Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Chapter Forty

Although everyone had pretended everything was alright, there was tension between Rhett and Ellen. Scarlett had been conflicted. She wanted to be loyal to both Rhett and her mother. In the end she chose Rhett over her mother. He had insisted she have the ether while her mother had wanted her to suffer through all that pain.

The next day Scarlett found Ellen in the bedroom she was using. She had Tommy with her. He was sleeping, which was when she liked to hold her son. It was the time nothing was expected of her. Ellen took the child from her daughter.

Scarlett sat down on the bed. She said, "Mother, let's sit down and let's talk."

Ellen sat on the bed also. She said, "Certainly."

"You know I love you."

"Yes, Dear. And I love you."

"But I am no longer your little girl. I am now Rhett's wife. Rhett gets to make the decisions in my life about what is right for me."

"But, Dear…"

"No, let me finish. Please, don't let this come between you and Rhett or you and me. I was appreciative of the ether. Mother, you must remember how horrible that pain was."

"Yes, I do, but it is God's will that women will suffer in this way."

"No, Mother, I don't believe it." Ellen gasped. Scarlett continued, "The New Testament tells us that God loves us. Why would someone or some being that loved us want us to suffer because of another woman's disobedience?"

Scarlett waited for her mother to reply. When she didn't get an answer, she took her child back. She stood up and said, "Just for your information, I will use it again next time I am delivering a child."

When Scarlett was almost at the bedroom door, Ellen said, "That nursemaid is incompetent. I am going to let you keep Mammy until Christmas. Maybe Mammy can help her become a good nursemaid, not great that would be too much to ask of anyone even Mammy. I will come back and get her. Harvest will be over therefore I will bring the entire family with me. I am sure Gerry would like to see his grandson."

Scarlett turned back and ran back to her mother. She hugged her while being mindful of her son in her arms. She said, "Thank you, Mother. Thank you so much."

"You are right. You are Rhett's wife, and he will make the decisions in your life, but you will always be my daughter."

"Yes, I will. Now, let me go tell Rhett the good news."

Scarlett would have laughed if she had known that Mammy was the one who had made the decision that she would stay. She had told Ellen, "The baby is strong and healthy, but I must do everything I can do to keep him that way. I can't leave him alone with that incompetent nursemaid."

Ellen, who was afraid for her grandson's health, said, "Of course, you can't. We can't let tragedy strike one more time. You will stay until I come get you."

"Thank you, Miss Ellen."

"I will get Prissy to help with the girls."

"That child is useless."

"Mammy, that is the problem. She is just a child herself."

Mammy smiled and said, "That she is."

"In truth, Suellen and Careen don't need a nursemaid, nor do I, but I am never going to give you up."

Mammy beamed at the kind words Miss Ellen had spoken to her.

When Mammy had been a girl, she had thought herself in love with Sampson, another of Mr. Pierre's slaves. Maybe she had been. She would never know. He was killed trying to escape. He had asked her to run away with him, but she had been afraid of getting caught. If a slave tried to escape and failed, the punishment was severe. He had promised to come back for her and buy her freedom.

Would Sampson have returned? She doubted it. Most slaves were too scared to ever return. It really didn't matter. She would never know. Sampson had chosen to die free than to continue living a life of servitude. He had also known that he would have been whipped repeatedly for attempting to escape.

When Ruth, as she had been known then, found herself with child, she had taken a potion guaranteed to get rid of her baby. She was not going to bring a child into that world of servitude and slavery. The child was not legally hers, but the master's property. He could do anything he wanted to do with her child. She could not take the chance of the master selling her child and thus never seeing her child again.

So, after that she had become Miss Ellen's mammy. She had given all her love to Miss Ellen. She knew the master's child would never be taken away from her, therefore it was safe to love the child. A year after Miss Ellen was born her mother died. After that Miss Ellen was her child and Mammy was Ellen's mother.

Mammy/Ruth had never gotten with child again. Did that potion do more than kill her child? It didn't matter. In fact, it was a good thing to be barren. She never had to worry about the master taking her child away from her.

Ruth had been used a time or two by the overseer while they had still been living in Savannah, but once they had moved to Tara all that had ended. Mr. Gerald had never forced himself on anyone despite the fact he was not having relations with his wife. Mr. Gerald had not allowed the overseer to use the slave women. Yet things happened that Mr. Gerald never knew about.

August thirty-first at six-thirty in the morning, Scarlett was in the foyer which everyone knew was quite the sacrifice for her. She did like to sleep late. She hugged her mother and her sisters. She had not had one moment of conflict with Suellen. Suellen had been incredibly happy. Scarlett was not only a married woman, but a mother to boot. Furthermore, she was living in Charleston. She would no longer be any competition for either their parents' affections or the men's affections. Additionally, Scarlett was fat. She looked like she was still with child. Suellen decided Scarlett would no longer be the cutest thing in shoe leather.

Rhett stood there apart from the hugging women. Ellen said to Rhett, "Give me a hug." Rhett hugged his mother-in-law. She said, "We both want what is best for Scarlett, but you are in charge of her destiny. It will not be an easy concept for me to accept, but I will try."

"Thank you, Mrs. O'Hara."

"Mother."

"Mother."

Scarlett was beaming, she had heard the entire conversation. Her mother and her husband would never be the best of friends, but maybe they could coexist with three hundred miles between them that is.

Rhett said, "Would you like me to ride with you to the train station and help with the trunks?"

"No, we will be fine. I'm sure your driver will take care of the trunks."

"Benson, carry Mrs. O'Hara's box of food to the carriage."

"Yes, Sir. The trunks are already strapped on top of the carriage."

Careen said, "Did you put some of those chicken salad sandwiches in there?"

Scarlett said, "Yes, I did."

Ellen said, "I need to get a copy of the recipe."

"I will mail you a copy."

"Very good."

Benson took the box from Suellen and left the house. Ellen, Careen, and Suellen followed the butler. Scarlett and Rhett remained inside the house. After they watched the carriage drive away, Rhett said, "Let's go play with Tommy."

"I am sure he is asleep."

"Maybe not. Let's go check."

"Alright, Dear."

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

The couple walked up the stairs and found that indeed Tommy was asleep. Scarlett said, "I am going to lay back down."

"I will come with you."

"I'm not doing anything else but laying down."

"Of course not. I just want to lay down with you."

Scarlett did kiss her husband through him pleasuring himself, but she did not help with the process.

Scarlett and Rhett moved Mammy and Tommy into Robert's old room while they redecorated the nursery. Rhett allowed Scarlett to get an artist to paint forest animals on one wall, but the animals could not be looking out at them. After it was painted neither Scarlett nor Rhett liked it. She had the painter paint a lake with sailboats on it. Tommy's parents both liked that. The other walls were a light blue, the drapes were blue fabric with sailboats on them, and the rugs were masculine looking also. Rhett had been completely involved in the process. Everyone, especially Scarlett, had been surprised at how involved Rhett had been in the decorating of his son's room.

When Tommy was six weeks old, Rhett said to Scarlett, "I went to see Mr. Mobbs about updating my will. He asked me a question I didn't have an answer to. If something happens to both of us, who do we want to raise Tommy."

"I don't know. Neither Careen nor Rosemary are old enough. Not my parents because Pa is too old. I guess that leaves us with either your parents or Robert and Daphne."

"Robert and Daphne are soon going to have children of their own."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Daphne and Robert would already be in the children raising mode."

"But they would not be able to give Tommy the attention he deserves."

"I'm afraid your parents would just delegate the raising of him to the nursemaid."

"Let's think about it for a while. We are both young and in good health."

"True."

"I instructed Mr. Mobbs to make Tommy my heir after you."

"Good."

"I have something for you." Rhett went and got a gift box out of his dresser. He laid it on the bed and said, "It is a thank you gift."

Scarlett did something very uncharacteristic of her. She pushed the gift back and said, "I don't want a thank you gift for bringing my son into the world. If you give me a gift, then it is like you are saying Tommy isn't my son. He belongs to me as much as he belongs to you. If you give me a gift for giving him to you, then I must give you a gift for giving him to me."

Rhett smiled and said, "It was my pleasure to give him to you."

"He is my son too."

"Yes, he is." Rhett smiled his most charming smile. He said, "The gift is not for you giving me a son, but for everything you had to endure to bring our child into the world. Not the least being labor and delivery. That looked pretty bad."

"It was, but the ether made it so much better. I told my mother that I will be using ether the next time I have to deliver a child."

"Unless I can find something better. That ether stank."

"Yes, it did. Why did you stay?"

"I stayed to make sure nobody tried to take the ether away from you, give you moral support, and do you truly think I am going to leave you alone while another man is in our bedroom?"

Scarlett laughed. She said, "I wasn't alone. My mother was there. And your mother. And my mammy."

"If Dr. Kiley had tried to do something those women would not have been able to stop him. Now open your present."

"Alright."

Scarlett opened the gift. It was a beautiful, green, light-weight cape. She took it out of the box and shook it out. Rhett said, "I think your body is more beautiful today than it was the day we got married. Carrying Tommy somehow made you into more of a sensuous woman than you were the day we met. Although you were a pretty, damn sensuous woman then. Sensuous enough to make me walk across the room to talk to you. But if you ever feel the need to cover it up this cape will come in nicely."

Scarlett smiled at her husband. His words made her so happy. He didn't see the extra inch in her waist. No, he saw a beautiful, voluptuous woman. A woman he couldn't wait to bed judging by his erection. She smiled and said, "Let's sleep under it tonight….. afterwards."

"Of course."