Chapter 6

"Momma put me down!"

Snow was struggling to make it to the bed. Hanna was moving so much, she was afraid she was going to drop her. Once she made it to the bed, she set Hanna down as gently as she could. Snow sat down next to her and wasn't sure how to get her to stop. "Honey, please calm down."

"No!" Hanna shouted. She was still kicking her legs and slamming the bed with her arms. She could hear herself crying too…well maybe it was more like screaming at this point. She could feel the tears streaming down her face and her heart was thumping so fast. Hanna didn't even know why she was so mad. Something in her just snapped when she saw those candy hearts. Hanna didn't mean to react the way she did, but she couldn't help it, and she didn't know how to make herself stop.

Snow reached out her hand to try and stop Hanna's arms from flailing around when Hanna's leg made contact with her stomach. Snow quickly held onto her legs just before getting kicked again. "Hanna, that's enough!"

Hanna instantly stopped at the sound of her mom's voice. She never heard her yell like that before. Hanna looked up at her. She looked really mad. Hanna quickly covered her face with her hands and continued to cry.

Snow let out a sigh of relief…at least Hanna was still. "Come here, baby." Snow picked Hanna up from the bed. She sat back against the headboard and held Hanna on her lap. "It's okay, just relax."

Hanna slowly moved her hands away from her face and looked up at her mommy. "I…I…I…" She was trying to say she was sorry, but she couldn't talk.

"Hanna, just breathe." Snow brushed the hair from Hanna's face and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Look at me. Breathe in…"

Hanna breathed in like her mommy said.

"And out…"

Hanna breathed out and after doing that a few more times, she felt better. "I'm…sorry."

"I know you are, sweetie. It's okay." Snow reached down and kissed the top of her head.

Hanna laid her head down on her mommy's chest.

Snow held Hanna close and ran her fingers through her hair.

They sat like that for several minutes before Hanna lifted her head again. "Mom, I don't know why I got so mad."

"Well, you were acting more like a toddler just then."

Hanna nodded. "Once I started, I didn't know how to make myself stop."

"That's normal. Young children don't know how to regulate their emotions yet, so sometimes they need a little help."

"Thanks for helping me."

"Of course," Snow brushed her hand down Hanna's cheek. "Are you feeling better now?"

Hanna nodded.

"Okay, how about we go clean up that mess you made?"

"Okay."

Snow carried Hanna through to the other room. She set Hanna down on the floor beside the table so she could clean up the gingerbread men and the cards, while Snow folded the game board.

Hanna got down on her knees and started to pick up the cards. She crawled under the table, so she could reach the rest. She was piling the cards up in her hands, but there were so many and she dropped half of them onto the floor again. Hanna could feel the tears start to well up in her eyes again. Why couldn't she do anything right?

Snow saw Hanna drop the cards and quickly got down on the floor beside her. "How about I do the cards and you go find all the gingerbread men?"

"Okay." Hanna gave her mom the cards that were still in her hand, then looked around for the other pieces. She spotted the red one right next to her, then she saw the yellow one under her daddy's chair. She crawled over to get it. She looked over to where the shoes were piled by the front door and found her blue one leaned against Emma's boot. She picked that one up, then scanned the room for the green one. She spotted it sitting under one of the bar stools. Hanna stood up and walked over to get it, then gave the pieces back to her mom.

"Good job, sweetie," Snow said with a wink.

Hanna gave her mom a small smile, then watched her put everything back into the box and put the games back into the cupboard.

Snow knelt down beside Hanna. "Do you think there's something you need to say to your dad and sister?"

Hanna nodded.

Snow stood back up and reached out her hand. "Come on."

Hanna held onto her mommy's hand and went with her to the living room. She saw her brother laying on his play mat and her dad and Emma were sitting beside him holding up different toys. As they walked closer, Hanna got nervous.

"What are you three up to in here?" Snow asked.

"We're trying to figure out which toy Neal likes best," David told her.

"We're holding them above his head and the one he gets most excited about is the winner," Emma said. "He either likes the sheep the best or the orange puppy."

When her daddy looked at her, Hanna quickly hid behind her mommy's leg.

"Are you feeling better princess?" David asked.

Hanna peeked out from behind her mommy and nodded.

David reached out his arms to her and smiled. "Will you come see me?"

Hanna let go of her mommy's hand and ran to her daddy. She felt so much better when he wrapped his strong arms around her. "I'm sorry, Daddy."

"It's okay," David reached down and kissed the top of her head.

Hanna looked over at her sister. "Sorry, Emma."

Emma shrugged. "It's okay…I was probably going to throw the board if I didn't get a red on my next turn anyway."

"You better not have," Snow told her.

"What?" Emma grinned up at her mom. "You think Hanna's temper is worse than mine? You just wait. I'm sure I'll give you a run for your money when my toddler brain decides to throw a fit."

"Oh what am I going to do with you two," Snow scooped Emma up into her arms and kissed her cheek, then sat down on the couch with her. She couldn't help but smile when Emma snuggled into her. Hanna's little fit might not have been fun, but Snow wouldn't deny that she was loving every minute of her little toddler twins. She was getting a small taste of what could have been and she was going to savor every moment…even the hard ones.