"Once upon a time in a faraway land, Small Prince hurried—"

"No," a boy interrupted, glancing up with rosy, cherub cheeks and a mischievous smile.  

"No?!" his mother, Annie, teased. "But you love Small Prince, Artie. We love Small Prince."

"No. Nooooooo! No Small Pwince! Dino hunt!" Artie howled, leapt from beneath T-Rex covers and bounced on his bed.

A spike of irritation. Annie was so tired her eyes stung. "Honey, it's not time for dino hunt. It's time for your story." She scooped up a hand-stitched toy from the floor: Small Prince in all his cape- and crown-wearing glory. He was missing an eye and thread dangled from one leg. "You remember, he befriended the dragon. So, the next part—"

"Dino hunt! T-Rex! Giraffe! Lion! Seal! No pwince!" Artie screeched and crouched, swinging his arms in front of him like the aforementioned T-Rex.

"Ok. How about Small Prince has a T-Rex friend? And they went stomp, stomp, stomp?" Annie tried, rewriting the story as Artie stomped, stomped, stomped across the mattress. He scrunched up his face so intensely, Annie had to hold back a chuckle.

"No!" he screamed again, wrenching Small Prince from Annie's hands with a loud rip.  Artie hurled His Highness across the room where he hit the dresser and tumbled to the floor.

"Arthur. No throwing!" she scolded, picking up and cradling the torn toy. The stitches held, but the fabric was another story. Small Prince's face hung limply in two pieces.

Annie gazed at it. She had spent hours with a needle and thread, sewing every seam while she waited for her own little prince's arrival.

Her vision blurred, hot tears burning her already tired eyes. This was dumb. Why was she so upset about this stupid thing? She wanted to wail and throw herself on the bed princess-style like Artie did. Instead, she held her breath, pressure building like a balloon.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as Artie cackled and yelled.

"Please! Artie, can you shoosh?" Annie snapped, immediately guilty. Artie just smiled that mischievous smile and fell into her lap. He saw her face and straightened up.

"Mama sad?"

"Yeah, Mama's sad. You broke Small Prince. And you need to go to sleep."

"Mama hug?" Artie offered; arms outstretched. Annie nearly choked on a sob, that strong and devastating love for one's child chasing away her frustration.

"Yea."

Artie flung his arms around her neck and squeezed. Annie held on as long as he would let her. Artie pulled away, beaming. "Mama happy now?"

Annie smiled, wiping her eyes and nodding.

"Oh," Artie said with purpose. His sticky, little hand rubbed his mother's eyes. "Wipe out. Wipe out."

"Wipe away," Annie corrected, giving his wild hair a tousle. "Now, back to the story?"

"Oh. Yeeeeees," Artie said, plopping down.

"Ok. Once upon a time—"

"No pwince."

Annie eyed her son, a hint of a smile on her puffy, tear-streaked face. "Ok. Once upon a time there was a dino hunt.”