Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Eleven
Rhett woke up in the middle of the night. He had to go to the water closet, but he couldn't manage it on his own. He didn't want to wake Scarlett up and he didn't want to go in the bed pan. As he was lying there, he heard a voice, "It doesn't matter you are going to be dead in a minute or two."
Rhett sat up and looked to where the voice had come from. There was a young man sitting in his favorite chair in the sitting room. Rhett said, "Who are you? How did you get in here? I will get my gun."
When the man stood up Rhett could tell he was an ethereal being. The man looked vaguely familiar. He looked like Rhett had when he was in his twenties. The young man said, "That is a comfortable chair. I can tell why it is your favorite or is it the view of Mother at the vanity table?"
"Huh?"
"I don't have a name. I died before I was given one. Although I think Mother wanted to name me for her father."
"I don't understand."
"I am your son."
"I don't have a son."
"No, you don't because of your irresponsible actions. I died before I could be born. You gave Mother syphilis and then she passed it on to me. Luckily for you Mother didn't die also."
"What?!"
"I was conceived right there in a drunken night of passion, and I died in a Zurich hotel room.
"Why are you here?"
"To give you another chance. The boss upstairs was impressed with how you turned your life around after you were warned. Now they are going to trust you to put right what you did wrong at least as far as Mother is concerned. Do you want the chance?"
"Of course. I want to save Scarlett."
"Goodbye, Dad."
As the specter was fading away Rhett was crying out, "Wait! Wait!"
Suddenly Rhett was in a carriage with Scarlett. She was smiling at him. He didn't know how he had gotten here. He didn't know where they were. He had been dying just a few seconds before.
Scarlett was talking and he had to ask her to repeat what she had just said. She smiled at him and said, "Wait for what?"
Rhett shook his head and said, "Nothing. Go on with what you were saying."
"I like your friends."
Rhett was having a déjà vu moment. He had lived this encounter before. When was it? He looked at Scarlett and she was incredibly young looking. He thought, 'She really is just a child.' She had a worried expression on her face. She said, "Rhett, are you alright?"
Rhett looked out the window and he knew they were in New Orleans. Suddenly he knew exactly where and when it was. It was thirteen years ago. He was on his honeymoon. It was before he had overreacted to Scarlett sighing. Rhett knew somehow, he had received a miracle. A chance to make everything right.
Rhett didn't remember exactly what he had said last time but he knew it had been callous and unkind. Words spoken to hurt the woman he loved. Thankfully, he had changed in the last ten years. He had been a good and faithful friend. Maybe even a good husband. He knew now what Scarlett needed security and love. He knew she needed him to tell her she was a lady despite all the awful things she had done to survive. He knew despite outward appearances she needed him to take care of her and protect her.
Most of all, Rhett knew that he had to force Scarlett to stop being responsible for everyone else. All those ungrateful people who just used her and wore her down. He was also going to limit the amount of time Scarlett spent with Miss Melly. He didn't need the woman praising Mr. Wilkes all the time just to keep Scarlett caught up in the fantasy. Also, Scarlett was just too loyal and trusting of the people she loved.
Rhett smiled at Scarlett and said, "Yes, of course, I'm alright. I am with you," Scarlett preened at his statement. He continued, "I think they like you too."
"They are kind of low class though."
"Calling them low class would be a compliment. They are gutter trash."
"Why…."
"Why do I spend time with them?" Scarlett nodded. He continued, "I can make a lot of money off of them. And they are fun."
Scarlett laughed and Rhett wrapped his arm around her. Two things were going to happen tonight. He wasn't going to hold himself back and she was going on a sensuous journey with him.
When Rhett and Scarlett got in the bed, he kissed her with his special kiss. He said, "Tonight, you are going to forget all about being a lady. There is only you and me in this room and I definitely will not tell anyone what we have done. You won't tell anyone what we have done. I will not stop because something is unladylike. I will not stop because you are embarrassed by our activity. I will only stop if I cause you any pain.
Rhett took Scarlett on a delightful, wonderful, sensuous journey. When he tried to get her nightgown off of her, she fought him. He ripped the gown from neckline to hemline. She tried to cover her body with her hands, and he held both of her hands above her head with one of his hands. When he suckled on her erect nipple, she stopped struggling because it felt so good. When he touched her womanhood with his hand, she tried to stop him, he would not. When he placed his mouth on her private part she was horrified and she tried to get him to stop by pulling his hair, he did not. When she felt that wonderful feeling, she stopped struggling against him. Rhett would not be put off. He dragged her down the road with him. He thought it was for her own good.
After everything was over, Scarlett had felt that wonderful feeling several times. When Rhett had entered her, she had felt that everything was wonderful with the world instead of feeling like she was being invaded. She was lying there wrapped up in his arms staring at the ceiling. Mouthing the word, "Wow." Over and over again.
When Rhett had rose on his elbow, she immediately felt the loss of his warm, strong, comforting body. He softly said, "Do you now understand why men like to engage in this foolishness?"
Scarlett whispered, "Yes."
"I want a child."
Scarlett, who had been lost in the afterglow, said, "What?"
"I want a child."
"You want a child."
"Every man wants his progeny to live on past him."
"I would never have thought you wanted a child."
"I do. I just never thought I would be able to have one. You know with all the not wanting to get married thing."
"Alright. I really don't have any choice in the matter. It is usually a result of the activity we just engaged in."
"After we have one, we will try not to have anymore but these pregnancy prevention methods are not one hundred percent. If you get with child, you will not get rid of the child."
"Get rid of the child?"
"I will explain all that later. What you need to know is that you could die from that procedure."
"I could die from giving birth to a baby."
"I will take you to London where the medical care is better."
"Really? Am I so valuable to you?"
"Of course, you are. You are my wife and my best friend."
"I'm your best friend?!"
"Yes, just as I am your best friend."
Scarlett stared at Rhett for a long time. She was thinking about Melly and Ashley. She decided that they were not her best friend. She wasn't even sure they were friends. If they knew all the things, she had done to survive they would be appalled but Rhett wasn't. No, Rhett understood why she had done what she had done. She smiled and said, "Yes, you are."
Rhett was pleased with the events from that night. He rolled over and lit his cigar. As soon as he finished the box of cigars he had already bought, he would quit smoking. Maybe he would get another twenty to thirty years. Years to spend with Scarlett and their children.
Rhett smiled into the darkness and started telling Scarlett stories of his life. After he knew she was asleep, he wondered what had happened. He didn't know how but he had been given a chance to put right what he had done wrong.
Rhett was smiling. He knew how this story ended. This time he would never be unfaithful to her, and they would never catch syphilis. He would make her feel secure. He knew that she was still a child in a lot of ways but instead of mocking her he would help her grow up. They would go to church, and he again would make her listen to the sermons. He would take her to London to have her baby with the better medical care. He would share their children with her. He would make her be a better mother.
Rhett would patiently wait until Wilkes finally revealed his true self and he would pick up the pieces of Scarlett's shattered feelings just as he had last time. Unless she wised up to what leeches the Wilkeses were before that time. His future was bright.
Rhett knew the next several years were going to be difficult for him and Scarlett, but he had already changed several things from the last time. He had told her that he wanted a child, he had taken her on a sensuous journey, and he had told her that she was important to him. He knew now that he hadn't needed to tell her that he loved her to bind her to him. He had just needed to tell her how important she was to him. From her actions last time, he knew she already loved him therefore she would be hooked by him just telling her that she was important to him. He also knew from what his older self had said that she was already loyal to him.
Rhett dreamed of his children that night. Bonnie, his son, and all their other children. He also dreamed about how they would be created.
The first thought Rhett had the next morning was … 'I'm going to sell my half of The Painted Lady. I will start frequenting places that don't have a brothel attached to them. I will never set foot in The Painted Lady again. I certainly don't trust Belle. Not, one bit. Maybe I should just kill her now before she does any more damage to my relationship with Scarlett.'
Rhett thought of Melanie Wilkes. He probably resented her more than he resented Ashley Wilkes. Mr. Wilkes was just a weak man that was willing to rely on Scarlett. Everyone thought of Miss Melly as such a sweet, kind woman that nobody's defenses would be raised. His certainly hadn't been and he was a hard man to fool. Although he had been fooled by both Miss Melly and Belle.
Rhett now believed that Miss Melly had been quietly undermining his and Scarlett's relationship so that Scarlett would continue to believe herself in love with Wilkes and thus continue to carry her husband. Everyone saw her as a benign person, but she wasn't. She was a poison to his and Scarlett's relationship. Rhett knew that Miss Melly had justified her behavior by saying it was just for a little while. It was just until Mr. Wilkes could stand on his own two feet. The sad thing to Rhett was with Scarlett and Miss Melly not allowing the man to suffer the consequences of his actions or lack of actions for that matter they had allowed the man to continue to wallow in his self-pity and misery.
Rhett had a great deal of resentment toward Miss Melly. When Scarlett was fighting for her life and might die at any moment, Miss Melly had not come to get him when Scarlett called for him. Miss Melly had not given them a chance to say goodbye or him a chance to say I'm sorry. Rhett resolved to watch both of the Wilkeses very closely.
After they had finished breakfast, Rhett sent Mr. Powe a telegram. The telegram said: Sell my half of The Painted Lady STOP Five hundred dollars STOP.
Later that day there was a reply to his telegram waiting for him at the hotel. All it said was: Yes STOP.
Rhett started educating Scarlett and helping her grow up. Yes, she was a child but that was not surprising, she was only twenty-four or twenty-five at most. She had spent the last eight years surviving not growing up.