AN: Thank you so much for those AMAZING reviews. I hope everyone had a chuckle when I had Rhett thinking about being a logical man, you know he thinks that in the book, but we all want to go "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! NO WHY IS THAT A GOOD PLAN?"

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Part Eighteen

Late September

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"It's a shame, your husband couldn't join us Miss Melly," Rhett said entertaining his wife's sister-in-law alone for the first time since her arrival the day before. Will, Suellen and the children had just arrived, so Scarlett was outside with Will, while Suellen was upstairs with Estelle, and Dilcey and Prissy had the children occupied outside.

"He didn't want to leave the mills with Scarlett gone," she smiled.

"Speaking of Scarlett, I swear she can't sit still for the past few days. I think she has managed to find every flaw within the house and out," knowing that was what she was outside talking to Will about.

Melly laughed, "It's the baby. She's just trying to make everything perfect for the baby. Like making a nest."

"She has three months to do that in Atlanta, we won't be back here for several months."

"Are you sure about that Captain Butler?" Melly questioned.

He nodded, "The baby's due at the end of the year."

"No, I mean about Scarlett having the baby in Atlanta," she questioned.

"Miss Melly, you are our last guest here. Everything is set for us to depart on Wednesday."

"Are you sure that's what Scarlett wants?" Melly prompted the discussion further.

"We only came out to avoid the heat of a summer in the city."

"Scarlett seems almost content here, like she's burrowed in with a cozy blanket in front of a warm fire."

Rhett nodded, "The county's been good for us. Having less."

"It's been nice seeing you and Scarlett, so-" Melly paused.

"Domesticated?" Rhett questioned with a smile.

"Contented," she supplied, repeating her earlier word.

"It is a nice change, I will certainly give you that Miss Melly," he smiled. Contented, it had been a word that had come into his own mind on several occasions. Almost as if their lives had slipped into place.

"If Suellen weren't here, I doubt Scarlett would fight at all this weekend," Melly lifted her lips in a small smile.

"Oh I doubt that, this is Scarlett we're talking about," Rhett smiled and picked up his glass of water.

"It'll be nice that the babies will be so close in age," Melly smiled, wishing Suellen another strong and healthy baby and once more wishing it was her having that baby.

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Rhett wondered about Miss Melly's words as the day progressed. The DeVaughns, whom they had been socializing with for the past few weeks appeared at the house and based on his wife's reaction she had been expecting them.

He recalled them at being one of early parties at Peachtree, the parties that resulted in him having to do years of penance to redeem the children's future social standing. They tended not to linger in Georgia, her family and the money came from the north and that was where they met. Percy had been the fourth son, in no rush to return south after he finished his schooling he had met the New York heiress. They had spent the war in Europe and had four children born in a 5 year time period, likely so Percy could one day return south and not be thought a deserter of the south.

Rhett had at least certainly thought it interesting that a couple that had children aged 14, 18, and 21 years old and then another group 10, 9, 7, and 6 years old, with no mention of children having ever been lost. For that alone Leticia had Rhett's respect, she had avoided becoming a widow and made it so her sons could one day hold their heads high in the south. Rhett knew from Scarlett that two of his brothers had died in the war and the third died shortly after he returned of some illness or another in their half-burned mansion. Percy with his wife's money had purchased the house and the property from his brother's widow. They had rebuilt the house, but the land was untouched. Save for the produce being grown for the house and servants and likely the brother's sister who was over 3 miles away.

Rhett could see why Scarlett appreciated visiting with the heiress, when normally social calls were something she abhorred. Leticia was an older woman, handsome would be a kind word to describe her features with ash blonde hair with a slender frame. She had never been a striking beauty as Scarlett was, Scarlett's features had never fallen into what people would call a classic beauty. The mix of her heritage, too noticeable for her features to be subtle. Yet Scarlett was a woman who your gaze kept returning to, an image burned into your mind. Others blended into the background without their finery, not Scarlett.

Leticia and Percy were realists like he and Scarlett, they didn't exist in dreams, but planned for the future while dealing with the present. Quite frankly Rhett had been astonished to realize his wife had made friends with people he actually enjoyed spending time with. It was certainly a relief after years with Ashley Wilkes at his table.

Scarlett's laughter brought his attention to her and away from the cricket game, which Percy and his sons had been drawing Rhett and Wade into for weeks, having played nearly every time they visited.

A real laugh, full and rich, not self-conscious about being heard. She sat on the veranda with the women, the little girls on the porch's floor playing with their dolls and occasionally watching the males playing in the yard in front of them.

Scarlett wore a patterned burgundy dress with a straw bonnet trimmed with burgundy and blue that would obscure part of her face if she were not facing him. There was a stretch of vivid blue across Scarlett's lap and chest, their sleeping daughter hiding their unborn child from his vision. He signaled that he was stepping away from the game as he walked to the women and most importantly her.

"Someone's had a good day," Rhett nodded at their sleeping daughter.

Scarlett smiled down at the sleeping child who had climbed onto her lap for a sip of water and then not left. "I imagine all the children will be sleeping well tonight."

"I'll put her in her bed," Rhett nodded at Bonnie.

"Leave her," Scarlett dismissed the offer.

"She's likely to put your arm to sleep," he pointed out.

"She's likely to be furious if she wakes up alone in the nursery while everyone else is outside playing," Scarlett's lips lifted up in a smile.

Rhett was overwhelmed with the desire to place a kiss on that smile, to lay a hand on the mound on her lap that contained their baby, to rub a hand on Bonnie's back as she herself was more like a baby than the big girl she desperately wanted to be.

He had been watching it for months as the baby fat seemed to melt off of her as she continued to sprout up, her height not far behind her older sister, she would likely be taller than Scarlett and Ella, although hopefully not Wade. It had felt as if Bonnie had to finally leave the vestiges of babyhood behind so their next child could grow. Her body had grown, her mind had grown, her behavior had grown.

They had grown. They had grown with her and their unborn child.

The growth those first three months after April would have been nearly imperceptible to most.

The slow thickening of Scarlett's waist.

Bonnie's hadn't shown much physical growth, her clothing the same when she left Atlanta as when returned. Her dexterity, her vocabulary that had been her growth. New words to ask after her mother. Her mother never left her mind, Rhett had almost fired Prissy more than once assuming that woman kept Scarlett fresh in their daughter's mind. The way she climbed those stairs to her mother immediately upon their return.

The fact that he spent months in his hometown instead of fleeting visits as he had done for decades.

The way Scarlett had greeted their daughter. The way she had splayed a hand over their son.

Oh yes, those first three months had been a slow growth. The first necessary steps.

The growth had been exponential in the months since.

He imagined that was what Miss Melly saw, when she saw them. One would think Scarlett's stomach would have been the most striking change, but it wasn't. It was them together. It took his breath away.

Thanks for reading!