Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.

Chapter Sixty-Two

Scarlett wore black for the next month. If the children brought Mammy up both Rhett and Scarlett made themselves listen to what the child was saying. If Scarlett brought up Mammy Rhett made himself listen to what she was saying even when she repeated herself. Slowly everyone got used to the idea that Mammy was dead and there wasn't anything anyone could have done to save her. As Scarlett said two weeks after she found out about Mammy's death, "She was ready to die. She was ready to join my mother."

Rhett answered, "Yes, Baby."

On March seventeenth. Rhett said, "We are going out to supper tonight. Just the two of us."

"What is the occasion?"

"You know what the occasion is. To celebrate St. Patrick's Day."

Scarlett laughed.

The couple went to Tidewater Trading Post. Both of them had a steak. Rhett got them a bottle of champagne. They had ice cream for dessert despite how cold it was outside. Scarlett said, "We can warm each other up later."

"Indeed, we can."

On April first, Rhett got a telegram from Mr. Powe. It stated: Trust fund for women in Charleston no longer needed STOP All beneficiaries dead STOP More information in letter to follow.

After reading the telegram, Rhett went in search of Scarlett. He handed her the telegram. When she finished reading it, she said, "Is this an April fool's joke?"

Rhett laughed and said, "I am pretty sure Mr. Powe would not pull an April fool's joke on one of his clients."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. We will have to wait for the letter."

"Alright."

The letter from the lawyer arrived one week later. A cholera epidemic raced through Charleston. It killed Rhett's mother and sister. It killed Scarlett's aunts.

Rhett telegraphed his Charleston attorney and authorized him to close everyone's estates. Also, to find out what happened to Rhett's brother and his family and Scarlett's sister.

A week later Mr. Mobbs telegraphed back. Scarlett's sister was dead along with all the other nuns at the convent. Rhett's brother was dead along with his wife and his three children. As Rhett was staring out the window, he decided to go for a ride on his horse. After finding Scarlett he decided instead to go for a buggy ride with her. After driving around for a while, Rhett said, "Everyone we were related to is dead in Charleston."

"Careen died?"

"Yes."

"Your brother?"

"And his entire family."

"Oh."

Rhett and Scarlett drove around for about ten minutes without speaking. Finally, she said, "I feel nothing."

"Nor do I."

"Why?"

"They had been out of our lives for so long that I guess they had ceased to exist to us."

"I guess."

The couple was quiet for about five minutes more then, Scarlett said, "Since you are the only living relative will you be able to get your money back that your mother stole from you?"

"I damn sure hope so."

Rhett and Scarlett both burst out laughing. When they had sobered, she said, "I will have to write Suellen and share the news. I'm quite sure she will not care anymore than I do."

"Probably not."

The couple then started talking about what they were going to do for their anniversary.

Scarlett did write and tell Suellen about the deaths of their aunts and their sister. Suellen wrote back wanting to know if Scarlett thought there would be any inheritance from their aunts. Scarlett wrote back and told her sister that not only was there not going to be an inheritance, but Scarlett would probably have to send the attorney handling the matter some money. Scarlett wasn't surprised when she didn't hear anything more from Suellen.

For their eighth anniversary, Rhett and Scarlett went to Delmonico's. Scarlett had crabs and Rhett had a steak. They had the Alaska, Florida dessert again. They had a bottle of champagne. Scarlett said, "I feel like I have been married to you forever."

"I feel the same way."

"I thought you were going to be very difficult to live with, but you haven't been at all except for your mocking and teasing."

"Living with you has been exactly as I thought it would be. Wonderful!" Scarlett smiled at her husband, until he added, "And sexually satisfying, of course. You do have a beautiful body."

"So do you."

"I'm going to have to start watching my food intake. I have put on a couple of inches in my waist."

"Go play tennis with Wade. He is almost too good for me now."

"Alright. Or we could do sexercise."

"Rhett! Ssh! Ssh!"

"Why do you persist in sshing me. You know I am not going to be quiet."

"I don't know but I feel that I must."

Rhett laughed and Scarlett joined him. Later that night, Scarlett wondered if all their activity was enough to burn off their dessert. She was fairly sure it wasn't.

Life went on for the Butlers. As Scarlett had suspected the letters from Rene and Fanny got less and less but they were surviving the panic. Fanny wrote that Anna Beth was no longer happy just being Mrs. Elsing. Lately she had been whining about them getting a house of their own. Hugh would always reply 'we can't afford our own place.' There hadn't been anymore Elsing babies or Picard babies. Scarlett wondered if Claude had shared his technique for not making babies. She would never know but she hoped so.

Everyone in the Butler household was happy. Eunice enjoyed working for the Butlers, and she also enjoyed living in America. This definitely had been a smart move for her and Mortimer. Admittedly she and her husband weren't living in the lap of luxury, but their employer was. Mr. and Mrs. Butler were exceptionally good employers. They paid a good wage, and the work was not that hard. Eunice knew that as Olivia got older there would be less and less need for her services. Maybe they would have another baby. She didn't know what she would do if the Butlers fired her. Especially not now when she and Mortimer had finally conceived a child.

It was October. They had just had Ella's birthday party. Scarlett was in the nursery. Rhett had sent her in there to talk to Eunice. It wouldn't be proper for Rhett to talk to her about the subject matter. Scarlett said, "Eunice come sit down with me. We need to talk."

"Yes ma'am."

"When is your baby due?"

"Ma'am!"

"There is nothing to be ashamed of. You're a married woman."

"March."

"I suppose we should get you some help starting in January. We may have to go through a couple of nursemaids before Mr. Butler deems one suitable. I suppose you will need a month to recover from the birth of the baby. Yes, that is what we will do. If by some miracle Mr. Butler deems her competent, we will keep her. You, of course, will be the head nursemaid."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You are welcome. Would you consider taking another role in the household?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"It won't be for a while if ever though. Mr. Butler and I don't change diapers, nor do we deal with soiled underwear."

With a smile on her face, Eunice said, "Yes ma'am."

As Eunice watched Scarlett walk out of the nursery, she thought, 'They wouldn't know the first thing about changing a diaper or getting a child potty trained.'

Rhett actually started the hiring process the next month, he said, "We may have to go through a lot of candidates before we find one worthy of being a nursemaid to our children."

"Yes, Dear."

"We will have to watch her closely to make sure she doesn't do anything wrong."

"Yes, Dear."

"Will you send a note to the agency tomorrow telling them to send a nursemaid over starting Monday?"

"Yes, Dear."

"She will be gone before the end of the week even if I am extremely patient."

"Yes, Dear."

Scarlett didn't care. Rhett would handle everything. All she had to do was send the notes requesting another nursemaid.

Every week the hiring agency sent another nursemaid. By the end of December, Rhett had found one that he deemed acceptable while Eunice was unable to work because of her baby. Florence or as she preferred to be called Flo was an older woman who had a no-nonsense air about her. Yet she was kind and gentle with the children. As soon as she was hired, she started doing the more tedious task thus allowing Eunice to sit down more.

At Wade's birthday party, Scarlett found out that the Brooks were going to take a tour of Europe starting in March. They would not be back until August first. Scarlett asked Violet, "Are you with child?"

"No. I told Dean I didn't want anymore, and he said I can fix that. I don't know what he meant by that, but he then told me we were going to Europe in the spring. I have always wanted to go so, I said sure."

If Scarlett hadn't been a proper lady, she would have told Violet what Dean meant but it would be improper to speak of those things.

Violet, Dean, and their children left to go to Europe on March the first. Eunice had her baby boy on March the tenth. She named him Liam. Scarlett and Rhett went out and celebrated St. Patrick's Day on March seventeenth. April tenth the Butlers hosted a second birthday party for Olivia. April twentieth Rhett and Scarlett went out to celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary. Over supper, Scarlett said, "I can't believe Wade is already fifteen. In two more years, he will be the same age I was when I had him. He is such a baby. How could Pa let me get married so young?"

"Girls in the South got married young then. Probably still do."

"If they get married at all."

"You were ready to get married."

"No, I really didn't want to be married. I just had to have a way to stay in Ashley's life while he was married to another woman. It doesn't get any stupider than that."

"Don't berate yourself. Let me," Scarlett laughed. Rhett changed the subject by saying, "It took over a year but my lawyer in Charleston finally settled all of our relatives' estates."

"Did you get your money back?"

"Yes, then I authorized Mr. Mobbs to use it to pay off Robert's and your aunt's debts."

"Thank you, Rhett."

"You are welcome. A lot of experts think we are starting to come out of the panic."

"Really that is wonderful."

"Yes, it is."

Rhett went on to tell Scarlett what the experts were saying. She was much more interested in the financial side of life than she had ever been before. Soon they went home and had fun in their oversize bed.

Rhett never did let Flo go but she certainly wasn't as good as Eunice in Rhett's opinion. To Scarlett any of the hundred nursemaids that they had hired would have been fine. Rhett continued to employ Flo because Eunice needed the help especially since she had her own baby to take care of whom she was nursing. Scarlett let Eunice use the guest bedroom to nurse her child in. Scarlett wondered why they had a guest bedroom. No one ever came to visit.

Rhett said one night, "Eunice is going to get with child again then she will quit on me."

"I don't think so, Dear."

"You don't?!"

"No, she is happy here. Her husband is the butler here. We have gone out of our way to accommodate her needs in regard to her child. Furthermore, here she can keep her child with her."

"That is true."

"Besides in four years when Olivia turns six, we will not need a nursemaid."

"True."

Soon school was out, and the family was either on the yacht or on the tennis court. Scarlett still played tennis with Wade, but she could tell he wasn't trying that hard to beat her. Nonetheless he won most of the time.

Rhett built the family a swimming pool which was more of a wading pool, but everyone loved it on those hot summer days.

In the middle of July, Scarlett got a telegram from Ashley. Melanie was dead. They needed to come right away. They would hold the funeral until she and Wade got there. Rhett made all the arrangements. He let Eunice stay in New York with Mortimer and her baby. He just took Flo. Despite the children being out of school Scarlett had a feeling they would not stay in Atlanta awfully long.