Dear readers!
This is the last chapter, and a little Epilogue to follow.
Thank you so much for reading, commenting, writing messages! It is a pleasure to write for you and read your thoughts.
Let's give our heroes happiness:)
As always, I wasn't planning to write anything soon and take a break until autumn or whatever, but the story I'll start posting in the next few days has captured me almost completely, so I won't say goodbye to you:)
Thanks again for reading!
Chapter 27.
On a hot afternoon in June 1866, Scarlett sat in her room at the Atlanta Hotel holding a letter. It had arrived fifteen minutes ago and it was from Rhett's mother.
Sitting on the living room chair in their two-bedroom suite, she was pensive and absent-mindedly stared out the window, waiting for her husband and son to return from their walk.
After the honeymoon, life had spun at a frantic pace. When she and Rhett returned to Tara, exciting but pleasant news awaited them there.
Suellen's wedding to Mr Kennedy was set for early March, and there was to be another wedding in mid-March.
Will, embarrassed and blushing, confessed to Scarlett that he had dared to propose to Carreen, and she said yes.
Scarlett was very happy for her sister. Will was a good, reliable man. He was simple, but that was his dignity. He also brought peace to their home, to their family. Next to him, you didn't want to fuss, you wanted to sit down and talk quietly or just be quiet.
"Yes," Scarlett thought, "he's definitely not Rhett," she remembered her obnoxious husband with a smile.
In these few months of living with Rhett, they had opened up to each other from different sides (not always the good ones). But, they were in each other's hearts, loving each other fiercely, boldly, and yet tenderly. So, they learnt to live with their flaws, compromise was the foundation of their marriage. "And not only that," Scarlett remembered their last night and flared up.
After their honeymoon in New Orleans, Scarlett and Rhett settled into a hotel, still not knowing where they would live. It was a matter of heated debate and discussion.
Immediately after their return, they stayed in Tara for only a couple of days, settling household matters and spending time with family. After Mammy had caught her and Rhett kissing in Miss Ellen's study, so openly that Rhett had been serious to continue right there. It had been evening and Scarlett had been busy with her reports. His hands had already undone almost all the buttons of her dress and he was about to pull it off her breast when a loud cough from the ajar door shattered the magic of their touch and Scarlett jumped out the room with her cheeks burning. A couple of days later they left for Atlanta with the Wilkes and checked into a hotel.
Carreen and Will remained in Tara. Carreen, unknowingly, repeated her mother's fate, choosing marriage to a worthy man over the convent.
Suellen and Mr Kennedy lived in Atlanta in a little house near his shop. After the wedding, Suellen became pregnant fairly quickly, and the other day Scarlett received a letter from Carreen, who also wrote that she and Will were expecting their first baby.
Scarlett felt that her health was recovering, so she hoped that soon she would be able to give Rhett the good news. After all, he'd been waiting, really waiting.
He'd only admitted it to her once, when they'd talked in bed at night, as they usually did. It was the day when they'd found out about Suellen. Rhett suddenly put his arms around her waist and whispered, "Scarlett, Sweetheart, I want a baby. Our baby, Honey."
Scarlett then froze in his arms and only whispered, "I want it too Rhett..."
So Scarlett sat pensively by the window with the letter in her hand, wondering what news it would bring them.
Half an hour later Rhett and Wade came to the room, bringing two bunches of wildflowers.
"For you, Mummy," Wade handed it over with a smile and ran off to change in the next room, where Prissy was waiting for him.
"For you, Love," Rhett whispered softly and leaned down to her lips.
Answering his kiss, Scarlett stood up, placed the flowers on the table and gave Rhett the letter with a serious look.
"Rhett, this letter is from your mother, it came today," she said.
He looked at the weighty, bulky envelope, sat down on the bed and opened it. Inside was a letter and another envelope that read, "To my son, Rhett."
Rhett read the letter first, Scarlett watched him carefully, saw him frown and then noticed the wrinkles between his eyebrows.
Scarlett sat down next to him and for some reason put her hand on his shoulder.
"My father died two weeks ago, Scarlett," he said and fell silent. She reached out and hugged him tightly.
"I'm sorry, Rhett," she said quietly, and remembering her parents and how she'd faced their loss alone had an effect on her, and she shed a few tears.
Rhett looked at her sadly, wiped the tears from her cheek with his thumb, and said softly, "Honey..."
She hugged him once more tearfully and whispered, "Rhett, I'm so sorry. I'm with you... I was just thinking about my parents. You know, your arms were the only arms I wanted to be held in when my mother died..."
They sat in each other's arms for a while longer, not wanting to talk.
Then, as Rhett let her go, he remembered another envelope. He sat up against the headboard and whispered to her, "Come here, Scarlett."
They sat down next to each other and he looked at the envelope marked, "To my son, Rhett," written in familiar firm handwriting.
Opening it, he pulled out the letter and the very same emerald cufflinks. Rhett handed them to Scarlett, and while she looked at them with interest, Rhett read the short letter.
"Son, if you are reading this letter, then I am no longer in this world. Pride and stubbornness prevented us from being close to each other, but I am happy that your mother asked you to come then, in January. It was then that I realized that no matter what happened between us, you were and still are my son and I am your father.
I know you got married, Rhett. I wish you and your wife happiness.
You know I don't like to write much, so I'll just write straight. Firstly, I wanted to give you these emerald cufflinks, a family heirloom passed down from father to eldest son. I trust you'll pass them on to your son someday, Rhett.
And secondly. Our estate near Charleston. The house was a little damaged in the fire, but it's livable. I remember you loved this place as a boy and young man, it's close to town and the big water. I would love for you to be the owner of this house, Rhett, as the eldest son. Perhaps you'd like to live there for a while with your family. I realize, son, it's no substitute for lost years, but I can't turn back the time.
And, your mother would be very happy to have you around for a while. She loves you very much and I owe her that. For the years you've been apart. Your father."
Rhett sat deep in thought after reading the letter. He didn't notice Scarlett put cufflinks on the nightstand, reached up and kissed him tenderly and shyly on the cheek, then hugged him tightly around the shoulders. Rhett hugged her back.
"Father has written that he would like me to be master of our estate in the suburbs of Charleston," he suddenly began to say, pulling back and looking earnestly into his wife's eyes.
Scarlett looked at him carefully, not knowing what to say. It was tempting to stay and live in Atlanta, with Melanie nearby and Tara close by. But Rhett was languishing in this city, she could see that clearly. He needed space. Besides, leaving Atlanta would be a good decision because of two things that bothered Scarlett. The first was the constant gossip about her and her husband, which was poisoning her life with its echoes. She believed there would be less of it in the suburbs of Charleston. And the second, the possibility of avoiding Rhett and Belle's monthly meetings.
Rhett had sold his part of the business back in February, but his monthly trips to the bar for drinks and poker remained. And that's where he went, which made Scarlett very angry. And although he came early, at the agreed time, each of these trips ended in a violent quarrel and no less violent reconciliation.
Still, in no hurry to discuss a possible move, Scarlett had only gently told him to take a few days to think about it, not to make a decision on emotion. Rhett agreed with her.
But in a couple of days Scarlett realized that the move was necessary. Her slight morning sickness was not from hunger, as she thought, but from another pleasant surprise.
That morning, she woke up to the smells of strawberry jam, toasts and butter. Rhett had decided to treat his wife and bring her breakfast in bed. Putting the tray with toasts and coffee pot on the nightstand, he lay down on the bed and gently began to wake her up, kissing her neck, then her shoulder. Then Rhett thought he'd order more coffee if this one got cold, since he could hardly think about breakfast. But, Scarlett's irritated voice brought him back down to earth, "Rhett Butler, get that food out of here now. That smell of fried bread and butter is driving me crazy!"
Rhett stopped at her shoulder and was very surprised. Scarlett, on the other hand, moved away from him, then took a few deep breaths, then said again, "Rhett, please..."
And while he, surprised, carried the tray into the living room, she got up, opened the window a little, and tried to get some air from the street. The nausea was wearing off, and she stood at the ajar window in her nightgown,with her hair loose from sleep.
That's how Rhett found her when he came into the bedroom. He walked over to her and gently put his arm around her waist, then asked, "What is it, Scarlett? Are you not feeling well?"
"Looks like," she replied quietly, "we're going to have to move to the estate after all, Rhett. Since I'm not going to raise a little baby in a hotel, and Wade is getting tired of that kind of life too."
Rhett listened to her, then asked perplexed, "What baby, Scarlett? And yes, I agree about Wade, that..." but then he broke off and stopped talking.
"You're going to be a father, Rhett," she spoke softly with a smile looking out the window, "Looks like I'm pregnant..."
He seemed to hug her even tighter and whispered in her ear, "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard you say, Honey," and then added with a smile, "especially on a morning like this, when I've been kicked out of your bed."
Scarlett smiled and Rhett spoke in a more serious tone, "I love you Scarlett..."
She smiled again and replied, "Me too, Rhett..."
They stood by the window quietly sharing this happy moment together. And then Scarlett said, "Rhett..."
"Hmm?"
"Bring some coffee, though. I'd drink it, the smell makes me feel good...And bring some toast, but no butter or jam," she finished, and Rhett grinned and sat her down on the edge of the bed and hurried into the living room.
In midsummer Rhett, Scarlett and little Wade moved to Charleston, first to Mrs Butler's house.
Scarlett was happy to live and bond with Mrs Butler, who took her in as her own daughter. On the first evening of their arrival, while Rhett tucked Wade in, Scarlett and Mrs Butler sat in the parlour, talking.
Miss Eleanor was quietly asking Scarlett about her mother, expressing her condolences for her sudden death. Scarlett was visibly saddened by this conversation, but Mrs Butler embraced her affectionately and said, "I realize, that I can't replace your mother. But, I'll be glad to call you "my daughter", Scarlett. I'm very happy for you and Rhett, it's every mother's dream to see her child happy."
Both Rhett and everyone in the Butler house surrounded Scarlett with such care on account of her delicate condition that sometimes she grew tired of the excessive attention and longed to move out of town as soon as possible.
One day, sitting in the bedroom with her husband, they were talking as usual, Rhett gently putting his arm around her waist.It was late October, and Scarlett had only recently begun to feel their baby's movements, and then Rhett could feel them, too, by putting his hands on her belly. Now, they often liked to sit like this.
Scarlett, seeing how tender and touching Rhett was during her pregnancy, was surprised and sometimes joked about it. But he only smiled at her.
"Oh, Rhett," she said that evening, "I'm afraid you're going to pamper this baby beyond belief."
Rhett pondered her words, and then, kissing her tenderly on the cheek, and only said, "No, Honey, I have you to pamper. She'll just be loved and enjoyed by us, just like our Wade."
Scarlett looked at him with interest and said, "What if it's a son, Rhett?"
"It will be our daughter, Scarlett ... I believe it will be," answered Rhett confidently.
With all the preparations, and Rhett wanted everything to be perfect, their move came after Christmas Holiday. After celebrating at the Butlers' house, they moved to the estate.
Scarlett gave birth to a baby girl, affectionately named Bonnie, in early March 1867. A couple of weeks before the birth, Scarlett managed to persuade Mammy to come and visit them. Old maid had been grumbling all the time about living under the same roof with "that obnoxious varmint Butler who ruined my lamb".
But on the day of the birth, when she saw pale Captain Butler waiting anxiously for news in the parlour, smoking all the time, Mammy went up to him, smiled, and said, "Perhaps our Miss Ellen was right in calling you a good man, Captain Butler. You're so worried about my lamb, but really, it's in vain. It all happened too fast for her..." she finished grumpily.
Rhett, listening to her speech and barely understanding the words, suddenly asked, "Mammy, is everything all right? How's Scarlett? Can I go to her?"
"Go, go, Captain Butler," said Mammy, and watching him walk quickly up the stairs, she was surprised that he didn't even ask who was born.
As he walked quickly into their bedroom, he seemed oblivious to everyone around him but her.
As he approached to Scarlett, seeing her tired but contented eyes, he leaned over, kissed her lightly on the lips, and whispered, "Sweetheart, are you okay?"
She smiled and stroking his cheek affectionately, replied, "Of course I'm okay, Rhett. It all happened faster than it did with Wade. Better look at our daughter," she finished and Rhett looked round and noticed the maid, Mrs Butler and someone else in the room. A small bundle in his mother's arms.
"Son," she said "congratulations to you" and held out his daughter to Rhett. His daughter.
He took the little girl gently, looked at her and realized that he was forever captivated by her blue eyes, just as he had been captivated by her mother's green eyes.