Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

This is the final chapter. Thank you for making the journey with me.

Chapter Eleven

They had a great Christmas in Charleston. They took all the children, Mammy, Prissy and her husband. They gave the rest of the staff two weeks off with pay. Rhett's mother, Elizabeth, was extremely distressed that Rhett couldn't speak. She kept fussing over him until Scarlett knew Rhett wanted to scream. When they got to their room, Rhett wrote down a whole page worth of sentences. He showed them to Scarlett and she commented on them and then said, "She is just showing you she loves you."

Rhett sighed and wrote – 'I know. That is why I will tolerate it for the next two weeks.' –

Scarlett smiled and said, "Let's go walk on the boardwalk tomorrow morning. We will just stay out of the house."

Rhett smiled and nodded.

Rhett made Scarlett go Christmas shopping with him allegedly because he couldn't talk. He wrote - "The shops are too busy for the clerks to take the time to read my notes or try to understand my signs. -

They both knew he was lying and that he just wanted Scarlett to shop with him. She wanted to shop with him too so she went along with the lie. Even with Scarlett discouraging the purchase of presents Rhett bought too many. They bickered over every present Rhett bought for Bonnie. Scarlett kept telling him their daughter didn't need all those toys after all she wasn't even a year old. After she finally got him to agree that Bonnie didn't need all those toys, he switched to buying her clothes. At this point Scarlett accepted defeat and allowed him to buy more clothes than the child would wear in a year. It made Rhett happy to buy his daughter all this stuff and she could send the clothes to Suellen once Bonnie had outgrown them. Although she may store them away because she was thinking of giving Rhett another child but she would make him give her something really expensive first. Scarlett didn't do anything without getting something in return. She teased him about buying too many presents but didn't complain when he showered her with presents.

Scarlett liked her mother and sister in law but they were too Charlestonian for her to be close too. Scarlett and Rhett and the children went to see her aunts. Scarlett intentionally made her aunts receive Rhett. They welcomed him into their home then didn't speak to him. They would have ignored him completely except he was holding Bonnie and they wanted to ooh and aah over their grandniece. When Eulalie reached for Bonnie the child shrieked and hid herself in her Papa's chest which made Rhett openly smile. Scarlett smiled too but she hid hers. It was a long hour for both Rhett and Scarlett. Finally, they were able to leave the house and they both took a deep breath once they were outside. Scarlett said, "Was it just me or was my aunts' house stifling?"

Rhett shook his head no then scowled as he looked at the house.

Scarlett linked her arm in his and they walked to the coach.

Scarlett and Rhett had a good visit but both were pleased to return to Atlanta were there was less pomp and ceremony.

Rhett and Scarlett were very comfortable with each other now. They spent a lot of time together. They were invited often to supper parties, musical events and parties were games were played. They went to concerts, went to traveling lectures and they had started attending the Episcopal church. They attended church because polite society expected them to attend a church. Their religious views had not changed.

Scarlett celebrated Wade's birthday in January. She again invited everyone who had a child Wade's age which was quite a few people. There was a good turnout. Again, they kept the party low-keyed with just games, cake and punch.

Bonnie's first birthday was in February and they invited everyone in polite society. Scarlett and Melly had done a lot to get the Butlers accepted. A lot of people attended although Mrs. Merriwether chose not to attend. Maybelle and Rene Picard and their children did attend though. They did a little bit more for Bonnie's party by renting a pony for the children to take turns riding but for the most part it was low-keyed just like Wade and Ella's parties.

Rhett decided that being accepted by most of the people was good enough. Scarlett and him getting received would open enough doors for Bonnie. If she was just a second-tier debutante, less would be expected of her as far as being proper. They would get invited to all the fundraisers because of his wealth. Rhett and Scarlett were alright with their social status. They didn't want to be too big of hypocrites.

When Bonnie was born, he had wanted her all to himself now he couldn't imagine anything better than Bonnie, her siblings, her mother and him spending the day together. Together he and Scarlett made a good team. He was too lax and she was too strict but hopefully their childrearing skills would fall in the middle. He knew Scarlett loved him and he hoped she knew he loved her. He hadn't gotten the courage to tell her yet. He sure didn't have the courage to write it down. He wished she would say it first.

That night after Bonnie's birthday party Scarlett was in her oversize tub taking a hot bath waiting for Rhett to join her. She never asked him to join her. He always just showed up in his robe and she never turned him away. She probably would never be able to say no to Rhett in regard to anything physical. There was always laughter, fun and lots of pleasure. Why would she want to say no to him? As she laid their she heard the voice. She rarely heard the voice now a days. The little voice said, 'I am the logical, insightful, perceptive part of your brain. The part that was so underdeveloped that I couldn't even speak. Somehow, I was given a voice so I could talk loud enough for you to hear me. This year you have developed me where you have insight, perception and can logically think thinks out. Now that I am developed it will be hard to ignore me. I am going to give the voice back to where ever it came from. I have been promised that if I need that voice again, I can borrow it again. You will not hear me as a little voice but as your own thoughts.'

She asked the little voice, 'How were you always right?'

The voice said, 'I was always right for you and your life. I used everything in your memory to form the correct answer to give you the right knowledge. Everything any one had ever spoken to you I knew. I had your intelligence which isn't too shabby. You are not as smart as your husband but you aren't as stupid as you think you are. I am you and you were the one that knew the truth but refused to admitted to yourself.'

Rhett did join her and they had a lot of fun as always.

That night as Scarlett got into bed she knew where her insightful, perceptive, logical part of her brain had gotten its voice and she smiled. Rhett smiled and pulled her close.

He had gotten into the habit of saying I love you to Scarlett because he wanted to tell her. He felt he was safe because he could not speak. That night as they laid in the bed and Scarlett was almost asleep Rhett said, "I love you." The words were spoken out loud. He hoped she was asleep.

She was not and in a sleepy voice said, "I love you, too," She then sat up and said, "You can speak again!"

Rhett was smiling and he said, "Yes, I can. I do love you."

Scarlett bend down and kissed Rhett thoroughly and whispered, "I love you, too. Let's play again."

"Of course, my dear."

There was a lot of repeated declarations of love by both parties while they were being intimate. Afterwards Rhett went to sleep happier than he had ever been.

In the years to come Scarlett was a lot more logical, insightful and perceptive. She continued to strengthen those traits. She knew that her obtuseness and stubbornness had almost cost her the love of her life. She always worked at keeping Rhett interested in her. She wanted all of his time and attention. She wanted his heart and soul. She knew that she would have to share him with their children but she wanted to be the most important person in his life and she was going to be.

After Rhett regained his voice, he stopped himself from saying hurtful things to Scarlett. He loved her and he no longer wanted to cause her pain. Him not being able to speak made him realize how many times those poison darts had flown out of his mouth. He had not been aware of how often he was cruel and mocking to Scarlett. He now knew how much those comments had hurt their relationship.

In the next couple of years, they both worked at developing a happy relationship. It was still hard for either of them to admit a weakness. It was hard for them to share their wants and desires. It was very hard for either one to appear weak. They still had arguments because they were both opinionate people. It would always be hard for either one of them to admit when they were wrong but they both worked at it. Six months after Rhett regained his voice, he finally uttered the words Scarlett had longed to hear. "I'm sorry. I was wrong." It had only been a month before that Scarlett had found the courage to say those words to him.

When they had attended Fanny Welburn's wedding to Jim Hicks, Mrs. Merriwether had spoken to Scarlett and the couple knew that with time they would be completely welcomed back into polite society. It would take time but they had plenty of that. Rhett still would argue with the gentleman about subjects but he never openly mocked them or their long held believes. He would whisper those comments in Scarlett's ear and much to Rhett's pleasure she never failed to giggle.

A year after Rhett had gotten his voice back, he had convinced Scarlett to have another child. She had agreed after Rhett bought her a cotton gin in Clayton County and promised her a trip to Paris with an unlimited budget to shop on after the baby was born. He had known what she had been doing but he hadn't cared. He would have bought her those things anyway if she had just asked.

She could spend as much money as she wanted to. She could decorate their home in the most awful décor. She could wear the most flamboyant, outrageous, gaudiest outfits. Her personal choices in jewelry could be just this side of vulgar. He would try to guide her into making more tasteful choices but the bottom line was he wanted her to be happy. He would be happy as long as she continued to look at him with love written all over her face.