Old Slippers

by Shellbug710

Two years have passed since Rhett stopped giving a damn. The pair is divorced, and Rhett is remarried with a child on the way. There's another child living across the pond- in Ireland- with a mother who is determined to keep a secret about a chance encounter. When tragedy strikes, a surprising turn of events just might bring them back together.

5. A Tiny Coffin

A/N: This one is a little short, but I think you'll see why it needed to end the way it did. Also, my plan was to write on my days off and I work in a few hours, but I woke up to so many more reviews I was encouraged to keep writing. :D. I think a few of you have caught onto the foreshadowing here, and sure, it might be a little ridiculous, but let's all dream for a minute, okay?

Ch.5 -Rhett

Rhett watched as the tiny coffin was lowered into the ground. Beside it, the still fresh dirt from another funeral just over a month prior. Anne had had a challenging end to her pregnancy and a brutal delivery. Just a day after she gave birth to their son, she succumbed to a fever and died later that evening. She'd only been conscious enough to see and name their son.

Then, five weeks later, fate intervened once again. Though still in mourning, urgent business had called, and Rhett could no longer stand to be in the same house they'd shared. Together with his son and the nursemaid, they headed to Birmingham.

His son, also named Rhett -much to his displeasure- had fussed most of the trip and did not settle well. By the time he had concluded his business in Alabama, he was more than ready to return to Charleston, though still not prepared to return to the home he and Anne had shared.

His mother had warned him about taking a baby so new on a long trip, but he found he couldn't bring himself to be away from him. Between the loss of Bonnie, Anne, and, in some ways, even Scarlett, the idea of letting his son out of sight for long was unsettling. When a business partner, Bill Avery, had invited him to play a hand of cards in the gentleman's car, he'd wanted to refuse. Still, Avery held the purse strings to a significant investment Rhett had just bought into, and he decided it was wise to humor the old man. So, Rhett had left his son and the nursemaid in the private car for the evening and had headed further down the train.

Just as Rhett placed his last hand of the evening down in front of him- Aces over Kings- the train lurched and began to tilt. Furniture moved, and Rhett felt himself falling as the car tilted sideways. He'd registered a flash of pain, and then everything went black.

Two days later, he'd woken in a hospital with a bandage wrapped around his head and a rough gash on his arm that had been stitched back together. Frantic, he'd called for the nurse; she'd looked relieved when she saw him awake, but her face quickly changed as he demanded to know where his son was. The nurse hurried out and then re-entered with a doctor. Rhett sat, numb, as they told him that his son and the nurse in his private compartment had not survived the crash. They'd left him on his own after, and for the first time since Bonnie had died, Rhett Butler wept.

Thanks to: Wiolka, CaptScarlett, PrincessAlica, Mistress, GuestMaryJ, Truckee Gal, Conlyn70, newreader2022, and Badabum48568220.