#tiny!henry

Mcyt g/t list:

It hadn’t started out that way, but then again, they never do. Things are actually good; it’s been almost a year since the change-over, and while he and Emma still aren’t married, Henry is happy as a clam and growing like a weed, and the new import and trade business he’s engaging in has proved profitable and welcomed by the locals. They’d actually just gotten back from one of their trips two days prior, laden down with all manner of fabrics to trade - something the townspeople have proven especially excited about. Yesterday had been dedicated to downtime and family, joyfully letting Henry recount every single moment of the past two weeks, but it’s back to the grindstone now, focusing on the various repairs, maintenance, and upkeep that needs to be done to keep any ship in prime condition.

They’re actually winding down for the day - there’s a few more extensive, but still minor repairs that need to be executed in the hold, but everything has been put back in its proper place and set to order, the ropes neatly coiled, the cargo hold emptied and scrubbed. He’s just about to suggest that they all swing by the Red Wolf or Rabbit Hole when he spots Emma striding down the docks carrying Henry with a terrifying look on her face. Killian’s a smart man; he knows well enough that her scowl means he won’t be dropping by the tavern anytime soon.

As she strides up the gangplank, he starts to be able to hear Henry’s cries, and his wariness turns to dread in a heartbeat. Gods, it’s only been hours since he last saw the boy, but Henry’s at that age where he’s into absolutely everything and attracted to trouble like metal to a magnet - anything might have happened.

“What’s happened, love?” he asks Emma urgently, tone and eyebrows alike relaying his frantic concern.

“What’s happened,” she replies, barely tempering her furious look to carefully shift Henry into his arms, “is Whale is a damn idiot, and I might run him through myself.”

It’s a non-sequitur, to say the least, but Killian is too concerned about Henry for the moment to concern himself with whatever his ship’s doctor might have done now.

“What’s the matter, lad?” he asks as gently as he can muster through the worry. “Are you hurt?”

Henry nods, the tears suddenly coming back in a rush. Oh, this is bad, this must be very bad if Henry’s in such a state. Out of the corner of his eye, he can spot Emma fixing Whale with a death glare, the man having wandered closer at the sound of his name and currently blanching in the face of her fury. At any other time, it’d be wildly amusing, but Killian is too concerned to give the spectacle more than a passing thought.

“Well what’s wrong? What’s happened?”

“I’m dying!” Henry bursts out suddenly, trying to burrow his little body into Killian’s chest like he can hide from the words. Killian, in the meantime, is thoroughly confused. The only information he’s received is that Henry is apparently dying, and Whale is an idiot in this regard. He just can’t see what the connecting information is yet, and Emma’s too far gone in her own frustration and anger to provide what that is.

“Why do you think you’re dying, Henry?” he asks. It seems the best way to get to the bottom of… whatever this is.

The lad tearfully opens his hand to reveal a tiny object that it takes Killian a moment to realize is a tooth.

“You lost a tooth, Little Mate?”

And that’s enough to send Henry into another fit of tears. “I didn’t eat my orange!” he sobs, which does not illuminate the subject in the way he seems to think it does. It must mean something to Whale, however, as he starts trying to back away before Emma stops him with a dirty look. They’ll deal with whatever he’s done later, after Killian finally gets to the bottom of this mess.

“I don’t understand, Little Mate. Why does losing your tooth mean you’re going to die, and where does the orange tie in?”

“Because Whale said if I didn’t eat my fruits and sauerkraut, my teeth would all fall out and I’d die of scurvy!”

Oh.

It suddenly all makes sense, and Killian could just throttle the man if not for the fact that he can’t afford to lose his ship’s doctor, and Henry would probably be even more traumatized. Emma’s practically seething, about to attack, a feeling Killian strongly shares. But the boy is still here, ensconced in his arms, and this isn’t the time or place to confront the imbecile Killian calls his surgeon. That will have to wait until later. It’s with no small effort that he forces himself to remain calm and smile down at Henry instead of outright exploding.

“You’re going to be just fine Henry. I lost all my baby teeth when I was around your age, and they grew back just fine. I know yours will too. Isn’t that right, Whale?” The last word is practically hissed at the man in his barely suppressed anger.

A visibly nervous Whale frantically nods before responding. “That’s exactly right, Henry, nothing to worry about, this is entirely normal.”

As Henry looks up at Killian with questioning eyes - gods, it still gets him, the way this little boy views him as the ultimate authority on everything, looks to him for confirmation and reassurance - he does his best to put on a comforting smile. “See, lad? Nothing to worry about. Dr. Whale says it’s completely normal.” After receiving an accepting nod from Henry, he spends another couple of minutes soothing the lad and drying tears before shifting to set the boy back on his feet.

“In fact,” he continues, smiling all the while, “this is very exciting! Look at you, you’re such a big boy now. I think this calls for a celebration, don’t you, Uncle Will?”

Henry perks up at the mention of a celebration, and Scarlet is smart enough to take the hint: distract Henry, and Killian will deal with whatever idiocy Whale has been spouting.

“Well of course!” Scarlet adds in. “In fact, I think this might warrant a trip down to the bakery. What do you say, Little Mate, want to go see about some pastries?”

“Mama too?”

In truth, Emma had been looking more like her afternoon plans included giving Whale a piece of her mind, and maybe a smack in the face, but she visibly softens when Henry asks his question. It’s only recently that he’s switched from calling her “Emma” to “Mama”, and Killian can just see her melt each and every time. “Of course I’ll come with, Henry, unless you want to have your outing with just Uncle Will?”

Henry shakes his head forcefully, prompting a smile form Killian. “No, you come too, Mama.”

Emma smiles, that soft smile she reserves just for the lad, and with one more look at Whale that could flay flesh from bone (and an only slightly less terrifying look at Killian that he takes to mean “You had better fix this”), the little party is off, Henry holding one each of Emma and Scarlet’s hands and chattering away about his favorite pastries, once again the enthusiastic little boy they all know and love.

Killian takes another moment to watch the small party make their way down the docks before rounding to face Whale. There’s a small amount of gratification to see how the man’s nervousness hasn’t gotten any better, and that the rest of the crew is viewing him with similarly angry and incredulous expressions.

“Would you please explain to me, Dr. Whale, why the hell you’d tell a child something like that?” he demands, finally letting the fury creep into his voice. Henry is his son, and it’s Whale’s fault that Henry was sent into near hysterics, thinking he was going to die because of some stupid, misguided comment that obviously sunk in much further than anticipated.

“Would it help if I told you there was a good reason, at the time?” Whale offers in a hesitant voice, and no, it really does not. Killian levels the other man with a look he hopes conveys exactly how unhelpful that statement is.

“Look, it was that first month he was with us, and he was being picky about his food, so I just said it to get him to eat his portion, alright?” the doctor says defensively. “I didn’t realize he’d take it to heart so much! Or, you know, not realize he’d lose his teeth naturally.”

“He was a four year old kid, you idiot. What did you expect?”

Whale just shrugs, which is about par for the course. The man may be a brilliant doctor who managed to keep an entire ship of pirates patched up, and a decent worker in the meantime, but he’s severely lacking in common sense and still unsure about how to interact with small children. This incident only deepens Killian’s resolve that, if he and Emma eventually have other children, they absolutely must be kept from spending time alone with Victor Whale for fear of the kind of ridiculousness he might put in their heads or scar them with. He probably ought to mention that to Will and Belle as well, come to think of it.

There’s definitely a part of Killian - the piece of himself that’s devoted to being a fiercely protective parent - that wants to inflict bodily harm on Whale for scaring his son like this. A punch to the face would be awfully satisfying, and it’s tempting. But Killian resolved to be a better man when he gave up the pirate life almost a year ago, and overreacting violently is part and parcel of the way of living he’s made an effort to walk away from. That doesn’t mean he can’t make Whale pay, and in this case, there’s no reason it can’t be literally.

Killian allows himself one more moment of unchecked fury towards the idiot before letting it out on a heavy sigh and jerking his head towards the gangplank. “Come on, you bloody imbecile, let’s go.”

Whale looks shocked. “You’re not going to, I don’t know, make me walk the plank or scrape barnacles or something?” he asks confusedly, hurrying to add “Not that I’m complaining…”

Killian smirks. “Oh no, I think a different sort of payment should suffice. Since Henry’s lost a tooth, he’s owed a gift at his bedside in the morning from the fairies. And you’re going to pay for it.” The steely glint in his eye expresses an unstated last clause: it won’t be anything cheap either.

Whale must hear the message loud and clear, because he sighs resignedly, shoulders slumping, and leads the way down the gangplank.

------

Henry never again worries about losing his teeth again, but that may have something to do with the intricately carved wooden ship, just like Papa’s, that he receives from the tooth fairy that first time. Two weeks later, when the second one pops out, it’s back to the toy store for Whale - a course that will become very familiar to the doctor in the coming months and years.