Chapter 26

Love is a Many Splendored Thing (cont'd)

Rapunzel stared at the two of them. "I may be your biological daughter, but my mother or should I say the one who actually raised me, was Greta. No matter what she did or how much she lied, she still loved me. She sent me away only because of you and the Fitzherbert's because you considered me a servant's daughter who was not good enough to become friends with her only son, Eugene. As you already pointed out, Greta was a brilliant business woman who promoted your company to the skies. All she wanted was to be recognized for her efforts and you continued to ignore her, why, Eugene's mother fired her because of this ongoing investigation."

"Well," James said, frowning. "You can't blame her, can you, Rapunzel? She did commit a crime and she did need to be punished for it."

Rapunzel nodded. "Yes I do agree with you. But there are other ways to go about it. You could have been a little lenient with her. After all, she did keep me safe. But I guess it was you guys that did me a favor after all. If you hadn't made Mother send me away, I would never have met Eric and I would never have become rich and famous. I vowed the day I left the Fitzherberts, that I would be worthy of your love and trust and that you would see me as a perfect wife for Eugene. I had a crush on him when I was little. I used to sneak into those parties that the Fitzherbert's threw and I always imagined myself as his wife. Well, I guess that's not going to happen now because I walked out on him back in Corona."

Rapunzel waited for an answer, but she got none. "So, now, I'm going to get some much needed rest at my flat in downtown Charon if you don't mind. I have much to think about. I'm leaving show business for a long time. I might go into painting; I have some offers for showings that Eric set up for me before his arrest. And I'm going to see if that still holds water. In the meantime, I recognize the fact that I'm your biological daughter, but I still need to work out the details in my head. Right now, I'm mourning the loss of the woman who named and raised me and nothing will change my mind. In time, you will get your daughter back, but I'm not sure when that will be. It's not so easy to forgive and forget the woman you called Mother for so long despite her crimes. You also have a lot to think about, especially your outdated attitudes on class distinction.".

As for my name, I need to think about it, but for right now, my name is still Rapunzel and it will remain that way. I might change my mind, but that's what I'm used to."

"Will you at least keep in touch?" Barbara asked. "We would like to see you occasionally and we could get to know each other a little better. I do recognize the fact that we were wrong. We never should have treated you or Greta the way that we did. We just thought that we were doing the right thing by everyone. Our marriage was sort of an arrangement, did you know that Rapunzel? I'm not from a privileged family myself; I was a troubled foster care kid being bounced around from family to family. The King's brought me into their family for a time and raised me. James and I fell in love and he begged his parents to let me marry him. It was frowned upon at first; James almost lost everything, including his inheritance. It was rumored that I was going to have a baby, but that baby came almost two years later. She was Donna. She had the same wide green eyes as you, but she looked nothing like the King's side, so I figured she was from my side of the family, although I never knew them. Even though the King's looked down on me, they treated us with respect and eventually came to accept us as a family. We agreed to the arrangement so that James's mistake would never be repeated. So you see, Rapunzel, you aren't the only one who has gone through a crisis. "

Rapunzel looked at her new mother and father with different eyes. With tears in her eyes, she walked over to embrace them.

"Thank you for sharing that story and I'm sorry that you had to through that. I'm glad that you were accepted into the family and I'm glad it all worked out. It's all the more reason that you have to understand what I'm going through now. I do love you and I do thank you for finding me and bringing me here to explain what happened." She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Will you allow me to call you James and Barbara until I find the strength to call you Mother and Father? I'm sure that will come eventually."

Barbara smiled and reached out to touch her newly found daughter's hair. Yes," Barbara answered, "we will, but please don't be a stranger. We know that we were wrong, but we need to make this up to you. Please let us be the family that we were meant to be."

Rapunzel smiled and nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes again, even though she tried to fight them.

"I have to go," she said, turning on her heels and she walked to the door. "I have so much to think about."

"Wait," James called out, don't go yet. We have a surprise for you and it's waiting down by the old boathouse. Clarence is here to guide you down there."

XXXXX

Eugene was getting impatient. It was far too long a wait now. He sat there in the boathouse and watched as the sun as it set slowly behind the hills. He checked his watch; it was turning 6 now and it would be dark in a few hours.

He must have been here for hours, Eugene thought to himself. He was tired of waiting now. He had had enough of the ruined gardens and enough of this boathouse. He was so tempted to march right up to the big house and just demand to see Rapunzel, that's how angry he was becoming. And so he stood up and opened the boathouse door.

He looked up and saw two figures approaching in the twilight. He wasn't sure who it was until he heard her sweet voice call out his name.

"Rapunzel," he almost cried as he ran toward her. They met in the middle of the ruined garden on one of the paths.

They embraced each other. Eugene hugged her as if he would never let her go.

And he wouldn't lose her, never again, no matter what the consequences were.

"What are you doing here?" she said pulling away, looking into his brown eyes.

Eugene smiled. "I don't know exactly. It was all arranged for me. Flynn Rider brought Mother home from the hospital, Rapunzel, you'll never believe it. He wants to marry her and move to Corsa and has practically adopted me as his son. He called me Flynn Rider, Rapunzel and I guess that's who I always was in my mind; my alter ego. It's like right out of the Tales of Flynnagan Rider"

Rapunzel nodded. "And I'm your wife, Danielle King Rider, aren't I? I guess we belong together."

Eugene smiled. "I never thought how similar my life was to the original Thomas Flynn Rider, the one I've been reading about in the first half. I guess I never got to the real children's story in the second."

"Well, neither did I. Maybe we can read Part Two together after we're married and our lives will become a fairy tale full of love and enchantment. "

Eugene smiled and nodded, but his eyes darkened as he realized what she just said. "Wait, go back, repeat what you said."

Rapunzel searched his eyes and frowned as well. "You mean about our fairy tale lives?"

"No," Eugene said, smiling. "The part about where you said that you were Danielle King. Is it true? Are you their missing daughter?"

She nodded her head. "Yes Eugene, I am. But I haven't accepted them yet, but I'm sure that will come in time. They are willing to wait and watch. They know they've been wrong and want to make it up to me."

Eugene became serious and searched her wide green eyes. He wasn't sure how he wanted to do this, but he slowly broke from her arms and bent down on one knee.

"Marry me, Rapunzel, please marry me. I don't want to lose you again. I just wouldn't be complete without you. Besides, we have a reputation to live up to."

Rapunzel smiled. "We wouldn't want to ruin that now would we? After all, a reputation.."

But she was silenced by his lips on hers.