My Little Friend

Chapter 14

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

Gladys turned toward the inquiring voice which it turned out, belonged to a groundskeeper.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, though it was obvious that nothing was.

"Yes," Gladys said nevertheless. "She's a just a bit upset right now. We're fine, sir."

"Are you sure?" He spoke over Lynn Rose's shrill waves of mourning.

"Yes. We won't be very long at all."

Gladys was overwhelmed with relief when the man actually did leave. It took a few long, agonizing minutes before Lynn Rose's sobs ebbed to whimpers. "I take them please?"

It would be so much easier if they didn't have to go overseas; if she could promise that they could come back every day if she wanted to.

Gladys silently cursed herself for agreeing to do this even though she knew in her heart that it wasn't a good idea.

"But you still have the picture," Gladys said gently, fingers running through hair that was perpetually tangled when not braided.

"Picture?" Lynn Rose echoed, voice breaking slightly.

"Yes. The picture of your mommy. Don't you remember?"

Lynn Rose looked up, lips popping open as a whimper escaped. "I didn't want it," she then burst out, once again on the verge of hysteria.

This time Gladys scooped her up without thinking, paying no mind to the dirt that promptly transferred from Lynn Rose's clothes to her own. "We still have it, you silly girl. We saved it for you and you can have it to keep forever."

Lynn Rose made an attempt to answer, but no words came.

"Do you want to go back to Graceland now?" Gladys asked, her voice no more than a whisper. "Grandma Dodger is makin' some supper and we can check if Elvis sent us a letter."

"O-kay." Gladys stood with the child in her arms. Lynn Rose clung to her like a spider monkey as Gladys carried her out of the cemetery. Occasional sobs wrinkled her breathing, but she was beginning to grow calm again.

Vernon did not utter a single word when they reached the car, but he held open the door for them so they could slide inside.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

When the phone rang, Gladys thought that it was another fan who had gotten a hold of their supposedly unlisted number somehow.

"Elvis?" Lynn Rose squealed, dancing around the room in her nightgown, long, wet hair cascading down her back.

"I don't think so. Now we're gonna let—"

Before Gladys could say anything else, Lynn Rose had grabbed hold of the phone and squealed, "Elvis! Elvis? Hi Elvis!" Gladys waited for her face to fall, but a wide smile spread over her features instead. "Elvis, it's loud. There's a loud noise."

"Now, let me talk to him," Gladys said, making Lynn Rose whimper.

"But I'm talkin' to him," she protested, jutting out her bottom lip at Gladys. Elvis must have somehow caught some of the conversation, because Lynn Rose muttered a reluctant "okay" and then held the receiver out to Gladys.

Gladys heard the 'loud noise' Lynn Rose had been referring to immediately. It was like the crackling of a damaged record. When Elvis spoke on the other end, there was an echo to his voice. Still, warmth spread through Gladys' body because she could tell that he sounded in good spirit.

"How are my babies doin?" Elvis asked.

"Oh, we're all fine. Aren't we, Lynnie?"

"Yeah," Lynn Rose mumbled, arms crossed in front of her as she eyed Gladys indignantly. Normally Gladys would have scolded her, but she was relieved to see that Lynn Rose had gone back to her normal self after she was given the picture of her mother, which now sat in a frame beside her bed. Gladys waved the little girl over, smiling to herself when Lynn Rose planted herself on her lap despite her current attitude.

"Tell Elvis I love him," Lynn Rose chirped, tugging on Gladys' sleeve.

"You tell him yourself in a moment. Son, how are you and Georgia?"

"We're..." A sigh escaped him. "We're doin' fine. Adjusting, you know? But it'll be fine. I've been on the road so much...I'll get used to it in time."

Elvis had been so negative about going to Germany, before Gladys had been hospitalized and he met Lynn Rose. It was almost as though Elvis was a completely different person now, but not in a negative sense. It was as though he'd grown up, reevaluated his life and what mattered the most- eighteen months in Germany no longer seemed like a tragedy to him now.

And though they all knew that it would be hard, they also knew that it would be okay. As long as they had each other. 

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪     

Author's Note: Well, that's it. The end of the road. I know it seems a bit...anti climatic but this was always supposed to be a shorter story about Elvis and a little girl who becomes part of his family. There might be a sequel  but I'm not promising anything and it wouldn't be right away anyway since I just started new stuff and want to focus on getting that done for a while. I hope that the ending was satisfying because the response for this one really blew me away since it wasn't even a romance and I thought that it wouldn't be that well received. So one more comment/vote/whatnot? Because it's the last chapter?