Dallas, Texas

"Mama?" JR walked outside in search of his mother, it was Sunday afternoon and Sue Ellen was upstairs taking a nap, Lucy was at Muriel's house and his father and Bobby were out on the ranch, it was the ideal time to do a little digging into Sue Ellen's puzzling new personality. In a way, her behaviour was reminiscent of the depressive state she had been just a few months back, and although she outwardly appeared to have recovered from that, he was concerned that perhaps she hadn't and she was on the verge of another breakdown. He wasn't completely convinced that that's what it was though, because she seemed to have genuinely ecstatic moments, moments which were almost over the top happy in comparison to a normal level of happiness, and he didn't believe that she would go so far as to fake that level of emotion if she was depressed. He had done his best to eliminate every source of stress or anxiety from her life and he really believed that his efforts had been working; as far as he was concerned, they had a very happy and healthy marriage. Aside from the car crash and her mother's visit, both of which had happened weeks ago now, he saw absolutely no reason for her to feel down or be unhappy with her life. In fact, after the car crash, he'd made a real effort to be home and spend time with her, so if she was unhappy now, then he wasn't sure he could offer her what she needed, because he was already giving her so much of himself. He still wasn't convinced that that's what her problem was though, however, something had happened while he was away, he could sense it; Sue Ellen's reaction to his return to Dallas was completely over the top for what it was, a two day business trip. Over the past few weeks they had been close, but ever since he had returned, she had been more clingy and emotional than he'd seen her in a long time, and it didn't make sense to him.

"JR", Miss Ellie walked around the corner toward him and smiled, it wasn't often that JR sought her out and from his tone of voice, he sounded as if he really wanted to talk. "Oh good, you are out here. Are you busy?" he looked at the small watering can she was holding and suddenly felt as if he was interrupting her, "no, not busy, I was just watering my pot plants, but that can wait. You look as if you have something on your mind. Shall we sit?" she motioned toward the patio and took a seat; if JR was coming to her and wanting to talk then it had to be something important, they just didn't have that kind of relationship in day-to-day life. "Should I call Teresa to bring out some tea?" she broke the awkward silence that JR had left them in as he sat down, for a man who had come to her to talk, he wasn't exactly chatty. "No mama, that's not necessary. Look, I uh…how do I say this?" he paused as he looked for the right words, he and his mother never spoke like this and he suddenly felt completely out of his depth, talking about feelings and emotions was such a feminine thing to do and he wasn't sure how to get his point across. Taking a deep breath, he spoke, "you and Sue Ellen spend a lot of time together. I was just wondering whether you'd noticed anything…" he paused as he thought of the right word to describe her new demeanour, one that didn't give too much information away, "…different about her lately?" He didn't particularly want to explain what he meant in detail, their marriage was their business, however, the majority of the time that Sue Ellen wasn't with him, she spent with his mother, so logically she seemed like the person to ask for insight into any changes that had been occurring.

Miss Ellie nodded, she was pleased that JR had come to her with his concerns this time, however, she was still a little angry with him for ignoring her advice and request to have a proper discussion with Sue Ellen weeks ago. She had her suspicions about what Sue Ellen's current issue was, but that didn't mean that she didn't still suspect Sue Ellen had deeper issues than just possibly being pregnant and hormonal, issues that JR hadn't exactly helped with his enabling attitude. Sue Ellen loved to pretend that she didn't have any problems, and JR often wasn't present enough or paying enough attention to notice the way she really felt, he also didn't seem to have a problem accepting her answers at face value and allowing her to bury her real feelings. Their combined behaviour was a disaster waiting to happen and if she was right about Sue Ellen's condition, then this was a terrible time for her to have to deal with any more problems; the emotional strain of her issues would not be good for the health of the baby or herself. "When you say lately, do you mean the past few days, weeks or months? Because, yes, as a matter of fact, I have. However, before I give you my opinion on this whole thing, I'd like to hear what you think", she looked JR in the eye as she spoke, wanting to make sure that he knew she was serious about the topic of their discussion. If he wanted her help now, then he'd better be looking to actually help his wife, not just find an explanation for her behaviour, something to blame her for and absolve himself of any responsibility; she wouldn't stand for him downplaying Sue Ellen's problems or mistreating her any longer.

JR was surprised at how serious his mother looked and he began to wonder whether perhaps he'd made a mistake in coming to her for information; that's all he really wanted, information, he didn't want her judgement or opinion on whatever Sue Ellen's supposed issues were, he just wanted a rundown of any noticeable changes in his wife's behaviour. "Well I'm particularly interested in the past few days, specifically from the time I left for Houston to the time I returned home. From what you're saying though it sounds as if there's something else I should know…?" he left his sentence vague, hoping to gather the information he needed without having to say too much himself. Miss Ellie observed her son, he was so evasive when he spoke, as if it were a business negotiation and he was doing everything he could to gain the upper hand before he personally committed to anything, carefully thinking about his words and then speaking in doublespeak when he did talk. "That's right. But as I said, I'd like to hear what you think before I give you my opinion", she gave him a look as if to tell him that she could negotiate just as well as he could, though she knew that JR would certainly win the game if they were in a real competition, he was Jock's son after all. JR sighed, he had come outside on a simple fact finding mission, not to be made to feel guilty by his mother as he was right now; "she's all over the place, emotionally I mean. One minute she's up and the next she's down, and from what I can tell, even she doesn't seem to have a particularly good explanation for her behaviour. I was just wondering whether you'd noticed the same thing and I thought that you might have a better insight into what was causing her mood swings; second to me as her husband, you're probably the person she spends the most time with", he finished speaking and waited for her to respond. He was a little annoyed that he'd had to explain his thoughts first, but he pushed his annoyance out of his mind as he reminded himself of the purpose of the conversation, he just wanted to help Sue Ellen. If explaining his feelings to his mother was what would get him the information he required, then it was worth a little personal annoyance, or at least he hoped it was, his mother hadn't actually said anything worthwhile yet.

To be continued…