A/N: Hello! Sorry for the wait, things have been busy and I haven't had that much time to write :P The next few chapters, like I said, will probably be taking about this long...but thank you guys soooooo much for all your lovely reviews! They make my day! But anyway! I will let you read this Christmas fluffiness!
Snowflakes caught on Rapunzel's long eyelashes as she blinked about the whole village wonderingly with wide eyes as she and Eugene walked. The streets were dressed in red and green and showered with fluffy white snow. The air was filled with the sound of sweet instruments playing Christmas carols and the squeals and shouts of children as they ran about in the streets.
As they neared the bridge leading to the forest, Rapunzel did a happy little twirl and clasped Eugene's hand as she exclaimed, "Eugene, don't you just loveChristmas?"
Eugene kissed her forehead. "Of course, Blondie. We're gonna have one merry Christmas. One very merry Christmas, baby."
Rapunzel giggled and leaned over to kiss his cheek.
Earlier that day, Rapunzel had woken him up much later than need be.
"Eugene!" Rapunzel had squealed, shaking her husband awake. "Guess what today is!"
A sleepy Eugene squinted distastefully at the morning light and rubbed his face with his palms.
"What?" he murmured, still not fully awake. His foggy brain tried to process the situation. Christmas…Rapunzel…wait, make that pregnant Rapunzel…today…Okay, it wasn't Christmas yet, right? Rapunzel seemed okay…the baby. Eugene blinked quickly and asked, "You're not having the baby, are you?"
Rapunzel laughed. "No, guess again."
Well, maybe it was Christmas, then.
"Is it Christmas?"
"Nope!"
"What is it?" He mumbled.
"It's Christmas Eve-Eve!"
"Oh." He said, burrowing his head back into his pillow.
"Eugene!" Rapunzel whined, tugging on his arm. "You're already awake. Let's get up and make some cookies!"
"Why?" he asked.
"To take to the Snuggly Duckling!" She exclaimed.
And, hence, here they were, on their way to the Snuggly Duckling to visit, after making cookies – and endeavor that had almost turned out to be dangerous.
Rapunzel was making gingerbread men to look like each of the Snuggly Duckling guys – Hook Hand, Big Nose, Gunther, Ulf, Attila, Bruiser, Killer, Fang, Vladimir – all of them, when Eugene came down to join her in the kitchen.
"Hey Eugene?" she asked.
"Yeah, Blondie?
"You haven't been trying to peek at your present, have you?"
"Psh, of course not, Blondie. You and the baby are my Christmas present. That's all I want." He said, wrapping his arms around her and resting his hands on her large stomach.
"Well, you're getting a Christmas present anyway." Rapunzel smiled. She couldn't wait until he opened he opened TheTalesofFlynniganRider – or her new, modified version of it. Flynnigan's latest escapade, which was penned by the princess herself, involved many of the same types of adventures the Princess and Prince Consort had been having the past few months.
"And what kind of present is this?"
"I'm never telling." Rapunzel answered smugly.
"Is it something I can wear?"
"I'm not playing twenty questions with you, Eugene. You can wait until Christmas morning."
Eugene ignored her and continued.
"Is it…heavier than…Pascal?"
Rapunzel smiled mischievously. "You do realize, Eugene, that the nearest frying pan is no farther than five feet away, don't you?"
"But I bet you don't know exactly where it is, so by the time you find it, I can be out of here."
Rapunzel didn't reply and breathed in the scent of the spicy gingerbread. "I love gingerbread cookies. If it's a girl, can we name it Ginger?"
"That would be cute." He agreed. Wait…cute…"Rapunzel, don't tell me you're giving me some of those flowers."
Since Rapunzel was just sure the baby was a girl, she'd started making little fabric flowers and "cute" things to sew on its bonnets and dresses. It seemed to currently be her favorite hobby.
"No, Eugene." Rapunzel answered jadedly.
"Are you knitting me a scarf?"
Another one of Rapunzel's hobbies. She'd sure developed a lot from eighteen years of living in that tower.
"Eugene, quit asking." She replied with annoyance.
"What about…socks?"
Rapunzel didn't respond, so Eugene tried again. "Hmm…are you getting me…a book? "
Suddenly, something inside of Rapunzel snapped. That was it! He had no right to pester her like this! She angrily whirled around, gripping a knife in her hand.
"Sometimes, Eugene," she seethed, "I just feel like slitting your throat!"
Cookie baking was dangerous, indeed, with a pregnant wife.
Thankfully, she soon forgot about her wishes to slit his throat and now Christmas cookies were on their way to be delivered.
A bundled up Rapunzel walked beside him, clad in a warm, gray coat, red scarf she knitted especially for Christmastime, with her brunette locks swept up in some sort of braid that had taken her a while to create, and balancing the boxes of presents and sweets on her large baby bump.
"Hey Rapunzel," Eugene began as they walked, "have I ever told you how adorable I think your baby belly is?"
Although he was pretty sure that it mostly was what was insideof her belly that made it adorable.
But he couldn't help but think it was, paired with her petite frame, her almost always bare feet (although she did wear shoes a bit more frequently in the winter because of the cold weather, but whenever possible she still ran around barefoot), her glowing and happy expression…If he hadn't come to the conclusion already (which he had), he decided right then and there that Rapunzel was beautiful pregnant.
"Hmm," Rapunzel laughed, "I wonder."
"But it is."
Rapunzel smirked and replied, "I think the baby's going to be more adorable than my belly, though.
"Nah, I think it's gonna be about equal." Eugene decided.
"I guess we'll see, now won't we?" Rapunzel said.
oOo
After a lovely visit in the Snuggly Duckling, the sun began to set beneath the frozen over water.
"Oh, Eugene, let's go ice-skating!" the princess exclaimed as soon as she saw the water as they walked back to the castle.
"We don't have any ice skates with us." Eugene told her.
Rapunzel's eyes lit up. "Yes we do. Remember the last time we went ice-skating, last winter, and we left our skates here? They're around here somewhere." She said, beginning to walk about.
"Rapunzel, they're probably not still there after all this time. Let's go on back."
Rapunzel tip-toed up to a hollow tree and fished her hand inside a hole in the side.
"Rapunzel, they're not there."
"Hush, Eugene!" she scolded, reaching almost her whole arm inside of the tree.
"Rapunzel, you'll get your arm stuck and – "
He stopped when her face lit up and she pulled out two pairs of ice skates – just as they'd left them last winter.
"Ha. You wanna bet?" she said proudly as she held up the skates with a smirk.
"Whatever, 'Punz. We don't have time, anyway."
Rapunzel ignored her husband and removed her shoes and started to put on the skates. She threw his pair at him as a pile of snow fell from the tree, landing on her dress and melting. She huffed in frustration – but then, an idea hit her. When Eugene wasn't looking, she giggled slightly and splashed more snow on the skirt of her dress.
"Rapunzel?" A concerned Eugene asked as he looked up to see her crouching in the snow with a pained expression. "Are you okay?"
Rapunzel knitted her eyebrows together.
"Eugene, I think…I think my water broke and I'm in labor."
Eugene's eyes became absolutely huge. Millions of thoughts were rushing through his mind, telling him all the things he should do, but all he could do was stand there, amazed.
Rapunzel tried to stop herself, but after a moment, she couldn't help but crack a smile at Eugene's freaked out expression. Before she knew it, that small little smile led to a giggle, and soon, she was bursting into a fit of laughter.
Eugene, however, did not look amused at all.
"The look on your face!" Rapunzel gasped through laughter.
Eugene scooped up a handful of snow and tossed it at his wife.
"That was dirty! You are so paying for that, 'Punz."
Rapunzel giggled. "But it was so funny!" she defended.
"Don't do that anymore." Eugene said, shaking his head
"But Eugene," Rapunzel implored innocently, "You said that the baby and I were your Christmas present. I just thought you'd want the baby in time for Christmas!"
Eugene shook his head and smiled. "You're awful."
"I know." Rapunzel answered back coyly.
"Santa doesn't bring presents to naughty little princesses."
Of course, Rapunzel already knew that Santa wasn't really real (although, their first Christmas, Eugene just couldn't bear to tell her – she was just too adorable believing it), but she feigned a disappointed sigh. "Oh, bother." She replied.
"But really, 'Punz…you might not have very good balance, you know, with the baby and everything." He told her seriously.
Rapunzel frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "Says who?"
Well, thinking about it, bringing up the subject of balance with Rapunzel probably wasn't the best idea. She insisted she had the best balance in the world – apparently good enough to stand on a ladder, as she'd been doing not long ago when he found her in the nursery.
"Eugene, I have never fallen once in my life! I have the best balance in the world. I used to jump and swing all over the place in my tower. I won't fall, I promise." She'd replied when he worriedly and adamantly told her that she shouldnot be up there.
"I don't care. And I know for a fact that you've fallen in your life." He told her.
"When?" Rapunzel demanded.
"Well, there was that time the morning of our wedding when you and Rose were being sneaky in your room and I knocked on your door, and you wrapped yourself up in your sheets and accidentally rolled off the bed because you didn't want me to see you. And there was that time the morning I died and we danced around the campfire, and we fell twice in like, five minutes."
"Both times it was your fault! If you had known tradition and hadn't knocked on the door and tried to see me, I wouldn't have tried to have hide from you, and I believe that it was your fault we fell while we were dancing." Rapunzel protested.
"But you were the one who fell off your bed, and no, you landed on my feet, which made me lose my balance."
"But that doesn't have anything to do with my balance! It just shows your stability failures!"
"Amazing balance or not, I don't want you to hurt yourself on the ladder." Eugene concluded.
"I won't."
"Rapunzel."
"The baby needs something to look at when it's laying there in its bed. Do you want your poor child to look up at the ceiling, lying awake at night, bawling, knowing that its parents didn't care enough about it to give it something beautiful to look at?"
"Rapunzel, we've told the baby a million times already that we love it. I'm sure that an unpainted ceiling won't change anything."
Rapunzel still wasn't happy about the unpainted ceiling.
But for now, he just needed to keep her off the ice. But he was failing quite miserably, because she was already on it.
"Rapunzel..."
"Nothing's going to happen to me, Eugene!"
"You could go out too far and get stranded in the middle of nowhere, and you might go into labor."
"You worry too much." Rapunzel replied as she rolled her eyes. "The baby's not supposed to be here for another month!"
"Still."
Rapunzel giggled and pushed off of her feet, doing a quick twirl in the brief moment she was in the air. Eugene cringed as she did so.
"Rapunzel! Don't do that!"
But it only made her giggle all the more and continue skating gracefully around the pond. Eugene sighed, knowing that she was determined and wasn't going to stop any time soon, and stepped on the ice. He skated up beside her, and placing his hand on her back to steady her, he followed right beside her. Rapunzel, though she usually felt secure and enjoyed Eugene's protective nature, found that this got old quickly, as it didn't allow her enough room to do any fun twirls. She looked back at him and frowned.
"Eugene, I love you and all, but could you please get your hands off my back?"
"I'm just…you know, making sure you're okay…"
Rapunzel laughed. "Eugene, I'm gonna be fine! Don't worry so much, and enjoy the ice." She looked down at her baby belly. "Little miss Ginger here says she wants her daddy to come skate with Mommy."
"Oh, is that it's name today?" he asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yes, yes it is." Rapunzel replied as she skated farther away.
"Come here, you." He grinned, skating quickly towards her. Rapunzel leaned back and held her arms up a little, unsure of what her was going to do. As he sped toward her, he scooped her up in his arms and twirled her around in the air.
Rapunzel giggled as she asked, "Oh, so I'm not stable by myself, but when you pick me up, I'm okay?"
"'Course, Blondie." He answered as she set her down.
oOo
"Eugene, come on."
She had to know he didn't want to go. It was just so toasty warm inside…why would anyone want to go out in this cold weather just to go to some ball? They'd already gone to at least two Christmas balls this season – why did they need to go again?
It would be the same as always - she would be the belle of the ball, but she would end up across the room, and he would stand there looking at her, wishing he wasn't engaged in some long, uninteresting conversation with some noble or another, and he could just go over there and sneak a kiss. Balls were fun and all, but he felt he'd already had his share of them this season.
"Let's just stay in." He advised.
"But I've got a new dress." Rapunzel pouted. "And that necklace you gave me…"
"It's so cold." He complained. "I think he baby would agree with me."
Rapunzel shook her head. "Uh-uh. She's all warm in momma's belly, isn't that right? No, she's not going to get cold. She says she wants to go."
Eugene rolled his eyes at Rapunzel's usage of "she's" when referring to the baby.
"But if you go outside in this cold weather, your belly won't be all warm anymore!" he argued.
"Yes it will." Rapunzel replied.
Eugene scowled.
"There's so much snow…" he mused, looking out the window, "And the wind is bound to blow, you know. It'll mess up your hair and make it all wet."
Rapunzel lightly touched her loose curls as she looked at her hair in the mirror.
"You think?" she asked with concern. Before Eugene could answer, she whirled back around, as if realizing he had some evil plot. "Eugene, it's too late! We already said we were going, we shouldn't break our plans. What would we say?"
Eugene shrugged.
"You'd best behave." She told him.
He sighed. "It doesn't look too safe…"
"Oh, who cares about safe? The city is so beautiful with all the decorations…and the drive is so pretty…"
She came and sat on his lap, giving him a pitiful pout.
He laughed. "You're looking to good to share." He whispered in her ear.
He gently reached his hand into her soft brunette curls and leaned towards her to kiss her lips tenderly.
She hesitated. "Well…maybe they won't care? They won't, will they?" she asked.
"Of course they won't." he answered. "We've always got next year, anyway. Let's just light the fire."
Rapunzel smiled and stood up. "I'll get some hot chocolate." She said.
Soon, they were snuggled up in each other's arms on their window seat by the fire, sipping hot chocolate, watching the snow fall to the ground on the beautiful kingdom below.
Eugene reached out and rested his hands, which were holding his mug of hot chocolate, on Rapunzel's stomach.
"I can't wait to hold it." He said
"I know. So sweet and warm and kissable and cuddly." She said, smiling.
"And am I not those things?" Eugene teased.
The princess in his arms giggled and turned her head to kiss his nose.
"There," she said, "is that satisfactory?"
"Fair enough, princess."
Rapunzel looked closely into her mug of hot chocolate, and then up to her husband's eyes.
"You know what? Your eyes are like hot chocolate." She finally decided. "They're warm and sweet and I just love them so much. But your eyes are so much deeper of a color than hot chocolate. They have this amber tint to them. They're very beautiful."
"Why thank you, Blondie."
"I think I want the baby to have your eyes." Rapunzel announced.
"Nah, I want it to have your eyes. Because yours are very gorgeous, my dear." He said, placing a kiss in her hair. "They're like emeralds or jades. And they shine just like those lanterns."
Rapunzel snuggled her head into Eugene's chest and gazed out the window at the snow and lights of the city below.
"Know what would be pretty? Lanterns in the snow." She suggested.
Eugene nodded. "That would be gorgeous." He agreed, planting a kiss in her hair. "Almost as gorgeous as you, my dear."
Rapunzel giggled. "I love you, Eugene."
"Do I ever love you too, Goldie."
oOo
Finally, to the delight of children and adults alike, Christmas Eve night had arrived – that magical night when Santa delivered presents around the world. Corona's royal family was gathered around in the library by the warm fire, talking and casually stealing glances at the packages under the huge tree.
Even though since Rapunzel's return, they'd all changed, - both Rapunzel and Eugene and Rose and Wilson were married, Rose and Wilson had Benjamin, Rapunzel and Eugene were expecting their first baby, to name just a few things – they still were the same, in a sense. The feeling of sitting here, laughing and reminiscing on Christmas Eve would forever feel the same, for years to come.
More than ever to Eugene, this felt like home – the family he never really had. He was so grateful to the rest of the royal family for being who they were in his life – especially Rapunzel, who completely changed him. If it wasn't for her, nothing would be how it was now - and it was no accident he'd climbed up her tower. He wouldn't be married to the most amazing girl on earth, Princess Rapunzel of Corona. They wouldn't be about a month away from having a baby. This feeling of family made him even more excited for when the baby would come – and they'd be a family.
"Benjamin, are you excited about Christmas?" Rapunzel asked as she softly pinched her nephew to get his attention, who was sitting on his daddy's lap.
He smiled with wide eyes and nodded excitedly. "Yes!"
"Someone will be getting up early tomorrow." Rapunzel
"Don't encourage him!" Rose scowled. "Just wait till this little one- " she patted Rapunzel's baby belly, "is old enough to get the presents part of Christmas, and they'll be getting you up way too early. We'll see who's talking then."
Rapunzel smiled and stretched her arms over her head. "Yep, but for now, we can cuddle up and sleep as late as we want." She sighed dreamily as she tucked her legs under herself and snuggled close to Eugene, resting her head on his chest.
"We should be putting you to bed, mister Benjamin." Rose told her son.
Benjamin frowned and shook his head vigorously.
"Oh, it's Christmas Eve, Rose. The boy can stay up longer." The queen said to her daughter.
"But Santa doesn't bring presents to children who stay up too late, now does he?" Rose said.
"Eugene told me that Santa wouldn't bring me any presents because I fooled him and pretended like I was in labor for a minute or two there the other day." Rapunzel added with a pout. "I think he's wrong."
Eugene shook his head. "Nuh-uh, Blondie. That was mean."
"Was not! It was funny!"
"Well, you know that story about the boy who cried wolf…" Eugene said as he shook his head sadly.
Rapunzel kicked her husband lightly. "Mama, it wasn't that mean, was it?"
"I don't think I'm going to pick sides on this one, dear." The queen responded with a smile.
"See?"
"See what?" Eugene asked. "She didn't choose either way!"
Rapunzel huffed as she crossed her arms and rested against the back of the library's couch. The room was silent for a moment, until Rapunzel cracked a smile.
"The look on your face!" she finally giggled, to which her husband only shook his head.
"I think you say that about Eugene a lot." Rose observed.
"Because it's true! Eugene makes the best faces ever." Rapunzel replied.
"Like when he came to ask me if he could marry you?" the king spoke up.
Rapunzel nearly doubled over in laughter. "I'm sure!" she responded.
Eugene's frown displayed his displeasure in the fun being poked at him and his faces as he replied, "What, do you all keep a secret dossier on me or something?"
"No," Rapunzel replied through her giggles, "you're just funny!"
"But you've gotta give me credit for the smolder!" he protested, but it only made Rapunzel laugh all the more. "And, the baby, of course, is going to have a master smolder, too…"
Suddenly, Rapunzel stopped laughing and perked up. "Oh, Eugene, I dohope the baby has your facial expressions! There'll never be a dull moment!"
oOo
All was quiet in Corona.
Children and adults alike were snuggled up in bed, content in knowing that treats for Santa had been set out, and presents were or would be under the tree. The beautiful story of the first Christmas had been read, the sky had long ago dimmed to reveal the stars sparkling above, and snow was gently falling on the windowpanes.
"It's almost Christmas, Eugene." The princess whispered in the darkness to her husband beside her after they'd snuggled under the covers of their bed.
"Yep." He agreed. "You excited?"
"Of course." She responded. "So you'll finally stop pestering me about what you're getting."
Eugene laughed. "Yeah, and so you won't have to slit my throat?"
"Eugene Fitzherbert!" Rapunzel exclaimed, smacking his arm.
"You said it." He pointed out.
"But it's her fault." Rapunzel defended, patting her belly.
"His." Eugene corrected.
"Eugene, if you say it's a boy one more time, I will get out my frying pan and useit. Do you understand?"
"Yes, dear." Eugene answered nonchalantly. "But you wouldn't want to ruin the baby's first Christmas, now would you? It is it's first Christmas, you know."
"Mmm. Merry almost-Christmas, Eugene."
Eugene didn't dare tell her it was past midnight.
"Merry Christmas, Goldie." He glanced down at her swollen abdomen. "Merry Christmas to you too, Baby."
A/N: And there you lovely folks are! Hope ya like it! It was kinda a long one, and I felt like maybe it was a little choppy, I could be paranoid, but anyway. Review replies! (and by the way, I'm glad all of you liked the whole suitcase thing ;) It was actually a dream my cousin had once, 'cept it was her sister getting run over...)
disneyisbeautiful: I know, I loooove Christmastime! I'm uber excited about this year! Haha, weeeeell, I suppose you'll just find out soon enough! And I agree, getting run over by a suitcase is a lame way to die ;)
FairyTaleLover6: I'm glad you liked it! Haha yeah, I think the Flynn Rider side of him would wanna die doing something pretty epic.
fitzherbertfangirl: Aww, thank ya thank ya thank ya, Fizzy girl! Mmmm yesss, I have to say I enjoyed writing his little flash forward thing! lol, Eugene and 'Punz going senile is just an interesting thing to think about, I think!
nikkibecket1997: Hm... I can't answer that, you'll just hafta keep reading and see! ;)
Wheels4TheOneTrueGod: Why thank you!
BroadwayFangirl91: Haha, it's a pretty funny image to think about...I hope you liked this chapter, and again, sorry for the wait!
TeamTangled: Oh, it's okay! I just get to hear how you liked them a little later ;) Hehe, I can't wait either...I think I probably will fangirl while I write it...that's okay, right? Thank ya for your looooovely reviews!
And there you are! Review!
