Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

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

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The next morning Rhett got up and let Scarlett sleep. He got dressed and went into the kitchen. There on the counter was an empty bottle of wine. He just sighed and fixed his breakfast. By the time he had finished eating, she had not emerged from their bedroom. He simply went to work.

That evening, Scarlett was cool to Rhett, but she was still speaking to him. That night she did not indulge in any wine or any other spirits. That went on for a week. They ate at Rosie's. They had sex several times. He worked on his models. She watched TV. Scarlett had supper with Melanie at Rosie's on Wednesday night. Wednesday was when Beau spent the evening with Ashley. Rhett accompanied them. Melanie was out and out not speaking to Rhett.

Rhett had smiled when Rosie said, "I will choose your meal."

Incredibly Rosie had given Scarlett a disapproving look.

Although Melly had not said a word to Rhett over dinner, she did thank him for the meal. He smiled. Her good manners had risen to the surface.

At breakfast the next day, he said, "I'm not going to apologize. I didn't do anything wrong."

Scarlett sighed and said, "I guess you didn't. I just wished you would have let his parents tell him."

"Neither one of his parents would have. It makes Ashley look too bad, and Melly is trying hard to not bad mouth Ashley to his son."

"You are right."

"Wait. Are you saying that in a personal interaction with another human I did the right thing."

Scarlett said, "Yes, but don't get too big for your britches, Spaceman, you still have a long way to go to be completely one of us."

Rhett smiled. He said, "Thank you for that Scarlett."

"I wish you hadn't brought Wade up."

"It was a perfect example."

"Yes, it was, but I still wish you hadn't brought Wade up."

"Is Wade off limits?"

"No. You are right, that situation was a perfect example. I still wished you hadn't done it." Rhett was totally confused, but she had said he did the right thing. He was going to bask in that. Scarlett continued, "Go to work before I slap that smug expression off your face."

Rhett stood up and said, "Give me a kiss, in spite of my smug expression."

Rhett was happy for the rest of the day. He had done the right thing in dealing with another human. Even though Rhett didn't understand why bringing up Wade had been wrong, and she had said it wasn't, he still felt like he was wrong for doing that. He tried to decide how he would feel if she had used Bonnie to win an argument. He wouldn't like it one damn bit. So, he bought her a glass angel at a curio shop that was on the way to the sandwich shop he frequented. The sandwich shop where she had shared with him about that morning that she had found Wade dead.

That evening at supper, Rhett handed Scarlett the gift. She opened it and smiled. She said, "Is this supposed to be Wade?"

"I hadn't thought of that. I just thought it was pretty."

"It is pretty, but it can also be Wade."

Rhett did not tell her that humans don't become angels. Angels are another type of being. He felt it was not the right time for that information. Furthermore, if she wanted to think of Wade as an angel, he was happy with it.

Instead, he said, "When I got home from working late one night, I found Heather overdosed and Bonnie gone. I called nine one one. The EMTs rushed Heather to the hospital and the police started third degreeing me. As you know, I knew to keep my mouth shut. Once again, I was lucky that I could account for all my time." Rhett paused. Finally, he continued, "While I was waiting for news I kept hoping to get a ransom note. I kept checking my bank accounts to verify how much money I could get rapidly." He stopped speaking again. "Then the police showed me the Polaroid of a child on a table. I was supposed to identify her. I did. It was my Bonnie." With a hysterical laugh, he continued, "I broke every piece of furniture in the house. Or I would have if they hadn't stopped me. I was taken down to police headquarters. Once again, I kept my mouth shut. My attorney got me released. I have never been actually charged with a crime. Soon they found plenty of evidence that it was Albert DeSalvo. Carpet fibers and blanket fibers. They even found evidence in his car. They took the death penalty off the table with my permission if he would confess. He did. I did go to her funeral. Heather and I arrived in separate vehicles. I don't remember anything about the funeral or the next six months. Somewhere along the way I got an annulment and Heather moved back to Pigeon Forge. Went to work, drowned my sorrows, went to AA, finally met Miguel, and gave up on life until I met you."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to know how important you are to me. You saved me from a life of loneliness that I didn't even know I was living."

Scarlett smiled. She said, "Rhett, I love you, today, I will love you, tomorrow, and I will love you, until the end of time. We are going to fight. I'm surprised we don't fight more. I think it speaks to how much we love each other that we don't fight all the time."

Rhett solemnly said, "I love you that much too."

"What do you mean you got an annulment?"

"Heather and I never consummated our marriage. At first, I didn't have sex with her so I could annul the marriage if the baby turned out not to me mine. Then we didn't have sex because I didn't want to have a real marriage. She married me for my checkbook and that was all she got."

"No, Honey, she married you because she thought you would give her a happy ever after. She had bought into the myth that all she had to do was make a good match and she would be happy for the rest of her life. I believed it also. I thought once Cade and I got married we would be blissfully happy. I know better now. Marriage is a lot of hard work."

Offended Rhett said, "Are you saying being married to be is hard work?"

Scarlett smiled and said, "You know it is. You have to do so many things just to make me happy."

"I know you have to do twice as much."

"How do you know that?"

"Miguel told me."

Scarlett laughed and said, "Yes, but you are worth it. Now tell me about your day and I will pretend to listen."

Rhett kissed Scarlett. He told her about his day.

Rhett got an offer on the house in Charleston. He accepted the offer. He had Mr. Mobbs make the buyer and offer to buy the furniture. He asked the lawyer to give all the clothing away to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Two weeks later a large box arrived for Rhett. When he opened it, he smiled from ear to ear. It was the family photos. Mr. Mobbs had just mailed them to him. Rhett spent the next month going through all the pictures. He then sorted them and had several picture books made. One of just him, one of just Jeffy, one of just Madison, and one of just his parents. The rest of the pictures were turned into several picture books. He even got all the pictures of Bonnie and turned those into a picture book also. He asked Scarlett, "Do you have pictures of Wade?"

"Just three. His birth picture, his one-month picture and the picture of him in his coffin."

"Go get them for me. I will turn them into a book also."

"Rhett, I don't need that."

"Yes, you do. Go get them now."

"I will email them to you."

"Thanks."

"Thank you, Rhett."

When Rhett saw Wade's picture, he said, "He really was a beautiful baby."

"I told you so."

"So, you did."

When Scarlett got Wade's picture book, she put it on the bookshelf. She said to Rhett, "I'm going to get Jen to send me copies of our family pictures. When she does, I will make a picture book of my family."

"Sounds wonderful, Sweetheart."

Scarlett finally took the fur jackets to a furrier. The coats were in great shape, but they would need to be cut and restyled. She took them home. She told Rhett, "They are beautiful, I guess. I don't think I am a fur kind of gal."

"I don't think you are either. You are more of a sneakers, t-shirt, and leather jacket kind of gal. Sell them."

"Thanks, Rhett."

"Sure. After you sell them go buy yourself a new leather jacket."

"Thanks."

"Let's go through the jewelry and see what we want to keep."

"I don't think we are jewelry kind of people either."

Rhett grinned and said, "No, we aren't, but we do have to attend those Meet and Greets."

"Only because you make me."

"It is a party. You always have fun."

"Not always. Some of those people are truly boring."

"I am so glad to hear you say that. I thought it was just me."

Scarlett laughed at what she thought was Rhett's joke although it hadn't been a joke. He had learned that when he said something that she thought was funny, just to ride the happy wave and let her think he was kidding. He said, "Love you."

"I love you, too."

Scarlett didn't mind going to the Meet and Greets, because Rhett needed her to translate what people were saying. He could hold his own if the conversation was straight forward or if he was talking about his research, but if someone made a reference to something from TV or the movies or just what people would think of as general knowledge he was lost. When he got lost, he would withdraw into himself. When he did that, he came across to other people as a stuck-up snob. If people were sarcastic or mocking, he usually missed that entirely. If someone was being ironic or insincere, he missed those too. Scarlett held his arm the entire time. If someone was sarcastic, mocking, insincere, or ironic, she would pat his arm a couple of times. Once he understood that someone was being sarcastic or ironic, he could adjust and stay with the conversation. He was doing better because he was being exposed to so many people who were ordinary people. He would still occasionally spout off some trivial fact and she would always respond to his statement and bring him back in line with what they had just been talking about.

Rhett knew all Scarlett's tutelage was paying off because people were being a lot nicer to him.

Rhett knew what she was doing because every time they went to a Meet and Greet, he would do something special for her, like let her have an extra hour of TV, or suggest they invite Melly and Beau to dinner (at Rosie's, of course.), or let her buy something terribly expensive with his money.

Rhett had once told her that the reason he didn't want her to invite people into their home is that there was no way to get rid of them once they had overstayed their welcome. Scarlett had thought, 'As far as you are concerned, Sweetheart, the moment they walk through the door, they have overstayed their welcome.'

Rhett took care of all the household expenses, and he probably wouldn't mind if she spent his money, but she was working and she had money of her own to buy the things she wanted.