Moon Firestar: Lol. No, normal generic miscarriage. No elaborate surrounding events.
Ninigi: Lol and you nailed this upcoming chapter. Um it was totally not me that caused the plot twist, it was just the path to the major plot/purpose/summary. I swear I can watch Hallmark movies all day and be happy, I enjoy easy and happy...Ugh that is not ever Rhett and Scarlett.
Thanks for all the amazing reviews and welcome to the new readers that just joined the story! I hope everyone had an okay weekend!
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Part Fifteen
June 1872
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"What day are you planning on going to New Orleans?" Scarlett asked in the same empty tone her words had been in for the last week.
He hadn't been. He'd sent a wire after Scarlett lost the baby. There was no business as usual after a child had been lost. "I sent a wire that I'd be unable to attend."
"I'm fine," she gave a slight shake to her head, "I was thinking I would take the children to Tara while you were there."
He noted she did not ask him to accompany her. "Are you sure?"
"Quite," she nodded.
"Three days from now?" He asked.
"I'll send word to Suellen."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Bonnie don't you want to stay with Mother?" Scarlett spoke as her green eyes were wide and desperate as Bonnie lost her mind as her father went to leave Tara without her as Suellen and her family looked on in the parlor that had once held so many happy memories.
"No! I want Daddy," her fingers clutched at his jacket, crushing the material.
Scarlett continued to try desperately as Rhett's words had failed to sway their daughter. "But you have Wade and Ella, your cousins, don't you remember your cousins, you had so much fun last year."
"No!" The three-year-old had a sharp refusal.
"She certainly takes after you, Scarlett," Suellen said smugly as Nicky was happily nestled against her pillowy mid-drift as they sat on the sofa.
"Bonnie, if you stay with us, we'll play with you like Uncle Rhett," Wade tried for his mother's sake.
"Won't that be fun, playing with your brother and sister. The kitties in the barn, we can pick flowers and make you a princess crown, I bet Uncle Will will help you ride a pony," she shot a look at him.
"Uh sure will," Will answered.
"I want Daddy!" She screamed again.
o-o-o
The family parlor at Tara had once been such a cheery place, full of beautiful furnishings and warmth that she now knew didn't come from things. Now the furniture that remained was threadbare, the drapes weren't showstoppers, but functional window coverings to keep to room cool (she made a note to send her sister the window dressings she had replaced at Peachtree). It had once been filled with a happy family, a contented mother, a devoted father, and children who had never known anything, but a good life and love. Now the room held her and Suellen. The children and Will asleep upstairs and Rhett and Bonnie already over a hundred miles away. She couldn't even blame Rhett for stealing away their daughter. He had tried just as they all had tried to convince Bonnie to stay. He had tried to leave without her, but Scarlett couldn't stand to hear her child so utterly devastated, so she'd sent Bonnie with her father.
There was an emptiness within Scarlett that felt nearly as strong as it had after she had Wade. She wished the children were awake and with them, they filled the world with their noisiness, making it at least feel as if she weren't so alone. She wished her baby was in her arms and not tucked away in the nursery. She had no idea how she would sleep without him tonight.
Suellen was right though, once babies slept through the night it was normal to have them sleeping in the nursery. She should have moved Nicholas in with Ella over a month ago. She should have had a servant change him in the morning and bring him into her to be fed, once he was clean and presentable.
Only she liked falling asleep to all of his little noises. She liked being the first person he saw in the morning, the smile and utter delight on his face when hers got near. She liked doing such a variety of silly noises and faces while she changed him that anyone who saw her would think she were mad.
"Your daughter certainly adores her father," Suellen commented in the vast parlor that contained only them. She had set aside the dress she'd been repairing as the last of the light went down, they didn't have the lamps to do such repairs at night. There was naught to do but talk.
"She does. Like I loved Pa."
"Even more so I imagine, I wouldn't have thought that possible. He seems to allow her everything."
Scarlett smiled, "He says no plenty. Unfortunately for him she's as adamant as her mother about getting her way."
"You certainly did get it all," Suellen said with no visible emotion.
"I certainly have a beautiful life." She had all the things. The finely appointed house, the rich and dashing husband, four healthy children.
"I'm expecting again," Suellen said simply.
Scarlett's heart clenched and she forced herself to not show any emotion. She certainly hadn't written to Suellen about the baby or the loss. "How nice, I hope it goes well." She nearly blanched at how awful that sounded, truly her mother had raised her better.
"Hopefully Will gets his son, like Captain Butler got his."
"I don't imagine Captain Butler cared one way or another about Nicky being a boy or a girl."
"He might have said that, but every man wants a son," Suellen informed her sister.
"Captain Butler has certainly never been like most men. You've seen him with Bonnie, I don't imagine there'll be anything a son could do that she won't."
"I imagine, you're quite right," Suellen spoke, still with no emotion betraying her face as she took in her sister, whose wealth practically dripped off her.
"This room needs a piano again," Scarlett suddenly informed her sister.
"This room needs a great many things; I doubt a piano will happen in my lifetime." She doubted they would ever truly be poor again, even without Scarlett's help, they could have a decent life.
"Ella's started to play this year. You were much better at it than I was, I imagine you could teach the girls at least the basics."
"Mr. Benteen-"
"Oh, I don't expect Will to buy it. I'll make it our Christmas gift to the family this year," Scarlett said getting caught up in the idea. Yes, a piano would make this room feel better, feel more familiar, fill it with energy again.
"We could hardly refuse such a gift," Suellen said as always disliking of her sister's charity, but grateful for it. Something to make this all feel like more than it was. Make it feel like it should be.
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"Mother!" Bonnie yelled, her eyes shining as she stepped off the train to see her mother. Scarlett had ridden in with Pork from Tara to pick them up on their return trip. Rhett would at least spend two nights with her, that made up for the horror at having to let Bonnie go with him to New Orleans.
He would have likely agreed to more, but the last thing she wanted was her husband staying with her out of pity. It had been one thing to accept her husband staying with her because of his love for the children, it was another entirely for him to stay because of his pitying her.
She squatted to reach Bonnie, she could hardly breathe let alone bend with how tightly she'd had Sally lace her up. She was in one of the new dresses she'd had made with the Parisian fabric Rhett had brought her from Charleston. White with a delicate blue flower, he'd likely mock her for wearing it along the dusty country roads. The dress had called for a country party, which she'd likely never see again.
In the mix of her daughter's greeting, she had told her that she was beautiful, her husband was quick to agree.
"I must agree with our daughter, you look exquisite, I imagine we'll be set upon by bandits, the country hasn't seen such splendor in such a time."
"Why thank you, but they'd hardly attack an O'Hara, you Captain Butler," she gave him an appraising look, only her husband could survive traveling with Bonnie and remain unblemished, as if he'd just walked out of his room.
"Do not forget Scarlett, one day you will have been a Butler for longer than an O'Hara."
God willing. She was struck aback by that thought, just as she had been the day he'd been missing for two nights. She wanted Rhett to grow old with her. "I will always be an O'Hara first. Pork is waiting with the wagon."
o-o-o
Bonnie filled the wagon ride home with tales of their adventure, at least she did as well as a 3-year-old could.
Scarlett's eyes wanted to flicker to her husband every time she heard, 'Lawence' pass her daughter's lips. Lawrence, her husband's ward. She hadn't even learned his name until they were married and in New Orleans. He'd certainly never taken her to see his ward.
Bonnie was older now; she'd be easier to ply for information. Bonnie could certainly tell and recall basic things such as hair color, perhaps she'd be able to recall his eye color. Certainly, if they were dark like her father and brother's. She wondered if her daughter knew his age, Wade was certainly of an average height, she could ask questions based on Wade's height if Bonnie didn't know his age. Of course, if he were Rhett's son there was a good chance his height would be greater than Wade's. Getting his height and age would certainly be useful information.
Scarlett had been in such a state after they had returned from their three months away that she hadn't thought to pepper her daughter with questions about New Orleans. She had certainly gleamed every detail she could from her daughter about her trips to Charleston, those were becoming more detailed. She imagined she would fare much better getting answers about Lawrence this time, rather than her answer of 'blue' when Bonnie was just barely two, regarding the ward's hair color.
o-o-o
"Wade's becoming an excellent rider, Captain Butler," Will said looking at his brother in law.
"Rhett, please," he smiled. It was a perverse thing, the formalities they placed on themselves. They had this discussion the first time he'd been to Tara to drop the children off before they embarked on their honeymoon.
"Of course, Rhett. Wade tells me you're riding on the outskirts of Atlanta."
"The landscape is quite similar to here in fact," he nodded. "It's nice to get out of the city a few days a week."
"Mother, why can I ride in town here, but not at home."
Her eyes widened at the impertinence of her child. Suellen did awful things to the children, like teaching them to talk back to her. She realized the table was watching her and she certainly couldn't snap at Wade like she wanted to and her child knew it, she knew he was more clever than he let on. "Because this is a small town. Maybe if we lived on the outskirts of Atlanta it would be different. We have the streetcar and the road can be heavily traveled."
"Scarlett, you hardly live in New York," Suellen commented.
"It is a very large horse and he is still a very small boy," she informed her sister. She turned her attention back to Wade, "I believe Uncle Rhett offered you a pony last year. I would be perfectly fine if you wanted a pony to ride about town."
Rhett did his best not to laugh.
"No thank you, Mother."
o-o-o
Scarlett stared blankly at the corner of the nursery that had previously contained the crib Nicky had been sleeping in. She slowly swept the room with her eyes to see if she had missed it elsewhere.
"I had it moved to your room," Rhett said approaching behind her.
"Why?" She questioned as she turned to face her husband.
"Because Nicholas has been sleeping through the night for months now and if you wanted him in a room aside from yours, you would have done it already."
"Nonsense Rhett, he's old enough to sleep without disturbing Ella. He should be in the nursery. Children are meant to sleep in the nursery."
He didn't give in to the bait. They went through this every few months with Bonnie. He'd spent ages on the train ride home last year explaining to her how she would start to share a room with Ella. They'd done it again in the fall. Then again shortly after Nicholas was born. It was hardly worth all the effort spent talking the child into it only to have her eventually wake up screaming and returning to him. "You enjoy caring for your son, it's hardly something to be ashamed of."
"I'm not ashamed of-" she took a breath, "that is hardly what this is about."
"He's happy with you, you're happy with him. It doesn't make any sense for him to be across the house." She'd just lost a child; he knew if she'd shared that information with her sister that the crib would have been moved to her room.
"I'll put him down in our room for the night since you already moved the crib, but Suellen is expecting again. I expect you to have the crib moved back to the nursery before we leave. You can't leave it to Will when he already puts in such long days."
Our room. He couldn't recall the last time he'd heard Scarlett speak those words; it was so far in their past. He found himself smiling as he followed after his wife.
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