Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Note: As always, all reviews and inputs are appreciated.

Chapter Six

In the middle of her fourth month Rhett noticed that she was melancholic. Rhett asked her, "Are you tired, my dear, with your condition and all the visiting you have been doing with Miss Melly?"

Scarlett had smiled at him and thought he can be so considerate. She said, "Oh Rhett, I am going to tell you a horrible secret." She saw Rhett stiffen and quickly said, "I feel like I sold my favorite child."

Rhett burst out laughing mostly from relief. He had really been afraid of what she was going to say. She was beginning to get mad at him because he was laughing at her. He came over and sat next to her on the divan which was now his favorite piece of furniture in the parlor. He took her in his arms while laughing the entire time. She was stiff as a board. He said, "Soothe your feathers." And he stroked her arms. "I'm not surprise at that. After this baby is born and after your reputation is no longer in tatters, we will start another business."

Scarlett sat back and said, "Really Rhett? Together? What kind of business?"

Rhett smiled at how happy she was. She really would never be happy doing what ordinary women did. He would carry her along and restore as much of her reputation as possible while letting her be happy. As long as he was received his children would be received. Scarlett would always be a woman that would be talked about. There was just something about her that made women want to talk about her and not in a nice way. That same je ne sais quoi that made every man want her.

Rhett said, "You decide. You have almost a year to choose another business to start but not another mill. The sawmill is too harshly masculine and we have to keep in mind your reputation in regard to your breathing children. I know I said we would never comingle our businesses but I now think we should. We have done pretty good on our other joint projects," And Rhett rubbed her abdomen. "We can tell the Old Guard the business is mine and you are just helping me but the business will really be yours."

"Alright but I don't like not getting credit for successfully running my business."

Rhett smiled at her, "You have to think of your reputation for your children's sake. Speaking of which have you stopped receiving the Scallawag wives?"

Scarlett said, "Yes. That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. They have become as boring as the Old Guard."

Rhett said, "Good. Feel better?"

Scarlett nodded her head and said turning beet red while she was looking down, "Speaking of the Scallawag wives I heard Cathy mention something called a sheath to prevent pregnancies. I think I know how it works by looking at a picture of a sheath. Could we use that after I deliver this baby?"

Rhett took Scarlett back into his arms and lifted her chin, "Yes but we have to use it every time for it to be effective. It is only 95% effective with perfect use."

Scarlett then lowered her eyes and knowing Rhett loved her she had the courage to say, "I don't want to sleep without you ever again." She wasn't afraid she would be mocked or ridiculed for saying it. She was sure he would tease her about it sooner or later though that was just the way he was.

Rhett hugged her close and said, "I want to sleep with you too." He looked at her suggestively and she giggled.

It had been five months since Ashley's party and she was tired. She was tired of Ashley looking guilty, she was tired of visiting all these women and them looking at her with suspicion, and she was just tired because she was pregnant.

What she wasn't tired of was Rhett being thoughtful and kind. Rhett was spoiling her like he spoiled Bonnie. He was pampering her even more so than when she was pregnant with Bonnie. Rhett had refrained from being mocking to her. He was mocking about other people but those comments were funny. Rhett was being charming and delightful. They weren't even fighting that much but when they did Rhett would smile and agree with what she wanted. Maybe being pregnant wasn't that bad. Maybe that was the true way to get Rhett to do what she wanted - be pregnant with his child. She remembered how sweet Rhett had been when she was pregnant with Ella. Maybe she just needed to be pregnant for Rhett to be kind and considerate. She stopped wondering about it because she would never be pregnant with anybody else's child. She would never remarry if something happened to Rhett. This thought made her pause and think. No. She would never marry again and especially not to that rat-bastard Ashley Wilkes. He was such a weak, ineffective, cowardly man. She was stunned at her thought and then decided she was correct. He was not the man she had fallen in love with. The war had changed him and he wasn't strong enough to fight back. She knew that he didn't have the courage to change.

One night while they were in bed after returning from Rhett's old bedroom Scarlett said, "Why is Ashley acting guilty? We didn't do anything wrong. He has made us look worse because of his actions. No, that is not right. He has made me look worse. Everyone thinks he is such a fine gentleman."

Rhett sighed and laid there not saying anything. He certainly wasn't going to correct any of her assertions and he wasn't going to answer her question. Any time Rhett had ever criticized Ashley Wilkes Scarlett had jumped to his defense. Finally, Scarlett said, "What is it?"

Rhett said, "I don't want to tell you. I don't want to ruin the peace between us."

Scarlett sighed and laid there for a long time and finally said, "Tell me."

Rhett said, "I think he is trying to ruin our marriage in order to keep you for himself." Rhett was braced for the thunder storm that was Scarlett when she defended Ashley.

She laid there for a long while not speaking. Finally, she said, "He never loved me, did he? He just wanted my adoration. That is what you have been trying to get me to realize since that day we met."

Rhett really wished he could save her this pain but he said, "Yes, my dear. That is what I think too."

Scarlett burst into tears. Rhett let her cry on his chest. When she calmed down a little, he reached inside his drawer and got her a handkerchief. All he did was hand it to her.

She said, "I know you are right and that is what makes it hurts so bad. I loved him so much and to him I was nothing but a worshipping devotee."

Rhett said, "Don't be too hard on him, my dear. He is just a man raised to a certain life style forced to live in a totally different world."

"He doesn't have the courage to adjust and adapt to this new world?"

"No, he doesn't."

"He wanted me to remain that sweet sixteen-year-old girl who adored him so one small part of that life remained."

Rhett wanted to tell her differently but he knew it to be true so all he did was hold her closer. She didn't speak anymore and eventually she went to sleep. Rhett didn't fail to notice that she spoke of her love for Wilkes in the past tense. That made him happy.

The next day she acted as if nothing had happened the night before. Rhett knew that Ashley had been consigned behind a locked door in her mind. He hoped that door never broke.

When Scarlett was six months along and she entered her confinement, they started her plan to get Bonnie back into the nursery. Wade at age nine was very excited about getting to leave the nursery. They let him decorate his room himself. There was quite a bit of fanfare about the event. One night at supper while Wade was talking about his new room Bonnie said, "My room." Before either adult could speak Wade acted like a nine-year-old older brother who was a little bit jealous of Bonnie always getting everything she wanted and being his parents' favorite. He said, "You can't have a room of your own. You are too much of a baby to have your own room. You can't even sit in your own chair at the dinner table."

Chaos ensued.

Rhett and Scarlett both said, "Wade!"

Bonnie jumped down from her father's lap and went to the empty chair next to her mother and tried to climb on it while saying, "Not baby!"

Wade who was feeling extremely brave and mad because he thought Bonnie was going to steal his special moment said, "You are such a baby you can't even sleep in the nursery. Only babies sleep with their parents."

Scarlett stood up and yelled, "Everybody be quiet." Scarlett helped Bonnie into her chair and turned to Rhett and said, "Can you get her a pillow from the parlor?"

As Rhett walked to the parlor and brought the pillow back, he realized he had been doing exactly what Scarlett had accused him of. He had been coddling his child and it was not to her benefit. He also recognized he was creating a brat which was also not to her benefit. Although Rhett was still not happy with Wade for speaking to Bonnie that way, if he was honest, he had probably spoken to Rosemary that way when he was a boy.

When he returned to the dining room, he heard Scarlett say to Bonnie, "Would you like to sit here from now on and be a big girl?"

Bonnie nodded her head. Rhett handed Scarlett the pillow then picked Bonnie up so Scarlett could slide the pillow under her. Once Bonnie was settled Rhett said, "Do you want to try sleeping in the nursery with Ella?"

Bonnie nodded her head then looked at her Daddy. Rhett said, "I will stay with you until you fall asleep. Your mother and I will be right down the hall if you need us."

Then Ella who had been eating her supper the entire time said, "You can sleep with me in my bed tonight. There is plenty of room."

Bonnie nodded her head up and down and smiled.

Just like that in a serendipitous way the problem was solved. Bonnie never had another nightmare. She was proud to be sitting in her own chair and sleeping in her own bed in the nursery.

Later that night Scarlett said, "I am going to miss Bonnie giving me hugs every morning."

Rhett said, "I will give you hugs instead." And he did and so much more. Rhett and his libido were finally very happy.

The next day at dinner Bonnie patted Scarlett's tummy and said, "My baby sister. I'm a big sister like Ella."

Scarlett didn't understand most of what Bonnie said but fortunately Ella's answer let Scarlett know what Bonnie had said.

Ella said, "You will be a big sister like me but the baby might be a boy like Wade."

That statement made Bonnie scowl and she turned to her Daddy and said, "No boy." She then glared at Wade. Wade like a big brother glared back. Scarlett and Rhett were glad he was showing some backbone.

To his credit Rhett didn't laugh but he did say, "I have no control over whether it is a boy or a girl. It already is what it is."

Bonnie continued to scowl the rest of the meal but after the fruit for dessert she was happy again. Rhett had watched throughout the meal as Scarlett had gently kept putting the spoon in Bonnie's hand. When Bonnie tried to eat with her hands Scarlett would touch her hand and quietly say, "No." Bonnie had given Scarlett a mutinous look but had complied with her mother's request. Rhett knew the last months of him never overruling Scarlett was why Bonnie had obeyed her mother. Six months ago, Bonnie would have thrown a fit and Rhett knew to his chagrin that he would have allowed Bonnie to have her way. He would have done it to thwart Scarlett and please Bonnie. Now he knew it was not in Bonnie's best interest to get everything she wanted. He also knew that Bonnie did need to learn table manners and proper behavior if she was going to function in polite society. The world that he had practically sold his soul so she could be a member. With him no longer being in a war with Scarlett he was much more open to her ideas and desires concerning the children. He had a twinge of guilt in regard to how many times he had called her a bad mother. He smiled when he thought she was just not an ordinary mother and why had he thought she would be. She was not an ordinary woman.

As Rhett and Scarlett would talk about what happened that night over the years, they never could quite put all the pieces together on how they had gotten such wonderful results. They both agreed that it had been a truly magical moment. What Bonnie's parents didn't know was that Bonnie had always been able to sense the hostility between her parents which had always made her a little uneasy. Once they started acting kind to each other she had finally felt safe in her world and that was why she never had any more nightmares. Just like Bonnie once her mother felt safe in her world, she never had any more nightmares either.