Thirty-eight hours had passed and Eugene was anxious to see his bride. The ex-con had been pacing out in the hallway. The doctor had gone in to be with Rapunzel, so why couldn't he? Dr. Miller needed Rapunzel to deliver the placenta, which she had done lickety-split, but Eugene wasn't allowed in at that point. Dr. Miller said that after the princess had woken up they could all go in and visit, but the former Flynn Rider had other ideas.

Eugene decided that he could go in and be with her. So he rapped lightly on the door, opening it, and calling out, "Knock, knock." He opened the door and stepped in the room, noting his wife's sleeping form on the bed. Rapunzel was on her back and her arms were swayed to the right and left. But, there was no sign of Annaliese. Eugene smiled and got into bed with his princess, despite the lack of appearance of their baby. Perhaps his question would be answered when Rapunzel woke.

She turned on her side and slowly opened her emerald eyes. She smiled when she saw Eugene.

"Morning, sleepyhead." He teased.

Rapunzel flexed her arms, while yawning and sat up. "Morning, Eugene." She fell back into his strong arms and snuggled in closer near his goatee. "Eugene! You're back! I wasn't dreaming!" She turned onto him and began kissing him… passionately. Between welcoming strokes, the princess somehow managed to get out, softly, "Eugene,"

"Hmm?"

"Tell me you love me,"

"Blondie, you know that I-"

"Just tell me."

He decided to humor his wife, "I love you, Rapunzel."

A small smile crept onto her face and rested there.

"Now, where's Anna?" Eugene rubbed his wife's side.

"Oh, Dr. Miller took her and placed Anna in her crib. I was so sleepy that she almost fell from my arms."

"You have been very tired. You almost slept for two days straight!"

"What!" Rapunzel jumped out of bed. "You mean it's Saturday?"

"Yep."

"No wonder my stomach's been growling." She looked down to her tummy. "Annaliese is probably starving!" The princess turned for the makeshift nursery. "I'm going to go feed her. I'll be right back." Rapunzel kissed Eugene's temple softly.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Rapunzel walked into the improvised nursery, bent over the crib and raised Annaliese up. As her daughter wailed, Rapunzel's heart began to break. "Here now, Anna," she gripped Annaliese's head in her right hand and felt her way back into a rocking chair, where she sat, gracefully, holding Anna in her arms. She flung her left breast out of her gown and brought her firstborn to her chest. She wouldn't suckle. Anna only cried at the top of her lungs.

"Shh, shh, shh. Momma's got you," Although the princess didn't know any lullabies, she felt compelled to sing… anything! She first started out with her healing incantation, but decided against it when her daughter's hair started to glow.

Eugene snuck up behind the door. The former thief shushed Pascal who had scampered up next to his boot. The chameleon had yet to see Annaliese, and was curious as to what she looked like.

What Eugene heard next made him want to join in:

Rapunzel started:

"And at last I see the light"

"And it's like the fog has lifted" Eugene sang. Rapunzel whirled around, smiled and extended her right hand, holding Annaliese's figure with her left arm. She took hold of the ex-thief's left hand as they sang:

"And at last I see the light

And it's like the sky is new

And it's warm and real and bright

And the world has, somehow, shifted

All at once, everything is different

Now that I see you

Now that I see you" they finished as Anna began to put her mouth to her mother's breast. Rapunzel guided her nipple to the newborn's mouth and Anna grabbed a hold of it and began to nurse.

"I guess she wanted both of us in here," commented Eugene.

Rapunzel laughed light-heartedly. But, after Anna was done suckling, and was placed in her crib, Rapunzel covered her breast and pounded her fist against the railing, fell to the ground on her hands and knees and she started sobbing.

"Blondie, what's wrong?" Eugene asked as he wrapped his strong arms around her.

She looked up into his amber eyes, then back to the floor. "I can't even get my own daughter to nurse, let alone, stop crying. What kind of a mother am I?"

Eugene couldn't even believe that Rapunzel was questioning that.

"Rapunzel, you're a terrific mother who's just starting out. You're bound to get the hang of it, eventually. I mean, it's not like you had a real mother to look up to during your childhood." Once the words were out, he wished he could take them back. "I didn't mean… It's just-"

"I… I understand what you meant, Eugene, and you're right. I never had a real mother-figure to look up to before. I just recently met my mother three-years ago, and, although, Mo… Gothel did raise me; she did a terrible job of doing so. She succeeded in making me deathly afraid of the outside world and everything in it for eighteen years!"

"Let's not mention Gothel. Now, c'mere!" He pulled her into a gentle, but firm, big bear hug, pulled her onto his lap and kissed her head.

Noticing his neck for the first time, she put her hand up to the deep cut. "Eugene?" she said sweetly. "What happened here?"

"That? I just cut myself shaving," he joked, but she didn't laugh. The princess actually crossed her arms and glared at him. "Oh, you were serious. Let's just say it's a reminder of war."

"How so?"

"Well, see, in the middle of replying to your letter… I hope you got it."

"I did… and I was concerned about you. That's why I sent Maximus out."

"It's a good thing you did… or else I might be dead by now."

"Dead?"

"Yeah." He chuckled. "I was taken prisoner of war and the lieutenant tried to kill me through torture. He sliced my neck, nearly all the way through, branded my chest and had my back flogged."

Rapunzel pulled on his vest, trying to get it off, to get to his shirt. After she got that off, with Eugene fighting her all the way, she gasped at the sight before her. His chest held a huge welt in the center of it where he had been branded, like cattle, again and again and again. She turned to his back to see his flesh ripped apart, and had him lay upon his abdomen. The princess started to cry, hoping and praying that her tears would heal him. Rapunzel sang her healing spell as her tears flowed, and Eugene grimaced in pain. When nothing happened, she realized it was all in vain. Eugene would have to see a specialist to have his body healed.

Rapunzel sat back upon her legs and mournfully cried. Eugene got off his stomach and took her in his muscular arms.

"What's wrong, Blondie? What is it?"

She finally stopped crying long enough to take a deep breath and speak. "I can't do it, Eugene, I just can't do it!"

He arched an eyebrow. "Do what?"

More tears threatened to come. "Heal you! I can't heal you! If only I still had my-" An idea began to form in her head.

"Long, blonde, magical hair?" Eugene offered.

"Exactly! I'll be right back!"

"What are you-?"

"Don't move." She warned him. The princess came back with Annaliese in arms. "Get back on your stomach and hold still,"

Eugene obeyed. The baby's hair was less than a foot long, but still extensive enough to get the job done.

Rapunzel held her daughter by the ankles and let her hair glide over her husband's battered body. She sang her healing chant over and over again until the former thief's body was completely healed.

Eugene, then, got an idea of his own, as he stood up. "We need to cut her hair."

"What?" Rapunzel was deeply distressed over this, and brought her daughter to her own shoulder.

"Just a little trim… in case there are any more Gothel's out there."

"But, Eugene, no one but us and Dr. Miller knows that she has golden hair. And we are the only two who know of its healing properties. Plus it could come in handy in case one of us gets really sick or injured."

"Alright," Eugene agreed. He knew better than to argue with his wife. Still, he had an uneasy feeling about all of this.

A sleepy Annaliese yawned, forming a small o with her mouth, and closing her eyes. Rapunzel decided to place her in her cradle and then head for the bed for some much deserved rest.

When she lay down, Eugene covered her up, crept up next to Rapunzel's neck and whispered in her ear, "Honey, whadaya say we move back into our room, find your wedding ring, so things can go back to the way they were?"

"Okay, but… oh no!" she sat straight up and slapped her knees.

"What, Blondie? What's wrong?"

"I locked the door and don't remember where I put the key!" she cried.

"Your parents must have a duplicate of it." Eugene hoped he was right.

"Oh, of course!"

"Now, c'mon, lay back down here with me and we'll worry about it later, okay?"

"Okay." And she let her tired form fall back into his solid arms.