The usual disclaimer applies. I own nothing. Now, read it and weep! Thanks to all my unsigned reviewers, and everyone else who has read and reviewed.

On Monday afternoon the children rushed into Rhett's sitting room with Ella close on their heels. They were returning from a visit to St. Catherine's Convent to see Sister Mary Joseph. It was the first time in many years that Ella had been to Charleston, and she was eager to introduce her children and niece to their gentle great-aunt. It was also another way of keeping the boisterous youngsters occupied and the house tranquil.

Wade and Scarlett were finishing tea. Rhett was reclining on the chaise, eyes closed, but he roused when the Ella and the children burst through the door. Scarlett acknowledged the group first, waving them to sit.

"We're going to have a party tonight," she announced.

"You mean for New Year's Eve, Gran?" Michael asked.

"Not exactly, it will be a birthday party," Scarlett replied, smiling.

"But it isn't anybody's birthday," said Melanie, puzzled.

Scarlett's eyes sparkled with excitement. "No, it isn't, but we aren't all together like this very often, so to end the old century and start the new, I want to have a birthday party, to celebrate what we missed this past year," then she looked right at Rhett, "and those birthdays we won't be together to celebrate next year. So I talked to the cook this morning, and she's going to bake a cake..."

The children started rapidly firing questions at her in their excitement, and Scarlett fielded them deftly.

"Oh, Gran, red velvet, right?" broke in Cathy.

"Cathy, don't interrupt Gran," Ella quickly admonished.

"It's all right, Ella. No, Cathy, not red velvet."

"Chocolate, right, Gran? I love chocolate."

"No, Melanie, not chocolate."

"Gran, I'm the oldest and you always say the oldest gets to choose the first night at Tara," interjected Michael, not wanting to let the girls get to choose the flavor.

"Michael, we are not at Tara, but the next time you're there, we'll have chocolate, or red velvet, or whatever flavor you want. Tonight we're going to have a lemon cake."

"Lemon! Who likes lemon?" Michael asked.

Melanie said, "No one. Chocolate's the best."

Cathy added, "No, red velvet is the best cake in the world, and no one in New York has even heard of it. Can you believe it?"

"That's because Yankees don't have any taste," Melanie asserted.

"Melanie, that's uncalled for." Scarlett spoke firmly. "Rhett is the oldest one here. Let's ask him what he would like."

Rhett had been watching the exchange between Scarlett and her grandchildren with fascination. He had never seen Scarlett interact with children like this. She was lovingly indulgent and they responded to her in kind.

He finally spoke up. "I like lemon cake."

Scarlett looked at him and smiled. "Imagine that!"

Rhett covered his mouth to disguise an amused smile. Scarlett wasn't fooled and winked at him conspiratorially.

"Now, you children will need to help me prepare. Come on, we have work to do and not much time. Cathy, I want you and Melanie to find Joseph, and ask him to give you a pair of garden shears... Of course I trust them not to hurt themselves, Michael... Children, you can't all talk at once because if you do you'll give me a headache, and then I shall be very angry with you..."

Scarlett left the room and went downstairs, the three children following her, all chattering spiritedly. Rhett, Wade and Ella could hear Melanie's voice rise above the others, "Gran, you give the best parties."

Rhett nodded appreciatively. Then he looked at his grown stepchildren. "Is she always like this with your children?"

Wade smiled. "Alicia says it takes a week to bring them back to earth after they've spent a few days with Mother."

Ella added, "Mother comes alive when they're with her."

Michael poked his head back in the room, "Uncle Wade, Gran says you have to go out with me to buy a few party supplies. You better hurry, too, Gran says 'right now'."

Wade obediently rose to do his mother's bidding. "I have my marching orders!" Then he left.

"Are you tired mon beau-père? Do you want to go back to bed?" Ella asked. His eyelids drooped half-closed making him look so fatigued that most of the time she couldn't tell, but her concern for him was evident.

Rhett nodded, "Please call Joseph for me. Once he is done with whatever task Scarlett has set upon him, I'll need his assistance."

Ella took Rhett's hand and pressed it against her cheek. She smiled and spoke softly, "Whatever you wish, I'll do it for you."

He squeezed her hand affectionately. "There is something you can do for me, Ella. Go into my bedroom and look in the top drawer of the desk." Rhett instructed Ella to find him some writing paper, pen and ink, and to bring them, along with a blotter and lap desk. He needed to write two notes, one for his sister and one for his wife, while he still had the strength to hold the pen.

Rhett closed his eyes and leaned back against the chaise. Having Wade, Ella and their children here was wonderful, but also tiring. If only he weren't so weak, he could truly enjoy this company. His life was ebbing away, and he treasured these last little glimpses into the adult lives of his stepchildren.

After supper, a brief party was held in Rhett's sitting room. Scarlett and the children had worked hard to prepare for this celebration. Joseph and Ezekiel rearranged the furniture so that a round table was in the center of the large room. The girls had cut the last flowers from the garden and the blossoms were floating in a glass bowl set in the middle of the table. Streamers and balloons were attached to the window frames. Wade and Michael found a small model of an old-fashioned two-mast sailing ship, which Scarlett placed in the center of the cake. "We're sailing into the twentieth century tonight," she said as she nodded at the cake approvingly. She placed candles around the edge of the cake and lit them for the children to blow out after shouting 'Happy Birthday' and 'Happy New Year.'

The cake was cut and served with punch. Scarlett prevailed upon Rhett to eat a few bites of it, and he pronounced it the best lemon cake he had ever tasted, even though it left him feeling nauseated.

Once the dishes were cleared, Wade and Ella took the children out. Later that evening, Cathy, Michael, and Melanie danced around the garden with sparklers and lit Roman candles under Wade's watchful guidance.

Joseph and Scarlett helped Rhett to bed. He asked Scarlett to stay with him for awhile. His stomach was still upset, and he vomited the small serving of cake.

He grimaced in discomfort. "You should have made something the children would like. It was wasted on me."

"No, they have to learn sometime, life isn't about satisfying one's own desires." Scarlett winced. "I'm afraid I lost much of value learning that lesson."

She wiped his face with a cool cloth and gave Rhett a glass of water to rinse his mouth. He took deep breaths to keep the waves of nausea in check, and Scarlett stroked his hair as she held the cloth to his forehead.

"You've been so good to me since you came, Scarlett. I can never return the kindness." Her constancy was an unexpected blessing that Rhett appreciated more than he could say.

"Don't be silly," she said tenderly. "You've done much for me in the past."

Scarlett sat with him until she was sure he was asleep. Later, as the clock struck midnight and the new millennium began, Wade, Ella, and their children watched fireworks exploding over the harbor. Scarlett left them to go check on Rhett.

Asleep, it looked as though he had the pallor of death. After checking to make sure he was still breathing, she brushed a kiss across his cheek and whispered 'Happy New Year' softly next to his ear. To her surprise, he opened his eyes, reached up, pulled her head toward him and kissed her gently. She hugged him lightly, whispering her love, and he gazed lovingly at her as she straightened up, his lips moving wordlessly, emitting only a soft moan. Then he went back to sleep almost immediately.

***

She appeared, like a vision, his lost love, hovering over him. He reached for her, pulling her towards him, and kissed her. He wanted badly to tell her what he felt, but the words wouldn't come. His mouth was too dry, his tongue, furred. Then sleep reclaimed him.

***

Tears slid down Scarlett's face unchecked as she slipped out of the room to rejoin her family on the piazza. It occurred to her that she had accomplished what she yearned for with all her heart for twenty-seven years; she brought Rhett back to her side and he responded, as she always knew he would, with love. It was a bittersweet way to end the old century.

The next morning, Scarlett sat with Rhett, who was again sick to his stomach. After the third episode of vomiting he told her, "I've stopped making water." His voice was reedy and weak.

Scarlett knew from talking to Dr. Magruder that this was an ominous sign. His kidneys had stopped working, so his end was only hours, perhaps days, away. She studied his face; he was becoming more jaundiced. Pain was etched on his features. With a heavy heart, she was forced to acknowledge the inevitable. "It's time. I'll call for the doctor."

Rhett nodded his head.

Joseph telephoned the doctor's house and let him know that Captain Butler needed him. Dr. Magruder came with the medicines necessary to ease the symptoms of Rhett's last hours. He gave Scarlett explicit instructions for the administration of both preparations, wished her well, and told her to contact him at the end.

Scarlett sent word to Rosemary to come immediately. For the next day and a half she kept watch over her husband. At night, Wade or Ella would relieve her vigil so she could sleep for short periods on the cot at the foot of Rhett's bed.

Just after midnight on the third day of the new year, a noise roused Scarlett from a light sleep. Ella sat holding her stepfather's hand. Scarlett recognized the breathing pattern which precedes death, and despite the fact that she had been anticipating this for weeks, she was gripped with panic and despair. She wanted to cry out, "Don't leave me", but the man for whom those words were meant left her long ago, and she knew that nothing could alter the course of the their lives in the next few hours.

"How long has he been breathing like this?" Scarlett asked her daughter, her heart in her throat.

"About forty-five minutes," replied Ella before adding, "I didn't want to wake you yet."

Scarlett climbed onto the bed and sat close to him. Biting her lip to fight back her tears, she gathered him into her arms, kissed his brow, and encouraged him to let go. "Bonnie's waiting for you, Rhett." For the next three hours, Scarlett sat holding him, lightly stroking his hair, as his respiratory rate slowed and his breaths became increasingly shallow until they finally stopped.

Ella, still holding his hand, was weeping silently. Scarlett got up off the bed, after giving Rhett a gentle good bye kiss, and went to her stricken daughter. She embraced Ella and said, "He's happy now; I'm sure of it."

Then Scarlett took a seat by the window, looking to the east, watching for the sun to rise before alerting the servants and the rest of her family. As she waited, she felt something stir within her; it was as though the movement of Rhett's spirit brought forth the memory of an early morning such as this over thirty years ago.

Scarlett remembered she was in the middle of her pregnancy with Bonnie. The curse of morning sickness had passed. Rhett had awakened especially early and sat gently running his fingers over her cheek until she also woke up. Then he rained kisses upon her face, lips and breasts, all the while caressing her swelling abdomen, the cradle of their unborn child. He pulled her onto her side and entered her, calling her name softly. As his tempo quickened, she moved to meet his rhythm. She ran her fingers through his hair and explored the skin on his upper back and chest with her hands. Kissing his neck she tasted his saltiness, smelled his musk. After he reached his release they remained joined. He looked into her eyes and asked her tenderly, "How is our baby today?" Scarlett smiled and took his hand, placing it on the side of her belly. The baby was moving. A beautiful smile lit his face and he kissed her.

When the memory faded, an incredible feeling of peace washed over her. Like the streak of a falling star across the night sky, she realized that this sweet memory, which came swiftly, then vanished, was his spirit whispering to her: "See how much I loved you." She put her hand on her chest, as though feeling her heart as it broke into a thousand pieces, and began to cry. Ella, still in the room, came to her side and reached out to her mother. She stood, and they clutched each other tightly. "He loved me," Scarlett sobbed, "he just told me so."

Later that morning, the doctor came and prepared the death certificate. As he was about to leave, Dr. Magruder turned to Scarlett and said, "You did well, Mrs. Butler. He lasted longer than I thought possible." Scarlett took comfort from that comment; her presence might have been of benefit in some way.

Rosemary arrived three days later. Scarlett was now free to return to Georgia. Wade and the children had gone ahead several days before. Rhett left Rosemary an exhaustive checklist of things to do before closing up the house, so Scarlett and Ella stayed behind to help her tie up some loose ends.

When Scarlett and Ella appeared to say good-bye, Rosemary was in Rhett's study, going through the papers in the safe. She picked up a large folder and waved it at Scarlett. "These are some papers Rhett thought you might want."

"Could you send them to my lawyer in Atlanta?" Then curiosity got the best of her, and she asked, "What are they anyway?"

"Your marriage certificate, Bonnie's birth and death certificates. There is something else here," Rosemary said, looking a little embarrassed, "divorce papers, dated October 1886, which were never signed and filed. Are you sure you don't want to take them now?"

Scarlett stared at the folder in disbelief, amazed by the thought that Rhett had come that close to divorcing her after their explosive encounter the night of the Kentucky Derby, but somehow, something had changed his mind. With sudden clarity, she realized that had Rhett gone through with it, he would not have asked her to come here and share these last days with him, these days which had been his final gift to her, however unintended. They had managed to share a level of intimacy that had eluded them in marriage, and been more honest with one another than previously possible.

"No, Rosemary, just send them to Atlanta." Scarlett and Ella embraced Rosemary and said their good-byes.

Joseph waited for Scarlett in the entry hall, holding out an envelope for her.

"Captain Butler asked me to give this to you before you left," he said.

Scarlett made no move to take the envelope, "Thank you, Joseph. What are you going to do now?"

"Captain Butler left me some money. He told me he would. I'm going back home and buy a house, then, I'm going to find a good wife." Joseph smiled broadly.

Scarlett smiled in return, "That was very generous of him. I'm going to miss you, Joseph. Thank you for everything you did for Rhett."

"You're welcome, Missus. He was a generous man. You been good to him, too." Joseph lightly thrust the envelope toward Scarlett, with a look entreating her to take it.

Scarlett stared at the envelope. "Take it, Mother," urged Ella.

She took the envelope, looked from Joseph to Ella, and then back to the envelope in her hand. She opened it and read.

31 December 1900

Dear Scarlett,

Thank you for staying here with me these last three weeks. You've made this time easier with your care and concern for my well-being. You, your children, and grandchildren have surrounded me with love. Yours has been the greatest gift of this, or any Christmas.

Know this, and never forget; you were my one true love. I will hold you in my heart forever.

Rhett

As her eyes filled with tears, Scarlett held out the note for Ella to read. When she had finished, Ella nodded her head. "He's right, Mother. Love freely given, without expectation of anything in return, is always the greatest gift."

Joseph smiled, "Goodbye Missus Butler, Missus Connelly. Safe journey." He held the door open for the two women.

Ella linked arms with her mother as they walked toward the carriage waiting to take them to the train station, and said, "Let's go home."