Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Thirty-Six

Scarlett started spending her afternoons with Melly. She would read to her all those dreadful romance novels that Melly loved but Scarlett didn't care for. Scarlett didn't care, she was trying to make Melly happy. Scarlett would also talk about their future although that was more difficult because neither woman knew what their world was going to be like after the war was over.

In the evening Scarlett started sewing baby clothes for Melly's baby. She just knew the baby was going to need a lot of clothing. Wade had. She was able to use all those scraps she had saved from when she made her dresses. She even used some of the fabric she had saved for Wade.

Rhett was extremely bored living in the country especially because there was no role for him to play on the plantation. Ellen was running the plantation, Scarlett was taking care of Melly, Gerald was managing the field hands, Mammy was taking care of Wade, and Careen and Suellen were helping Liberty prepare the meals because almost all the household slaves had run away. Liberty had run away but she had come back. She had not been able to find any food and also because she fancied Big Sam and him her.

Rhett did spend time with Wade. He had even put the little boy on his horse and let him ride it for a little bit every day. Rhett was right beside the boy the entire time. He could not let anything ever happen to Wade. Scarlett would never forgive him if he was in any way responsible for one of her children dying. It wouldn't really matter. He would never be able to forgive himself.

As the days passed by uneventfully, Rhett had started reading in the afternoon. He was glad he had managed to find most of his adventure stories. It made him wonder where those last five or six went to. After he and Scarlett were married, he had taken her back over to Hamilton House to search for the other books. They weren't there either.

The O'Haras heard just a week later that Emmie Slattery had died from typhoid fever. Not any of the inhabitants of Tara felt an ounce of grief over the young girl's death. Actually, they all sighed a sigh of relief because they knew Scarlett had been right. If Ellen had gone to nurse Emmie, Ellen would have died also. If Ellen had typhoid fever probably everyone in the house would have gotten it also. That is probably what Scarlett was sensing that Ellen inadvertently would have caused the death of everyone at Tara.

Emmie's father, Tom had taken the little bit of money he had and bought a train ticket West. He was leaving the South behind along with his past. Nobody knew how far he could get because nobody knew how much money he had. Tom had actually had a fair amount of money because as poor white trash he could get by on the cheap. Everyone was always giving him stuff because they felt sorry for him. He had been alright with them pitying him. He had never had any pride. He had never had anything to be proud of except Emmie. With her death, he now had nothing. He needed to start a new life.

After Rhett had started reading in the parlor every afternoon, he remembered that Scarlett had agreed to try reading a book. He found her in Miss Melly's room and told her to join him in the parlor. Once she had arrived, he told her that she would join him in the parlor every afternoon. She would read with him. He gave her Five Weeks in a Balloon for her to read. When he gave her the book, he said, "You know the basic plot because Miss India, Dr. Harper, and I discussed it in the parlor. I will be asking you questions to be sure you are actually reading the book and not just pretending to read the book."

"Why would I do that?"

"We both know that you don't want to read books, so if you pretended to read the book, you can avoid reading it then just tell me you didn't like it."

"Rhett, do you really think I am that devious?"

"Yes, I do."

"No, I'm not. You are, not me."

"Yes, I am but so are you."

"No! I'm not."

With those words, Scarlett, stormed out of the parlor. Scarlett didn't speak to Rhett the rest of the evening. When they retired for the night, Scarlett took out the book he had given her. She started reading it despite the fact this would make the third time she had read the book.

Rhett got in the bed, and he said, "It is time for us to blow out the candle."

"No, I feel like reading right now."

"You can read tomorrow."

"No, you want me to read this damn book so I will read the damn thing."

"I certainly don't want you to read it before we go to sleep. You know that before we go to sleep, we do enjoyable things together."

"Then you will have to lay there and wait until I am finished reading. I am not going to read with you in the parlor every afternoon. That is when I spend time with Melly."

Rhett sighed. As he laid there watching his wife read, he thought, 'And to think I wanted an impertinent wife.'

Rhett just continued lying there staring at Scarlett. He was smiling. He thought, 'Yes, she is exactly what I wanted. Someone who has an opinion and doesn't mind sharing it. Someone who is bold. Someone who has fire in her veins. Someone who will never kowtow to me. Like right now, she is giving me what I want, but she is going to make me pay for it.'

For the next week, Scarlett took out her book every night when she and Rhett got in the bed. She would read one chapter then put her book up. She would then say to him, "I'm ready to blow out the candle."

Rhett would get out of the bed and blow out the candle. He would then make love to his amazing wife. She was always warm and willing. She always had a good time as did he. When he mentioned her giving him oral pleasure again, she replied, "No. I am already doing something I don't want to do to make you happy. Of course, I will be glad to do that if you will let me stop reading that book."

"No, I will just wait until you are finished reading the book."

"Alright, Dear."

A week later Scarlett did not get her book out. She said, "I finished my book. Do you want to quiz me about it?"

As Rhett took off his clothes, he said, "I certainly do not. I want to make love to my wife."

"Alright."

As Rhett blew out the candle, he said, "Did you like it?"

"Yes, I will choose my next book though."

Rhett did not reply to that statement for he was already kissing his wife with his erection already pressed up against her. Scarlett was glad the candle had been out already so Rhett could not see the smile of satisfaction on her face. She had gotten what she wanted. To be able to read books but she didn't want to discuss them with Rhett.

A couple of nights later when Rhett asked Scarlett to pleasure him orally, she had just refused. He had just sighed.

The next week was quiet at Tara except the Yankees soldiers were everywhere. A band of them had even come onto the plantation and stolen a couple of chickens. When Careen had protested their actions, the sergeant had said, "We are going to take them one way or another. If you don't fight us, all we will take is a couple of chickens. If you fight us, we will take everything and burn your house to the ground."

After that visit, the girls with Rhett's help had taken most of the livestock down to the swamp and penned them up there. They had left a few for the soldiers to find. They didn't want the soldiers to look too hard for chickens or pigs or cows.

The inhabitants of Tara let the Yankees take anything they wanted. They were the conquering army. Right now, the citizens of the Confederacy had to think of themselves and try to hold on to everything they could.

It was August thirtieth, and while Rhett and Scarlett were lying in their bed, he said, "I went into Jonesboro today to find out any news about the war."

"And?"

"It looks like Sherman has the city practically surrounded."

"And?"

"It means two things. Neither is good for the Confederacy either General Hood is going to retreat from Atlanta and surrender the city or General Sherman is going to surround the city and trap Hood's troops inside."

"What does that mean to us?"

"I think we will have a month or two before we will have to escape from the South."

"Rhett, what about my family?"

"I am going to try to convince your parents and the Wilkeses to escape to New Orleans with us."

"Will we be safe there?"

"Safe enough. It has been in Union hands since sixty-two so at this point it is pretty well organized but most importantly, I will be able to access my monies there."

"Melly and I have some money. The money you gave us."

"What do you mean? I never gave Miss Melly any money."

"The second hundred dollars I invested was Melly's money."

Rhett smiled. He thought, 'It looks like I am bankrolling this escape one way or another.' He said, "That will work well. Mr. Wilkes can pay his own way with Miss Melly's money, and you can pay for your parents and sister's way using your money.'

"Alright, Rhett. What about Honey?"

"Mr. Wilkes can send her to Macon to be with Miss PittyPat. "

"Good idea."

"We will leave as soon as Miss Melly can travel."

"What about our slaves?"

"We will see who is still here after they hear Sherman has taken Atlanta. I'm pretty sure most of the slaves will leave the plantation once they find out the liberating army has taken Atlanta."

"I don't know how you are going to convince Pa or Ashley to abandon their plantations."

"I will convince them that they are not abandoning them but just leaving them temporarily."

"We aren't ever coming back are we."

"You, me, and Wade definitely not. The others probably not because they won't be able to run a plantation without slave labor."

"It is a good plan, Rhett. Let's go to sleep."

"No."

"Alright."

"We are still on our honeymoon after all."

"How long are we going to be on our honeymoon?"

"The rest of our lives, my love. The rest of our lives."

"I hope so, Rhett."

"I know so, Scarlett. After all we love each other more than any other couple has ever loved."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"No, never about that."

"I love you."

"Do you want to show me how much?"

Scarlett laughed and said, "No."

Rhett laughed and kissed her. Soon nobody was laughing anymore. They were busy loving on each other.

Dilcey had taken it upon herself to start her day by checking on Mrs. Wilkes. She remembered the woman from her summer visits. Even then she had been a very polite and kind person. She would say a prayer for Miss Melly every morning when she looked in on her.

The last day of August, when Dilcey checked on Miss Melly that morning, she was in no doubt the younger woman was in labor.

Dilcey stood over Melanie's bed and put her hand on her forehead. There was no fever and that was a good thing. Dilcey said, "Mrs. Wilkes, how long have you been in labor?"

"I don't know. It started then it stopped. A while later it started again but stopped again. I think it started again an hour ago, but I don't know."

"Don't you worry. I am going to get you some help."

"Thank you."

Melly was in a lot of pain. She was so glad that Mrs. O'Hara and Scarlett had insisted that she come live at Tara. She just knew they would save her life.

Author's Notes: Despite the way Mitchell portrayed the actions of the Yankees, I have read that the Yankees as a group did not destroy anything the Southerners own just for the sake of destroying it. At least not in Georgia. They did take what they wanted whether it be food or gold, but they did not burn everyone's house down just to be causing destruction. They didn't need to. The Southern civilians' desire to fight was already pretty much broken by then.

When Sherman got to South Carolina, he did practice a more scorched earth policy. He destroyed the infrastructure of the entire state. He claimed he did not order the burning down of Columbia, but he was not sorry that it happened. He was punishing the people of South Carolina because it had been the first state to withdraw from the union. It had also been where the Civil War started when the Confederate troops fired on Ft. Sumter.