15. Rhett
I realize as I write this that I do not want to finish this account, and similarly, I do not want to finish the year. Well, too late, Butler. 1874 is done and 1875 has begun.
I look for a resolution to my account and I find none. The days pass and January becomes February. Before I know it, summer will be upon us. Certain events will come to pass. Wade will be ready for a preparatory academy, away from his mother and home. My image of him as a boy will be forever shattered.
He'll be a young man and I must treat him as such. My Bonnie's death will be even more remote, her image less immediate. Miss Melly's death will be less raw. It has already taken on the sense of happening in another year.
All of last year, I kept time based upon Miss Melly's death, then my illness. I realized today for the first time, that my memory must now be based upon something else. Something that involves something besides our own losses, our hurts, our aging bodies. This day one year ago was February 27, 1874. Miss Melly did not see this day. Nor did Bonnie.
Today. February 27, 1875. I have a drink with Ashley Wilkes. I recall that once he seemed the very epicenter of my married life, knowing that Scarlett preferred him over me and knowing that I was powerless to do anything about it. I think about that night of the Shantytown raid. Frank Kennedy was dead and Ashley was hurt. I didn't have to take him to Belle's. I was under no obligation to save him. But I did.
I let it go. We have our brandy.
I walk into Bonnie's room, sit down on her tiny bed. After several long moments, I stand up. I leave the door open. And I walk down the hall, hearing Mammy's exalting cries.
Ashley is grinning down at me.
Then, Mammy puts a small, swaddled bundle into my arms. I barely have time to examine the dark hair on the crown of its perfectly shaped head before another is placed in my other arm. This one too, has the same black hair, the same blue eyes.
"A boy and a girl-chile, Mist' Rhett!" Mammy says.
"And Scarlett?" I ask.
"Jes' fine. Miss Scarlett's jes' fine."
Somehow, someway, it had all worked.
Note: Dear All - With this chapter, "The Year After" is now complete! Thanks so much for reading, reviewing, and submitting constructive criticism. This has been really fun and therapeutic for me to write and get my mind off of the demands of "real life". I hope that now that you've read it, you'll let me know how I did. And if you're really brave, check out my other story "It's Complicated", which puts a modern spin on the end of our favorite novel. Until next time, EV