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

Chapter Thirty-One

Later that night after Wade had been turned over to Hattie to put to bed, Scarlett showed Rhett the letter. After he had read the letter, he said, "That is amazing that a girl of eighteen did all that."

"Yes, I am proud of what she did."

"You are not going to shoulder the responsibility of your sisters, your father, and your former slaves."

"No, not all of them. I will shoulder the responsibility of Pa and Mammy, but everyone else is on their own. You were right. If I can do it, so can Suellen. In fact, her life will be easier because she will have Careen. What's more she will not have a child depending on her."

"Just pointing out the obvious, you did have Melly to help you."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Melly was all I had. Melly and divine intervention. What was the odds of Coco and me becoming partners. Rhett, I am strong where she is weak. She is strong where I am weak."

"Yes, divine intervention."

"Let's retire."

Although it was only eight-thirty, Rhett said, "Yes, let's." He knew they weren't going to sleep right away.

Afterwards Rhett reflected on how insatiable Scarlett was now that she was already with child. He thought himself an incredibly lucky man.

On September twenty-sixth Scarlett went into labor. She had been at the shop when she had felt the first contraction. She had smiled at Coco and said, "I am in labor. I will be going home. Bring me the books the day after tomorrow."

"Of course, of course. How can I help you?"

"Get me a cab and get a runner to take this to Ina May."

When Scarlett got to her home, she was happy to find that Rhett wasn't home. Maybe she could deliver this child before he got back. She just knew he was going to demand to be in the room with her. The man had no boundaries.

Scarlett got upstairs and stopped by the playroom. Hattie was in the room with Wade. When Wade saw his mother, he jumped up from his toys and screamed, "Mama!"

Scarlett squatted down and hugged the boy, she said to Wade, "I am going to be busy for the next several hours. You stay in here with Hattie." She turned to the nursemaid and said, "I am in labor. Keep Wade occupied."

"Let me get Lorretta to sit with the boy while I get you into the bed."

"Thank you."

"Come along Wade. Let's find Lorretta."

When Hattie got back with Lorretta and Wade, she left them in the playroom. She walked into Scarlett's bedroom. She said, "I delivered a lot of babies when I was a slave."

"I didn't know you once were a slave."

"Yes, I lived on Boone Hall Plantation in South Carolina."

"Who were your owners?"

"The Mains."

"Was their plantation near Charleston?"

"Yes."

"I wonder if Rhett knows them. He is from Charleston."

"Yes, Ma'am. I know. He told me upon our first meeting."

"Hattie, how can you a former slave work for Southerners."

"Mr. Butler pays good wages."

"True."

"Now put your wrapper on and get in the bed."

"I need to send Melly a message telling her I am in labor."

"Once the midwife gets here, I will walk over there myself and tell her."

"Thank you, Hattie. She lives at 713 Maiden Lane. You are a good person."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"Here comes another one."

"Breathe, Ma'am. Concentrate on your breathing."

Soon Ina May was there, and Hattie left. She did just what she had promised. She walked over to the Wilkeses and told Melly that Scarlett was in labor. Melly left a note for Ashley, and she, Hattie, and Beau walked over to the Butlers' home.

When the contractions were two minutes apart Ina May gave Scarlett a couple of spoonsful of Laudanum. It once again eased the pain of the contractions. In less than an hour, she was pushing another baby boy into the world. Ina May placed the baby on Scarlett's stomach and she cried. She cried for the sheer joy of hers and Rhett's baby being born. She cried for the fact her ordeal was over. She cried for the fact that Rhett had not been in the room with her. She cried because her parents would never know she had given birth to another child.

Soon the cord was cut and the after birth disposed of. Soon the baby was in her arms. They were going to call the baby Gerald Rhett Butler. Rhett had wanted to name the boy after his grandfather. Scarlett had said, "If we have another boy, we will name him after your grandfather."

"We aren't having any more."

"I'm sure we will but not on purpose."

Rhett had just smiled. He was sure they would also, unfortunately for Scarlett.

Rhett had arrived home in the middle of Scarlett's labor. He had not even tried to enter their bedroom. He knew that his wife was mortified every time he was in the room when Ina May gave her instructions. Maybe he could get her to let him be in the room when she delivered their next one.

Melly walked into the playroom where Rhett had been playing with Wade. She proudly said, "It is a boy." Melly handed the baby over to Rhett. As she did so she said, "Hold his head. He can't control it yet."

Rhett smiled broadly like a boy was what he had wanted. In truth, at that moment all he had wanted was for Scarlett's labor and delivery to be over. He took the baby from Melly and said, "And Scarlett?"

"She is fine. I will come get you as soon as I get the room cleaned up."

Rhett turned toward Wade and said, "Come meet your brother. His name is Gerald Rhett Butler." Some sounds came out of Wade's mouth that Rhett supposed were the boy trying to say Gerald. Rhett continued, "Try saying Gerry. That is what we are going to call him."

That Wade was able to manage. He said, "Gerry."

"You have to be very gentle with your brother right now."

Beau had joined Rhett and Wade. He didn't say anything. He just stared at the baby.

Rhett said, "Hattie, will you go tell the cook that Mrs. Butler is going to need a meal as soon as possible?"

"Certainly, Sir."

Soon Melly was back, and she said, "You can go see Scarlett now."

"Thank you."

Rhett left the room while Melly waited for Hattie to come back to watch the boys. As he walked through his bedroom door, Ina May said, "We have been waiting for you. Don't forget Scarlett that you need to try to nurse the baby within an hour of him having been born."

"Yes, I remember that."

Rhett said, "You are going to nurse your own child?"

"Yes, I enjoyed doing that with Wade."

"I didn't know you nursed Wade."

"It isn't anything I would have told any man but my husband."

"What are you going to do when you go back to work?"

"Take him with me like I did Wade. Wade and I were always together his first year of life."

"Why did we hire…."

"Rhett, stop. Let Ina May get all her instructions out then she can leave. We can talk about all this later. Go ahead Ina May."

"Thank you, Mrs. Butler. Your milk will come in yellow then gradually turn white. When you need to use the privy get your husband to help you just in case you suddenly get weak. Change your rags every hour. And I will be over tomorrow morning to get you up and moving."

"Alright, thank you. I will have your money for you tomorrow."

"Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Butler, six weeks before you and your wife can be intimate again. I will let myself out of the house."

"Thank you."

After the door was closed behind Ina May, Scarlett said, "Let me hold the baby. You need to help me sit up."

"Alright."

Rhett reluctantly handed over his son. He got his wife in a seated position. Scarlett said, "Would you like to hold him some more?"

"Yes."

"Come get him. In about twenty minutes, I will have to nurse him."

"So soon?"

"Yes, so soon. You were asking about why we hired someone."

As Rhett sat down in the chair with his son, he said, "Why did we hire a nursemaid if you are going to take care of him all the time?"

"We hired a nursemaid to take care of Wade and watch both of them when we go out to supper or something. When he starts walking then he will stay home all the time like Wade does."

"I'm not happy that not only is my wife going to be going to work all the time but so is my son."

"Rhett, this is something I am going to do, nurse my own child therefore, wherever I go he has to go."

"What if I brought him down to you every time you need to feed him?"

Scarlett sighed. She stared at Rhett. She finally said, "He gets fed every four hours. I think that would get tiresome quickly."

"If it does then I will stop doing it."

"Alright but if you go out you have to bring the baby to me."

Just then there was a knock on the door. Rhett said, "That is probably your meal."

Rhett got up and opened the door. It was Melly with a tray of food. She put the tray across Scarlett's lap. Scarlett said, "Thank you."

Melly said, "Beau and I are going to go on home. I will see you tomorrow."

"Did you bring the bassinet?"

"No, I forgot it in my excitement of you being in labor. I will walk home and get it."

"No, go play with Wade for a few minutes. Rhett can walk you and Beau home. He can pick it up then."

"Alright."

After Melly had left the room, Rhett said, "Why didn't you just buy a bassinet of our own?"

"That one is ours. It is the one I bought when Wade was born."

"Don't they need it for Beau?"

"Not anymore. They bought him a crib for his first birthday. He was getting too big to sleep in the bassinet. He also started climbing out of it."

Scarlett ate her meal and Rhett admired his son. Finally, she put the tray on the end of the bed and said, "Let me have him so I can let him nurse."

Rhett handed the child over and said, "Six weeks?!"

"I guess. I haven't been through that part before but that was what Ina May said."

As Rhett sat there watching Gerry and Scarlett, he thought it was a lovely picture. He said, "How soon can you travel?"

"Let's leave after I close out the month of October."

"How are you going to do that if you aren't going to the shop?"

"Coco will bring me the books and correspondence every morning starting the day after tomorrow. I don't think we will be gone longer than a month. Coco can keep the books straight for that long. If she has any problems, I will fix them when I get back. I will have to be back by December first to handle the Christmas rush."

"Can you go ahead and go get our bassinet. I'm really sleepy but I won't be able to sleep until I can put the baby in his bassinet."

Rhett stood up and said, "I will go right now but if you want to go to sleep before I get back just lie him on the bed."

"No, that isn't safe. I might roll over on him."

"We can't have that. Not after all the work we had to do to bring him into the world."

"What work did you do?"

"I did my part at the very beginning."

"I know you used to earn a living doing that but I'm pretty sure you don't consider it work."

Rhett started to get offended at Scarlett's statement, but it was accurate. He had earned a lot of money satisfying those old bats. He guessed he had been a male whore, also. He would never tell Scarlett but making sure those widows had a good time had been a lot of work. If it hadn't been for his twenty something pecker, he would never have been able to achieve an erection.

Rhett smiled and said, "Not with you. With you it is all fun and pleasure." Rhett walked to the bed and gave Scarlett a kiss. As he walked out of the room, he said, "I will be back as soon as I can."

Author's Notes: In the canon Ella Lorena was not born until October of sixty-six at the earliest. Gerry has been born in September of sixty-five.