Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Two
Scarlett had outlived her sisters and her brother-in-law. Will had died in ninety-five over thirty years from when he had showed up at their doorstep half dead. Scarlett guessed Suellen had come to love Will for she was never the same after his death. She had died the next year.
Scarlett and her nieces had sold Tara. They had gotten a fine price for it. Scarlett knew Rhett would have gotten a better price. She had paid the Catholic church for Careen's share after her little sister passed away from old age. Scarlett hoped Careen had been content as a nun. As she had gotten older Scarlett had realized the joy of peace and calmness, therefore, she believed Careen had been happy and content being a nun.
Everyone was dead except Scarlett, her children, Beau, and her nieces. All the Tara servants were dead except Prissy. Pork's son, Flynn, had gone up North. Scarlett had given him travel money and a little bit more. Hopefully, he was living a good life.
Scarlett's children, Beau, and her nieces had lives of their own, which was the way it should be.
Scarlett had visited Tara a lot that first year after Melly's death. She had finally actually listened to Mammy's sage words of advice. Yet even Mammy didn't have all the answers. After Rhett's death, Scarlett's visits to Tara got to be less and less. Five years later while Scarlett had been at Mammy's funeral, she had realized it had been at least a year since she had visited Tara. Probably longer. She had been busy building a financial empire.
After the funeral, as Scarlett had been talking to the other mourners, she had realized that all of them had the same defeated look that Ashley had. The only one who didn't was Will. She knew that was because Will's life was better than it had been before the war. She also knew that all these people had attended her Mammy's funeral because of the food they knew she was going to put out. Everyone knew she had money, and she would not scrimp on the buffet for her mammy's funeral. Scarlett knew the old woman deserved the honor for her years of service to the Robillard family even if the vultures were the ones to benefit.
As Scarlett looked around the grounds of Tara, she had finally been ready to let the last part of the dream go. She thought she hadn't had any more dreams after Rhett's death, but she guessed she had still had one. The dream of returning to her life before the war.
As Scarlett was getting ready to get into her coach to return to Atlanta, she said to Suellen, "You can take over my room."
"Don't you want to get your stuff out of there?"
"No, they were the belongings of a young girl. A spoiled, pampered, naïve young girl who didn't know a damn thing about the real world."
Although Suellen looked stunned by Scarlett's use of the word damn, she just said, "Alright."
"Let's go, Wade and Ella. We need to get back to Atlanta before it gets dark."
That night sixty-five-year-old Scarlett got into the bed around eight o'clock. Ella, Beau, and Wade and their families had come over for supper to celebrate her birthday. She was glad they all came. It was nice.
Now Scarlett was going to read a new book that she had just gotten from the bookstore. She always smiled to herself every time she thought about Rhett's reaction if she had ever picked up a book in front of him. No, if she had ever gotten absorbed into a book. The title of the book was The Return of Sherlock Holmes. She was asleep by eight exciting book or not.
The next morning at five o'clock Scarlett was awoken by a man kissing her. This startled her because she had lived alone for a long time. She had slept alone even longer. She jerked back. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed away from the man. She looked at the man's face. The man was Rhett. Her husband. She whispered, "Rhett, how did you get here?"
"This is my bed also."
Scarlett had gotten a little bit more awake, and she noticed how young Rhett looked. How young and alive he looked which was good because she hoped he was alive and not a ghost. Rhett moved forward and kissed her. When he did, she felt him press against the massive bump in front of her. She rubbed her hand over her baby bump and said with a little awe, "I am with child."
"You have been for a while. At least eight months."
Scarlett didn't know what was happening, but her dream was coming true. She kissed Rhett with all her pent-up passion. She kissed him the way she had wanted to kiss him since the night of Melly's death. No, since the day he returned from Charleston with Bonnie. No, since the day he had returned from Belle's. She now knew that was another turning point in their relationship.
Rhett started to say something, and she kissed him to quiet him. No words! Words always got them in trouble.
With Scarlett actually kissing Rhett passionately, he chose not to hold himself back. When it was over, she said, "That was nice."
"That is not how I would describe it, but I'm glad you think it was nice."
Rhett sat up. He grabbed his cigar and lit it. As he got ready to stand-up, Scarlett said, "Would you hold me until I go back to sleep?"
Rhett looked shocked. Shocked and wary. Scarlett said, "That's all. I just like you holding me right after we finish."
Scarlett had wanted to feel loved by Rhett for a little longer. She almost laughed out loud. Rhett was holding her, but he was so tense she was surprised he didn't spring off the bed. She forgot about Rhett. She closed her eyes and let her mind wonder about what had happened. She just didn't know. Had she gone crazy? Wasn't that a sign of being crazy when you see and hear things that aren't there? Everything had seemed very real to her, especially Rhett's member. That had definitely been the real thing. She wondered, 'What if everything had been a horrible nightmare? And this was reality.'
Eventually, Scarlett fell asleep. She was awoken by false labor pains. She just laid there still trying to figure out what had happened. She knew they were false. She knew exactly when her Bonnie had been born.
Prissy brought her breakfast tray at nine. The child was as inane as always. If Scarlett was imagining things wouldn't everything be wonderful.
As Scarlett got out of the bed, she marveled at how easy it was despite the fact she was eight-months with child. After she looked in the mirror, she was amazed at how good she looked. A memory flashed through her mind at how upset she had been upon finding a wrinkle after she had turned twenty-five. A wrinkle! Last night when she had sat in front of the mirror brushing out her hair, she had more wrinkles than she could count.
Scarlett put on her robe and started to go to the water closet. Prissy said, "Where are you going in your wrapper, Miss Scarlett?"
Scarlett stared at Prissy. The house didn't have a water closet yet. They hadn't gotten that until the late seventies. They had gotten both the flushable toilet and the water heater when she did the first renovation. Each time she had renovated the house, she had updated the water closet.
Scarlett turned back to Prissy and said, "I don't know. I am so ditzy these days. I can't wait for the baby to get here. Let's get me dressed."
"Of course, Miss Scarlett."
Scarlett got dressed with Prissy's help. Just as she had been doing for the last forty years. Prissy was babbling on about a young man named Elijah. Scarlett smiled. Elijah and Prissy would eventually marry. Scarlett would hire the young man into her household as a footman. Scarlett sat down at her vanity table and waited while Prissy styled her hair. Scarlett couldn't stop looking at herself and marveling over how good she looked despite having the shape of a woman with child.
Finally, Scarlett decided to explore the house and the people. If Mammy lectured her about the Scallawag wives, she would know that everything was real. For now, she would just think of her first life as a horrible nightmare although she knew it had been real. It didn't matter how. Therefore, she would worry about how it happened to her later. She giggled when she thought, 'Maybe tomorrow. When I was this age during the first timeline my motto was – I will think about it tomorrow. If I think about it now, I will go crazy.' She didn't want to go crazy so she just wouldn't think about it. Besides if she had gone crazy, she was alright with it. It would make her last years, happy years.
Scarlett was walking down the hallway towards the stairs. There was no need to hold on to the wall. Her legs were young and strong.
The nursery was in between Scarlett's bedroom and the stairs so she could start looking for Rhett there. If he wasn't there, then she would visit with Wade and Ella. No, just Ella. Wade was in school.
Scarlett resolved to spend more time with her children. She now knew how precious her children were. They weren't a burden or an inconvenience. She now knew from personal experience how quickly they grew up and had lives of their own.
When she got to the nursery there was no Rhett but there was Wade. She smiled at her son and said, "Why aren't you in school?"
With a perplexed look on his face, Wade said, "We are still on Christmas break. I don't go back to school until tomorrow."
Scarlett was trying to remember anything about that time in their lives. She couldn't hardly remember what was going on in her life at that time, much less in Wade and Ella's lives. Of course, at that time her children were just more people she was responsible for. At that time, they weren't a source of pride, happiness, or love to her.
Scarlett sighed. She had never truly been able to repair the damage she had done to her relationship with her children in their early years. No matter how hard she had tried. In the end they had a workable relationship, but she was never the first person they shared good news with.
All Scarlett could remember was being miserable and angry because she was with child, and she had to stay inside the house until the baby was born.
Scarlett smiled to herself. She probably had made everyone else miserable also.
Scarlett said, "That's right. With me being in my confinement all the days run together."
Wade smiled tentatively and said, "Tomorrow is the eighth so I will be back in school."
"What day is the fifteenth?"
Wade said, "A week from tomorrow."
"I will have to check with Uncle Rhett and make sure he has bought all your presents."
"Yes, Mother."
"I will come back and play a game with you. I am looking for Uncle Rhett right now."
"He left the house right after breakfast this morning."
"Then let me sit down so we can play a board game."
Scarlett, Wade, and Ella played a board game for about thirty minutes. To say Ella was actually playing the game would be lying. She was at the table moving her token anywhere she wanted. Wade and Scarlett had an enjoyable time playing the game. Ella just had a fun time.
Scarlett noticed that Wade grimaced every time Ella picked up her token. Scarlett smiled at Wade and said, "She doesn't know any better. She has just turned two."
Wade stared at his mother in shock. Usually, Mother was the one yelling at Ella for being silly. Scarlett just continued smiling at Wade then she smiled at Ella. Her children. Her wonderful children.
