Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Thirty

That afternoon after Scarlett and Rhett had returned from the hotel, Wade ran to greet them. He, of course, wanted his mother but after Scarlett had kissed him and hugged him, he was ready to go to Rhett. As Rhett hugged the boy, he again wondered how he had thought he would be satisfied with the paltry relationship between a man and his mistress. He wanted this boy's love. He wanted children with Scarlett. He knew in that moment he wanted everything that being part of proper society represented. He wanted to claim Scarlett as his wife, Wade as his son, and all the children that he and Scarlett would have. Maybe they wouldn't live in the South but anywhere they went if Scarlett wasn't his wife she would not be received. He would never let her be shamed that way. He would never be shamed that way. Thanks to a decision he made almost fifteen years ago, Scarlett and his children would be received into the finest homes in New Orleans, Atlanta, or even Charleston.

Rhett smiled. He remembered how he had felt that not marrying Caroline would have been the biggest mistake of his life. He knew now, he had been right.

When Scarlett watched Rhett and Wade interact, she knew that she and Rhett had always been destined to be together. She didn't know why she felt this way, but she felt that her marriage to Charlie was what had enabled her and Rhett to become the wonderful couple they were going to be.

The box of food had been delivered to the Harper residence that afternoon. When Yerkes had found out that Rhett had bought food for his own wedding celebration at first, he had been insulted. He had thought, 'Does Mr. Butler think that I can't afford to pay for the celebration?' Once he had thought about the man that was Rhett Butler, he realized that Rhett had too much pride to let anybody pay for anything for him. He accepted the groceries and decided to just enjoy the meal.

It didn't really matter at this point in the afternoon. Naomi had thought that Dr. Harper had been the one to order the groceries and had already had the evening meal mostly prepared by the time Yerkes had gotten home. Although Yerkes was not accepting the pinto beans and the potatoes that were also in the box.

Scarlett excitedly showed India and Dr. Harper her engagement ring after she and Rhett had gotten to the Harper's home. She said to the couple, "We are going to wait until we get to New Orleans to pick out our wedding bands. The selection will be better in New Orleans."

Rhett quipped, "Not to mention the prices."

Everyone laughed. India and Yerkes admired Scarlett's ring and made all the appropriate comments.

Scarlett then took India aside. She explained that Prissy was going to meet her friend tonight and explain to him what was going on. Scarlett finished by saying, "I told her to be sure and tell you before she left the house tonight."

"Actually, she needs to let me know every time she leaves the house at night. Now that it is not a secret there is no reason that she shouldn't."

"True, I will tell her."

"No, I will tell her. Afterall I will be her mistress after you and Mr. Butler leave Atlanta."

"True."

Once the Meades arrived, Scarlett once again showed off her ring. She again made her comments about their wedding bands. Rhett once again made his joke about the prices. Cora and Arthur both made appropriate comments about the ring. For a split-second Cora was jealous of the younger woman. Even in the bountiful times Arthur had not been able to afford to give her a ring as nice as Scarlett's then she looked at Rhett Butler and knew he was going to be a difficult man to live with. Not like her sweet, kind, and considerate Arthur. She would take Arthur over all the jewelry in the world.

Supper was a lot of fun. Rhett had bought a ham although it was a small one. They also had greens, potatoes, and a tomato and cucumber salad. The salad was a lot better than Rhett had thought it was going to be.

After Wade was taken away to bed, Rhett and Scarlett left the Harper residence. On their way back to the hotel a silence had fallen between the couple, but it was not unpleasant. Earlier that day when Scarlett had been packing her belongings, she had reached under the bed and had gotten her book. When she had the book in her hand, she wondered when she would ever be able to read it again. At first, she could only let Rhett see her reading the book he had given her.

Normally Scarlett read her book after she had gotten in the bed. She couldn't do that now because Rhett would be right there. She also knew that he would not want to lie around reading books instead of being intimate. On top of that for a while she was sure they would be spending a lot of time together.

When Rhett and Scarlett got to the hotel, he helped her down then turned the reins over to one of the boys that worked in the stable that was next door to the hotel. Supposedly, the stable wasn't owned by the hotel, but Rhett would have been surprised if that had been true. He didn't care. He was glad there was someone to take care of his horse. He certainly didn't want to deal with horse shit any more than he wanted to deal with chicken shit. Rhett decided he didn't want to think about that right now. He wanted to think about his lovely wife. So, he did.

After Rhett and Scarlett got into the hotel, he hurried her up the stairs. Although she was moving as quickly as he was to climb the stairs. Watching his wife's hips sway back and forth was getting him even more aroused which he didn't think was possible.

When Rhett and Scarlett got to their suite, he carried her over the threshold. When he set her down, he let her slide down his front. She just smiled up at him. There was a bottle of champagne chilling on ice. There was a box of chocolates with a gold ribbon tied around it. All things to make the scene romantic but Rhett didn't see any of them. Right now, his desire was as great as it ever had been. All he wanted was to be inside his wife. He backed her into the bedroom. He wanted to rip her clothing off but he knew she didn't have very much clothing so he restrained himself but some day he would rip her clothing off of her just because he thought it would be a thrilling thing to do.

In between kisses Rhett and Scarlett managed to get each other's clothes off before they were joined together. Rhett couldn't believe how sexually aroused he was.

It had never been this way for Rhett before, usually after he had been intimate with a woman his desire for her was much, much less until it was almost non-existent. Needless to say, if a woman ever said yes, he was always able to take her up on her offer but sometimes he had to think about someone else in order to accomplish it. Since the war started that woman had always been Scarlett. Scarlett, his wife. Scarlett, his other half.

Rhett had felt his need begin to overtake him. He had been about to whisper, "I will make it up to you next time." Just then Scarlett orgasmed and called his name. Then he was orgasming also and calling her name also. As they laid there catching their breath, Scarlett said, "I love you. That was so wonderful."

"I love you, too. It was wonderful."

"I don't understand what happened."

"What do you mean?"

Scarlett whispered so quietly that Rhett almost couldn't hear her, "Everything was fine until we got in the room but all of the sudden the only thing, I could think about was … well."

"Me too. I just knew that if we weren't one in the next minute I was going to explode."

"Yes."

"I have never felt that way before."

"Really?!"

"Really."

Rhett laughed as he watched Scarlett become smug. Any other time and any other woman that would have irritated him. In this moment he knew she deserved to feel smug. Probably more than she knew. Here he was a thirty-six-year-old man who had lived a pretty jaded lifestyle. A man who had more sexual experiences than he could remember. A man that had a cynical outlook on life. Yet this woman had him behaving like a sixteen-year-old boy who in a lot of ways was seeing the world through the eyes of a naïve sixteen-year-old boy. Scarlett made him believe in the future.

Rhett also wished he had magical power and he could just will his cigars to the bed. He didn't want to leave this bed for a minute for any reason.

Rhett whispered, "We will have the champagne and the chocolates tomorrow night. Unless you want me to go get them now."

Scarlett tightened her grip on him and said, "No, I don't want you to leave the bed until tomorrow morning."

Fairly quickly Rhett and Scarlett were both asleep.

Rhett had woken Scarlett up in the middle of the night and once again she had been warm and willing. There wasn't a lot of foreplay but they both had a good time. Rhett woke up in the morning, when the sunshine was pouring through the open windows. He saw Scarlett looking so peaceful sleeping there. He was tempted to let her sleep. Selfishly, he decided she could sleep later. He had not visited a brothel since he had left Europe. He had been good for her sake. He had taken care of his needs for himself but while sexually satisfying it wasn't emotionally fulfilling. Of course, he had really not found being with whores or nameless women that emotionally fulfilling either. Now she could take care of his needs for him, both emotionally and physically. Yet he just couldn't. He pushed her hair out of her face and bent down to softly kiss her. He had every intention of drawing back and leaving the bed. He would get himself a cigar.

Then Scarlett opened her eyes and smiled at him. She said, "Did you need something, Husband?"

"You."

"Come and get me."

For the next thirty minutes Mr. and Mrs. Butler had an incredibly good time. Rhett decided after it was all over that he was going to enjoy being married very much. As he arose from the bed, he thought, 'Why were you so stubbornly determined to not marry? All those ninnies – yes, but this wonderful woman – you were an idiot.'

Rhett said to Scarlett, "While you take care of your morning toilette, I will go and get us some breakfast."

"Thank, Sweetheart."

It made Scarlett so happy that Rhett was letting her have some privacy in order for her to urinate and whatever she felt the need to do. She quickly found the bedpan which she was glad had a cover on it. She took care of her biological needs and was soon getting dressed. At least as much as she could without help.

Rhett returned in about ten minutes with some bacon, some fried eggs, a couple of pieces of toast, and some orange juice. As he set the tray down, he said, "Do you drink coffee?"

"Not anymore. It just got too hard to find."

"When we get to New Orleans…"

"Yes, Dear, now let's eat. I am starving."

"Not really but we shall eat."

The couple fed each other bites of food. While it was romantic it was a slow way of consuming food. After a short while, Rhett said, "I love you but let's feed ourselves."

"Agreed."

After Rhett finished getting Scarlett dressed, they were on their way to the Harper residence. Along the way, Rhett said," July twentieth was a very good day to get married."

Scarlett smiled up at him and said, "Any day would have been a good day for us to marry."

"True, Baby, true."