Pre Note: Thanks for the quick replies! This chapter starts in the past, but don't worry, you'll see the "present (?)" Rhett before the end. Also, I'm sorry for my poor butchering of Mammy's accent...

Chapter Seven-

~14 months prior~

March '74

Scarlett woke first to the feeling of a warm wetness soaking through her clothes, and then was quickly greeted by a pain that immediately identified itself. She was in labor. This was the first baby that Mammy wouldn't be here for. When she'd come to Ireland she knew Mammy's age wouldn't allow the trip, so Mammy had went back to Tara to tend to Suellen and her children. There were six of them at last count, if memory served. Still, she knew it wouldn't be the same, and she had a sense of dread that she'd never had with any of the other deliveries.

The small home she'd purchased for her and the children in Ireland wasn't large enough to house any live-in staff. Instead, a woman from the village came by every day to drop off meals, and Scarlett's quieter wardrobe allowed her largely to dress herself. Though she couldn't quite get her hair done as Prissy had been able to. With Scarlett's time drawing progressively nearer and nearer, her neighbor had made it a point to visit often, and had instructed Wade to come and get her as soon as Scarlett's pains started.

Scarlett called for Wade several times before her son had woken and came rushing into her room. "Wade, dearest, will you please go fetch Mrs. Roberts?" The boy, who was ever growing and changing into a miniature version of Charles, did not need to ask why. He bounded off as quickly as he'd entered, and not too long later Mrs. Roberts was at her side.

Having had quite a few of her children on her own, the little village regarded Mrs. Roberts as someone of a midwife in her own right. She'd attended so many local births, that the traveling doctor just stopped by to see her when he came around so she could update on which families he needed to visit.

"Alright my dear. Looks like you're going to have a new babe before dawn." Mrs. Roberts' thick accent was soothing to Scarlett. It reminded her of Pa. It had been thicker when she was a small girl, the south had taken away some of it, but he'd still sounded like an Irishman when he'd died.

Her newfound friend-cum-midwife was correct. Before the sun had risen in the sky, a plump baby boy was placed into her arms. Scarlett fell immediately in-love. Though the infant looked so much like Bonnie that it caused a twinge of pain in her heart. Immediately, he'd been different. To the young, barely married and soon widowed, Scarlett, Wade had been the natural occurrence of marriage. She hadn't thought much about it, and soon after his birth she was thrust into caring for everything else- for everyone else. Including Melly, who had something she'd believed she'd wanted: Ashley, and Ashley's baby. Ella was a nuisance more than anything. Finally, Tara was secure and she was no longer struggling. Frank had practically demanded a baby, and Ella was the only way to get him to stop bothering her about that side of their marriage.

Bonnie had been a mix of emotions. She hadn't wanted another baby, and she'd been so irritated when she'd found out. When she'd arrived, she'd been so beautiful, and Rhett had been so happy. Then, all the attention Rhett had once lavished on her, went to their daughter. He was cool and separate to her in as much as he was warm and present with Bonnie. Then, she'd messed it up even more by turning Rhett away from her bedroom. She'd regretted it almost instantly, but would rather have died than invite him back- especially after he started visiting Belle Watling again.

Then- her heart had cleared and Rhett had shown her the passionate man he'd been at the beginning- even before they were married. That one night he'd been interested. He'd been intent, and forceful in a way that reminded her of how he'd proposed. She'd resisted at first, angry at his actions and abandonment of her, but as the night progressed, she'd found there was nothing she'd wanted more. That night she'd gotten pregnant, and the next morning he'd taken Bonnie away and everything crashed down soon after.

When Scarlett woke after the fall down the stairs, Dr. Meade was sitting at her side. Mammy was fussing with her hair on the opposite side of the bed. She looked around and didn't see Rhett. Where was he? Had he left again? He'd been so awful about the baby.

"Scarlett," Dr. Meade had began, "I'm afraid you've lost the baby." She didn't remember much from the next week. She stayed in bed, drifting between tears and sleep, and never once did she see Rhett.

Scarlett's face flushed red and she quickly pulled the bed cover up over her chest. Rhett still hadn't looked away. "For heaven's sake, Rhett. Stop staring."

"Scarlett…." He said it again, but his voice cracked a bit as he did so.

"Yes. Rhett. He's mine." There was no use trying to keep up the charade of an adoption. She'd only made that story up once she'd decided to go back to America, anyway- back to where she might one day encounter Rhett. She hadn't thought it would be so soon, but she knew it would come eventually.

To describe Rhett as stunned, would be a disservice to the English language. Rhett stood moving slightly to calm the fussing baby, but stared at Scarlett with confusion, and anger. He took a few breaths, with Scarlett staring up at him in the silence. He knew she was waiting for his response, and he had to take a moment before he was capable of speaking. "How old is he?" He asked that question instead of the one he wanted to ask. How soon after I left did you do to another man? It couldn't have been long.

"He turned one in March."

It was May now. Something didn't add up. "I know you've had more children than I've had Scarlett, but I'm fairly certain that's impossible."

"It's not, Rhett…"

"I left right after Bonnie and Miss Mellie died, Scarlett. I left in August." Had she found someone else right after? Even still, the baby couldn't be more than one.

Scarlett shifted her eyes between the baby he held, and the pattern of the bed cover, unable to meet his gaze. How did she begin? So much had happened. "I was pregnant when you left, Rhett."

Rhett scoffed. "Scarlett-Despite everything, I know that while I was here you were not physically unfaithful to me. Mentally, yes, but physically- not even you would sink that low." Not to mention, she'd miscarried their child that same month. They'd lost that baby, Bonnie, and Mellie within weeks of each other.

Scarlett sighed, remembering those few months after he left. She'd been sadder than she thought was possible. She'd even gone to Tara for a few weeks, and nothing helped. She returned to the house with Ella and Wade, and hoped and wished that Rhett would come back, and that he'd just been trying to teach her a lesson. He hadn't returned.

~ Early December 1873~

"I'm still with child." The words slipped from her lips as the realization settled deep into her bones. "How?" Two weeks prior she'd felt something, just the lightest flurry of something in her stomach. She'd told Mammy.

"Mammy, it feels like a baby just moved inside of me." Mammy had looked at her with sad eyes.

"Tha' happuns sometimes honey chile'. It's your heart a-wishun so hard for a chile' that your body a'starts to believe it too." She'd patted Scarlett's hand and scurried away to find Wade and Ella.

When the flutters kept going, and getting stronger, she started to accept that she was crazy. Then, one day she'd heard Prissy talking to one of the other maids. "Miss Scarlett so sad an' upset over Miss Bonnie, she still ain't have her monthly courses yet."

Of course Prissy would notice, she was the one that handled most of the house's laundry. Still, the words had surprised Scarlett. She hadn't noticed. She'd been so consumed in her own thoughts, she hadn't realized she'd missed that particularly dreadful experience that came every month, like clockwork. Well, it always had before- except when she was so hungry at Tara- and when she was with child.

Her first thought was to tell Mammy, but she knew Mammy would insist that she cal Dr. Meade. She couldn't do that. She wanted Rhett to know first- didn't she? As the next week passed he became less sure about telling him, or anyone for that matter. Rhett had left her, and even when Bonnie was alive, he's asked for a Divorce. He'd wanted Bonnie. What would stop him from taking this baby too?

Her decision came as quickly as when she'd agreed to marry Charles Hamilton. Less than two weeks after she' realized she was still pregnant, she wrote a letter to Rhett, and took her children far, far away.

"I don't really know how myself, Rhett." How many times had she imagined this conversation? She was always cool and reserved in practice, and now staring up at him as he held the baby, her nerves shook as much as her words. "I spoke with a doctor once I was in Ireland...he said..well.. He thinks that maybe I lost a twin when I fell…"

She trailed off, but she saw slow understanding cross Rhett's face. He looked to the baby in his arms once again, really taking the child's face in. "How long Scarlett? How long did you know?"

"Since the letter Rhett- since I left Atlanta."

"Damn you, Scarlett."

Post Note: When I say Rhett was forceful, I do not mean any type of assault. I just mean that he was Dominant, I guess. I always thought Rhett gave in to her "no more children/fun time" mandate kind of easy- especially after "I've wanted you longer than I've wanted any woman." Despite his claims to not be a gentleman, in no way do I think Rhett would take something that was genuinely not wanted. Also, yes, of course Baby B is Rhett's, you guys started putting it together in the first few chapters. I was going to stretch it out a bit longer, but I have a few more things in store. I feel that a part of him had to know, but his heart and his mind weren't ready to go there.