Dallas, Texas

Handing Sue Ellen the glass of iced tea he'd poured for her, Bobby was mildly surprised when she set it straight down on the table under the pool umbrella, her hand settling on her midsection.

"Speaking of..."

Taking his hand, her manner friendly, Sue Ellen allowed him something he'd been longing for with Pam and hoped to experience one day with Jenna, something he hadn't been expecting at all when they'd started talking.

"Wow." Not so much a kick as a sliding motion, as if the baby were doing a somersault or rolling from one side to another, the feeling was like nothing he'd ever experienced.

"I know."

Clearly delighted, Sue Ellen's emotions were in contrast to his own; he was of course happy for his brother and sister-in-law, but their reality was a reminder of his loss. He'd come to terms with Jenna's reluctance to have a baby of their own just yet, that wasn't the issue, his present thoughts were around the wife and son he'd lost at around the same point Sue Ellen was at now.

"I'm sorry Bobby; I didn't mean to upset you."

Squeezing his free hand, her baby still moving beneath his other hand, Sue Ellen acknowledged and apologised for stirring up his emotions, a needless apology as far as he was concerned. It wasn't her fault he was emotional, she was trying to be kind to him and she'd brought back memories.

"Pam never felt Will like this."

Explaining himself, he couldn't remember whether he'd ever told her before just how serious Pamela's situation had been in the weeks leading up to her death, but Sue Ellen's reaction indicated that she didn't know that exact piece of information.

"Never?"

"No."

Withdrawing his hand, he stepped back, needing a moment to breathe. Pam had been measuring small for a long period and initially the doctors had indicated that was likely the reason she hadn't felt anything yet, but later on they both knew differently.

Will had been tiny, likely nowhere near the size Sue Ellen's baby was now at a similar point in his or her gestation; survival was unlikely at that age even without the conditions he'd been born under but he'd really had no chance, that was a fact, a sad fact.

More than a year had passed now since the string of departures from the world that had struck their families had all started. His wife, son, mother, father-in-law, uncle, and just two months ago his father had all been lost. Jenna had reassured him that the next year would be different, better, and he certainly hoped so, because he couldn't lose anyone else and continue to be ok.

"I'm sorry."

Fifty or so feet from Bobby and Sue Ellen, on the other side of the pool, Jenna stepped outside the patio door, her eye immediately settling on the man walking towards the house from the driveway.

"Hello stranger."

Approaching Jack, she wrapped her arms around him in what some might call an overly friendly gesture.

"Jenna."

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you for weeks."

Trying to think back to when she last saw him she was sure it had to have been almost two months; he'd been at Jock's funeral but he hadn't been in town when they'd all attended a memorial service for Pam and Will.

"Well, after Jamie left I got antsy."

Confirming the timeline, his sister Jamie coming in for the funeral and leaving not long after, Jack left her with questions. She loved Bobby, but she'd shared something fun with Jack and she considered him a friend, one she liked to hear updates about.

"So you left Dallas?"

"Temporarily." Shrugging, Jack used a word that she herself had used once or twice to describe her several year absence.

"JR let you do that?"

"I was still working. Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma…" listing off his destinations, he stopped speaking as he took note of what was happening behind her.

"Did I miss something?"

Turning her head to see what he was looking at, she had to laugh at his comment. Bobby was most certainly not the father of Sue Ellen's baby, but she could see how that fact could be misconstrued.

Squeezing his arm and shaking her head, she confidently refuted his question, "no."

"Are you sure?"

Raising an eyebrow and smirking as he watched the two closely, Jack jokingly commented on the subject again, reiterating his suspicions, suspicions they both knew were realistically based entirely in fiction.

"I'm sure."

As interesting as the picture was, it was nothing more than a platonic moment between in-laws; she knew that, which was why the interaction didn't bother her at all. If anything, she was more afraid that Bobby would get the idea in his head again that they could share such a moment together soon, but even that was something she could handle.

"Jack!" running, something she'd been told not to do around the pool, Charlie appeared at their feet, effectively ending their conversation.

"Charlie!" immediately paying attention to her, Jack mirrored her enthusiasm.

"Do you have your swimsuit? You have to see what Lucy taught me."

"I'll change and be right back."

Meeting her eye again, Jack's shrug was apologetic but his smile was not; he liked being the life of the party, even if in this case it was the life of the children's party.

"Was that Jack I saw?"

Appearing next to her as Charlie walked off and Jack disappeared inside the house, JR's comment caught her off-guard.

"You didn't know he was coming?"

It wasn't unusual for them to spend their weekends at the pool, either at JR and Sue Ellen's home or Southfork, but Jack had arrived as if he knew there was a gathering to attend, as if he knew it would be worth his time driving out to Braddock instead of relaxing at the condo pool.

"Last I heard he was getting cosy under the stars of the Ohio sky."

Not quite answering her question, JR told her something more interesting.

"Now he mentioned travelling for work, he did not mention a woman."

She was under no illusion that Jack wasn't regularly sharing his bed with other women now that their dalliance was over however he hadn't said a word about it, despite the very comfortable relationship she thought they shared.

"If anyone asks, neither did I."

Grinning, JR implied it was supposed to be a secret, one he hadn't technically told.

Nodding knowingly, she didn't have the chance to say anything more as she spotted Lucy and John Ross walking towards them.

"Daddy swim?"

A foam kickboard in hand, John Ross looked up at his father with the same large eyes Sue Ellen had, ones that were difficult to say no to.

"Lucy, Jenna."

Taking his son's hand, JR excused himself, leaving her standing with Lucy, although not for long as Jack reappeared, herding them both into the pool with the rest of the group, something she was quite happy to do.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Chapters are moving to once a week updates from this point forward. Thank you to everyone who has continued to read :)