Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Before long Scarlett was in the nursery, and she had the baby in her arms. She said to Rhett, "Look at how handsome he is."

"Handsome? He looks just like Ashley."

"Ashley? You don't think Ashley is handsome."

"I don't know whether he is handsome or not. I rarely look at a man trying to decide if he is attractive. Anyway, Ashley pointed out that because you and Melly," With Scarlett's cocked eyebrow, Rhett said, "Ashley told me to call her that. Anyway, with our marriage the four of us are going to be spending the rest of our lives together. So, we might as well be on a first name basis."

"That's true."

"Ashley is on board with our plan."

"He is willing to abandon Twelve Oaks?"

"Yes, he believes it will never be profitable again without slave labor and that is going to be illegal pretty quickly."

Scarlett laughed and said, "I believe you would be right."

"He wants to become a lawyer wherever we finally end up."

"Just out of curiosity have you and Ashley planned out our entire future."

"No, just the first step. We are moving to New Orleans, which is what you had already agreed to. That is the Butlers and the Wilkeses for sure." Rhett cupped Scarlett's chin and continued, "I am going to try my hardest to convince your parents and sisters to go with us."

"Thank you, Rhett. Do you want to hold him?"

"No thank you. I will wait until we have one of our own."

"Hopefully we will be settled before that event happens."

"Hopefully. Now go on and take Melly her baby back before she starts to wonder if you are ever going to bring him back."

Scarlett gave Rhett a quick kiss.

By dark the only slaves left on the plantation were Albert, Mammy, Pork, and Dilcey. Dilcey had wished her daughter had come home with Scarlett, but Prissy had to make her own way in the world they were living in. At least, Dilcey had known Prissy staying in Atlanta had been her daughter's choice.

The next day, they got a telegram from Honey. She had made it to Macon. Her relatives had picked her up at the train station. Ashley was relieved. Now Honey was someone else's problem. Hopefully, she would find a husband in Macon. For a moment Ashley had a twinge of guilt about his feelings regarding Honey because a gentleman should be willing to support his unmarried sister, but he pushed it away. They had to get rid of all the dead weight if they were going to survive and Honey would have definitely been dead weight.

Ashley knew for at least the next six months Melly was going to be dead weight, but he could not leave her behind. He truly did love her. He loved her with a deep, comfortable love. A love that gave him strength. Not that Scarlett would ever let him leave Melly behind. Aah Scarlett, such a sexually exciting woman. He knew now that all he had felt for Scarlett was lust. That was what he was going to continue telling himself anyway.

Ashley got twenty dollars from Melly and paid Rhett back for his loan. Ashley knew that they had to keep their finances straight. He could never let Rhett pay for anything for him and his family because it would be a long while before he would be able to pay him back.

That night when Rhett and Scarlett got in the bed, she said, "Can we take my friend Cathy with us?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"To put it bluntly she would be just one more mouth to feed. Her going is of no benefit to us."

Rhett watched the tears spring into Scarlett's eyes nonetheless, she said, "You are right. We have to be cold, and we have to be smart. We already have enough dead weight with Melly, Suellen, and Careen. She is not our responsibility. She is not family."

"Yes, Baby. What about your mother?"

"My mother is a survivor. She married a middle-aged Irish man to get herself out of Savannah and away from a scandal."

"What scandal? And how do you know there was a scandal?"

"The last time we were in Charleston right before my grandfather died when I met you, I heard my aunt talking badly about my father. My mother defended him and said Mr. O'Hara, saved me. He got me out of Savannah and away from the scandal with Philipe. I don't know what the scandal was, and I have never asked. I don't want to embarrass my mother."

"Maybe Mammy would tell you."

"No, Mammy would never say an unkind word about my mother. Besides, I don't really want to know."

"That is probably a wise choice."

Scarlett flashed him a smile and said, "Melly convinced me that I really didn't want to know because whatever the scandal was would hurt me too much to know."

"True."

On the one hand Rhett was glad that Scarlett had Melly in her life. That Scarlett had such a wonderful best friend. They really were complimentary women. He was just jealous that anyone was closer to Scarlett then him. He knew she loved him the best and maybe someday she would turn to him with her concerns. If she ever did, he could not mock her or tease her.

A few minutes later, Rhett said, "Your trip to Charleston when we met was your last trip to the city?"

"Yes. We never went back. Pa doesn't like his sisters-in-law so he refused to visit them, and Mama wouldn't go without him because us girls would be too much for just her."

"Didn't she have Mammy, a maid, and a footman?"

Scarlett burst out laughing. When she could finally speak, she said, "I don't know why I think this, but I don't think she wanted to visit her sisters either."

Rhett laughed. He was laughing at Scarlett's little joke, but he was also laughing about how many times he had endured Eulalie Boykins and Pauline Johnson's company because he had hoped Scarlett would be there. Still chuckling he got in the bed naked as usual. Scarlett finished brushing out her hair. It pleased her that Rhett was laughing so much because it was rare that she ever truly amused him. When she had finished brushing out her hair, she took off her dressing gown then happily got in beside him as naked as he was.

Sherman took the city of Atlanta the next day. On September the second India had sent a telegram stating that she, Yerkes, and their servants were doing fine. A lot of citizens had been forced out of the city but because Yerkes was a doctor, they had allowed him and his wife to stay.

After reading the telegram, Scarlett wondered about the Meades and the other citizens of Atlanta. She shook it off. As Rhett had said she had worries of her own. Like how they were going to get to New Orleans.

For the next two weeks, Rhett and Ashley openly talked about their plans to move to New Orleans. They would tell everyone that anyone who wanted to go with them was welcome to go. The only slave to commit to going was Albert. So far, it was Albert, Rhett, Scarlett, Wade, Melly, Beau, and Ashley. They were planning on leaving October the first. They were going to take two wagons and everything they could fit in the wagons. Rhett had not told anyone not even Scarlett, but everyone was going to be walking to New Orleans. Their combined weight was too much for the horses to pull for that long.

Melanie was bouncing back from having delivered Beau. In fact, everyone was amazed at how quickly Melly was recovering. By two weeks, she was eating her meals with everyone else in the dining room. Of course, she brought Beau with her everywhere she went. Dilcey had showed her how to fashion a sling, so her arms were free, but her baby was still beside her. She had been able to nurse him which had thrilled her to no end. She told everyone else but Scarlett she was doing it because she couldn't get a wet nurse. She told Scarlett, "If this is going to be my only child than I want to experience every part of motherhood."

Scarlett had secretly thought, 'I will never be a milk cow.'

About the same time that Melanie started joining everyone for meals, Careen said at supper, "Pa, Mama, I would like to go with Scarlett and Rhett to New Orleans."

Ellen and Gerald looked at each other. Finally, Gerald said, "If they want to take you, we will let you go."

Suellen said, "I want to go also."

"What about Mr. Kennedy?"

"Maybe I will find someone better in New Orleans. As Scarlett has always been saying he is just an old maid in britches. Besides, he is at least forty-five and he has never been married. I'm not sure I will ever get him to the altar."

Scarlett said, "Probably not. Confirmed bachelors are hard to get to the altar."

Rhett said, "It takes a special kind of woman to get a confirmed bachelor to the altar."

Suellen was not offended by Rhett's statement. She knew she wasn't special like Scarlett, but she hoped to meet someone who truly wanted to marry her. Especially now that Scarlett was happily married.

A week later Ellen said to Gerald while they were getting ready for bed, "Pork, Dilcey, and Mammy will go whichever way we go."

"Yes, they will. We could order them to go."

"No, they would disobey us. They would say if it is safe for you two, then it is safe for us."

"We have to go for their sakes."

"We can come back."

"Yes, we can come back and rebuild. I never thought I would have this much when I left Ireland. Although you, Ellen, are my greatest treasure."

"I wouldn't have made it if you hadn't married me. I was so despondent after Philipe died. I wanted to die myself." With a smile, Ellen said, "But a charismatic, shrewd, middle-aged Irish man made me want to live again."

"I've loved you since the first moment I saw you."

"I love you, too, Gerald. You have always been my safe haven."

"Thank you, my dear. I will tell Rhett and Ashley in the morning. We need to get packing."

"We have a lifetime of memories we won't be able to take with us."

"We will come back and get them."

"Yes, we will."

"Come lie in the bed and let me hold you."

As Ellen and Gerald laid there, they both knew they would never be back. They both also knew that Ellen didn't love Gerald in a passionate way, but her love was that of a wife for her husband. Gerald had known all about Ellen's affair with Philipe because it was quite the scandal in Savannah at the time. The first time she had cried in the night, he had comforted her. He had also told her, "I know that you will never love me the way you loved Philipe, but I hope someday you will come to love me."

When Ellen realized she didn't have to pretend around Gerald ,her life got easier. When she realized she could talk to Gerald about what was making her sad, her life got easier. To this day she marveled at this man who loved her so much could stand to listen to her go on about another man just because she needed to talk about the other man. By the time Scarlett was born, she did love her husband. He had been her rock and her best friend all this time. Just as she knew she was his rock and his best friend.

Gerald and Ellen weathered the crisis of losing three sons together. Their first son had been born in between Suellen and Careen. They cried many of tears over the loss of their tiny baby boy. He had never been healthy, but they had still hoped he would live. After Careen was born and she was such a healthy baby they had been willing to try again. Their second son wasn't any healthier than the first one. After their second son died at five months, they decided they wouldn't have any more children.

Gerald had started doing somethings to make sure Ellen didn't get with child, but they had not worked. After their third son had died before he was six months old, Gerald and Ellen quit having relations. Although Ellen had already loved Gerald at that time, him forgoing his marital relations cemented him into her heart forever. At that point she admitted to herself that Philipe would never have been as good a husband to her as Gerald had been. She admitted another fact Phillip had a reckless nature and he would have gotten himself killed whether her father had paid him off or not. Ellen, no longer being a young girl, was in no doubt that her father had been able to bribe Philipe into leaving Charleston without her.

Despite all of that Ellen hoped she saw Philipe on the other side.