Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Sixty-Seven

As Rhett and Scarlett walked out of Foyle Park, he said, "I didn't think I was going to get there in time."

"But you did. I'm so proud of you. You did something so heroic. You could have gotten killed. What's more there was no benefit to you."

"Thank you, Dear."

"Just like we read in the Pinkerton report. Alice had gone through two miscarriages before giving birth to Noah. That is why in the other timeline, Alice went into such a depression."

"Yeah. I'm sure she eventually felt like she had been responsible for the only baby she was ever going to get dying. I know I did."

"Oh, Rhett, it was an accident."

"Yes, it was an accident. An accident that could have been prevented."

"We are getting her back. She is in my womb, but she is a lot larger than she was last time."

"I guess. You wouldn't let me see you without your nightgown on."

"You never asked."

"I didn't need to ask. I already knew the answer. Just like you would never let me touch your belly last time."

"True, but I have let you touch my belly every time you wanted to this time."

Rhett smiled. That was his Scarlett. Truly little shame in her. And he wouldn't want her any other way. He said, "Let's go look at the construction of our brownstone."

"I never dreamed it wouldn't have already been built by the time we got here."

"Me either, but at least this way we get all the modern conveniences installed during construction."

"True and all the structural changes I want to make."

"After I pick up Wade at school, we need to take the children to the park."

"No, the bookstore. Wade would much rather go to the bookstore than the park."

"That is why we have to keep forcing him to go to the park. We do want well-rounded children."

"Of course, we do."

"I love you."

"Love you, too. She moved."

The couple stopped walking and Rhett put his hand on Scarlett's midsection. She was amazed at the look of wonder on his face as he felt Bonnie moving. She didn't feel guilty about not letting him touch the baby bump in the earlier timeline. Rhett would not have shown her how much it meant to him then. Furthermore, even if he had she would not have cared or worse she would have had contempt for him for showing so much love for his unborn child. A child that was just an inconvenience to her. A child that was preventing her from having fun.

As Rhett and Scarlett walked along, they talked about Ella, Wade, Elizabeth, Bonnie, and the changes they wanted to make to the brownstone. Scarlett said, "It will be different living in a house that is all up and down instead of spread out over two lots."

"I like the high ceilings. Do you know how many books we can have in the library with the ceilings being that high."

"No, I don't but I am sure you will calculate it out to maximize our space."

With a grin, Rhett said, "Yes, I will. When will we start hiring servants?"

"I guess we will let the employment agency know what our staffing needs are about a week before we move in."

"If the contractor is right, we will move in on the first of November."

"More like the first of December."

Rhett smiled. If Scarlett kept making changes, it might be next December before they moved into the brownstone. He said, "Have you got our furniture ordered?"

"No, you will have to go with me to choose the furniture."

"We will have to help my mother. She has never hired staff."

"We need to choose a color scheme."

"Anything but red."

"Purple?"

Rhett smiled and said, "Browns, blues, and greens."

"Alright."

"I'm decorating the nursery."

"I'm going to help Wade and Ella decorate their rooms."

"I'm helping with decorating our room."

"Of course. We are going to get indoor toilets, water heaters, and a big tub to take a bath in."

"Just one?"

"One toilet for you and me, one toilet in the hallway upstairs, and one toilet on the main floor."

"Bathtubs?"

"Two. One for us and one in the hallway for everyone else."

"Will we take baths together?"

"Of course, my love."

Scarlett looked at her watch. She said, "We have time to visit the brownstone then go to lunch. We can bring something back to the hotel for your mother, Ella, and Prissy."

"Good idea."

"What time do you have to leave to get Wade?"

"He has to be picked up by three and it is a thirty-minute trip over there. I am unsure of the cab, so I leave by two-fifteen."

"When are we going to get me a buggy?"

"Not until Bonnie is born. You don't need to be riding around in a buggy in your condition."

"Rhett…"

"No, Scarlett. On this I am adamant."

Scarlett sighed and said, "Alright."

Rhett was really liking his life now that he had become a humbler human being.

When Patrick got home, Alice told him all about the events of that afternoon. When Alice described the man and the woman, he knew they had been the couple that had come to see him. He said, "Did you get their names?"

"Yes, Rhett and Scarlett Butler. I offered to do something for them, but they said a thank you was all they wanted. They were simply happy they were there to save Noah's life. Oh, Patrick, if Noah had died, it would have been all my fault."

"No, it would have been all my fault. The woman has visions, and she came to the telegraph office to warn me. I didn't pay her any mind. In fact, I was rude to her. I can't believe that she and her husband went out of their way to save our son."

Later that evening while in the privy, Rhett called for Clarence several times, but he was not surprised when his angel didn't show up. Rhett knew that the contract had been broken. Rhett knew he was on his own. He hoped he would remember all Clarence's teachings. He knew that he had been a lucky man to have Clarence as his helper angel. An angel that believed that an awful human could turn himself around and do the right thing.

That night as Rhett was sleeping, he heard Marvin say, "You may have won this one Butler, but you are just one slip up away from losing your soul."

When Rhett woke up, he quietly said to the demon that he couldn't see, but he knew was there, "Marvin, I didn't win this one. Clarence did. I just did what my angel told me to do. I want to spend eternity with Scarlett. I will never do anything to jeopardize that. Scarlett and I are an unbeatable team. You and a legion of demons cannot defeat us as long as we have each other. Give it your best shot, but you are never going to win because I have Clarence Odbody on my side."

Later that morning while Rhett was having breakfast with the children, he thought about seeing his friend Buddy running beside him. Despite Buddy weighing at least ten pounds more than Rhett, Rhett could never beat Buddy in a race. No matter how hard he tried. As a boy he would run as fast as he thought he could run, but Buddy would always beat him. One time after Buddy had beat him once again, Buddy said, "Face it, Rhett, you are too slow to ever beat the fabulous Buddy Hackett." Rhett had gotten so mad he had punched Buddy in the nose. Rhett had called him a fat, ugly, mama's boy.

Buddy's nose had started bleeding and the boy had run home. As Rhett watched Buddy running home he had thought, 'Running home to his mother, just like the Mama's boy he is.'

Rhett's comment about Buddy being a Mama's boy was especially cruel because Buddy's father had died the year before and Mrs. Hackett had gotten to be extremely protective of Buddy much to her son's chagrin. Buddy had tolerated a lot of his mother's overprotectiveness because he had known she was afraid of losing him too. Buddy was her only living child.

When Elizabeth noticed that Rhett was not going to Buddy's house and Buddy wasn't coming to theirs, she asked Rhett about it. All he would say was, 'We had a fight.'

For the next month Elizabeth had tried to get Rhett to go to Buddy's house and resolve their differences. He had refused to humble himself and apologize. In Rhett's misery he would tell himself that tomorrow he would go to Buddy's house and apologize, but he never did.

Rhett had stopped being Buddy's friend, not the other way around. Rhett had other friends, but he hadn't like them as much as he had liked Buddy. He had been able to tell Buddy anything and Buddy had never told his secrets. Buddy had never told Rhett's secrets even after Rhett had stopped being his friend. Rhett and Buddy would often be playing with the same group of boys. Although Buddy would speak to Rhett, Rhett would never respond.

A year later, Buddy and his mother had died of some unknown disease that had run through Charleston. Most people believed that Buddy's mother had willed herself to die after Buddy had died. She didn't have any reason to live.

Now in his maturity he regretted not just apologizing. Rhett knew that was the first time he had let his anger, pride, and his cruel mouth ruin his life. If he had been more concerned about Buddy's feelings than his own for just one minute Rhett would have apologized. No, the only person Rhett had been concerned about that day and all the days of his life until his second chance was himself.

Rhett wondered now in his maturity, how he could have let losing a race have so much effect on his life. Just like he had let a broken buggy wheel destroy his life. Just as he had let his refusal to return to Scarlett destroy his life.

Rhett knew his friend had forgiven him and he was humbled by it. He had not asked to be forgiven, but he had been given grace he didn't deserve. It had been his friend that had spurred him on. It had been his friend that had gotten him there in time to save the boy.

As Clarence had told Rhett that was the most critical point in his life. It had set the tone for his future interactions with people. His inability to admit his mistake and apologize. His refusal to be concerned about anyone else's feelings.

Rhett stopped thinking about the past and spoke to Wade and Ella. Rhett talked about what was going to be happening in the next couple of months. Wade talked about how much he liked his school and his fellow classmates. As Rhett listened with one ear. He thought about Scarlett saying he had finally done something that didn't benefit him. That hadn't been exactly true.

Rhett saving the boy's life ensured his happy marriage. By Rhett saving Noah then Patrick Green could have a happy life. If Patrick Green had a happy life, then Scarlett didn't feel an ounce of guilt for her not meeting him in the summer of seventy-four. Now, he had to be sure Patrick Green didn't die in April of eighty-two. Scarlett would feel guilty about that too. How could such a selfish, self-centered woman feel so much responsibility for other people. He would say it was because she was an oldest child and thus felt accountability for her sisters and her relatives, but he was an oldest child also and he didn't feel that way. Rhett smiled. He thought, 'Then why did you support your mother and sister until Rosemary got married? Why are you happy to support your mother now? Why did you not stop your mother's support checks when she asked you to move out of her townhouse? Why did you sneak around to meet your mother and give her money full well knowing she was supporting your father and brother with that money?' He smiled. It didn't matter why he and Scarlett were, they were.