Chapter 12: Epilogue

About five years later...

What a day. It was mid-February, but it was still warm outside. We spent the whole day out there on the beach, and the sun was baking me from the inside out. It wasn't that warm, but warm enough to make me sweat. We did some night scenes as well, and those weren't that bad. At least, not when I was singing and dancing while performing "The Clam" number.

I collapsed into a red cushion chair and ran a hand down my face. I was so ready for bed. The Colonel would be a few more minutes since he was speaking with the movie director Boris Sagal about the next couple of weeks. We were near the end of filming, and the Colonel just wanted to make sure that this film wouldn't conflict with my next film "Tickle Me."

The clock on the wall in my dressing room, a room that was in a building not far from the hotel we were filming for the movie, read a little after nine.

I really hoped the Colonel wouldn't take too long talking.

My mind wondered. This would be a fun film. I couldn't wait to see it when we were through. Well, mainly, I couldn't wait to see it with Mary. I would fly home to Memphis, and I would see it with her as well as with the other actors of the film. I couldn't wait for that.

Quite a lot happened since Mary and I started our relationship. The country went insane when I formally said that I was romantically involved with a woman nearly twenty years my senior, and it was a good kind of insane for the most part. While a lot of people were against an older woman "playing cougar" as they called it, a lot of people, mainly my fans, wished us well. It was funny how those who called me a pedophile because of Pricilla turned around and thought Mary a cougar. Pricilla ended up, a few months back, marrying that GI she met after I left Germany. I was happy for her.

The Colonel had a rough go of me and Mary at first, but he learned to swallow the hard pill—I wouldn't stop my relationship with her no matter what. Even if it gave me a bad image to some people, it made me even more famous, the same with Mary. She became known as Elvis Presley's older girlfriend, and people would ask for her autograph, as well as mine, while we went places together.

Dad couldn't be happier for the two of us. Like the Colonel, he had to swallow that pill, but he saw just how happy both Mary and I were after suffering different losses. He had told me that if it weren't for us getting together, we would've been far more depressed. Time would hopefully heal us, but finding love made that time go faster. It was Dad who convinced the Colonel that Mary and I were a good idea, and finally, about year later, the Colonel accepted the relationship.

It was hard leaving Mary that next April after I came home from the army, but we stayed in touch, and I made it a priority to come home after every film or event that took me away from Memphis. The first gig was the TV special with Frank Sinatra. Now that was something. As I thought, meeting my favorite singer was surreal. People who had met me said the same thing—I finally knew what they felt. I was so star-struck, I could barely speak when I met him. I was such a moron. He was patient and friendly with me, though. He was a pretty swell guy. It was odd to think that he was only two years older than my girlfriend, and I tried not to think about it as we rehearsed and did the show. After, though, I showed him a picture of Mary in my wallet, and he complemented her beauty. I quickly put the picture away after that. He was a single man at that time.

Mary did pretty well with being my girlfriend. She forewent being the housekeeper, but still lived at Graceland. She got used to getting a lot of attention. Sandra absorbed it all as well. She enjoyed telling people that she was the daughter of the woman who was dating Elvis Presley. Well, she loved telling people that she knew me and was basically like my sister, but she bragged about it all even more after Mary and I officially became an item. When she found out Mary and I started a relationship and didn't fight anything anymore, she squealed so loud with glee that my comrades over in Germany probably heard her.

"Elvis!"

My nearly heart nearly jumped out of me after I heard that outburst. I looked up and saw a woman with long blonde hair and dressed in a blue dress standing in the doorway of my dressing room, a large grin on her face, the very woman I was thinking about amazingly.

"Sandra?" I said, shocked out of my mind. I stood up, and she came in and pounced on me in a hug.

"Hey, I missed you so doggon much!" she gushed as we hugged each other tight, and I could smell her nice perfume. We came out of our hold.

"How... I mean, what are you doin' here? Did you just get here?"

She gave me a playful pout. "What? Aren't you glad to see me?"

"Aw, hey..." I hugged her again. "I'm just surprised. I'm so happy to see ya. You just arrived?"

"Yes. I wanted to show you a little something in person."

She came out of my hold again and held up her left hand. I saw a glittery diamond ring on it. "I'm engaged!"

"Whoa, really?! Let me take a look at that."

I took her hand and saw the rock sparkle. "Wow, he sure did right, didn't he? I still have to meet this guy, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, you'll get the chance in the coming week since he came with me. You're seriously more like my older brother than ever."

I planted my hands on my hips. "Hey, after that sleaze broke your heart four years ago, I want to make sure you don't get tangled up with any other guys who will go behind your back."

She smacked my arm. "He's a great guy. Mom loves 'im. She came with us."

My heart started speeding as my eyes widened. "Wait, Mary's here with ya? I thought it was just you and your fiancée."

She shook her head, making her long wavy blonde hair swish. "Nope. The moment she found out that Sam and I were comin' here for a little vacation to see ya, she wanted to come along, too. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it. We were hounded in both the Memphis Airport and the Miami Airport by reporters."

"I wouldn't know about it until tomorrow if it happened today. Now, is she here with ya? Please tell me she is."

Sandra giggled. "Of course she is. She's just outside. I'll leave the two of ya, and we all can get together sometime this week to hang out, when you're not working on your movie."

"I would love that."

She came in for a hug, and we hugged a third time. "See ya, okay?"

"Yeah, see ya."

She gave me a wink and left the room. I heard her talk to someone out in the hallway, and a few seconds later, in came Mary, dressed in a bright pink dress that hugged her curves, and her wavy blonde hair was down passed her shoulders. She had dyed it completely blonde a couple years back. I told her she didn't need to do it, but she did, anyway. She was beautiful to me no matter what, especially after not seeing her for a while. Her green eyes shined.

"Hello, Elvis."

"Come here."

We both walked rather briskly to each other and wrapped our arms around each other in a tight, warm embrace. I dug my head into the crane of her neck, smelling her perfume. My whole body went limp with happiness at finally getting to hold her after a few months.

"I missed ya so much," she said into my left shoulder.

"I can't even say how much I missed ya. And I can't believe you never told me you were comin' to Florida."

"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I was on that plane before I even realized what I was doin'."

"All the same, I'm glad you're here. It's been a rough week."

"You always seem to have a rough week. You tell me every time we talk. When will you ever get a break from these movies?"

"I wish I could tell ya."

We held one another for a long, glorious moment, and how I loved holding her slender, curvy body in my arms. I intensely missed it. She clung to my light-green shirt that I had to wear on the set earlier while I did that number. I knew I was sweaty, and probably smelled, but I didn't care.

"Elvis..." Mary began against my shoulder. "I wanted to talk to you about somethin' as well."

This didn't sound good. "Alright. But can I kiss ya first?"

"You really want to?"

I creased my brows at that, confused. I brought her out in front of me and saw a weary look on her face, a face that had more wrinkles on it than when I first left Graceland in 1960. "Hey, why wouldn't I wanna kiss ya? I wanted to do that since the moment I left Graceland a month ago."

She pressed those very inviting pink lips together. "Well... Elvis... I'm going to be turning fifty in less than two years, and you're always surrounded by women far younger and more beautiful than I am. I met your co-star Shelly—she's such a sweet gal, and she's a sight."

Now I knew what was going on. Without saying anything, I leaned down and pressed my lips on hers. Something triggered inside of me, and I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms completely around her, feeling those delicious lips that I missed so much. She clung to my shirt and returned the kiss, but it seemed half-hearted.

Our lips unhooked. "Hey..." I whispered as she gazed down, and my nose hit her forehead. "You know you're the only woman I wanna be with."

"But I'm gonna get older, Elvis. When you're forty, I'll be nearing sixty. And when you're my age, I'll be nearing seventy. I... oh goodness."

I heard the emotion in her voice, and I took her into my arms again. "I'm aware of all of that, Mary, and I would still want ya."

"Even though you're surrounded by beautiful women everywhere you go? I worry. I always have."

That stung a bit. "You don't trust me?"

"No, no..." She sniffed, and my heart sunk at knowing she was saddened by this for a while. "I just..."

It hit me. "Mary, I've told ya before—beauty doesn't diminish wish age." She said nothing. "Hey." I leaned down and tried to make her look at my face. "Mary." She finally met my gaze. "I love you. That's not gonna change, no matter how old you are. In fact, after comin' home to Memphis after the filmin' for this movie was through, I was gonna ask ya somethin'."

She was a smart woman. I knew that she got the hint since her green eyes widened, and she stepped away from me, out of our hold, shock on her face. "Elvis... are you serious?"

I grabbed her waist and pulled her to me again, and she caught my shoulders. Right near her mouth, I said, low and seriously, "Yeah, I am. I've always been serious about ya, ever since I saw ya the first time I walked through the door after comin' home from the army. I fell in love with ya after that."

Tears appeared in her eyes, and she whimpered. "Oh my heavens..."

"So... what do you think, huh? We've been goin' on for the past five years. I think it's about time we tie the knot. You love me, don't chya?"

Tears leaked from her eyes, and her arms wound around my neck, and her nose touched my neck. "Yes, I do. I love you so much, my heart could burst with it."

I grinned as I had my face in her hair, and my arms wound around her frame again. "So, is that a yes?"

"I won't be able to give you children."

The very thought of even trying for one made my neck steam up and heart race faster than ever. "We can adopt some, and... we have Sandra."

She whimpered. "Yeah, we do. I guess she won't be a sister to you anymore."

My heart leaped, and I brought her out and looked at her teary, beautiful face. "Wait, that's you sayin' yes!"

She grinned as well, making her wrinkles more prominent. "Yeah, I guess so."

Before I could make my own outburst, we both heard someone scream from out in the hallway. Sandra ran in and bombarded both of us in a hug. "YES! I told you, Mom, I told you! YES!"

Not really thinking about the fact that Mary had her doubts about us, we both wrapped one arm around Sandra. We became a family. No, we already were one.

"It's about time!" we heard from the door, and we all looked to see the Colonel standing there, a smile on his face, and no hat on his bald head. "That guy's been talking my ear off lately about whether he should ask you or not." He came up to us. "Congratulations."

Mary came out of our hold and hugged Tom. "Thank you, Colonel."

"I guess I'll have to deal with the nation going crazy over Elvis's future wedding and obtaining a daughter only a few years younger than him."

We all laughed at that, and Mary came in and hugged me again. Right in front of my manager and Sandra, we shared a sweet, tender kiss. Yeah, I would obtain an adult daughter, and in the near future, when I would be not even forty, I would become a grandfather, but that wasn't what I was focused on. I was focused on the woman in my arms, a woman I never even fathomed back when I first met her that she would eventually become my wife. I loved her with all my heart, and I would love her until the day I die.

THE END