Based on how the majority voted (ranking them) if anyone wants to amend their single votes to ranks, feel free to do so. Currently 3 has a slight lead. Lol or actually vote instead of saying any. Lol. You guys are the best. I really appreciate all the support.
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Part Twenty Seven
Early May 1873
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Scarlett found it bizarre how their lives continued on without Melly. More often than not they didn't bother returning Beau to his father's house at night and there was talk of letting the house go and the Wilkes moving in with Aunt Pittypat.
Scarlett knew from Leticia that Ashley often didn't turn up at the mills and when he did he was generally did more harm than good. Months prior Percy and Leticia had convinced her to allow them to become partners with her of the mills and they had used their capital to construct a third. They were well on their way to a lumber monopoly in Atlanta. Percy and Rhett always seemed to be having a grand old time with their investments and would often spend hours in Rhett's office discussing and handling them. It was certainly useful for Rhett to have a partner in projects since he hadn't left Scarlett since the discovery of the twins. They had more than enough money to last through their lives, but he still enjoyed the thrill of making more.
All of Melly's friends had stopped by and kept stopping by as they declared they had to keep checking on Miss Melly's dearest sister.
Scarlett even found herself sewing. She found herself on task making sure the limbs were actually even and not sewing for the sake of doing something with her hands. There was no one else to lovingly stitch her children's layette, no one else who could put in the fine details on the trim. Only a gently bred woman, or a woman who made it her craft could accomplish the task.
More often that not the world continued on as if Melly had never been a part of it.
Scarlett couldn't wait for July, to the babies being born and getting to retire to the country for the remaining parts of summer. Rhett had refused to even entertain the idea of Scarlett descending on the country while expecting twins. No, the babies would be born in Atlanta where Dr. Meade could reach them in under a half hour, where there were other doctors he could call upon.
Scarlett accepted her husband's worry with slight amusement as her pregnancy proceeded normally aside from the added discomfort of carrying two. She allowed Rhett to lead their lives, she spent her free time consulting with the architect and manager Rhett had hired for the Charleston house he had acquired. Ensuring everything would be done to her exacting details, despite being hundreds of miles away when it would all be done.
She hadn't noticed that her husband had given her a project to keep her occupied, she had simply been content to be occupied.
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May 20th 1873
Atlanta
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The mood of Scarlett's birthing room was joyful despite the serious nature of the tasks still at hand.
Their son was born into Dr. Meade's steady hands after five hours of labor. His hair was dark and his eyes were a pale bluish gray, that newborn shade, which could allow them to develop into anything.
With Rhett by her side as he had been throughout it all, she could have spent hours looking at their new son, examining his every feature. However, their next child demanded she relinquish the newborn to Mammy as she focused on bringing them into the world as well.
In between contractions she found herself smiling as she looked over at Mammy with the baby in her arms. What had been hard only a half hour earlier now seemed more than bearable, she couldn't wait to have them both in her arms.
She was tired, but excited when she began to push again, as she reached the end of the long road and home was finally in sight.
She couldn't quite understand Dr. Meade's demand for her to stop pushing, she couldn't quite understand Mammy passing the baby off to Prissy. She faced an unbearable pain that went against everything natural as she refused to allow her body to bear down, then there was a relief in the room as Dr. Meade declared the baby to be free and he ordered her to push and he wouldn't let her stop pushing. She was crying, but he kept demanding she not stop. No one was focused on her, all the attention was focused on the baby coming from her body.
There wasn't relief as the pain finally stopped. No one took their eyes away from the end of the bed. No one appeared to breathe as the baby took no breath. There were frantic words and actions from Dr. Meade and Mammy, eventually they stopped and the world grew still.
It was Mammy's cry that made Scarlett understand the words coming out of Dr. Meade's mouth. The baby was dead. Her baby was dead.