Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Chapter Twenty-Six

Melly's due date was November and it was only July that meant the four adults would have to live together for four months. Surprising to Rhett Scarlett did not like Ashley. She said, "He is always talking about dreams, the past and philosophy. Nothing that I am interested in." Rhett smiled and was glad. He wondered if he would ever relax about Scarlett recovering her memory. Probably not. It was so bad then and it was so good now. He had loved Scarlett before she lost her memories and he would have only changed one thing about her, who she loved. He loved this Scarlett twice as much as the other Scarlett. He didn't think he could ever go back to that Scarlett. Maybe if she did get her memory back, she would be this Scarlett with just a lot more confidence.

Ashley was gone all day and Melly was in her room so during the day it was like they weren't even there. Scarlett did spend a lot of time with Melly but only during the day. After she put the younger children down for a nap, she would go read to Melly or just talk. Dr. Dunn came to see Melly every day. Melly had shared that when he did the cesarean section, he was going to take out her trumpets. That way she would never have to worry about getting pregnant again.

At night the Wilkes had their dinner in their room. Sometimes Beau ate with them and sometimes he ate with the Butlers. Part by chance and part by design Ashley and Scarlett rarely saw each other.

In September Beau and Wade went back to school while Ella was still being taught at home. The governess, Miss Lucas, was a very good teacher and was getting the most out of Ella. At the end of the month Rhett took the entire family to Tara. He told them they were going to stay a week. Rhett had made arrangements with Wade's teachers for him to be gone from school for that period. Rhett could do anything he wanted at the school because he was their biggest financial supporter. When they got to Jonesboro Will met them at the station in a new buggy. Scarlett realized when they didn't take the turn to Tara that Rhett had built them a home in Clayton County. He had bought the MacIntosh plantation. He had renovated the farm house. As they got out of the buggy Will handed Scarlett the books and started walking to Tara. After Will had left Rhett said, "I didn't do any real decorating of the interior of the house. We can do that together. It has five bedrooms so it may be a little snug at times but we will only be here for a week or two at a time. Pork and Dulcey have agreed to be the caretakers while we are away. Pork told me in July that he was wanting to retire and I thought this was the perfect solution. He and Dulcey will practically be retired but still be earning money. They have some rooms in the back of the house. Elijah, Prissy's husband, will be our new butler. I also hired a cook; her name is Mrs. Cloud.

I had all your childhood furniture moved over here. Your sister was not happy about losing that furniture but she should be happy that is all we took. Is there anything else you want from that house?"

Scarlett said, "I don't know. We will have to go over and look."

Rhett said, "I had your mother's office moved over here too." And smiled. "Your sister really didn't like that."

Scarlett laughed.

Scarlett wanted to change the furniture in the parlor, she wanted to paint the walls, change the drapes, and she wanted to renovate the kitchen for Dulcey. After she walked around the house, she told Rhett, "I want the picture of my grandmother." And Rhett went over to Tara and got it. Scarlett never asked what Suellen had said or done but she knew she had not been gracious about giving up the picture.

Rhett asked, "Do you want to get the picture repaired?" There was a tear in it from a bayonet.

Scarlett said, "No. It's a representation of the wounds we suffered from the war."

Rhett smiled at her and said, "Alright."

Will came over after supper and they talked about what they were going to do in regard to Tara and the MacIntosh land. Rhett suggested, "You should get some machinery to make the work easier." Will said, "I will look into it. We have half again as much land."

Scarlett reconciled the books. She and Wade walked over to the old house to leave it with Will to record his daily entries. Scarlett walked around the entire house with Suellen telling her not to steal anything else the entire time. In Careen's room she saw a straw hat and Scarlett knew it had belonged to their mother. Scarlett put it on her head. In the parlor she saw a rocker and knew she had fond memories of it but she didn't know what they were. She left it. She had so much and Suellen had so little. As they were leaving the house Scarlett said, "Bye Suellen."

As they walked back to their house Wade and his mother talked about a lot of things. Wade loved this person so much and hoped she never got her memories back.

The rest of the week was pleasant for the Butlers. Wade showed them all the special places he like to visit. Ella, Bonnie and Nick played outside and turned themselves into red dirt balls every day. They had to have a bath every night. Scarlett had brought both Prissy and Pansy to help with the children. Scarlett convinced Mammy that she was the only person she trusted to leave Mrs. Wilkes with while she was gone. Mammy was just too old to really do much work anymore but neither Scarlett nor Rhett could get her to retire. They just tried to always have a young helper to do most of the work. Everyone on the staff knew not to offend Mammy. They all knew they needed to pretend Mammy was doing her fair share of the work. It was a nice break for Rhett from Mr. Wilkes. They named their home Tara Too.

On the way back to Atlanta Rhett told Scarlett there had been a down turn in the economy and she needed to pay more attention to what was going on at the store. Scarlett started going to the store every Wednesday to discuss with Mr. Elsing the progress of the store. She agreed with him that they needed to buy more inexpensive items and display them dramatically. Mr. Elsing asked about giving some people credit and Scarlett agreed but Mr. Elsing needed to be very careful who he extended the credit to. Scarlett always looked at the list of debtors to make sure nobody was taking advantage of their kindness. Scarlett told Rhett, "I am alright with them owing me money as long as they are continually paying on their debt." Scarlett also asked Rhett to give money to the local charities that were providing food to people which he did.

October came and Pansy and Ella had their joint birthday party at Maybelle's house that year. Scarlett brought a lot more food to the party than would be needed. At the end of the party Scarlett made people take home food with them. She made it seem like they were doing her the favor by taking the food. She just happened to have a lot of small containers for people to take the food home in. She told everyone that she had to get rid of these tins because they weren't selling very well at the store which everyone knew was a lie. Rhett marveled that this Scarlett had the instinct to preserve people's pride. He thought she is mimicking Miss Melly again. He smiled to himself and thought, 'When ever she doesn't know what to do in a social situation, she acts like Miss Melly which so far has worked out well for her.'

The annual fund raiser was held at the Butler Mansion as usual. Dr. Dunn had told Melly she could attend for the dinner as long as she stayed seated then went back to bed immediately after supper. He also informed them that he and Martha would be at the event so he would be keeping an eye on her. Rhett again bid one hundred and fifty dollars to dance with his wife. Rhett told Scarlett, "If I don't do it now, they will think we are having problems.

Time flew by and it was November. Dr. Dunn set the date and he performed the surgery. Both mother and child came through the surgery wonderfully. Much to Melly's disappointment it was another boy. They named him Bernard John Wilkes for their fathers. The Wilkes stayed another week and finally returned to their little house on Ivy street. Rhett was happy the child and he did not share a birthday.

Rhett and Scarlett were very happy to see them go. It was nice to have their home to themselves for a short amount of time. Elizabeth and Rosemary would be arriving on December 20th to spend Christmas with them and would stay until all the birthdays were over.

The person who hated Scarlett was angry. Everyone thought Scarlett was so wonderful because she had saved Melanie Wilkes's life. This person thought, 'It is all a matter of money. She could afford to take Melanie to Philadelphia. She could afford to make sure Melanie followed her special diet because she could buy the things she needed.' This person was glad Melanie had survived but she was mad that Scarlett Butler was being heralded as a heroine.

As they were lying in bed one-night Rhett said, "You know my birthday is November 16th. My mother never comes for my birthday just her grandchildren's birthdays."

Scarlett said, "You now know who is more important to her."

Rhett rolled over and started tickling Scarlett until their thoughts turned to other things.

Rhett gave more attention to Bonnie and Nick but Ella and Wade knew he loved them in his way. Scarlett tried to give all her children special time every day. Scarlett had started gardening to pass the time and Ella enjoyed digging in the dirt with her. Scarlett only had to tell Ella the name of a plant once and then she never forgot it. If Scarlett had forgotten what she had planted somewhere Ella knew what it was. Scarlett really enjoyed spending this time with Ella.

She read books with Wade. He would pick out a book, they would buy two copies, each read a chapter then discuss the chapter until they had finished the book. Rhett was surprised at how much both of them loved the discussions.

Scarlett just played games with Bonnie and Nick. They were only four and eighteen months. There wasn't much more one could do with them but Rhett did see Scarlett in the nursery one day teaching Bonnie her numbers and her letters. He loved seeing Scarlett loving his children and them loving her. Every now and then he would feel a little jealous when they chose their mother over him but he would always tell himself that is the way it should have always been. They should have two parents and be loved by both of them.

Scarlett visited Melly every day. Melly was recovering from her surgery. She was sad she would never be able to have any more children but she knew that she and Ashley had made the right decision to have her trumpets removed. If they hadn't sooner or later, she would be tempted to try to have another child. At least now she and Ashley could be more than friends. If she never got pregnant again, she didn't need to worry about Preeclampsia.

Scarlett was still having weekly meetings with Mr. Elsing but she felt like he was doing a great job of managing the store. She had noticed that the longer he was the manager the more confident he got in his abilities. He had suggested doing things in a way that Scarlett didn't think would work but she let him do it that way to see if it would work. Most of the time his suggestions worked out fine but a few times they hadn't but Mr. Elsing always learned from these disappointments. She didn't like losing money but as long as the monthly balance sheets were in the black, she was alright with them trying new ideas because sometimes they worked out amazingly well.

In April the family went to Tara Too. Will brought the books over and told Scarlett he would be back in three days to pick them up. She didn't need to come to the house which made Scarlett smile. It was still her house even if Suellen was trying to keep her away. Scarlett did the books and they decorated their home. Will and Scarlett discussed their plans for the future of Tara.

On the train back from Tara Scarlett said, "You are going to be a father again." Rhett held her close and kissed her.