Have you ever wondered just WHAT caused Scarlett to always dream that particular dream? Was it just the atrocities of the war and a ruined Tara she faced that scarred her so, or was it something else? Could it be something older than Scarlett herself, something that keeps haunting her since the very tender years of her disturbed childhood?

Read and find out.

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O'Hara's legacy

It was a dawn kissed by slivers of the palest pink rays of sunlight that welcomed the enraged cries of a newborn infant.

In a dark valley close to Jonesboro in Clayton County, a beautiful stucco house nestled lovingly by lush green lawns and flourishing trees took its first bow to the newly born baby.

Inside was a flurry of activity, with Negro servants rushing in and out of rooms as a strong-looking man puffed nervously on his spent cigar, his pale blue eyes darting between the door at the end of the hall and the window on his right.

His wife had been in labour since yesterday afternoon.They'd been sitting on the porch, admiring the quiet stillness of the last couple of hours of sunlight that touched the beautiful plantation that was Tara.Gerald breathed in deeply with a smile on his proud Irish face, thinking back to the original Tara, in his beloved County Meath.

The high Negro laughter wafting gently from the fields signalled that another quitting time at Tara was drawing close, where the field hands then retired to their homes and their families for supper.This year had seen a particularly good crop, what with the strong Georgia sun and the fresh rain that had blessed the red earth of Tara repeatedly in the past few months.Gerald reflected that it must be a sign of fate that Tara was getting ready to welcome his son, or his daughter as Mrs. O'Hara stubbornly, but not impatiently, always reminded him.

Aye, and no mistake about it, he thought, for why would this generous red earth be so bountiful and rich with blessings if not to greet the new O'Hara that would come out into the world in a few days' time?He was telling Ellen that he was sure Tara was welcoming the newly born O'Hara with her rich bountifulness, when he sputtered to a halt as he saw that his wife had grown pale and was bent at the waist, clutching her bloated stomach like a heavy load.Everything was chaos in mere minutes as the servants rushed about the place, readying their mistress for labour as the O'Hara couple waited impatiently for the doctor to arrive.

Mammy pushed Gerald firmly out of the bedroom, stating in her grumbling voice that it weren't fittin' fo to see her Miz Ellen during childbirth.

So that's it then, Gerald thought resignedly.Nothing for him to do, except wait and hope and pray to God to let him embrace his wife soon and have his child placed lovingly into his eager arms.Ellen Robilliard had been the love of his life the moment he'd seen her those years ago, and he would always love the beautiful, quietly commanding and serene presence that was his alone for ever.Now that she was giving him a child, their child, after the tragedy that befell Gerald Jr., he couldn't possibly be happier.

Gerald felt that he could love this child with all his heart; indeed the babe had held him enthralled the very first moment he'd felt it kicking in his wife's womb.The hours rushed by in a flurry that quiet evening, quickly rushing into night, which then trickled slowly to a bright morning.Gerald couldn't stand the waiting anymore, he felt if they kept him out here, in the dark, where the company of whiskey and cigars were no longer soothing, he'd turn idiot and no mistake bout it!

His stomach stopped settling long ago, at the thought of the doctor exiting the room to tell him that the babe was stillborn, or that his beloved wife had not the strength to push it and would soon die.The sun was beginning to greet the dark sky in the distance, shaping the black night into a mellow dawn of soft pink and yellow hues.

Then the sound of a baby's wails came so strongly and so unexpectedly, that Gerald didn't even realise the sun had fully risen at the exact moment the baby wailed.

The doctor was ushered out, but he barely had time to even speak a few words of congratulations to him that Mr. O'Hara was pushing Mammy firmly aside, despite her vehement protests, and rushed into the bedroom.

Ellen O'Hara lay, for the first time, dishevelled and tired in their bed, as she held a bundle of soft cloth on her arms.When Gerald stepped close, she raised her head to gaze at him and smile contentedly.The baby was tiny and perfect with a creamy complexion and a dark tuft of hair lightly covering the small head.Each tiny hand and foot was waved about and wiggled in exuberance at meeting the world for the very first time.

It was making cooing sounds, sweet little noises pouring from its prefect little red mouth. "It's a girl, Mr. O'Hara, our very first daughter."As Ellen handed the baby carefully to her husband, the baby suddenly opened its eyes to stare unfocusedly up at her father.

And Gerald O'Hara fell in love all over again.