I'm looking at the layout of Houmas House in LA for their new house, if you want to follow along.

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Part Twelve

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"Did you write my mother?" Rhett questioned as he read a letter from his mother as he caught up on his correspondence on the train ride back to Jonesboro.

"Of course, Rhett, she took care of my child for nearly three months," she looked up at him like he was a fool.

"I, her father was with her, it's not as if I just abandoned her to my mother," he pointed out.

"You're hardly with her all-day Rhett, the fact that she came back with hair and not a nest of knots and tangles-"

"Bonnie likes her hair being brushed because she looks like a doll," he smugly countered.

"Have you heard that child when the brush hits a knot? It's like a banshee."

He had and he recalled pleading with her for ages to let the nanny continue.

"Do you have a problem with me writing to your mother?"

"It's just odd that you hadn't in the 4 years prior."

"I was going to and then you told me not to or you told me some upside down backward answer of yours that said no, but knowing you Rhett probably meant you wanted me to write her. I should write her and see if you have some type of manual or instructions. I had an easier time learning French than Rhett Butler."

Rhett said nothing for a moment, "She appreciated your letter and hopes to continue your correspondence."

Scarlett smirked.

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"Scarlett," Rhett yelled before Mammy could, "I will put a chain across that banister if you try to run up and down the stairs again."

"I was hardly running Rhett and I was holding on," Scarlett said coming off the final step of the curved sweeping staircase set off to the side of the foyer.

"Scarlett," Rhett said once more. "I will not stand by and watch you-"

"I will take them slowly Rhett and hold on," she promised with her hand on her bump, "even the baby agrees with you, guessing it was a little rocky. We may not have a seafarer on our hands."

He sighed and took a step in, she took his hand and smiled placing it where the baby was kicking, "It's obviously a boy since he's showing common sense."

"Rhett," she rolled her eyes.

He kissed, "Please be more careful or I will put your corset back on with padlocks."

She laughed at him, "Bert," she said looking beyond her husband to the man walking with a small table, "That doesn't go in the kitchen, it goes in the playroom, on the third floor, not the school room."

"Scarlett," Rhett said holding onto his wife.

"Don't worry Rhett, I'm not walking up two flights of stairs. There are only 4 rooms on that floor, we can move it later if need be."

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"Rhett, we are not replacing that staircase," Scarlett admonished her husband as they sat for a late supper with the architect.

"You can barely place your foot down if you take the inside curve."

"Your foot fits perfectly fine," Scarlett said looking at her husband as if he were insane.

"Yes when you take it at a reasonable pace and are actually thinking about your actions."

"Mr. Winston, you were there, was I taking the stairs that quickly?"

The architect hesitated.

"There are about to be four children in this house, any one of them could try to rush down the stairs and easily miss a step."

"Yes Rhett, that is why we are guiding the children on how to behave and not coddle them."

"Scarlett, I imagine you had 14 years of instruction on how to take the stairs and yet today-"

The architect finished his wine and motioned for it to be refilled.

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"How long would it take for the servant's staircase to be replaced," Rhett questioned the architect, who was beginning to lose count the number of refills he had received.

Scarlett's victory at saving the main staircase was short-lived, "The family is not taking the-"

Rhett's look silenced her.

"I imagine we could have it done in a matter of days, perhaps two, possibly three."

"That will be our first project."

"Rhett, why does that staircase need to be replaced?"

"I noticed a number of loose boards and the railing is not particularly sturdy."

Scarlett opened her mouth to speak.

"If Mammy were to injure herself?" Rhett stopped her.

Scarlett sighed, realizing her battle was lost and turned to the architect, "How long to create a back staircase that is not offensive to the eyes?"

o~o~o

"Did we just move to the country Captain Butler?" They had slipped into a habit of having conversations while she readied for bed. They spent the evening in the parlor with the children, spent a few more minutes downstairs alone as the children were readied for bed, but then went up to kiss the children goodnight and retired to their room. Perhaps if they hadn't just spent hours with the children (that could sometimes feel like years) they would remain downstairs, playing a game or having a drink.

She had often recalled those long late-night conversations as some of the happiest moments in her marriage. Those conversations had shortened considerably upon their reintroduction and had moved upstairs and instead of an endless stream of brandy, Rhett tended to have a single pour as he reclined watching her 100 strokes. More often than not she was being seduced by stroke 60, her husband had become a big fan of her vanity's bench, she made sure to include a sturdy one for the new house.

"I believe the term is retired to the country for the season," his lips twitched up in a smile.

"If someone would have told me 5 years ago that Rhett Butler moved-"

"Temporarily-" he corrected.

"To the country for the sake of his wife and four children," Scarlett smiled at him, "I would have fainted from the shock."

"I would have gotten blackout drunk," he raised his glass to her.

She chuckled, "It's not horrible is it Rhett? If you could go back-"

He walked over with drink still in hand and swung a leg over the bench so he was straddling it. His drink went down on her vanity, one hand to her leg, the other around to her hip, "We're not like those old dreamers Scarlett, are we? Stuck thinking about the good old days. We keep adapting to our new world, finding ways to make it ours."

"Rhett-"

He realized he had to answer and actually give an honest answer, he couldn't have her mind while never showing her his. "Even after everything Scarlett, everything we have done and done to each other." He paused, "I don't think you can imagine my increasing desperation to see Frank die. I would have eventually been driven to do it myself. Marriage seems like a minor thing in comparison to murder."

"So no regrets?" she asked in a moment of vulnerability, a weakness she had spent so long hiding from him.

"Plenty of regrets my sweet, but none about where we are now. The past regrets gave us our current life."

"I like our life," she admitted softly with a hand on their child, not looking at him directly, but in the mirror.

"Mrs. Butler," he said turning her gaze to him with a single finger along her jaw, "I have a suspicion you are underscoring your opinion of our life." He couldn't help but push her slightly, his weakness still there.

"I-" there was a slight hesitation, "I love our life," she admitted. Months ago, her life had been dark and cold, but now it was filled with warmth and light.

"So better than most," he questioned, still held by his vulnerability, despite it never being betrayed by his voice as it was in hers.

"I suspect much better."

Thanks for reading!

AN: Um I have a hilarious fear of spiral staircases, when there is a full spiral and not a gentle curve. I maybe, possibly climb up it (like using my hands) and sit down descending it, especially after a drink. I blame the Statue of Liberty for that now lifelong fear.