Here I am again with another new chapter. This is just what is says... moment of truth. Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Thirty Six

Moment of Truth

With the sound of the rustle of fabric, Rhett knew Scarlett had entered the library. He had his back to her, staring out of the window behind the desk. It overlooked the street and he could see carriages moving quickly by and people walking casually, in no particular hurry. He gripped the glass in his hand tighter and wished he were anywhere but right there in that room with her.

Too many memories of too many things Rhett didn't want to think about swirled around him. It was still too fresh, too soon to come back here. He could hear Bonnie's laughter, even in this room. She would sit by his feet while he read the evening paper playing with her dolls and her tea cups. She would stop and look up at him solemnly for a moment and then break into a smile. It warmed his heart to see her happiness…

"Rhett," Scarlett said his name. "What on earth happened down here?"

Rhett neither answered nor turned to her. He closed his eyes and pushed the memories back in the farthest recesses of his mind. It was the only way he could manage to remain sane and still go on.

"Rhett did you hear me? What happened? Where are Eli and Ashley? You didn't lose your temper did you? Because Rhett, there is no reason to be angry. I can explain everything to you if you'll give me the chance."

"Oh?" he finally said in a calmer voice than he felt. Still he did not turn toward her.

"Yes, Oh Rhett, you have to let me explain and then you'll know, you'll understand."

"My pet, I have ceased to understand you or your need to relive your pre-war days as the belle of the county. Your appetite for attention is never unwavering even at this stage of your life."

"It's not like that at all," she denied hotly and he heard her move closer to him. "You always think the worst of me."

"Are you going to suggest that having those two men falling over you isn't intoxicating to your conceited senses?"

"No, I don't care about that. Ashley is annoying and won't leave me alone and Eli is my friend, the only friend I've had since Melanie. It's the truth, Rhett. But, you never believe me when I tell you the truth."

"Your version of the truth and the actual truth are never the same, darling. It's a concept foreign to you and probably always will be."

"Don't be hateful, Rhett. You can't be when I tell you the news."

Rhett sighed and turned to her. He saw the brightness of her eyes and the nervous way she chewed on her lip, all signs the news would be of benefit to her in the end. It was always this way for Scarlett. Rarely did she do anything that didn't benefit her in one way or the other.

"Do tell," he nodded and waited.

"Well Rhett, I only just found out. It's wonderful news, it really is. It changes everything."

A raise of his eyebrow was his only response. His expression remained aloof and unaffected.

"Rhett, I… well, you and I," she paused and released a nervous breath. "Rhett… we've made a baby. That night at Tara… Dr. Meade told me today."

A whirring noise filled Rhett's head and she must have said more, but he wasn't sure what. She smiled at him, excited by the news. Her face flushed expectantly as she waited for his reaction.

Numbly he turned away from her. A baby, another child between them. Another bond to hold him to her. He was forty-five, too old to be having babies. He cursed himself and his stupidity for the night at Tara. He knew it could happen, but he convinced himself it wouldn't. Scarlett had too many problems after the miscarriage.

"Rhett, aren't you going to say anything?" she asked biting her lip again.

"What do you want me to say? Congratulations?" he nearly snapped as tenseness gripped him. He didn't want more children, he could not go through what he went through with Bonnie ever again. He had nearly lost his mind with grief and he couldn't risk loving or losing that way again.

Scarlett's face paled but just as quickly, she straightened and faced him angrily. "Congratulations? Is that all you can say? This is your child, Rhett. You helped get it here."

"An extremely good argument to have all male's castrated, including myself," he growled and walked over to the whiskey decanter. His hand shook as he poured the drink. God Almighty! Was this some sort of cruel joke?

"Rhett, I thought you'd be happy, I thought you'd like the idea…"

"Like the idea of being tied down again? You overestimate yourself, my pet," he threw the drink back and the let the burning liquid slide hotly down his throat. "I never wanted more children, in fact, I swore I would never have anymore."

"But Rhett," she shook her head, her confidence visibly waning with each passing moment. She touched her still flat stomach and turned away from him. "You can't mean that now that you know."

"Can't I?" he replied and released a tight breath. "You're sure of this? There's no mistake?"

"No, Dr. Meade is certain."

"This is a hellava thing to happen now, Scarlett."

Scarlett turned back to him swiftly. "Oh Rhett, this can be a new beginning for us, don't you see. A new baby and fresh start with nothing cold and hard between us. It can be what it should have been with Bonnie."

Rhett cursed low under this breath and gritted his teeth. "Don't talk to me about any of that. It should have never happened, it was a mistake, that night was a mistake and we both know it."

Scarlett's face dropped and she stared at him unbelievingly. "You don't want it, or me, even now. Even though you know it's yours. You're still going to leave aren't you? This hasn't changed anything for you."

"I never said that," he shook his head and momentarily felt a sting of remorse.

"Then what will you do? Stay here for appearance sake? Stay around long enough for me to have the child and then leave me again?" Her voice rose with each word. Her whole body shook angrily as she came over to him and faced him squarely.

"It's the decent thing to do as it is my fault you're in this situation," he offered casually in the face of her anger. "As you pointed out, you didn't get this way alone. I am a man who faces his mistakes head on and takes care of them."

"You, you cad! You sorry, low down skunk!" she erupted. "I can take a mighty lot of things in this world, but I will NOT take your pity. I whipped the Yankees, I whipped hunger and fought hard and long to regain my footing in this unforgiving town and I did all without losing my pride or my self-respect. I'll be damned if you're going to take it now and throw it aside like so much trash!"

For a moment Rhett almost laughed. Scarlett being riled was truly one of the more entertaining things about her. But, he knew as surely as he did, her anger would spew out like venom, for if it was one thing Scarlett did not like besides being pitied, it was to be laughed at.

But who could blame him? For all of his talk, here he was back in Atlanta where he swore he'd never come back to, back in the snare of Scarlett's web and faced with a child he neither asked for nor wanted all because he let one head rule over the other. It was all too comically ridiculous and besides, he was laughing at his own stupidity rather than her wounded pride.

"Calm down, Scarlett," he reached for her but she jerked back from him and gritted her teeth at him.

"Don't you touch me. What a fool I am. I should have known you wouldn't care. Well let me tell you one thing Rhett Butler, I'm having this baby and this will be MY baby and you can go to Halifax for all I care! I don't need you or your pity. Now leave before I forget myself and do something I'll regret."

"Always the dramatics, Scarlett. You never know when to quit. No, my pet, I'm not leaving. You've won. I'll stay and be the doting father to be and keep your other suitors at bay. It is my child after all and a Butler. But, don't expect me to be bound to this child as I was to Bonnie. There will never another Bonnie and my heart went with her when she went. So, there it is. Shall we drink on it?" he lifted his glass in a toast but Scarlett's eyes glittered hurtfully and angrily.

She turned from him and stalked to the door, slamming it behind her as she went through it. Rhett stared after it for a moment and finished his drink. He didn't stop until he was so drunk that Pork, who found him hours later, helped him upstairs to his rooms and put him bed.

Eli eased into a chair beside a round table and glanced around the room. Men and women alike sat and stood around him comfortably with each other. The tinkle of the piano drifted with the sound of their voices and mixed in with the melody. So, this was Belle's place. She had done well for herself. Relatively speaking.

When he knew her she had been one of Maude's girls down in San Antonio. He had been fifteen then and even now at thirty, he still remembered her fondly. She had played an important role in his achieving his manhood and he fell for her immediately afterwards, even though she was a good ten years older than him.

His brother had taken him to her and told him it was time to grow up. He was nervous as a cat in a room full of rockers, but Belle had put him to ease from the first. She was funny and kind and when the time came, she was gentle and taught him what she liked and didn't like and by the morning he was in love.

When he told her, she laughed softly and kissed him on the forehead. "That's sweet, but not very practical. You need to find a good girl and settle down someday. I'm not the settling down kind."

Still, he came back and every time she took him in, gave him what he needed and let him go without so much as a hurtful word. Then the day came when she told him that she was leaving for Atlanta, Georgia. She wanted to set up her own house and make her own way.

He wrote to her in secret and she replied only twice. The last time was her response to his letter from three years before about becoming a Pinkerton and she jokingly told him he'd better not come to Atlanta looking for trouble or he just might find it. And then she told him anytime he wanted to visit, to feel free.

So, here he was. Belle was a good person and a good friend and had taught him what he needed to know about women. Seeing her would take his mind off of other things he didn't want to think about. Namely Scarlett.

He couldn't help but worry about her now even though he didn't want to. She wasn't his responsibility, but he cared for her… maybe more than he should seeing as how she was a married woman. He hadn't intended for it to happen, but happen it did. He needed a distraction and Belle was the perfect thing for just such an occasion.

He motioned for a blond, young woman at the bar in a tight yellow dress over to him. She smiled at him, giving him an approving appraisal. "Yeah?" she asked in a slow county accent. "You need something, honey?"

"Are you one of Belle's girls?"

"I am," she winked. "You needing something along those lines?"

"Would you relay a message to Belle for me?"

Disappointment followed by curiosity filtered across her pretty, made up face. "Sure, what's the message?"

"Tell her, Eli's here to see her. She'll know who you mean."

She looked him over again and smiled suggestively. "Sure thing, sugah. If you want more of something else when you leave her, just let Belle know. She'll take it of for you. My name's Kate."

"Thank you, Kate, I'll keep that in mind."

He watched as she made her way upstairs and disappeared. It wasn't long before she was back and telling her Belle sent for him. As he neared the landing on the second floor, he walked to her door and tapped on it. Seconds later, it opened and Belle stood before him. She smiled lazily, propped her hip against the door facing and looked him over.

"Well, Eli Barrett, you've grown up."

Eli smiled. "And you're still the same beautiful Belle I remember. Are you stealing hearts in Atlanta like you did in San Antonio?"

"Of course, Darling. Now, come on in and have a sit down. We've got a lot of catching up to do."