"Oh come on Emma! It's like Uber for dogs! That is awesome!"

"Whatever you say David."

"Come on Mrs. Nolan, back me up!"

"David, you doing that was adorable the first two months. It's been almost a year, you don't get to be cute anymore."

"Oh don't be that way Emma, David can't help it."

"Yeah exactly, I can't he- HEY I AM NOT CUTE!"

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, husband dearest."

Even as Emma propped her book up a little higher on her knees, stuffed into the corner of the couch, she couldn't stop the stupid grin that crept across her face. David and Mary Margaret were disgustingly adorable every hour of every day. And even when she was irritated with them, they could still amuse her.

David turned back to her, his questionable cuteness forgotten in light of the opportunity to harass her further about this stupid…. dog thing.

"But really Emma, why are you so against it? It's a fantastic idea! You get all the joys of having a dog without having to take care of it."

"That's if you get joy from dogs," she muttered as she tried to refocus on the pages in front of her.

"Oh don't even," David scoffed, "You love Ollie!"

Emma rolled her eyes and dropped the top of the book to look dramatically over the spine. "Because he's yours, because he's well trained, because I know he is cleaner than my floor right now, and because when I am around him, I am not the responsible party."

David crossed his arms as he scowled at her, "Those would still all be true! It could be a great way to meet people! Who knows, you might enjoy it!"

Emma rolled her eyes, "It is not the same and you know it. And I don't need help meeting people." Mary Margaret made a skeptical noise that Emma judiciously ignored. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this anyway?"

Her raised eyebrow was met with an immediate guilty expression.

"David Tristan Nolan."

He winced as Mary Margaret whispered from the peanut gallery, "Uh oh, now you've done it."

Emma's eyes flicked over to her, the smirk on Mary Margaret's face almost forcing one onto her own, but Emma managed to keep her face still as she looked back at David. He dropped his eyes to his feet, toeing the carpet as he slid his hands into his pockets. If Emma had caught a ten year old trying to steal candy, they could not have looked more guilty.

"Well, Henry and I were talking and he mentioned that school was getting pretty stressful. And the other day I was reading the paper and came across an article that talked about how some schools do a sort of 'puppy therapy' and I thought that maybe something like that would help."

"He can play with Ollie if he wants to mess around with a dog!" "Yeah, well," David tried fruitlessly to defend himself, before he fizzled out. "...maybe he might like to hang out with a different dog. Or maybe he could make a new friend. Or maybe the dogs and their owners get something out of it too."

Emma studied him for a moment longer before everything suddenly clicked into place. "You already fucking did it, didn't you?"

David gave a weak nod as he mumbled, "The appointment is tomorrow afternoon."

Emma wanted to be mad. She really did. But she knew that David's heart had been in the right place, and he just wanted to help. And Henry loved dogs.

She thought about it for a moment longer before she sighed. "What are the details?"

David's head snapped up as a delighted grin spread across his face.

"Well the site's called Rent-A-Wag, and you are supposed to meet them at the park at three."

Henry was practically vibrating with excitement as they waited underneath the old oak tree at the center of the park, as the message had asked them to. The owner, someone named Killian J, had given bizarrely specific instructions on where to wait.

Emma's eyes scanned the park, looking for a husky. With a name like Killian, Emma figured the owner was a woman, so she allowed herself to omit any men in the area from her search as she watched for anyone coming up to them.

She was so focused on her search that when something cold and wet pressed into the side of her leg, she gave a startled yelp as she jerked away from whatever it was. A moment later an excited bark drew her eyes to a beautiful, all black husky with ice blue eyes prancing excitedly in front of her, tongue lolling as its eyes stayed riveted on her face.

A moment later a voice called out, "Bad form Merlin! You need to be introduced to a lady first!"

Henry and Emma turned to face the approaching figure, his form becoming clear as he jogged out of the glare of the sun and into the shade of the leaves. And Emma had to mentally check herself to make sure her tongue didn't start hanging out like the damn dog's.

This had to be some sort of fucking prank, like Candid Camera or something. Because there was no way that she would meet a person like him in real life. He was a fucking Adonis. His shirt was stretched tightly across his shoulders, and his jeans clung to his thighs like a second skin, flip flops and aviators completing the look. There was no way he was for real.

"Apologies, he usually has much better manners. Merlin, here." His voice was cool and collected, the command clear and unyielding. She absolutely did not shiver. The dog immediately turned and padded over to the man and plopped down at his feet, staring adoringly up at him.

The man sent his dog an affectionate smile before he looked back up, pulling his sunglasses off to reveal eyes almost the exact same color as his dog's. "Let's try this again. Hi! Good to meet you. My name's Killian, and this here," he tilted his head towards his mutt "is Merlin. You are the Swans I assume?"

Emma was still in a mild state of shock, but Henry jumped right in. "Yeah! I'm Henry, this is my mom, Emma. It's nice to meet you too!"

As he spoke, Emma finally was able to gather her wits and summon up the correct decorum and offered her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Kilian tucked his sunglasses into his pocket, then reached out to take her hand. Emma expected him to shake it, but simultaneously wanted to roll her eyes and melt into a puddle of hormonal goop when he instead bent low over her hand and pressed the lightest of kisses to her knuckles. She could feel his beard scratch her skin, but his lips were warm and soft. She felt a puff of breath before he straightened and slowly released her hand from his. As she pulled her hand back, she could feel the warm strength of his palm and the roughness of his callouses.

Of course the fucking perfect man had perfect fucking hands too.

"The pleasure is all mine, love, I assure you." The look he gave her had her licking her lips, but a moment later it completely dissipated into a warm smile as he turned back to Henry.

"So I was told that school is a little stressful, and that you were looking for some 'puppy therapy' aye?" Henry nodded, his eyes glued to the dog who was still sitting silent and attentive by his master's side. Killian gave a small laugh, "Well then, let's get you some puppy therapy. Merlin!"

The dog jumped to his feet, eyes glued to his master, his whole body coiled. Killian glanced down at Henry, "So do you think you can outrun him?"

Henry looked up at him, "Yeah!"

"Alright then, you get a five second head start." The dog whined quietly as he remained still. Killian dropped a hand to Henry's shoulder, and for some odd reason, Emma's instincts didn't have her immediately ripping that hand from its arm. "Merlin, go seek?" The dog barked. "Are you ready Henry?" He nodded. "You get five seconds. Go!"

Henry took off at a sprint across the park, laughing. The dog's head snapped around to watch him, but he did not move. Emma watched as Killian counted quietly underneath his breath before commanding "Merlin- seek!"

The dog took off like a rocket across the grass. Henry glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of the animal running after him and let out another laugh as he tried to speed up. The dog caught him easily, and Henry ended up on the ground while Merlin eagerly licked at his face.

"You have a fine lad there, Swan."

Emma blinked at the name as she looked over at him, but he wasn't looking at her. She studied his profile for a moment, before she answered a little awkwardly, "Thanks. You have a pretty cool dog too."

She saw his lips pull up in a small smile. An easy silence fell between them as they continued to watch Henry and Merlin run around and roll in the grass. Emma wasn't sure she had seen Henry laugh so much in years.

Maybe David was right after all.

She was so caught up in her thoughts as she watched her son play like he was a small child again that she jumped when an alarm went off. She apparently wasn't the only one lost in thought though, because Killian swore quietly, "Bloody fuck."

He pulled out his phone and silenced the alarm. But the sight of his phone had her pulling out her own, and she realized that the half hour window they had paid for was over. She sighed and tucked her phone away, stepping forward to call Henry. But before she could get his name out, Killian spoke from behind her.

"No don't." Emma turned to him, confused. His eyes flickered over her face before dancing away again. "It's alright. Let the lad enjoy himself. Merlin could use the exercise."

"But…. we only booked a half hour. Don't you have other people to go… rent your dog to?"

Killian reached up to scratch at his ear, refusing to meet her eyes, and suddenly Emma was on alert. There was something more to this. "Erm," his voice caught and he cleared his throat harshly, "I.. um… you guys are actually my only booking."

Emma narrowed her eyes, "What does that mean?"

Killian tried to shrug casually, "Eh, nothing. Just that I don't really have anywhere to be so… it's fine if the lad wants to play a little longer."

Emma's shoulders straightened and she took a step forward, "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I can always tell when someone is lying to me. So you wanna try that again?"

Killian stared at her hard for a moment before closing his eyes, his jaw clenching as he let out a harsh breath through his nose. But then he sighed, "My mate signed me up for this without telling me. I was about to delete the damn thing when I got your booking, and it would have been bad form to refuse, no matter how much I wanted to."

Emma tilted her head to study him, "Why would your friend do that? And why would you not want to use it? I mean that is practically free money."

"Robin made the damn thing because he is a bloody mother hen who doesn't know how to bloodly leave well enough alone." His tone was bitter when he fell abruptly into silence. Then, "Maybe it is best if we do leave."

Emma felt a strange despair and a wash of guilt as she realized she had pushed way too far, asking a stranger a thing like that.

"Look Killian," she said quietly, not reaching out to stop him, but hoping that he would listen anyway. "I'm sorry. It's not my business. If you'd like us to go, we can, but I really appreciate the extra time you are letting Henry have. I haven't seen him laugh so much in a long time."

He did not turn to face her and, because he'd stepped forward, she could no longer see his face, but she had a clear view of his shoulders as he took a deep breath, his shirt stretching delightfully across his back as he inhaled.

"No, I apologize. That was bad form to take my frustration with him out on you. You see,, I'm a little rusty on my people skills. I uh… I haven't left my property in a couple of years."

"What do you mean?"

He turned and gave her a sad smile, "Several years ago, life threw a number of hurdles at me that I was no match for. And so I just shut down. I own a ranch outside of town, and the land and the work on it were enough that I never had to leave. So I didn't. This is my first time off the property in almost three years."

Emma gasped, completely shocked by both his confession and the fact that he had even shared at all. Killian gave her a self-deprecating smile.

"Aye, so my friend Robin Locksely finally got fed up with me and, since the only thing I take any amount of pride in is Merlin, I suppose he figured that would be the best route to go. So there's my tale of woe for you."

Emma floundered for something to say when something registered. "Wait- did you say Robin Locksley?"

Killian's brows pulled together in confusion, but he answered nonetheless, "Aye."

"Fucking David fucking Nolan."

"Pardon?"

"Robin Lockesley is one of my best friend's partners. What are the chances that the one person who messages you on an app you never looked at was that one person who has a direct connection to your friend?"

Killian's confusion slowly morphed into consternation as he realized the con that his friend had pulled. "Bloody fucking prat," he hissed.

Emma was equally as irritated at what was obviously some weird kind of intervention on both their parts from their friends. But the moment she went to speak, Henry and Merlin came running up to them, grass and leaves in his hair and Merlin leaning against his leg, looking up at his face with absolute devotion.

"Mom, can we get ice cream?"

Before Emma could answer, Henry continued, "Can Killian and Merlin come?"

Her knee jerk reaction was to give a hard no. But before she could get it out, David's words resurfaced in her mind.

...maybe he might like to hang out with a different dog. Or maybe he could make a new friend. Or maybe the dogs and their owners get something out of it too.

She studied Killian for a fraction of a moment and in that time she was able to see the defeated bend of his shoulders and the weight of his self imposed solitude. But in his eyes there was the tiniest glimmer of a sort of desperate hope.

It could be a great way to meet people! Who knows, you might enjoy it!

It was the instant darkening of his eyes as she took a fraction of a moment too long to answer that decided her. In his eyes was the same shadow of bitter loneliness she saw every day. David's heart was always in the right place, after all.

"Sure, if Merlin is allowed to eat ice cream, he and Killian are more than welcome to join us."

It was like watching the sun come out as Killian looked at her with shock, before a smile broke across his face. "Aye, I think Merlin could choke down a cone."

Two years and three months later, Emma found that it was so much better to own than rent-a-wag. Especially when a husband came included with the deal.