Dallas, Texas

"Oh Ellie, Southfork is so beautiful, thank you for inviting us", Patricia sat opposite Miss Ellie at the table outside by the pool, "it's nice to have you here again; you know you and Kristin are always welcome, Sue Ellen is family now, this is her home too", Miss Ellie smiled politely as they made small talk. She wasn't entirely comfortable around Patricia, but she knew how to be a gracious hostess and how to socialise with people even when she didn't particularly care for them. Patricia sighed dramatically, "yes, well I'm glad you feel that way; sometimes I get the feeling that Sue Ellen would rather separate her two families than think of both of them as one. She doesn't visit nearly as much as I'd like her too, and with Kristin's schedule, it's difficult for us to make the trip to Dallas more than every few months. I'd like to be more involved in her life, but she's so closed off", her comment sounded somewhat caring, as if she missed her daughter and just wanted to spend time with her, though Miss Ellie sensed that there was something more to it than that. "Yes, I know what it's like to miss a child, my son Gary, Lucy's father, he's not around nearly as much as I'd like him to be. In fact, all of my sons, they're grown men now, but that doesn't mean we as parents stop being interested in their lives. Perhaps you and Sue Ellen could agree to make more phone calls to each other, so that when you can't arrange your schedules for in-person visits, at least you're still involved in each other's lives", Miss Ellie smiled and hoped that Patricia took her advice. A phone call wasn't too time consuming, stressful or invasive, and for the relationship Sue Ellen appeared to have with her mother, it was probably better that they didn't spend too much time in the same physical location; Sue Ellen never seemed fully relaxed around her mother, and more stress was exactly what she didn't need right now. "I think I'll do that, I'd like to be more involved in her life", Patricia smiled and answered sincerely, though there was a hidden meaning to her words; truthfully, although Dallas was only a one hour flight from Austin, she felt completely removed from Sue Ellen, and she didn't like the loss of control.

"JR, daddy says we have to be out of here in five minutes, he wants us to all be home on time tonight, no exceptions", Bobby opened the door to JR's office and JR cringed as his brother reminded him of their dinner commitments. This evening was one that he wasn't particularly looking forward to, Patricia and Kristin were in Dallas for the weekend and his mother had planned a special family dinner, one that she expected everyone to be on time for. Although he and Sue Ellen were on good terms with each other at the moment, their relationship was always a little strained when Patricia was around, she was a stressor in Sue Ellen's life, and that meant that she was a stressor in his life too. Finishing his paperwork and tidying his desk, he sighed and poured himself a small drink, downing it before leaving his office and meeting his father and brother in the reception area. Arriving back at Southfork, JR took a deep breath before he entered the house, "Patricia, Kristin, how nice to see you again, you're both looking lovely tonight", he turned on his Texan charm as he greeted his wife's family, "oh JR", Patricia accepted his compliment with ease, pretending to be embarrassed, but secretly loving the attention. Looking around the room, his eyes locked on Sue Ellen's and he sighed, she already looked miserable, and her family had only been in Dallas for six hours. Unfortunately for Sue Ellen, she still had a whole weekend of entertaining and hosting her family before she could feel comfortable and relaxed again; she was on edge, though it wasn't entirely obvious to everyone else, the smile on her face making it difficult for someone less experienced to detect her unhappiness. "I made you a drink", Sue Ellen walked over to JR and handed him the glass, "thank you darlin'", JR gave her a kiss on the cheek and took her hand, leading her toward the couch where they sat for the rest of the cocktail hour before moving on to dinner.

Sue Ellen sighed to herself as she changed into her nightgown and robe before walking into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face; the good mood she had been in for the past week was quickly deteriorating, first with Miss Ellie's words to her yesterday, and then with the arrival of her mother and sister today. JR lay in bed as Sue Ellen moved around the room before bed; after being married for just over a year and a half, he still didn't quite understand what exactly took her so long to get herself ready, for the day, for dinner, for bed, for anything, though he'd given up trying to understand it a long time ago. Instead of thinking about it, he'd gotten into the habit of reading every night before bed, well, on the nights that he was at home at least. However, tonight, he couldn't concentrate on the words on the page, he was too distracted by Sue Ellen's sighing and loud closing of drawers; it was apparent from the way she was moving around the room that she was frustrated or upset, though he wasn't sure which one it was. Walking out of the bathroom, Sue Ellen untied her robe and laid it aside before slipping into bed next to her husband; sighing, she gave him a kiss on the cheek, told him she loved him and said goodnight, turning off the light and laying down to go to sleep. JR was surprised at how little she seemed to want to interact with him, she was usually the one pushing him to talk, always asking him about his day and interested in his stories, but today, she had barely said a word; it was just so unlike her. After a few moments thinking about it, he decided to just let her be, if she really wanted to talk, then she would say something, and if she didn't, then she wouldn't; so instead of saying anything, he just lay down and closed his eyes, ready for a nice, quiet night's sleep.

He may have had a plan to sleep quietly, but apparently Sue Ellen didn't, and after her third sigh and fourth change of position, he began to get irritated, eventually deciding that the silence needed to be broken; flicking on his bedside lamp, he spoke, "are you all right darlin'? You seem… tense". Sue Ellen sighed again, "I'm fine…" she responded in the way she always did, before she heard Miss Ellie's voice in her head again and reconsidered, "it's not you, I promise…" she took a deep breath before continuing, "it's my mother. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to be around her, but I remember now, and I feel like I have to control everything I do or say, even the small things. Frankly, it's exhausting", she actually felt a little better as she verbalised her problem, perhaps Miss Ellie had been right about not bottling everything up. JR groaned inwardly as she spoke, Patricia had a real talent for causing distress, and Sue Ellen didn't deal well with negative emotions, they were a terrible match for each other; "darlin', I don't know what she did or said, but just ignore her, she's not worth the worry. You have nothing to prove to your mother anymore, you're my wife now and I'm very happy with you just the way you are; your mother is no longer the number one authority figure in your life. Now, would it make you feel any better if I told you that I don't like your mother very much either?" he joked, not really knowing what else to say. Sue Ellen laughed lightly, "no, not really, but thank you for listening", she moved closer to him, "and you're right, I know I shouldn't care so much about what she thinks. I guess she just knows how to get to me, and she puts in every effort to make me feel inferior", she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek; "good", JR replied before pulling her closer to him and kissing her lightly on the lips. As their kiss ended, Sue Ellen felt a lot better; although JR hadn't even really said anything very helpful, she felt calmer just knowing that she didn't have to deal with her problems all alone. "I'm sorry I disturbed your sleep", she whispered, "I know you're probably tired from work, and we have the barbecue tomorrow, so l promise, I'll stay still and actually go to sleep now. I love you". JR smiled to himself, he didn't completely understand women, and he didn't really understand why it had, but whatever he'd done had obviously been good for her, and he wasn't going to question it, "I love you too darlin'", he moved and turned off the bedside lamp before laying back down, pulling her toward him as he fell asleep.

To be continued…