Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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

Chapter Eighty-Three

The first week of January, Rhett was back in Charleston. He knew he had another son. Scarlett had sent him a telegram. Nonetheless, he had to take care of his cargo before he went to see his son. When he arrived at the shipping line office, he received a surprise. His new son was there. In fact, his entire family was there.

After Rhett had gotten hugs from everyone and had taken Jude from Scarlett, he said, "Why are you and everyone else here?"

Scarlett said, "I am running the shipping line. Because I am nursing Jude, I must take him everywhere. I could not find a tutor for the children after the last one left to join the fighting. So, I am running the shipping line, taking care of Jude, and tutoring our children. Luckily for me they are very bright children, and they don't take much instruction from me."

"Wow. I am impressed."

"As you should be. I will admit, I am pretty impressed by my success also."

Rhett laughed. He pulled Scarlett to him while being mindful of his newborn son in his arm. He kissed her. Not a peck on the lips, but a long and lingering kiss. He whispered, "I love you."

"And?"

"You are amazing. Let me see the records and see how well you have done on your own."

Scarlett had sectioned off the office with blankets so there was an area for the children to have privacy although everyone could hear everything said in the office. It had Jude's bassinet in it, books, toys, a mattress, and a couple of pillows. Rhett looked at the mattress and pillows and said, "Do the children take a nap here?"

"You know Tommy and Grace no longer take naps. That is for me to lay on while Jude nurses. It is much more comfortable lying down than sitting up. If someone comes in, Tommy and Grace go out front and entertain the man until Jude is finished. They are such good children and so charming."

"Of course, they are. They got a double dose of charming."

"I hope they are smart like their father."

"Thank you dear."

Everyone heard the door open, and Scarlett went out front. She said, "Mr. Drake, how nice to see you."

"Mrs. Butler how nice to see you."

"Did you just arrive?"

"Yes, I have a lot of goods to sell you."

"Let me see your manifest." After Scarlett looked at the manifest for a few minutes she said, "We will give you a hundred dollars?"

"I was thinking more in the neighborhood of three hundred."

With a smile, Scarlett said, "Mr. Drake, you can't even get that retail much less wholesale."

"I think I can."

"You are certainly welcome to try, but remember your ship is actually our ship therefore if you don't sell your goods to us there is a fifty-dollar charge for use of our ship."

"That is highway robbery."

"Maybe. Nonetheless, if you don't like our arrangements, you can get your own ship. Then you wouldn't have to worry about our rules anymore."

"I will take the hundred dollars."

Scarlett walked over to the desk and took out the petty cash box. She took out a hundred dollars and gave it to Mr. Drake. It was easy for the captain to see there wasn't any more money in the strong box. What he also saw was that there was a small gun in the box. He decided that it probably only held two bullets, but those two bullets could do him a world of hurt. He also noticed she didn't put the box back up. No, she was in a manner of speaking keeping herself armed. She sat down and wrote out a bill of sale. As she handed Mr. Drake the copy of the receipt. She said, "The goods will be off your ship by tomorrow at sundown. Thank you."

"You are one hard negotiator, Mrs. Butler. I certainly don't envy Mr. Butler having such a hard wife."

"Then, Mr. Drake, it is a good thing I am not your problem. See you in six weeks."

After Mr. Drake had left the office, Rhett and Tommy came out of the back. When Rhett started to speak, Scarlett held up her hand to him. She said, "Tommy, go tell Mr. Shoen that the Golden Hind is ready to unload."

"Yes ma'am."

"Stop, Tommy. Scarlett, I am not going to let my son run errands on the ship wharf. It is dangerous."

"Your ten-year-old son who has been running errands for me for weeks. Why pay a runner when Tommy is quite capable of doing it? And wants to help."

"I'm always careful, Dad."

Rhett didn't want to let Tommy go because he was his son, but Scarlett was right. Tommy was old enough to be a message runner. As much as Rhett wanted to, he couldn't keep Tommy a baby. He had to let him grow up. He said, "Tell Leonard to unload the Golden Hind."

"On my way, Dad."

The boy ran out of the shipping office. Rhett didn't think that his son calling him 'Dad' would hurt, but it certainly had. At least Grace was still calling him Daddy. It was a fact of life; his children were growing up whether he liked it or not. Rhett turned and watched Scarlett take money from another lock box. She said, "Everyone on the wharf knows he is your son. Everyone also knows you would kill anyone who hurt him. No questions asked."

Rhett grinned and said, "Indeed, I would."

"This one is glued into the desk. It is not impossible to steal, but it is a lot harder. Of course, I never leave the money in the desk overnight. I always take it home with me."

"Can't you get robbed on your way home?"

"Maybe, but I am safe enough. Mike and Inez come and get me and the children in the carriage. Mike has a gun on him."

"It is illegal for a man of color to own a gun."

"He doesn't own it. I do. If anything happens, I will take all the blame or credit depending on one's point of view."

Rhett sighed. He couldn't be here to protect her. She was protecting herself in the best possible way. He had to accept it. He said, "Good thinking."

"I only keep a hundred dollars in that other lock box, so that the captains think they have taken all my money. Which makes them feel better about the amount of money that I have given them."

"You are quite the shrewd negotiator. I am impressed and scared at the same time at how brilliant you are."

Two days later after Rhett had inspected all of the records, he said, "I think all our children are going to be very smart. They got a double dose of that too."

Scarlett smiled and said, "How you do go on."

Rhett's newborn son was only five weeks old when he docked, but he and Scarlett still had relations. Neither one thought they could wait until he got back home. Scarlett assured Rhett everything was alright down there, and he was quite willing to take her word for it. Rhett was gone within three days. It was getting harder and harder to leave Scarlett and the children. He smiled when he thought, 'It doesn't matter. She would push me out the door if I didn't go voluntarily. She would tell me – We have a goal, Mr. Butler, don't get bogged down in sentimental feelings.'

Around the first of February at their Sunday dinner, Steven said, "The United States has another state. Kansas has been admitted to the union. It is number thirty-four. They have been waiting for a year and a half to be admitted to the union. The citizens of Kansas had adopted a free state constitution in a convention at Wyandotte in October of fifty-nine."

Careen said, "Why weren't they admitted sooner?"

"In fifty-nine the pro-slavery forces in the senate blocked their admission to the union. They had to wait until those states had seceded to be admitted."

"The slave states seceded over a year ago. Why did they wait so long to admit Kansas?"

"I think like everyone else the members of congress thought the war would be over in less than a year. By this time everyone knows it isn't going to be over any time soon."

Careen gasped, but nobody else. Everyone else knew the war was going to be here for a while.

As sixty-two moved along, Scarlett ran the shipping line. Rhett, Percy, Beth, and the other captains ran the blockade.

Rosemary and Steven worked at the hospital. The workload at the hospital was so heavy that Rosemary and Steven started only seeing patients on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the afternoon in the clinic. Steven had asked Bertha to come nurse at the hospital.

After Christmas, Scarlett invited Bertha and her mother to Sunday dinner. Bertha and Mrs. Washington never came empty handed. They always brought whatever vegetable was in season to the dinner. It was plain to see that although Mrs. Washington was suffering from dementia, she was also an extremely social woman, and the dinners were the highlight of her week. If Mrs. Washington contradicted herself or just said something that was untrue nobody corrected her. Everyone there knew there was no reason to correct the woman, she would not remember five minutes after she had been corrected. It was a time for Bertha to relax and let someone else tend to her mother.

Bertha had told her sisters that she was doing her part for the war effort and every day one of them had to come and sit with their mother in the afternoon. The work was hard at the hospital, but for Bertha it was a time she could relax from the responsibility of her mother.

Gerald was struggling to keep the textile mill running. He was also struggling to ensure there was cotton for the captains to take to England each time they left Charleston. There was plenty of cotton to buy. The hard part was getting the cotton to Charleston on the railroads. Life was certainly not normal but amazingly so far, every ship that left Charleston had a full load of cotton in its hold. Ellen and Careen struggled to keep the general store operational.

Scarlett's friends and relatives were not the only people struggling in the South during sixty-two. Of course, there were quite a few people struggling in the North also.

In March, Rudy's estate was finalized. Rhett sold the house at a fairly decent price even considering how much inflation was abound in the Confederacy. He was paid in Confederate dollars which he gave to Scarlett and told her to spend them on all the household needs as quickly as possible.

Rhett arranged to buy the townhouse from Percy. Rhett said, "I know that you and Mother will probably settle in Plymouth to be close to Robert, Daphne, and the boys. I want to buy the townhouse."

"True. The life we had here is gone. Beth and I can no longer live the life of proper Charlestonians."

Rhett smiled and said, "Your father must be rolling over in his grave with you throwing away everything he sacrificed so much to obtain."

"I don't think so. I like to think that he would be admiring me for taking advantage of the changing winds. Are you and Scarlett going to stay here?"

"For now. It will be hard for her to break all ties with her family."

"Yes, it will be."

"She did that once for me and I didn't appreciate at it at the time. I now do. Because of that appreciation, I can't force her to give up her family again. If Pa still owned Tara, I would be in a world of hurt, but because he doesn't, she is content to continue living in Charleston."

"For how long?"

"Until it is no longer safe for her children." With a grin Rhett said, "She won't stay or go for her sake, but she will do what is right for her children."

"Be happy. I still remember her attitude towards her children when Tommy and Grace were born."

"Not with Jude. She is already committed to him."

"Maybe she finally figured out that the pain was going to be just as bad no matter when the child died."

"I agree. How much do you want for the townhouse?"

Percy named a price. Rhett said, "Furniture included?"

"Yes, except whatever your mother takes with her."

"Fair enough. I will get Mr. Mobbs to draw up the papers."

"Put a rush on it. We both might be dead by tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow, Father. Next week - yes, but not tomorrow."

Both men laughed. The papers were signed before either man left Charleston.

Beth did take several pieces of furniture and decoration. Scarlett wanted to object, but Rhett silenced her. He later said, "It has been her home for over thirty-five years. She chose every piece of furniture to go in the townhouse originally. I bet she can tell you a story about each piece of furniture or the lamps or the drapes."

"Alright."

"Once she has gotten everything she wants, you can change the décor and make it your home."

"No, it will always be Beth's home."

Rhett smiled and kissed his wife. They were wasting time talking when they could be getting friendly.