4 years later…

"Rhett!" Scarlett yelled from the top of the stairs. Her husband walked into the house and dropped his bags before racing up the stairs to meet his wife.

"Oh, Rhett!" she giggled excitedly as she jumped into his arms.

"It's nice to know that you didn't miss me at all, my darling," he teased as he cradled her to himself.

"Oh, but I did, Rhett!" she pulled away from him and started fiddling with the buttons on his vest. "What did you get me?" she said, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

Rhett laughed loudly. "Oh! My dear, you must hide your conspiracies more aptly. Any man would believe that you missed him and not his gifts with an act like that. But then you give it all away by instantly asking for what you want…I thought I taught you the value of subtlety." He leaned towards her, as if to tell her a secret. She grinned.

"But I did miss you, Rhett," she said coquettishly.

"Indeed," he whispered, "I have yet to see proof of that…"

She leaned her forehead into his and looked him in the eye. "I suppose I will have to give you some proof of my missing you then?"

He gave her a crooked grin and nodded. She inched towards him, her lips just inches away from his, before pulling away and heading down the stairs. "I suppose I will give it some thought and see what I can come up with…"

She had barely made it to the third step before Rhett grabbed her from behind and slung her into his arms. She screamed and giggled loudly, clutching his shoulders as he playfully kissed her neck and cheeks. He had made it to the landing when they were both stopped by a very loud call: "Mommy!" Rhett turned around, Scarlett still in his arms, to see both Bonnie and Ella running up the stairs towards them. Scarlett called to them too and wiggled out of Rhett's arms, blushing at the brazen picture they must have presented the two girls with.

"Bonnie baby, Ella! Are you glad to be home? Did you have a good time?" she said happily, squeezing her daughters to herself.

"Oh yes, Mommy!" Bonnie chirped. "I had the most wonderful time! Daddy took me so many places! We went to New O'leans, and Ken…Kentuck-ty." Scarlett laughed lightly, thinking of how adorable both places seemed when they were called "New O'leans" and "Kentuck-ty".

"I want to see Greg-y!" She said and she started to run up the stairs. Scarlett and Rhett were both shocked. Rhett, Bonnie and Ella had taken this "business trip" because little Gregory had come and Bonnie wanted nothing to do with him. Rhett had known that it was because she feared losing affection, so he had taken her and Ella on a special trip, some three months after their brother was born. Scarlett had stayed behind with the new baby, but had been none too happy about the trip. She had complained about not being able to go. Rhett had teased her about simply being upset because she couldn't bear the thought of being away from him for any period of time, which had bought him a temper tantrum from Scarlett. She refused to talk to him until that night before he left…when he had more than made up for his folly.

They followed Bonnie and Ella up to the nursery and the two girls observed their baby brother through the rails of the cradle while he slept. Rhett admonished them to be very quiet. He peered over the cradle too, stroking the boy's small cheek as he slept.

"He's gotten so much bigger," Rhett said wistfully.

"He is going to be a giant, like his father. One of the many things that he has inherited from you…hopefully, however, the cad in you doesn't wear off on him," she whispered back.

Rhett grinned and laughed softly, causing his wife and daughters to shush him. "Impossible…" he whispered, before sitting in the chair next to the cradle. Scarlett knew that he would sit there until Gregory woke up. He was so enamored of his children. One of the reasons that she had been so surprised by his decision to take a trip with Bonnie had been because she couldn't imagine that he would leave his son when he had just been born. It was so unlike Rhett…but he loved all of his children and he had known that it was what Bonnie and Ella needed. And it seemed to have worked, for now they were much more excited about their little brother.

Bonnie grabbed her mother's skirts and Scarlett lifted her up into her arms. Bonnie instantly started whispering about the things they had done on the trip and the people they had seen.

"Mommy, it was so wonderful! Daddy got me and Ella a kitten…one for each of us. Didn't he, Ella?" Ella nodded happily and joined in on the commentary of the trip.

"…and then, Daddy took us to a place where they had lots of horses! And I got to pet one and Daddy said one day when I get bigger I can have one all for myself!" Bonnie whispered happily. Scarlett looked at Rhett, terror filling her features before being replaced with wild outrage.

"You told her she could have what?" Scarlett screeched. Little Gregory instantly awoke at his mother's outcry and started to bawl. Rhett picked him up from the cradle trying to comfort him even as he tried to explain to Scarlett.

"Scarlett, we talked about this…" Rhett said softly, cooing Gregory and patting his back gently as he spoke to Scarlett. Scarlett put Bonnie down and walked over to him and the baby. She tried to take Gregory from him but he pulled away.

"How could you do that? How could you tell them that…when…" Scarlett's breathing was erratic and she sat in the chair that Rhett had been in. Rhett called for the nurse and turned to his two distraught daughters and told them to go play somewhere for a little while. "Mother is just a little upset about something, but it will be fine…" Relief flooded their faces and Bonnie grabbed Ella's hand and raced out of the room. The nurse walked in a moment later, and Rhett handed the now consoled baby over to her, kissing his forehead softly, before turning to his wife.

"After Wade…how…" Rhett grabbed her up from her seat, and wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders. She cried into his coat.

Though the pain had faded throughout the years, there were certain moments whenever some event or action would violently reminded their family of what they had lost. Some reminders were bittersweet and some were just bitter. They visited Tara often, taking flowers to Wade's grave and allowing his sisters to bring him trinkets and toys. They had taken little Gregory to Tara whenever he had been one month old.

Gregory had been one of the bittersweet reminders. Whenever Scarlett had discovered she was with child, she couldn't have been more happy; but couldn't help but think of the child that she had lost in the light of the child she was about to receive. Upon holding little Gregory in her arms for the first time, a torrent of raw emotions had overcome her because he was a boy. The last time she had held a boy in her arms that was exclusively hers had been many years ago, and he had possessed soft brown curls and had later grown into equally soft brown eyes…

Rhett soft voice interrupted her thoughts. "Scarlett, darling, remember that we talked about this. If we tell the children that they can't have something, then they will want it even more. We can't hold them back because of our fears…" He leaned back and gripped her face between his hands, wiping the tears from her face with the pads of his thumbs. "We can't live in the past anymore…" he reminded her gently.

She sighed shakily, her eyes dry now. "I know…I just…I can't think about it…right now." He nodded and pulled her back into his arms. They would deal with this for the rest of their lives. And they had the rest of their lives to deal with it.

"Well, we don't have to worry about it now. I told her that she couldn't have a horse for a few years. We will deal with it then," he spoke into her hair.

"Alright," she whispered into his chest. They stood there for a long time, holding each other. Rhett would occasionally kiss the top of her head, and she would nuzzle into his chest. Eventually the nurse walked back into the nursery, a distraught Gregory in her arms.

"I think dat he's hungry, Miz Scarlett." Scarlett and Rhett walked over to the baby and Scarlett took him in her arms. He was awake now, his eyes wide open. He looked so much like Rhett, and he was going to look even more like him now that his eyes were starting to change from blue to dark brown. His skin was dark and he had a beautiful head of hair. The only thing that remotely resembled her on her little man was that she had noticed over the past week or so that he had dimples. He wasn't smiling yet, but when he would scrunch his face up she could see them.

She sat in the chair and started to ready herself to nurse him before looking at Rhett. "Aren't you going to leave?"

Rhett smirked. "I think I would like to stay."

Scarlett blushed but smiled at his impertinence. He was such a scoundrel. "Gregory, you mustn't disappoint me and become the varmint that your father is…this world can only handle one of you." Rhett laughed softly and stroked his son's head as he nursed. Rhett looked at Scarlett as she held her baby and looked down at him, a small smile on her lips.

"You are beautiful…I missed you so much," he said softly, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

She looked at him and smiled. "I missed you too." She looked down at her baby again. He had grabbed a strand of hair from her neck and when her eyes met his he yanked it roughly. Scarlett screeched "Ouch!" as she unwrapped his tiny fingers from her hair. Gregory continued nursing as if nothing had happened. Rhett burst into a long round of guffaws.

"That's my boy!" Rhett said happy.

She looked at him, annoyed at his amusement. She reached over and patted his cheek softly before playfully slapping it. He laughed, massaging his cheek in mock pain.

"Cad…" she said, before looking down at her baby again. He looked up at her innocently. He was going to be a tricky one…

"Thank you…" Rhett's teeth showed beneath his mustache. He reached over and kissed her cheek but she pushed him away. Scarlett rolled her eyes when he laughed, but a small smile was on her lips. After a moment, she looked back up at him through her eyelashes. He was still staring at her, smiling.

"If you weren't so handsome, I would divorce you…" she said

"If I weren't so handsome, I would let you divorce me. But alas! I am much too handsome to let you get rid of me." He got down on his knees in front of her, playfully grabbing her ankles from underneath her skirts.

Would she ever be able to insult him without him turning it on her? "You are a varmint, Rhett Butler!"

Rhett's mouth went up in the corner and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of it. She loved it when he smiled like that…

"Indeed, I am, Mrs. Butler." He removed his hands from her ankles and places them on either side of her in the seat, leaning in towards her and his son. "But it's one of the many things that you love about me…"

She leaned into him and kissed him softly on the lips. "It is…" she whispered. His eyes darkened and he kissed her again. He didn't pull away until little Gregory started to fuss.

Rhett sighed. "Just like your mother…" Rhett got up to walk away, just as Scarlett understood his meaning.

Oh, if she just wasn't in love with him, what she wouldn't tell that varmint!