Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews. Thank you for everyone following this story. Thank you for the suggestions for the plot line.

Most of what I describe about New York in this chapter is historically accurate. I have tried to be as accurate as possible. Thank you to Truckee Gal for helping with the accuracy of my information.

The doctor is fictional but I believe his attitude is fairly accurate for the times.

Chapter Fifteen

The family left for New York on Thursday June 2nd. They took Mammy, Prissy, Elijah, Joseph and Isaac with them. They had a private car. Rhett had left early to be sure everything he had ordered was on the train. He had taken Isaac with him to the train station. When Scarlett had questioned Rhett why he was bringing two of the footmen with them. Rhett had explained to her that New York City was not a safe place. It was filled with hooligans and thieves. He wanted to be sure that she, the children and their servants were well protected. When Rhett saw the fear in Scarlett's face, he assured her that he was being overly cautious. Scarlett said, "Are you lying to me to protect me?"

Rhett laughed and said, "Yes and I will continue lying to you to protect you."

Scarlett said, "We will have a long discussion about this on the train, Mr. Butler."

Rhett just sighed and knew it was going to be a very long trip to New York. It didn't matter he would do whatever he thought was necessary to protect her and the children. He had a feeling Rough and Ready was going to be thrown in his face again. He didn't regret leaving her at the time but he regretted leaving her now because she was constantly throwing it back in his face. The worst part was that he could never defend himself when she did. He still had no idea why he had left her to join the confederate army. It had worked out for him in regard to getting back in the good graces of Dolly Merriwether but that was after the fact. He had just sighed and left for the train station.

Scarlett and the rest of the party arrived about thirty minutes before departure. The children were very excited and Scarlett was smiling at them and their excitement. Rhett was glad she wanted to be a mother now. He was glad the children made her happy. He was glad that she was happy sleeping with him. He was glad she appreciated Miss Melly now. Although he used the term happy when he thought about her, she really wasn't happy compared to who she had been two years ago. He was beginning to think she would never be that girl again. That girl filled with passion that he had met in the library at Twelve Oaks. But he had seen some passion in her when she had said they would talk about him lying on the train. That flash of passion made him happy and if that was all he ever got from now on he would be happy because he loved her and always would.

Rhett and Scarlett did have a long discussion about him lying to protect her and he was right. What happened at Rough and Ready did come up. She did get passionate during their discussion though which made him happy. He finally told her that he would do whatever he thought he needed to do to protect her including lying to her. She pouted for the rest of the day. She really wasn't that mad at him but she couldn't just give in to him. She knew that Rhett was always going to do what he thought was best regardless of how she felt about it. When they got in the berth that night she said, "The only time you are allow to lie to me is when you think you are protecting me. Although …" With that he kissed her to shut her up but he did continue kissing her for quite some time.

After two days on the train everyone was restless and ready to get off the train. As they were getting off the train Scarlett stopped Rhett. She turned to him and said, "This would have been so much worse if you had not gotten us a private car. Thank you so very much." She leaned in and kissed him.

Rhett said, "Thank you." He kissed and hugged her back.

They had arrived at Grand Central Depot and Scarlett and everyone else was awed by the design and décor of the Station. Rhett stopped and told them the construction had taken ten years and that it was Beaux-Arts design. That it had just opened in eighteen- seventy-one, the year before. It had two levels because it was that busy. Wade had added that it was built by the railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. Peevishly Rhett said, "Mr. Vanderbilt is a business acquaintance of mine." Scarlett had seen a flash of annoyance cross Rhett's face when Wade had added the last bit. She had smiled up at him with admiration on her face. She knew she had to soothe Rhett self-esteem. Rhett did like to be the authority on everything.

They stopped gawking and the porter took their trunks and carpet bags and went to the Grand Central Hotel. Rhett got the best suite in the hotel. Their meals were included in the cost of the suite which took care of feeding everyone. Rhett did have plans to take Scarlett out to eat. Some of the best food in the world was served here in New York. During the next week Rhett took Scarlett out to eat at some of the finest restaurants in the city. They ate at Delmonico's, Rudolph's and Atlantic Garden. He took her to the Bowery Theatre and he took her dancing.

During the day Rhett showed everyone all the sights of New York. Rhett told the family about the history of New York. That it at first had been a Dutch settlement and had been called New Amsterdam. That during the Revolutionary War it had been a British stronghold. Wade, Scarlett and Rhett had gotten into a discussion about New York City and its history. Rhett found he really enjoyed that discussion but he had gotten annoyed that Wade knew more about New York City than he did. He had gotten annoyed at the look of pride on Scarlett's face when Wade was talking about New York City. He had laughed at himself then. He would never had thought he would be jealous of the way Scarlett was looking at Wade. Later when they had returned to the hotel to get ready to go out Rhett had told Scarlett how much he had enjoyed having that discussion with her and Wade. She smiled at him and told him that Wade had read every single one of those books they had bought at least once and most of them twice. She also said, "Thank you for letting Wade be the one to share all the information about New York. He is so proud of himself." He had smiled back and accepted that Wade was going to be upstaging him during their trip. Scarlett knew that Wade knew more about New York than Rhett did. She knew Rhett would not be happy not being the authority on New York. She knew that her husband was a very vain man and needed his conceit stroked and that was her job as his wife.

The entire family rode the ferries to Staten Island, Long Island, and New Jersey. When they went out on day trips Scarlett wanted Mammy to stay at the hotel and rest when the rest of the group spent the day seeing the sights. At first Mammy demanded to go with the group but the first day had exhausted her so much she stayed at the hotel after that. Rhett had Isaac stay to guard their personal items in their suite. Scarlett knew it was really so Mammy would have company.

Scarlett told Rhett that she wanted to take Mammy to St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Rhett said, "I will go with you to protect you and Mammy."

Scarlett smiled at him and said, "Are you afraid they won't let Mammy in?"

Rhett said, "But I can bribe someone and get us in."

Scarlett didn't know if Rhett had needed to bribe someone because they didn't have any trouble getting into St Patrick's Cathedral when they went. Rhett could be very sneaky when he wanted to be. Scarlett was sure that if there had been a problem Rhett would not have wanted Mammy to know. He would never have allowed Mammy to be hurt that way. Scarlett thought about her husband for a moment. He was a strange contrast. In some ways he was so old-fashion and in other ways he was so progressive.

Rhett told them about the Cathedral. It was built between eighteen oh nine and eighteen fifteen. The architecture design was in the Gothic Revival Style. Scarlett and Mammy were awed by the opulence of the Cathedral. After they left Mammy said, "I don't need all that grandness to worship the Lord." Rhett smiled and shook his head. He knew Mammy had enjoyed getting to see the magnificent church.

The day they were planning on just riding around in a carriage looking at houses and churches Scarlett made Mammy come with them.

They went to Central Park which included the menagerie of animals. They walked around enjoying the green space. When they went to the menagerie of animals Wade and Bonnie loved the animals while Ella was a little bit scared of them. Scarlett held her hand and told her there was nothing to be afraid of because the animals were in cages. Scarlett never got impatient with Ella and continued to hold her hand the entire time. When they had supper that night Ella said, "I think I would like to see the animals again."

Scarlett said, "If that's what you want, we will."

After almost a year of trying Scarlett had a normal relationship with her children. Rhett was still Bonnie's favorite but she loved her mother very much. Scarlett seemed fine with Rhett being Bonnie's favorite.

One night while smoking his cigar, Rhett said, "I am sorry that I belittled your mothering skills. I am sorry that I took every opportunity to hurt you. I always knew where you were most sensitive and made sure to criticize you for your lack of skills in that area. In truth I have always known that if you set your mind to it, you would be a good mother."

Scarlett who was lying on his chest just said, "Thank you, Rhett, that means a lot coming from you." She was beginning to trust Rhett's compliments. He hadn't followed a compliment up with an insult in a long time.

Scarlett was soon asleep. Rhett laid awake thinking about Scarlett and wished he could fix her but he had decided there wasn't anything more he could do to help her. The only thing he could do was to continue being the husband that Scarlett deserved. He knew they were making progress because she was happier than she had been at Christmas.

One day Rhett had made Scarlett go with him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which had just been built in 1870. After half a day Rhett took pity on his wife and went back to the hotel. After dinner they took the children to Central Park again and back to the menagerie of animals. This time Ella had a good time and didn't need to hold Scarlett's hand. Rhett quipped, "I need you to hold my hand. Just in case I get scared." Scarlett smiled at him and thought silly man but she did hold his hand the entire afternoon.

The entire family had a good time in New York. Scarlett was glad she had read all the books they had bought because it made it easier to understand what Rhett was talking about when he talked about New York City. Rhett was not always clear in his explanation of things and when she asked him to explain he would talk to her like she was Ella's age. At least now he wasn't being mean about it. She knew it was just his way.

On June 10th Rhett and Scarlett were at the teaching hospital for Scarlett's appointment. Dr. Dunn was the leading mind in Gynecology/Obstetrics which was a new field of medicine. This entire experience was strange to Scarlett. She was not happy that Rhett had to stay in the waiting room but maybe that was the way it was up here in the North. She had never seen a doctor except in her home. Every doctor she had known before had been an old man but Dr. Dunn was her age. Dr. Dunn wanted her to take off her dress for him to do his examination. She refused because it wouldn't be proper. Dr. Dunn said that it was proper because there was a nurse in the room. Scarlett disagreed with him. She was feeling very nervous and demanded the nurse go get her husband.

When Rhett got to the examining room, he was able to convince her that it would be okay for her to take her dress off for the doctor to examine her. She finally agreed to remove her dress because Rhett was in the room but she wasn't happy about it. After her dress was removed, she only had her shimmy and her pantalettes on. Scarlett's shimmy was showing more than Rhett wanted any other man to see even a doctor. Rhett decided at that point for her to put his coat on. Dr. Dunn started to object but decided he could work around the coat. Scarlett felt better once she had Rhett's coat on. She was glad Rhett was there because the exam was beginning to make her feel panicky. She just held Rhett's hand and concentrated on her breathing. Dr. Dunn took his stethoscope and listened to her heart and lungs. He measured something he said was her blood pressure then he massaged her arms and calves. Scarlett didn't like him touching her so much but Rhett kept holding her hand and whispering calming words in her ear. Dr. Dunn made her lay down on a hard table and Rhett squatted down beside her. Rhett continued whispering soothing words in her ear. Dr. Dunn kept pressing on her abdomen and asking her if it hurt. She finally said, "Yes it hurts. Let me press on your stomach for a while and let's see how you like it." Scarlett turned beet red but Rhett just laughed. Rhett kissed her temple and Scarlett felt better. Dr. Dunn stopped pressing on her abdomen and said he was finished with his examination. When Dr. Dunn was finished, he told Mrs. Butler to get dress and he would meet them in his office. After the doctor had left the room Rhett said, "From now on if you are going to see a doctor, we will bring one of your wrappers to be on the safe side. I didn't like another man seeing that much of your body."

Scarlett said, "I didn't either. I don't even like you seeing that much of my body."

Rhett said, "But I can distract you from thinking about it."

Scarlett gave him a sensuous smile and said, "Yes. You can."

Dr. Dunn didn't say anything to The Butlers about Scarlett's panic attack because Dr. Dunn had decided Mrs. Butler was just a high strung, nervous woman completely dependent on her husband and Mr. Butler was a man who coddled his wife and was overly protective of her. When Dr. Dunn talked to them, he mostly looked at and talked to Rhett. He said, "I don't agree with Dr. Meade. I don't think there is anything wrong with Mrs. Butler's reproductive system. A person's insides are a lot more resilient than doctors used to think. You need to get Mrs. Butler to gain some weight. Her body thinks it is in starvation mode and as long as it is in starvation mode, she will not get pregnant. She needs to put on fifteen to twenty pounds. Go home gain twenty pounds and keep trying for two years. If you two are not successful then come back and see me. I will run some more test."

Scarlett had been holding Rhett's hand and she squeezed it so tight he thought she was going to break his hand. He didn't care. Scarlett was happier than he had seen her in over a year.

As they left the doctor's office Rhett said, "I hope I am not going to have to nag you about eating anymore."

Scarlett smiled at him and said, "No, you won't." Rhett smiled back at her. She was finally happy. She no longer felt broken. She no longer felt less of a woman. She still wasn't the woman he had known before Wilkes's birthday party but he was optimistic that she eventually would return to a happy person. She would never be her former self again but with the changes that had happened in the last year she probably would never get that melancholic again.

As they were getting ready to leave the building Scarlett saw a man in the lobby. She stopped dead in her tracks while Rhett had continued walking. He had to turn around and come back. When he reached her he said, "What is it honey?"

Scarlett said, "That man is supposed to be dead."

Rhett said, "Who?"

Scarlett didn't answer. She walked over to the man and said, "Are you Boyd Tarleton?"