This is a one-shot based off of a song called Peel Me a Grape which is about a woman who lives in the lap of luxury. Gender has been changed to better suit the story
Oh yeah, I don't own Tangled, blah blah blah
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Eugene sighed contently as he sprawled himself on his luxurious bed in the palace of Corona. He had everything he could ever have wanted when he was a thief and he finally had it now that he was The Prince Consort of Corona. After returning Rapunzel to her parents, they pardoned all of his crimes and he was free to marry their daughter. And that's just what he did because Eugene truly loved Rapunzel.
While Rapunzel was away for the day doing her lessons, Eugene had the day to himself to do whatever he wanted. He decided to take advantage of it and he gripped the fresh satin sheets on his bed and pulled them over him to enjoy a nice long nap. He never had time to have naps while he was a former thief.
Waking up an hour later, he rose from the bed and stretched out his muscles. He then pulled down on his tassel bell that called up the servants. Immediately, three butlers entered his room.
"What is it you request, your highness?" The head butler asked.
"Ah, my good man! I would like to have the finest bubble bath that you can draw," Eugene ordered, a smile on his face.
"Right away," The butler replied and he headed into the washing room to do so.
Eugene turned to the other two butlers and thought of the many things that he could ever ask for as a royal. Hmmm...what should he do while he bathed?
"Bring up some grapes, if you will," Eugene ordered the other one.
He grew a puzzled look on his face and questioned this.
"Grapes, your highness?" The butler asked.
"Yes...and peel them if you can." Eugene replied, still smiling.
The butler pondered this. How did one peel a grape? He thought this over as he left the room to fetch them. Finally, Eugene turned to the last butler.
"Can you find out if Princess Rapunzel is done with her lessons?" He asked the butler.
"Right away sir. Do you wish for her presence?" The butler asked.
"Uh...yeah." Eugene replied, as if it was obvious.
The last butler nodded and went on his way. The head butler returned from the bathing room and held out a nice white fluffy towel.
"Your bath is drawn," He announced.
"Perfect. I won't be needing you anymore. And here, take some gold...buy yourself a new hairpiece," Eugene suggested with a snicker.
The elder man seemed somewhat offended by this remark but did not refuse the gold. He left in a huff, still offended by the hair piece comment. Smiling to himself, Eugene entered the bathing room where he stripped off his clothes and stepped into the nice warm bubbly bath. He sighed contently again as he basked in the warmth of it.
A minute later, the second butler entered the bathing room with a small bowl of grapes, each one still fully peeled.
"What is this? I thought I asked you to peel them!" Eugene complained.
"I'm sorry sire, but I don't understand this "Peel Me A Grape" concept." The butler apologized.
Eugene understood the mans frustration towards this and excused him to leave. Once he was alone again, Eugene gathered some of the foamy bubbles in his hands and plastered some on his face. He pulled up the mirror on the side table and looked at his reflection.
"Hehe, I look almost like Rapunzels dad. Except of course, I am way more young and handsome," Eugene grinned to himself.
He put his mirror down and took off the bubbles from his face. He blew at them and they danced in the air for a few minutes before landing on the bearskin rug that lay on the ground in the bathing room. A knock sounded on the bathing room door.
"Come in!" He called out.
The door opened and Eugene laughed when he saw his wife walk in, her hands over her eyes as she felt her way around.
"Eugene are you alright? The butler asked me to come see you as soon as I was done my lessons," Rapunzel explained, still feeling her way around the bathroom with her hands over her eyes.
"Blondie, it's okay. I'm in the tub." Eugene reassured her.
Rapunzel took her hands off from her eyes and sighed in relief.
"Sorry, I'm still a bit nervous about seeing you without clothes on," She explained, somewhat sheepishly.
"It's fine. Now I have a favour to ask," He said, gesturing for her to come closer to him.
Reluctantly, Rapunzel made her way over to her husbands bathtub and she noticed the small bowl of grapes sitting on the table right by it. Eugene pointed to them.
"You...want me to feed you grapes?" She asked, somewhat confused.
"No. I want to know if you can peel them," He explained.
"Peel...grapes?" She asked, still unsure.
"Rapunzel! I'm sitting in the lap of luxury and can have anything I want! Why can't anyone not peel grapes?" He inquired.
Rapunzel rolled her green eyes and a single grape from the bowl. With her long manicured nail, she managed to peel off the skin of the grape and she handed it to him.
"There...happy?" She asked.
Eugene took the grape and stared at it for a second with wonder.
"Eh, it's a grape." He replied.
He popped it into his mouth and chewed down on it. Nothing seemed different about it.
"Oh I forgot something. On my way up here, I thought that I would get us some champagne for tonight," Rapunzel said, pulling up the bottle that sat by her feet.
"Tonight? But that's so far away! It's only noon. Blondie, do you have the glasses?" Eugene asked, sitting up from his leaning position in the tub.
"Yup. Why?" Rapunzel asked as she pulled up the glasses.
Eugene took the bottle from her and undid the bottle with the corkscrew that sat on the table. It popped open and a spray of white came sprouting up. He put his mouth over the bottle to catch the fizz and he gulped some of it down. Taking the glasses, he poured the liquid gold into it and handed the one glass to his wife.
"So...we're toasting?" Rapunzel asked, wondering where this was all going.
"Sure! Let's see...what should we toast to?" Eugene pondered.
He looked at Rapunzel and felt his heart leap into his throat. Dang! He loved her! Like... her really loved her. He didn't know how he got so lucky marrying someone of royal birth. Everything about her was beautiful. Her hair, her eyes, her lips, her smile.
"To you Rapunzel, for making me the luckiest man alive," Eugene toasted.
"I can toast to that." Rapunzel agreed and they gently touched glasses.
They drank their toasts and went on to toast more things that they loved about each other. At one point, Eugene toasted to all the riches that he now owned and Rapunzel playfully slapped him for acting like a bit of a jerk. But she loved him either way. When they finished off the bottle, both of them were super giddy and giggly.
Eugene was still in the tub which by now the water had run cold, but he didn't care. The married couple stopped giggling and looked deeply into each others eyes and without saying another word, Eugene pulled his wife into the tub with him, soaking her dress to her body in the process.
"Eugene!" Rapunzel cried out.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize you still had your dress on. We should take that off before you catch your death of cold," Eugene offered and started working his hands on her dress.
Of course Rapunzel was still shy about showing off her body to her husband, but because she loved him and she was stupidly drunk, she didn't care and the two were soon holding each other close and exploring many wonderous things.
***...***
About a month later...
"Wow, this room always takes me by surprise," Eugene said as he entered the royal treasury.
He had gone exploring that day while his wife again was in lessons and he had ended up in the treasury as it happened to be what he visited often. Seeing all the gold, Eugene ran towards the biggest pile and dove into it, drowning momentarily in the riches that he owned.
"I always wanted be surrounded by enormous piles of money!" He cried out loud, knowing it was safe within the thick walls.
He floundered around in the piled of gold for the next hour and observed different pieces. He also managed to find some rubies, diamonds and emeralds. He was gleeful as he pretended to swim in it, drown in it and even try to eat it. No matter what, Eugene would never get over the fact that he was in the lap of luxury.
When he was done with the treasures, he left the room and headed down to the dining hall where dinner was waiting for the royal family. Entering the dining hall, he took his place by King Frederich on the right side
"I see that you were in the treasury again." King Frederich inquired.
"Huh? How did you know?" Eugene asked, puzzled for a second.
The King reached over and pulled out a single gold coin from the collar of Eugene's shirt. It had somehow managed to stick to him this entire time.
"What can I say? Money is drawn to me." Eugene joked.
Rapunzel and Queen Eleanor laughed at his gleeful attitude and soon everyone was enjoying their meals. In the middle of dinner, Eugene grabbed a peach from the fruit bowl and suddenly found himself overcome with a strange request.
"My good sir!" He called for the butler.
He came over to see what the Prince Consort wanted. Eugene handed him the peach.
"Can you skin this for me? And save the fuzz for my pillow!" Eugene requested.
Everyone looked strangely at Eugene for the sudden request. Had he gone mad?
"What?" He asked, noticing their expressions.
"Nothing. It's just that peach fuzz isn't used in pillows," Queen Eleanor frowned.
"Oh...okay. It was a strange request anyways. I just thought that you know...being wealthy meant that people did everything you asked them," Eugene explained.
Rapunzel just rolled her eyes and continued eating dinner. That night, the two were getting ready for bed when Eugene came up with another strange offer.
"Show me you love, kid glove me," He said.
"Okay, the showing love part got to me. Forget the rest of that," Rapunzel spoke, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
***...***
Three months later...
Eugene was out and about with Rapunzel in the market when she finally told him some news that changed his life forever.
"Eugene, I'm pregnant," She announced.
He stood shocked for a second, trying to process what she had just said. He was...going to be...a...father?
"That's...that's great honey. I'm so proud for us," He said, placing hs hand on her belly.
But to be honest, did he feel proud? He had been so caught up in the lap of luxury that he hadn't thought about a family. Yes he was now part of a royal family and that meant having to raise a family...but was he ready for it? Was he ready to move on and become a selfless man who indeed had to raise this future generation?
That night as he lay in his satin sheet bed while Rapunzel slept beside him, Eugene thought of all the things he had done ever since he moved into the Castle to start his new life as a royal. Everything he had done, he had done it mostly for himself. He felt guilt run through him as he thought about all the selfish things that he had done. He had become so wrapped up in the wealth around him that he had forgotten about Rapunzel sometimes, and most importantly the kingdom that he would one day be running. Was he ready for it?
As the question haunted him, Eugene crawled out of bed and put his night robe on top of his pajamas and he headed down to his father-in-laws study. He knew that The King was still up and he needed to talk to him, especially now when he was plagued with the horrible sins that he committed.
Approaching the study, Eugene knocked and was welcomed in.
"Eugene, what can I do for you at this late hour?" King Frederich asked.
Eugene sat down in the chair opposite his father-in-law and he buried his hands into his face.
"Rapunzel is pregnant and...I'm scared." Eugene confessed.
The King reacted differently from what Eugene expected. Eugene thought that the King would tell him to get a grip on himself and act like a man. Instead of that, The King got out of his chair and crossed over to Eugene's side and clasped his hands on the young mans shoulders.
"I know. You don't think you can become a father, can you? I've been keeping an eye on you, Eugene." King Frederich said.
"So you know what I'm going through?" Eugene asked.
"Of course I do. Why when I became King, I only thought about all the things that I could do once I took over my father's inheritance. I became selfish just like you. I ignored Eleanor except for when love-making became involved. It almost destroyed me. But when Rapunzel was born, it all changed," King Frederich explained.
"So, I need to change then?" Eugene asked.
King Frederich slapped his hand against his son-in-laws back with a proud thump.
"You bet. Now get some sleep." The King ordered and Eugene went on his way.
Nine months later...
"Eugene...wake up!" Rapunzel cried at around three o'clock in the morning.
Eugene muttered something unintelligible and he tossed in his sleep. Rapunzel gritted her teeth as she felt another sharp pain stab her in the gut.
"Eugene, the baby is coming." She announced.
And with that, he was wide awake and calling out for the royal doctor. He managed to dress quickly, getting his shirt on backwards in the process and when the doctor arrived, he was shoved out of the room so that the baby could be delivered.
As Eugene waited anxiously outside, many thoughts ran through his head. What if he was a terrible father? What if he ignored his child the same way he ignore Rapunzel for a while? What if greed took over him again and he never saw his family again because he got so engrossed with his wealth? His thoughts were interrupted minutes later when the nurse poked her head out.
"Your highness, you may come in now," She announced and Eugene made his way in.
Looking at the bed, Eugene found Rapunzel smiling down at a baby bundled up in a pink blanket...a girl! He found himself by her side and he stared down at the pink baby that his wife held. She was gorgeous, just like her mother. She had an unusual amount of dark hair on her head but she had green eyes like her mother. She was...she was...more precious than anything he could imagine!
"What should we name her?" Eugene asked.
"I was thinking Elizabeth Jane," Rapunzel said.
It suited her.
"Can I hold her?" Eugene asked, holding out his arms.
Rapunzel obliged and gently handed their daughter over to him. Holding his baby girl, Eugene felt his heart melt. Never had he felt so much love for some one so small before. When his daughter looked up at her father, her tiny fingers curled around his finger and his heart felt like leaping out of his throat.
Tears flowed out of his warm brown eyes and Eugene smiled down at his daughter. He suddenly wasn't so afraid of being a father anymore. Nothing else mattered in the world right now except his family. He may be the richest man alive, but it wasn't because of all the treasure he owned.
No, Eugene Fitzherbert was the richest man alive, because he had a wife who loved him and he loved back. He was the richest man alive, because he had a family...a family of his own.
And having a family was something that he would treasure for the rest of his days.
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