Author's note: Just a little ficlet I whipped up. Tumblr prompt.

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn't be writing this.

Emma sat at her kitchen counter, staring at her laptop. What the hell had she been thinking? Ogres, evil witches, Lost Boys, dragons, all of those things were easy compared to the task Emma had inadvertently volunteered for. Damn that kid. She loved Henry with all her heart, but that didn't stop her from occasionally wanting to strangle him. In a metaphorical way, of course.

"Hm, something smells good in here," Killian said, opening the door to what was now their apartment. Unfortunately, it was the dead of winter, so a cold draft followed him in.

"Jesus, Killian! Shut the damn door. It's freezing out there."

"And a good evening to you too, love," he said, hanging up his coat. He crossed the room and kissed the crown of her head affectionately, despite her snapping at him. "What's got your knickers in a twist, Emma?"

Emma sighed. "It's Henry."

"What happened?" Killian said, sounding slightly anxious. He still wasn't used to his fatherly role; the tiniest thing sometimes worried him. After what had happened in Neverland, Emma couldn't really blame him.

"Calm down; it's nothing bad," Emma assured him. "It's just...well, Dad's birthday is coming up. And Henry wants to throw him a party, since you know, we never got to before. And somehow he volunteered me to make the cake!"

"You? Why not Granny? Isn't she the culinary expert in this town?"

Emma chuckled. "Granny is conveniently sick this week."

"No offense, love, but Henry is well aware of your...lack of experience in this area, correct?"

Emma snorted. Undignified as hell, but she didn't care. "Oh yeah, he knows. I think he's cooked this up just to torture me."

"Where is Henry, anyway?"

"At Regina's. It's her weekend, remember?"

"Then you're right, love, he is just trying to torture you," Killian laughed.

Emma punched him in the shoulder. "It's not funny," she muttered. "What if it's awful? What if I give everyone food poisoning? Can you even get food poisoning from cake?" Emma stood up and started to pace.

"Couldn't you just call Snow?"

"Oh yeah, and admit to my mother than I can't do something as simple as bake a cake. She's Snow Freaking White, for Christ's sake. She probably invented chocolate cake!"

Emma recognized that she was making way too much of this, but she couldn't help it. She'd spent so long without a family, that she desperately wanted everything to be good. Prove she was worthy of what she'd been given. Baking a birthday cake for her dad? At twenty nine, she should be able to do that!

Killian came over and grasped her shoulders firmly. "Emma, look at me." Emma pulled her eyes up to stare into his impossibly blue ones. Instantly, she felt calmer. He always had that affect on her, even before she stopped being so stubborn and finally let him in. "It's going to be fine, you'll see. I'll help you, yeah? Now when's the party?"

"Sunday."

"Okay, today's Friday. We can practice. We'll bake cakes all weekend if we have too."

"Emma arched a skeptical brow. "Have you ever baked a cake before?"

"Certainly not. But I'm a fast learner," he said, smirking at her suggestively.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine. We'll try." Then she smiled at him. "Thanks, Killian."

"You're welcome, my love."

They spent the next hour braving the cold weather to get everything they needed at the grocery store. Emma made sure they tripled everything the recipe she'd found called for, just in case. She had a feeling they were going to need it.

When they got home, Emma upended the bags on the counter. Eggs, butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, baking soda and chocolate chips littered the counter. All that was supposed to combine to make chocolate-y goodness? Emma just didn't see how. It's just a cake, Swan, not Maleficent. You got this.

"What are you thinking, love?"

"That I'd rather face off against Maleficent again, than bake this cake."

"That old hag? Why would you want to do that?"

"You know she's a dragon now, right?"

"Not the last time I saw her, right before Neverland."

Emma shook her head. "I don't even want to know," she muttered. "Okay, let me get my laptop and we'll see about this cake."

She read the instructions three times before doing anything. It didn't seem all that hard, but knowing her luck she'd wind up covered head to toe in chocolate before the evening was done. Killian stood by and watched her, waiting for her to give him something to do.

"Okay, Killian? Could you get one of the small sauce pans out of the cupboard? We have to melt the chocolate." He nodded and did as she asked. While he was digging for a pan, Emma turned on the oven to preheat it and sprayed and floured the cake pan she'd bought at the store. It seemed easy enough so far. Killian brought her the sauce pan in triumph, hanging it from his hook. Emma rolled her eyes at him and took it. "Hand me the chocolate," she said over her shoulder.

He did as she asked. After pouring out the right amount, she handed it back to him. "Why chocolate?" the pirate asked. "Don't get me wrong, love, I like it well enough," he continued, popping several of the semi-sweet chips in to his mouth. "But I'm having trouble picturing it in cake form."

Emma turned around. "They don't have chocolate cakes in the Enchanted Forest?"

Killian shook his head. "Nor in Neverland."

"Well, when it's your birthday, you can pick the cake, okay?"

Killian frowned. "I'm not even sure when my birthday is, love."

That brought Emma up short. "How do you not know your own birthday?"

Killian rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I don't rightly know, darling. My mother died when I was very, very young. My father left me when I was still small; on the run from the law, he was. We moved around so much in those days, it just never occurred to celebrate it."

Emma's hands were spotted with chocolate, but that didn't stop her from pulling him into a hug. "I didn't know," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

Killian kissed her gently, touched by her concern. "It doesn't matter."

"Killian, of course it matters. We'll make one up for you. Hey," she exclaimed, getting a brainwave. "Maybe it's in Henry's book!"

"I don't know about that, love."

"When he gets back on Monday, I'll ask him. But we are going to find a birthday for you. And we're going to celebrate the hell out of it, whether you want to or not."

"Far be it for me to argue with the princess," he said, raising his hands in surrender.

Emma laughed. "Go find the mixer, while I try not to burn this chocolate."

Killian dug in the cupboard once more. Emma returned to her pan. She turned the heat on low and waited for the chocolate to start to melt. It was slow going but eventually a thick chocolate goo sat in the pan. Emma poured the melted chocolate into the mixer and went to get the rest of her ingredients. When she turned back to the mixer, Killian was poking his fingers in the bowl.

"Killian! Get out of there!" she scolded. "If you eat it now, I'll just have to melt more!"

Killian pulled his fingers out; they were covered in chocolate. The bastard didn't look the slightest bit guilty. Instead, he stuck his index finger into his mouth and licked the chocolate off. "Mmmm," he hummed contentedly.

The sight and sound made her shiver. Emma licked her lips unconsciously. Killian repeated the action with the rest of his fingers. Emma shifted uncomfortably, her annoyance forgotten. Killian just stared at her knowingly. He stuck his index finger back into the chocolate, then held it out for her. She stepped forward and sucked the tip of his finger into her mouth. It tasted heavenly, although if that was him or the chocolate, Emma couldn't say. She swirled her tongue around the digit once more, watching Killian's eyes glaze over with lust.

"Emma," he breathed, not liking how in seconds she had turned the tables on him.

"What?"

"You're a bloody tease, love."

"You started it." She moved to the mixer, intent on getting back to her task, but Killian stopped her.

"Sod the cake, love," he muttered. "We can finish it tomorrow."

"But..." Emma started to protest. She looked from the oven, to the counter, to Killian. His too blue eyes were imploring her to drop everything and make a dash for their bedroom. Killian's hand slid underneath her top, his fingers dancing along her skin, sending electric shocks all along her body. Emma closed her eyes, feeling the desire pool in her stomach. Maybe it would be better to bake her father's cake tomorrow. Decision made, Emma turned off the oven and grabbed the bowl full of melted chocolate. Killian grinned at her before picking her up abruptly and carrying her to their room.

It took three tries, but finally Emma and Killian managed to bake David's cake. It was a great success.