Playing House Away From Home

Chapter 20

"Might be time for them not to be in the same class at school anymore."

"They're not in the same class, honey. They're in two different ones but they'll switch their bags and go straight to the wrong class. It gets Doo so mad. I hate havin' to yell at them when I'm home."

"I hate yellin' at Lisa 'specially since it'd makes her cry."

"Peggy and Patsy don't cry. I really think that they don't care."

"Don't say that."

"You wait until Lisa is their age." A long pause followed. Upon realizing that her words might have triggered something unintentionally, she added, "You're still her daddy, you know? Even if you and Priscilla are gonna be apart. She still needs you."

"I know," he said softly. "I know, honey. Life's just...shit. You know that I love you, girl, don't you?"

"Yeah." Elvis could almost hear her gentle smile. "I love you too."

~*~

The day of the award ceremony came and both Elvis and Loretta showed themselves just in case. Elvis wore a new suit and Loretta one of her gowns. The clothing she wore wasn't quite his style at all (he preferred slightly more revealing dresses) but he had to admit that it suited her. They looked good together, at least on screen and he couldn't help but wonder if maybe in another life it could have been the the two of them.

It was a silly thing to even consider, for she was already a mother when he was still in high school.

"You know we're not gonna win," Elvis said.

"I think the picture might."

"Have you seen any of the others that are nominated?"

"No," Loretta admitted. "But I thought it was real good. You did so well and the kids did too. I reckon that even I was decent."

"You were no worse than me, honey. And you haven't seen that thing in so long, your memory of it is probably makin' it seem better than it was."

"So you didn't like it?"

"I never said that. It's not the type of thing I'd usually watch but outta everything I've been in it makes the top three. That isn't sayin' much though. If you knew some of those pictures..."

"I think I told you before that I saw some of em. And this picture was...we worked so hard on it, not getting enough sleep and the kids being away from their parents..."

A small laugh tumbled from his mouth. "Oh, Loretta, they don't care about that. Sometimes I go wonderin' if you're really that naive."

Loretta pursed her lips. "Is that 'posed to be an insult? Cause if it is I ain't sure why it sounded like a compliment."

"Insult? You know I'd never insult you." His eyes trailed down the length of her gown. "You're not barefoot under that, are you?"

"No." Loretta huffed, lifting the skirt to proof her point. "Folks from Kentucky wear shoes too...sometimes."

"Now I'm disappointed. I was expectin' some cowboy boots."

"I thought you was expectin' bare feet. You better make up your mind."

"My mind is always made up," Elvis said. "Your kids gonna watch it?"

"I know Cissie will but I can't tell you about anyone else. I reckon Clayton won't neither though he wrote me he would."

"He wrote that to me too. I think him and Maybelle think that we can win in every category."

"I'd say that technically we could." Elvis sniggered at her words. "Bein' naive again, ain't I? I didn't say it would happen. I don't believe it will but it could."

"It's not gonna."

" But technically-"

"Technically you make no sense," Elvis cut her off.

"If that's the way you wanna put it." Loretta turned serious. "How are you holdin' up now?"

Elvis shrugged, a smile escaping him. "I'm doin' fine. Though I gotta sit through that entire thing just in case one of those categories wins and Hillbrook wants to show us off. Then another after party where everybody's gotta drink."

"We'll be sober. You know that I can't hold liquor. It's the Indian in me."

"I'm kinda thinkin' that it's got more to do with you not havin' enough body weight to hold any."

"Now I don't know about that..."

"All I know is that you don't need to be drinkin'. And neither do I. I threw up all over Joe the last time I tried."

Loretta eyed him skeptically. "Really?"

"You can ask the guys. But you won't want to."

"And why is that?"

"Do you really think a man would tell you somethin' like that happened when it didn't?"

"I told you about how I fell flat on my face when I tried to wear high heels."

"I've seen you stumble over your dress after the Texas show."

Loretta crossed her arms. "And you laughed."

"Because it was funny. And it was only funny cause you didn't get hurt. It looked funny how you-" Elvis trailed off to laugh.

"I'm sure it looked funny when your suit ripped too."

"Hey!" Red's voice cut into their conversation. "Are you guys comin'?"

Elvis turned toward Loretta. "Are we?"

"I think we should before Red gets himself all worked up over it."

"Oh Loretta, you're always so nice to my mafia and they sure don't deserve it."

A small smile flitted over her face at his words before they went separate ways to face what was to come. It wasn't that Elvis was not thankful to be there when so many people watching from their homes wished they could be, but award ceremonies tended to drag. Some tearful acceptance speeches lasted close to ten minutes. He pictured Hillbrook's screenplay winning, and the man's speech which would probably break a record. He could only hope that fantasy wouldn't become reality.

Elvis didn't watch the award ceremonies attentively enough to know in which order everything was presented, but he did perk up when he heard his name being read off the list of nominees for the 'Best Actor- Drama' category.

When his name was actually called, when he was chosen out of anyone who was nominated, he nearly jumped out of his seat. For a long time this was exactly what he wanted, to be recognized as a serious actor rather than just a singer who starred in a few pictures that were gimmicks rather than movies. Elvis rose as carefully as possible. The journey to the front of the stage seemed to take so long. He took the stage, accepted his award and almost laughed when he realized that now he was the one to give a tearful acceptance speech.

"Well," Elvis began. "I don't know where to start. I want to thank everyone who made this possible for me. My family, my friends and all my fans-" He drew the line at thanking anyone who made his life a living hell during filming, and that included Hillbrook. "And my co-star Miss Loretta Lynn who became a very dear friend to me. Loretta, you were right."

His gaze moved to where Loretta was seated in the crowd. He could see her smile from afar.

Elvis went on. "I also wanna thank our little co stars who are watching from Kentucky. We all worked hard on this picture and it really was worth it."

And it really, truly was. In more ways than one. 

The End