"The house is lovely, Scarlett." Melanie commented as they continued their tour to the upstairs.
"This will be Wade's playroom. And the baby's once she's old enough. This is his bedroom and the nursery." Scarlett noted without much interest since the rooms they passed were incomplete."One of these will be Rhett's, I suppose." she continued, waving her hand in an effort to keep further discussion of her husband at bay.
"It's lovely Scarlett. I've never seen a finer home." Melanie assured, following her friend across the hall.
"This is my room. I made some last minute changes so it's not-" Scarlett stopped at the opened doors and gasped at the sight of a fully finished suite.
"Is this what you had in mind?" Rhett asked with a tempered grin. "I do believe it's extravagant enough to satisfy the Queen herself. Eugenie - not Victoria, who I believe would rather die…"
Scarlett huffed at his teasing but couldn't deny she was pleasantly surprised. Inspecting the room carefully, it took her until she returned to the door to notice Melanie left. Alone with her husband Scarlett turned slowly to face him.
"Why did you do this?"
"I want you to be happy." Rhett offered, his tone free of jest. When Scarlett remained quiet he continued. "The hotel is quite cramped, I thought it might be nice to have our room complete."
"Our room?" Scarlett repeated with a raised eyebrow. Making her way over to the bed, she stood and inspected it. "It is awfully large...too large for one person."
"Scarlett-" Rhett began, walking up beside her and standing so close they nearly touched. "I've been a fool and I'm sorry. I love you Scarlett."
Scarlett's breath caught at his words and the shock caused Rhett to stop.
"Are you alright?"
Quickly brushing away stray tears, Scarlett nodded.
"Are those tears of joy or sorrow?" Rhett wondered as he used his thumb to brush away a new wave.
"Oh Rhett," Scarlett cried turning and burying her face in his chest. "Do you mean it? Do you really love me?"
"You know I do. I've loved you since the moment you threw that vase at me in the library of Twelve Oaks."
Scarlett hated the reminder of the scene but the feeling of Rhett's chest rumbling with laughter was a fair consolation.
"I love you too." Scarlett confessed. "I don't know when it happened but it did."
Rhett raced his hands along his wife's arm to take in her words and presence. He'd given up hope that their paths would ever avoid cross purposes but here they stood.
"You don't fool me Rhett Butler."
Scarlett's words drew Rhett from his thoughts and he looked at her with puzzled misunderstanding.
"This is all an elaborate ploy to feel the baby." Scarlett teased with her girlhood smile.
"I will confess, the thought did cross my mind." Rhett grinned, moving his hands to either side of her abdomen. "My mother tells me we're having a girl. Does she have a name?"
Scarlett grinned at Rhett's sincere interest in the baby but recoiled at the thought of sharing her idea for names.
"I can see she does." Rhett laughed with approval. "It's undoubtedly awful but I'll get used to it or call her something else entirely."
Pouting at Rhett's teasing, Scarlett kept her mouth shut.
"Don't be a poor sport - particularly since you've already won. You're not planning to name our daughter after the Queen are you?" Rhett inspected his wife's face and chuckled when he realized he'd guessed correctly. "Which one?"
"Both." Scarlett defiantly replied. "I think Eugenie Victoria is a lovely name."
"Genie Butler," Rhett replied, acclimating himself to the name. "Well, it could be worse."