All I Want Is Everything

Spring is sprung

Don't look over my shoulder
I'm trying to read
Remember those intimate moments
Don't forget my privacy
We both have our orders
And a trick up the sleeve

Blondie, For Your Eyes Only

Bec showed up the next evening with a bottle of Jack and irrepressible good humor. She'd had a great Christmas, seen people from the neighborhood and had messages to relay to Ella. "So how was your holiday?" she asked, curling up in the big chair in the TV room where "Operation Petticoat" was playing in the background. "Was it nice to have your cousin around?"

"When I saw him, it was really nice. He gave me a family heirloom for Christmas, a locket that was his mother, it's sterling and has pictures of him and my dad in it." Ella sighed. "Steve's in rehab. Thomas talked him into it."

"What?" Bec asked, startled, sitting up and sloshing the whiskey in her glass. Ella shrugged.

"He told me that when he showed up at Steve's, he was OD'ing. He got that taken care of, talked to him and eventually Steve agreed to go to rehab. Thomas didn't trust him, so he stayed with him all night, missed the dinner."

"Did Nat come?" Bec asked avidly. "I've been dying to know."

"Yeah, she came with Erik. She was subdued the whole time but a good guest, I'll give her that," Ella said grudgingly. "Brought a bottle of Jack, too. I'm feeling like a cliché. I should start drinking Malibu rum or something." Bec laughed.

"Talk about clichéd," she chortled. "At least Jack's the booze of rockers. What else happened?"

"She didn't know anything that was going on with Steve, just that Thomas had agreed to come over and talk to him. He's frozen her out. That's not cool. She's one of the very few people in this world who still cares what happens to him. I called her after I dropped off Thomas at the airport, told her where he is so she wouldn't worry. She's going to give him some time to settle in, then call to see what the visitor's policy is. Otherwise, the dinner was great. Wish you'd been there, my guests seemed to have fun and enjoy themselves."

"Honestly, I wish I'd been there too, but what with the drama of Bucky and his missing limb this year, it was nice to have a quiet time with the family." She was kind of flippant about it, but the accident had taken a huge toll on her. "You could rethink New Years Eve, though. Sam and I would love to have you come with us."

"It's very kind of you, but I'm not going to be a third wheel on your special date. You and Sammy are so cute together. It's been quite a year for me too. I got some luxurious bubble bath for a Christmas present, so I'm going to stay in, have a super-indulgent hot bath. Pepper gave me some classes in Iyengar yoga. I've been to two sessions and it's really amazing. It's a lot of work, then there's a meditation at the end. I feel like I've been wrung out and left to dry afterward. I honestly thought it was going to be poses and some woo woo stuff, but it's not like that at all. I feel like I need a little break, like I've been running hard for years and I need to rest a bit."

"That's exactly what you've been doing," Bec pointed out. "Recording and touring with Shield, being kicked out of Shield, relocating, releasing a solo album and going on a monster tour, then all the classes you're taking, as well as making Bucky's arm. Geeze, Ella, you do need a break."

"I'm going to take one. I'm not doing a darn thing until classes start again. The dean of the UCLA school of music got me to agree to speak in their songwriters and songs classes this term, so I'm going to do that in March. Then Rhodey and I need to be on hand when Stephen wires the arm to Bucky, that takes me through April, when I also start co-producing the next Shield album. Then over the summer I don't want to do much, just start working on my follow-up, record in the fall, maybe the spring, Nick's not fussy. Ok, well, Loki has two appearances in festivals lined up for me in the summer, but that will be fun."