Rhett sat an appreciated the quiet calm that was Dilcey's office. The straight lines and simple colors were a pleasing and welcome change to that of his own home ; his own " architectural horror ", as he so often referred to it. Relinquishing the total design of his home to his wife, was one decision Rhett truly regretted. Her sense of style was not just lacking ….. it was completely nonexistent. The only criteria a piece of furniture, drapery, or art need meet to be included in his home , was that it was ridiculously expensive. The result was a home that was a jumble of styles , pairings, and colors. He really couldn't complain . He was well aware of her decoration skills - or lack thereof - well before they were married; her handiwork being quite visible in the home she shared with Frank.

The pair hadn't met with Dilcey in a few months. Ella's graduation and the entire fiasco with the after party coupled with Wade's sudden engagement announcement had thwarted their typically scheduled monthly meeting time, causing Rhett to now appreciate the time spent in this soothing environment.

" I haven't seen you two in a while. How's everything been ?" Dilcey asked with a smile.

Scarlett's strained body language spoke volumes even though she remained verbally silent.

Rhett spoke up , piercing the tense silence with a terse ," Fine…Everything's been fine".

Scarlett released her withheld breath in frustration . " That's not true. Rhett's version of the truth is warped by misconceptions aimed at self-preservation….as usual…. Things are not well at all ."

She leaned forward, her arms crossed defiantly across her chest. " Our life …. Is a complete …."

"Piece of shit ?", Rhett finished her sentence for her.

Scarlett glanced over to her husband. " I was going to say mess, but since you've said it first , shit works just as well. "

" How so ? " Dilcey asked as she wrote notes down in her blue journal.

That blue journal…. Scarlett so wanted to get her hands on the notes Dilcey had written over the years about them in it. She could picture it now :

Scarlett Butler – loving, Kind, and patient wife, so horribly deceived by husband :a gorgeous southern belle, appearing to be only 25

Rhett Butler – lying, cheating, asshole : undeserving of the aforementioned goddess of beauty that is his wife, appears to be a senior citizen

She smiled at the thought before continuing ..

" Ella graduated" she said with a hint of sadness in her voice .

She knew she be happy and excited for her eldest daughter , but she couldn't help succumb to the pain she felt each time she thought about the limited time Ella would be living at home or recalled the slow process in which Ella's belongings began being nestled into carboard boxes , destined for either storage or her new apartment near campus.

She was extremely proud of Ella though; many people , herself included – she shamefully admitted to herself - , did not think Ella, with her ADHD barely regulated with even the strongest of medication , would have come this far academically. She had defied the odds, and now with her recently acquired driver's license, was ready to leave the nest to set on her own life adventures.

Her Ella, her sweet baby Ella, her little red headed shadow….it was crushing Scarlett to let her go.

Dilcey listened , nodding her head in understanding. A mother herself, she understood the pain Scarlett felt. Her Pricilla , a close friend of Bonnie Butler, was still foolish and immature ; a few years away from leaving for college , but Dilcey could not even imagine her home without her being in it.

" How does that make you feel ? " Dilcey asked Scarlett, who casting her eyes downward, poorly disguised the tears filling her eyes.

Scarlett attempted to swallow her tears before answering. She was such an emotional mess these days ; and she hated it. She knew she wasn't pregnant (thank God Rhett had agreed to a vasectomy after Gerry was born) and it wasn't time for her period : so she had concluded that the only other explanations were that she was gearing up for a mental breakdown or experiencing the early onset of menopause…. Given the two choices , she hoped for the mental breakdown..

" I'm fine" she lied .

Dilcey asked her again , this time her voice softer . " Scarlett, how does this make you feel ?"

Scarlett looked up , her green eyes overflowing with tears. " I feel HORRIBLE about it ! I'm losing her Dilcey.. LOSING her! She's going away , moving away…..and It kills me! …. IT KILLS ME when I think of her not being home with us ….when I think of her room empty.. her chair at dinner , vacant. Not having her there …. Will be too much for me ", she said through her tears. "She's my heart Dilcey… I don't think I will ever get over this."

She then softly added , " It's all my fault….it's my fault my children want to get away."

" Scarlett " Dilcey calmly stated " None of this is your fault - we've been through this before. And you will get through this. You've gotten through much worse before"

Scarlett squared her shoulders with a newfound strength. " You're right Dilcey. It isn't my fault; it's Rhett's ".

Rhett jerked his head around to face his wife. " How in the hell is this my fault ?".

Wiping the bits of smeared eye makeup off her face , she glared at her husband. " You don't even TRY with Wade and Ella ! You know your relationship with them is not what it should be , and you never even try to repair it. Don't you see that they want to leave because of you ? Because of what happened between us ? They can't forget what happened, and they can't forgive you… and you make zero effort to change that! "

" Scarlett, I cannot make them embrace me like they used to. They're both adults ; they can't be cajoled into having a relationship with someone. If they hate me, then so be it ."

Dilcey sat silently observing the exchange between the two of them, writing sporadic notes in her journal.

" They loved you once Rhett, remember? Wade thought you were greatest man alive and Ella thought of you as a second father"

" I loved them too " he said sorrowfully. He did. He loved the two of them immensely. He never thought of them any differently than Bonnie in those early years. In his opinion back then, he had not one, but three children. It didn't matter that they did not share his last name, Ella and Wade were his children too.

Scarlett furrowed her brows at him. For someone so intelligent, he could be quite ignorant at times.

" I know this is hard for you to grasp Rhett , but they will always love me best. I am their mother and when they witnessed what went on between us, they naturally took my side and saw you as the villain. You cannot blame them for that, they were children. But you, as the ADULT, should have addressed these issue with them long ago and tried to repair the relationship. Instead, you couldn't bring yourself to talk to them about it ; your pride and shame forced you to push it under the rug thinking that if you ignored it , all the anger and hatred they felt would vanish, that the more THINGS that you BOUGHT them would make them love you again. Well, it didn't work out that way, I knew it wouldn't : which is why I tried to tell you over and over again throughout the years , and now they just want to get away…. from BOTH of us ."

Dilcey looked up from her notepad." Rhett, how do those accusations make you feel ? Do you agree with them ?"

He felt as though he were punched in the stomach and the air had been knocked out of him. Of course he knew why Wade and Ella felt this way. Scarlett was right, it was his fault. He knew they loathed him and he knew the reason why , but he was too scared and ashamed to even mention it to anyone, much less talk about it with his stepchildren.

" It makes me feel ashamed…. And guilty…. I agree with everything Scarlett said. They've seen terrible things , things that no child should see. "

Although Scarlett and Rhett had long ago worked through this part of their past, the trauma it caused the children was never discussed. Dilcey didn't want to push the couple too far in the beginning, instead focusing on the damage caused by infidelity and loss; knowing all the while that in time they would have to work through the uncomfortable issue of the way their actions and decisions had affected their children.

The look on Scarlett's face told him that, she too, hated reliving this part of their past. Like him, she would never forget it. And although she forgave her husband long ago, part of her still harbored anger and resentment. Some wounds are just too deep.

v

The Butler marriage was one that could only be described as unique. The couple had so hastily married, it was a great shock to all who knew them. To the outward observer, they truly seemed to hate one another. So when the most distinguished residents of Georgia began receiving wedding invitations to the nuptials of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, they were aghast.

But then, soon after the wedding, things seemed to soften between the couple , they seemed almost as if they were in love. People began to think that maybe they would work out after all . Scarlett was assuredly happier … and nicer, and Rhett walked as if he were on cloud nine.

Yet, soon after Bonnie was born, a tense atmosphere began to encircle the Butler mansion on Peachtree street. Rumors began swirling around town suggesting infidelity on both of their parts and of domestic violence in the home.

Then , during the same time their time their marriage was teetering on the precipice of disaster, right before the terrible events that caused the current dissension in the relationship between Rhett and his step- children, something so traumatic happened that pushed their marriage over the edge, something so devastating that Scarlett's world came crashing down , wounding her with a fissure so deep , that she would never fully recover.

v

Through the years, Melanie Wilkes had turned from a hated adversary into a confidant and ultimately, into that of a friend. This change came slowly, taking years for the two women to begin to understand and appreciate each other for who they were. But the change did come; and the two women, who were so completely different in every physical and emotional way, created between them a relationship that was so much deeper than that of just friends.

In Scarlett's life only she had only ever relied on two people; Mammy …. And Melanie. Melanie, with her sweet natured, considerate self, was the one person she could always count on, the one person who could talk her down from a murderous rage aimed at her ex-husband or some other foe, the one who -much to Scarlett's annoyance-pointed out the positives that could be found in every situation, the one who never let Scarlett feel sorry for herself, and the one person who loved her for the spoiled , prissy, bitch that she could be.

Of course, they had disagreements. Like all sisters, there were moments of frustration; and as is so often the way with sisters , a tearful apologetic reunion soon followed.

Even the fact that Scarlett had been madly in love with Ashley for years , continuing even after his marriage to Melanie, was now a common source of amusement for the pair. Their aunt Pitty was always pushed into one of her swooning spells by the ribald verbiage that the two would use about that time when she was in their presence.

" I don't think Ashley would have known what to do , married to such a hard headed floozy like you" Melanie teased as she and Scarlett attempted to set up Netflix on their Aunt's new smart TV.

" I'm not hard headed; I'm right… Uncle Peter, tell Pollyanna over here that the T.V has to be set on Alt for this to work !" she said as she playfully shoved Melanie, swatting her with the remote. " Girls, " their uncle Peter, usually so patient with his favorite nieces, declared in frustration, "I don't know what the heck it has to be set on. All these new buttons just confuse me. I already tole' Pitty this was a waste of money."

" Pity! What channel this thing need to be on ? "he yelled up the stairs to his already flustered wife.

" You'll love Netflix Uncle Peter" Melanie sweetly cooed . " And , you can watch all the dirty movies you want when Auntie goes to bed … and she'll never know…" added Scarlett.

" Scarlett speaks from experience , of course" laughed Melanie.

Pitty hastily came downstairs to offer no assistance whatsoever, and in Scarlett's opinion, just got in the way.

" Scarlett darling, did you read the instructions? "

" I don't need to read the instructions Auntie , I know how to do this, I've done it on my own television… which is what I've been trying to tell Melly for hours !" Scarlett said as she fumbled with the electric outlet located behind the massive flat screen.

" I told you uncle Peter, she did it to set up those dirty channels without Rhett knowing….." Melanie said in mocked indignation.

Melanie, growing slightly impatient with Scalrlett's reluctance to accept any guidance, noticed a yellow cord from the cable box and estimated that it must belong in the yellow port on the side of the TV. When she quickly plugged it in, before Scarlett could notice, a small jolt of electricity was sent to her tiny hands.

Jumping back, she tightly gripped her tingling fingers with her hand. Pitty reacted in sheer despair as if Melanie had just been severely injured while Scarlett just laughed .

" You better watch it Melly, because if you electrocute yourself , I'll be forced to leave Rhett and marry Ashley ;whether he can handle me or not. "

Melanie laughed at the absurdity of it. If ever two people were mismatched, it was Scarlett and Ashley.

" Okay, maybe not marry him " she agreed " but I'd be forced to at least give him the best twenty minutes of his life " she said with a playful wink.

Pitty began fanning herself in moral indignation. " Girls ! Honestly! " ,she admonished.

" You wouldn't even be able to do that" Melanie laughed " Twenty minutes ? More like ten. "

Melanie, Scarlett, and their Uncle Peter began laughing so hard, that the quest to link Netflix to the TV was all but forgotten.

" Peter ! Don't encourage them ! " was Pitty's final reprimand to her mischievous nieces and urging husband.

v

This was one of the last happy memories the two women would share together. Little did they know that in less than two years, these two women, the two who had in years, never gone a single day without some form of communication with each other, who shared every minute detail of each other's lives, who had suffered and sacrificed so much together, would be forced to separate.

When Melanie was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, it was so sudden that many people refused to accept is as reality. Ashley certainly didn't want to think about it, preferring to instead live in his own created world of books and gentility ,and Beau was far too young to understand. Her sister in laws, Honey and India ,did little more than express how sorry they were for her , and her Aunt Pitty had too childish of a mind to comprehend the severity of it all.

But there was Scarlett; she always had her. It was Scarlett who stood by her side, encouraging her to be strong and fight. Scarlett went with her to every doctor's appointment, every chemo treatment, every procedure; she was the one who kept track of the medicine she was taking, setting aside which pills needed to be taken at what time on what day; and when Melanie was just too tired to keep going, Scarlett was there to push her , in her typical headstrong way , to not give up.

To others, especially Ashley and Beau, Melanie never showed any indication of her fears or of the sadness she felt when she thought about the moments she knew she would miss . She acted as though cancer was just another little setback in life that she would easily overcome.

But to Scarlett , she let her fears about death and pain become known. She told her she was afraid to die, afraid to leave her little boy without his mother, afraid to abandon her tender-hearted husband. She was scared of the physical pain she would assuredly endure and of the complete loss of her independence.

And when her hair began to fall out in large clumps, she was consumed by terror for the first time in her young life; clinging to Scarlett as if she were her only life raft in the turbulent and engulfing waters of desperation she was in. Scarlett soothed her fears, vowing to never, even for once, leave her side; letting her know she would not go through this alone.

And as the months passed, and Melanie's condition became worse and worse, Scarlett practically lived at the Wilkes' home; taking care of Melanie in every way she needed. When Melanie was too weak to even perform basic personal matters such as bathing or going to the restroom, Scarlett helped her, never once making her feel uncomfortable or humiliated. When she couldn't bring herself to eat even the smallest bite of food, Scarlett would give her miniscule bites of food for hours, not caring how long it would take to get at least some nutrition in her sick little body. She entertained her everyday with the town gossip or told her the ribald jokes she had heard from Rhett; keeping her company for hours, lying with her in bed watching old Molly Ringwald movies or painting her fingers and toes, savoring each moment they had left together. Sometimes they would cry together, realizing for the first time , just how short life truly was or just spend hours reliving old memories until those tears of sadness changed into tears of laughter.

That last day … the last day that Melanie was able to speak to her, Scarlett found her that morning relaxing in her bedroom , seated in a large glider placed near the window.

She looked awful , her skin almost appearing to be grey . Her sunken in cheekbones reached almost all the way to her big beautiful brown eyes, causing her to look much older than what she was. She was so thin too. Always petite, she was now so tiny that she had now begun to physically slip away.

Their last hope, the new combination of chemotherapy and medication, the prayed for miracle worker, wasn't working - there was little else they could do to save her. The doctors had advised Ashley that they could only make her comfortable for the time she had left. She was dying ….. and she knew it

Melanie's face was turned away from her as she entered the room, causing Scarlett to panic at the thought that she was dead. " Melly ? ", Scarlett said softly.

Melanie turned to face her and gave a weak smile.

Just the image of her like this, her best friend and most treasured companion - the one person who loved her despite all her bad behavior- looking so sick and weak , was hard for Scarlett to take in. She knew that Melly would be leaving her soon, but she refused to think about it. She rather push the thought away, vowing to think about it tomorrow.

She continually reminded herself that she had to be strong for Melly, that Melly needed her now more than ever ; but in all honesty, she too was collapsing inwardly in despair. She needed Melly, she was so much more than a best friend ever could be, and the thought of living the rest of her life without her by her side was proving to be the one thing that would overtake the determined and resilient Scarlett O' Hara.

"Guess who I ran into at the store?" Scarlett said in a jovial voice while clearing the books, cups, and medicine strewn along the bureau and side table, trying to lighten the mood in the room. " You remember Maybelle's weird looking husband?… the one with those pants that look like ladies' red flannel underwear ?"

Melanie silently turned to face the window again. She had been sequestered away in her bedroom for what had seemed like an eternity and missed the sunshine desperately. Scarlett noticed the way Melanie closed her eyes, enjoying the sun's rays on her face; taking in what she could of the beautiful spring weather.

"Come on" Scarlett said kneeling before her. " I'm taking you outside ".

" But the Dr. said I couldn't "was Melanie's weak reply.

" Melanie Wilkes, when was the last time you knew me to follow anyone's instructions?" she said with a smile.

" How will I get downstairs.. I don't think… I just can't ….make it Scarlett.."

" That's why I'm going to carry you" Scarlett said as she easily lifted up Melanie's small frame from the chair.

Melanie laughed at Scarlett's suggestion. "You can't carry me !"

" I'll have you know I lug Wade's big butt up the stairs to bed most nights . If I can carry him , I can surely carry you "

"Let me carry you for once", Scarlett thought; "for all the times in my life that you carried me."

Scarlett was shocked at how light Melanie was. She knew from her gaunt appearance that she would be easy to carry, but the actual weight of her body mass in her arms stunned her. She felt as if she were carrying two-year-old Bonnie.

Scarlett lamented on the unfairness of it all. Melly was the best person she knew, the best she'd ever known in her entire life . Why was this happening to her? Why was she the one suffering through this? She, of all people , didn't deserve this .

Once outside, she gently placed her on the plush chaise that sat nestled under the large oak tree in her beloved garden.

Instantly Melanie let out a sigh of contentment. The crisp spring air was mixed with the sweet smell of fresh cut grass and honeysuckle, flowers she had planted with Beau the Spring before. She breathed the air in with big gulps, savoring the warmth of the sun on her body while listening to the soft rustle of leaves and the sounds of children playing in the distance.

Scarlett, not wanting to interrupt her peaceful moment, quietly sat in the chair beside her. She soon felt the wetness of tears falling onto her cheeks ; the reality of Melanie's imminent passing was , at this moment, more tangible than it had ever been. There was no ignoring it now, no thinking about it tomorrow…. Melanie was dying.

She quickly moved to wipe her tears away, before Melanie could take notice and become upset…but she couldn't. She couldn't stop them from falling.

"Scarlett?" Melanie quietly said as she reached for her hand.

The dam of emotion, the ocean of sadness that Scarlett had been pushing back, began to run over. " How do I live without you , Melly ? How can I possibly go on without you in my life? I just can't …. I can't lose you.. I won't survive. I don't think I could live my life without you in it "

Melanie smiled tenderly, her own tears spilling down her cheeks and nose she gripped Scarlett's hand as tightly as she could. " You are the strongest person I know ,Scarlett O'Hara. Stronger than even you realize. "

"I know that I'm going to die soon, that I'm never going to see my son fall in love, graduate from college, or get married. I'll never grow old with my husband, hold my grandbabies…. or witness the day you actually listen to someone else's advice….But I can handle that, I can handle all of that because I know that you'll still be here when I'm gone. You, with your typical hard headed self, will be here keeping everything together, being a second mother to Beau, making sure Ashley survives, keeping Honey and India in check, driving Aunt Pitty crazy... you'll still be here. And because of that, a part of me will be here too… Don't you see, you're in me Scarlett and I'm in you.

I wish you could see yourself the way I see you; strong, smart, and kind. I'm glad things happened the way they did. That Charlie met you, that you became pregnant with Wade like you did, and even for your initial obsession with Ashley. It's because of those things that I was given one of the best gifts I had ever received … it's because of those things that I met you … met my sister.. And ,I'm not really leaving you when you think about it. I'll be the first person you see when you open your eyes in heaven…. I promise you, I will be there waiting for you"

It was in that moment that the two women who had first been filled with preconceived feelings of hatred and disdain for the other , who had for years loved the same man, the pair who would be eventually united in the bond of chosen sisterhood, embraced for the very last time; understanding that they would soon be separated by death, and that their bond, that unshakable connection consisting of the force of Scarlett O' Hara and the gentleness of Melanie Hamilton would soon be no more.

To be continued( this chapter continues )…. AND REMEMBER , TO COMMENT IS TO LOVE : )