Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Thirty-One

Rhett laid on the bed with his son in his arms watching Scarlett sleep. It was Valentine's Day. It was not the way he wanted to spend Valentine's Day, but in some ways, it was the perfect way to spend the day. He was with the woman he loved who loved him. She had just given him a child which was the result of their love.

Rhett got lost in his thoughts. He had promised her fun and he hadn't delivered on that promise often enough. He had assured her that if she gave him one child, they would work on not having any more. Yet they now had two more and she had never said a word about it, except that he needed to try harder.

Rhett thought about the man he had been when he met her at that barbecue. The amoral bastard that he had been then. At first, he thought Miss Melly had given him a moral compass then after Scarlett had Genie, he thought the child had given him a moral compass. He now knew that it was and always had been Scarlett who had given him a moral compass. A woman that he had believed was as selfish, self-centered, and amoral as he was had given him a moral compass. He knew she wasn't amoral. She was just a survivor. He had never understood her feelings about her aunts, the Wilkes, her sisters, her children, or Tara. He understood now. They were all part of her family.

Scarlett had been a child during the war. No that was wrong, she had been the child of a wealthy planter who the worst thing that had happened to her was the man she thought she loved had married someone else. The three years before they married, she was surviving. She had survived with nothing more than guts, courage, and determination. Rhett knew that she wasn't going to live by somebody else's definition of what was right or wrong. And she wasn't going to wait for someone else to rescue her.

He smiled. Despite her behavior the first six years of their acquaintanceship, as far as he had been concerned there had only been one thing wrong with her. She believed herself in love with the wrong man. Now he knew there were a lot of things wrong with her, but he wouldn't change any of them.

Gerry stirred in Rhett's arms. He was enough of an experienced father to know what was happening. Gerry wanted to nurse. Rhett woke Scarlett up and said, "Gerry needs you."

A sleepy Scarlett said, "Don't leave. I need you."

Rhett handed the child over to her and said, "Where else would I want to be?" He snuggled down next to his wife and child and thought, 'Best Valentine's Day ever."

When Rhett had given Genie a pony for her fourth birthday. Scarlett thought nothing about it. The child was overjoyed. Father and child had hours of fun with the pony. When Rhett introduced the child to jumping Scarlett still didn't think anything about it except how happy jumping made Genie. The only other thought Scarlett had thought was that Genie was definitely Gerald O'Hara's granddaughter.

When Mammy told Rhett that Genie needed to start riding side saddle, neither parent thought anything about it. Once Scarlett was out of her confinement, she and Genie went down to the dress shop and ordered a riding habit for the child. Scarlett had asked Ella if she wanted a riding habit and the child had said, "No, I don't think so. Horses scare me too much."

"They are awfully big aren't they. We just need to get you used to being around them."

"Alright, Mama, but not yet."

"Alright, Sweetheart."

"I'm sure Alexi would like a riding habit. She sure does like riding in front of Daddy."

"Yes, she does but I will wait until she is at least four before I make her ride side saddle."

Scarlett ordered Genie four riding habits. Two in blue because Rhett loved to see the child in blue and two in red because that was currently Genie's favorite color.

While Scarlett was there, she ordered a couple of new dresses to fit her larger waist size. She had also left a bunch of her dresses to have the waist let out. She was not happy about her waist being an inch larger but she wasn't going to stop being intimate with Rhett so it was the price she would have to pay. She cheered herself up with the knowledge that her waist was still smaller than most women she knew especially almost every woman in polite society. She spitefully thought, 'Even though they are starving, and I am not.'

Rhett had a surprise for Scarlett on their anniversary. It was their fifth anniversary, so it was special.

Scarlett was thrilled and excited when Rhett told her, "I am recreating our wedding night."

"Rhett, I would never have believed you could be so romantic."

"I even got us the same suite."

"Are we having supper in our room?"

"Yes, and lots of champagne."

"I can't drink champagne. I'm nursing Gerry."

"Maybe one glass."

Scarlett had giggled and said, "Maybe one."

The couple had eaten their supper, drank a glass of champagne, and made love. As they were lying their afterwards, Scarlett said, "I'm only saying it because it is appropriate even if it is a lie. I love you, Rhett."

"And I am only replying in kind because it is appropriate. I love you, Scarlett."

At the same time, they said, "Liar."

They giggled, laughed, talked, and made love one more time. There was a lot of 'I love yous in the midst of their time together. All too soon they had to get dressed and return to their home. Scarlett knew Mammy could placate Gerry for a little bit but before long his cries would be waking up the entire house.

They did manage to get back to their home before Gerry was too mad and upset. Rhett just laid on the bed watching his wife and child and wondered how he had gotten so lucky to have all this.

When in June Genie had wanted to raise the bar on her jump at first Rhett had said no. Rhett finally gave in because he was tired of being at odds with Genie.

Later that morning Rhett had thought, 'I should have stayed at odds with my little girl. At least, she would still be alive even if she was mad at me.'

Genie was dead. He should never have let her do it. He had made a bad decision just to make her happy.

When Scarlett woke up from fainting, she hoped it had all been a bad dream. She looked out the window. The bar was broken. It had not been a bad dream.

Scarlett called for Genie, but nobody came. Everyone on the second floor heard Scarlett screaming for Genie. It had broken Mammy's heart. It made Rhett feel even worse than he had a few seconds before.

Scarlett jumped up and ran down to the parlor. She saw the lamp that Rhett had bought her when they had been in New Orleans on the first part of their honeymoon. She rubbed the lamp, but nothing happened. She had not been surprised. She had used her three wishes. Nonetheless she had hoped to get three more wishes because they were in a different timeline.

Scarlett remembered what Genie had said, 'If you want to see me again, give the lamp to your husband and make him the owner.'

Scarlett knew that if Rhett was the owner, he would get three wishes and he could save Genie's life. She ran upstairs to find Rhett. She knew he would be with their oldest child's body. She went to the nursery. When she appeared in the doorway, Mammy said, "She's in the guest bedroom."

"Mammy, can you handle the children and their grief?"

"Mr. Rhett asked Miss Melly to come get Wade and Ella so all I have to take care of is Miss Alexi and Mr. Gerry. Neither one of them is aware of what has happened."

Scarlett smiled. That was her Rhett. Even in his most painful moment he would want to protect their other children from the awfulness of the day.

"What about your grief?"

"Oh Miss Scarlett, if I had just not insisted that she wear a riding habit she would still be alive. She could have held on with both her legs."

"Mammy, stop this right now. You were just making sure that Rhett and I did what was right for Genie. Don't blame yourself."

"If only…."

"No, stop right now. It is not your fault. It was an accident. I should have demanded that Rhett not let her try the jump. In fact, I should have convinced Rhett that teaching Genie to jump was wrong. Mammy, it was my pa that died that same way. It was a poor decision on Rhett's part. Nobody is to blame. Nobody," Scarlett looked at the older woman's anguished face and figuratively slapped her face. She said, "Mammy! I can't have you breaking down on me right now. I must go take care of Rhett. You must take care of Alexi and Gerry. You are the only person who can do it."

"Yes ma'am. I can do it. I will be alright for now. Go take care of Mr. Rhett. This is going to break him."

"No, it won't break him. He's made of strong stuff."

"Even the strongest of us break."

"But he won't because he has me."

As Scarlett walked away, she knew it would not break him because he had her, Alexi, and Gerry. If this had happened in their other timeline, then it would have broken Rhett for Bonnie was all he had in the entire world. She was the only person who had loved him. Neither she nor his mother had truly loved him. It had taken her losing her childish fantasy of Ashley to make her realize she loved Rhett Butler. Since they weren't having relations, he would not have had Alexi either. For some reason Scarlett knew in her heart that they would have lost Gerry too. She didn't know how but she knew it would have just been Bonnie.

Hopefully, the magic lamp would work again. That Rhett would be able to get three wishes. He could then fix this disaster.

When Scarlett walked into the room, she saw a broken man. A man beside himself with grief and guilt.

Rhett said, "I am so sorry. You were right. Her pony couldn't make that jump. I killed our precious Genie."

"No, Darling, you made a bad decision. Maybe the first one in your life."

"No, not the first one of my life."

"Baby?"

"Never mind."

Scarlett let it go because she wanted to give Rhett the lamp. She said, "Rhett, do you remember buying me this lamp when we were in New Orleans after we first got married."

"Of course, I do. I remember everything about our honeymoon."

"Do you remember what the store owner had said about there being a genie inside the lamp?"

"Of course, a bunch of hogwash to make the lamp more desirable. There is no such thing as genies."

"I give this lamp to you. You are the owner of this lamp."

"Scarlett, I don't know what you are talking about, nor do I want to know. Our baby is dead."

"Accept the lamp. Say you are the owner."

Rhett could not handle Scarlett losing control, so he said, "I accept ownership of the lamp."

"Rub the lamp."

"Scarlett."

"Rub the damn lamp!"

Rhett rubbed the lamp and Al-jani appeared. Rhett was speechless. There was a beautiful woman with brown eyes and black hair in front of him. At least Rhett thought she was beautiful. All he could see was the upper half of her face. Her dress was made of scarfs. She had a beautiful piece of jewelry resting on her forehead.

Scarlett was excited. It had worked. Rhett could now save Genie.

The woman placed her palms together and bowed. She said to Rhett, "My name is Al-jani," She turned to Scarlett and said, "I guess you need to start calling me Al-jani so there is no confusion with your daughter," She turned back to Rhett and said, "What is your first wish, Master?"

Rhett turned to Scarlett and said, "Are you seeing this too? Is there a genie in front of us?"

Scarlett said, "Yes, as the owner of the lamp she will grant you three wishes. Each wish must occur a week apart. There is no deadline on how soon you must make your next wishes. Al-jani will hang around just waiting for you. You can talk to her if you wish."

Rhett smiled and said to Al-jani, "The first wish is easy. I want my daughter to never have made that jump."

"You will replay this day. Call me when you wish to make your second wish."

Scarlett said, "Can I call you?"

"Of course, Scarlett. I would love to talk with you."

"Thank you for giving me back Genie and Melanie. And I guess Gerry who I didn't even know I had lost."

"You're welcome. He has never loved anyone but you. His fear of being hurt by someone he loves is because of his father, his family, and all of Charleston turning their backs on him. His pain at being let down and abandoned was intense."

Rhett said to Al-jani, "What are you doing? Why are you telling her that?"

Al-jani smiled and disappeared.