Chapter 6 - Conclusion

Scarlett shoved the signed papers across the desk and breathed a sigh of relief. The store was now gone, sold to a Yankee, of all people, for a very large sum of money which Rhett would invest for Wade and Ella. After months of wavering, she had finally reached her decision, and didn't regret it a bit. Afternoons in Rhett's arms were infinitely preferable to checking ledgers and doing inventory, and since he had not returned to his desk at the bank, the two of them had fallen into a passionate routine of daytime lovemaking, after which Rhett would bathe her and brush her long black hair.

She wandered onto the street, searching for her carriage. The streets of Atlanta were bustling, the building and growth continuing even with the Democrats back in power. Atlanta was once more the center of most of the Southern rail lines, and businessmen from many states had relocated, anxious to escape the cold and snow of the north and make their fortunes at the same time. Waving at Hiram, her new driver, she waited patiently, thinking about the news Dr. Carter had given her two days before. Another baby. She wanted to find the perfect time to tell Rhett, as she had with Melanie.

Melanie, now three, was beautiful, spoiled, and sweet. A strong stubborn streak ran within her small body, a streak both her parents recognized. What had happened to Bonnie would not happen again, and that meant Melanie did not get her way at all times, sending her wailing and crying to her room, and causing Rhett's heart to break. He, more than Scarlett, hated to refuse his daughter a thing, but knew he had to maintain more control over himself.

His love for Wade and Ella was evident at all times, his care and concern for them astounding Scarlett. She had once asked him why he loved them so, when many of her friends' husbands barely tolerated their stepchildren.

"Because, my pet, they are part of you, and I love you, therefore, I love them. And they are good children, Scarlett." Rhett gazed into her eyes and smiled. "You've become a good mother, my darling, something which I had once thought impossible. Can you believe I just admitted that I was wrong?"

He grinned at her once more, then kissed her.

Soon after Melanie began talking, and Rhett had once more become "Daddy," the two sisters were playing with their dolls in the study as their parents discussed plans for their upcoming trip to Europe.

"Daddy," Melanie interrupted, "play with me."

"Yes, Daddy," Ella concurred, then stopped, embarrassed. "I mean, Uncle Rhett."

Rhett's eyes drifted to his wife's, then back to Ella.

He moved to the floor and pulled Ella into his lap.

"Ella, honey, I would very much like it if you called me Daddy, unless you don't want to."

Ella looked at her mother, who smiled and nodded, then threw her arms around Rhett's neck. "You are my daddy," she whispered. "You've always taken care of me and loved me."

"And I always will," he promised her, kissing her cheek.

Scarlett tossed her hat on the hall table and headed for the study where Rhett spent much of his time. He was still vague about many of his business ventures, as well as the young man who was his ward in New Orleans, and Scarlett held her tongue. Rhett would always have parts of his life which he would not share with her, and she accepted that now with understanding, where in years past, she had accepted it because she was incapable of caring about anything which did not directly concern her, despite her curiosity.

His promise to never leave her, and to take her with him on his frequent business trips, was one he kept. The day he told her that they were departing for New York, she stared at him with frank amazement.

"That's a Yankee city, Rhett," she cried. "I will not set foot in it!"

"I know it's in Yankee territory, my dear, and it's full of men who are eager to make my acquaintance and add to my bank accounts. And it's full of the most enticing stores with the latest fashions." He grinned at her, enjoying the sight of her dislike of anything Northern fighting with her desire for new clothes.

She scowled at him, and he laughed at her.

"I knew you'd want to accompany me. It'll be fun. You have unlimited finances, and nearly unlimited stores. I'm sure you won't be lonely during the day, and at night, we'll visit the best restaurants," Rhett assured her.

Scarlett's purchases required nearly half a boxcar to get back to Atlanta, and after the visit to New York, she never again complained about visiting a city north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Rhett looked up from the desk and smiled at her. "No regrets about selling it?" he inquired after kissing her.

"None." She sank into a chair near him.

Rhett examined her eyes and laid down his papers.

"Something's on your mind." His dark eyes held hers in an assessing gaze.

"Hold me, Rhett," she whispered.

In one lithe movement, he swept her into his arms and settled her on his lap, her arms around his neck.

"What's wrong, my love?" His voice was low and comforting, his breath warm against her neck.

"Nothing's wrong." She sat up and stroked his face. "We're having a baby."

Seeing his shocked face, Scarlett smiled. "In six months."

Rhett sealed her smiling lips with his, and gripped her tightly to his chest.

"I love you, Scarlett." His voice was hoarse, and his hands on her face were gentle as he cupped her face and kissed her once more.

"I was waiting for the perfect time to tell you," she confessed, "like Melanie."

"Any time is perfect," he declared. Another child. They had been trying for a year, and had almost resigned themselves to the fact there would be no more babies.

"I wish Mammy were alive to see this baby," sighed Scarlett.

Mammy had slipped away peacefully, in her sleep, two years before. Scarlett's grief was tempered by the knowledge that Mammy was with her beloved Miss Ellen and Miss Bonnie, caring for them and loving them.

Rhett stroked her back, but said nothing.

She tipped her face to his. "I hope it's a boy, Rhett."

"It doesn't matter, my love, as long as it's healthy and you are healthy." Rhett deliberately kept his face blank. Scarlett's newly-acquired ability to read his eyes and face had become slightly unnerving, as she seemed now to know instinctively what he was thinking and feeling. At times like this, when he felt overcome with concern for her, he wished her skills were less proficient.

"What does Dr. Carter say?" He kept his voice light. Despite her successful delivery of Melanie, Rhett's fear that something would happen to Scarlett during pregnancy or childbirth haunted him, and his guilt over her fall and near-death was never far from his thoughts for very long.

"That I'm fine, the baby is fine. I have to take follow all the instructions I did with Melanie." Her brow furrowed and Rhett laughed.

"Yes, you do," he agreed lightly. "To the letter."

Daniel Gerald Butler arrived in early spring, just as the daffodils were blooming. Scarlett thought it appropriate that their son and the season of rebirth arrived at the same time. Rhett's pride knew no bounds, and Scarlett suspected that despite his words to the contrary, he had deeply wanted a son.

Dr. Carter advised them that Scarlett not have more children, an edict Scarlett protested vehemently, but one with which Rhett concurred. Scarlett cried on his chest, but Rhett remained firm.

"My darling, we have four beautiful children," he said quietly, "and we're very lucky. Scarlett, look at me."

She reluctantly lifted her face to his.

"No more pregnancies, my love. And no tricks, either. I'll know and be very disappointed in you." His tone was light but Scarlett recognized the firm jaw, the gleam in his eyes.

"I won't, Rhett," she sniffled.

"Just making sure, my dear," he stated. "I won't risk losing you."

She smiled at him, recalling another similar conversation when she had told him about Bonnie.

"Do I mean so much to you?"

He gave her a level look, as though estimating how much coquetry was behind the question. Reading the true meaning of her demeanor, he made casual answer.

"Well, yes. You see, I've invested a great deal of money in you and I'd hate to lose it."

If only we had been honest with one another, she thought with regret. We could have had so many more years of happiness.

"Yes, we're very lucky," Scarlett sighed. She wrapped her arms around his neck, content to soak in his love.

Rhett slipped from their bed, stood looking at his sleeping wife, then opened the door to the wide, second floor porch which extended around the house. He lit a cigar and gazed at the quiet street, then settled in a large white wicker chair. It was early, barely dawn, and a hint of fall was in the air. Five years had passed since Bonnie's death, Melly's death, and his vow not to return to Scarlett except to keep gossip down. Yet he had returned, never to leave. And thank God he had. How could he have been such a fool? How could he have tossed her aside, the only woman he had ever really loved? Even after five years, he grew hot with shame and grief. His recognition years ago of his unfairness in punishing Scarlett for not lying to him about loving him still tormented him.

He freely admitted how happy he was now, and how happy Scarlett was. He knew her to her bones, even with the small changes to her personality. She still worked herself into tempers, but not the white, killing rage he had seen at the jail. He could not stop teasing her, as it gave him such enjoyment, but his teasing now was gentle and loving, not mean spirited or malicious as it had been previously. Scarlett was a woman at peace with her life and herself, and he suspected she had never felt that emotion since early childhood, certainly not since she placed a suit of pretty clothes on Ashley Wilkes at the tender age of fourteen and spent years chasing a dream.

Wade and Ella were thriving, overjoyed with at long last receiving their mother's love and attention, and Melanie was growing up far too quickly to suit her father, as was Daniel. Thanks to their parents' efforts, all four children were now firmly entrenched as members of the Old Guard, and Scarlett and Rhett were welcomed and treated with polite courtesy, if not honest affection. India and Ashley Wilkes' acceptance of the couple went far in smoothing their path to respectability, and Rhett's rudeness following Bonnie's death had been excused due to his grief. It was Scarlett with whom Atlanta had had a problem, but she had acted the repentant so long, Rhett recognized that she had honestly come to enjoy some of the causes she supported. Frequently, however, when she returned home after one of her many meetings, she would curse and rail, and he would cooperate by making a snide comment or two, then Scarlett would sigh and say: "I have to do it for Melly."

Ashley's business acumen had not improved with time, and because of Scarlett's deathbed promise to his wife, she frequently was forced to undo his mistakes. Thanks to her surprisingly gentle suggestions, Ashley was making a success of the mills despite himself. Scarlett also kept her promise to take care of Beau. Whenever Wade received a new toy, pony, or clothes, his cousin Beau did as well. The two boys were inseparable, and both had declared they were attending Harvard to study law, a proclamation which caused Scarlett to throw a tantrum in the privacy of their room.

"God's nightgown, Rhett, that's a Yankee school! I promised Melly that I'd be sure Beau went there, but Wade! Great balls of fire, a Yankee school!"

Rhett's mouth twitched as he fought his laughter at her outburst. "My love, Harvard is the best in the country, and in the long run, it's a better choice. People respect Harvard, even if it is in the North, and Wade and Beau will be much more successful and respected. They'll make more money." He watched her battle with herself, her hatred of Yankees fighting with her practical nature, and knew she would capitulate.

"Well, at least Wade's decided not to become a military man like his Grandfather Hamilton," she groused with little grace.

Rhett closed his eyes, and his mind drifted back over the years. So much pain and hurt, followed by an even greater happiness, happiness all the more precious because of the pain. He had learned that he couldn't hold on to sorrow forever. He pictured Scarlett at the barbecue, surrounded by men, and felt the same jolt he had then. She was part of him, her heart and soul intertwined so tightly with his that the two of them had, finally, become one. Every day he was with her was richer than a lifetime without her.

He sensed her before he heard her, slipping onto the verandah and into his lap, a blanket wrapped around her.

"Good morning," she murmured, kissing him gently. "Why are you out here so early? It's cold."

"Thinking, my dear, about how happy I am. How happy we are." He wrapped her long black hair around his throat. "Despite losing Bonnie, we're still happy. That, in and of itself, is a miracle."

He felt her nod.

"And," he continued in his slow Charleston drawl, "you now understand me. Sometimes, my pet, too well."

She lifted her head and smiled at him. "Now you know how I felt all those years. I could never hide anything from you."

"True," he agreed.

They sat silently for several minutes, Rhett stroking her, Scarlett enjoying the warmth and strength of him.

Rhett suddenly rose and carried his wife back to their bed, slowly removed her nightgown and felt her tremble.

"I love you, Scarlett," he murmured. "I always have, and always will."

"And I love you," she replied, pulling him to her.

Fire ignited in Rhett's eyes. They came together slowly, with the love and familiarity of the happily married, eager to share their emotions and their souls. Rhett watched her sleep afterward, reveling in the love which had brought him home from his agonizing loneliness and despair after the loss of Bonnie. They were one, in body, soul, heart, and mind. Rhett buried his lips in her hair, shifted her slightly, and closed his eyes, contentment and love filling him.

EPILOGUE

Scarlett sat alone in their bedroom, her eyes swimming with tears. One year ago yesterday, Rhett had permanently left her. A stroke, Dr. Carter had explained, one which took her beloved quickly and painlessly. He had lived longer than most men of his time, passing at the age of seventy-one, but to Scarlett, he would always be the young, dashing, handsome man who loved her with a devotion beyond comprehension. The years had sped by, both of them living every second to the fullest, as if to make up for the dark times. Rhett frequently surprised her with trips to Europe or their favorite destination, New Orleans, or would impulsively buy her jewelry. They were, Scarlett once told him, perpetually on their honeymoon.

Scarlett brushed the tears from her face and glanced around their bedroom. Every corner of the house was filled with him, she heard his laughter everywhere, saw him in the shadows, waited for him to throw open the door and call for her. The early years of their marriage, the sad, dark years, had been exorcised, replaced with nearly three decades of love and laughter. Their children and grandchildren had begged her to live with one of them, but Scarlett stubbornly refused. This house, the house Rhett had once called a house of horrors, held too many memories, good memories which Scarlett cherished. Memories of Bonnie's running feet, Wade and Ella's laughter, Rhett's gentle teasing, Mammy's rumbled admonitions, Melly's soft voice, the births of Bonnie, Melanie, and Daniel.

Scarlett walked to her closet and reached for a faded hat box which read "Rue de la Paix" on the side, gently pulling it to her. Lifting the lid, she carefully removed a green bonnet.

"It was of dark green taffeta, lined with water silk of a pale-jade color. The ribbons that tied under the chin were as wide as her hand, and they, too, were pale green. And curled about the brim of this confection was the perkiest of green ostrich plumes."

"Whose bonnet is it?"

"It's your bonnet. Who else could wear that shade of green? Don't you think I carried the color of your eyes well in my mind?"

Scarlett seated herself at her dressing table and settled the creation on her graying hair. The middle-aged matron vanished, and she was once again a vivacious young widow, happily wearing the most delectable bonnet in all of the South. She laid her head on her arms and wept as she had not since the morning she found him so still and silent in their bed.

Eventually her tears stopped, and she wearily changed to her nightclothes. Taking the hat with her, she climbed into bed, grasping the bonnet tightly to her chest, as if by doing so, Rhett's presence would engulf her.

A sudden, sharp pain slashed through her brain, and Scarlett reached a hand to her head. She searched for the buzzer to summon Lou, then stopped abruptly.

"Scarlett, darling, come here."

It was Rhett. She sat up, the bonnet clasped in her hand, her green eyes frantically seeking him.

"My pet, we're waiting for you." His voice was low and full of love.

Suddenly she was at Tara, as it had been before the war and Reconstruction, on the sweeping front lawn of Bermuda grass, and she saw a tall, dark-haired man approach her. Scarlett lifted the skirt of her white, green-sprigged dress and ran lightly to him, the green ostrich plume of her bonnet waving as she hurried to him. Bonnie was perched on his left arm, and Rhett's right hand was extended to his wife.

"Bonnie, Bonnie, baby," cried Scarlett, kissing her daughter and brushing the black curls.

"We've been waiting," she said with a hint of impatience. "But now you're here. I love you, Mother."

"I love you, precious," Scarlett stated, smiling with happiness.

Rhett set Bonnie down and his arms wrapped around Scarlett, comforting her, giving her strength, and she lifted her face to his. He was as he had been during the war, so handsome, so dashing, so gentle and virile.

"I love you, Rhett," she murmured. "And I've missed you."

"And I love you, my darling."

He sealed her smiling lips with his.

Bonnie tugged on Rhett's jacket and frowned. He laughed happily and lifted their daughter in his arms.

"Scarlett, my dear, you're home." He kissed her again and, taking her hand, led her to the large front porch of Tara.

Her eyes opened wide and she looked up at Rhett, smiling tenderly at her. "Yes, darling, we've all been waiting," he stated.

She spied Mammy, grinning broadly, her arms extended to Bonnie, who wiggled from her father's grasp and raced to the porch. Mother, a faint smile on her lips, calm and serene. Pa, his florid face beaming with happiness that his Katie Scarlett was home. And Melly, riding across the yard from Twelve Oaks.

"I'm home," Scarlett whispered. "Home, where I belong. With you, Rhett, and my family."

Rhett's lips met hers, and it was as it had always been, his kiss making her go hot and cold and weak and dizzy, all at the same time.

"Ah, Scarlett," he murmured, "I love you. And we will never be apart again."