Pre Note:

It seems I keep getting asked this (which is fine) but I figured I clarify. I AM messing with the time line a bit- I've compressed it quite a lot from the books. This is done similar to how the movie shows. Here's the time line again, with some added pieces now that you've made it this far.

Time Line:

June 1873: "That night"
August 1873: Miscarriage, Bonnie and Melanie, all this month. Rhett also leaves.
December 1873: The "I'm going on a trip" letter to Rhett
March '74- Baby B is Born (Chapter 7)
August '74- (Chapter 5)
March '75- (Chapter 9)
April 1875: Scarlett returns to Atlanta; Henry contacts Rhett about the house
May 1875: Rhett sees Scarlett again- Beginning of the book through Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

Rhett glanced up from his son for a moment, looking briefly at Scarlett. She seemed entranced in a letter that she was reading. A small smile worked up at the corners of her mouth, and a gleam of excitement in her eyes pulled a familiar pang of jealousy from Rhett's stomach. He wondered who it was from. Surely not Ashley, he lived just a few houses down, he wouldn't need to send a letter by mail. She had spoken about friend in Ireland, a Mrs. Roberts, if he remembered correctly, she'd helped Scarlett deliver Baby B, and for that he'd always owe the woman- even though he'd probably never meet her. Yes, he thought to himself, she must have written to Scarlett. That would explain it.

When Rhett had proposed their new arrangement, a marriage of inconvenience as he sometimes called it to himself, he had half expected Scarlett to throw something at him, and order him to get out. He wasn't sure why, but it disappointed him when she'd accepted it quietly, and without argument. He'd spent years wanting Scarlett to play the happy wife, and now that she seemed content to do so, he found himself irritated. She was up to something, he was sure. At first he thought her attention to his son was a trick, a manipulation designed to get him back, but he quickly realized that wasn't the case. It seemed that his wife genuinely loved her new child, and even her older ones now too. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened to make this change in her, when he could never encourage it before.

Scarlett read the letter for the second time, making sure she understood everything correctly. Duncan's letter was long, full of information about Sarah, her husband, and the children. He'd also updated her that he'd found a family in need of her home, and at her request, had given it to them free of charge. She glanced at Rhett when she re-read that tidbit, only to find him staring back down at Baby B. He'd never believe her if she told him she'd freely given her home away. Strangely, it hadn't occurred to her to sell it. She didn't stop to consider why, but simply asked Duncan to see to the arrangements, and notify her when it was done.

The last part of the letter was what truly brought a smile to her lips:

"...best not to write back to this letter, as I'm not sure it will arrive in time. Something has arisen which requires me to make a trip to America, presently. I anticipate arriving in Atlanta at the end of June or early July. I look forward to seeing you again.

There was a lot left unsaid that I wish to correct.

Yours, Duncan."

"It will be June in just a few days!" Scarlett thought. She looked down at her foot. Dr. Meade told her it was healing nicely, and he anticipated that she'd be able to move around better, soon. Oh, how she hoped she would be able to come downstairs like a normal person by the time Duncan arrived. Despite how things were left, she missed him dreadfully. Seeing him would lift her spirits, and she'd finally have something to think on besides Rhett, and their arrangement.

Baby B, who had up until now been sleeping through the night since he was just a few months old, had decided to wake crying in the middle of the night. Scarlett woke, not happily, each time and tended to him, before finally laying him down in bed with her and allowing them both to drift off to sleep. The irony about Bonnie's sleeping arrangements, and her thoughts on them, was entirely lost to her. This, she rationalized, was different. Rhett kept his door at the end of the hall open just a crack every night, needing to hear if the baby cried or Scarlett needed him. She rarely asked him for help, but when she did, he knew it pained her greatly. Her pride, if not her feisty nature, was still intact.

On one night, just two weeks after the letter that had her humming and smiling for 2 days straight every time she looked at it- something which Rhett assured himself did not bother him in the slightest- the baby fussed and cried for several minutes. Rhett stirred in his bed, not quite asleep after having returned just an hour prior from a visit to a local club, and waited for the soft thuds of an independent- if not slightly clumsy- Scarlett to move from her bed and gather the baby. They didn't come. After another minute, Rhett got up, not bothering with a robe over top his open shirt, and walked to Scarlett's room.

Scarlett was asleep, snoring softly against an overstuffed pillow on her large bed. For the first time he noticed the dark circles under her eyes, and wondered how much sleep she'd been getting. She hadn't complained about the child waking every night, though he knew that he did. His son lay in his small cot, squirming and fussing. He quieted only slightly when he saw Rhett move over the bed and into his view. Rhett reached down, and picked up the boy, rocking him gently which seemed to calm him.

He wondered if he should wake Scarlett, thinking that Baby B was hungry. Looking over at Scarlett's still form, he decided against it. He walked quietly out of the room and downstairs with the child in his arms. The cook was asleep, but he managed to find a small glass bottle and fill it with milk. He didn't think he'd ever made a bottle- not even for Bonnie, but he prided himself on being an intelligent human-surely feeding an infant would not be hard.

After some trial and error, a full and content Baby B was once again being carried up the stairs and into Scarlett's room. She hadn't moved from where he'd left her. Rhett bent to lay the baby down in his cot, but Baby B began to fuss. Quickly, Rhett picked him back up, darting a glance at Scarlett. He moved to the opposite side of the bed- the side that had once belonged to him, and leaned to lay his son down- again, the boy fussed. Sighing, Rhett gingerly sat at the side of the bed, leaning against the pillows, with his son pressed against him. He'd take him to his room, but if Scarlett woke the damn woman would probably tear the house apart looking for the boy. So instead, he leaned his head back, and allowed himself to fall asleep.

It was there that Scarlett saw him when she first opened her eyes later in the morning. She didn't think she'd ever seen someone manage to look quite so uncomfortable, but also content, at the same time before. His face was smooth, and relaxed. Baby B was awake, and looking straight at her with his big blue eyes, but stayed still, hugged between Rhett's arms and chest. Rhett himself was propped up against her pillow, and bed frame. She wondered what could have possible happened in the middle of the night to give her this sight in the morning. What was he doing with Baby B? She found that she was in no hurry to move from her spot, or to wake Rhett, and she spent the next several minutes staring at the pair. They looked so much alike, that sometimes it jarred her when she saw them next to each other.

Ella bounded into the room shortly after, oblivious to how the scene in front of her was strange. "Mother, Cook's bringing up breakfast! Are you ready?!"

Scarlett shifted in her bed, and Rhett's eyes startled open, the spell and the calm broken for now. Rhett moved quickly from the bed. Handing B off to Scarlett. "Excuse me for a moment," he addressed Ella and Scarlett, "I'll be back shortly. Scarlett, I'll send the maid up to tend to B."

Rhett returned shortly, after B had been changed. He assisted Scarlett over to a chair at the small table they'd been sharing meals at, and sat opposite of her as he usually did. Wade and Ella joined them, finishing their meal and requesting to be excused shortly after. B sat on Scarlett's lap, a small piece of bread crust in his chubby hands that he gnawed on. Rhett wondered if Scarlett realized there were soggy crumbs dripping all over the dressing gown she wore.

"You haven't mentioned the mills, Scarlett. Or the stores." It was phrased like a statement, but she read the question in his words clearly enough.

"No, why would I?" She'd had an attorney arrange for someone to manage them before she'd left for Ireland, and just before she'd returned, the same person had offered to buy them. She'd accepted, and found it surprising when a not a twinge of remorse passed through her. She'd outgrown the mills and the store in the same way she'd outgrown the house. She didn't feel that they belonged in her future- or her plan for it anyway.

"Well there was a time when that seemed your soul focus."

Scarlett looked at him and couldn't help the mocking tone as she responded. "Didn't your lawyer tell you? I sold them- just as I plan to sell this house when I can walk again."

Rhett looked up from his plate with a surprised face. "You sold the mills, Scarlett? The store? Why?"

"I didn't intend to return, Rhett."

"Oh?" he said, sitting back and eying her shrewdly. "So then why did you, my pet?"

"I thought we were keeping our conversation strictly to the children? Or have you changed your mind?"

"I haven't." Rhett cleared his throat and moved the chair back from the table. "Excuse me, Mrs. Butler. I've recalled something I must attend to."

Post Note:

I think Book Rhett and Movie Rhett (and most fanfiction Rhett) loved Bonnie so much not only because she was his daughter, but also because she was a little version of Scarlett that loved him whole-heartedly and without reservation. I'm letting both of them put the shoe on the other foot with Baby B (who's getting a name soon, don't worry!) so that they understand what the other was feeling. We'll also learn more about Ashley soon. Hope you enjoyed! I'm off this weekend, so expect more!