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It had only taken about two weeks since Rhett's arrival at the Battery Street house for the busy bodies to start the gossip. Scarlett's Aunts Eulalie and Pauline were constantly bombarded with pointed questions regarding their nephew's presence without his wife and stepchildren. Of course they had no answers and wrote Scarlett to inquire on the nature of Rhett's visit. The only explanation they received was a terse note stating that Rhett had business interests in Charleston and that Scarlett could not leave the store and the children could not be taken from school at this time. They were asked to please dispel any rumors that were circulating and that all was well. This gave the Aunts very little relief but provided them with written documentation that all was well with their eldest niece.

If there was anything going on other than what Scarlett explained certainly the charming Captain Butler and his gracious mother were not giving away that information. Eleanor was as cheery as ever at tea and their bridge club meetings. Rhett was never seen without a disarming devilish smile. It was easy to believe that all was well with the Atlanta Butlers. However, two weeks turned into four and one month turned into two and Eulalie and Pauline's constant protests that all was well with Scarlett and Rhett soon fell on deaf ears. Of course Rhett was not immune to the glances and whispers when he took his mother to dinner or for their Sunday carriage rides. However, if he could endure the looks and whispers about Scarlett and Ashley with indifference, deflecting the sting of gossip regarding his failure of a marriage would be child's play.

The gossip was one thing, the reoccurring dreams, nay nightmares, were another. It always started the same. The fog around the Peachtree Street house was so thick it was suffocating. This Rhett surmised most likely subconsciously entered his sleep from his memory of Scarlett's old night terrors. At any rate, it always started with the fog. Then he could hear her, her voice in the distance, calling him to her like a siren's song. He was powerless to ignore it and was drawn to its sound, not seeing but somehow knowing exactly where to find the source of the voice.

"Rhett, darling. I'm here Rhett," she cooed. "Darling I have missed you! Come to me, Rhett." Every time he would run through the fog until he could make out her form. He would reach out to her, longing to touch her smooth perfect skin, to smell the lemon verbena in her hair to crush his lips to hers until they were both breathless and satisfied. He would get just close enough to take her hand only to find that she was not alone. She was there, embracing her lover, Ashley Wilkes and they were laughing at him. Laughing as he fell to his knees having the wind rush from his lungs and his heart twist inside his chest. Then they would turn, hand in hand and leave him, disappearing into the fog. Every time he would sit up in bed screaming her name, beads of sweat trickling down his face. He thought that the longer he stayed away from Scarlett, the dreams would eventually fade. He was wrong. He cursed her and cursed himself for not being able to extract her from his brain. Damn her for telling him she loved him just as he was leaving. Why couldn't she just leave him alone to get on with his life? How could she have this affect on him from hundreds of miles away? He would forget her, he had to forget her she was his poison and she was slowly but surely killing him. He told her he would return enough to keep the Atlanta gossips at bay; that was a mistake. He would be better to never see her again and to divorce her quietly. Unfortunately for Rhett, Scarlett was not the only woman he could never refuse for his mother had other plans for her son.

Two weeks before Christmas, Eleanor decided she had had enough. It would be difficult to squelch talk over the holiday if Rhett remained in Charleston without his family. There was already no excuse for Scarlett and the children to not have joined Rhett or for him to be back in Atlanta. His business had slowed as it does near Christmas and the children were on holiday break. So Eleanor screwed courage her in place and approached the subject with her son one evening at dinner.

"Rhett, I was thinking." She began.

"A very dangerous occupation in my personal experience", Rhett teased his mother as he looked up from his plate.

Eleanor would not be distracted. "Yes, well at-any-rate, I was thinking that it might be nice to have Scarlett and the children here for Christmas." There, she had said it. She eyed him cautiously and held her breath.

Rhett peered at his mother over his raised bourbon glass. He swallowed the hot liquid and gently placed the glass on the table. Every movement calculated and controlled. "I am not sure that is such a great idea, mother." He spoke politely but he eyes were eerily dark.

Eleanor had decided it was too late to turn back and she knew she would never have the courage to bring up the subject again. "Well, why ever not darling? You are quite finished with your business affairs and the children are out of school until the New Year, I would love to have children in the house again for Christmas. I could throw a large party and decorate like I did when you, Ross and Rosemary were small. Please Rhett, I have these beautiful grandchildren that I can't even spoil and Ross and Caroline won't marry for another 6 months and Rosemary is still in school for another year. And well, I am not getting any younger Rhett. While your father was alive I knew there was no chance that he would allow me to have a relationship with your children."

Rhett stared at the amber liquid as he swirled it around in the glass. The candlelight cast a strange glow on his face and his eyes became narrow and brooding. "They are not my children, mother, they are Scarlett's. You have never been a simpleton, it is one the reasons I love you so much. You are fully aware that Scarlett coming here for Christmas is not possible. Please, don't push me on this issue." He lifted his eyes to meet Eleanor's.

She took in a quick breath. Never before had she seen such pain mixed with anger. She knew he was holding his temper out of respect for her. Knew that to continue pressing the issue of Scarlett visiting would be madness but this was her house and if he was going to stay with her and insist on subjecting her to the ridicule and gossip of Charleston, she would know exactly what was going on with her son.

"You're right, Rhett, I am not a simpleton so stop treating like one. I want to be able to help you. I know something is not right between you and Scarlett. I have known ever since Bonnie's funeral. But I also know that you love her. I don't care how much you try to deny it or put on a false air for all of Charleston, I am your mother and I know you! I will not tolerate being lied to Rhett Kincade Butler, and I will not go on dispelling rumors to save your feelings. If you won't tell me what is going on with you and Scarlett, then maybe she will! Now, if you will excuse me, I have lost my appetite." Eleanor placed her napkin on her plate and stood up from the table to her full height, squaring her shoulders. Without another word or glance at Rhett, she walked out of the dining room. Only flinching on the stairs when she heard Rhett's glass explode as it hit the marbled fireplace.

Rhett stormed out of his mother's house and walked down toward the river. He needed to get out. The walls were closing in on him and he was terribly close to saying something to Eleanor that he would likely regret for the rest of his life. Why did all the women in his life insist on tormenting him? He could give a damn if all of Charleston knew that he and Scarlett were headed for a divorce. Hell, he would put an official announcement in the Gazette if that would give him peace and keep the old cats from worrying his mother with gossip. He reached the spot at the river that been his secret place when his father was being particularly harsh. He would run from their old house to the point at the river where a large willow tree stretched its branches to break the plane in the water. The tree had been there for as long as Rhett could remember. When he was smaller he could hide from his father in the hollowed out section of the trunk that presumably had been hit by lightening at some point. He smiled when he thought of the many times he hid in that tree.

Rhett sat down on the tree's roots that extended out toward the river. He lit a cigar and inhaled the smoke from the sweet cherry tobacco. He exhaled hard and watched as the smoke floated across the water catching the moonlight as it went, finally disappearing into oblivion. For a moment he thought how he envied that smoke. The idea of disappearing in a puff of smoke was extremely appealing to him right now. He inhaled again and watched the smoke. With each dissipating cloud of smoke his anger with his mother subsided. He knew she was right, it wasn't fair for him to keep his relationship with Scarlett a secret from his mother. She needed to know the truth, or at least the important part of the truth, so that she could at least defend herself from the busy bodies. Rhett scratched his chin with his thumb wondering how he got to this point. How did he let one person have so much power over him? At least she is a worthy adversary he thought to himself.

His mind drifted back to the night he left Scarlett. It was the first time he let himself think about that night. He was afraid that if he gave it any time at all that he would realize he made a huge mistake and would hop the first train back to Atlanta begging forgiveness. But tonight he was tired fighting and he allowed his heart rule his mind. She looked so sad that night, returning from Melanie's deathbed, realizing too late how much she loved her, how important she was to Scarlett. Of course Rhett always knew it. He knew that Scarlett cared more for Melanie than she would ever admit. He thought about how desperate she looked as he left her at the door of their house. Even with a face swollen by tears she was beautiful. The redness of her eyes only intensified their emerald green.

"But I love you!" she cried. "If you leave, where will I go, what will I do?" It had taken everything he had not to crush her to him then. Not to take her up the stairs the way he did the night of Ashley's damned birthday party and make love to her until she begged him for mercy. She was so convincing with her plea. He chuckled, what a child she was. Thinking that telling him what he wanted to hear would change his mind. Damn her! Why couldn't he stop thinking about her, stop thinking about her children…no, his children. His mother was right on that count, they were for all intents and purposes her grandchildren. After all the years of living under his father's thumb not being able to spent time with Bonnie while she was alive, how could he deny her a relationship with Wade and Ella?

Those children had been through enough, never knowing their real fathers, having a mother that did not show affection in the traditional way, not having Scarlett's parents, losing their little sister and now…..Rhett threw his cigar in the river and watched as the red ember was extinguished and engulfed by the murky water. He ran a shaking hand through his thick dark hair. And now it was his fault that Wade and Ella lost the only father they ever really knew. He'd be damned to do that to them. He would not abandon them the way his father abandoned him. Rhett stood and made his way back to the house. Regardless of his issues with Scarlett, he had an obligation to Wade and Ella and he intended to fulfill this obligation no matter how much pain it caused him.

He rounded the street to the house, which was now dark except for the gas porch light that flickered in the breeze. The house was still like a tomb. His mother was right; it might be nice to have children around for Christmas. He walked up the stairs and gently knocked on his mother's bedroom door. Eleanor opened the door a crack to see Rhett standing outside, he had a strange look on his face. Not so much defeat but resignation and something else she couldn't quite place. "Yes, Rhett?" She said. He shifted his feet and looked down at his hands. "I want to apologize, mother. I have thought about it and you are right. Wade and Ella are my children…..your grandchildren and I have no right to keep you from them. You should write Scarlett tomorrow and invite her and the children to spend the holidays with us if you like. I doubt she will come, but I promise not to stand in your way of getting to know Wade and Ella. They have been through enough and deserve some normalcy in their lives. If that is possible."

Eleanor grabbed Rhett's hand causing him to look up. "Thank you, dear. I will write to her in the morning." Giving his hand a squeeze, she released him and closed the door. Rhett stood outside her door contemplating what he had just done. Slowly he turned making his way to his bedroom, fell on the bed and into a deep well-deserved sleep without demons in the mist.