Emma in the middle- part 14

Angelwings5683 asked for a oneshot of a further instalment to the "Emma in the middle" series (the last being part 13, Ch2630) where…read and see.

Emma was furious. She was madder than she had ever been when it was just her involved. Now that were messing with Eira. No, now they had gone too far.

Emma had been the first of the three young royals to have a child. She had been so scared, seeing as Eira's father died in battle whilst she was still pregnant with her and she was doing it alone. But her parents had never made her feel like she was alone. For once in Emma's life, she felt like the centre of attention. They were beyond thrilled to be grandparents. They adored little Eira and valued every chance they got to spend time with her. Emma didn't live at their palace anymore, but Snow and Charming arranged that they would come by carriage and collect Eira every Tuesday to spend the day with her. Eira would then come home on the Wednesday bubbly and bright from the quality time with her grandparents. But it all started going downhill when Eira was two. That's when Marali had her little girl.

Gradually, over time, Eira seemed less keen on going to the palace on Tuesdays to spend time with her grandparents. Not long after Eira's third birthday, she told her mommy that she didn't want to go anymore.

"Oh baby, what's up? Why don't you want to go to see Nana and Papa?" Emma asked her, moving some hair out of Eira's face. Eira's bottom lip was quivering.

"Baby." Eira said.

"Baby? What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"Nana and Papa no play with me. Just baby. No love Eira." Emma felt both heartbroken for her baby girl and furious with her parents. Really? No, this wasn't happening again.

"Well, princess, if you don't want to go then alright. You can spend the day with mommy instead, ok?" Eira nodded into her mom's shoulder. Emma then put her little girl to bed and immediately sent a letter by bird to tell her parents that Eira had requested that the weekly visits be terminated immediately, and that she would respect her daughter's wishes. Emma had expected some form of backlash, but not for her parents to show up even earlier the next morning.

"I think my letter made it quite clear." Emma said coldly. "Eira doesn't want to come over."

"Oh your letter made that clear, what it didn't make clear was why." Snow told her. "Emma, what's going on? What do you mean Eira doesn't want to come over all of a sudden?" Emma couldn't help but laugh. Of course they would think it was all of a sudden. Emma had been noticing for months that something was up with Eira.

"I mean my three year old feels replaced by her one year old cousin." Emma spat bitterly. "She doesn't think you love her anymore. She says you don't want to play with her because you're too busy with the new baby. I didn't even know you were making them share a playdate. Honestly, you couldn't have chosen different days of the week?" Emma asked.

"Emma, be reasonable." Charming said calmly. "We're still busy. We don't ever want to give up contact with either of our grandchildren, but I don't think it's unfair to have them both round on the same day." Charming pointed out. "We have never purposely made Eira feel left out." Emma snorted.

"Oh come on Emma, don't act like that." Snow said, becoming frustrated with her daughter's attitude. "Don't you think Marali felt the same way when you were born?"

"Well it seemed to work out alright for her in the end, didn't it?" Emma snapped. Snow and Charming were taken aback.

"That's a low blow, and you know it." Charming said quietly. "Of course we love Eira."

"Really?" Emma snarled. "Because it seems to me like it's all happening again. It seems like, slowly but surely, my little girl will go further and further down your priorities list. Well that's not going to happen. Not to Eira." Emma tried to close the door, but her father put his foot in the way. "Move." Emma growled.

"No." Charming responded simply. "I will not move Emma, and I'll tell you why. One day, you might remarry. One day, you might make a big sister out of Eira. Then she's going to start to feel the same way about you because, try as hard as you might, you can't split yourself in two. It's a horrible feeling when one of your children feels left out, especially if they neglect to actually tell you how they're feeling until their fit to burst. Imagine if you got the chance to fix things before the problems began. Imagine if that chance was taken from you." Emma thought through her father's words. If she had been brave enough to tell her parents she was feeling left out…things could have been very different. Emma looked back to where her daughter upstairs in her playroom. She sighed. Eira had been brave enough. Eira deserved to have things better. Emma called over a maid.

"Please go get Eira for me. Make sure she's ready to travel." Snow and Charming looked at Emma, delighted. Emma looked back at her parents. "Just…don't make the same mistakes with her." Emma pleaded with them. "Make sure she knows how much you love her."

"We will." Charming promised, kissing Emma's forehead just as Eira was brought down. The maid passed Eira over to Emma. Eira ducked her head into the crook of her mommy's neck, not wanting to see her grandparents.

"I've just had a long chat with Nana and Papa." Emma told her little girl. "They're both very sorry you've felt bad about how much playtime you've had with them. They're going to make sure they play with you lots today. But you still have to share them, alright?" Eira peaked her head out and looked at them.

"Promise?" She asked.

"We do, baby." Snow said sincerely. "Lots of playing today." She held her arms out hopefully. Eira hesitated for a moment, but then swivelled round in her mommy's arms and allowed her nana to pick her up. Snow held Eira close to her, mouthing a thank you to Emma. Emma just smiled back. She wanted Eira to have a good relationship with them, she was glad they were willing to learn from their mistakes.