captainstudmuffin:

“Was your mother a fairy?”

Emma’s question is a hushed whisper, just loud enough for Killian to hear above the lullaby playing softly on endless loop from his phone on the nightstand.

“What?” he mumbles, mindful of the volume of his own voice. The song is the only bloody thing that will keep their newborn daughter asleep for longer than ten minutes at a time and he dares not chance disturbing her.

“Your mom,” Emma repeats, her hand patting soothingly over Hope’s middle as she lays between them on their bed. “Was she a fairy?”

Killian chuckles quietly. “My mother was many things, love, but a fairy was not one of them.”

“Oh,” Emma replies, and the breath she exhales is almost disappointed.

He watches as she shifts her hand, tracing a finger delicately over the curve of Hope’s ear, lingering for a moment over the tiny pointed tip.

“An elf maybe?”

This time Killian smiles, reaching for her hand and drawing it to him to kiss at her fingers. “I’m no halfling, wife.”

She slips from his grasp, shifting to tug playfully on his earlobe. “So the ears…”

“Purely coincidence, I’m afraid.” He grasps at her hand again, twining their fingers together. “The only magic I’ve got…is the two of you.”

Though she rolls her eyes, her smile is full of affection, and when she lifts her head, he meets her halfway so he can press his lips to hers in a tender kiss. They feel Hope shift beneath them, and they spring apart immediately, their eyes wide and their breaths trapped in their lungs.

He and Emma are eerily still, watching Hope squirm for a few moments more. Her soft noises of protest make his brow furrow with anxiety and as quickly as she had almost been roused, she falls still again, remaining peacefully with her dreams. Their twin sighs are full of relief and when Emma gently lays her head back on the pillow, he follows suit. Their hands meet again, resting carefully over their daughter while they smile at each other, and Hope’s favorite lullaby continues to play around them.