Author's Note: Enjoy another chapter! Thank you for the reviews.

Disclaimer I own none of the characters and I am making no profit from this.

edited 6/22/23

The conversation with Ella had been sobering, and instead of heading to the Girl of the Period Saloon or the various shops surrounding Five Points where he could begin his mission to buy the gifts that he had neglected to purchase over the years, he instead walked back to the house. Yes, it had been deplorable to wait so long, but he was certain that they were better off without him. He had nearly killed Scarlett when he returned to Atlanta with Bonnie, and he had been responsible for Bonnie's death and for the death of the baby. The weight still pressed against him. For so long he had been so shrouded in grief that he might as well have joined Bonnie in her grave. He only refused to kill himself because death might be peace, and he deserved no peace for what he had done.

He wanted a drink, wanted one desperately, but he would not allow himself. Right now he knew that if he took one drink, he would descend into the same inebriated madness that had precipitated his exodus years before. So instead he thought about Scarlett and the years that she had been in his mind and heart. What was it that had been special about his relationship with Scarlett? Why had it been so impossible to release himself from his love for her? Or rather his infatuation with her, just as she had been infatuated with that damned Ashley Wilkes.

He realized that despite Ella's teasing that gifts and spoiling were not the way to find his way back into their lives. They needed him to prove himself to them-- to show them that he was here to stay. He could no longer abandon them, as he once had been prone to doing. This was his last chance at happiness. A brief near death experience had finally made him see the light and the error of his ways. He had been fooling himself before. Why would Charlston bring him peace, when nothing there had ever brought him anything resembling peace or happiness. He was a pariah. No one there in that staunchly immovable city would ever forgive his past indiscretions, certainly not with the spectre of divorce in the air. And even as much as he loved his mother and was devoted to making sure that she was taken care of, it didn't soften the blow every time she asked about Scarlett or the children. She thought he was a fool for leaving, or at least for leaving for as long as he had. For a man with so much worldly wealth, with his mother gone, Scarlett and his children really were the only things left to him.

When he finally entered the house, he found Pork in the entry. And when Rhett inquired about the location of his wife, Pork responded "Missus Scarlett has gone to bed. She's having one of her headaches. No one is supposed to bother her."

Rhett assured Pork that he would not disturb Scarlett, but he decided he would go to his room. There were a few small gifts that he had brought with him. Despite himself, he had picked up several trinkets for both Ella and Scarlett over the years. He had just never had the ability to push past his pride to send any of them. And time had gotten away from him. Each passing week had made the chasm seem greater until it was so great that he worried that he would never manage to find his way across it.

His room, though freshly cleaned, still held an air of mustiness and disuse. He opened the window to allow some air to filter in the room while he tried to wrap his head around his options. But he was disturbed from his thoughts by the sounds of Scarlett crying. He imagined that it was a nightmare, and as tired as she had been this morning, he wasn't surprised that she had fallen asleep. He hesitated for a moment before realizing that there was no one else who would be comforting Scarlett.

He tested the door, and found that the latch opened easily. The light from the hallway spilled into the darkened room, illuminating Scarlett tossing and turning on the bed. Her words were most indistinguishable, but occasionally he could make out Bonnie's name and his own. She was writhing in the throes of her dream. He wasn't sure of her reaction, but he couldn't stand to watch her suffer like this. He never had been able to watch her suffer, except when he had been the one inflicting the pain.

"Scarlett?" He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, and when there was no reaction, he moved his hand to brush the hair from her face as he crooned her name. Her cries lessened momentarily, and so he finally scooped her up in his arms as he had done during the early happier days of their marriage and held her close. He sat down with her in the chair by the window and held her close, smoothing her hair out of her face. Eventually the cries stopped completely, leaving her sniffling and sagging against him. He continued to assure her that she was fine and that he wouldn't let anything else happen to him.

Finally she opened her eyes and stared into his. "Rhett?" she whispered. "Rhett, what are you doing?"

"You were having a nightmare. I came to rescue you." He smirked.

She stiffened for a moment, then decided that since she was already in his arms she would allow it for the moment. His arms had always meant safety to her. So she leaned into him and he drew strength for his mission in this peaceful moment between them.

Finally she gathered herself together and straightened and moved out of his arms. But she staggered when she rose, and he reached out a steadying hand. "Have they gotten that bad?" She nodded and then grimaced. "Hasn't Dr. Meade given you anything for them? I hate to see you suffering like this?"

"So that is why you stayed away. Better that I suffer where you don't have to watch it." She gasped and covered her mouth at that slip. She shrugged. "I'll be fine. I hate taking anything for them, and it never seems to help much. I don't want to bother anyone. The nightmares have been awful lately, and I need to get some rest. That is the only way to get rid of this headache."

"Do you get them often? It doesn't seem right that it causes you this much pain." Is there anything I can do to help you?"

She eyed him warily, but finally seemed to come to a conclusion. "You might try those massages that you used to give me. I've had these headaches since my fall, but they get worse when I tense or overly tired."

"Of course." he silently added, "my pet" but wisely refrained from using the old term of endearment. He crawled into the bed beside her, leaving against the headboard. He pulled her into his lap and began rubbing slow circles on her temples and worked down to the fierce knots in her neck and shoulders, until she fell back asleep, he softly told her a story of the seas, of his days blockade running during the war, when the night sky and the sea blended together into infinite blackness and the only light was a faint smattering of stars that had not been blocked out by the grey clouds. Soon he was rewarded by the soft puffs of breath escaping, as her chest evenly rose and she slept peacefully. And for just a moment, for the first time in forever, he didn't feel completely alone. And he soon found her even breathing lulling him to sleep as well.

"Mother! Mother!" Rhett was stirred from his unplanned nap by the sound of a man's voice growing closer and the sound of pounding feet. "Mother, I'm finally home." The door burst open, and a much grown up Wade was silhouetted in the door frame. "Mother!" and then the words died on his lips. "What are you doing here?" he sneered at the sight of Rhett. There was no hesitation in recognition. And there was also no mistaking the hatred in the young man's eyes.

Then a sleepy "Wade?" came from Scarlett's side of the bed. "Oh, Wade. You're finally home!" Scarlett happily began to rise from the bed.

But it was not a pleased face that greeted her. "Mother, what is he doing here, and in your bed of all places? How can you allow him back in your life?"

Scarlett rubbed at her eyes, "I had a nightmare, and he helped me wake from it. We must have fallen asleep."

"Mother," Wade replied in exasperation, "more to the point why is he even in this house or Atlanta. He made his choice."

Rhett tried to intervene, "Wade, I came to make things right…"

But Wade cut him off. "We don't want you here. A decade away is clear enough that you don't want us in your life. Well that is fine. I am the man of this house now, and you are not welcome. You've done enough damage for a lifetime."

Wade had grown a great deal since Rhett's departure. His hair was pale brown tinged with gold that caught the glow from the lamp lights. His jaw had strengthened, and he was the same height as Rhett now. Instead of a gangly youth, he was a fit and healthy man, in many ways reminding Rhett of who he had been when he had been kicked out of his parents house. He had the fire of Scarlett and the intelligence of Charles. He was a perfect blend of the two, now that he was grown and had found his backbone. Rhett couldn't help feeling a little proud of who the boy he had once cradled as an infant had become. And yet now Wade was a formidable opponent, and none of the sweet talking that he had planned to use with Scarlett and Ella would be productive. He would have to give an account to Wade, and Scarlett deserved an accounting.

"Wade," Scarlett admonished. "He came to make amends. And I have heard him out. I haven't welcomed him back with open arms, but he is still my husband, and this house is still technically his." She gently patted her son's face, "I am thinking of moving to Aunt Pitty's house until you want it."

Scarlett's hand on his shoulder reigned him in. Scarlett still had power over Wade, and it was clear that their bond had strengthened over the years. He glowered at his step-father, but then pulled his mother into his arms and squeezed, lifting her so that her feet dangled above the floor. She was dwarfed by this man that her son had become. "I missed you mother. I apologize for getting distracted by an unwelcome guest." Wade tossed a glare at his step-father. "But come down stairs, I have a gift for you and one for Ella."

Scarlett and Wade quickly made their way to the stairs, and she gingerly made her way down, holding on tightly to the railing. Rhett followed behind, unsure of how he was going to fix the relationship with Wade after all of this time.