A month passed, and Rapunzel was slowly turning back into her normal self. That was when the Queen finally spoke to her, when they were both working out in the garden during a nice July afternoon.
"Darling girl, what you went through was normal. It was almost to be expected, but it never even crossed my mind to tell you until it was too late."
"What?" the princess turned her attention away from the small flowers she was planting in a terracotta pot. She studied her mother with a guarded curiosity.
"The inability to have children," she said quietly, "along with complications and miscarriages, is common in my side of the family. My grandmother only had one boy and one girl. Her mother only had two children, dying when she had the third. My own mother struggled with two miscarriages before she gave up on having any more children aside from me. Your great-great-aunt was unable to have any at all. You were a miracle – we were almost ready to give up on a family when I got the news that I was pregnant. I faced complications shortly before your birth, and almost died – that's why we went in search for the golden flower. The same flower that gave you your healing powers," she said. "It's due to our inherent small stature. All of the women on my side of the family are small all over, like you and I. Some aren't strong enough, some simply can't handle the stress of carrying the baby, and some die due to complications, if they haven't miscarried. "
Rapunzel bit her lip. "So it's kind of a family issue?"
"Yes," she nodded. "I wanted to tell you after your miscarriage, but you never wanted to hear anything of it –understandably so."
"I'm sorry," she turned back to the plant, patting dirt gently around the base of it.
"It's alright, dear. I just wanted you to know that you weren't alone, and that it was…almost to be expected. I'm sorry it slipped my mind until it was too late to warn you."
The princess shook her head. "It's okay. I would have wanted to try having a baby anyway. I…I just feel so useless. The kingdom won't have an heir, and Eugene…well, we both wanted kids."
The Queen nodded and fell silent for a few minutes. When she spoke up again, she spoke slowly and quietly. "Well, there's always adoption."
Rapunzel's head flew up, and she looked at her mother. "But would the child be accepted? Would it be able to one day run the kingdom? I mean...I don't care either way and we might want to adopt anyway, but I don't want a child to grow up as a prince or princess, only to be told that it cannot run the kingdom due to some silly rule."
"Darling, you broke tradition and married a common thief. I'm sure there's a loophole."
Her face brightened. "I'll talk with Eugene about it tonight!"
The Queen smiled, happy to see a glimpse of her daughter's former enthusiasm back. Brushing the dirt off of her hands (and dirtying her skirt), she reached to pull her daughter into an awkward hug.

That evening, Rapunzel practically bowled Eugene over the second he walked through the door to the castle.
He laughed, wrapping her up in a tight hug. "Hey, beautiful. It's good to see you're in a cheerful mood today!"
She gave him a quick hug, but wormed away from him. Her eyes were hopeful. "Mother was talking with me today, and…well, among a lot of other things, she suggested that we adopt a child. She said it would be acceptable."
Eugene's eyebrows flew up. "Is that so? And are you sure that's the route you want to go?"
"It might be the safest route if we want kids," she said, before explaining the rest of what her mother had told her today.
When she finished, Eugene nodded. "Well, it'd take time, I'm sure – but it would be fine by me to adopt. Especially if I get to give an orphan the ultimate thing I had never received as a kid – a home."
She nodded, smiling. Her heart was thundering with excitement for the first time in a long while. "We could talk with the orphanage director tomorrow, maybe, and-"
"You mean you're ready to move on?"
She paused. "Are you?"
"I'm more worried about you. I took it hard, but I've accepted it. You took it harder than I did because you thought something was wrong with you and you thought it was your fault."
She nodded, licking her lips. "I don't think I'll ever quite be fine with the miscarriage, but I also know that moving forward will make me think of it less."
He nodded, slipping his arms around her waist. "Then if you want to go talk to the orphanage director tomorrow, who would I be to say no?"
"A rational human being, maybe," Rapunzel said, half-teasing.
Eugene grinned. "It's so good to see you happy again – just so you know."
With that, he bent to give her a quick, sound kiss before leading her to the parlor, where her parents were sitting and waiting for the girl to update them on their plan.