"Please just stop crying!" Father Damian Lopez told his nephew in the calmest voice he could muster. It wasn't calm enough because Jack just screamed harder. He stood up and ran a hand through his curly black hair. He paced the length of the room, took a deep breath, and sat back down on the floor next to Jack. He offered the loud toddler one of the toys on the floor. Jack took the toy, looked at it, threw it, and somehow managed to scream louder. A knock on the door made Damian realize that the walls of the hotel room weren't as thick as he thought. He opened the door to find a woman with long reddish-brown hair and a kid about 8 years old standing next to her. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to get him to calm down. He got woken up in the middle of the night because his mom went into labor. Then just when I got him settled I had to drag him here."

"Oh no. I didn't come over to complain. We just thought you might need some help." The woman explained.

"We brought snacks." The boy held up a plastic grocery bag full of snacks. "I get grumpy when I'm hungry."

Damian opened up the door wider and gestured for them to come in. "I've had absolutely no luck. I think I've actually made him more upset." He closed the door after they entered.

The boy sat down on the bed. The woman walked over to Jack and sat down on the floor a few feet away from the crying toddler. "His name is Jack." Damian offered as he followed her over to his nephew.

"Hey Jack," The woman started in a soft and cheerful voice. "I think I've meant your mommy a few times. Would it be okay if I picked you up?" Jack held out his arms and the woman picked him up. She slowly walked the length of the room and spoke softly to the toddler in her arms. "I bet you're feeling really scared right now. You're in a strange place right now and you're mommy and daddy aren't here." Jack's cries subsided to a quiet whine and he laid his head down on Genny's shoulder.

"You're amazing!" Damian exclaimed. "How'd you do that?"

"I teach fourth graders. And I taught toddlers at a daycare in college. And this guy-" She took her hand off Jack's back and gestured to the boy sitting on the bed and who was now eating one of the snacks they'd brought, "Would also get so overwhelmed by his emotions that he'd become inconsolable. When kids get so overwhelmed by their emotions the best thing to do is to take a deep breath, validate their feeling, and try to calm them down. Sometimes it works well other times it doesn't."

"Can we go back to the room?" The boy asked.

"Soon," The woman told the boy, and then she addressed Damian again. "I told him he could have unlimited screen time while we were here."

"Then I should let him get back to it." Damian held out his arms to take Jack back.

Jack whined quietly as the woman handed him to his uncle. "He should be okay now," She told Damian and started to walk with her son toward the door.

"Thank you again!" He gently rubbed Jack's back like he'd seen the woman do and Jack laid his head on Damian's shoulder. "I don't think I got your name earlier."

"Genny. Genny Bradford. And this is Tyler." She gestured to the boy as they stood in front of the door.

"Are you related to Tim Bradford?"

"Yes. That's my brother. He's why we're stuck here."

"My younger sister, Angela, used to bring him as a date to events so our mom wouldn't set her up with the sons of her friends," Damian explained. "And I'm Damian Lopez."

"Nice to meet you, Damian." She smiled at him and something in him stirred, but he quickly buried the feeling.

"Nice to meet you, too." He smiled back at her as she left the room with her son. He was still smiling at the closed door five minutes later when he realized Jack had fallen asleep on his shoulder.