Chapter 12

"I think it's about time to get ready for bed," Snow said.

"No…." both girls whined at the same time.

Emma looked at the clock on the wall, but she wasn't quite sure what time it was. She was sure it was too early for bed though. Neal was still awake.

"You said we could watch tv before bedtime," Hanna reminded her.

"I didn't say you had to go to bed. You just need to get ready for bed. Why don't you two go upstairs and get your pajamas on while I put Neal to bed, then you can watch a little tv."

"Okay," the girls said.

"I put all the clothes in Emma's room," Snow told them.

"Call down if you need any help," David said.

"We won't need any help," Emma said.

"Yeah Daddy, we know how to put on clothes."

They hopped down and ran across the room towards the stairs.

The girls went into Emma's room and found the box of clothes Regina made appear earlier.

Emma opened the lid and frowned when she saw a lot of pink. "Regina did this on purpose I know it."

Hanna peeked inside. She reached in and pulled out a handful of clothes. "It's not so bad. Here, I found some nightgowns. This one is yellow. Do you want it?"

"I guess so." Emma took it from Hanna and went to the other side of the room to put it on. She didn't love the white unicorn on the front, but she figured it would be fine. It's not like anyone was going to see her beside her parents and sister.

"Oh I want this one!" Hanna found a purple nightgown with sparkly butterflies all over.

"You actually like that?"

Hanna shrugged. "Toddler me does."

Hanna got herself dressed, then had an idea. She climbed onto Emma's bed and began to bounce.

"Hanna, you better stop. You're gonna get in trouble again."

"I'm just not allowed to jump off the stools. This is a bed."

Emma climbed up onto the bed and sat. "Dad's gonna be mad at you."

"No he won't." Hanna stopped jumping and pulled Emma's arm. "Come on, jump with me. It's fun!"

"No." Emma tried to pull away.

Hanna continued to tug on her arm. "Please. Please. Please."

"Fine." Emma stood up and started to jump. She quickly realized her sister was right. "This is fun!" Emma started jumping even higher.

"I told you!"

The girls held onto each other's hands and continued to bounce on the bed.

"What are you monkeys doing in here?"

The girls stopped and saw their mommy standing by the door. She didn't look mad, so they continued to jump.

"We're just playing, Momma," Hanna said.

Emma let out a laugh. "Yeah, jumping is fun!"

Snow walked towards the bed. "You two better not let your father see you jumping."

"Momma, catch me!" Hanna leapt from the bed.

"Oh…" Snow wasn't prepared and almost dropped her. "Honey, don't do that."

Hanna wiggled down from her mommy's arms and ran back to the bed.

"My turn!" Emma said. She waited for her mommy to be ready though.

Snow raised her eyebrows at Emma. She should not be encouraging this, but they were just so cute. She couldn't help it. She held out her arms and gave Emma a smile. "Come on."

Emma jumped into her mommy's arms, then wiggled back down and ran to the bed.

"Me again!" Hanna made sure her mommy was ready before taking another leap.

The girls continued again and again. Their giggles filled room.

"What's going on up here?"

The girls instantly sat down on the bed when they heard their daddy's voice. They looked to their mommy for help.

"We were just playing," Snow told him.

David walked closer to Snow and wrapped his arms around her. "Uh huh…and what were we playing?"

"It was just a game, Daddy," Emma said.

"Yeah, Daddy, just a game." Snow gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Can't I play?"

Emma and Hanna looked at each other, trying to decide what to do. They were pretty sure he wouldn't like it if he knew what the game actually was.

"It's just for girls," Hanna told him.

"Aww, are you sure?"

Emma nodded. "Mhmm."

David sighed. "That's a shame because I bet I could catch both of you at the same time. I don't think your mom could do that."

The girl's mouths fell open. The looked at each other and laughed.

"Come on, Han." Emma took her hand, and they scrambled to their feet. "You can really catch us both?"

David held out his arms. "Of course I can."

The girls jumped off the bed and landed right in his arms.

David couldn't help but smile at their laughing.

"Can we do that again?" Hanna asked.

"One more." David set them on the floor and caught them a second time.

"Just one more time, Daddy?" Emma begged.

"Alright, but this is the last one if you want to watch some tv."

"Okay."

The girls got down again, ran to the bed, and jumped off into their Daddy's arms.

"This is so fun. Can we do it again tomorrow?" Hanna asked.

"We'll see." David kissed the top of her head. "Let's go relax a little before bed, okay?"

Hanna nodded.

Emma reached out for her mommy.

Snow smiled and took Emma into her arms, and they carried the girls downstairs.

David sat down on the couch with Hanna on his lap and picked up the remote."Okay, what are we going to watch?"

"Emma can pick," Hanna said.

Emma looked over at her sister. "Really?"

Hanna nodded. "I knocked you off the road, it's only fair."

"Thanks, Han." Emma looked to her dad. "Can we watch SpongeBob?"

Hanna nodded. "Oh, yes! I love SpongeBob!"

David looked down at Emma. "SpongeBob, really?"

Emma shrugged. "I think he's funny."

"Okay." David was just glad they weren't arguing about what to watch.

Snow covered everyone with a blanket, and they settled in to watch the show.