Dallas, Texas

"Wow, look at all of the people in the crowd, and all of the performers", Lucy and Kristin sat on the couch and intently watched the parade on television while Sue Ellen sat next to JR, half-focused on the parade and half-focused on the conversation that the other adults were having. She was happy that watching the parade on Thanksgiving morning was part of the Ewing family tradition, she had always enjoyed it as a child and it would have saddened her if something so meaningful to her was unimportant to other people. It wasn't really about the parade itself, it was more about the memories associated with it, gathering around the television with a cup of hot cocoa on Thanksgiving morning reminded her of happier times; even when her parents had been fighting, they always spent Thanksgiving together and tried to make it enjoyable. Of course, by the time Saturday rolled around, the family-bonding façade was transparent, but for those few moments, it was nice to be part of a real family. "Everything looks so exciting and magical. I've never been to New York…" she spoke more to herself than to anyone else, voicing her thoughts aloud without intention; JR heard her and pulled her closer to him, for some reason, he felt so connected to her; he didn't know what, if anything, had changed, but he wanted her close to him, he really did love her. "New York is an experience; sometime when I'm not busy with work, I'll take you for the weekend", he meant it, he would like to get away more often, but the oil business wasn't something he could just take a break from; even when they were dating he had really only been able to organize one-day trips and date nights. In his line of work, success wasn't something that just happened, he had to constantly work to be the best, and that took a lot of brainpower, long hours and hard work. "I'd like that", she smiled and leaned further into him, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder; it was about as close as they would willingly get to intimacy in front of their families. The parade played in the background and the family relaxed and enjoyed each other's company for the next hour until Teresa announced that dinner was ready.

"Grandma?" Lucy watched as Jock carved the turkey, a Ewing tradition, though one they really only observed on Thanksgiving and Christmas, any other time it was Teresa or Miss Ellie who carved the meat. "Yes Lucy?" Miss Ellie silently willed her granddaughter not to say something cheeky, she had a habit of stirring drama, "why do we call it dinner when it's clearly closer to lunchtime than dinner", she looked at her grandmother innocently and Miss Ellie laughed, relieved that it was a normal question. "Well, I don't really know, that's just what it's called and this is the way we've always done it, it's tradition. My family always ate at this time, and when your granddaddy and I married we just followed the same schedule", she looked at Jock to see whether she had missed anything out, it really did seem like the most logical answer. Jock nodded and then spoke, "that's right, but your grandma forgot one thing", Miss Ellie looked surprised, she had said all of her own reasons, she didn't realise her husband had another, "football", JR and Bobby laughed and Miss Ellie smiled, it was true, it wasn't really a Ewing Thanksgiving without football. "The Cowboys game starts just after three this afternoon; eating earlier means that we can relax and watch the game without getting hungry and ruining our appetites before dinner", he chuckled, his wife wouldn't be pleased if they snacked during the game and didn't eat their dinner. "Oh, ok", Lucy accepted his answer, she didn't particularly care about football and she didn't want to spend all afternoon talking about it. Jock finished carving the turkey and handed the knife to Teresa to serve the food; he held up his glass and made a toast, "to the one thing we should all be truly thankful for; to family, past, present and future", everyone held their glasses up, "to family". Jock sat down and waited for Teresa to serve the food, he had thought about mentioning Ewing Oil, but it wasn't just the Ewing family at the table, and it didn't really seem like an appropriate thing to say. He thought it was better to stay focused on their families as they were now and how they would hopefully be growing in the future; it didn't escape Sue Ellen's attention that he had looked directly at she and JR when he mentioned the future. Jock really was expecting a grandson any day now, and that expectation made everything more stressful for Sue Ellen, she already didn't have control over the situation, but she was beginning to feel guilty about it, as if it were something she could control and she wasn't doing enough to make it happen.

Their dinner went well and everyone managed to steer clear of directly asking when they were going to have a baby; Sue Ellen wasn't sure whether JR had said something, or whether the family were all just sick of asking and being given the same answer. She hoped that they had decided to mind their own business, but she realised that was wishful thinking, she didn't really think they would ever get tired of asking, it would always be in the back of their minds, until the day that she finally had news. It had even been alluded to at the beginning of the meal, though she was glad that those comments hadn't gone any further, it was draining to have to keep answering the same questions repeatedly, and it upset her when she didn't have good news. After dinner, everyone went outside; the men stayed close to the house and threw a football around, while the women went for a leisurely walk around Southfork. Sue Ellen couldn't help but laugh as they returned to the house, she had never seen JR in such a dirty state, he was covered from head to toe in mud and he didn't even seem to mind. "Who won?" she didn't really need to ask, Bobby was the football star of the family, but she wanted to see her husband pout, there was something she found attractive about his slightly wounded ego. "Bobby", JR rolled his eyes and wondered why she insisted on asking, his brother had always been better at physical things, though he was the better businessman, so he didn't mind, he'd rather be the best oilman in Texas than the best football player. "My poor husband", she gave him a sympathetic look, though she knew he wasn't really that bothered by Bobby's win, he cared more about oil than football, it was fun to play along though. JR grinned as he formulated a plan, it was about time they spent a little time alone and he knew just how to do it, "damn right your poor husband, Bobby has the advantage of youth, my poor old body just can't cope", he melodramatically explained the situation, grinning as he watched her try to keep a straight face. She stopped herself from laughing at him, she rather enjoyed when he acted like this, it was a less serious side of him, one she didn't get to see very often; "poor old body?" she moved closer to him, so only he could hear her words, "didn't feel that way this morning", she whispered. She was unsure of whether he would mind her speaking like that, but she did it anyway, she was feeling bold today for some reason, and he seemed to be in a good mood, though he also had certain boundaries that he didn't like her to cross. JR was slightly shocked when she alluded to their morning, but he was too involved now to care, she was a little flushed from her walk and his mind was focused on one thing. He grinned, getting her upstairs with him wouldn't much of a challenge, "I think you'd better help me inside, just to be safe", he wrapped his arm around her waist and 'leaned' on her for support, though it was more to annoy her than anything else. He got his desired reaction when she realised what he'd done, "JR!" she looked down at her clothes, now covered in a line of mud and dirt from his arm, "oops, I suppose you'll have to change clothes too", he grinned as he watched her get annoyed and then realise why he'd done it, her expression changing accordingly. "I can't believe you did that", she giggled as they walked toward the house, realising that they were the only ones outside anymore and it was going to look strange when they walked into the house; "you'll thank me later", he kissed her lightly before taking her hand and guiding her upstairs. She couldn't believe how cool he was as they walked past the living room, completely ignoring their mothers, Lucy and Kristin; she wasn't used to attention like that, but he didn't seem to care at all. She was glad that Jock and Bobby were already upstairs cleaning up, it would have been more embarrassing to walk past them, they seemed to be more in tune with exactly why JR would want to bring his wife upstairs with him, because despite his words, it had nothing to do with support, and everything to do with desire.

To be continued…