Nothing came of Veronica's threats - little surprise there. Rapunzel was her first and last visitor in prison. All of her contacts had been found and sentenced before the threat had even been made.
Rapunzel's father didn't come back for a week, then for three, then for a month. He called every single day, though, and let her know that he was actually taking some vacation time to explore the state. He didn't know exactly when he'd come back, since he had a lot of vacation time stocked up from the year. Rapunzel was a little confused as to how that worked, but she didn't question it. He always ended the call without a goodbye, but always an "I love you and your entire family."
Eugene finally received a response from one of the two publishing companies - this one was in Kansas - and he was delighted to know that they were willing to allow him to conference from home and around his work schedule. Rapunzel was beyond happy, too, since she had been so worried he would give up his gift just to stay close to home with them. And little Missy Elaine grew way too fast.

With the spring-on-the-verge-of-summer breeze of May came Rapunzel's annual haircut and the end of Rapunzel's maternity leave time. This realization hit when Rapunzel was sitting on the couch with Eugene after he came home from work.
"What are we going to do with our little miss, now that I don't have any more time left for maternity leave?" she asked, glancing towards her husband. One arm was wrapped around her and the other hand held a pencil, which scribbled rapidly across the page. He was in the 'groove' of writing - meaning he'd been writing for two hours straight and daydreaming the whole day about writing.
He glanced towards her in surprise, as if she'd jolted him awake. "Hm?"
She laughed softly, repeating the question. As she spoke, Missy herself woke up and announced this with a quiet, almost questioning, coo. Rapunzel hopped up from her spot on the couch and promptly went to scoop her up and give her a cuddle, since her feeding time wasn't quite here. "What're we gonna do with you, munchkin?" she asked, kissing her forehead and cheeks. She smiled down at her daughter when the child grinned and made a pleasant sound.

Eugene's mouth was skewed off to the side as he considered her question. "I doubt you could take her to work. Mr. Barnes, I'm sure, would be fine with you doing so, but I'd be afraid that-"
"-With the boxes and books I'm lifting and shelving, and things that fall down, I can't have her in the sling right in front of me," Rapunzel finished, meeting his eyes to make sure she'd guessed correctly. That was her main concern, anyway.
He nodded. "Exactly. And when she gets older, she won't be able to stay in the sling."
She nibbled her lip. "Then when she gets even older, we'd both be away at work and she'd come home from school to an empty house. I don't want that."
"I don't either," he shook his head. "If absolutely necessary, I suppose we'll have to, but - I don't think it's all that necessary. If you don't want to work, then I say you should resign."
She nodded, swallowing. She wasn't sure how to feel about it. She loved the bookstore, but she loved her baby girl more . They'd be stable, still, financially. She didn't need to work. "I suppose so. I hate to quit - I mean, they're all so kind - but I also want to be here for Missy." Rapunzel ducked her head to look at the baby, who was watching the conversation intently.

Eugene nodded. "Well, do you want to work and I stay here and work on books?" he asked. "I don't want to make you stay home if you don't want to."
"I do, I just don't want to leave them. I-...It doesn't even make sense to me!" she laughed awkwardly. "It's not like we'll never see them again, I suppose. Especially since you're still working there for the time being."
Eugene kissed her forehead and scooped the baby out of her arms. "Well, you can think about it. But for right now, I'm stealing the baby."
She grinned. "Go right on ahead - she probably needs her diaper checked before she eats."
"Okay, take her back," Eugene joked, and she swatted his arm teasingly. "I'll change if you grab a diaper."
Rapunzel bounded up the stairs, her usual energy and agility returning to her after her pregnancy, and she grabbed a tiny diaper and the packet of baby wipes from the nursery. As she passed by her painting room - slash - library, a thought struck her. She bounced down the stairs with twice as much energy.

"What if I tried to sell paintings? I did plenty when I was eighteen and trying to save up to get the house. And people bought them, too, a lot! I just sold them on the sidewalk. Of course, that means I'd be buying quite a lot of paint, but the price of the paintings would offset that. I think. Well, of course it would - duh! Then I could stay home with Missy and still be contributing to the income a little bit. What do you think?" She handed him the diaper and wipes and stared at him, her wide green eyes glittering with excitement and expecting an answer.

Eugene slowly settled Missy on the couch as he tried to mull over all the information she'd just thrown at him, in true rapid-fire-Rapunzel manner. After he'd changed the baby's diaper and had pulled her frilly green skirt back up over her polka-dot onesie, he managed to answer. "If you got enough money from paintings and what you made from work to get a down payment on a house, Rapunzel, I think your paintings were pretty popular. If you think you can do what you love without it becoming a chore, go for it. Just don't ruin the enjoyment by turning it into a job. You know what I mean?" he asked.
She nodded, reaching to brush Missy's hair away from her eyes with slim, cool fingertips as Eugene settled the little one into his arms. "Yeah. I don't think it would get to be a job, though. I have way too much fun with it. Even when I was making paintings for the down payment."
He chuckled. "Yeah, since you're typically covered from head to toe with a rainbow of colors by the time you're done with a canvas, I know you have too much fun. Go for it," he gave her a crooked grinned. "Just don't catch little Missy in the crossfire of whatever you do that gets you covered in paint. Don't think she'd appreciate it yet."