Hello everyone and thank you for your support!
Here it is, Scarlett's pregnancy is revealed! Denied pregnancy is really a surprising thing when it's suddenly brought back to life, and in my work, I've recently had to accompany one future mother, especially through the swift changes in her body as she finally realized she was pregnant. It went from what seemed a flat belly to a swollen one in a matter of days, and there was this question that came back often to her: "Where the hell could he have hidden himself?"
Here, with Scarlett, it put to light not only her own denial and ignorance about her body, but also Rhett's denials as well.
I hope you will like this chapter. Some moments are really sweet, and I think I had my teeth sticking because of it. So I may have added some angsty tiny little moments. You know, to unstick it.
... I'm really bad with fluff, am I not?
Good reading!
.
Chapter 42
Suddenly, just as the mystery was still great about the events in Butler's Hearth, such as Miss Bertha's illness and Captain Butler's disappearance of three days, the house opened up once again for a masquerade ball, and many were invited, from many states.
It was a grandiose party, as everyone was all on one level, one such that it was difficult to know who was who. Even the disguises and masks could not differentiate the higher born to the lowers, as they had been provided very generously by the host himself and generally covered a big part of the body and the face.
Yet, ladies and gentlemen shrugged. Certainly, if the other people had been invited, it must have been that they belonged in the same circles, and it was with this belief that they enjoyed themselves very much, and allowed themselves quite the eccentricities. Especially when was brought up a contest of role-playing, the winner having the satisfaction of the admiration of its audience, but also that the sum gathered by each contestant and supports would serve a great cause, that of an orphanage in Georgia, and the restoration of the one in the city.
In this, a young woman dressed quite soberly as Southern widows used to do, distinguished herself and gathered many supports for her rendition of Lady Macbeth.
A few minutes before the reveal came and all masks had to be taken off, the host, which was quite remarkable for his lack of disguise came with the young widow at his arm and raised his glass. He made a great and very eloquent speech about his pleasure at seeing so many good men and ladies enjoying themselves. All cheered him as he continued, a mischievous twitch of the mouth and glint in the eye, and evoked the strength of the South and its people, and their evident open-mindedness and courage in supporting causes of the greatest good. His companion at his side seemed to grin, green eyes bright like those of a cat's.
And then, swiftly, he changed the subject and announced.
"I do have the greatest pleasure with that to announce that Miss Bertha has agreed to become my wife. My deepest apologies to most of the gentlemen right here, she's not available anymore."
Some groaned, some cheered and laughed, yet all presented their congratulations to the obvious couple. Especially some ladies who were known for their great minds, and the way they had handled men's work to survive after the war. To these, Miss Bertha whispered a connivant:" For the cause," and to some, her smile was cheeky.
There, theories flew, such as the young woman had finally tricked the captain into matrimony by seducing him. Or maybe it was the contrary? Both sides were at war, especially when came the questions of the motivations, some ladies being quite grandiloquent at praising the woman's devotion and sacrifice.
Yet, the music continued, and all was forgotten until finally the clock rang and everyone had to let go of their mask.
There, two shocking reveals came.
The first was that suddenly the host and his new fiancée were nowhere to be found.
The second, that among the invitees, most that had been appreciated and talked with, there were former slaves, militants, gypsies, and members of the working class. Some very much bewildered at having got along with people they thought they couldn't possibly, and very surprised at having been tricked so.
No one knew really from which side came the first laugh. But soon enough, it spread quickly, and the party continued.
Oh, Captain Butler was such a devil! And his woman, for then, she couldn't be anything else than his accomplice!
….
Weeks passed, and there was no denying the truth that Scarlett's pregnancy, though quite spectacularly brought up to the light and with a swift development of the belly raising many questions in the family as to the date of the conception, was going as it should be. Even if it still took many appointments to a very tired Dr. Hopskins who had to explain that, yes, it was not worrying that the young woman's womb would be so big in such a short time, as it seemed the baby seemed to have finally settled as babies generally did (which brought up the question as to how it could have settled before and not shown any sign before). But certainly, the most embarrassing question that he had to answer was that of Scarlett herself, when she asked why she had her monthlies still each month before that. Thankfully, her lover had been swiftly sent out of the way for a moment (and the task seemed to have been hard, for the doctor quickly realized Captain Butler was not a man to flee over such a matter as womanly particularities and could be quite inquiring).
Scarlett knew indeed that even if her man had come back with new strength and ready to face it with her, adding other worries to the matter may prove quite unnecessarily counter-productive to that work if there was nothing to it, as she thought it was.
And indeed, it seemed like it, for the doctor said that in such cases, blood could come as usual, like a trick of the mind that said nothing of the real state of the body.
As for Scarlett and Rhett, they talked about it only once, but it was one time that finished settling it all in their relationship, and they left it lighter and freer. It was the night, and they watched the stars after a little evening picnic, away from the children. Rhett's head was on Scarlett's lap, and she caressed his face tenderly, relishing in the warmth of the moment. His eyes were closed, and he seemed peaceful. She watched him until the darkness prevented her from seeing the details of his features, and when it did, he opened his eyes, and she shuddered at the pain in it.
"Scarlett," He said, and his voice was quiet and a little sad.
"Rhett? What's going on? Are you…"
"It's alright, darling," He paused, as if asking himself if it was the right thing to do, and she wanted to soothe the frown on his forehead. How much time had he spent there thinking, when she thought he was carefree? "There's something, I believe, I have to come clean to you.
About that day, when I returned from Charleston. About all the miseries that happened…"
She sighed heavily and shook her head.
"Rhett, I told you. It's the past and…"
"… It has to stay in the past. Yet, my dear, I do believe for me it's not that simple, and I can't promise you the effects it had on me will never be shown again. I won't impose it on you if it's too much to bear for you. You already have enough on your plate. Yet, living with you makes me realize I cannot go on denying the truth anymore… I want… I need… to get it off my chest somehow."
Her eyes examined him attentively, silently, and he awaited their judgment with anxiety, unused as he was at this second honest confidence.
Well, to be honest, the first one had been quite urgently prompted, but then it was one thing now he realized he needed, that they needed, to settle the stones correctly in their relationship, so that the walls of their love may not crumble around them. It had been about the past, his past. Yet, now, it was about one matter in their relationship that was not a secret, yet not a shared truth either. It was a matter he had tried to ignore time and time over, yet came back just as often. Especially now.
She had accepted until then everything about him. Would she now, hearing the words he was going to say, and that will necessarily hurt her?
It was agonizing, yet he knew if he kept it to himself, he would go crazy. He almost did.
She nodded quietly, he let out a breath of relief.
"Go on."
He gathered his thoughts and began.
"When I saw you… When I heard your body fall down these stairs… My heart stopped. For a moment, I could do nothing but stare and stare. I couldn't think. I could have caught you at that moment. But I did not. You wore a red nightgown that day, and I could only see that red fabric rolling down, light and meaningless. And then, just as suddenly, there was a body, your body, and I had done nothing to stop it. Worse than that, for a moment… For one terrible moment… scoundrel that I was, I almost felt relief…"
She stopped caressing his hair.
"Rhett… You're hurting yourself…"
Yet, he did not seem to hear it, and seeing him suffering like that, she did not even think that she could be offended by what he was saying. Instead, she was also feeling it with him, in a terrible contagion of emotions that she did not know how to stop.
"Relief because I was free! Because I was hurt, and you hated me, you didn't want me, nor our family and I wanted everything to go to hell because I was living a lie and it was because of you… or so I thought. But the moment stopped, and then I realized… I was the one to tie me down, and you… You, that I loved so much, you that I hated so much… what kind of man was I, to feel relief? Under what kind of spell was I? I could never be free of you, yet I could lose you. I could lose you!" His voice broke. "You that I thought would always be here, somehow waiting for me. You that could survive wars and losses, you could be broken, and by me. How terrible, my love, to think you could be destroyed, and that I could be the one to do it! How terrible to think that you could be taken away from me, like this, and it could happen in a blink! To think that I could live without you…!
"I have waited, for you to give me a sign. I did not want to think of your pain. I could not. It was easier for me to think you could not feel, and I'm ashamed to tell you I took care to delude myself like that. Because, then, it was easier to let you go. I told Miss Melly I would wait forever if only there was a chance you would love me, but I have to admit I had stopped looking for it. It was easier to focus only on Bonnie, who loved me. Bonnie who was young, and who could not possibly die before me, like you almost did. Bonnie that I could not lose… Simple, cold logic. Through her, it was also you I was seeing, you as I wished you to be: unbreakable and for me, only for me… But I did lose her. I did lose her, and you were still here, further away from me than ever, and yet, even your presence, I could lose. So why not end it all now? Why not kill you and me as well, so then it would all be finished?
"I was driven mad, that time. Whenever I had to think, whenever I had to feel, I would drink myself to death, but death would never come. And then Miss Melly died. I knew it would happen, and I considered it as a sign. I had to stop myself from hurting that way. It brought some sense of purpose, some calm. As if suddenly all feeling had left me, and nothing could reach me anymore. With her gone, how could I ever hope to have you, and never lose you? She was the only ally I had left. I took it as a sign and packed my things. And you came. You came with tears in your eyes, and you said you loved me. But I could not bring myself to think of it. And when you said we could have another child… All I could think was that day on the stairs, where I almost lost you. And then I got angry, because I thought you wanted to replace Bonnie…."
"I did not…"
"I know, Scarlett. But it was easier to focus on the fact I was angry with you for thinking so than thinking that maybe all feeling of care and love had not completely disappeared, and that I was still afraid to lose you."
Scarlett's eyes widened, and she returned back to the current events.
"And when you've reproached me of not seeing I was pregnant…"
He nodded, a pained expression on his face.
"I was reproaching myself of not seeing it. Of not being prudent enough. I was risking your life once again, and here we were, and I was going to lose you… It had always been easier for me to blame you, for then you've always let me do it. I could live thinking that I did not care for you, and it was especially easier when I thought you cared nothing for me, that you did it out of malevolence. But I could not live knowing you were going to die. So I fled. Like a coward. I fled because I had not the strength to catch you when you fell. I fled because it was easier to think you lived still, and that I could reach you anytime I'd be ready, than losing you before my eyes. But losing you, it seems I risk it all the time, and then… No, I cannot… I cannot do it again…"
Scarlett's mind ran up and down with this information, her tiny clipped brows raising and frowning, her mouth tight with concentration, and when she heard the last words, her resolve broke. She raised abruptly, and Rhett yelped as the lap where he had been resting his head on was suddenly quite the lost haven, leaving him falling on the grass with his woman scowling above him.
"You're too hard on yourself. Get up."
"Scarlett…"
"Get up, I say. You have got it out of your chest, but now you're falling back in, and I will not stand for it," She berated him. "Here!"
She let herself fall. He caught her swiftly, without a blink, and scowled at her.
"Scarlett!"
"See. You've caught me," She grinned, raised, and fell back in again. He caught her, and this time did not let her go. "Here, you've caught me again. Enough nonsense about you feeling guilty over what happened, and feeling relief. My, I would have felt relief as well, if I had been in your place."
"You madwoman…" He bellowed, and there were anger and strength in his voice.
"Rhett, you cannot change the past, and I cannot as well," She pleaded lovingly, yet strongly. "You have me now, and I have you. We have lived these things, these terrible things, and then here we are. We are not the same we were before. The same things may happen, but we will not be like before. I know I won't, because now I know you are here, with me, and that I can trust you. I will listen to you, as long as you would need me to. But I will not let you fall back in again, just like you will not let me fall either. We are stronger than this. We are. And if you don't believe it, I will repeat it to you until you do.
"I will let you go, over and over again, if it's what it takes for you to come back to me. I will let myself fall over and over again into your arms, if it will stop you from feeling guilty over not catching me when you could have, if this image of you catching me sticks into that thick head of yours and brings you peace. But there are only a few things I can do, and still you may not believe it, and I may not always be able to say it in a way that would make you do so! I wish… Oh, I wish there was a way, to make you see…"
She stopped abruptly, her eyes glinting with the strength of a new idea. She took off her brooch, looked at it with a wistful smile, then handed it to him.
"It doesn't have to be mine alone," She said softly. "It doesn't matter how many times you need to go to figure out what you have to do. As long as you have it to remember I am waiting and longing for you to come back. We are always together, even apart."
He felt his heart pushing again his ribcage, as if it was dying to lay itself at her feet.
"We could take turns," He jeered lightly, his heart squeezing. "For when my bad manners are too much for you."
"We certainly could," She smiled. "We don't have to be happy all the time, and to know exactly what we should do to make it right. As long as we are together in the end, that's the most important thing."
He folded his arms over her, his chest warm inside and out, and closed his wettened eyes. On his lips came a prayer of thanks that did not leave it, but that was still in his mind.
They stayed in each other's arms all night long, and allowed themselves to cry over what had happened to them, and by the morning, they felt stronger and more united than ever, their equilibrium restored.
The next days, a room in the house was opened and freshened up to serve as a nursery, and swiftly, furniture was brought, with Rhett watching closely the advancements.
Cheekily, as she was requisitioned to give her opinion about the important matter of the colors and the disposal of the furniture, Scarlett sneakily remarked:
"For someone who was quite unsure about babies, you are quite preparing this one's arrival very swiftly."
To that, he sent her a jeering smile that squeezed her heart, and replied.
"Doom is a day that has to be prepared, my dear."
…
Yet, another trial came to the family when Pork suddenly had a fit of fever and sore throat. Despite Rhett's protests, Scarlett, mindful of her promises, though they never had been formulated that way, quickly took the role of the nurse, and used his own words to justify it. She would not move from her post, and though she accepted Pansy's help for their shared memories of the man, it was clear other efforts would be dismissed with quite a possessive ruckus.
Pork, if he seemed quite touched by it, appeared also quite distressed for he wasn't used to being cared for so, and being in such a powerless state was a frustrating thing to him. He tried to chide them softly, yet he also was dismissed by Scarlett who exclaimed he had been quite fidgety about her eating fruits and vegetables, so it was his turn to be harassed so. And it became even worse when Prissy, informed by it, suddenly came to the house to join the duo.
Rhett shrugged amusingly at the former servant's discomfiture, remarking lightly to him that he had better get used to being pampered, for there seemed certainly to be no way around it.
Yet, soon enough, the state of the greatly ill patient got better. Finally the children were allowed to come near and Scarlett had the surprise, after falling asleep on a chair near Pork, to see that Wade was reading him Uncle Tom's cabin, the other children listening to him in wonder. As for the old man, he had tears of pride in his eyes at seeing that young boy that he had seen grow at his side reading with such spirit, and looking at him as if he was the hero of the story.
Scarlett's emotions, much more sensitive due to her pregnancy, quite overwhelmed her, and she quietly retired herself, blaming herself as she thought with sudden distress that she had been so much like the Marie St Clare in the story, spoiled, supercilious and cruel, and Rhett and Bonnie like the sarcastic though great Augustine and the pure Evangeline St Clare, and with such a comparison, was she truly worthy of such happiness?
It was in quite a sobbing and crying jag that Rhett found her later, accusing herself of things she never did, her body trembling with exhaustion and the heat of her feelings.
He gathered her into his arms, lightly caressing her back as he whispered "There, there…" with a fond smile that threatened to become a laughter. There, her accusations went directed to him as she escaped his embrace, and he remarked cheekily that she must once again in one of her mood swings, to be upset over such a silly thing.
He laughed even harder when she threw him a porcelain statuette, and, as she saw the pieces of it, and the loving eyes of her man, she soon joined him as well.
The next day, she was all better and he offered her an adorable little golden spaniel cocker. She cooed at it, her hands waving energetically as she tried to attract it to her side.
"Because I know you like having the attention of a submissive dog," He said mischievously. "And I'm sure you'd miss it one day."
She ignored the jibe with an amused smile, her eyes on the little pup.
"Oh, it's a sweetheart! Does it have a name?"
He smirked.
"Ashley."
She blinked.
"But… it's a girl."
"Ashley is as much a feminine name as a masculine one. In fact, I do believe it had always been more feminine, actually."
A giggle escaped her lips. "Rhett, you're a petty man!"
The corners of his mouth twitched until he could not contain his satisfied grin.
"Oh, you will allow me that one moment of victory over an old rival, won't you?"
"Oh, I will! But then you will allow me to laugh at it as well."
"You little minx! Well, laugh as you want, it doesn't change my victory."
"Victory? Fiddle-dee-dee, I was not even aware there was a battle."
"Oh, come here, now!"
But with a giggle, she blew a raspberry at him and ran, the little dog barking and running at her feet. Laughing, Rhett entered the chase.
He supposed there were people who lived their lives and people who watched it.
Ashley Wilkes, by being a book reviewer certainly was an example of it. Too coward to write his own book, yet too confident of his own superiority that he would think of judging others.
Yet, as he finally caught her, her skirt warming his legs, and her laughter a melody to his ears, he felt as if he was just losing his time thinking of old feuds instead of kissing her. So he did.
…
Outside the haven of their home, Scarlett found also new trials, especially the secret, not so secret society where she swiftly was caught in, and hauled almost like a heroine, when finally the support and the pieces of advice seemed to pay off. At ease with her new work, she petted, guided, checked, berated, sometimes bullied the other members, and very swiftly found a way to gather them all when they were once only tiny clans to one more solid organization when she pointed out they could make more profit and savings in the charges if they gathered all their specificities in their own shopping mall that they could open together (though with the names of the more pliable gentlemen for decency's sake, of course).
She kept her pregnancy a hidden thing, with many tricks she knew. And then, there were these lovely wrappers she had ordered, elegant, with enough colors to lighten up her allure without being indecent, and that did not accentuate the waist.
And then, she realized later, others were beginning to wear it as well, without even having the secret excuse of being pregnant.
Curiously, she did not realize some had taken to wear it to mimic her, though it might have flattered her immensely to know it.
If some had their suspicions, they did not say it, and Scarlett was very much pleased to find that the people were much more open-minded here, than when she was in Atlanta.
Yet, the most difficult thing was when she tried to introduce a begrudging Pansy to just as reluctant ladies. There, Scarlett scowled.
"The world has changed. Can we truly stay stuck in our own way, or are we going to be the ones to lead the way?"
And thus it was adopted. Yet, it was not until Pansy showed her first sketches of advertisements that she was truly accepted. But, even if she had at first been hesitating to such work, she found a way to get money for her talent, and it seemed to please her, and they spent the night working on the project.
After that, both friends came home, and Pansy sneakily remarked.
"Fine words."
"Fiddle-dee-dee. Of course, they are fine. They're yours," Scarlett shrugged. "Yet, I have to say I do say them quite nicely."
Her friend snorted.
"Tch. Some things never change."
Walking, they looked at the darkness around them. Pansy paused, before admitting she had met Adrian, and her former lover was willing to help her raise the baby.
"And you, what do you want?" Scarlett said softly.
Pansy stopped a little, a wistful smile on her lips. "He's kind... sometimes. But it is not him that I want…"
She shook her head, and affected a giggle that was unusual for her. "As for that baby, though I know I'm quite good at watching over children, I feel quite at lost, with the circumstances that had led to it. I don't love the father. I don't dislike him, but I don't love him. So it makes me wonder… will I really love the child?" She looked at Scarlett. "Any advice? After all, you have much more experience than I…"
Pansy winced, feeling it was quite harsh, yet Scarlett did not seem to think ill of it for that. She released a breath of relief. She truly had changed.
Instead, Scarlett's voice was soft as she answered.
"Don't feel guilty if you don't love the child at first sight. It doesn't always work like that. I wish somebody had told me that before. You may not love the child from the first, or even the thirteenth time. Yet, it is a part of you, and you can always learn to. You're not an unhuman woman if you don't."
Pansy blinked, surprised.
"Surprisingly wise."
"It seems I've grown."
"I wouldn't go that far," Pansy teased. "You're still a spoiled woman."
"And very proud to be so!" Scarlett exclaimed cheerfully, before adding cheekily. "And you can be too. If you would only let yourself be spoiled."
"I fear it doesn't work like that. Not with the man I want. Aren would never…"
"One can never know."
And then, by a strange twist of fate, they crossed one group of young rakes.
Aren was among them. He looked at Pansy, red raising to his forehead, before turning away. Pansy faltered, her heart seeming to fall from her eyes to mouth, then to her throat.
She looked at her friend sadly. "See. It can't happen."
…
The situation quite bothered Scarlett. Yet, as she came to show more, another matter arose as the children realizing a sibling may be coming soon, began to organize what they called "Mother's caring time", which was for Scarlett her personal living hell.
At first, she had been touched by the suggestion, of a time for herself when they would take care of her.
Yet, soon enough, it became a time when she was put like a doll on a throne of soft cushions where she was not allowed to move as Ella gave her all the delicacies she learned to make, Wade watched carefully to everything she was doing, and especially eating to make sure she had a healthy routine. Sometimes, he would tilt his head on the right, and whisper a disgruntled "too much sugar"… Or too much another thing.
And then he began to read many history books to her "to instruct his new baby brother."
Rhett was insufferable during these times, and he once made with Ella a crown of flowers for his own amusement at the scene.
"Well, my dear," He drawled as he put it on her head. "you wanted to be a queen, now you have to bear the crown."
"Great balls of fire, that's certainly not what I had in mind," She said at that time, her fingers still sticking with the sugar of the pastry she had been eating. She looked at it in wonder. "But damn, these pastries are good!"
She blushed as she saw that Ella had witnessed her curse, yet the girl only grinned, and ran to the kitchen, certainly to bring some more.
"I am such a terrible example," She mumbled.
Rhett chuckled, and there, suddenly, the baby in her belly seemed to jump and kick, and all her attention went to him.
Because of course, it had to be a he.
"You sneaky little scoundrel!" She cursed. "One can never doubt who your father is, showing up unexpected, with all the dramas and the mischief, and now making quite the ruckus in my belly!"
"Well, I didn't know I had a fisherwoman as a woman."
"This is all your fault!" She turned her attention to the man who had interrupted her thoughts. "And now I'm ugly and big like a walrus!"
She was distraughtly beautiful, and he yearned for her. Humming, he carried her into his arms, and she let out a surprised cry, before snuggling against him. They crossed a grinning Ella with her plate of pastries, followed by a scowling Wade who was trying to reason with his sister over the unhealthiness of it.
Wade seemed to appreciate the interruption for it thwarted Ella's attempts, but then the girl pouted.
"Now, it's my time to take care of Mother," Rhett said, and Scarlett scowled.
They seemed to accept it, and soon enough, Scarlett found herself in a sweetly odorant bath, her muscles relaxing with the hot water and Rhett's tender massage.
Alright, she did not dislike these moments quite so much.
But then, the hands were not wandering as much as she wanted them to, and she found herself hopping up and down with impatience.
"You smell of sweat and dirt," She said pointedly. "Get in. There's enough room for the both of us in that tub."
Rhett's white teeth flashed between the two tantalizing red lips.
"You do know how to make a man feel wanted, my dear," He drawled.
"It's getting cold."
"Well, it's asked so nicely. How could I say no?"
"If you don't want to..."
"Oh, I do, I very much do!"
He was swift in his removal of clothes, and as he went in, she eyed him appreciatively, all shame forgotten thanks to the urgency of her needs.
Pregnancy had that kind of advantage that she could very much use it as an excuse for any kind of lack of propriety. Eagerly, she was drawn to his side as he settled in, a contented smile on her lips. He put his arms around her, and she made a show of scrubbing him, though, to her disappointment, she swiftly realized her growing belly hindered her in her task. Chuckling, he took the sponge from her, and did it for the both of them, while she took care of his hair with tender attentiveness, trying to hide the effects his caresses had on her.
She was so much more sensitive now, and he knew it, the damn rascal. Gone was the apprehension of the first days, where he was afraid of hurting her. Now, he delighted in it until she was at her breaking point.
"Did you find any louse yet, my dear?" He said, amused.
"I certainly see one right here that is nagging me," She quipped.
He let out a warm chuckle, and pushed her closer to him.
"So, how are we going to name it?"
She grinned. "Him, you mean?"
"You're so sure it'll be a boy."
"I know it. I want it. And to your question, his name will be Reginald."
"Well, you certainly planned it all. I would have thought you would name it Gerald."
She seemed to consider it, before shaking her head sadly. "No. I don't want to give him the name of a dead man. There will never be someone like my father."
Rhett nodded and, to dissipate the sad mood of his love, lightly remarked. "And Reginald means king."
She snorted.
"Of course. Why did you think I thought of it?"
"Of course," He smirked. "But boys are so troublesome. Beware, I won't tolerate him getting all your attention."
She laughed. "Only you could be jealous of your own son!"
"But maybe it will not be a son, as I told you. So then, how are you going to name her, my pretty little Cat?"
She defied him with a glare. "It'll be a boy."
He gave up with a mocking smile.
"Ce que femme veut, Dieu le veut."
Her eyes glinted with mischief.
"Et je le veux ! "
He looked at her, bewildered. She raised her chin, very satisfied with herself.
"If you thought you would say something that I do not understand to mock me later, you've failed miserably."
"You speak French?"
"My mother came from a family of French descent. Did you truly think she would not transmit anything of it to her own daughters?"
"Then why does it come out only now?"
She shrugged.
"Well, It's easier to catch some beaux when they think you're a beautiful little fool. And certainly easier to fool them later. French does not quite help with that, does it?"
"Though you could have attracted more serious ones. I'm sure one Ashley Wilkes wouldn't have been able to resist."
She opened wide eyes at that.
"I guess I never thought of it like that."
"Or maybe you did not want any serious one."
"Maybe. And then, with the war, it did not seem really important, whether I knew some French or not."
"So why now?"
Her lips stretched up widely.
"Because you're being an intolerable show-off and need to be taken down a peg."
"Donc… " He said with his little mocking smile. "As-tu lu Thérèse Raquin? "
"Non, et si tu insistes à ce sujet, je te griffe! C'est déjà bien assez fatiguant que Wade n'arrête pas avec ses livres, mais si toi aussi tu t'y mets... !" (Non, and if you insist on it, I'll scratch you! It is already tiresome enough that Wade won't stop with his books, but if you bother me with it as well..!")
He let out a deep, cheerful laugh.
"Ma sauvageonne," He said tenderly. "With you, I believe I'll never be bored."
"You better not… mon lapin."
He blinked. "By God, Scarlett, you go too far. I have to say I feel quite offended at the idea of being compared to a rabbit."
"Well, it'd be unfair that you would be the one allowed to give some foolish endearments. Though indeed, you're too feline for that."
"Like you, ma petite chatte."
She giggled. "Oh, Rhett! That makes me think of Pa! He used to call me his Puss, you know!"
He stared at her, the corner of his mouth stretching on one side.
"Well, that's certainly not something I would call any daughter of mine. But I guess it explains things."
"Don't even elaborate," She dismissed it. "I'd say you're a pig, but then, it doesn't work either."
"No, I'm more of a wolf than a pig, don't you think?"
She raised up a little, her hands gripping lightly as the hair on his chest.
"Mon loup…" She whispered, her eyes gleaming." Mon roi…"
"Oh, do tell me more…" he purred.
"Mon Coeur…"
"Oh, you have not idea what it makes me feel, to hear you talk like that…"
"I think I may have an idea," She let out a seductive little smile. "Pirate."
He kissed her. The limits between their bodies seemed about to blur, and she ached for it.
"Love me."
"Oh, I do."
"No. Love me."
He smiled.
He still remembered that day when, frustrated by his avoidance as he still was very much afraid of hurting her, she locked him in his office and, slipping out of her nightgown, she uttered that delicious little threat: Love me! Love me or I will scream!
But scream, she did anyway.
"Say it in French, and maybe I will oblige."
She bit his ear, and he guffawed.
"Aime-moi… Aime-moi…"
"You talking in French? How can I resist?" He whispered, kissing her shoulder thoroughly, before making his way to her sensitive breasts. "Mon amour… Amore mio… Meine Liebe… Min elskede…"
She pouted, then gasped as his lips caught one nipple. "That's unfair."
He grinned through his ministrations.
"How is that unfair? You once told me I said it too little. Now I mean to tell you my love in every language I know. Mijn liefde…"
She pouted, before kissing him fierily.
"Mmm…It is quite rough and unrefined, but I think I prefer your love language."
From her throat came a pleasant laugh.
"You rascal. You like it rough and unrefined."
"I do. Oh, yes, I do."
The matter of Pansy's situation slipped from her mind as she was with Rhett, and came back the day after it, on the afternoon, as he found her dozing in the living room.
The young pup was asleep at the feet of her mistress, who was valiantly fighting against Morpheus as well, her lovely head tilting from one side to the other, her lids fluttering and a thin veil covering the green, making the eyes look glassy. One hand was idly caressing Ella's purring cat, which had settled quite comfortably on her belly.
At this sight, Rhett felt a fond amusement, his heart swelling with love.
"I see you and that cat seem to get along, finally."
"We made a truce," Scarlett said pointedly, her eyes narrowed at the creature. "She likes the baby. And he seems to like her, for suddenly he's calmer."
"But maybe you'd prefer her off.." He made a gesture at taking the pet from her.
"No!" Scarlett chided suddenly, almost startling the cat. "No, let her. She's fine here."
Rhett chuckled lightly. She looked at him with longing, before biting her lip.
"Rhett…"
He raised a brow, and kneeled behind her, his chin resting on her shoulder.
"Oh, I see there's something you want to ask of me. Come on, get rid of it."
"How did you manage to love me still after… well, seeing me pregnant with another man's child?"
He made of show of pondering deeply the question, before chuckling at her offended pout.
"Well, I can't say it was the easiest thing, for then one has to think of what happened for the baby to get there," He jibed lightly, before sobering. "My love, one puts too much value in the woman's purity, as if one cannot be loved and good if she's not it, or then it's a credit to the man who does. Yet, it's quite the hypocrisy when there's no single man that stays alone in his bed for long. At least if he doesn't want to be mocked by his friends. It is quite the twisted thing when society expects women to be chaste, even married women sometimes, when it expects men to wander around to prove their virility."
"You mean…"
He grinned widely.
"Did you truly think your beaux were virgins when they flirted with you, my dear?"
"God's nightgown, it certainly was more flattering to think so."
"So you see. It's mostly a matter of pride."
"But Aren?" She doubted.
"I doubt he's a better man than most. Or if he was, he certainly isn't now."
She huffed.
"Isn't there any man that would be proud to wait chastely for the woman he loves?"
"Only in books, my love. And even if there was, I doubt he could love the woman he had waited for without resenting her at one part of their life. Or she him. There'd always be one to feel unworthy."
She leaned her head on his. "Would you do something to make it right?"
"Darling, it's no business of ours. If she wants her man, she had to catch him on her own. I have no care for the life of one Pansy when I've got one Scarlett that I want to spend my time loving and spoiling."
She pouted and frowned, and he sighed.
The things he would do for this woman.
…
It was not quite hard to find the man, as he was always lurking in the corners, mooning over that one woman who, in her melancholy, did not seem to remark the one she was waiting for. And then, there was Scarlett, who tried to attract her former accomplice by many tricks, though certainly not her most subtle ones.
It was very begrudgingly Rhett found himself doing it. Yet, it did not need to be boring.
He sat quietly beside Aren, then exposed his problems in the most ridiculous way he could tell.
Yet, it did not make that man laugh, though Rhett could very much laugh for two.
"Your woman puts her nose where it doesn't belong," Aren groaned.
"I entirely agree. Yet, it becomes my business when it influences her well-being, and de facto mine," Rhett said. "I don't like your woman. I don't like her relationship with mine. So you see, it will all be convenient for me if you get her out of my house."
"I do not want to be convenient to you."
There, Rhett's expression darkened, and he seemed more serious.
"I have stated my motivations, but you would be a fool to get stopped by such things if you love your little wench."
Anger flashed in Aren's dark eyes as the words were uttered, and his hand went quickly to his belt.
"Don't. call her like that."
Rhett quirked a brow.
"And what are you going to do, shoot me? You did not claim the girl, boy."
Said-boy faltered, his head lowering with what almost seemed like self-pity.
"She would not want to be claimed. Not by me. Not by anyone."
"Yet, does that mean she wants to be on her own, and you moping around for all lost opportunities? I dare say, I've been once in that state, and that's not the most comfortable thing…. But then maybe you already found another woman…" Rhett pestered him with a false connivant smile and a pat on the back. "Say, man to man, isn't so?"
Aren scowled.
"I am not like you."
"No. You're like her. Self-righteous and not inclined to compromise. Yet are you the man that will give up on the woman he loves when she's all alone and with child?"
"She's not alone."
"Oh, because you think I will bear to support a woman I dislike, just for the love of mine?" He let out a malicious smile. "Are you really going to lay your peace of mind on that?"
Well, he did support many things and many people, for the love of her. Yet, the other man didn't need to know. They'd find both what they wanted, after all.
…
"You did make something, after all." Scarlett wondered in awe as one day she found Aren in the house, his hands intertwined with those of her smiling friend's.
"I don't know what you mean."
Yet, Rhett grinned largely. She snorted.
"Of course you do."
He hummed, his arms folding over her, the tip of his mustache tickling her cheek pleasantly.
"I want to marry you…"
She turned to him, bewildered.
"Right now?"
"Well, what better way to scandalize society than to do it behind everyone's back, and announcing it grandly later?" His eyes gleamed. "Besides, I doubt this little bump of yours will tolerate waiting for the proper time."
He waggled his brows in jest.
"You're a right scoundrel, Rhett Butler!" She giggled, before pondering anxiously. "But what about our reputations? Don't you think it will not hinder Wade and Ella's chances?"
He sighed.
"Things being as they are, I do believe it's already hindered anyway. But I do believe with time, and a hint of romance, we'll be soon enough in their good graces. They'll be fondly calling me a rake for corrupting you, and you will be sacrificed lamb, as I know you can play the role."
"But… Don't you think it'd be even worse, when they see the baby that much sooner? When it would be clear that it was conceived much earlier?"
She bit her lip.
He kissed her forehead, hoping to soothe the worry wrinkling it. "Don't worry, my love. They can't say anything if they don't see it happening," She blinked in confusion and he grinned. "I'm taking you and the children to Europe, for our honeymoon. From the amounts of things I want to show you, I do believe we'll not be back until this little one is two or three."
"Really, Rhett?" She said, her eyes glinting, before faltering. "But what about Pork? I don't want to leave him all alone…"
"He can go with us if he wants to. I do remember hearing him say once he wanted to see the Notre-Dame cathedral of Paris, for he heard there was no place closer to God than this one."
"Oh, darling!" She squealed. "What a wonderful idea!"
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. "I love you…"
"And I you." He kissed her back, quickly, settling his hands on the small of her back. "Did you prepare the knot, my dear?"
"The knot?"
"To tie me down."
"How you do run on. Why would I have to do it when you've already prepared it long ago!"
"True enough, my love, true enough," He flashed her a smile that made her heart squeeze. "See you on the other side, then."
"I'll be the one at the altar with the veil and the white dress," She replied cheekily. "Don't you dare miss me!"
"My love, I'd be a fool to think there's a way to escape you!"