Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and the feedback. There are two more chapters and two epilogs.

Chapter Ninety-Three

One afternoon, Ella and her daughter came for a visit. Rhett took the child off to play with her. Rhett knew Ella had something she wanted to talk to her mother about. Ella would get this pinched look about her that probably nobody but her family or Jacob would notice.

Ella had heard from Suellen. Suellen still wasn't a very good correspondent. Ella said that Suellen wanted Mama to know that India Wilkes had died and that Honey was a widow. Scarlett had known that India had died because the attorney that administered her trust had informed her. Scarlett had him give the remaining money in the trust to Honey. She could use it.

Suellen had also wanted Mama to know that Fanny Welburn was a widow. Her husband had died. He had been doing something foolish and it had gotten him killed. Fanny was alright financially because she had taken out a life insurance policy on her husband. Scarlett figured that Fanny had learned her lesson the night of the raid and knew sooner or later Tommy's luck was going to run out.

George was still at West Point. He was doing well. Suellen and John were happy although not part of Polite Society in Atlanta. After all she wasn't liked and he was a Yankee. They were thinking of moving from the South. They were tired of the South's rigid rules. After Ella finished sharing what Suellen had said in her letter all Scarlett thought was, 'Don't move to Hartford.'

Ella sat there for a long time not saying anything. Finally, Scarlett said, "What are you worrying about that you are ashamed to admit? Nothing you say can shock me. I have been married to your Papa too long for anything to shock me."

Ella had smiled at her mother's statement. Both her parents had said some pretty outrageous things. She whispered, "I am with child."

"Congratulations."

"What if I stop loving Solange like Suellen stopped loving me."

Scarlett said, "You won't. I will be right back."

Scarlett came back and gave Ella the letter that Suellen had written all those years ago after she got sober. Scarlett had saved the letter for just this moment. She had hoped Ella would not have worried about this issue but she had also known that her sensitive daughter probably would.

She said to Ella, "Don't pay any attention to that part about you not being attractive or about you being stupid. We both know that is a bunch of lies. Besides all that matters is that Jacob thinks you are attractive."

Ella smiled at her mother. That was just like her mother to dismiss anything she didn't want to deal with. She read the letter and then she sat there for a while and finally she said with a smile, "If I don't drink any brandy, I will be alright."

Scarlett smiled too.

Ella added, "I love my husband and my sister so I should be in good shape."

Scarlett said, "I have known you all your life and no matter what you have always been nothing but love and compassion. Your compassion made you go talk to Jacob because he was sitting all alone. That is what you are, baby, love and compassion"

Ella smiled and said, "Yes but he was awfully good-looking."

"You would have gone and talked to him even if he had been as ugly as sin."

Rhett walked into the room with Solange on his back. The five-year-old was laughing and she looked so happy.

Scarlett said, "You will love this new baby as much as you love Solange. You, sweetheart, could never stop loving anyone. You couldn't even stop loving Suellen."

Ella smiled a self-deprecating smile and said, "No I couldn't. I thought I had but when I saw her that day, I felt all the love I had felt for her," She quickly added, "Not like I love y'all."

Rhett smiled and said, "We know. We have always loved you."

"Why?"

"You were our child in a previous lifetime."

"Oh Papa. You and your stories."

Scarlett said, "We love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck."

Ella laughed and said, "You are the only person I know who ever has said that."

"It is a common saying in the South."

"Mama why do I look more like you than I do Suellen? It doesn't make any sense."

"Did you not hear your Papa? You were our child in a previous life so naturally you would look like me."

"Oh, Mama and Papa. Y'all are so silly sometimes. I love you. Thanks Mama. I feel better. I have to go. Jacob worries if I'm not home when he gets home from work." She walked over and gave them each a hug and a kiss. She reached for Solange and Rhett shook his head. Rhett carried Solange out to the carriage after all Ella was with child.

When he came back into the house, Rhett said to Scarlett, "I find it so amusing when Ella's daughter asked her a thousand questions."

"I find it amusing how it irritates Ella. I told her that she did the same thing when she was the same age. Solange will grow out of it too."

They were quiet for a moment then Scarlett said, "Rhett, am I a bad person for being happy that she loves me more than she loves Suellen."

"Not bad just human."

"You are right."

"I thought we had established a long time ago that I am always right."

"Not always, my love. Do I need to give you some examples?

"No thank you."

They smiled at each other. It was an old joke but they still both enjoyed it.

When Alex was twenty, he married Clara Rogers in eighteen ninety-two after his third year at MIT. In the spring of eighteen-ninety-one he had shared with his father how much he wanted to marry Clara. His father had said, "What are you waiting for? You are going to inherit most of my fortune. You will earn your keep by managing my fortune while I go play with your mother."

Alex told Clara in May of eighteen-ninety-one that she and her mother had one year to plan the wedding. They were going to be married in July of eighteen ninety-two. Clara and her mother found out the same thing that Careen, Ella and Eugenia had found out all those years ago. Scarlett doesn't help, she takes over. Scarlett had practiced tact and diplomacy but she made it very clear there wasn't going to be any skimping on her son's wedding. When Mrs. Rogers and Clara informed Scarlett there would only be fifty guests invited to the wedding. Scarlett had laughed and informed Clara and her mother that she had at least a hundred people if not more she had to invite to her son's wedding. It was not going to be a simple event.

When Alex had come home for the summer after his third year at MIT, he had told his father, "I am never going back. I can learn more from you in six-months than they can teach me in six years."

Rhett replied, "I agree. When you get back from your honeymoon we will start."

Alex and Clara got married in July of eighteen ninety-two. It was a beautiful affair. Clara and Mrs. Rogers were so happy with the results and they were pleased that Mrs. Butler was willing to foot the bill for most of the arrangements. Scarlett had not been exaggerating when she said she had over a hundred people to invite. It ended up being closer to two hundred. Scarlett and Rhett Butler were a very popular couple.

They were not the same couple they had been in Atlanta. They were not even the same couple they had been when they arrived in Hartford. They were in love. They were happy. They were fun. They were an attractive, older couple. That animal magnetism that they both had possessed had lessened over time. Yes, Rhett could be a donkey sometimes but he really didn't aggravate people very much anymore. Yes, Scarlett could be a diva but she had become a caring person and a good friend. Everyone said the same thing about the two of them – They have such good hearts. They had lived with Melanie Wilkes for over twenty years and she had by her goodness shamed them into becoming better people without even knowing she was doing it.

Before the wedding Scarlett had taken it upon herself to talk to Clara about her wedding night. She told her the same thing she had told Ella and Careen. Clara was so happy someone had given her some details about relations before the actual event. She had been a lot more relaxed when they had left the reception. The couple went to New Orleans for their honeymoon. Alex remembered going there as a child. They had a very good time.

When the couple got back from their honeymoon, Clara asked if she could redecorate hers and Alex's room. Scarlett agreed whole heartedly. Scarlett and Clara had a grand time redecorating the room over the next month. When they got finished and Rhett saw the room, he smiled a really big smile. He thought, "Yes, indeed, Clara did like gaudy."

When Alex saw it his love for Clara carried him through and he didn't make any hateful comments about how ugly he thought it was.

His father took him aside and said, "You will get used to it. After a while you won't be able to imagine it being any other way."

During that same month Scarlett had taken Clara to her dressmaker. Although Clara's clothing was not as outlandish as Scarlett's Rhett figured it was just a matter of time before it got to that extreme. Alex looked dumbstruck as Clara modeled her latest outfit. Rhett said, "You look beautiful, Clara. I think you are the only person who could pull that outfit off," With the frown from his wife he added, "Except maybe my lovely wife." Foolish Rhett would have made a joke about how hideous the dress was but he was no longer that fool. Hopefully he could guide Alex away from ever being Foolish Alex.

Over the next two years, Alex did a fine job managing their fortune. He made some mistakes but Rhett was there to help him clean-up the mess. Almost as soon as Alex and Clara got back from their honeymoon Rhett and Scarlett went to Boston in September. Although Rhett had technically not retired, he was gone a lot of those two years. He wanted to travel and show Scarlett the world and he was going to while he could. As Rhett had said to Alex, "Trial by fire. I have faith in you, son."

Alex and Clara said they would live with Rhett and Scarlett until they were expecting their first child. Although technically the couple still lived with his parents, his parents were never home.

Rhett retired completely when he was sixty-six after two years of Alex helping him manage his fortune. Once Rhett had officially retired, he took Scarlett on an around the world tour. They were gone for over a year. Rhett finally took Scarlett to see the Taj Mahal. She was impressed.

She told him later in their hotel room, "It wasn't as impressive as my mansion. Thank you, my love." Rhett had made love to his wife that night and she was very impressed and she told him so. Her husband still needed his conceit stroked.

They saw the pyramids in Egypt, the Suez Canal, Australia, Japan, and all of Europe. She was impressed with all of the sights. Rhett patiently explained the significance of each and every one of them. He had learned he didn't want a woman who knew all this trivial information or even large information he wanted Scarlett. He also knew that she wouldn't remember any of the information he was sharing with her.

They returned home for Rhett's birthday, Christmas and their anniversary then they were off again. They traveled most of the time. They traveled across the United States. They both were impressed by the Grand Canyon. Rhett patiently explained how the canyon was formed. They went to Cuba, Nassau and even some to South America.

They went to Europe often. Often enough for them to consider buying a house in London but decided against it because they didn't want to have to bother with the servants. As Rhett had said all those years ago, "Staying in a well-run hotel was better than staying in a house." Scarlett agreed but it wasn't better than staying in a home. Her house in Hartford would always be her home so there was no point in getting another house.

These days Scarlett never initiated relations although she would have liked to do it more than Rhett initiated things. She didn't know if he couldn't do it as often as they had once done it or if he didn't feel the need as much as he once did. Knowing her husband, she strongly felt that it was because he couldn't do it any more often than they were doing it which was why she never initiated things. She could never embarrass her Rhett that way. No, never that way.