a protective hand on her abdomen, and David piped up. "Turns out, we're expecting a baby in about six months."

Emma squealed and jumped up from her chair. She wrapped first her brother and then her sister-in-law in an excited hug. "A baby! Congratulations! I know how much you both were hoping for one! Is it a boy or a girl? How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Mary Margaret laughed, hugging Emma tighter and then letting go. "It's too early to know the gender. I'm feeling pretty good right now; just finished the first trimester and the morning sickness seems to be much better. And there's not much to help with right now, but once the baby's born, I'm sure I'll appreciate all the help I can get from 'Aunt Emma'."

Aunt Emma! Emma's smile widened as she took her seat once more. She was going to be the best aunt a kid could hope for!

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An hour later Emma lay within the circle of Killian's arms, her face buried in the crook of his neck. He absently rubbed his hand across her back in a tender caress. "Are you happy Emma?" he asked gently. "Truly happy?"

She captured his lips in a long slow kiss. "Yeah. As happy as I've ever been. Thanks for scaling my walls and, you know, never giving up on me."

He cupped her head in one gentle hand, and brought her back for another kiss. "For you, Swan, I'd have gone to the end of the world or time. You're more than worth it."

Notes:

-I hope you enjoyed your "emergency extra dose of fluff". In case you were wondering, I knew Mary Margaret was pregnant from the beginning of this story, and I did want to bring it up in the story, but it just never quite seemed to fit. I thought about having her and David reveal it during chapter two when she was explaining about putting Emma and Killian in the same room. She was going to explain exactly why the study wasn't available to be used for a second guest room. That, however, would have taken away from the flow of that scene—where the focus was on the awkwardness Emma and Killian were feeling about sharing a room under the circumstances. Likewise, I was going to have something in chapter 4 about Emma noticing MM not drinking wine/champagne/mixed drinks at the reception and have that be the moment MM shared her news, but that didn't quite work out either. It all worked out, though, I guess. Not revealing it in the main story gave me a chance to write some post-5x8 recovery fluff!