On Monday morning, Elvis woke with a dull headache and an unpleasant feeling he couldn't quite identify in the pit of his stomach. His mood wasn't improved by a long shower or a good peanut butter and banana sandwich.
"Good morning," a familiar, high pitched voice sounded. Elvis twisted around to look at Priscilla. Her hair and make up where done to perfection despite the fact that it was barely 6.30 A.M. Usually Priscilla didn't get up until it was closer to noon. Elvis, who stayed up all night, wasn't one to complain about it though (at least not as long as Lisa Marie was taken care of).
"Good morning," Priscilla repeated.
Elvis mumbled back a good morning of his own. He didn't realize that Lisa was present until a small giggle drifted into his ears. He looked down to find her with her hands wound around her mother's legs.
"Hi, Daddy," Lisa thrilled with a mile wide grin. Elvis responded with a smile of his own, but even his sweet daughter's happiness did very little to improve his rotten mood.
Priscilla gave her daughter a small push in Elvis' direction. "You go and tell your daddy what you wanna do today."
"Have lunch wif you at the twailer."
Priscilla looked at him expectantly. "So, can the three of us have lunch today or not?"
"Cilla," Elvis ground out. "We spend all weekend talkin' about-"
"Lisa should be able to see a little of you at least. By the time you get back here, she'll be in bed. And that woman-"
"I told you more than once that I can't tell her that she can't sit at the cafeteria."
"Why can't she eat in her own trailer? She does have one doesn't she?"
"Why should she do anything to accommodate you?" Elvis shot back. Lisa toddled over to where he sat, her small hand landing on his thigh. Elvis pulled her onto his lap, using her as a shield against his own impulsiveness.
"You're the one who should be doing things to accommodate your own family," Priscilla spat.
"You ruined it by behavin' the way you did on Friday."
"That woman was going to beat me up."
Under different circumstances, Elvis would have laughed at both her indignant tone and her expression, but this wasn't a laughing matter.
"Did she beat you up?"
Priscilla let out a huff. "Well, no."
"You embarrassed me. Now they're all gonna be talkin' about my wife and how she made it impossible for anyone to work-"
"How did I make it impossible for anyone to work? Now you're just exaggerating. I was sitting there and reading a magazine."
"And you could have read that magazine in the trailer while Lisa was asleep but you had to sit right there and be rude to Loretta-"
"Do you think that her husband would treat me like a queen?"
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
Lisa paid her parents no mind but found herself occupied with Elvis half eaten sandwich. She tore off small pieces before popping them into her mouth, occasionally pausing to lick her sticky fingers. Meanwhile, Elvis and Priscilla glowered at each other. Their gazes hung together like a curse, neither willing to be the first to look away. If Lisa was aware of the tension in the room, she wasn't bothered.
"She is not going alone. Either the three of us have a nice lunch together-"
"How is she alone when she's with me and the guys?"
"Well, what if that woman starts being nasty to her while you're there?"
Elvis' eyes narrowed. "You're not for real."
"Oh yes I am. You're the one who told me how badly everyone on set treats those kids."
"The production crew. Loretta's always good to 'em."
"Those children are not my children and she clearly doesn't like me-"
"You made sure of that," Elvis forced out. "When someone introduces themselves to you you don't say 'Oh, I know exactly who you are' and refuse to shake their hand."
"I won't have Lisa around that woman and as her mother I have that right."
"She'll be there whether you stay for lunch or not."
Lisa had devoured most of Elvis' leftovers by now. She was getting rather restless, but settled when Elvis pulled her back to lean against his chest.
"I'll talk to her," Elvis offered, trying not to speak through gritted teeth but failing.
"And what exactly would there be to-" Priscilla stopped abruptly when Lisa lifted the plate only to let it fall back on the table with a loud clang. "Lisa Marie!"
Elvis grasped Lisa under her armpits and placed her on the ground. "You go and play."
"No-oh," Lisa drew out in a sing song voice.
"What do you want to talk to that woman about?" Priscilla demanded. "Unless it's to tell her to stay far away when you're with your daughter there's nothing to say, is there? Not that she would actually listen if you did."
"Yeah, she's the wicked witch of the west."
"You don't have to get all sarcastic. It's not funny."
"No it ain't."
"It isn't," Priscilla ground out. "I can't stand it when you talk like her."
"I don't talk like her, I talk like me." Elvis jumped to his feet, his chair screeching against the ground underneath in protest.
~*~
When he saw Loretta that day, Elvis didn't mention anything. Instead it was small talk that skated around their weekend activities because neither one of them wanted to go there. Soon enough they found themselves in front of the new set, which was still being assembled even after they were dressed and done with hair and make up for the time being.
The silence between them wasn't unpleasant by any means, but Elvis still broke it by saying, "I really am sorry about Friday, you know? I didn't...I don't want this to be...between us."
"There's nothin' between us. We already talked about that."
"You must hate her."
Tense silence followed by, "She's your wife. And I wouldn't say that I like her cause I sure don't but there's nothing between us. We're still the same folks we was before, right?"
A small smile flitted over Elvis' lips. "Right, ma'am."
"Don't you go callin' me ma'am now," Loretta scolded though unable to keep herself from smiling. "If nothing changes between us you sure don't gotta call me ma'am."
"Well, I'm sorry that my mama raised me to be polite." They shared a brief smile before Elvis asked, "Did your kids like the autographs?"
"Oh yeah. Cissie especially. She didn't wanna believe that you're normal but she'll go and roll her eyes at everyone who thinks that I'm somethin' special."
"Who said you ain't nothin' special?"
They were interrupted by the children, who tried to squeeze in the gap between their bodies.
"Looks like there's something between us now after all," Elvis said with a hint of laughter in his voice. His hand skimmed over Maybelle's head. "Did y'all have a good weekend?"
"Our set!" Maybelle exclaimed, sounding close to tears. "What are they doin' with our set."
"Oh honey," Loretta said, "We're gettin' a whole new set cause we were all done with the old one."
"I didn't like it," Clayton contributed. "And she didn't either cause she always had the stuff that was on the ground in her underwear."
Elvis burst into a fit of laughter so great that he had to clutch his stomach. Loretta tried for an incredulous look in his direction but couldn't keep herself from smiling. Clayton and Maybelle wore identical frowns, looking back and forth in between the two adults.
Maybelle whimpered while Clayton tugged at Loretta's dress. The material was so thin, it threatened to rip at the small tug. "What's so funny?" he asked.
"Just..." Elvis tried to speak but couldn't choke out any more words as laughter took over again. "Never mind, honey. It's just that us grown ups are strange."
The children accepted the explanation and moved on to the next thing- food.
"What are we gonna have for lunch?" Clayton wanted to know.
Elvis' stomach dropped. "My wife might come and bring my little girl to eat lunch with me. So I might eat with them or maybe Lisa's gonna eat with us. Or maybe they won't come at all."
Their argument in the morning had continued even when he made efforts to stop it by leaving the room. Each of the options was equally likely at this point.
"Mr. Elvis," Maybelle began, pausing until he looked down at her. "How come you and Miss Loretta ain't married?"
Elvis chuckled. "You know we are. Just not to each other."
"But you should be."
"Did you kids practice your lines this weekend?" Loretta asked.
They echoed an unenthusiastic 'yes'.
Maybelle settled on Elvis' lap while Loretta pulled Clayton into her side, nestling him in the crook of her arm. This rhythm, swapping children at steady intervals in between takes, practicing their lines together and getting distracted with conversation- it had all become routine already. And it was comforting to him in a way, despite all the negative things involved in the process of making this movie. Somehow it was hard to fathom that in just a few weeks, what had become routine would no longer be. It would be Christmas cards and occasionally running into each other in Nashville. They wouldn't see the children to whom they had almost become parents away from home again.
Elvis tried to shake off his miserable mood and as if on cue, Clayton tugged on his arm and asked, "Do ya know your own lines, Mr. Elvis?"
"I hope so," Elvis mumbled, declining the wrinkled pages Loretta held out to him. "All the scripts are gonna be fallin' apart before we even get halfway through. We might have to use the Colonel's soon."
"He's got a script?" Loretta questioned.
"Yeah," Elvis said quickly, wanting to dismiss the fact. Maybelle eagerly grabbed at the pages. "It'll last us one more day at this rate." Elvis dug his fingers into her ribs, eliciting laughter from the squirming child.
The smell of cigar smoke wafted through the air, announcing the arrival of Tom Parker, followed by a harried looking Arthur Hillbrook.
"Today's gonna be a long day," Arthur said without preamble. "A very very long day."
Elvis and Loretta eyed each other. Loretta was the first to speak. "You're not gonna break no child labor laws."
"We'll be doing what we have to do," Arthur said. "But I was talking about the both of you. So you better prepare for a long day."
Tom sidled up beside Arthur. "You shouldn't let that woman talk to you like that, Hillbrook."
"I also shouldn't let you be technical advisor."
"I've been a technical advisor on all of Elvis' movies."
"Well, this might be the first where you aren't if all you're gonna do is make things more difficult."
"All I'm doing is looking out for my client."
Elvis almost snorted. He wasn't a fool, it was plain to see even for him that Tom wasn't looking out for anyone or anything but himself. A week ago the idea of an extra long day would have been rather daunting; now all he could think of was that Priscilla might already be asleep when he got home. It would be easier that way, even if it meant missing out on being able to see his little Lisa.
"You get ten minutes," Arthur barked at his actors, twisting his head around to look at them briefly before refocusing on Tom Parker. "And you get out of here."
The children, who a mere week ago, would have been alarmed by such an altercation, didn't seem to care in the slightest. It reminded Elvis of the way Lisa Marie went about her business even when he and Priscilla were screaming the paint off the walls. Though he supposed that in a way he ought to be glad that the kids felt so safe around Loretta and himself that even a fight between Tom and Arthur didn't bother them anymore.
Loretta looked over at Elvis as if to ask 'Should we go?'. Elvis considered for a moment, then nodded his head.
"Alright," Elvis said, grasping Maybelle under her armpits to place her on her feet. "We're gonna go to the trailer for a bit."
"Ten minutes," Arthur bellowed. "We don't have unlimited time."
Neither Elvis nor Loretta responded as they were both busy ushering the children away.
"They're gonna kill each other before we're done here," Elvis grumbled.
"They're always mad. All the time," Clayton complained.
"Some folks is mad all the time," Loretta told him. "There ain't a thing you can do about that."
Elvis laughed. "Says the one who told the Colonel off the day she met him."
"Didn't help, did it? He's still the same ol' Tom Parker."
"Guess you're right," Elvis admitted with a sigh. "He's not gonna change."
"What's a technical advisor?" Clayton asked once the adults had fallen silent.
Loretta, who evidently had not the slightest clue, looked over at Elvis. Elvis' shoulders slumped in embarrassment. "Well that's...someone who knows about certain things and kinda helps out so the producers and everyone get things right."
"What does he know?" Clayton wanted to know.
"Cigars!" Maybelle exclaimed, sounding somewhat exasperated.
Elvis and Loretta laughed. Once his laughter had subsided, Elvis said, "Ain't you right."
"But nobody smokes in the movie," Clayton pointed out.
"They can't afford to smoke," Elvis said, as if that was any explanation for why the Colonel was a technical advisor on the movie. He might have been around during the depression, but the same was true for a good portion of the production staff, including Hillbrook himself. It was hard enough to admit to himself that the Colonel didn't really need to be here and he wasn't about to admit it to two young children.
Elvis shook his head, trying to block out any thought. Arthur hadn't been kidding- they didn't get even the briefest of breaks until lunch time. The children were on the brink of explosion at that point- Elvis and Loretta couldn't usher them into the cafeteria fast enough.
Elvis would have told one of the guys to go out and get something other than the usual cafeteria fare, as he had done before, but he couldn't be bothered today. Clayton and Maybelle began to antagonize each other before Elvis had even gotten the food. The Mafia, having claimed their usual table, was engaged in carefree conversation. Resentment boiled within Elvis at the sight.
"Hey E!" Elvis hadn't noticed that Red had been missing from the group until his friend came bursting in. Red jogged over to their table. "Cilla's here."
Elvis barely managed to suppress a groan. "I'll be right back," he sighed, getting to his feet. A wild golf cart ride later, he came face to face with his wife and young daughter. When Lisa reached for him, Elvis plucked her from Priscilla's arms.
"So you eat lunch with the guys, yes?" Priscilla questioned.
"Yes," Elvis said, slowly, as if she were a child who struggled with comprehension.
"Where is she?"
"Cilla-"
"You take her to the trailer," Priscilla demanded, then turned to Red. "Elvis eats with you?"
"How many times did I tell you that yes I eat with the guys?" Elvis snapped.
"I'll pick her up later then," Priscilla said, tossing back her hair. "You don't want me here so I found something else to do."
"You go ahead," Elvis mumbled. No goodbyes were exchanged. Priscilla handed Elvis Lisa's bag without another word. Elvis parted ways with Red when they reached the cafeteria. It looked as though Clayton and Maybelle hadn't done much eating in his absence. Neither did Loretta, for that matter.
"We got a surprise guest today," Elvis said to the group before addressing Lisa. "You wanna say hi?"
"No," Lisa mumbled into the crook of his neck.
Loretta smiled at the little girl. "Why, we met once before. Do you remember that?"
"She's feelin' shy today."
"Do you want me to get some more food?"
"No, I'll do it," Elvis said, just as Maybelle reached over to pinch her brother, who let out a grunt of protest.
"Don't wanna sit here with them for five minutes?" Loretta asked, only half joking.
"You go ahead and do it." Elvis gave her a crooked smile.
Loretta got up, turning toward the Brinkman children. "Eat. You put hands on each other one more time-"
"Are you gonna whoop me?" Clayton asked.
Loretta paused, not quite sure whether he was being a smart alack or completely serious. "When we're done here the two of you are gonna lay down and rest at the trailer."
"I see your twailer?" Lisa asked out of nowhere.
"Sure," Elvis and Loretta answered. Loretta walked toward the lunch line, leaving Elvis with the children.
Maybelle watched Lisa Marie with great interest, which was returned by the younger girl. "How old is she?" Maybelle asked.
"She's two," Elvis said. "And she can talk too."
"I's a big girl," Lisa contributed. She grabbed a fry from Elvis' plate, twirling it through the air rather than eating it. When Loretta approached them, Elvis lifted Lisa off his lap and put her down to sit beside him.
"Here you go, honey," Loretta said, brandishing the plate of fries.
"What do you say?" Elvis prompted.
Lisa let out a little giggle, moving closer to her father. Elvis couldn't keep himself from smiling at her two year old charm.
"She knows to say thank you," Elvis told Loretta.
"I'm sure she does. She's just got a mind of her own." She turned in the direction of Clayton and Maybelle.
Elvis suppressed a laugh. "Lisa's gonna stay for a while so maybe we can put 'em all in one of the trailers, let one of the guys watch em. If any of em ever finish eating."
Loretta nodded at Elvis, then turned to Clayton. "Honey, you stop messin' around and eat them fries."
Lisa went one fry at the time, devoting more time than necessary toward eating each of them. Somehow they made it through lunch and to Loretta's trailer. Elvis helped Lisa out of her shoes while the older children shed theirs by themselves.
"I'm not gonna sleep," Clayton protested, setting off a chain reaction where both Maybelle and Lisa chimed in.
"You're takin' a break from all the work." Elvis spoke over the chorus of protests. He swung Lisa up in his arms.
"I don't wanna lie down," Maybelle whimpered. Meanwhile Elvis sat Lisa on the couch and went through her bag for her favorite blanket- which it turned out, Priscilla had forgotten to pack.
"You come over here," Loretta said to the older children. "You lay on the couch with Lisa and I'll sing for a bit so we can all calm down, okay?"
"No," Clayton complained, but he dragged himself over anyway.
"You sing Daddy?" Lisa piped up.
"Guess we'll sing together, huh?" Elvis patted the couch. "Lay down." Lisa bounced in her seat instead, making Elvis groan. Somehow, by some miracle, they managed to get all three children to lay huddled together on the couch. He couldn't help but think of how horrified Priscilla would be if she could see this; how comfortable Lisa Marie seemed. Elvis and Loretta rubbed backs and heads while they sang the songs they had recorded.
There was something about it that had the tension in him easing, dissipating into something close to contentment.
~*~
I know, I'm slacking. Not just when it comes to this one but in general. I'm trying to get back on track with more regular updates. Two weeks is waaay too long. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint.