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Part Seven

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"Rhett," Scarlett said walking into the bathroom, "what are you doing in my bathroom?"

Scarlett's husband was stretched out in the luxurious room that contained her tub, her glorious bathtub with running water and the small gas furnace that heated it. It was still the talk of Atlanta, two other families had followed suit, but hers was the one they talked about.

"Mrs. Butler, need I remind you who paid for all your modern conveniences?"

"Yes Rhett," Scarlett folded her arms, "you bought and paid for your wife, you have mentioned this before. You have your own tub."

"That I share with the children, who were covered in mud."

"Do I want to know why the children were covered in mud and why I assume, you were covered in mud?"

"I suspect you do not," he smiled at her and continued smoking his cigar.

"Rhett, I'm tired, I wanted to take a bath before we went out."

His wife looked adorably youthful in her only her wrapper and pouting at him.

He gestured at her to join him.

"Rhett, I am carrying our child," when that didn't move him she continued on, "all of me is sore and itchy today."

"Itchy?"

"Yes, Rhett, I want to claw all of my skin off. It's like this child is expanding faster than my skin can keep up."

He laughed softly at her.

"Rhett don't laugh. You can't possibly begin to understand."

He put down his cigar on the small table next to the tub and stood, "Come here Scarlett."

She pouted.

He outstretched his hand, "Scarlett."

She dragged her feet like the child she resembled, but she went to him. "I am not getting in that tub with you, Rhett Butler."

"Yes, you are Mrs. Butler," he said going to undo her sash, "and then you are going to tell me every single place you are sore or itchy."

"Don't laugh at it Rhett, it's not funny. And we're supposed to just hide it until it's over."

"Since when have you or I ever done what we're supposed to do?"

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Scarlett sat up in bed, holding a hand to her chest as she laughed, as her laugh didn't stop, she covered her mouth fearful she should wake the children.

"Oh Rhett that is absolutely awful," she said wiping tears from her eyes as her laughter slowed.

Her husband was stone-cold sober and sharing stories that belonged only in whore houses, sprawled across their bed leaning on his arm.

"Only if you were the sailor," he grinned at her.

It struck her in an instant the last time they had been like this, she had been pregnant with Bonnie. Rhett had done his best to keep her from being absolutely miserable, but more often than not she was. Then once he had gotten his Bonnie, keeping Scarlett happy or alive had ceased to matter. She had ceased being his.

Her smile fell and she was swept away by a wave of melancholia.

"Scarlett?" Rhett shot up.

"I'm fine," she brushed away his concern before he could inquire about the baby, "just suddenly nostalgic, I suppose."

Oh he knew that feeling well.

She wished sometimes that he had never kissed her when he proposed. Wished she still lived in that house with Pittypat. Wished he had stayed her friend; someone she could be truthful with. That first year had been like drowning in a vat of champagne and by the time she finally surfaced it had all been destroyed.

That first month after he left she felt like that old woman in the novel Rhett told her about, left on her wedding day, dressed in a wedding gown, the cake still out. Everything he had promised her, the house, the money, it was all there, but no Rhett. No one to lean on, to laugh with, be honest with, no hope of it returning.

Then there was the baby. That small drop of light. That small piece of hope.

"Is this just for the baby Rhett?" The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. She didn't think she wanted to know the answer, she didn't think she could survive if the answer was yes. But she didn't think she would survive if he disappeared again in a year.

"That was hardly a tale for a baby Scarlett."

Oh she hated that casual demeanor of his, acting as if he took nothing seriously when she was quite sure he took everything seriously. "Are you just doing this to keep me occupied until I have the baby like you did with Bonnie?"

He stood angrily "With Bonnie I was trying to get you from risking your life to avoid a few months of discomfort, do I suddenly need to worry about that again?"

"You know you don't," her hand lay protectively over her child.

"Then what is this?"

"Do you forgive me for being exactly what I said I was? Who did you think I was? I know it wasn't a lady. Not a mother, not a wife." She stood and hit him squarely in his chest with two open hands, "You promised me a fun marriage. I told you there was no such thing, but you swore," she hit him again, this time with fists.

"Well I do believe a lot of that fun had to do with my way with women and you chose to remove that from our marriage."

"Ugh," she hit him again. "I told you that I should never marry again and I believed you because you were my friend and you had to kiss me and ruin it all," another pounding of her fists on his chest.

He threw his head back in a laugh, "Did my kiss really ruin it all?" He pulled her in close to him, ignoring her hands beating on his chest. "I still want you more than any woman I've ever seen and trust me Scarlett, I have seen a lot. Maybe fun wasn't quite as easy as I expected in a marriage, I should have deferred to your good judgment seeing as you'd been married twice. But we were always going to end up like this, you were always going to be mine. I suppose I could have waited until Frank was in the ground and you came around to the idea of being my mistress."

Rhett's breath was hot against her skin, his arms holding her body firm against his and in that moment, she almost reached up that extra inch to kiss him.

"But you are surprisingly fertile my dear, so you should be glad you at least got the ring and house of your dreams."

She roared back to life and tried to fight against him once more.

"I promise you a lot of fun my dear," he pulled her up to him and he didn't have to fight her for a kiss as he brought their lips close together.

Lol and some proper Scarlett and Rhett drama after the Wade-centric chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed! Thanks for reading!