Here is a little bit more of the lighthearted fluff for hump day. I hope you guys enjoy!


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Part Sixteen

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The volume of poetry and prose lay forgotten in his hand as he watched Scarlett asleep against his chest. She had been sitting next to him on the sofa, her legs tucked alongside her, allowing her to recline into his embrace.

There was something so childlike and tender about the way she sat on the sofa with him at night. He in his silver robe and his feet on the ground and encased in slippers. She with her hair flowing loose around her shoulders, the white of her nightgown because she would overheat in his embrace when in her dressing gown, her bare feet on the furniture, her slippers laying forgotten on the carpet in front of them.

He often read to her. Nothing long. As it was, he often didn't read more than a page or two before he drew her into conversation. He often found himself fascinated by how she viewed and interpreted the words.

There was such a sense of peace in their lives. The languid manner in which they filled their days and nights.

He had suspected the slow seduction of Scarlett would be even more enjoyable than the desperate ways they had fallen upon each other at the start. To spend ages with slow touches, even when that touch was merely their bodies pressed against each other as they sat on the sofa. He could spend hours alone with his wife and she had up until the last few nights always encouraged and participated in the gradual build to their lovemaking.

The last three nights she had fallen asleep on the sofa. She had been slower to awake in the mornings and yawned more throughout the day. He wanted nothing more than to lay his hand on her stomach where he knew their child grew.

Their child.

They would exist together not just in this one life but in the future generations. They would go on, bound together until hopefully the end of time. It was simply such a miraculous thought. It made his persistent and often annoying devotion to Scarlett, finally make sense. The purpose of it all. Their child. Their grandchildren. Their great-grandchildren. It was awe-inspiring, the idea of it all.

She had been beautiful pregnant with Ella even though she was often decidedly so unhappy. The misery in her life and her marriage would often slip away when she was in his presence and she would simply bloom.

Back then he had wanted nothing more than to lay a hand on her stomach and to peel away the layers on her dress and witness the changes occurring. It had been confusing at the time, he'd never found the idea of a pregnant woman exceptionally appealing, there could surely be a beauty found in some, but it had been nothing like what it had been with Scarlett.

He understood it within weeks of arriving back in Georgia. Ella was his. She was his daughter. It hadn't mattered that Frank Kennedy had planted the seed to begin Ella, she was his. He would nurture and support her. He would make her laugh, kiss away tears and soothe her fears.

He and Scarlett would only be physically bound in one child, but who they were and how they saw the world would go on in all three. He had lived so long as a bachelor and his actions had reflected only upon him.

Now how he lived was how they were viewed and how he lived would influence how they would live. It was a weighty thing and had led him to second guess his actions more times than he could count since she had brought it up on their honeymoon.

He sat watching Scarlett; he left the book open, so if she awoke he could easily appear to still be reading. It was remarkable how easily he could pass long stretches of time watching her, thinking of her, being with her. He'd found himself in the weeks since their marriage pushing off bed until later and later for as much as he enjoyed their time in bed, the sooner they were in bed, the sooner they would be asleep and he enjoyed his time with her far too much to want it cut short even though it would begin again the next day.

Eventually he closed the book and shifted Scarlett so he was able to stand with her. Depositing her in their bed and pulling up the coverlet before she shivered without his body heat, he made his way around the room extinguishing the lamps before he climbed into bed with her. Pulling her in close, needing the scent and feel of her against him in order to find an easy rest.

"Are you not ravishing me?" Scarlett murmured moments later.

"I was attempting to be a gentleman since you were sound asleep."

"Why is my nightgown still on, I thought we would always sleep skin to skin-"

"Frankly, I need the barrier to remain a gentleman."

She laughed lightly. "Aren't you at least going to kiss me goodnight?"

"My dear," he said, "I am fairly certain I'll be doing more than kissing you goodnight."

She smiled sweetly as she welcomed him against her body.

He kissed her slowly; lightly at first, then deepening as their bodies began to respond to each other. His mouth never strayed far from hers. There was no frantic removal of her gown. Their bodies simply rocked against each other, he was inside of her before he even realized it and he had to force himself out of the moment to retrieve the sheath that he knew they didn't need.

Far more peaceful than any of their previous joinings, it was comfort, pleasure, it was very nearly that they were the same person. When it was over he was struck by an urge to stay within her far greater than normal. The urge not driven by exhaustion or the desire to begin again, it was simply that he was where he belonged.

There was no great rush to leave. The sheath providing no purpose; he was in no hurry to remove it. He had to stop himself from telling her that he loved her, the moment far too intimate that she would realize the depth of it.

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Late October

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She sat at the breakfast table with her husband of seven weeks, closing her eyes as the rancid smell of pig enveloped her because of the platter Prissy had placed on the table before leaving the room, which was made worse by Rhett serving himself a piece and sending the smell further into the air. He'd demanded the servants leave them alone for the meals unless they were called, he was far too used to his bachelor ways.

Scarlett had never experienced such freedoms and she certainly never would. "One time," she said as the smell of ham made her stomach churn as they sat alone for the meal, although not quite just the two of them, "just one time Scarlett."

He did his best to not let his lips lift up in a smile, "I assume this means your courses have still not arrived."

"Nor will they for some time. Do remove that offending meat from this table before I throw the dish at your head."

His light laugh did not escape her notice, but he quickly rose to his feet and threw back the thick slice of ham from his own plate back onto the platter before disappearing out of the room with it.

"You're pleased with yourself," she said with a glare as he walked back into the room with a brilliant smile.

"Well I did warn you, Scarlett that there was a reason we should marry," he said approaching her side.

"I was hoping for closer to the ten years mark."

He laughed and scooped her up in his arms, then took her seat with her in his lap, his hand covering her stomach. "I will procure every means of prevention so this is the only one. It'll be better this way, get all of the baby and toddler years over and done with at once. Why we should have done this as soon as I returned."

She gave him a dirty look.

"This baby will occupy Ella far better than any doll."

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Early November

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Less than a week into her realization of her pregnancy, Rhett Butler found himself storming out of their house.

Moody, temperamental, snippy. Oh yes, snippy was a word to describe his wife. She was irritable and cranky. The sweet creature she'd been before, snuggling into his side and falling asleep, seemed to vanish. Oh, she would be and then she would turn.

They'd been having a lovely moment and then he'd touched her breast, she'd exploded and actually had the gall to strike him before lashing out verbally. He quite frankly had crossed the doorway of their house with the intention of saddling his horse and riding to Atlanta.

The night's cool air worked just as well as a cold bucket of water over his head. He stopped on the porch and took a deep breath. Taking another before he pulled a cigar from his jacket, lighting it and leaning against a column.

Recalling watching Scarlett snap at her sister months prior while was living with them at Tara.

Will's quiet words next to him after watching both women disappear out of the room in different directions. 'She doesn't mean it; she's probably horrified right now that you saw that.'

'I am more than used to Scarlett,' Rhett responded dryly, well aware of her temper.

'She can say things and maybe she does mean then, but she means far more than just them. She's a good woman, she just sometimes requires more time than others to show she's a good woman.'

Rhett couldn't help it, he let out a brisk laugh at Will's words, he looked over at Will to see he the younger man a slight smile on his face.

'Be patient with her,' Will said with a knowing look.

Rhett stood outside for several minutes, not long enough to finish his cigar, but long enough for his heartbeat to return to normal and the rage to have left him. He put out the cigar and returned inside and up the stairs to their room. She was curled up on their sofa with her knees drawn up to her chest.

She looked up at him with red eyes, showing she had been crying even though there were no longer any tears on her cheeks, still in the white of her nightgown, her hair brushed and ready for bed. "They hurt," she said sounding miserable as if tears were once more ready to fall.

"I know," he said tenderly, any animosity remaining evaporated in that moment, "I'm sorry, sweetheart." He crossed the room and she buried herself into his side when he sat.

"I'm sorry I hit you," she said after a few moments.

"It's fine. I can take it."

"You did this to me," she said in continued misery.

"I know I did. So you can do whatever you need to, to me. Tell me to go to hell as many times as you need."

"Fine," she said snuggling in, "but don't actually go. I need you here."

He laughed lightly, "I'm right here my darling."


Thanks for reading!