09 | Gone With The Wind

Mellie was siting in bed leaning against the headboard when her husband walked into her room, her husband, she smiled at that thought.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah.. why?" she looked at him afraid that he had discovered something about her talk with Andrew.

"You seem to have been crying…" that's when Mellie realized the concern in his eyes and the lack of knowledge of the real reason behind the track of tears she was now sure were on her face.

"I was just… in Teddy's room… It's all just… put together…And I did that. I don't even remember doing it. But who else would have been? Definitely not you!" her last words made him laugh as he sat next to her.

"Don't pressure yourself, baby, eventually you will. And soon enough Teddy will be here."

"I can't wait for him to come home" she said as she leaned her forehead against his.

"Soon, baby, soon." he caressed her cheek before kissing her forehead "It's gonna be alright, honey"

Mellie closed her eyes as she felt his lips against her skin. Positive. The words she had read earlier, the real reason behind her tears were echoing in her head. Positive. The man holding her in his arms was the father of all of her three children. He was the father. Her darkest moment had a bright light in the end. It was him. It had always been him. She felt relief - relieve to know that the monster wasn't the father of her first born child.

He felt her relax underneath his touch so he kissed the tipped of her nose making her giggle before taking her face with both his hand and crashing his lips on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck like her life depended on it. He tried to pass her lips and she allowed it. She had missed him. She couldn't say the reason why but she had missed him. Fitz deepened the kiss until she broke away. "I've missed you" she whispered against his lips. "I'm right here" he replied back. As those words left his mouth he realized the little lie he had just told her. He hadn't been there for her. Not in a long time. He had been away, he had been in a place in which kissing her beside a peck in the lips for the camera flashes had never crossed her mind. But now, here he was - holding her in his arms wanting nothing more than to taste her. Her and only her. Not Olivia. Mellie. The woman he had spent the last years of his life saying how much he hated. Telling himself how much he in love with another woman he was. And now here he was - wishing he had believed her when she had told him she wanted to go. But maybe if they had… he would have never held her in his arms again.

"The kids went back to school today" stated Fitz.

"I know. They came here to say their goodbyes. This house feels empty all ready."

"Don't you worry they will be here before you know it. Karen wants to spend more time with you" said Fitz as he place a piece of hair behind her ear. "C'mon" he took her hand on his.

"Where are we going, Fitz?" she asked as she followed him.

"I just hope you're hungry" she rolled her eyes as he run away from her question.

"But I'm not even dressed!" But Fitz didn't even reply, he just smiled. "Fitz!" Mellie said his name but in vain. Fitz wouldn't tell her where they were going he'd just kept on walking with a smile on his face.

"Well… since you can't remember what the last few years were you like I thought that maybe I could go down a little bit more on memory lane" his words only made Mellie wonder more about his doings. "So… I thought that we could do a picnic…" he said as lead her towards the backyard. "I wanted to go to a drive in but the Secret Service said no…"

"Fitz" Mellie was speechless as her mind traveled to a time before babies were on their horizon and the White House was just a dream they used to talk about but never though they'd have the thriven to pursue. A time in which his hand used to always be on hers and surprises were something he was always preparing. A time when he rented a convertible car and took her to a drive in movie simple because that was something she had always dreamed of doing. And here he was - trying his best to repeat the actions from the past.

"So I thought that maybe I could re-create the movie outside part…" his voice showed the fear he had of what her reaction could possible be.

"This is perfect, Fitz" her voice was hardly audible. But the smile on her face was the answer he was looking for.

"Wait" he said before turning on the film.

"Oh my God!" she gasped as the words 'Gone With The Wind' appeared in one of the walls of the White House. "Thank you" she mumbled with tears in her eyes.

Mellie leaned against Fitz' shoulder as she picked something to eat every now and then. She couldn't help but smile. This was the man he had fallen in love with but this was not the man she remembered. This was the Fitz that held her hand all day, the one that would open doors for her. The calm Fitz, the one who would talk to her not the one who would only scream at her. And although she loved this Fitz it scared to think about the changes that happened between and causes of their constant fights. Because even though she didn't remember her recent past something in her screamed about him and how different he had turned out to be. How different they had turned out to be. But for the moment she pushed those thoughts aside and just enjoyed his hand around her waist, his lips on her forehead and the fact he had chosen her favorite film. Just enjoy this, Mellie she thought to herself.

But as the movie kept on rolling his voice kept on echoing in her head and along with their fights. His words. Her own words. It was like a war was happening inside her head and she didn't have the strength to wave the white flag… and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Because all she wanted was piece of mind but that was all she wasn't able to have. Because all she wanted was to know who that woman was and why she had looked at her with a surreal look in her eyes and why was she disturbed and at the same indifferent with her presence. It was all like she knew who she was and what kind of role she played in her husband's life. "I only know that I love you!" Scarlett's words were her own. Her own certainty - that she loved the man standing next to her. But the fear of a life sustained on a lie was haunting her. "I just don't wanna go"her own was echoing in her head "You don't wanna go because you're afraid of my mistress" the picture in her mind made her look up at him.

He looked down at her and said "What?"

"Nothing" and with that she once leaned against him. But his voice was still playing in her mind like a song she couldn't stop hearing. "I love her! I'm in love with her!" She closed her eyes in the hopes it'd go away "Confess, Melody! You just married for the money?!" She shook her head but it didn't matter there was no button press. She couldn't turn it off. "The sweet lawyer who gave up her career for her husband, suffered a miscarriage and had a late life baby while first lady. That's gold! And you know how much America loves a second act! If you see her again I'll blow your mind"

"Observe my hands, my dear. I could tear you to pieces with them" as Rhett's words echoed through the White House's garden Mellie got up.

"Mels, where are you going?" asked Fitz unaware of the train of thoughts going through her mind.

"Don't call me that!" she screamed as she turned around to face him "You cheated on me! With Olivia Pope! And you flaunt that on my face!" her words hit him. This was the moment he was afraid of. "And you accused me of marrying you for your money. Really, Fitzgerald? You WERE never there! So, stop lying! Just stop!" and with those words Mellie left a speechless Fitz standing in the middle of the garden.

Sir, you are no gentleman