Hannah has always been the “peacekeeper” between her two very different sisters: Eliza, the controlling, image-obsessed oldest, and Mindy, the warm, intuitive youngest. After having twin daughters, Lily and Harper, Hannah noticed Eliza becoming increasingly cold and resentful, making snide comments and clearly jealous of how much attention the twins received. Their relationship grew distant, but when their mother begged Hannah to invite Eliza to the twins’ 4th birthday party, she reluctantly agreed.
On the day of the party, Eliza arrived with a huge, perfectly wrapped pink-and-gold box, acting sugary sweet but tense. Just as the girls were about to open the enormous gift, Mindy suddenly burst through the front door, out of breath and frantic. She’d overheard a mutual friend saying Eliza was planning something “awful” with the present and begged Hannah not to let the girls open it. Alarmed, Hannah took the box into the kitchen, opened it herself, and discovered only one expensive plush toy inside, along with a card addressed “For the most well-behaved and prettiest girl.”
Realizing Eliza intended to make the twins compete and feel unequal on their own birthday, Hannah confronted her in front of their parents and husband. Eliza tried to defend herself, but their dad firmly called her behavior cruel, and Mindy pointed out that she was essentially turning four-year-old sisters against each other. Exposed and angry, Eliza stormed out with her kids, slamming the door and leaving the celebration in awkward silence.
Later, Hannah and David secretly bought a second identical plush and rewrapped the gift. The next day, the twins opened the box and were thrilled to find two matching toys, believing their aunt had done something wonderful for both of them. They even called Eliza to say thank you, leaving her stunned and forced to accept that her plan had failed. That night, as her daughters slept hugging their toys, Hannah silently promised herself that no matter what anyone said, she would never again allow anyone—family or not—to pit her children against each other.
