Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Chapter Six

Scarlett sat in her buggy staring off into space. Maybelle Picard was walking by and asked, "Scarlett, are you alright?"

Scarlett was snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Maybelle and said, "Yes. Thank you."

Maybelle asked, "I've been meaning to speak to you about where to send the invitation to the birthday party for my son. I hope Wade can attend. It's this Saturday."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Send it to the National Hotel. What time and where is it being held?"

Maybelle said, "It is from 2 to 5 at my home."

Scarlett said, "Go ahead and send me the invitation but Wade and I will be there. How old is your little boy going to be?"

Maybelle said, "He is going to be five. I look forward to seeing you." She walked off.

Scarlett smiled a really big smile. The invitation to the birthday party was a sign of success. It was Wade's first invitation to a birthday party given by the Old Guard. All her hard work was paying off. Scarlett completely forgot about her giving some of Rhett's money to their favorite charities.

Scarlett drove her buggy to the hotel. She walked upstairs to find the suite empty. They are probably at the park. Great. I will go over the books from the store. She laid the ledger out but she continued to think about the report from Pickerton. The report indicated that Rhett had killed a darkie for questionable reasons. Had he killed that man in California? There certainly was circumstantial evidence to that effect. If he did kill that man, he did it in a way where he wouldn't get caught. All that proved was that her husband was very smart. She already knew that. Nothing in the report said he was a cold, scary, dangerous man but she knew he was. She also knew he could be cruelly mocking. She had experienced that first hand. The report had added to her questions and hadn't answered any of them. She hoped she never made him as mad as she did in New Orleans. Now that she wasn't infatuated with Ashley, she probably wouldn't but she was still afraid she would accidently make him that mad. She would not have thought a sigh would have sent him over the edge.

As she was sitting there thinking this the door to the suite opened and Scarlett jumped and looked very frightened. Rhett said, "It is just us not the Yankees." Scarlett laughed but it was a very nervous laugh. The children proceeded to tell her all about their day at the park. They had dinner in the dining room and they took the children upstairs for their nap time. After they put the children down for their naps Rhett told Prissy, "We will be back," Rhett told Scarlett, "Go put your hat on. We have an appointment."

They went downstairs and across town. They stopped at an office that had a sign out front. It said: Thomas Dewey, Architect. Rhett said, "I'm going to help you get started. We are going to talk to Mr. Dewey about the house. Scarlett, you can have it any way you wanted. It is your house. I'm having it built for you."

Scarlett said, "Alright."

Mr. Dewey showed them into his office and said, "I was able to get by the lot on Peachtree Street. That is a double lot so we can make the house three stories if you want."

Scarlett looked at Rhett like she was waiting for him to answer. Rhett said, "How many stories do you want? I know you wanted it so big it would make everyone pea green with envy."

Scarlett was looking at her engagement ring and how she thought everyone would be so jealous of her but they didn't act jealous. They looked at her with scorn. They looked at her like she should be ashamed of herself. Even Melly had been a little put off by the size. Scarlett said, "No I don't want it to be that big. What do you think about a two-story house?" while looking at Rhett.

Rhett looked at her with puzzlement on his face. This wasn't like Scarlett. She told you what she wanted and didn't care if you liked it or not. Rhett smiled at her and said, "Two-story is good if that's what you want."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Yes. We want a two-story house in the Queen Anne style."

Mr. Dewey said, "That is a new style but quite popular. Do you want the turret?"

Scarlett said, "Oh yes!" And quickly looked at Rhett. He nodded his head at her. This was very strange to Rhett it was like she wanted him to approve all of her decisions. This was not how Scarlett acted normally. Rhett suddenly understood she was scared of saying the wrong thing. She was scared of him. Why?

Mr. Dewey started asking a series of questions and every time she answered she looked at Rhett for confirmation. Rhett just nodded. He was actually agreeing with all her decisions but it was unnerving him for his brave Scarlett to be acting this scared or uncertain. This was not the woman who had no fear of driving through shanty town to get home from her mill. He could not understand this at all. He had never even raised his hand to her nor would he. If Rhett knew how absolutely terrifying, he could look when he was mad, he would not have wondered why Scarlett was scared of him. Rhett did not know how horrific his brooding stare could be. If he had known how scary his business associates look and how empty their eyes were, he would not have wondered but Rhett had known them too long to really see them anymore. Although Rhett had not forgotten the incident in New Orleans his memory of the incident was totally different than Scarlett's. To Rhett it was just another time that Mr. Wilkes had invaded his life. It was another time when Scarlett had preferred the image of Mr. Wilkes to the reality of him. When Rhett thought of it, he thought of the pain Scarlett had caused him. It never occurred to Rhett that Scarlett could have been afraid of him abandoning her in New Orleans where she had no money and no friends. As the discussion came to an end Mr. Dewey said, "I will have the plans drawn up in about two weeks. I will send you a note when I am ready for you to come back."

As they got back in the buggy Rhett took Scarlett's hands and said, "Scarlett you know I would never strike you, don't you?"

Scarlett quickly looked down then quickly looked at him and said, "Of course you wouldn't strike me Rhett."

Rhett said, "Scarlett I can tell when you are lying. Why are you afraid I will strike you? I have never even raised my hand to you."

Scarlett said, "I'm not lying to you. I know you would not strike me." She met his stare and didn't flinch. Rhett could tell she wasn't lying now but the first time she had been lying. He thought 'She is afraid of me but not of me hitting her.'

Rhett said, "Why are you afraid of me?"

Scarlett looked at him and said, "I'm not afraid of you. Now can we go home. We can't sit here forever going around and round. The children will be awake soon."

Rhett said, "I don't believe you but I can also discern that you are not going to tell. So, we will go back to the hotel. Scarlett, the house is my gift to you. Make it the way you want it to be."

Scarlett said, "Thank you."

Rhett didn't know if she was thanking him for dropping the subject or for the house but he didn't ask any more questions.

Scarlett had made great inroads into returning to polite society. She told everyone that she had sold the mills because she decided that they were cursed. More and more bad things were going to happen to her if she kept the mills. She apologized to Fanny Welburn for her part in the disaster. If she could do something to help her then Fanny needed to let her know. Fanny said, "You could give me some credit at your store until I get back on my feet." Scarlett wanted to scream. That was just something people said. People were not supposed to take one up on the offer. She said, "I will arrange it tomorrow." And smiled. That act of kindness actually helped her make inroads more than anything else she did. Everyone knew Scarlett loved her money. After that people were nicer to her and she decided it was worth it. She had Rhett's money now. All the profits went into Ella's trust account so it wasn't hurting her.

Things were rather pleasant between her and Rhett for the next three months. He never brought up her fear of him again. Scarlett knew he had not forgotten it. He was biding his time before he mentioned it again. She knew Rhett could have very long patience. She and the children went to the job site every day to see the changes. She always asked Rhett to come along and he did occasionally. The upstairs had six bedrooms. The master bedroom had a nursery off of it and Scarlett said, "When the children are no longer babies, we can change it into a sitting room." She knew how she was going to furnish the house. She had seen enough houses in Charleston to know how Rhett would want the house to look but her house was going to have some zest to it. She wanted Rhett to be happy with it but she also wanted to be happy with it too. She asked Melly, Fanny and Maybelle to help her make decisions about the furnishings. But her bedroom was going to look exactly the way she wanted it. Rhett would just have to like it. The house was almost finished. One more month at the most. She wanted it finished before she started to show. She had known she was pregnant for about six weeks when she missed her second monthly flow. She had not seen Dr. Meade but she knew. She wanted to use the Yankee Dr. Harrison because he used chloroform. Right now, Rhett didn't care about the opinion of the Old Guard so hopefully he would let her blame him for using Dr. Harrison.

That night while Rhett was smoking his cigar and telling Scarlett stories which she always listened to quite closely to get any clue to her husband's past she said, "Rhett, I am with child."

Rhett who had been stroking her back said, "Are you happy?"

Scarlett said, "I'm happy about the child but I'm not happy about being pregnant. The worst part of being pregnant is the labor pains. I feel like the pains are going to rip me into pieces. Dr. Harrison uses chloroform to ease the pains. Can I use him?"

Rhett said cautiously, "If it makes things better for you why would you not?"

Scarlett said, "Because Dr. Meade doesn't believe in it and he says it's unnatural. I can't damage my reputation with the Old Guard."

Rhett seriously asked, "Where did my brave Scarlett go?"

Scarlett didn't answer. Rhett finally said, "If it makes your labor easier than I absolutely insist on it."

Scarlett said, "Thank you." And the next day Scarlett went to see Dr. Harrison.

The house was finished in another month. When Rhett saw the inside, he was happy. It looked like a Charleston house designed by Scarlett. He was glad she had let her specialness show. When he saw the master bedroom he laughed. He wrapped her up in his arms and said, "This room looks like you. Can I add some touches to reflect my personality? Maybe a picture or two."

Scarlett said, "That would be nice. I'm glad you like the house."

Rhett said, "It is perfect." Scarlett beamed. Rhett thought she looks so happy. I'm glad I was able to put that look on her face. I hope she isn't scared of me anymore. He hugged her again. Lately he hadn't seen that scared look but he didn't know if she was scared of him or not. He still didn't understand what he had done to make her scared of him.

As soon as they moved into the house Scarlett had sent for Mammy, Pork and Dulcey. She also hired a day maid and a nanny. She was going to hire a wet nurse but Rhett absolutely forbid it. He said it was better for the child to be nursed by its mother.

They had been in the house for a month and Scarlett had a birthday party for Ella. She sent invitations to all the ladies of her sewing bees. Scarlett was so happy. Everyone showed up.

Rhett made the comment, "They all came to see the inside of the house."

Scarlett said, "I don't care. They came." Rhett just laughed.