Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Chapter Thirty-Six

June twenty-second arrived and everything was ready for the ceremony and the reception. The wedding was going to start at one thirty. The Moons had arrived at eleven-thirty. Warren and Percy were both dressed and in the library. They were having a whiskey and talking. Warren was smoking a cigar. Percy had wished Warren hadn't because now the room was going to smell like cigar smoke, but it would have been impolite to tell the other man to put the cigar out. They were talking about the political climate and how there was still unrest in the country. Warren strongly disagreed with the idea that if the Southern states seceded that England would come to their aid because of England's need for cotton.

At one fifteen Warren had been called upstairs. He would walk Daphne down the stairs and into the formal parlor. Percy found his wife who was in the kitchen giving out some last-minute instructions and said, "Let me escort you to our seats. I'm sure your mother, Scarlett, and Rosemary are already there."

"Alright."

Percy had been right. The other women had already been seated including Felicia. Rhett and Robert were standing by the minister. Rhett whispered, "Do you have the ring?"

Robert started patting his pockets. When he started to walk away, Rhett stopped him and said, "I will get it. Where is it?"

"In my nightside table."

"I will be right back."

Rhett took the stairs two at a time. Fortunately, the ring was right where Robert had said it was. As Rhett left Robert's room, he saw Daphne, Warren, and Daphne's bridesmaid, Etta Place. He said, "Give me a couple of minutes to get into position."

"Sure."

Daphne, Warren, and Etta stood there for a few minutes in awkward silence. He said, "Go ahead Etta." He turned to his daughter and said, "Shall we descend the stairs and change your last name?"

"Yes."

The ceremony was brief and soon everyone was in the dining room spilling out onto the foyer. After thirty minutes, Beth got Percy to go into the backyard. They were intimate once again, but this time he positioned their bodies where it would be harder for them to get caught. Afterwards as they were walking back into the house, Percy thought, 'Yes, I have created a monster, and I wouldn't want it any other way.'

After several hours Robert and Daphne left the reception. He was going to follow Rhett's example and spend his wedding night at a hotel. Robert had been beet red the entire time, Rhett had given him instructions on how to please his virginal wife. Just as explicitly as his grandfather had instructed his father. The last piece of information Rhett shared was, "Women can achieve their satisfaction also. In fact, several times a session if you are lucky."

While it had been extremely embarrassing listening to Rhett, later that night, Robert had put those instructions into practice. He had achieved the goal of sexually satisfying his wife. He thought of that saying, 'Happy wife, happy life.'

Daphne for her part was thinking, 'It was as good as Mummy said it would be.'

Robert and Daphne went to Myrtle Beach for their honeymoon, also. Percy was paying for Robert's honeymoon, also. Robert bought Daphne a bathing suit and a big hat. They went out and played in the water. Rhett had told Robert where to eat and what to do while they were there. A week later they returned to Charleston and moved into the Moon's home.

After a week Robert said, "We are changing the décor in this room. It is far too feminine for me."

Daphne laughed and said, "Alright. I will talk to Mummy about it."

"Mother and Father are going to Myrtle Beach next week. When they get back, we will be going to Middleton Acres."

"How long will we be there?"

"Ten days to two weeks. This is a critical time."

"Alright."

Percy and Beth had a wonderful time in Myrtle Beach. They had learned from their sons where to eat and what to do. They had played in the water every day. They had relations all the time. They had eaten good food. They had enjoyed themselves very much.

During Percy and Beth's time away from Charleston, she said, "We have an excellent staff."

"Yes, we do."

"I want to do something special for them."

"Like what?"

"I don't know."

After a few minutes, Percy said, "We can give them twenty-four hours off work. Twenty-four hours they can do whatever they want to do."

"Who will take care of us?"

"We will take care of ourselves. How hard can it be?"

"We will have to go out to eat. Nobody but Jemina knows how to cook."

"She can boil us some eggs for breakfast, and we will manage the rest of the day."

"Excellent idea."

After Percy and Beth had left, Benson had found Scarlett in the family parlor. He had knocked on the door and said to her, "Miss Scarlett, Jemina would like to speak to you."

"Who?"

"The cook."

As Scarlett stood up, she said, "What about?"

"The weekly menu."

"Mother didn't do that before she left?"

"I guess not, ma'am."

"Do you know where my husband is?"

"I believe Mr. Rhett has left the house."

"Of course, he has. Will you lead me to the kitchen?"

"Of course, Miss Scarlett."

For the next half hour Scarlett when through the arduous task of planning the weekly menu. She remembered what her mother-in-law had said about planning it. She just picked food that she and Percy liked. Scarlett did the same. The first item she chose was Rhett's favorite She-crab soup with French bread. Then she chose Frogmore soup because she was rather fond of it. Crab and rice, fried chicken, fried fish, roast beef, chicken salad sandwiches and a few other items she knew Rhett liked. As she left the kitchen, she realized that like her mother-in-law she hadn't once thought about what Rosemary or Grandmother might want for dinner or supper.

That night when supper was served Rosemary said, "She-crab soup! We never have She-crab soup because Father is not fond of it."

Scarlett said, "In that case we will have it one more time before Mother and Father return."

Mabel said, "That would be nice. I too am fond of it."

Neither Rhett nor Scarlett would say a word to Beth about serving the soup more often because like she said, 'When someone else starts paying for everything around here they can have a say in what is placed on the dining room table.' Neither Rhett nor Scarlett wanted to pay to continue living at the townhouse.

Scarlett was happy the baby was moving more and more but she was uncomfortable all over. Her feet were swollen. She had almost cried when she realized she couldn't see her feet. Rhett had teased and said, "Don't worry, my love, I will tell you if your shoes don't match." Scarlett had smiled at him. He called her his love all the time now and she had decided that was just a term of endearment that he was using. Percy was calling Beth that all the time, so that was where Rhett had probably picked it up.

One of the worst parts of being with child to Scarlett was having to pee all the time, but what was the worst part was that she was having trouble being able to poop regularly. A couple of times she had Rhett get the castor oil from Beth. Scarlett had just been too embarrassed to ask Beth for it herself.

Beth for her part never acted like Rhett had asked for the castor oil. She, of course, knew who it was for, but she would give her daughter-in-law as much dignity as possible.

After Beth's return from Myrtle Beach, she did give the entire staff a day off work. They could do whatever they wanted to do that day. The slaves were a little bit leery of the gift, but by ten o'clock of their free day they had all left the house. By evening, the Butlers had found out just how much their servants did for them every day.

Rhett and Scarlett had stayed home, and Elizabeth had brought them food back from the restaurant she and the rest of the family had dinner and supper at. Rhett had smiled when for supper his mother had brought him back She-crab soup. It moved him more than he wanted to admit that his mother knew what his favorite food was whether she ever served it or not.

When Percy went to bed that night he wondered if any of his slaves were going to return.

In the morning, everyone had returned, but a footman and a maid. In an act of charity, Percy decided not to report the missing slaves to the Slave Catchers. He hoped they would return of their own accord. If not, he had given them an extra twenty-four hours to get out of the South.

Percy tried his best to treat his slaves humanely. He did not allow the whip to be used on any of them, even the ones who had tried to escape. He just sold them to another man. He had told the overseer many times that the female slaves were not to be sexually abused. In truth, he hated being a slave owner. Yet, he needed cheap labor to work the plantation. He wished he could figure out a system where he didn't have to pay them exactly, but they shared in the profits.

By night fall of the next day the footman, George, and the maid, Isabel, had returned. They had jumped the broom. They had just wanted a few more hours of being husband and wife before Mr. Percy found out.

Percy had smiled and said, "Congratulations."

Later in George's room which was now his and Isabel's room he said, "He didn't whip us."

"No, he didn't."

"I want to be free, but if…."

"Mr. Percy is a good master and Miss Beth is a good mistress."

Later in the dark George said, "Nonetheless, I want to be free."

"So do I."

"Maybe someday."

"Maybe someday, but I'm not ready to die."

"Nor am I."

Two weeks later, Beth noticed that Scarlett's dresses were showing too much ankle to be proper. Although Beth had given up being proper back in December, there were some things she had to draw the line at. One night after supper while Rhett and Percy were drinking their whiskey, Beth gently said, "Scarlett, I am going to take half of your dresses down to Liz's and get her to sew more material at the bottom of the front of your dress."

Scarlett turned beet red. She whispered, "Am I showing too much?"

"Yes, but it is alright. It is only family, but let's cover it up anyway."

"Yes, let's. Thank you for being willing to do that for me."

"Even with the panel you will still feel prettier than with one of those tents."

Scarlett smiled a watery smile and said, "I think so also."

Mabel thought, 'That is so improper. Scarlett should do her best to hide that she is with child.

A week later all Scarlett's dresses had a strip of fabric sewn on at the bottom at the front. If they had to sew another strip of fabric onto the dresses they would.

Around this same time, Scarlett said, "Have you bought a slave to be our nursemaid?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Sheepishly Rhett said, "I don't know if I want the responsibility of owning another human being."

"Alright. Let's hire one of the immigrants straight off the boat. That way if I don't like her, I can fire her."

Rhett smiled and said, "One of the immigrants? Any particular nationality?"

"Irish, of course."

"Of course. Let me find out how I can hire someone."

"I would say go to an employment agency."

Rhett smiled. He said, "What a unique idea."

"He is kicking."

No matter how many times Rhett felt his child moving he loved to feel it again. He loved it the best when Scarlett was asleep and lying on top of him. In those moments he felt it was just his daughter and him.

Rhett had gotten up and walked over to where Scarlett was lying on their bed. He was glad they were in their bedroom, and he could truly just enjoy this moment without worrying about censure from anyone. Scarlett acted like she knew they would have more children, but what if they never messed up again. What if Scarlett wasn't that fertile? If this was their only one, then he was going to enjoy every moment of the event.