A/N: Hey, all! Thanks for choosing to read this! It's a sequel to my story "Welcome Home", and if you haven't read it yet, perhaps you'll want to before reading this. Also, I may or may not have a poem that "Eugene" wrote at the end of each chapter. I'm trying to improve my poetry, so if anyone has some constructive criticism, please feel free to let me know. It'd be much appreciated!
Anyway, I'm probably rambling a little bit. Enjoy!
This takes place about two years after the first story, "Welcome Home".

Eugene pried his shoes off of his feet at the doorway, grinning to himself as he caught a glimpse of his wife in the kitchen, just now dishing out their supper. He still couldn't believe he got to come home to such a precious gal.
He strode over and settled his chin on top of her head, hugging her from behind. "Hey you. I missed you today."
She giggled. "Hey. You say that every day when you have long trips for shipment pickups,"
"Well, it's true," he teased. "How did things go for you today?"
She left her hand drift to cover her belly. "We're officially past the morning sickness stage, I think. Work was the usual,"

Eugene and Rapunzel had married only two months after their engagement. A Justice of the Peace had married them; all of the workers from the bookstore where they both worked had attended. Pretty much their entire world, right there. She'd worn a pretty white dress that had hung loosely around her calves, and upon seeing her, Eugene had felt incredibly under-dressed in his new jeans and button-up shirt, which hadn't even been tucked in. But it had been the happiest day of their lives.

Two years and one more published book later, Eugene and Rapunzel had found out that they would be expecting their first child. It was both a nerve-wracking and delightful realization. Sure, now they were financially stable - with both of them working and Eugene selling books. But would they be good parents? Neither of them had been exposed to good parenting techniques. Rapunzel had reassured him that they knew their upbringings had been wrong and now they knew exactly what not to do: a classic optimist's approach. Very Rapunzel-esque. That was one of many reasons why he loved this girl so dearly.

Rapunzel set the spaghetti and garlic bread on the table, and he grabbed some iced tea from the fridge and poured glasses for both of them. He grabbed the brown paper bag he'd left at the door and set it on the table, revealing a gooey chocolate cake from the town's little diner - their favorite spot to eat.
"You're amazing," Rapunzel blurted immediately, and he laughed.
"You are, too. That spaghetti sauce smells good." This spring, she'd started a little garden in their tiny backyard, and had had a successful harvest that August, canning what seemed to be an abundance of sauce, which tasted spectacular. The canning process had been relatively easy - minus the little accident with the pressure canner. They were still finding bits of sauce on the white ceiling. With the cool promise of fall in the air, a warm supper coated with something from their own garden was great.

"Thank you," she smiled. They sat at their little round, wooden table and held hands across the table as they blessed the meal together. She'd been beyond thrilled when, before their marriage, he'd converted to Christianity along with her, and they'd found a small church that they were still settling into. Before she'd met Eugene, she'd been a church drifter; one who flitted from one congregation to the next, always feeling isolated in the world of seemingly perfect people who always pried for her back story. It turned out that many of those perfect, nosy individuals had secrets of their own, but they all had turned to their faith for help.

As they ate, she brought up a fairly big topic. "We need to renovate one of the rooms upstairs for a bedroom," she announced.
Eugene nodded. He wasn't too awful in carpentry, but home renovation was a big, ugly, complicated thing. Nonetheless, it needed to be done - and soon! "Which room were you thinking of?"
"The library, of course. It's right off our bedroom, and it's such a fairytale of a place. Maybe when he or she gets older, we'll flipflop or even fix up the third level."
Their old Victorian house had three spacious levels - which Eugene hadn't even known about until they'd married. The uppermost floor was completely empty, but consisted of three large, bare rooms. The middle floor had a beautiful, small, tower-like library attached to the side of the house, which connected to their bedroom, and down a hallway was Rapunzel's painting studio. Down the spiral staircase was their living room, large kitchen, and dining room, which were all connected in a wonderfully open floor plan.
He nodded. "The library could be moved to the third floor. Or heck, the studio's large enough that we could dedicate a little wall space there, if you wouldn't mind."
She grinned, visualizing this. "That would be nice, actually. That would leave the whole third floor open for bedrooms-"
"How many babies are we expecting?" he asked, half-teasing.

"I guess we'll be in trouble if it's quadruplets; someone would have to share a room," she threw back, grinning good-naturedly.
"I hope not," he chuckled. "Not for first-time parents."
She nodded, brushing her long hair away from her face as she analyzed the house around her. They'd need to get things for the baby sometime soon - a gradual process, since they were starting from scratch and she wasn't planning on having a baby shower. "I'm getting pretty excited. Once we get the library moved, I can start painting the room and then I guess it's shopping for us!"
He nodded. "Will you be okay painting? I mean, I know you can, but the fumes and such."
"Oh, yes. I'll leave it the plain cream color that it is and just wash the walls down and paint designs with my acrylics."
"Okay," he let a slow smile creep across his face. "It's all going to be coming together pretty soon..."
She gave him a dazzling grin. "I'm so excited!"

"I can tell," he chuckled quietly, giving her an adoring gaze when she wasn't looking.
"How?" her eyes flitted up and she gave him a curious, even gaze.
"I've only been married to you for two years," he joked. "But no, your entire being is just shining. More than usual."
She shrugged, her smile widening, and she paused to chew a mouthful of dinner before continuing. "How is the next book coming along?"
Eugene wavered his hand back and forth. "So-so. I've hit a rut." He was working on the sequel to his most recent release. "My characters don't want to cooperate."
She nodded. While that explanation might seem a little off the wall to some, when one is married to or know an author for any length of time, they learn to fully understand that sentence. "They don't want to follow the plot you had figured out? Or do they all want a vacation?"
"I'm not sure," he sat for a moment, his brown eyes blinking. Rapunzel noticed his eyes were as soft and deep-colored as the cake that sat waiting. "I think I'm just over-thinking."
"If you're thinking about over-thinking, then you probably are, sweetie," she laughed.

"Hey, don't laugh, it's a real problem!" he threw back good-naturedly. Hard as he tried to pull an 'I'm offended' face and attitude to tease her, he couldn't. Besides, too much teasing plus a wife with mood swings...they weren't exactly simpatico. Ever. "But, I'm also working on something else."
"Oh?" she asked. "What is it?"
He shook his head. "You'll have to wait and see."
"Aw," she tried to pull a puppy-dog-pout, but he shook his head again and hid a grin. He was working on another book of poetry, but it wasn't going to be published, and he was saving it for when Rapunzel would stay home on maternity leave with the newborn.

That's Why I Love You
Your amazing smile
It leaves me flying high for awhile.
Your soft eyes
So gentle, stunning, and wise.
Your silly giggle
Soft, bright, and bubbly; never brittle
And that's why I love you.

Your face always glows,
When I see you, my heart grows
Freckles sprinkle your cheeks,
And I'm so blessed, how a smile creeps
Upon your lips when you see me.
And that's why I love you.

Your hair, smooth as chocolate,
And absolutely flawless.
Your sleepy little smile,
While you're nestled right beside me for awhile.
Your eyes, so expressive;
And that's why I love you.

I could continue on and on,
'Til you get bored and yawn.
But next time you wonder,
Look in the mirror, look into your soul, and see why I'm blissfully under
A spell you cast;
Why my affection for you is so vast.
That's why I love you.