Austin, Texas
Sue Ellen was stressed out, the list of things to do was just getting longer and longer, but they would all be worth it when she finished, especially in time for the upcoming Thanksgiving long weekend, she would be able to relax and actually enjoy a little free time. Thanksgiving in the Shepard home was a small but still formal occasion, her mother would insist that they spend the whole weekend together as a family, but by the time Saturday morning came, they were about sick of spending every minute of the day together, this gave Sue Ellen a whole weekend to relax and do whatever she wished. Things were still a little tense between her mother and JR, they both had very strong personalities, but her mother was beginning to ease a little. Even if she didn't trust JR's motives, she didn't doubt the kind of life Sue Ellen lived with him, he treated her to fine dining and expensive gifts and was her ticket into the social class Patricia had trained her for. Patricia knew that if Sue Ellen became Mrs JR Ewing, her future would be secure and with the marriage, Patricia would share in a small part of the Ewing wealth by proxy. JR had already made it clear that he knew Sue Ellen was not the only one involved in her own life, JR accepted this and accommodated it, making sure he brought small thank you gifts for Patricia and Kristin when he visited. If she played her cards right, she could probably get a house and maybe private school education for Kristin as well as social connections through Sue Ellen. When the time came for Kristin to find a husband, Sue Ellen would be able to introduce her to some wealthy men that she knew personally. Sue Ellen knew her mother was motivated by money, she didn't like it, but she accepted it, JR knew it too, but JR had money and small tokens were a drop in the ocean to him.
"Sue Ellen, you're not spending Thanksgiving with JR are you?" Paula spoke in her sweetest voice, she wanted something and Sue Ellen had a pretty good idea about what it was. "No, you're going to have to drive to Dallas, sorry", Paula had hoped that JR had invited Sue Ellen, a 50 minute flight on a private jet was much nicer than driving home in pre-Thanksgiving traffic, "it's ok, just thought I'd ask. I'll try and leave on Wednesday night, it's a 3 ½ to 4 hour drive, so if I leave straight after class, I can be home for late dinner". The two spoke about their Thanksgiving plans and Sue Ellen wondered about what the holiday season was like at Southfork. They had so many traditions in the Ewing family, she enjoyed hearing about and experiencing all of them, JR's family was bigger than her own and there was really a bond between the Ewings, sometimes they didn't get along, but when anything happened, they'd stick together.
"I'm not sure how that went, I really didn't have a lot of time to study, I have so many other things to do this week", Sue Ellen exited the lecture room as her English test ended and spoke to her friend Julia. "I know, it's like all of the professors got together and decided that this week was when they'd schedule off of their assignments and tests", the upcoming break was much needed, for all of the students. Sue Ellen laughed at the statement, "I think you may be right, they'll deny any such meeting though. I cannot wait for this week to be over, Thanksgiving is my opportunity to just relax and do whatever I want, and right now, I just want to sleep", her friend agreed and they parted ways. Sue Ellen headed to the library; she still had three essays due and hadn't even started researching for two of them, the week was not over yet.
Dallas, Texas
JR returned home after a long, hectic day at the office; the upcoming long weekend caused people to panic, as if the world wouldn't still be turning on Monday. He loved holiday weekends for himself, but paying his staff extra was the downside, less profit for Ewing Oil and something his father managed to make JR feel responsible for, as if he were there when the Mayflower docked. "JR?" he snapped out of his thoughts as his mama spoke his name, "oh, I'm sorry mama; I don't know where I was just then. What was it that you were saying?" Miss Ellie smiled, her eldest son was obviously stressed, the holiday weekend would do him good. "I was asking about Sue Ellen? What are her plans for Thanksgiving?" JR thought about his answer, he didn't want to explain that Patricia was being irrationally protective of her daughter and he didn't want to disrupt the temporary peace that he'd reached with her. He'd thought about inviting her family to Thanksgiving dinner, but he didn't want the first meeting between their families to be marred by the hostility present between the two of them. "Oh, she's spending the weekend with her family, her mama and sister. Her mama is quite traditional, she likes to make sure they spend a lot of time together over the holiday", he embellished the truth a little, Sue Ellen had said that Patricia liked to pretend they were a happy family, but by Saturday they'd be bored with that charade. "Oh, that's very nice. Every family has their own traditions. Maybe next year they'll join us?" Miss Ellie was quietly confident and very hopeful that by next Thanksgiving Sue Ellen would have a ring on her finger, she liked Sue Ellen a lot and making her a Ewing would make her a very happy mother and hopefully a grandmother again soon. "Mmmhm, yes mama, maybe" JR didn't make any promises, he had to get back on Patricia's his good side again before he started thinking about inviting her into his home.
Austin, Texas
Walking out of her final class on Wednesday afternoon, Sue Ellen was relieved; she'd survived the horrible week and could finally relax. Arriving at her mother's house, she noticed a large bouquet of flowers in autumnal colours, she picked up the small card and read the note; they were from JR, somewhat of a peace offering. She smiled to herself at the thoughtfulness, JR hadn't said anything, he'd just done it. Her mother hadn't said anything either though, she never could admit when she was wrong. She spent the evening teaching Kristin the art of baking pumpkin pie and then they all played a board game, something she didn't mind as long as no one started a fight about who was winning. Awaking on Thursday morning, she helped her mother prepare the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and green beans; they always ended up making too much food for just the three of them, but on this day, no one minded. They settled down, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television, and then ate their dinner before taking a walk to a local park, the weather was starting to get colder, but it was still mild enough to enjoy being outside. When they arrived home, they sat down to watch some of the TV specials, this year 'Bewitched' had a Thanksgiving episode, Kristin informed Sue Ellen that although she liked the show about the witch, she preferred the other show about the genie. The phone rang just as the episode ended and Sue Ellen answered.
Dallas, Texas
JR spent the morning with his family as they watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, it was a tradition, actually almost everything they did was a tradition. Lucy lay on the floor in front of the television, intently watching the parade as everyone else chatted and casually paid attention to the festivities. Teresa prepared the sides for their dinner and Miss Ellie made the Southworth family turkey brine and secret family recipe stuffing, another tradition. As they sat in the dining room and ate, conversation turned to the past and the future, "five here tonight, almost like the old days. Here's to the future though, hopefully we'll soon have seven" he looked at JR and JR knew he meant Sue Ellen and John Ross Ewing III; his father desperately wanted a grandson. Miss Ellie smiled as Jock mentioned the table filling again, she'd like another baby in the house, but she was sad that Jock mentioned it being like the old days; it wasn't just like the old days, Gary wasn't present. She didn't even know where Gary was or whether he was ok, he didn't ever call to check in on his daughter or say hello to his mother, she wished he would come home, but Jock never made it easy. After dinner, the men went outside to throw a football, another tradition. By the time they came inside, they were muddy and cold, but they were happy. JR went upstairs to shower and change into clean clothes. As he showered, he thought about Sue Ellen, he wished she were there with him. He smiled at the thought of her literally being there in the shower with him, but he would have settled for her presence at Southfork. When she was his wife, they could take all the showers together that they wanted, for now he'd have to resolve his current problem alone.
With Sue Ellen on his mind and the family all taking a little quiet time to themselves, he picked up the phone and dialled her house. "Hello, Shepard residence, Sue Ellen speaking", her phone manner was very proper when she was around her mother but she relaxed as she heard who was calling, "hello darlin'" he grinned into the phone, his expression evident in his tone of voice. They spoke about their days and then about plans for the rest of the weekend before Patricia decided that Sue Ellen had been speaking for long enough and it was time for family bonding again. Sue Ellen hung up; happy that JR was happy and content with the way her own weekend was going.
To be continued…