Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Twelve

On the first anniversary of Charlie's death Melly, Wade, and Scarlett had all gone to the cemetery. Scarlett had brought a bouquet of fall flowers that grew in the North. Scarlett set them down by the headstone. Scarlett said, "I know the headstone looks kind of bare, but I couldn't afford any more."

"I know, Darling."

"I wish he could see Wade. He would be so proud."

"Yes, he would."

"He was a good husband."

"He was a good brother. I'm glad he chose to come with Ashley and me. It would have been horrible if it had just been me and Ashley."

"You would have made friends."

"I have made friends but the first several months were hard to get through especially with not having any servants."

"Since we arrived in New York, it has been hard for me to get through."

"I suppose it has. I am sorry about getting on to you about seeing Mr. Butler. I guess I just wanted you to stay true to Charlie's memory but that isn't fair to someone as vivacious and outgoing as you are."

"Thank you, Melly. I will make sure Wade never forgets who his father was."

"So will I."

"Come on, let's go home. It is cold out here and I don't want Wade to get sick."

"Yes, let's."

Soon Christmas was upon them. Scarlett and Melly once again agreed not to give each other presents as did Scarlett and Coco. Scarlett had made Melly promise she would only give Wade one present. When the presents were opened Ashley had given Melly a lovely new blue dress which he had gotten from Scarlett's store. Scarlett had given him a discount. She had given him a discount because she wanted to be sure Melly got a new dress. Melly had given Ashley a new suit. Melly had given Wade some blocks. Scarlett gave Wade several new outfits that she had sewn up herself.

Scarlett was quite talented now with not just a sewing machine but a needle and thread also. Both Coco and Scarlett used scraps to make clothes for their children. They were definitely one-of-a-kind garments.

Ashley's friend John had invited the family to his house for Christmas dinner. Everyone had a good time. Maureen served a goose, green beans with almonds, mashed potatoes, greens, and rolls. There was also a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie. The Robinsons had two children, Will and Penny. It appeared that Will was four and Penny was probably two.

There were some other guests there also. They were John's parents, Abner and Maude, John and Ashley's friend from Yale Don West and his wife Judy, and Zachary Smith. Zachary Smith was one of the vice-presidents from the bank.

Don and Judy had a daughter who looked to be the same age as Wade. On the way back to their home in the cab, Scarlett could tell that Melly was morose. Scarlett knew why her sister-in-law was sad. Everyone else had a baby but her. Scarlett asked Melanie if she would like to hold Wade for a while. Melly had smiled and said, "Yes."

After a minute, Melly said, "I so want a child, but I guess it is just not meant to be."

"At least, you have Wade."

"It is almost as good."

"In February, I will probably start letting you take care of him during the day while I am at work, if you would be willing to do that for me."

"Of course, I would."

Ashley felt badly and he wished he could let Melly have one child but if he did then she would know what he was doing at the end was not normal.

During December Coco and Scarlett had hired another seamstress. It was supposed to be a temporary position. They had so many orders for dresses that had to be made by this party or that social engagement they had needed the help. At first, they had paid her by the number of pieces she had sewn together but after the first of the year when they decided to keep her on full-time, they started paying her by the hour. They needed her to cut material, work the register, help ladies select fabric and so much more. Her name was Edith Head.

On January fifteenth Rhett walked into Chanel's dress shop with a package in his hand. Scarlett greeted him with a happy smile and said, "Welcome back to New York."

"Thank you." Rhett handed Scarlett the package and said, "Merry Christmas."

Scarlett opened the package. It was yards of two different green fabric. They were beautiful. She looked at him. He said, "What? I brought you something inappropriate like I told you I would."

"I can't accept this."

"Yes, you can. Just get Mrs. Chanel to make you a new dress and Mrs. Macdonald to make you a new hat."

"Rhett, I can't wear this much color. I'm just now able to wear gray and maroon."

"Get the dress and hat made anyway. This time next year you can wear it."

Scarlett smiled coquettishly at Rhett. He knew that she had taken that statement to mean they would still be together in a year but that wasn't what he had said. She can wear it in a year whether he was with her or not.

Scarlett said, "That is what I will do. It may take a year to get a new hat and dress made for me. We tend to put the paying customer in front of the employees."

"Which is a smart thing to do."

"Thank you."

"May I take you out to supper, Mrs. Hamilton?"

"Yes, when?"

"Tomorrow night."

"What time?"

"Six."

"Yes, where are you staying in case I have to cancel for some reason?"

"I'm staying at Carter's on Fifth Avenue. I will be sure to check with you tomorrow afternoon to be sure you are still available."

"Thank you. Wade took his first step right after Christmas."

"You must be excited."

"Not as excited as Melly is." Rhett smiled and Scarlett continued, "Will you be here on the twentieth? I am going to have a small birthday party/supper for Wade."

"Yes, that sounds delightful. I will not be leaving until the twenty-second."

"Tell me of your travels."

"Do you have time to take a walk in the park?"

"Let me get Wade." After Scarlett returned with Wade in his stroller, she said, "Coco, I will be right back."

"Alright, Scarlett."

Rhett immediately took the stroller and Wade frowned. Both the adults ignored the scowl on the boy's face as they walked out of the shop. Scarlett said, "We hired an employee."

"Isn't Mrs. Macdonald an employee?"

"We have more of a business arrangement with her. With Edith, we pay her a salary. Tell me about your travels. Where did you go?"

"I went to Savannah and sold my goods."

"Not to Charleston?"

"No, I go to a different seaport every time. When I have war supplies, I dock at Virginia Beach. The rest of the time I rotate between Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah. Occasionally I go as far South as Jacksonville, but time is money, so I don't make that trip very often."

"Is it hard getting through the blockade?"

"Yes, terribly hard."

Rhett basked in Scarlett's worshipping look. It wasn't easy to get through the blockade, but it wasn't terribly hard. The main thing the blockade stopped was Northern ships getting through.

Finally, Scarlett said, "Where did you go in Europe?"

"I went to England to drop off my cotton then to a port in France, La Havre."

"I have never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised. You are not exactly a world traveler."

The comment made Scarlett mad because of Ashley's comment about Rhett being a worldly, sophisticated, polished man that she couldn't keep interested in her. She snapped out, "I'm not a country bumpkin."

Rhett laughed. He said, "No, you aren't but have you ever even been on a ship?"

Begrudgingly Scarlett said, "No."

"Did you have a nice Christmas?"

"Yes, thank you. We had it at Ashley's friend's house. It was nice. It was like being with family again. How about you? Who did you spend Christmas with?

"With my crew. Let me assure you we did not have a bountiful feast. The first couple of days after we set sail the food is fairly good, but after that the food leaves something to be desired."

"Yet you love captaining your ship. I suppose part of your running the blockade is the thrill of it all."

"Yes, the thrill of amassing all the money I am making."

Scarlett laughed. She said, "I have to get back. We are so busy now which is good, but it also means I can't take hour walks with my gentleman caller."

"It is nice to hear that I am officially your gentleman caller and not your friend."

Scarlett smiled and Rhett turned the stroller around. On their way back to the dress shop Rhett told Scarlett of his travels since the last time he saw her.

Rhett took Scarlett to an extremely fancy restaurant for supper the next night. She was a little awed by the establishment. She had never been to anything this fancy. Most of the male diners were wearing tuxedos. She looked at Rhett and said, "Wow!"

"Yes, wow. La Coucou is a French restaurant. I am going to order for you because you will not know what any of the dishes on the menu are."

"Alright."

Rhett ordered Scarlett escargot as an appetizer and frog legs for himself. For their main courses he ordered her chicken cordon bleu and for himself fish meuniere. For dessert he got her a palmier which was a pastry filled with sugar and cinnamon.

Over supper Rhett told her stories, and she told him about her life before the war had started. She talked a little bit about her shop, Wade, and Melly but none at all about Charlie or Ashley.

Rhett came to visit every two months and he usually stayed a week. In May, Scarlett not only allowed Rhett to call her Scarlett but to kiss her also. After the kiss she thought, 'Wow! He is sure a good kisser.'

Scarlett occasionally got letters from her parents, but the news was always bad. In one letter her mother had written, 'Charlie was smart to get you out of the South.' That was sad for Scarlett, but she agreed it had been smart of Charlie to get them out of the South.

Melanie got letters from her relatives and the news was not any better. Everyone was suffering who lived in the Confederacy. Melanie knew that she and Charlie had been smart to liquidate their holdings in Atlanta.

PittyPat had written, 'Henry chose to move in with me to save money. I don't want him living with me, but we do need to save our money. I certainly regret not going with you to New York.'

When Melly had read the words, she had thought, 'Thank goodness Aunt PittyPat stayed in Atlanta. She would have been just another mouth to feed. She would not work as hard as I am to keep the house tidy.'

Nobody wrote Ashley because his father had disowned him.

Ashley wrote a story about his first two years of living in New York. About his feelings for his home, his relatives, and his state. He even wrote of his feelings for the institute of slavery. He showed it to his editor and asked him to publish it as an opinion piece in the Sunday paper.

The editor read the story. He told Ashley, "It is too long to be published all at one time. Break it up into four parts. We will run it in July. After Ashley heard about the three-day battle at Gettysburg, he added a fifth part giving his opinion on the war all together. After learning about the draft riots, he added a sixth part talking about what had prompted the Irish men to become violent although he did end that part by saying violence is never the answer.