Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Chapter Thirty-One

Rhett and Scarlett had no idea where to stay in Atlanta, thus he asked the cab driver to take them to a nice, but inexpensive hotel. After all, Rhett was paying for this trip. Rhett decided he was not going to abuse his father's generosity. Between his dividend checks and the money, he was making from the bank, he could afford to pay for his and Scarlett's trip to Tara. He felt that was the right thing to do. He loved his father and didn't want him to think that his son was taking advantage of him. He never wanted his father to think that. His father had been so good to him.

The cab driver said, "Ellis Hotel is nice, but not too expensive."

"Perfect. Take us there." Rhett said to Scarlett, "How much food do we have left over?"

"A couple of sandwiches, an apple, and a couple of cookies."

"Are you alright with having that for our supper?"

"Of course. Waste not, want not."

"Thank you, Dear."

"Rhett, every time we don't have to spend money means you have that much more money to invest thus making you greater profits."

"Thank you, Dear."

The cab driver said, "Here we are. Would you like me to carry your trunks inside?"

"Yes, thank you."

After Rhett had given the man the fare and the tip, he and Scarlett walked into the hotel. He looked around the lobby. The hotel was clean and well-maintained. It would do for one night. Soon the couple was in their room. It also was clean and well-maintained. Yes, it would do.

Scarlett took the bedspread off the bed and laid it on the floor. Rhett smiled and said, "What are you doing?"

"We are going to have a picnic."

"Let's get naked for our picnic."

"No!" Scarlett then giggled. She said, "We shouldn't."

"Is there a rule that says we can't eat a picnic naked."

Scarlett giggled again and said, "No, there isn't."

"Then let's get naked."

"Alright. Unbutton my dress."

"Of course, my love."

Scarlett heard the words, but she didn't react. She thought, 'Does he love me? Or is that something he is just saying? Oh, I wish I knew. I hope he loves me. He is so incredibly special to me.'

The couple sat on the floor completely naked. They ate their sandwiches and cookies. They decided to save the apple for the next day. It was just as well Rhett was barely able to choke down his sandwich and his cookie while staring at his naked wife. His wife who definitely had a baby bump. Seeing Scarlett's baby bump was arousing to him. That was his baby inside her. Of course, everything about Scarlett was arousing to him.

As Rhett started kissing his wife, she smiled and said, "Let's get in the bed."

"Of course."

Sometime later that night Rhett got out of the bed and got the bedspread. It was cool that night in April. As he got back in the bed and spread the bedspread over him and his wife, she snuggled into him. His last thought was, 'Thank God for that broken buggy wheel. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me.'

The next morning after Rhett and Scarlett had breakfast at a diner down the street from the hotel, they boarded the nine o'clock train to Jonesboro.

After the couple was seated, Rhett said, "Is someone meeting us at the train station?"

"Yes, probably Mother and Pa. Maybe Careen too."

"When you see Suellen, you two can discuss how much she like Frankenstein."

Scarlett giggled because she knew that Rhett knew why she had given her sister a book for Christmas. Scarlett said, "She probably likes it as much as I like the book you gave me for Christmas."

"What did you think of Dombey and Son?"

"I managed to get through it, but I thought it was sad."

"It was. Dombey was stupid to reject his daughter just because she wasn't a boy."

"True. I'm glad Pa didn't do that to us girls."

"Me too."

When Rhett and Scarlett got off the train Gerald and Ellen were there to greet them. Rhett and Gerald got the trunks and the driver, Seth, tied them down on top of the carriage. Ellen said, "How long are you going to get to stay?"

Scarlett said, "Two weeks."

"Is that all?"

"Rhett has to keep an eye on his investments. Furthermore, at the end of the month his partner, Mr. Saade, has to travel to New Orleans to check on their shipping line there. Rhett will have to run the day-to-day business of the shipping line in Charleston.

Gerad turned to Rhett and said, "You own a shipping line."

"Two. Rudy, my partner, and I own one in Charleston, and we own fifty-one percent of one in New Orleans."

Scarlett said, "He also owns part of a bank and part of a railroad."

"That is impressive. I suppose you are going to inherit your family plantation also."

"No, my brother Robert will inherit the plantation."

"Scarlett will inherit Tara."

Scarlett said, "Rhett doesn't want to live in the country or far away from the ocean."

"Don't change your will yet Mr. O'Hara. Where we live is not written in stone yet."

Gerald said, "That's not a problem. I don't have a will."

Gerald laughed after he made his statement and while everyone in the carriage smiled good naturedly, Scarlett said, "You should draw up a will, Pa."

"Why? I'm not going to die anytime soon."

"Pa, you never know when you are going to die."

"No, it is bad luck to have a will."

"Pa…"

"No more, Katie Scarlett. Just to make you happy I will draw up a will when I turn seventy."

Scarlett gave her father a weak smile and said, "Thank you." She then took Rhett's hand. She was well aware that her father was not a young man, and he was not in the best of health, but there was no more she could say. She also knew Pa could be extremely hardheaded.

Rhett said to Scarlett, "I had Mr. Mobbs draw up a will. It has been signed and witnessed. There is a copy of it in my top dresser drawer."

"Thank you, Rhett. Mother, did you get an invitation to Melanie Hamilton's wedding."

"No, we did not which is not surprising. We have never met her."

"She invited Rhett and me which is surprising because I had just met her the day of the barbecue."

"Maybe she feels grateful you saved her from marrying Ashley."

"Rhett and I will be attending. It is Saturday at one thirty. We will take the train in that morning,…"

Rhett said, "Have dinner in Atlanta."

Scarlett looked at Rhett and said, "Good idea."

Ellen said, "Go to Buttermilk Kitchen at two fifty-four Roswell Road. The food is excellent. Gerry and I have been to it a couple of times."

Scarlett said, "Sounds good. Then go to the wedding and reception and return to Tara before it gets dark."

Gerald said, "Sounds like a grand plan."

After arriving at Tara, Careen came out of the main house and ran other to Scarlett. The sisters hugged. Gerald had Pork put Rhett and Scarlett's trunks in the guest room. Scarlett and Rhett sat on the porch with Gerald and Ellen until dinner time. Scarlett first saw Suellen over the dining room table. Suellen greeted her sister politely. Suellen said, "Congratulations on your baby."

"Thank you."

"Mother, is there any way you can come stay with me from the fifteenth of August until the baby is born to help me bring him into the world."

"Yes, I will bring Mammy with me."

"Thank you, Mother."

"But I will not arrive until the last week of August. Most first babies are late. I will stay until the baby is born as long as she doesn't take too long to arrive. We will be in the middle of harvest after all."

Gerald smiled. He said, "There is only so long I can do without my wife."

Rhett said, "I can appreciate that, Mr. O'Hara."

Scarlett said, "Suellen, what did you think of the book Frankenstein?"

"I gave it to Careen. You know I am never going to read a book."

"That was the way I was until Rhett forced me to start reading." Scarlett smiled at Rhett. She continued, "Then I found there was a whole world of adventure that one can carry around with them."

Careen said, "I enjoyed the book very much."

The sisters discussed the book for the next ten minutes while Gerald, Ellen, and Suellen sat there being bored. Rhett was fascinated by the sisters' take on the book.

Over the next several days, Scarlett spent time with her parents separately and together. She spent time with Careen, but not Suellen. Rhett and Gerald got into some political discussions, but Scarlett never said a word. She knew her parents would not approve, and she didn't want to be talked to again. Often Scarlett would pepper Rhett with questions later that night once they had retired. Rhett never tried to encourage Scarlett to join the discussions. He knew that her parents would not approve, and she wanted them to think highly of her.

Although Rhett was willing to tell his mother to keep her opinion about Scarlett's behavior to herself, he did not want to fight with his in-laws. His mother's criticism of Scarlett had been hard for her to handle, but her parents criticizing her would hurt her to the extreme. Besides, he and Scarlett would not spend that much time with the O'Haras, therefore they both could behave as the O'Haras deemed proper without it being a great hardship.

On Saturday, Rhett and Scarlett were in the carriage on their way to Atlanta right after breakfast. The couple was going to walk around the city before they went to dinner and then Melanie's wedding.

As Rhett and Scarlett walked around, he said, "It isn't very big."

"No, it has less than three thousand people, but it is growing fast. It changed its name in forty-five. It used to be call Marthasville."

"Who was it named for?"

"I don't know. Somebody's daughter. It was founded more or less because of a railroad line from Savannah to here. The men in charge were going to link it up with other railroads that went out to the Midwest. I guess they did."

Rhett smiled. Of course, Scarlett didn't know, nor did she care who the city was named after.

"It was named Thrasherville. That was for the first man to build a house and a store here, but it acquired the name Terminus which means the end of the line because, well, it was the end of the line. It has two railroad lines now."

They continued walking around but there really wasn't that much to see. Some homes, the railway station, and some stores. They did have dinner at Buttermilk Kitchen. The food was good and the prices fair. As they stood up to leave the restaurant, Rhett said, "Where is the wedding to be held?"

"At Melanie's home. 313 Pecan Street."

Rhett asked the cashier, "Can you tell me how to get to Pecan Street?"

"Yes, the next street up is Peachtree. Turn right and walk about ten blocks, which will be Pecan Street. I don't know if you will need to turn left or right."

"Thank you."

"You will pass a park about five blocks up."

"Thank you again."

When Rhett and Scarlett got to the park, he said, "We still have some time before we have to get there. Let's sit here and talk."

"Alright."

"You look extremely nice in your new dress. The cameo looks perfect with it."

"Thank you. It is nice to wear something I am not forcing myself into."

"Have you ordered more dresses?"

"Yes, your mother and sister went with me. I will have five altogether. Your mother had a great idea. Instead of buying maternity dresses which are nothing more than tent, she suggested I select high waisted patterns and just use them."

"What are you going to do when you outgrow the dresses."

"Your mother said that by then I will be in my confinement, and we will think of something then."

"Great plan."

"Your mother was a lot of help. One of my new dresses is going to be dyed with indigo."

"Why the scowl?"

"Your mother and Rosemary are getting new blue dresses also, but your mother assured me they would not all three be the same color."

"Depending on how much indigo leaves are used determines how dark the color is."

"That's what your mother said."

"So why are you still unhappy?"

"I am only going to have five dresses and I don't want someone to have a dress just like mine."

Charming Rhett said, "Even if their dresses look just like yours which they won't you will still outshine them."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Thank you, Rhett. Who do you think the baby is going to look like?"

"I have no idea. All I know is she is going to have black hair because we both have black hair."

"He might have red hair like Pa."

"I am going to have to ponder on the thought of my child having red hair."

Rhett watched as Scarlett put a protective hand over her baby bump. She sternly said, "You will love him anyway."

"Of course. Of course."

"In fact, you will love him even if he is as ugly as sin."

Rhett laughed and said, "Like our child could ever be that ugly. Let's go ahead and walk over there."

"Alright."