The Colonel's Daughter [Elvis]

Chapter 7 - A Little Too Close for Comfort... or Not

I bounced little Richard on my hip at the conclusion of filming all the baby scenes. It took three days to film them, and the babies' parents were quite unhappy about their previous angels being coerced to scream and cry. I myself wanted to break down into tears when we were filming the scene of Tulsa babysitting, and the baby just wouldn't stop crying, and Tulsa was about to lose his mind before calling Lily for help.

"You poor little dear," I said to Richard, the baby who was the most taken with Elvis. It was actually rather adorable that he was used the least in the scenes because he wouldn't cry around Elvis. Richard's mother actually gave him to Elvis in order for him to stop crying, and he bounced Richard around and talked to him. The little one actually fell asleep against Elvis's shoulder a couple times.

He would really make a great father one day. The images of him comforting the baby were ingrained in my mind now—a handsome man dressed in an army uniform holding a baby, acting all cute with him, and then holding the baby as it fell asleep, cradling him.

There truly wasn't a more touching, beautiful sight. It was unfortunate that no one got a picture.

Elvis was nowhere to be seen. He had left the set for a prior engagement, and that meant my father wasn't here either. He was actually off the set while we were filming the baby scenes. Lord knows where he went. I would guess a casino.

I had to hand Richard back to his mother. I was free to go whenever since everything was done for the day, but I wanted to play with the babies a little.

You will be a great mother. Elvis's words rang in my mind as I left the lot in my rental car. The way he looked at me, with such sincerity... it tickled my heart. Why did he have to be so charming? And why did he have to go and basically tell me that he had feelings for me in that sultry voice?! That guy was making me crazier than the circuses my father worked at, me in tow.

I just had to try and not think about it, as difficult as that was. Once I got into the hotel, I changed in my room and came out of my suite, ready to head over to Brenda's suite. We would leave to the Hilton and meet Anita and Juliet, then we would head off to dinner. It was a rare occurrence since we all became friends that every one of us was available for dinner.

As I walked down the hallway, I heard my name being said in a very familiar voice that had a Dutch accent. I turned around and saw Dad walking down to me, his fedora on, and a cigar in between his fingers. I stopped as he approached me, and he didn't say anything for a moment as he stared at me with a loving look on his face, a look that hadn't seen in years. It tugged at a heartstring.

"Hello, Dad," I greeted him, and he smirked.

"Hello, my girl. My, you look so much like your mother when she was young. When I met her, she had long hair like yours, and her eyes were as big and brown."

After avoiding me on the set, he was being sweet and sentimental here. I shouldn't be upset with it. I wanted to mend my relationship with him. I gave him a smile, thinking also that what he said was a huge compliment since Mom was the most beautiful woman I knew. "Thank you, Dad."

"You look as if you're heading out."

I looked down at my green dress with no sleeves and hugged my figure in a tasteful way. "Yes, I am. I'm going to snag Brenda, and she and I are going to meet Anita and Juliet. We're going to have dinner at this exotic Moroccan place downtown. I'm really looking forward to it."

He clasped his hands in front of him and shifted his footing, as if we would be standing here for a while chatting. "I see. You seemed to become fast friends with the star of that picture as well as Mr. Presley's previous sweetheart."