Chapter 1

Title: After Ballyhara

Author: ladyantebellum1926

Every morning that she woke up with next to Rhett was a brand new miracle. He was so beautiful, and he always slept later than her, leaving her time to admire him. She couldn't help but let her eyes rove over his perfectly chiseled face, muscled chest, and silver streaked hair. It was her own guilty pleasure, and she adored having him to herself, not sharing him with Belle Watling, or her old ghost of Ashley that had haunted her bed in their early days of marriage, or even the thought that Anne Hampton was in love with her husband, and that she might be deserving of his love. She couldn't believe he had come back, even after all these months of waking with him. Rhett and Scarlett had returned to Charleston less than a month after the incident at Ballyhara.

She could still remember walking through the heavy front door of the Butler house. He had walked right and whisked her away up the staircase in frenzy. Her cheeks burned crimson at the memory of what had happened the last time he did that. This blush had not been wasted on him.

"Scarlett, my dear, are you actually blushing, or are you just wearing even more rouge than usual?"

She simply looked down, peeking up at him through her lashes to see if he was seriously insulting her. No, he had that old playful glimmer in his eyes that he always wore when teasing her.

"Ah, so you do possess some fond memories of me!" he exclaimed.

But the happiness of her nights never lasted long. Scarlett awoke soaked in cold sweat and crying almost every night, remembering Ballyhara burning. She could smell the smoke, and see it climbing in furling tendrils up to the sky. She could feel the cold wall of the tower against her back and hear the Ballyhara men whispering fiercely outside. But Scarlett always awoke to Rhett holding her. She felt like the dreams would never stop, and she was reminded of her old dreams of the mist. She had escaped that terror, but would she ever escape this one? The question was always on her mind, and she could never think of a way to escape it like the mist.

And she could hear Rhett saying, "We can build it all back, darling."

As she rode to Dr. James's office, Scarlett could hear her blood pounding in her ears. She was remembering what Grainne had said about her not being able to having any more babies. Grainne had to be wrong, she just had to be. So Scarlett was going to one of the most trusted doctors in Charleston to prove her wrong. She was certain that she could. She just had to.

Walking out of the doctor's office, Scarlett was smiling triumphantly. She could try, he said, and probably succeed. She had overcome so much, she could very well overcome the damage caused by Cat's birth. Scarlett loved Cat more than anything, but she hated to think that she might have stopped her from having anymore children.

So when Scarlett went home that night, she told Rhett about her worries.

"I don't know why I didn't tell you before… I just wanted the awful thing to go away."

He smiled down at her. "The doctor said there was a good chance, and I will be more than willing to take it."

She laughed. "You cad! Rhett, you will still love me won't you? I mean, if I can't have any more babies?"

Light flashed in his eyes. "Scarlett, I will never stop loving you. Nor will I ever try to stop, not again, anyway.

When she awoke the next morning, she had an astonishing thought. She could have another baby! For the first time in her life, Scarlett truly desired a child. She wanted as many as she and Rhett could have! She giggled at the thought that children were going to be the thing to make her truly happy.

Then, in less than a month after she saw the doctor, she discovered there would be at least one more baby.

"Rhett darling, may I have a word with you? Its dreadfully important." She had called him into her office when she saw him walking by.

"You sound so businesslike, Scarlett. Am I in trouble? Or perhaps grave danger?"

He was chuckling at her, mocking her businesslike manner. But she stopped his mocking with her news.

"Rhett Butler, you stop laughing at me! I'm having a baby!"

"And who is the lucky father?"

She was astounded. "God's nightgown, Rhett! Stop harassing me!"

The next morning, Rhett and Scarlett left Charleston in a heavy blanket of early-spring fog. They were going to Paris, to shop for things for the baby. They spent much of their time shopping, but more time alone or eating. Scarlett was amazed, she had hardly been sick at all with this baby. She could eat all the wonderful French food she wanted, and Rhett obliged, taking her to a new restaurant every night. But she spent more time worrying than anything else. What if she lost the baby? What if it died at birth? What if she had another accident? What if, what if, what if.

One night at dinner, Rhett surprised her with a sudden romantic moment. He reached across the table and took her hand, kissing it softly.

"I love you, Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler."

In her soul, she cringed and cursed all the married names before Butler. She wondered how she could have made so many life altering mistakes before discovering her love for Rhett. Two loveless (at least from her point of view) marriages, and her largest mistake: confusing her schoolgirl infatuation with Ashley Wilkes for true love. She smiled a pained smile, and Rhett spotted it.

"You are upset, Scarlett. May I inquire as to what my mistake was?"

"I've made so many mistakes, Rhett! I married two other men, and I was so ignorant about Ashley!" She whimpered out the stabbing words, fearing she might hurt Rhett as much as she had hurt herself.

"My dear, your mistakes were made in the past. From this moment forward, we will both forget our previous mistakes. I made mine, didn't I? You are not the only one at fault. Now it is only us, and that is all either of us needs."