Truth Is Like the Sun

Chapter 26

Lisa Marie was dancing around Graceland in her birthday dress, shooting Elvis a smile he couldn't help but return every time their eyes met. Yet when he met her mother's eyes, however, he was met with a frown. Priscilla had wanted to celebrate Lisa's birthday in California and she didn't bother making a secret out of it.

"Look at the balloons!" Lisa squealed, grabbing one by its string. "I got so many."

"You sure do," Elvis said. "Anything for you."

"Mommy!" Lisa jiggled the balloon in front of Priscilla's face, but Priscilla didn't bother to muster up a smile.

"Yes, I see," Priscilla said coolly. "Why don't you try and calm down a little?"

"It's her birthday," Elvis hissed. "She's excited."

Lisa took off with her balloon, giving Priscilla the opportunity to say, "You only wanted to have her birthday in Memphis because of them, didn't you? So they can come."

She said 'they' as though it was a dirty word.

"AJ's her brother and-"

"How do you know that for sure?"

Elvis tried to swallow the anger smoldering within him by picturing Lisa's smiling face in his mind. He heard her giggles in the other room but their effect was miniscule. "Oh, I do and you better believe it. Carol Ann is gonna be her stepmother whether you like it or not."

"Not even divorced yet and already you're planning to get married to someone else. How do you think that will feel like for Lisa, to be replaced by that boy?"

Elvis swallowed before taking off to find Lisa, the only person who could extinguish his fury. "You wanna see your cake?" Elvis asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Lisa threw herself into his arms, which was synonymous with agreement. Elvis was certain that she was heavier now than she had been the last time he held her.

She changed his life five years ago by doing nothing but coming into this world ready to capture his heart. AJ had been five then, albeit closer to six. Elvis would never admit it but he spend more time than he should imagining what it would have been like, if he had known.

"He-llo!" Lisa's little voice chimed, hands grasping onto either side of his face.

"I hear ya, Yisa."

Lisa, having forgotten about the cake, was already on another wavelength. "Why can't I sleep here tonight?"

Elvis hesitated. He and Priscilla fought long and hard about it. In the end Priscilla declared that she would only allow a birthday celebration in Memphis if they weren't going to spend the night at Graceland. It was her way to get back at him. She'd swear that it wasn't, but Elvis was no fool.

"Da-ddy!" Lisa exclaimed in exasperation.

Before Elvis could utter another word, his cousin Billy screamed. "Carol and AJ's here!"

Lisa twisted her way out of his arms, running toward the front door as soon as her feet hit the ground. Elvis chased after her, arriving just as AJ grasped his little sister under her armpits and lifted her off the ground ever so briefly.

"Ooooh," Lisa thrilled, pointing at the rather large box Carol Ann was carrying, its glossy wrapping paper glinting in the early February sun. "That is a big present."

"A big present for a big girl," Carol Ann told her with a smile.

"You're gonna like it," AJ said enthusiastically. "I got you somethin' too."