Leather and Lace (Eddie Roundtree)

No Choir

"There will be no grand choirs to sing/ No chorus will come in/ No ballad will be written/ This will be entirely forgotten"

Layla Roundtree: I suppose that's the end of your story, Jules.

Julia Dunne: Just a little bit more, Auntie Layla. That wasn't the end of your story.

[Camera readjusts to fit two people on the couch, side by side. Zooms out a little more before coming into focus. Eddie Roundtree enters the frame.]

Eddie Roundtree: Is this where you want me? [gestures to the open seat next to Layla].

Layla Roundtree: It's where I want you.

[The two smile. He kisses the top of her head as he sits down next to her.]

Eddie Roundtree: How are you today, Mrs. Roundtree?

Layla Roundtree: I'm very good, Mr. Roundtree.

Julia Dunne: So, what happened for the two of you after Chicago?

Eddie Roundtree: We went home to L.A.

Layla Roundtree: We had things to work on and we did. [turns and smiles at Eddie] Our relationship has been tested but we've come out better.

[Eddie grabs Layla's hand].

Julia Dunne: And?

Eddie Roundtree: We kept making music together. We released our album Here and There in late 1978.

[Layla nods]

Layla Roundtree: We got married in 1979, Billy and Camilla both came. It was important to me that we all made amends. And we released our album The Roundtrees in 1981. I actually found out I was pregnant on that tour. [Eddie smiles]. We welcomed our first born, a little boy, in 1982.

Eddie Roundtree: We got to do marriage, babies, and rock n roll after all.

[The two laugh].

Layla Roundtree: We did one more album and tour after that, After the glitter fades. But by the time we finished that tour we had a toddler and I was pregnant again. So, I just wanted to step back.

Eddie Roundtree: It was important to both of us that we put our kids first.

Layla Roundtree: Yeah. In the end we decided to go into production and management. We opened Roundtree Records in '85. Teddy died that same year, I'm just glad he got to see it happen before he did. He taught me everything I know about record production. He taught me everything about the music world. He was like a father to me.

[Eddie puts his arm around Layla as she takes a deep breath].

Eddie Roundtree: We've really love running Roundtree Records. And it made it so we could be home with our kids. The twins were born in '87 and all four of our kids pretty much grew up in that studio.

Layla Roundtree: We've had some pretty big names come through. Family too. Daisy records with us, Simone has an open invitation, but she never takes us up on it. Karen records with us and Warren is one of our session drummers.

Julia Dunne: Do you miss writing and touring? Would you do it again?

Layla Roundtree: No, not really. I mean, I still write, I do a lot of writing for other artists now. We've been really lucky, we've seen the world from touring. But, I'm good with where we're at.

Eddie Roundtree: Yeah. I don't really miss it. We had our moment and we really got to do it all. We've been bigger than The Six and Aurora. Played huge crowds, gone platinum, you name it. And we got to be happy doing it. But when we decided to stop, to focus on our family, I had no regrets. Nothing beats coming home to my family at the end of the day. We get to be there for the small stuff.

Layla Roundtree: Our life is great.

Eddie Roundtree: It's perfect.

Layla Roundtree: In the end we got to be happy. We all did, more or less. Your mother and father, they got to be happy and that meant a lot to me. Camilla and I got to become good friends again, I miss her all the time.

Julia Dunne: Yeah, she loved you. [Pause]. So, any last thoughts for this?

Eddie Roundtree: Don't let the person you love slip away. And we'd all be alone without second chances, so give them and take them.

Layla Roundtree: The ups and downs make up your whole story. A poet once said to let everything happen because nothing is permanent, I know this to be true. Let it all happen and somewhere in the mess you'll find yourself.

"Let everything happen to you. Beauty and Terror. Just keep going, no feeling is final." - R.M Rilke

Songs: No Choir by Florence + The Machine. Reference to Stevie Nicks "After The Glitter Fades" and Gregory Alan Isakov "Second Chances".

A/N: Oh my god, it's the end! I started this story just for fun after having not written fic in years! A huge thank you to everyone who voted and commented and saved the story, I seriously wouldn't have finished it without that. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.