On Board Ship
"It's funny, how it always looks like it's going away from us, when really, it's the ship that's moving," Katie said, watching as the coastline of England rapidly shrank in the distance. She and Wade stood alone at the ship's railing; the other members of their party had already gone to their suite.
"That's true," Wade said. "It's what one of my old professors used to call an 'optical illusion.' The way the moon seems to follow you around is another."
"I've seen that," Katie said, taking his hand as they turned to walk along the deck. "Wade..."
"Yes?" he asked, looking down at her.
"Are you going to marry Mrs Jennings?"
The question took him by surprise. Thinking about it, he knew that he shouldn't have been startled; the twins, and Katie particularly, always seemed to pick up on the emotional currents around them.
"Would you mind if I did?" he asked cautiously. He remembered how upset she had been when Mama told the girls that she was going to marry Rhett.
"No, I don't think so. She seems nice, and I like William. If you married his Mama, he would be my nephew, wouldn't he?"
"Yes, he would," Wade affirmed.
Katie giggled. "I would be Aunt Katie. That's funny," she said. Then she sobered. "Do you know the secret, Wade?"
"What secret is that?"
"Bend down and I'll tell you," she said. He complied, and she cupped a hand around his ear to whisper, "Mama is going to have a baby, too. Did you know?"
"Yes, I knew," he told her as they turned into the passageway that lead to the suite she and her sister would share with Mama, Uncle Rhett, Sally and the baby. "I didn't think Mama was planning to tell you and Lanie for another few months, in case things didn't go well. So how did you find out?"
"Lanie found out," Katie said. "She heard Mama and Cap'n Rhett talking. Do you think this new baby will stop him from feeling bad about Bonnie?"
"I don't think one person ever replaces another," he told her. "Just like I love you, and I love Lanie; there's room for both. Uncle Rhett will always miss Bonnie, but he will love a new baby, too."
"Will he still love me and Lanie, if there's a new baby?" Katie asked.
"Of course he will, darling. Why wouldn't he?"
"'Cause we had a different Daddy," Katie whispered. Her eyes filled with tears. "Mama told me the other day that my eyes were just like my Daddy's. Cap'n Rhett heard her, and he didn't like it, Wade, he didn't like it one little bit. So maybe when they have their own baby, they won't want us around anymore, to remind Mama of our Daddy."
"Oh, Katie." Wade scooped her up in his arms and held her while she cried. "That's not true, baby. Mama and Uncle Rhett do love you – both of them do. Even when the new baby comes, there will be room for you and Lanie."
She sniffed and looked up at him. He handed her a handkerchief, and she wiped her eyes. "That's why I wondered if you and Mrs Jennings were going to get married. Then, if Mama didn't want us anymore, we could come and live with you and William could be our little brother, 'stead of our nephew. I like him, but I would miss Mama." Her voice wobbled a little as she said the last words.
Wade made a tsking sound. "Katie, darling, that just isn't going to happen. Mama loves you, and so does Uncle Rhett. They'll keep on loving you, even if they have a dozen new babies. Just like I would keep on loving you if I married Sally, and raised William, and had my own children. Katie, love grows in people. They never run out of room for more!"
"You promise?" she said, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"I promise," he told her, kissing her salty cheek. "Now, let's go find everyone else, 'cause I bet they could use your help to keep William entertained while Mama and Sally get everything settled." Gently, he set her on her feet and took hold of her hand again.
"I bet they could too," Katie said. "'Cause William likes me. He always smiles and reaches up his hands when he sees me."
"I know. He loves to have you and Lanie to play with," Wade agreed.
"We like him a lot, too," Katie said. She skipped a little as they walked down the hallway, and Wade marveled, not for the first time, at the resiliency of youth.
In the past decade, huge advances had taken place in the level of comfort available on transatlantic voyages. Over dinner, Rhett entertained them with the story of his first sea voyage.
"I was headed for the California gold fields," he said, smiling at Katie and Lanie especially. Since it was the first night out to sea, they got to stay up and have dinner with the grown-ups. "I took a ship to Columbia, where we had to get out and walk thirty miles through the jungle to the Pacific side, and then board a ship that would take us on to California."
"Where you searching for gold, Cap'n Rhett?" Lanie asked.
"Indeed I was, Miss Melanie Scarlett Fontaine, indeed I was. But not in the gold fields; standing in icy-cold water up to my knees day after day, panning for gold, was too much work for me, even in those days. No, I was searching for gold in the pockets of other men. I had that in common with your father, lovie; for a while, we both earned our living as gamblers. We both had the good sense to get into a steadier line of work as soon as we could, too, for there's no surer way to rouse hatred and jealousy than to win steadily at games of chance."
"Mama says when Daddy could, he stopped gambling and became a businessman instead," Lanie said, and looked confused when the others laughed.
"And a very sensible decision that was," Rhett agreed. "There are those who would tell you that the two things have a good deal in common, though. A good businessman, like a good gambler, has to know how to read an opponent's face, and tell what he is going to do from the way he acts. And in both cases, guessing wrong can cost a man a lot of money." He winked at Katie. "I've heard tell that your father was very good at that, so he made a lot of money, instead."
"Did you ever meet our daddy, Cap'n Rhett?" Lanie asked curiously.
"Once. Well, make that twice. I met him very briefly the very first time I ever saw your beautiful mother... at the barbecue at Twelve Oaks, the day they got the news that the war started. And once, when he was on leave from the army. That would have been the Christmas of 1863, I think. Long before you two were born."
"Did you like him?"
Rhett looked uncomfortable. "Lanie, darling," he said, "your father was much younger than I was. There was probably as much difference in age between us as there is between you and Wade, and I never spent any time with your father, so -"
"If he had spent time with him, he wouldn't have liked him, though," Katie said, her face flushed with sudden anger. "He wouldn't have liked him, because our Daddy loved our Mama, and Cap'n Rhett wouldn't like anyone who loved Mama!"
The vehemence of her words took everyone but Wade by surprise, and Katie completed everyone's amazement by putting her napkin down and saying, "Mama, I don't feel well. May I be excused?"
They had been waiting for dessert, and for either of the twins to leave the table before the last crumb of cake or pie was served was unheard of. Scarlett reached out and pressed her hand to the child's flushed face. "Katie, you have a fever," she said, rising to her feet. "Come child, I'll walk you back to your room and sponge you off before bed."
"Thank you, Mama," Katie said; taking her mother's hand she left without so much as a backward glance at the rest of them.
"What was that all about?" Rhett asked.
"Uhm – Katie and I had a discussion this afternoon that probably ties into this," Wade said uneasily. "I had intended to tell you and Mama about it, but we haven't had a private moment since it happened... it seems that Katie has decided that you and Mama won't want her and Lanie anymore, once you have your own baby. She was trying to talk me into marrying Sally, so that she and Lanie could come and live with us, and have William for a brother." Wade smiled at Sally, who blushed.
"That's silly," Lanie said, looking up at Rhett. "Mama and Cap'n Rhett will always want us. They love us."
"Of course we do," Rhett agreed. "Wade, what put this idea into Katie's head, do you know? And how did they even find out about the new baby – we haven't told them yet?"
"Seems Miss Lanie here has been eavesdropping," Wade said, giving Lanie a reproving look. "And the rest comes from Katie's imagination, I think. Oh, and something about you not liking it when Mama said her eyes were just like Uncle Tony's?"
"I remember her mother saying that, but I wasn't aware that Katie knew I didn't care for it," Rhett said, looking uncomfortable.
"Oh, Katie sees everything," Wade told him. "I thought I had talked her out of it, but evidently not. Perhaps you need to explain to her that you and Mama will still love her and Lanie, even after the new baby comes."
Rhett nodded. "Maybe I should," he said. "I don't want Katie worrying about it, that's for sure."
"It might help if you make a special effort, during the time when her mother is expecting, to include the girls in the plans for the new baby," Sally said. Her gentle voice was unexpected, but not unwelcome. "I know that there are many things that you can't but some little things... what color the nursery should be painted, for instance; the girls could be consulted on that. And they are both old enough to help decorate, perhaps to help select the crib, things like that. My sister said it helped her, several years ago, when her second child was born."
"That's a good idea," Rhett said. "I think it would help if Scarlett and I spent some extra time with the girls over the next few months, too. We could go riding, or on picnics -"
"I like picnics," Lanie said, and the adults laughed.
"You like anything that involves food," Wade teased her. Lanie stuck her tongue out at him. "Careful, it'll get stuck like that!"
"Speaking of food," Lanie said. "Since Katie isn't feeling well, can I have her dessert?"
Scarlett led Katie into the small but elegant bedroom she was sharing with Lanie. "Let's get you washed up and ready for bed," Scarlett said, keeping her voice low and soothing. "Are you angry because you're feeling bad, or is there more to it?"
"More," Katie said, leaning her head against her mother's arm. "But I really do feel poorly. Mama, are you going to have another baby?"
"Yes, I am, darling. How did you find out about that?" Scarlett released the last of the buttons on Katie's dress.
"Lanie heard," Katie said. "Will you still want us – Lanie and me – once the new baby comes?"
"Of course I will, darling," Scarlett said, smoothly lifting the dress over Katie's head, leaving the little girl clad in her chemise. "I will always want you and Lanie, no matter how many other children I might have. In fact, I'm relying on you to help me with the new baby; Sally has been telling me how good you are with William, and I will need so much help with the new baby."
Scarlett poured cool water from the ewer into the basin and dipped a soft cloth into it. She began to sponge off her daughter's feverish face, then worked down her neck to dampen her shoulders. "Ooh, that's cold," Katie complained. "What kind of help will you need with the baby, Mama?"
"Well, first, there are lots of things to do before the baby comes," Scarlett said. "Lie down, darling, and let me take your shoes off. For instance, we have to get a room ready for the baby. We have to decide what room it should be, then figure out what color to paint it. I thought we could ask your cousin Beau to make the crib, since he's always been good at things like that, but we need to decide what style we want. Then there are clothes to get ready; babies need lots of clothes, they're so untidy. Really, sometimes one wonders why anyone would bother to even have a baby..." She loosened the laces on the shoes and dropped them to the floor before pulling off the socks.
"You'll still love us?" Katie asked sleepily.
Her mother bent and kissed her gently. "I promise, Katie. No matter what, I'll always love you and your sister."
Katie is the sensitive one, and she isn't sure if she'll still be loved after the new baby comes.
Seems like Scarlett and Rhett have some work to do there!
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