Dallas, Texas

"Yes, I'd like to make an appointment with Dr Danvers today please", Sue Ellen played with the telephone cord as she waited patiently for the receptionist to check the open appointments. "…Sue Ellen Ewing… yes, two o'clock is fine, thank you", she hung up the phone and looked at her calendar again, smiling to herself as she looked at the date, she was officially a week late and she was sure that it really meant something this time, there were too many coincidences for it not to be true. She'd been feeling tired, emotional and had been sick two or three times in the past week, and with the predicted date of her monthly visitor coming and going without event, she put everything together, coming to the obvious conclusion. It even made sense that she had felt like nothing fit her properly when she was shopping, of course, her body wouldn't change that quickly, but something inside of her was telling her that things were different and her mind was convinced that she already looked different. Out of superstition and worry of spreading false hope, she didn't tell anyone about her suspicions, not even JR, she didn't want anyone to worry about her or question her before she had any real answers. She was confident that her appointment with Dr Danvers this afternoon would confirm her suspicions and she would finally have good news to share with the family soon, they'd been waiting a long time for her to say those words.

Julie sat at her desk, deep in thought; JR appeared to be happier and more relaxed lately and she hated that she didn't know why, it made her feel like an outsider and going from being an insider in JR's life to an outsider was not a pleasant change. She had really thought that she was getting somewhere with JR earlier in the year, he'd been busy and stressed, the two most common times where he usually turned to her for companionship; but it was already early April and she hadn't been with him once this year, his faithful husband shtick was getting old quickly. JR's mood had doubly improved since Bobby had gotten his promotion and had become less present in the office; if she didn't know JR, she would have just thought that he was pleased with business, but she did know him, and she was sure that there was something more. It was almost as if he had planned everything and it was killing her not knowing for sure; she was sure that if it had been any time before February 1970 she would have known as soon as he formulated a plan. She really hated Sue Ellen for taking JR away from her, even though that wasn't really the reality of the situation, JR had never actually been hers to claim, she was always just someone he used for his own personal gain. She was sure that there was absolutely no way that JR Ewing was a one-woman man, it just wasn't possible, he had to be sleeping with other women, he was not the kind of man to willingly give up that lifestyle. She was sure that if she tried hard enough, she'd be back in his bed, and his life, in no time, and that's exactly what she intended on doing.

JR sat in his office and grinned to himself as he read the reports Bobby had sent back from his latest set of meetings, there was a mixture of positive and negative emotion written in the internal documents and JR was pleased that he had managed to dodge some of the meetings. Bobby was a lot better at being cordial than he was and it was probably best for Ewing Oil that he was the one to attend the meetings. It was apparent in the written reports that JR wasn't alone in his opinion of some of their potential business partners though; Bobby had had the displeasure of meeting with a few different men that JR had been putting off for months, some boring, others rude and arrogant and some just partially incompetent but necessary for Ewing Oil's business. It was frustrating to rely on people who you really didn't enjoy doing business with and JR was pleased that he'd managed to push the responsibility for those matters onto Bobby's plate; it hadn't been the main reason why he edged Bobby out of the office, but it was definitely an extra benefit. Things were good for him right now, he had his power back, Ewing Oil was still in the black despite the global oil industry and the world economy having issues, and his personal life was better than it had been in months. He and Sue Ellen had really connected during their anniversary weekend and even discovered some things they didn't know about their marriage previously; thankfully, their happiness had continued when they returned home and they'd yet to encounter any further issues in their relationship. He was pleased with her as a wife, she really tried to understand and please him, but she was also learning to do things for her own happiness too, it was better for them that way. Things between them were more enjoyable when she didn't smother him and solely focus her attention on him, he still had enough space to breathe and do his own thing and they had more topics to talk about when they did spend time alone together.

Sue Ellen left Dr Danvers office with a smile on her face, she was confident that the doctor had all but told her that she was pregnant and she couldn't be happier. She still had to wait a few days for her test results and for the doctor to actually confirm everything, but to her that was really just a formality; she felt it within her, she knew deep down that she was going to have a baby and that it was real this time. It was a wonderful feeling to have to know that she was finally going to be able to give the family the news that they'd been waiting for for so long now. Jock and Miss Ellie made no secret of wanting a grandson, and it was clear that JR felt the same way; even Lucy still occasionally whined about the lack of other children around Southfork and asked when Sue Ellen would have a baby. Though Sue Ellen was sure that Lucy was beginning to realise that even when the baby arrived, there would still be at least a ten-year age difference between them and playing together was probably not something that would actually happen. She'd been starting to feel like a real failure, like if she wasn't the mother of the Ewing heir, then she wasn't anything, but with the news, she would finally solidify her position in the Ewing family. Arriving back at Southfork, she was pleased that no one else appeared to be home, she didn't want to have to answer any questions about her whereabouts this afternoon before she had official confirmation. Heading upstairs, she smiled to herself and hoped that the next few days went quickly, because she wasn't sure how long she could keep the secret to herself, or how long she wanted to keep it to herself, she was just so happy.

To be continued…