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Chapter 10: Mind Games

After saying her goodbyes to her friends, packing up her kids in the car, and driving home, she finally got both of her children back into the loft. It was a lot of work for a parent to do for just a simple run for lunch. She was exhausted, but she had to change and feed Neal and somehow get Emma to take a nap. She already knew that wasn't going to go over very well with her daughter, but then again ever since they got to Granny's she had been very well-behaved and compliant. But that couldn't last for too long and she had a feeling it was just the calm before the storm.

She was about to set Neal's car seat down on the table when she saw the mess that they had left for later. Well it would just have to wait a little longer until her babies were both asleep. A mom's job is never over! Snow set the car seat on the floor away from all the crayons and turned to Emma, who looked really tired. "Ok, it's nap time." Snow said confidently hoping Emma would just go along with her, but as soon as she saw Emma's face she knew world war 3 just began.

"What?! No! I don't take naps! I'm 29!" Emma yelled with a stunned, yet horrified look on her face.

"Emma, don't yell at me." Snow admonished. "You normally at 29 do not take naps, but you are usually in a 29-year-old body that doesn't need naps. Unfortunately, you are in a four-year old body that does need naps." Snow explained softly.

"I don't need a nap, Mom! I'm not even tired!" Emma whined.

"Then you can just lay down and rest. You can even stay down here and lay on your Dad's and I's bed." Snow replied with a firm voice that showed that this was happening whether she liked it or not.

When Emma heard her Mom mention her Dad, she felt the sinking feeling she had been feeling at the diner, but she pushed it aside because she wasn't going to take a nap. "I'm not laying down either!" Emma yelled once again.

"Emma Ruth Swan. You get over there and lay down, now." Snow demanded with her best mom look that demanded respect and obedience.

Emma froze, but then walked over to the bed and laid down without another word. She may lay down, but there is no way she was going to fall asleep and take a nap.

Snow shook her head in frustration. She was losing her patience with Emma's defiant attitude, but she was starting to get a handle on how to get her to do what she wanted her to do. She watched as Emma stomped (like a four-year old) to the bed and laid down on the bed with her arms folded across her body. Snow sighed as she went to pick up Neal from the car seat to bring him over to the changing table. She changed him and then glanced over to Emma, who was staring at the ceiling with a scowl on her face.

She decided to just ignore Emma's attitude and feed Neal. Emma would probably fall asleep (or at least she hoped) in a little bit. She was tired and she really thought Emma was going to fall asleep on the way home, but Emma had managed to stay awake. She sat down in the rocking chair and started feeding her son while keeping an eye on her daughter.

After Neal finished eating, Snow rocked him to sleep and took a little extra time rocking him as she enjoyed the moment of being able to hold her baby in her arms. She hadn't been able to do this with Emma so she was cherishing every moment with this baby. She knew that every moment was precious because these were the precious moments that she had never got to experience with her daughter. She knew their value because she knew what it was like to never get to experience them so they were always bittersweet moments. She, however, would cherish them all. She looked over to Emma to see her eyes blink closed and then they would open, but after a few more minutes they closed and stayed closed.

Snow smiled softly now that both her babies were asleep. She looked over to the clock to see that it was 1:30 so Emma could sleep till 3 or 3:30, but no later. Snow contemplated putting her son back in the crib and going to clean up their art mess, but she was exhausted herself so she just continued to hold her baby in the rocking chair. She would leave the mess until later.

***OUAT**************OUAT***************OUAT***

Snow jerked awake as she heard the phone ringing, thankfully, she hadn't woken Neal when she woke up. She carefully got up and put Neal in the crib before rushing to the phone to answer it.

"Hello." Snow said in a groggy voice.

"Hey Snow, you sound tired. Are you okay?" David asked through phone.

"Yeah, I just accidentally fell asleep. I made Emma take a nap and then I had fed Neal which practically put him to sleep after some rocking, but I ended up dozing off a little as well." Snow explained with a yawn.

David chuckled. "You got Emma to take a nap...willingly?"

"Ah no. I pretty much forced her. I told her she had to at least lay down, which didn't go over to well with her. I lost my patience with her and told her to go lay down in my best mom voice. It worked because she stomped over there and laid down, it took a little while longer till she actually fell asleep, but she did." Snow explained.

"I'm impressed." David said with chuckle.

"You should be." Snow teased.

"Did you need something before? I'm sorry I couldn't talk right then, the accident was the biggest we had since Greg came into town." David explained.

"It's okay. I think your little munchkin was missing you. She was acting really weird at the diner." Snow said as she looked over at Emma who was sleeping soundly.

"Aww. I missed my little munchkin too. How was she acting?" David asked feeling touched that his daughter missed him. He didn't like being away from her for so long.

"Well extremely shy for one which I figured it was just because of being in public as her shrunken self?" Snow said, but it sounded more like a question.

"That would make sense and if she was connecting more with her four-year old self, it could be because they are strangers and she was just scared." David offered as an explanation.

"Maybe. She was also acting really sad, but I thought that was because of you not being able to come. It just seemed like there was more to it that I couldn't quite pinpoint." Snow tried to explain.

"I'm sure she is fine. She is just going through a lot with all the emotions of a four-year old that are probably conflicting with her 29-year-old self. I wouldn't worry about it." David assured his wife.

"Yeah you are probably right." Snow replied, but still felt worried.

"Well I just wanted to let you know that it looks like a storm is going to be coming in tonight. It seemed to come out of nowhere so I am going to start to prepare for it, but I'm not sure how long it's going to take." David said in a tired voice.

"How bad is the storm suppose to be?" Snow asked in a worried voice.

"They are predicting it is going to be pretty bad. It's a severe thunderstorm with possible hail and strong winds. They are expecting it to start around 5 and then die down closer to 7:30/8, but later on tonight there looks like we will get another one. So I'm going to go down to the coast and make sure everyone knows about it so that they can take the precautions they need to." David explained.

"Oh. Be careful while you are out there." Snow said with worry obvious in her voice.

"I'll be fine, Snow. I'll try to make it home as soon as I can, but I may ended up having to go back out if there are accidents or other storm related issues." David admitted.

"Ok. Are you okay though? You seem really tired." Snow asked softly with concern.

"I am tired because of a little munchkin waking me up and keeping me up to tell bedtime stories, but I'm okay." David answered with a chuckle at the memory of his daughter the other night.

"She made you tell a story?" Snow asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah did I not tell you that?" David asked.

"No, I don't think you did." Snow said.

"Well she did, but I think it was just to keep her up for a little while longer. She was definitely stalling." David laughed.

"Sounds like Emma." Snow said with a giggle.

"Ok, well I probably should get started on getting ready for this storm. Take care of our munchkin and her little brother. I'll try to come home if I can."

"I will. Stay safe Charming. I love you."

"I love you too, Snow."

Snow put the phone down and turned to look at the clock and it read 2:45. She had about 15 to 45 minutes before Emma would be up. She was hoping it would be 45 minutes. She was liking the peace from both Emma and Neal being asleep. She looked over to the art mess on the table and remembered the coloring pages Emma had been working on. She walked over and grabbed the book and flipped through the pages for the ones Emma had colored. The coloring book had never been used so Emma had been the only one who had colored in it so far. First, she found the Belle picture which was okay, she went out of the lines quite a few times because of her fine motor skills not being like they normally would be. She smiled as she saw the writing on the bottom of the page, written with a lot of care and patience, but was not a 29 year old's handwriting, but close to a four-year old's, 'Henry's step-grandmother.'

Snow chuckled, but then went on to the next picture, which was Cinderella. Again it was similar to a young kids coloring, but on the bottom it said, 'no relation, or at least not yet...'

Snow flipped through the book and found a coloring of Red Riding Hood and Granny, which was colored a little bit better, but there was a lot written on the page. Next to Red Riding Hood was an arrow with the writing, 'actually werewolf and godmother' and then next to Granny's picture which actually was the wolf, 'not a wolf, they totally got this story turned around and messed up, and godmother's granny?'

Snow came to the end of the book and knew she missed one because she saw Emma picked it from the beginning. She looked back through and found it. The one with Snow White and Prince Charming. She smiled as she read the little captions beside each of their characters. 'Mom, strong, confident woman who survived in the forest while being chased by black knights. Yet the sweetest, yet purest heart of anyone I have ever known. She is a hero with amazing skills in archery - saved me from a ogre!'

"Dad, a whole lot better than the character considering you hardly know anything about him in it, but he is loyal, kind, and super strong. Best swordsman I have ever seen and a hero. He saved my mom's life and he saved my life. Oh he claimed the phrase, "I will always find you." :)

Snow was crying at the little endearments that her daughter hadn't meant for anyone to see, but showed that she really cared for them and respected them. She couldn't help, but stare at the picture and really wished she could put it on the fridge. She resisted and finally shut the coloring book and started stacking all the coloring books keeping the two they were using on the top.

Snow looked down at the floor where crayons were everywhere and sighed at the mess, but then chuckled thinking of Emma's attempts at cleaning. She got down and started picking up the crayons.

After putting away all the crayons that she could find, she moved to clean off the table. It took longer than she expected to cleanup and when she checked the time it was already, 3:10. "What are we going to eat for dinner?" Snow thought as she walked to the kitchen to see what they're options were. She looked in the refrigerator and freezer for something Emma would like, yet something that would go with healthy vegetables. She found the perfect thing that Emma would love, but they could have vegetables with. Homemade chicken strips with potatoes and green beans. The chicken would have to thaw, but other than that it was a pretty simple meal to prepare. She set the chicken out on the counter to thaw before glancing at the clock again, 3:15. Fifteen minutes till she had to wake up Emma, which meant fifteen minutes of peace.

***OUAT**************OUAT***************OUAT***

Unfortunately for Snow, her fifteen minutes was about to turn into just 10 minutes.

Emma found herself standing on the sidewalk in front of Granny's looking across the street at her Dad. He was busy talking to somebody else. "Daddy!" Emma yelled to him, but he didn't hear her.

She figured he couldn't hear her so she started to cross the street, not paying attention to the cars that started honking at her. The honking got her father's attention and he turns to glare at her.

She felt guilty all of a sudden because she was causing more trouble for him. She finished crossing over to her father, but he ignored her. He was mad at her still so she stopped a couple of feet from him. "Daddy." Emma cried quietly in a sad almost fearful voice.

"Quiet Emma!" Her Dad said harshly.

He had never spoken that way to her and it broke her heart. She waited patiently as he spoke to the man, which seemed to take forever and then it started raining softly. It was cold and then it started raining harder and harder, but she waited patiently.

They stopped talking and Emma was so happy. He could take her home, but instead of turning to her he started walking in the other direction. "Daddy!" Emma cried out.

Her Dad turned to her and glared at her again before turning around and walking away.

Emma wanted to run after him, but she was frozen. Her heart shattered as her father continued to walk away. "Don't leave me, daddy."

"Daddy! Please come back! Daddy!" Emma cried and cried as she reached out her hand for her father, but her father kept walking away.

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