Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews.

Chapter Forty

When Rhett woke up the next morning he turned over and looked at his wife. He felt so helpless. Even with all his money and all his knowledge there wasn't anything he could do but wait. He had interviewed almost every doctor in Atlanta about pre-eclampsia and how to treat it. They had all agreed with Dr. Harrison on how to treat the condition. One of the doctors had given him a contact at the Teaching Hospital in Philadelphia. Rhett had written him on the best treatment for Scarlett's condition and the doctor, a Dr. Dunn, had concurred with Dr. Harrison's treatment plan also.

He just looked at her. She had never looked worse. She was very pregnant but she was also very swollen. Her face was too round and her hands were huge. Scarlett's fingers that had always been small and delicate looked like sausage fingers. Little sausage fingers and he laughed a little hysterically at the thought. Scarlett would be so upset if she knew he was laughing at her hands. That thought sobered him immediately. She must be so miserable.

He could not lose her now. Not after everything they had already gone through. He laid there and wondered if they hadn't lost the baby in the first-time line would she have gotten preeclampsia then also. He would have gone to Charleston and then soon after his return, she would have gotten sick. Would it have made their marriage whole or would their marriage have just gotten worse? Probably worse. It seemed everything made their marriage worse.

Or was this fate trying to keep everything the same. Since they had returned in time the major pivotal points were the same except with a twist. Scarlett survived in the original time line but the baby didn't. Would the twist be both of them survived or neither one survived? He wasn't going to entertain the possibility that Scarlett and the baby would die.

He knew he shouldn't wake her but he had to kiss her and he had to hold her. He kissed her and she snuggled into him which made him feel wonderful. Rhett smiled.

Rhett whispered, "Scarlett"

Scarlett turned more into him.

He whispered again, "Scarlett."

Very softly she said, "What Rhett?"

"Wake up."

"No."

"Please."

"It's all your fault you know."

Rhett smiled and said, "I know."

"As long as you know."

"How is it all my fault?"

Perplexingly she said, "It isn't the baby's fault so it has to be your fault."

"If it is my fault then I will fix it."

"Thank you."

He just held her and let her go back to sleep.

Mammy didn't understand what was wrong with her little lamb but she knew that it had to do with her being pregnant and that if she could survive until the baby was born, she and the baby would be alright. She liked hearing what the doctor had to say. She could tell a lot by the way he said things. She could tell a lot by the way Mr. Rhett and Mrs. Wilkes reacted to his words. More Mrs. Wilkes than Mr. Rhett for Mrs. Wilkes was not very good at hiding her feelings.

For the next three months every day that Rhett woke up and Scarlett was still alive and breathing he gave a sigh of relief. Every night he laid in the bed listening to her snore. Normally Scarlett didn't snore but Rhett found the sound very comforting. It was like a lullaby. It let him know she was still alive even when he was sleeping. He prayed she would live until it was time to deliver his son. Dr. Harrison had made it painfully clear that if either the baby died or Scarlett died, they would take the other one with them. Scarlett was in the most danger although the baby was not out of danger.

Soon Wade started getting in bed with them in the middle of the night. Rhett knew that Wade was very worried about his mother. If it brought the boy comfort to sleep with his mother then Rhett was not going to object. Once Scarlett was out of danger Wade was going back to his own bed.

Bonnie who had gotten to where she only got in bed with them once or twice a week was now joining them every night also. Rhett was glad they had gotten an oversize bed. It was not an inconvenience to him because both children slept on Scarlett's side of the bed. Even as swollen and uncomfortable as Scarlett was, she never complained about her children bumping her or rolling over on her in the night. Rhett decided that her children's presence brought Scarlett comfort also.

This was their day: Mammy brought Scarlett her breakfast and got her ready for the doctor's visit.

Dr. Harrison came to see Scarlett. Rhett was always with her and he would send a servant to go get Melly. Mammy was already there. Everyone would listen to what Dr. Harrison said.

Dr. Harrison didn't tell the Butlers that the baby may not be getting enough nutrition because of Mrs. Butler vomiting so often. Dr. Harrison also didn't tell them that because of all the extra fluid Mrs. Butler was retaining it might force her into labor too soon. The doctor didn't tell them about either of these issues because there wasn't anything they could do about them.

Rhett would bring Bonnie to their room after the doctor's visit. Bonnie would lay with her mother. Scarlett and Bonnie would play with her toys and her dolls. Scarlett would listen to Bonnie talk to her. Rhett knew that Scarlett didn't understand most of what Bonnie said but she managed to respond at the right spots.

Rhett would have dinner with her while Melanie had dinner with the children. Rhett knew Scarlett was not eating enough but she said she just wasn't hungry and if she forced the food down it made her vomit.

Melanie would put the children down for a nap then come and read to Scarlett. She would spend the rest of the day until supper with Scarlett. After Wade and Beau got up from their naps they would come and spend time in Scarlett's room. Scarlett would make Wade tell her stories. She was discovering that her son had a wonderful imagination. They read, played games and mainly just spent time with Scarlett. Melly usually stayed with them.

That is when Rhett would try to get all his business taken care of. In her seventh month his London attorney wired him that he had to come to London. Hundreds of dollars were at stake.

Rhett wired: Unable to leave Atlanta at this time STOP. Do the best you can STOP.

There was no way he was leaving Scarlett right now even if it cost him his entire fortune. The attorney had managed to handle the situation with a financial loss of less than a thousand dollars. Rhett was satisfied with the outcome. He told his London attorney to start divesting him of his overseas portfolio.

Rhett, Melanie and the children would have supper together. Mammy would sit with Scarlett while she ate her supper. The children would bathe then go tell Scarlett good night. Rhett would go to their room as soon as the children were asleep. He would read to Scarlett or just talk to her about what they were going to do in the future.

By eight she was usually asleep every night. He would spend the rest of the night trying to read his correspondence and handle more of his business concerns but mostly he just stared at her. While he was staring at her he would often wish he had a recent picture of her but he knew she would never allow her picture to be taken right now. He would often think, 'Scarlett had been right for us to not have any more children.'

Rhett had found Prissy in their room on more than one occasion telling Scarlett about what she was reading or about Esau's reading lessons. Prissy would tell Scarlett about her day or her six months old daughter. Scarlett always seemed so happy after these visits. Rhett didn't understand it but Scarlett always seemed to get great comfort from Prissy's presence.

When Rhett walked in the room, Prissy would quickly leave the room. Rhett had told Prissy on more than one occasion that it was alright for her to be in their room visiting with his wife. It never made any difference Prissy would always quickly leave the room.

When Rhett asked Scarlett, "Why does Prissy run away every time I enter the room?"

"You make her nervous."

"I make Prissy nervous? How can you tell?"

"Prissy is not flighty or silly. That is just an act she puts on so people will not expect as much from her. She became my friend and confidant after Mammy passed away. She was a great source of comfort to me as she is again."

Rhett shook his head in disbelief and just said, "Alright."

One night, Scarlett said, "You will have to go order me some new dresses. I will be at least an inch bigger if not two as large as I have gotten."

"Most of that is water and once you give birth to the baby you will lose all that fluid. You will be back to your normal tiny size."

"No, I will never be that tiny again. I am alright with it. As long as I don't get fat, I will be alright."

"I will send Melly to pick out some dresses for you tomorrow."

"No, not Melly. Her clothes are always too dowdy. I will not wear dowdy clothes. You must go."

"I will take care of it."

Soon she was asleep.

Two days later in the afternoon, Rhett walked into their room with Eugenia Krause. She was Scarlett's favorite dress maker. Mrs. Krause had a few of her pattern books and some swatches of material for Mrs. Butler to look at. Mrs. Krause had been dressing Scarlett Butler for years now. Mrs. Butler had helped keep her dress shop afloat. If Mr. Butler wanted her to bring all her fabric and all her patterns over to show Mrs. Butler she would. After an hour Scarlett had placed an order for six dresses. The dresses were going to be three inches bigger than her current dresses. Mrs. Krause thought that was excessive but Mr. Butler had asked her to give Mrs. Butler what she wanted and not to argue with her or upset her in any way. The patterns they had picked out where ones that could easily be taken in to fit Mrs. Butler's new body size. Scarlett had picked out some new dresses for Bonnie also. She had wanted to buy Ella some too but she knew she couldn't give Ella lots of presents without Suellen getting mad.

When Mrs. Krause left Scarlett was humming a little tune and Rhett was glad, she was happy. He had been a little bit afraid the new dress size would upset her or give her melancholy. Scarlett said, "You are so good to me Rhett. That was so much smarter than you trying to pick something out. How did you get Mrs. Krause to come over here?"

"I simply asked her to make a house call."

"How smart you are."

Rhett had simply sent her a note asking the dressmaker to come to their house with patterns and material. He had known she would. Rhett knew how much money his wife spent in Mrs. Krause's dress shop every month. Afterall he paid the bills.

Scarlett's thoughts in regard to Rhett were all over the place. She loved him. She hated him. She needed him. She never wanted to see him again. When he held her, she felt safe and secure. That never changed she always felt safe and secure when he held her. When she was seven and a half months along, she wanted Rhett in an intimate way so badly she couldn't hardly stand it. She knew they couldn't. Dr Harrison said that might kill her so they couldn't do that. That is when she noticed that something was missing when Rhett held her. There was no evidence that he was getting aroused. He must be being unfaithful to her again. How could he? He promised he would never do that again. He wouldn't do that again. He promised. Besides he never went anywhere. He was cheating on her with Melly. No! Melly would never do that. Rhett wouldn't do it with Melly because he would be afraid of getting Melly pregnant. He was being so sweet and kind and taking care of everything. He never went anywhere. No, he wasn't cheating on her. Who could blame him she was so repulsive? It didn't matter if she was repulsive, he promised to be faithful. She knew he had a strong sex drive maybe he couldn't help himself. What was he some kind of animal? He should be able to control himself. Afterall he was proud of his self-control. No. No. I know he isn't doing that. Maybe he was leaving the house after she went to sleep every night. Maybe he was visiting Belle again. No Belle had left town. Then some other whore. No. No. He isn't leaving after I go to sleep. Every time I wake up, he is right there. Rhett loves me too much to do that.

She never said anything to anyone about her thoughts. She couldn't stop her thoughts from going around and round no matter how hard she tried.