Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Scarlett could be selfish and self-centered but she always took care of her people.
Chapter Two
When Scarlett returned to the mansion, she saw three devastated people. They were all three sitting on the couch in the family parlor. Rhett had his arms around both of the children. She had looked at Rhett for guidance. Before Rhett spoke Wade said, "How is Beau?"
"He is not doing very well but he will be fine. He is your Aunt Melly's child which means he will survive."
Rhett said, "Why don't you take Ella to the nursery and rock her to sleep. Wade and I will stay here and talk."
She had nodded her head. She had picked Ella up and carried her to the nursery. She rocked Ella the rest of the afternoon. She didn't know if Ella was asleep, and she didn't care. She had nowhere to go. At twenty-eight she was finally caring about another human being. She loved her children. She loved Rhett. She had to take care of them. She didn't know how she was going to do it. All she knew was she had to protect Wade, Ella and Rhett. They were all she had.
Scarlett knew that Rhett was keeping Wade and Ella afloat, so she had to keep Rhett afloat. She had to take care of Rhett. It made her smile sadly. She had always thought of Rhett as not needing anyone or anything she now knew she had been so wrong, so very wrong.
That night when they were in the family parlor after Wade and Ella had gone to bed, Scarlett had said, "Rhett please sleep with me again. My pain is so great. Your presence eased my pain last night," When she saw Rhett hesitate, she said, "Please." Scarlett did need and want Rhett to sleep with her. She also thought that Rhett needed to sleep with her.
Rhett's pain was great. He didn't think it would ever be anything but a big boulder of pain in his heart. Last night he had slept. He had not dreamed. Her presence had eased his pain the night before. Touching her had made him feel like he wasn't in this nightmare alone. This woman who had never provided comfort was comforting to him now.
Rhett had said, "I wouldn't want you to have a nightmare. Shall we retire?"
"Yes, thank you."
As they walked up the stairs, Rhett put her arm in his. He said, "I wouldn't want you to fall."
"Me neither."
There was no mockery or snideness in their statements. Only plain statements of fact. Although the word 'again' hung between them nobody said it.
Rhett did not want to go to another funeral so close after his baby's funeral, but he could not dishonor the only genuinely nice and kind person he had ever known. He would make it through the whole ordeal to pay his respects to Melanie Wilkes. Besides the children needed him.
Rhett stood beside Scarlett through the entire funeral service. Scarlett clung to Rhett. For once Rhett felt needed by Scarlett. For once Rhett felt that Scarlett understood what he was giving her. Scarlett did know what Rhett was giving her. She knew how exceedingly difficult attending Melanie's funeral was for Rhett for she too would have preferred to stay home. Scarlett did know she wouldn't have made it through the funeral without Rhett. Rhett had held Ella through the service. Scarlett had held Wade's hand and occasionally held him close. Scarlett's arm was linked into Rhett's, but she was holding him tight. That was the most that was proper, but it had been enough. They were giving each other comfort in possibly the second most horrible moment of any of their lives. They as a family were barely standing. They as individuals would not be standing.
As they were walking to their coach, Mrs. Merriwether stopped them and said, "Captain Butler this must be so hard on you. You are such a good father for standing by your wife and children despite your own pain."
Before Rhett could say anything, he felt all of Scarlett's weight on his arm. Rhett looked at Scarlett. It appeared his wife had fainted. Wade and Ella were both crying, "Mother! Mother!"
Rhett swept Scarlett up in his arms and said, "Excuse me, Mrs. Merriwether."
The coachman opened the door and Rhett stepped inside the coach and laid Scarlett on the cushions. By this time Wade and Ella had scrambled into the coach also.
Scarlett woke up as they were sitting down. She said, "I guess I should have had a bigger breakfast."
Scarlett saw in Rhett's expression that he knew she had faked the whole thing to get them away from the matrons. Rhett said, "Yes, you should have."
When they got to the mansion the children went to their rooms. Rhett stood awkwardly in the foyer. Scarlett was shocked. Rhett was never ill at ease. Rhett was always poised and dignified. Scarlett thought that Rhett wanted to stay but he had to have an excuse to stay. Scarlett said, "Rhett, can you stay until Ella's birthday? For Wade and Ella. They will be better by then. We will all be stronger by then. I will be better by Ella's birthday. I just know it."
Rhett had said, "I will try for the children's sake."
Scarlett didn't know for sure, but she had a little kernel of hope. A small speck of hope that Rhett didn't want to leave her and the children.
Rhett had stopped drinking since the night of Melanie's death. He was spending time at home. He was not finding any release from his pain in the bottle. He and Scarlett had been talking in the evenings. They were talking as they had the night of Melanie's death. Really talking. Without mockery. Without pretense. There were no walls between them. Neither person was hiding anything. Neither had the strength to hide anything. They were talking as real people.
Every night as she got ready to retire Scarlett asked Rhett to join her in the master bedroom and every night he agreed. His pain was also eased by sleeping next to Scarlett. All they did was sleep. She would reach her foot out and touch his calf. He would then reach his hand out and cover her hand with his hand. That was all either person wanted. Contact and comfort. Rhett didn't want to do anything more. He so didn't want to make a child with Scarlett. It made him so sad when he thought about how much he had wanted more children with Scarlett but now it was the last thing he wanted. He couldn't do anything anyway, even if he had wanted to. He could no longer achieve an erection.
A week after Melanie's funeral, Scarlett said, "I made Ashley sell his mills. He will have a little bit of money for a while. He got his windfall and some more money out of the sale." As she looked at Rhett's face while she was talking, she knew he had given the money to Ashley to separate her from Ashley. She smiled sadly as she thought, 'Even that late in our marriage there had still been hope.'
Rhett replied, "What is he going to do after he runs out of money?"
"His cousin told him at the funeral that he could get Ashley a job in Richmond. He is going to take him up on his offer. They will be moving within the next month as soon as their house on Ivy street is sold. India is going with them. Aunt PittyPat is beside herself."
"If you move that dingbat in to the mansion, I will be on the next train to Charleston."
Scarlett had smiled and had said, "I would rather have you than her any day. You have been such a great comfort to me and the children." He really had. Rhett's presence had always given her great comfort. Even now with him not being at full strength he was still a comfort to Scarlett. Scarlett thought about that for a moment and wondered why she had never realized how much she had always depended on Rhett.
Rhett smiled at his wife. He really liked being around her when she wasn't being a Southern belle or a shrew. She wasn't trying to win him back. Yet she was focused on him. Him as a person. She genuinely seemed to be concerned about his wants and needs. As one friend to another friend. As one grieving parent to another grieving parent.
Rhett and Scarlett were sleeping together in the master bedroom all the time now. Ten days after Melanie's death, he had moved his clothing and personal items back into the room. Much the same as when he had moved his belongings out one day when she came home for dinner all his clothes had been returned to the master bedroom. He had said, "I can never sleep in that room again and since you are kindly letting me share your bed, I might as well have all my belongings in this room also."
She had said, "That makes sense to me."
Scarlett had known that Rhett moving his clothing back into the master bedroom was no guarantee he would stay but it had given her more hope that he would. She just hoped being with her and the children was bringing him comfort.
Two weeks after Melanie's funeral Scarlett got a message that Bonnie's headstone was ready. The engraver wanted to know if they wanted to be there when the stone was laid. Scarlett stared at the note. There were so many emotions swirling through her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to hit something. She wanted to run away from all this pain.
Scarlett got up and went to find Rhett. Rhett – her safe haven. She found him in his office at his desk. She didn't say anything. She just sat in his lap and handed him the note.
Rhett read the note. The pain hit him hard. Such intense pain still. He wrapped his arms around Scarlett and rested his head on top of her head. They sat there for an awfully long time. Finally, Rhett said, "No, we don't."
Both of them thought that afternoon, 'This is how we should have acted the day Bonnie died instead of hurling accusations at each other.'
At the end of September, Rhett had his lawyer, James Taylor, transfer his half of The Painted Lady to Belle. He could no longer be around Belle. She would always remind him too strongly of his painful pursuit of Scarlett. She would always remind him too intensely of the days after Bonnie's death. Mr. Taylor said, "I will have the transfer paperwork done by tomorrow. Do you want to pick it up?"
"I suppose I must deliver it myself."
"Is there anything else I can help you with today?"
"Yes, I need to draw up a new will."
"Of course. Who do you want to leave your money to?"
"I want to keep the trust for my mother and sister for their living expenses."
"How much do you want the trust to be endowed with?"
"Ten thousand dollars."
"That is a good amount of money. Are you sure you want to put that much in the trust?"
"What will happen to the money once the trust is no longer needed?"
"I can set it up where it is returned to you."
"Then put twenty thousand dollars in it. I don't want them to run out of money."
"Alright Mr. Butler. What about the rest of your money?"
Rhett stared past Mr. Taylor and was lost in thought. This was not unusual for Mr. Taylor's clients. His clients were making extremely big decisions. It was unusual for Mr. Butler for he usually knew what he was going to do before he even came into Mr. Taylor's office.
Rhett sighed and said, "Have all my money go to my wife in trust for her lifetime. Upon her death have it pass to Ella Lorena Kennedy and Wade Hampton Hamilton equally."
"Do you want Miss Kennedy's to go directly to her or do you want it in trust also?"
Rhett said, "Yes, put Ella's share into trust. She has such a tender heart she would give away all of her money to any person who gave her a sob story."
"It being in a trust also means the money legally remains hers and not her husband's."
"Yes, definitely put it in a trust then."
"When the papers are ready to sign, I will contact you."
"I will pick up the transfer then also. Good day, Mr. Taylor."
"Let me see you out."
As Rhett walked out of Mr. Taylor's office, he still had mixed feelings about leaving his money to Scarlett. He had finally decided that if he was no longer among the living then he did want her to be financially secure. He did still care about her. He wanted the best for her. He didn't want her to have to marry another man for his money. What had finally made up his mind for him was that there wasn't anyone else that he wanted to give his money to except Wade and Ella. They would get the money eventually. That is if Scarlett didn't spend it all first. Although Rhett wasn't aware of it there was a smile on his face. The first happy smile his face had seen in over three months.
Author's Notes: Erectile dysfunction is quite common in men who are chronic heavy alcohol drinkers. ED is also linked to heavy smoking. A loss of sexual desire is often common among these men.
Of course, as a man ages it becomes harder and harder for him to achieve and maintain an erection.