Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

In 1857 the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision ruled that a person of African ancestry could not claim citizenship in the United States.

A slave's last name was the same as their owner's last name. Therefore, Prissy's last name was Wilkes until John Wilkes sold her to Gerald O'Hara then her last name became O'Hara. Slaves didn't have legal names. In fact, if Gerald had wanted to, he could have changed Prissy's first name.

Slaves also could not legally get married. The best they could do was 'jump the broom.' The tradition of 'jumping the broom' is said to have originated in West Africa. The broom was waved above the couple's heads to ward off evil spirits. Then placed on the ground and the couple would jump over it. Interestingly enough, if for some reason the couple didn't jump completely over the broom it was taken as a sign that they should not be married and then they weren't.

Chapter Sixty-Two

Scarlett saw Rhett and an older woman walking towards her. The woman looked familiar, but Scarlett could not place her. It was probably someone she had met briefly in the first timeline. The woman and Rhett stopped in front of the group. Rhett said, "Scarlett, this is my mother, Elizabeth Butler."

Scarlett stared at the woman. The woman looked just like Rhett. She had not noticed that the last time Scarlett had met her. She supposed the woman's coloring had thrown her off. The woman had blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. Scarlett turned to Rhett and said, "You never said a word. No matter how many times I called them the O'Hara blue eyes."

"Well, I wasn't the chattiest person then and I wanted you to think of her as all your child. I wanted you to love her most."

"Even though you told me she was only your child."

"I was a pretty illogical man then."

"I did love her the most which isn't saying much considering I didn't love anyone very much, but myself."

"We are confusing my mother with this crazy talk. Back to my mother, she has come to visit."

Scarlett looked at her mother-in-law. She still didn't remember Elizabeth from that awful time. Scarlett had only spoken to the woman at the funeral and that was just to tell the older woman where to stand.

Elizabeth looked back and forth between her son and his wife. It was plain that neither person was going to explain what they were talking about. Therefore, Elizabeth's good manners kicked in and she dismissed the conversation.

Elizabeth looked at Rhett's wife, her daughter-in-law. She was much younger than Rhett, but Elizabeth could tell by looking in Scarlett's eyes that she had an old soul. She had a look in her eyes like she had seen far too much misery in her life already. Her eyes looked just like Rhett's. Maybe they would be good for each other. Yet, when the young woman turned to look at Rhett her expression softened and there was a happiness about her.

Scarlett said, "What did you say about your mother visiting us?"

Rhett said, "My mother has surprised us with a visit."

Elizabeth looked at Rhett as he spoke. Her son looked happy for the first time since that awful night that Langston had thrown him out of the townhouse.

Scarlett said, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Butler."

"Do call me Mother."

"Thank you."

Rhett said, "Mother, these are our children, Wade and Ella."

Wade said, "Nice to meet you."

Scarlett smiled down at Wade and his good manners. Rhett said, "Did you get yourself a room?"

"Not yet. I didn't know if there was room for me in your suite."

"Not really. We only have three bedrooms. Let me see if there is a larger suite available. If not, I will get a room for you and your maid. How long are you staying?"

"I don't know yet. I might stay forever." Elizabeth laughed after she made her statement. Scarlett turned to look at Rhett. In all her years of knowing Rhett, she had never known him to look uncomfortable or uncertain. In Scarlett's opinion he looked like he was both right then. Elizabeth continued, "Of course, I'm kidding no more than a month or two."

"Mother, we just got married. We need time alone."

"You are not alone now. You have the children. Go along and find out if they have a larger suite."

Rhett looked at Scarlett and she smiled back. She said, "Hurry up, Sweetheart, remember we promised to take the children to the park."

"Of course, my dear."

Rhett walked away, but he couldn't stop himself from looking over his shoulder. Scarlett gave him an encouraging smile. He smiled back at her. As he was walking away, he said, "Clarence."

Clarence appeared and said, "I don't know any more than you do. I am trying to find out if she just decided to come visit or if she was influenced. This is going to take time. Hang in there. I have some angels making inquiries in the dark realm. Those always take time."

"All right. Stay and keep an eye out for demons."

Rhett took a couple of more steps towards the front desk and then he said almost in a panic, "Can demons influence children?"

"No, they are off limits to both demons and angels."

"Why?"

"They are not old enough to understand abstract concepts. They only understand what they can touch and feel."

"Good. Good."

"I am going to listen to your wife and your mother's conversation."

"All right."

Clarence had another mission he needed to take care of while Rhett was preoccupied. The angel reached out and put his hand on Scarlett's abdomen. When he did Scarlett said, "What was that?"

"What was what, Dear?"

"I just felt like I had a million butterflies in my stomach, and they were all fluttering their wings at once."

"Do you feel it now?"

"No. Whatever it was is gone now."

After Rhett got his messages, he said, "Harvey, do you have a four-bedroom suite available?"

"No, Mr. Butler, we don't even have four-bedroom suites. The largest we have is three bedrooms and you already have the largest one of those."

"Let me have a one-bedroom suite. Do you have one on the same floor we are on?"

"Yes, Sir. How long will you need it?"

"I don't know. Maybe a month."

"Would you like me to give you the monthly rate?"

"Yes, please." Rhett was afraid his mother wasn't kidding about spending the rest of her life with him. Could he send her away? He didn't think he could. He didn't think he could reject his mother like she had rejected him, twice. He would let Scarlett make the decision. She was his future.

As Scarlett watched Rhett walk away, Elizabeth said, "You must love him a lot."

"I do, but don't most newlyweds love their husbands."

"No, not in my social group. Most people in my social group marry for money, power, or social position."

"That is kind of sad."

"I guess it is."

"Did you love Rhett's father?"

"No, I didn't love Langston, but most of the time we were able to work together toward a common goal. Although there were times that I opposed his decision to the extreme." With a chagrined smile, Elizabeth said, "Not that Langston ever listened to my objections."

"That is really sad. Let's talk about something else. How was your trip?"

Elizabeth started telling Scarlett about her trip. The younger woman was barely listening. She was thinking about Rhett.

Scarlett knew why Rhett had acted so silly about Bonnie. It was someone who would always love him. Someone who would happily show their love. Wade and Ella had loved him, but they had not loved him completely. No more than Rhett had loved them completely.

Scarlett smiled to herself. Patrick had loved Wade and Ella the same way Rhett had loved the children. Just like Rhett, Patrick loved his children more.

Rhett returned from the front desk. He had a key in his hand. He said, "Mother, unfortunately, they don't have a larger suite, but I was able to get you a suite on the same floor as we are on. We are in 310 and you are in 305."

"Wonderful."

"Where is your maid and your luggage?"

"Over there."

Elizabeth pointed to a woman in her forties with two trunks and a carpetbag beside her.

Rhett said, "Let me get a bellhop."

"Of course."

"Rhett, give me the key to our suite. The children, Prissy, and I will go on up."

"Of course."

Rhett handed Scarlett the key and she, the children, and Prissy headed towards the stairs. He watched his bride walk away and he smiled. He turned to his mother and said, "Is that Juliet over there?"

"Yes."

Rhett motioned for the bell hop to come forward. After the young man join them, mother and son walked over to her luggage and her maid. As they headed towards the stairs, Elizabeth said, "I have good news."

"What?"

"Rosemary has gotten married."

Rhett turned to his mother and said, "What? Who? Why?"

"She married Derek Jeter."

"Who is Derek Jeter?"

"He is the Yankee captain stationed in Charleston. He is in charge of keeping the peace in Charleston. He is about to be promoted to commander over District Three."

"Wow. What does District Three contain?"

"Georgia, Alabama, and Florida."

"Is Derek going to be stationed in Atlanta?"

"Yes."

"Mother are you moving away from Charleston?"

"Yes. My first destination is Atlanta. If I don't like it here, I will find someplace else to move."

"How did this come about? I can't imagine Rosemary talking to a Yankee much less marrying one."

"Derek was smart. I guess he had seen her before they met. It would have been easy enough. Everyday Rosemary went to the market around two. That is when they put the fruits and vegetables on sale. Rosemary would just buy what was on sale, not our favorites."

"Go on."

"Yes, as I was saying Derek was smart. For the first month he approached Rosemary he was in civilian clothes. When he finally told her he was a Yankee, she already had feelings for him. Of course, he had to atone for deceiving her. He sent flowers round to the house, then chocolates, then a piece of beef big enough to feed the entire household. She didn't accept the flowers or the chocolate, but the beef was too rare of an item for us for her to send it away."

Rhett smiled and thought, "I would have done the same thing." He said, "Didn't she hear his accent?"

"He doesn't have much of one." Elizabeth paused, then added, "She may have chosen to pretend she didn't hear it."

"Go on."

"They have been meeting secretly for the last year. After all, it would ruin her reputation for anyone to know she was letting a Yankee call on her."

Did you know?

"Yes"

"When did they get married?"

"Two months ago. Right before you and Scarlett got married."

"I can't believe Rosemary married a Yankee. She has always been so proper."

"During your visit before Langston died, she got to know you. She told me, 'Rhett has been punished all his life for one mistake, if it even was a mistake, but we have also gotten punished because of his actions. There were several men who would not call on me because of Rhett. If I am getting punished, I might as well commit the crime. Besides, I love Derek. With his promotion we will be moving away from Charleston. Because he is in the army we will be moving from city to city, and I can leave all this silliness behind."

With gentleness in his voice, Rhett said, "Have you once again been shunned for your child's actions?"

"Yes."

"You are welcome to stay with us as long as you wish."

"Thank you, Rhett for the offer, but if Scarlett says no, I will understand. You did just get married."

"Thank you, Mother, for that."

"It is best that I have my own suite. Now let's go upstairs and look at my suite."

As Rhett and Elizabeth were walking up the stairs, he said, "Why did you choose to live with me instead of Rosemary?"

"You can afford to take me in."

Rhett laughed. He said, "That is true. I will start personally giving you your support check. Will we need to go back and get your stuff?"

"No, everything of sentimental value was lost during and after the war."

"Very good. I think Scarlett and her family lost everything of sentimental value as well, everything but their plantation. I will instruct Mr. Mobbs to sell our holdings in Charleston."

"Very good, Son."

"What about Robert?"

"I will miss him, but he will weather this storm easily. He will be happy to sever connections with Rosemary and me in order to maintain his social position in Charleston."

Bitterly Rhett said, "Just like Father."

"Yes, just like Langston." Elizabeth looked away. Rhett noticed the slight blush on her cheeks.

Rhett gently said, "You did everything you could do."

More to herself, Elizabeth said, "I should have done more." In a louder voice, she said, "What time do you eat supper?"

"Six o'clock."

"Very well. I will be ready to go."

As Rhett was walking up the stairs, he once again wondered if his mother had truly done everything she could have done to prevent him from being disowned. Of course, he could have prevented the whole damn thing by just marrying Sarah.