Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

In answer to Klenk Eniko's question – Would Rhett have been considered really rich by Yankee standards as well?

She thought he probably would have been. I think Rhett would be considered rich by almost anyone. The only difference I think would be that most of his contemporaries would have been as rich as he was.

Chapter Thirty-Three

The next day Rhett and Wade went to buy some horses. Rhett had just been waiting for everyone to get settled in the brownstone. He had waited until the stable boy showed up for work. He wasn't going to shovel horse manure in Cambridge either. They got a horse for Wade and Rhett, a buggy horse for Scarlett, and two ponies for Kenny and Gerry. Rhett let Wade do all the inspecting. After Wade had made his selections, he told Rhett which ones he had chosen and why. Rhett agreed with Wade's selections. There were a couple of horses at the stables that Rhett thought were probably better choices, but the ones Wade had chosen were good enough.

Rhett haggled with the horse trader for almost an hour. He kept walking away from the other man. The horse trader would agree to Rhett's offer, then try to gouge him out of money another way. Finally, Rhett and Wade tied the horses and the ponies to the back of the cab. Their next stop was to buy saddles for everyone. Rhett planned to take Scarlett to the buggy maker the next day.

An hour later, Rhett, Wade and four saddles were in a cab going back to the townhouse.

After Rhett and Wade got back to the brownstone, everyone went to the stables to see the animals.

After everyone had gotten to the stables, Gerry said, "I am going to name my pony Mr. Butler for Daddy."

Kenny said, "I was going to name my pony Mr. Butler."

Rhett said, "Choose something else."

Kenny said, "Mrs. Butler for Mama."

Rhett said, "They are males, so they need boy names."

Gerry said, "Gerry."

Before Kenny could speak, Rhett said, "You can't name your ponies for yourselves. Pick again."

Kenny said, "Denny."

Before Gerry could speak, Rhett said, "Or anything similar to your own name. In fact, they already have names. We will just use what their names already are." Rhett pointed at one of the ponies and said, "That one is yours, Kenny, and his name is Max." Rhett pointed at the other pony and said, "Gerry, that is your pony, and his name is Elmer."

Wade, who had been standing there the entire time, said, "Can I call my horse Mr. Butler?"

Rhett turned to look at Wade. The boy was standing there with the most mischievous smile on his face. Rhett smiled back and said, "No, but you can call him Charles."

"I think I will use Charlie for my saint of a father."

Scarlett burst out laughing. When she sobered, she said, "Good choice."

Later that night Rhett said, "What was the joke about Charles Hamilton being a saint?"

"The Hamiltons and the Wilkeses have turned Charlie and Melanie into saints." Scarlett rolled over on Rhett and said, "Get this Uncle Henry has even turned Aunt PittyPat into a saint."

Rhett laughed and said, "That is amazing."

"You are a much better father to the boys than you were to Bonnie."

"There are three reasons for that. I learned the error of giving my child everything she wanted, I am much older now, and if I don't stay on top of them, they will be out of control in no time."

"True. It is amazing to me how Ella always manages to get them to behave."

"Me too."

Rhett took Scarlett to the buggy maker and surprisingly to Rhett, she picked out a buggy more on merit than on how it looked. She smiled at him and said, "I no longer prefer the glitter to the gold."

"Nor do I, Sweetheart."

The couple smiled sad smiles at each other.

Two weeks later when Scarlett and Julia were planning the week's menu, the cook knew she had to be honest with Mrs. Butler about the Chicken Parmigiana recipe. Yes, her friend had a recipe, but there were two of the spices that Julia couldn't get here in the United States. Her friend had suggested some substitutes, but Julia knew the dish would not taste the same. It might have a good taste to it, but it won't be the same. The main reason Julia was being honest was because she had no idea what chicken parmigiana tasted like, therefore she would never have been able to dream up a recipe on her own.

Julia said, "Mrs. Butler, I have a friend who has emigrated from Sydney. She has a recipe for chicken parmigiana that she is willing to let me have."

"Wonderful. We can have it tomorrow night."

"The thing is, Ma'am, some of the spices that go into the dish are not available here in the United States."

"Therefore, it won't taste the same."

"No, ma'am. My friend, Simca Beck, says the dish is tasty, if you still want me to fix it."

"Of course, I do. If it is awful, we will just go out to eat."

"Very well."

"Now let's finish planning the weekly menu."

The next night after everyone was served the chicken parmigiana, Scarlett said, "Julia was able to find a recipe for this dish. It is not going to taste exactly the same because a couple of the spices she needs are not available. If it is awful, we will just go out to supper. Maybe to the restaurant at the Kimpton Marlowe House."

Rhett said, "Great idea."

Rhett was thinking, 'Please let this be good.'

There was silence for a while as everyone tasted their chicken. After Rhett had tasted the chicken, he knew his secret was safe for a little bit longer. Even though they were no longer staying at the hotel, he didn't want Scarlett to know he had lied to her one more time. Since that day he had been consistently telling the truth. Not always, of course.

At one of the social events that Rhett had taken Scarlett to, Bridget Bardot had been in attendance also. Every time he had looked in her direction, she had given him a scowl. Towards the end of the evening, Scarlett had said, "Is that one of the women you called on?"

Rhett started to lie, but when he looked into Scarlett's face, he knew she already knew the truth. He said, "Yes, our breakup wasn't very pleasant. In fact, my breakup with any of those women wasn't very pleasant."

"Were you your brutal self?"

"Maybe not brutal, but I didn't choose my words carefully in order to soften the blow."

"Did any of them breakup with you?"

"No. Although there were a couple of them that I don't think we're sorry when I broke up with them. They were allowing me to call on me for my money."

"So far nobody has questioned our relationship. Not even the women that were my friends. I have gotten some puzzled looks, but no questions. Of course, I never really talked about my husband, and I never allowed anyone to call on me."

"I know. You are too good and honorable to ever have done that."

Scarlett looked at Rhett sharply to see if there was mockery on his face. There wasn't. Just an ordinary smile.

Soon it was Wade's first day at Harvard University. After Scarlett told him goodbye, she watched him ride away. A tear escaped her eye because her baby was all grown up. Well, maybe not all grown up, but almost. When he got home that afternoon, she asked, "How was your day?"

"Great. About half of the boys that were in my class at Estes are in my class at Harvard."

"Did they ask where you were last year?"

"Yes."

"What did you say?"

"I said that we had decided to move to Sydney. We didn't like it there, so we moved back."

"Did you tell them about Rhett and I reconciling?"

"No, to be honest they don't care about my parents any more than I do about theirs."

"That is entirely different than in the South."

"Yes, fortunately. I'm going to go get something to eat."

"Just ask Hazel to bring you some of the chicken from supper last night."

"No, I want to see what else is available."

Scarlett was not fooled. She had just hired another woman to help in the kitchen. The woman Daphne Crane was a pretty young lady that she had seen Wade talking to a few times. She smiled to herself. She thought, 'I guess Wade is a flirt just like me.' That thought made her incredibly happy. She loved seeing herself in her children.

Scarlett had sent notes to the women whom she had letters of introduction to in Cambridge. Most of the women welcomed her into their homes. She made play dates for the twins and Ella. Because these women hadn't known her before their reconciliation it was easier to be their friend. There was no awkwardness. Scarlett's friends in Atlanta had not known what Scarlett's marital situation was, therefore, they hadn't mentioned it in their letters.

For the most part the family rarely left Cambridge which was lucky for Rhett because most of the women he had called on lived in Boston proper. Rhett was conducting business deals again, but he never mentioned his wife exactly. He just referred to his family. After he had mentioned that his son was attending Harvard, one of his fellow businessmen said, "Did you get married, Mr. Butler?"

"Yes, I married a widow. She already had two children. They are a boy and a girl."

"How nice."

"Yes, it is."

The family celebrated Ella's birthday. Scarlett invited everyone in the neighborhood. Scarlett invited all of her new friends in Cambridge. Rhett didn't invite anyone. Scarlett served sandwiches, popcorn, cotton candy, and punch. It appeared that everyone had a good time. Scarlett was pleased with all the young boys trying to talk to Ella. Rhett walked up and stood beside Scarlett as she was watching her daughter be pursued.

Rhett said, "Does she know they are trying to get her attention?"

Scarlett burst out laughing. She finally said, "Not a clue."

"There seems to be one that she likes more than the rest."

"Yes, that is her friend Bob. He comes over almost every day to talk with her."

"You are letting her already receive gentlemen callers."

"No, according to Ella they are just friends."

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't think of her as a friend."

"Me too. If she doesn't get it, I will tell her that Bob wants to be more than friends. I certainly would have appreciated someone telling me you wanted to be more than friends."

"You knew I wanted to be more than friends."

Scarlett smiled and said, "That you wanted a deep emotional relationship."

"Who was there to tell you?"

"Melly. She knew."

"Yet she didn't know that I wanted to be more than Ashley's friend."

"She knew. She just trusted you and her husband to never act on those feelings."

"She would have been right about her husband. I don't know what I would have done if Ashley had offered to run off with me."

"You would have turned him down eventually. You would have been excited at first, but then you wouldn't have wanted him anymore because he was no longer good and honorable."

"And he wouldn't have been the one that got away."

"True. I love you."

"I love you, too."

That night at supper Gerry said, "I miss those desserts we had at Ella's birthday party last year."

Scarlett replied, "Which one? The fairy bread or the pavlova?"

"Both of them."

"Let me talk to Julia and see if she can find a recipe for both of them."

Julia was able to find a recipe for both of them. They were served the next week. These food items tasted just like the ones they had in Sydney.

Wade was enjoying his classes. He had a lot more free time than he had when he attended Estes Preparatory School. He spent his time pursuing girls that lived in the neighborhood. One night Rhett said, "I would never have thought that shy boy I left in Atlanta the night the twins were born would have grown into this amazing ladies' man."

"Me neither."

"You did an excellent job raising him. No, strike that. Raising all three of them. No, strike that. Raising all four of them."

Scarlett smiled at Rhett and said, "Thank you, Dear. As I said you have become a much better parent also."

"Have I become a better husband?"

"You know you have just as I have become a better wife."

"We couldn't have become much worse."

"Rhett, you underestimate us. I think we could have become much worse."

Rhett and Scarlett laughed. Unfortunately, they both knew it wasn't completely a joke.