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Eugene anxiously bites his nails as he paces in front of the door to his and Rapunzel’s bedroom.
All that can be heard is the sound of his footsteps echoing throughout the grand halls as he waits – very impatiently - for the door to swing open.
For weeks now, Rapunzel hasn’t felt like herself. She wakes up with her head aching and is often so drained of energy she can’t focus during the day. She tells Eugene she feels nauseous sometimes and he constantly encourages her to see a doctor before whatever sickness she has gets even worse.
Of course, she’s managed to avoid one for so long, claiming she doesn’t want to make her own health a hassle for anyone else, despite how accessible a doctor is for them and how easy it would be. Eugene swears she could be bleeding out and she’d still tell everyone she’s fine.
Even after three years of marriage, he believes he’ll never understand why his wife can be so stubborn. He suspects she gets it from her father, but she’d deny it if he told her.
It wasn’t until Eugene had to catch her from fainting the other day that she finally decided to let him have his way. Of course, once all the castle staff had learned their princess to be ill, the word inevitably managed to travel throughout the kingdom as well.
Eugene swears nothing happens in these walls without the entire village hearing about it. Though, that has been their life for almost five years now, and he figures he should be used to it.
Not only is he awaiting an explanation for her illness, but so is the entirety of Corona. Regardless of the kingdom’s love for their beloved princess, no one is as concerned for her as Eugene is.
It’s dead silent on the other side of the door, which only worries him more. He hasn’t heard a peep since the doctor and nurses had kicked him out of the room earlier, claiming they needed space while they completed whatever examinations they needed to do on the princess. It feels like they’ve been in there for hours now.
What is taking them so long? And why can’t he be in there right now? Maybe something is really wrong with Rapunzel, and that’s why they’re not coming out here to tell him. But if that’s the case, maybe he doesn’t want to know at all.
It seems like a lifetime before Eugene finally hears the door creak open, though it may have only been minutes, he isn’t sure.
He rushes toward it as Rapunzel’s parents are escorted out of the bedroom by one of the nurses.
They’d insisted they be allowed inside which of course, no one could deny of their King and Queen. In Eugene’s opinion, the princess’ husband should be equally as important. They hadn’t given him time to argue that, though.
“Is she okay? Can I see her?” Eugene asks them impatiently, arriving in front of the pair before the door is closed again.
The tears on the Queen’s flushed face are enough to give him a heart attack. King Frederic’s hand lingers on her shoulder comfortingly.
“Oh, Eugene…” Arianna extends her arms out upon noticing him, closing the space between them. Her tone of voice is unreadable.
In that moment, Eugene thinks they’re about to tell him the worst possible scenario he could hear before he realizes that the Queen is smiling.
She suddenly bursts into tears, her voice breaking as she cries, “She’s pregnant!” Before Eugene can even react, Arianna cups his face in her hands and springs on her toes to firmly kiss his cheek.
“What?” he asks after a moment.
She wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him with excitement.
As the entire world seems to freeze around him, Eugene only stares absently ahead with wide eyes. He isn’t even certain if they had said something else to him because his entire mind has gone blank, yet so many thoughts are stirring at once. Eventually, his hands settle to rest on her back, hesitantly returning the gesture.
Pregnant? Rapunzel? So, she’s not… sick? Well, this is… the last thing he’d expected to hear.
Eugene peers over Arianna’s shoulder at Frederic standing tall behind her.
Oh boy.
Initially, his first thought is that Rapunzel’s father is going to murder him right then and there. Eugene has always been slightly intimidated by him, but never as much as he does right now. Instead, all his gaze is met with is Frederic’s beaming eyes and overjoyed smile.
Arianna steps aside, her wet eyelashes fluttering as she sniffles and wipes her cheekbone.
The King laughs loudly, clapping Eugene on the shoulder, “The kingdom is truly blessed, my boy,” he proclaims in a deep voice.
He pulls Eugene into a tight embrace, who forces a laugh in response as he’s nearly crushed by the burly man.
It isn’t until now that the reality truly dawns on him. Rapunzel is pregnant. His wife is holding his child. This… well, this has been quite the day, that’s for sure.
Minutes later, when the door to their bedroom slowly swings open again, Eugene doesn’t rush inside.
Instead, he watches in awe as the servants and nurses shuffle past him into the hallway without speaking a single word. Most of them avoid his gaze out of respect, while some give him a knowing look and a warm smile. His heart is pounding out of his chest, and he’s too stunned to smile back.
He meets eyes with Arianna and Frederic on the other side of the doorway, who both look to each other then give him a reassuring and tearful nod.
Remembering Rapunzel is currently in there by herself, Eugene swallows nervously, takes a breath, and walks through the door.
The first thing he sees is Rapunzel sitting up on the bed against the opposite wall. Her hands are in her lap and a thin blanket is draped over her white nightgown. She had been looking out the window but turns her head once she notices him standing there.
Eugene stops as the two meet eyes from across the room. He rubs his thumb across his opposite palm in front of him, feeling nervous.
The door closes behind him after a moment, and the two are left in silence.
“Hi,” he says, releasing a breath.
“Hi,” Rapunzel smiles, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion just from finally being able to see him again. It hadn’t been that long, but she’d wanted him here with her.
Eugene walks further into the room and sits next to her on the edge of the mattress.
As they only look at each other, there are so many words they want to say, yet neither of them can find the will to say them. Rapunzel is afraid she’ll burst into tears if she does, and Eugene can hardly comprehend what is happening right now.
He’d been worried sick about her, afraid that something terrible might be happening to her. Now he realizes this entire time, it had been the exact opposite. She’s okay. She’s okay and she’s here right in front of him and she’s…
“They say I’m pregnant,” Rapunzel shrugs, her voice just above a whisper. At first, she smiles as she says it, like she is so excited to feel those words on her tongue. As her eyes well with tears, she tries to laugh, but it comes out sounding like a whimper, and Eugene isn’t certain how she feels about it.
His silence breaks her heart.
Rapunzel attempts to keep herself from crying, “Are you upset?” But she starts sobbing before she can finish the question.
“No. No, no, no…” Eugene reaches for her hand, clutching onto it desperately, “Of course not.”
He hadn’t meant to react that way. He’d already heard it from her mother but hearing the love of his life say those words to him is something he never knew he dreamed about until now. They couldn’t sound more perfect coming from her lips. It just… caught him off guard to say the least.
He leans forward to brush a strand of hair from her eyes, just like he always does. It reminds her of the time they’d almost kissed under a sky full of lanterns all those years ago. His palm lingers on the side of her face, wet with Rapunzel’s tears.
With their faces hovering inches apart, Eugene feels a lump forming in his throat. All the initial thoughts and fears and worries he’d experienced in the past five minutes are somehow so much less scary when he looks at her. He sees all of it in her familiar green eyes, but he knows that no matter what happens, they are going to conquer it all together until the day they die, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.
It feels like he is falling in love with her all over again.
Eugene’s eyes well with tears as he whispers to her in disbelief, “We’re gonna have a baby.” His heart flutters at the thought of it.
He can only imagine the celebrations and festivities to come. Whoever this baby ends up being, they are going to be the most loved in all of Corona.
Rapunzel releases a breath of laughter, “I guess so.” She shakes her head, hardly believing it herself, but her smile is absolutely beaming.
She cups his face as their lips collide in a brief, passionate kiss.
“C’mere…” Eugene murmurs next to her ear as he pulls her into his arms, “I love you.”
Rapunzel latches onto him as she weeps, wrapping her arms around his neck, “I love you,” she mumbles into his shoulder, her voice muffled and uneven. Her fingertips desperately clasp the fabric of his shirt, wishing he were even closer.
They hold each other so tightly, never for a second daring to let go.