Please sleep
A guest asked for a oneshot of Snowing having baby Emma be independent by sleeping alone at night. They can't help but feel terrible hearing her crying and eventually can't stand it any longer and go to comfort her as she is their precious little baby girl and they don't care what anyone else thinks or says.
Snow pressed her face firmly against her husband's chest and screwed her eyes tightly shut. Charming badly wanted to jam his fingers in his ears. No matter what either of them did, however, they would not be able to block out the sound of their baby daughter's screams. They thought they were doing the right thing. That it was best for her to get used to being alone to sleep through the night. Her nursery was only next door…but that seemed like a great distance to Charming and Snow right now. They'd tried before, but each time as soon as Emma started crying they'd given up. This time they'd been urged by the nanny to let Emma "cry it out", that she'd eventually cry herself to sleep and learn from the experience. That was one of the many reasons the couple rarely used the nanny, the idea just seemed so cold and unfeeling. They didn't want Emma crying herself to sleep. She was a baby, they were her parents. Surely it was their job to comfort her when she cried. To let her know right from an early age that they would always be there when she needed her. They were only doing this to keep the nanny sweet. She had threatened to walk out if the royal couple didn't follow through this time. They wanted to keep her, she was meant to be the best nanny in the kingdom…but who gave that recommendation exactly? Neither could remember, and they now had a horrible feeling it was someone who cared little for their children's emotional wellbeing.
Two hours past. Still Emma cried and still her parents stayed awake, unable to sleep knowing she was in distress. Charming could feel Snow's tears begin to soak through his nightshirt. He too had the odd tear falling down his cheek. They hated it, it wasn't fair. Emma let out a particularly shrill shriek and at the same time both decided enough was enough. They got out of bed, the duvet nearly flying off the end in their haste, and almost sprinted next door to Emma's room. Snow reached the crib first and scooped the still screaming infant up into her arms. Snow rocked Emma gently, kissing her now scarlet face.
"There there little girl." She whispered as Emma began to calm. "Mommy and daddy are here now. We're sorry we let that happen; it was very silly of us, wasn't it?" Charming sat in the rocking chair and Snow moved over and sat on his lap. Charming wrapped his arms snugly around both his girls, stroking Emma's downy blond hair. Their poor baby was still sniffling and giving the odd hiccup she'd gotten herself into such a state. Snow and Charming together began to hum a lullaby they'd created just for Emma. It soothed her almost instantly and her little eyelids began to flutter closed. Charming carefully pushed his foot off the ground so the chair began to rock steadily.
"I don't want to let her go now, not tonight." Snow whispered when she was sure Emma was in a deep enough slumber. Charming kissed Snow's cheek.
"Then we won't, we can stay here. From now on we do things with our daughter our way. We both hated hearing her scream like that. If that nanny doesn't like it fine, she can leave. I'm sure we'll easily be able to find a better nanny that fits our parenting style." Snow nodded in agreement, resting her weary head against Charming's shoulder. Emma was their first priority, and now that she was settled they could get some sleep. Who cared if someone found them like this in the morning? Certainly not them. Emma was their beautiful little bundle of joy. If they didn't want to hear her scream in apparent agony from the separation then they wouldn't. So Snow with her head resting against Charming and Charming with his lulling against the back of the wooden chair dozed off, far more content than they had been in their comfortable bed.