Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Chapter Sixteen

Rhett took Scarlett, the children, and Mammy to Dublin. She found her relatives. She enjoyed meeting them. She introduced Rhett as her husband. She wasn't worried about them ever finding out the truth. She would probably never see them again. She enjoyed seeing her father's homeland, but it made her miss her Pa. When she started missing her Pa it made her miss her mother and Tara. She got melancholic and Rhett took her back to London.

While they were traveling Rhett checked them into the hotels as Mr. and Mrs. Butler. Rhett never said anything about her wanting to take the children on these trips with her. He actually acted like he enjoyed having the children along also. Mammy he wanted to leave in London. At first, he didn't say anything about her presence on the trips. Mammy still gave Rhett the evil eye and she only spoke to him when Rhett asked her a direct question.

Mammy would often mutter about people pretending to be horses but all they were was mules no matter how expensive their clothes were. Mammy would make comments about Scarlett looking just like another young lady from the county, Emmie something. Scarlett would just smile when Mammy made these types of comments. Rhett would frown at Mammy. Last time when Scarlett had told Rhett about the mule comment he had just laughed. Scarlett guessed he didn't like actually hearing Mammy call him a mule. Scarlett knew that Mammy was not going to be happy the entire time they were in London.

Rhett took Scarlett, the children and Mammy to Paris and bought Scarlett more clothes. He bought Scarlett a new green hat, lace and some paintings that she really liked. When they were in the art gallery she had been captivated by a painting of a sunrise. As she stood there staring at it, Rhett joined her and said, "That is a nice painting of a sunset."

Scarlett had smiled at him. She said, "Will you buy it for me, please?"

"I will buy you anything you want, my dear."

"Thank you, Rhett. You are so incredibly good to me."

He bought it and several others she liked. She would later learn they were the art style Impressionism. She didn't get sad in Paris.

When Rhett offered to buy Mammy some material for a new dress. She had sniffed and walked off. Rhett had bought Mammy five yards of taffeta material. When he tried to hand it to her, she would not take it. Finally, Rhett ordered her to take it, but she had done nothing but stare at him blank faced. He tried to shove the material at her, and she had just let the material fall to the ground. She looked at the material on the ground then she looked at Rhett. She gave him the evil eye, harrumphed, and walked off. Later that day Rhett had said to Mammy, "You know I pay your salary."

"I won't take your money. All I take is food and some place to sleep and that's only because I have to. I have to protect Miss Ellen's grandchildren."

Later, when Rhett asked Scarlett about Mammy not taking a salary, Scarlett said, "No, she refuses to take your money because she doesn't approve of what we are doing."

"Why does she only give me the evil eye?"

"She is much more verbal with me. I just don't tell you about it."

Rhett walked off shaking his head.

Rhett would talk about their future together. He was the Rhett of the war years, but he never ran away. He was the Rhett of when she was married to Frank. He never traveled. He occasionally went out at night to drink whiskey and play cards.

Scarlett got a letter from Melanie about once a month. Melanie wrote how nice it was that Will would get his supplies from Ashley's general store. Ashley had changed the name to Wilkes's General Store, of course. Melanie wrote how happy Ashley was about going to work. It seemed running a store was a perfect fit for Ashley. Melanie explained that Ashley was a low-keyed salesman. He would explain the benefits of the product, but he also talked about the negatives. Ashley was always coming home with such delightful stories about his customers. Melanie was always hearing from people what an honest person her husband was. How much of a gentleman her husband was and how refreshing that was in these post-war times. How her husband would do anything to make sure the customer was happy, even give them their money back. He was so successful in running the store that he said they had a little extra money. He suggested that they adopt another child. Melanie had said she would rather keep feeding all the orphans. That way she could help so many more. Melanie wrote that Ashley was behaving like he did before the war.

Rhett and Scarlett had an English Christmas. They put up a tree and decorated it with crystals and little bells. They put a wreath on the door. Rhett put mistletoe sprigs everywhere. Rhett attempted to read A Christmas Carol to Scarlett and Wade but they both ended up falling asleep before the story was over. Of course, Rhett bought too many presents.

Wade called him Uncle Rhett which is what Wade had always called him from the very beginning. Ella didn't call him anything, she couldn't talk yet. Yet she always smiled so big when she saw him.

He took Scarlett, the children, and Mammy to Italy. They went to Florence, Rome, Milan and Venice. While they were in Italy Rhett asked Scarlett, "Why do we have to bring Mammy with us everywhere?"

"Who else is going to take care of the children if we don't?"

"We could hire another nursemaid to travel with us."

"Mammy wouldn't like that. Let's not do that."

"You know she works for us. Not the other way around."

"Of course, darling. Now let's retire."

Nonetheless they had a wonderful time in Italy. Scarlett knew that Rhett was frustrated because he couldn't charm Mammy into thinking he was a wonderful man.

One night, Rhett told her about his pain at having been rejected by his father. His pain at having Charleston turned their back on him. He must have told her more than he wanted because for the next several days he wore his mask. She acted like everything was normal. He wasn't cruel, mocking or mean. He was just quiet and brooding. He would just sit in his chair and stare off into space. This was a Rhett she had never had to deal with before. After several days he had returned to his normal self. Scarlett guessed he had some locked doors in his mind also.

A couple of months later Scarlett got another letter from Melanie. Melanie wrote that they were at a soiree when Grandfather Brown started talking about the war in glowing terms and talking about how great it was. After he had finished speaking, Ashley said, "The war was hell. It was the worst four years of my life. I saw awful things that I will never forget. I heard awful things that I will never forget. I said before the war started that most of the miseries of life were caused by war. I know that for a fact. I would rather never speak of it again." Most of the men at the soiree had verbally agreed with him and they too would like to never speak of it again. They all agreed it was hell and they should never have gone to war. They all remarked about the fact that them going to war had destroyed the very world they were trying to save. These men began to come by Wilkes's and talk about their horrible memories of the war. Not in great detail but enough where the other veterans knew what they were talking about. The more they talked about the war and the hardships involved with the war the better all the men began to feel.

At the end of the letter Melanie wrote: It seems you were right. We had coddled him enough.

After Scarlett finished reading the letter from Melanie, she asked Rhett, "What is a phoenix?"

Rhett sharply said, "It is a bird from Greek mythology. Why? Where did you hear about a phoenix?"

Scarlett knew that she really, really had been obtuse to not know that Rhett was insanely jealous of Ashley. She looked at Rhett and he had his mask on. The first time she had seen it since they had moved to London. She knew he thought she had been thinking about Ashley. She said, "It was something Melly said to me she said, 'You always manage to rise like a phoenix out of the ashes.' I knew it was something good by the way she said it. I never got a chance to ask her what it meant."

"There was supposedly only one phoenix alive at any time. They lived for about five hundred years. When one got ready to die, it built a nest and set it on fire. Out of the ashes a new phoenix would be born. I would have to agree with Mrs. Wilkes. You always do seem to rise like a phoenix." He had smiled his nice smile then and she knew all was well again.

Rhett took her to supper and dancing often. He took her with him to parties and always introduced her as his wife or as Mrs. Butler. A couple of the ladies wanted to call on her, but she refused. She didn't want to form a friendship based on a lie.

Rhett was home most of the time in the daytime. They took the children to the park and Rhett would play with the children. Occasionally he would look at her and get a wistful expression on his face and she would always pretend not to notice. Scarlett knew he wanted a child, but she would not give him a child without marriage. She would not marry him without him declaring his love. Scarlett had decided that he was scared to tell her of his love because he would appear weak. That telling her of his love would make him vulnerable. Sadly, even knowing she loved him he still couldn't speak of his love.

She had made them go and get their portraits done at the end of May. Their year was coming to an end. Rhett didn't know it but on June 17th he was going to have to make a decision. He would either tell her of his love or she would go home to Tara.

It was the first of June and Scarlett knew she was pregnant with Bonnie. She knew that Rhett had stopped using prophylactics in April. She had faked her monthly around the first of May. On June the fifth which should have been the first night of her flow she wore her pantalets to bed and told him that it was that time of the month.

The next day he told her that he had to go to New York on business. She had replied that she would like to go see her family. He had offered to buy her tickets for a ship whose destination was Charleston. She thanked him. He bought her tickets for the next Saturday. He said he would not leave until she left for Charleston.

Scarlett knew that Rhett knew she was packing up everything that belong to her and her children including her paintings. For the next week he had just held her. When they had relations, he used a sheath. Scarlett wondered what Rhett was thinking but she was no better at knowing his thoughts than she had been after five years of marriage. The entire week he talked about what they would do when they both got back from their respective trips. Scarlett just listened but she didn't ask questions or make any comments.

Rhett knew she wasn't coming back. He knew their year was coming to an end. He hadn't been sure that he loved her when he had asked her to marry him, but he thought he did, or he would never have married her. After this last year he knew he loved her. This last year she had been everything he had ever wanted her to be. She had matured with Frank's death. He loved her and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

Yet, he knew that she would not marry him if he didn't declare his love. He also knew that there wasn't any way that he could convince her to stay without saying he loved her and offering marriage. Then Rhett got a little mad and decided that she was trying to force him to say he loved her, and he just wouldn't do it. She was not going to win this little battle. She would come back to him.

Rhett took her to the ship and got her on board and settled in her suite. Mammy was still giving him the evil eye even after the entire year they had lived together which amused Scarlett. He stayed until he had to leave the ship. As she walked him to the gang plank, she knew he wanted to tell her he loved her. She knew he wanted to ask her to marry him. She knew he wanted to ask her to stay. Instead, he said, "I put another ten thousand dollars in your account at 1st National in Atlanta."

"That was so kind of you Rhett."

And in typical Rhett fashion before he ran away, he had to strike out. He said, "You earned it."

Scarlett reached out and caressed his cheek then teared up. She said, "Goodbye Rhett." She turned and walked away. She was going home to Tara. She had Bonnie. She would save Melly. She never turned to look at him. She believed she would never see him again.