Swapping Around

Chapter 15

"No," Little Elvis mumbled.

Patsy, who had now let go of her mother, regarded the boy with her hands on her hips. "You steal my mommy El-vis."

"Now they know what I feel like," a voice proclaimed, causing most everyone present to turn.

Loretta raised a brow at her daughter. "Come here and say hi, Cissie. Where'd everyone else go?"

Cissie gave a careless shrug before sauntering over. "How old are you?" she asked Roxanne without preamble.

Loretta clicked her tongue. "I told you that she's nine and Little Elvis is two."

Cissie's gaze moved toward Elvis, a smile appearing on her face. "Hi, Mr. Presley."

"Elvis," Elvis said. "My kids call your mom Loretta so you call me Elvis."

"I had to call her Miss Loretta for a week," Roxanne argued.

"I made y'all a cake," Loretta said. Elvis rewarded her with a crooked grin, which she returned.

"I need a bathroom," Roxanne complained.

"Cissie, you gonna show her?" Loretta asked her daughter. Cissie and Roxanne scampered away, one of the twins racing after them.

"No!" Cissie grumbled. "She's not gonna come."

"Come back, twin," Loretta called. Elvis and Red laughed out loud when the girl did return. Meanwhile Little Elvis continued to cling to her, creating a warm spot on her shoulder where his cheek met her skin. His fingers were tangled in her hair, but he did not pull.

"Want me to take him?" Elvis asked, arms outstretched in his son's direction when one of the twins (Patsy?) reached for her mother.

Loretta shook her head. "No, honey, that's alright. I got him now. I got my little Elvis."

Little Elvis' lips twisted into a grin. "I wuv you, Etta."

"You wanna come to the kitchen, have some cake?" Loretta asked.

"Sure," Red responded without a seconds thought. Elvis however, wasn't so certain. "We better wait for Roxy to get back."

"Cissie got her," Loretta assured him. She shifted Little Elvis in her arms, holding a hand out to the pouting twin. "Come on, baby. Let's go in the kitchen."

They arrived in the kitchen to find a dark haired girl sitting at the table, digging into a plate of cake.

"Betty Sue," Loretta scolded. "I said we'll wait for them to get here, didn't we?"

"Don't call me Betty Sue," the teenager complained.

"I named you Betty Sue. Now at least say hello. This is Elvis and Red and Little Elvis."

A bright smile spread over Betty's lips when she spotted Elvis. "You really are Elvis Presley."

Elvis chuckled. "Last time I checked I was. And you're Betty Sue Lynn."

"Yeah, unfortunately," she sighed. "I don't know why my mom named me that."

"I done told you why," Loretta said. Turning back to her guests, she added. "I'll get y'all some cake."

She tried to put Little Elvis down, but he clung to her with all the strength in his small body. Loretta twisted around upon hearing commotion to see both her boys stumbling in alongside their housekeeper.

"The boys got their baseball stuck in a tree," Gloria said, shaking her head all the while.

"In a tree?" Loretta repeated.