This is a "this is not what is actually going to happen on the show but what if it were" fic based on the 5x15 press photos and promos released. Please don't read if you're not interested in speculation (even though this is not what's going to happen. Again, I repeat, this is not what's going to happen.) or spoilers. I've never written anything like this before, but it was well received on Tumblr, so I thought I'd put it here too.

They're the first thing he notices, after he takes his time his time appreciating Emma's face now that he can see clearly through both eyes again. Her face, finally free of the darkness and smiling. He can still see the worry in her features, but there's a smile there nonetheless.

But he notices. They're hard to miss, the children's toys strewn about the living room of their house. At least it's the house he considers to be theirs, despite never having spent a night within its walls. It's the house he dreamed would become their home. Where he would spend his life with Emma, and now he sees the signs of the child he has desperately wanted for so long.

"Emma, love, the toys. I don't understand. What do they…?" He let his sentence trail off, too shattered to even consider what they could even mean, thoughts of lost children almost consuming him. He looked away from the nursery, turning to Emma for explanation and sees the smile spreading wider on her face. It breaks his train of thought before he could fall too deep. "I think it's for us. To torment us, waiting for the child who will never be born because we're here. But that's why I had to come Killian. You had to know. You had to at least know, and have the choice."

She took his hand as he looked around, giving him time to process. "I know I should have told you sooner, but the darkness…" It was her turn to pause, not knowing how to continue. "I wanted to be free of it, wanted to know that our child would be free of it. And then everything went wrong." She dropped her head, unable to look at him, her hand going limp, no longer clutching tightly to his, as though she didn't deserve him.

The knock came, and startled them as they sat, each lost in their own thoughts. Killian, desperate for some action, stood to answer.

Still in shock at Emma's revelation, he wasn't prepared for the face at the door.

"Brother."

As soon as Emma heard that, she flew to Killian's side, eyes wide open searching the face for similarities to her love's.

It took him a moment to regain his ability to speak, not expecting to see Liam, having hoped beyond everything that his brother would have been able to move on after all these years.

"Liam." That one word. As soon as Liam heard Killian speak his name, he pulled him into a tight embrace, as though he were never going to let go.

"Brother. I've waited so long, so very long." Killian could hear the tears in his brother's voice, and welled up in return.

"Sorry it's taken me so long."

Emma stood silently and watched at first, but soon felt as though she were intruding. This was Killian's true family, and as much as she wanted to be a part of it, she needed Killian to make that choice. She snuck out of the room and into the kitchen, wanting to give them privacy, but the house was open, and she could hear. The words were choked and muffled, wrought with emotion.

"Brother, I should have listened. It's all my fault. Can you ever forgive me." "Liam, there's nothing to forgive. If you knew the things I've done, it's me who should be begging for forgiveness. I've fallen so far."

She stood at the sink, staring out the window listening as the two men let hundreds of years of pain fall away. Until she had met Killian, she had never known that it could be that easy. That when two people loved each other, no matter what happened, they could overcome it. She held on to that right now, hoping that it would be enough for Killian to choose their child. To choose their life together. To choose her.

She turned around to glance at the men when she heard a deep, hearty laugh. It wasn't the laugh she was used to, but it was similar in so many ways. She wanted to know this man, the brother Killian loved more than he loved himself.

He noticed her movement, and finally took the opportunity to question his brother. "And who's this, brother? How did my little brother convince such a lovely, beautiful woman to follow him down to this hellhole?"

With an exaggerated eye roll, exasperated sigh, and a smile acknowledging how happy he was to say it once again, he replied. "Younger brother, Liam. Younger. And this is Emma." He turned to her with a tight lipped smile. There was more they needed to discuss. So much more, but now was not the time for that. Now was the time to sit and enjoy that the two most important people in his life were getting to meet, against all odds. They didn't have much time, and he would cherish every last second.

"Liam. I've heard so much. If I didn't know he wasn't lying, I'd assume it couldn't all be true. "

"Look, I assure you, we did fight the kraken," he stated loudly, as if it were a story told many times, always met with disbelief. His chest had puffed out, shoulders squared as if he were ready to recount the tale, filling in any hole that may have left any doubt in her mind.

She shook with laughter. "Haha. No. That one I believe that. I've seen too much now not to." She looked to Killian, who was staring at her with an unreadable expression. She wanted so much to know where his mind was, to know whether these were the last moments she would have with him. But couldn't ask, not with Liam there. She was loathe to leave. If this was to be the end, she didn't want to waste a moment, any second she could have, but knew that after hundreds of years of separation it wasn't fair to intrude on their time together.

She turned to Liam with a tight smile. "I'll leave you two to catch up. Maybe go see…"

"Lass, wait. You should stay. I'd like to know any woman who would follow my brother to the underworld. This must be quite the story." Her heart sunk. If she were to spend any time getting to know her child's uncle, she wanted it to be learning about Killian's younger days, stories she could pass on to keep his memory alive. Not recounting the worst of herself to the man who laid so strong a claim on his heart.

Killian answered for her. "It's not a happy story I'm afraid. If it were a tale worth recounting, I hardly think we'd be here."

Liam looked over at Emma, taking stock. Everything from the look on her face, to the hunch of her shoulders screamed guilt.

He turned back to his brother, carefully thinking over everything he'd observed, everything his brother had said. "Brother, is she why you're here. Is she the reason you're…" He didn't finish, but waited silently for one of them to answer. Killian sat, unwilling to confirm his brother's suspicions. It was Emma who broke.

"Yes. I killed him. I killed him twice. The first time when I allowed him to become the dark one to try and save him. And the second time again, in order to free him from the darkness." She was sobbing by the end of her confession, and Killian had reached his hand across the table to hers. She wouldn't take it. She'd crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself tightly.

"Emma. Stop. Love, you did what you thought you had to do. We're past that now, love. I know why." He was kneeling at her chair at this point, hook lifting her hair up from her face so he could stroke her cheek with his hand. "Love, it's alright. I forgive you. I understand." He spoke quietly, using calming words as he waited for her sobs to slow. When she finally looked up, the first thing she saw was the hard gaze of Liam Jones.

"You killed my brother."

It was too much for Emma to take. Those piercing blue eyes, almost exactly like the ones that had looked at her with love, now looking at her with the same hate she'd seen in Killian's when he was consumed by the darkness. One of the only people in the world to have earned Killian's undying adoration now looking upon her and condemning her.

"Liam!"

"Killian, she's the reason you're here. She's the reason you're dead and you're sitting here talking with her, comforting her?"

"You don't know the whole story."

"Enlighten me then, little brother. I'd certainly like to know why this woman deserves any of your time. We can go. We can move on, and yet you're here. Telling her it's okay?"

Emma had again turned in on herself, silent tears falling as she listened to Liam berate his brother. As soon as he mentioned moving on, a loud sob escaped, and her body wracked.

"ENOUGH. That's enough. This is our home. She is the mother of my child. You will respect her. And me."

Liam paused, and for the first time took stock of his surroundings. A lot had changed in the years since his death, but the trappings of childhood had not. Babies slept in cribs, played with toys, gazed at mobiles. He looked back at the woman sobbing silently, and his brother crouched at the table next to her, and finally stood, and crossed so he could stand next to them.

"Milady, Killian. Again I find myself apologizing. I'm so sorry." He crouched next to Emma, taking one of her hands in his much larger one. "I've wanted to kill him so many times myself. Just never found the courage. I'm sure you had a much better reason than I ever did."

In spite of the tears, a laugh broke through. "I think a lot of people have wanted to kill him for much better reasons. I'm just the first to actually succeed." All three finally laughed, the tension in the room finally diffused. Killian got up and made tea, hoping they could savor whatever time was left. Looking back, he'd recount the next hour spent with his true loves the best of his life.

When it could be put off no longer, Liam stood. "It's time little brother. Tick tock."

"I'm not coming with you, Liam. I can't."

"But, Killian. After all these years. Finally you can have peace. You can move on. We can move on. It's there waiting for us."

"It's not waiting for me, brother. I have a child who will need me. I think it's high time a Jones grows up with a father, don't you?"

She let her hand drop to her stomach, feeling for the child even knowing it was impossible. She wanted to cry she was so grateful. She would spend every day thankful that this kid, so unplanned, had kept Killian with her. Someday she hoped he would truly forgive her, and love her as he did before. But for right now, she would take that he was returning for this baby.

Liam turned to her, a silent evaluation. "You'll take good care of him, won't you?"

She wanted to take it seriously, but had been drained by the day's emotions. "I can't promise I won't threaten to kill him while I'm in labor. But I think I'll be too preoccupied to actually follow through on it."

He smiled, satisfied.

"And if it's a boy?"

She nodded, knowing where he was going. "We'll make sure he's named after his Uncle Liam."

She went with them, and stood with Killian to watch as Liam departed. He gave her a silent nod, and she smiled back before he took one last look at his brother.

As he disappeared from sight, Killian grasped her hand even tighter and leaned to whisper in her ear. "Love, child or no child, I'd have still come home for a life with you."