Dallas, Texas

"JR, I want you to work through lunch today and I want you to work as fast as you can, because at five o'clock, we're out of here", Jock walked into JR's office, gave him his instructions and then left. The faster he and JR got their work completed, the faster they could leave, and after the hectic week they'd just had, he was definitely ready to go home. Jock was lucky enough to have a wife that understood and supported his work ethic without complaint or resentment, but that didn't mean that he didn't have empathy for her situation. Keeping the family together and connected was just as important to him as it was to his wife and he made every effort to participate in as many family activities as possible, and to be home for special family dinner on Christmas Eve was something that was important to him. The work they were doing at the office now was important, but not necessarily time-sensitive, if they didn't get it all finished today, the only consequence would be that they would have a little more paperwork waiting for them when they reopened after the holiday break. Working through their breaks and recruiting the secretaries to lend a hand with the more basic administration work would hopefully get them to a good point by the end of the day, but if five o'clock came and they weren't finished, he would not hesitate to lock up and go home anyway, being with family was more important today. JR nodded at his father's instructions and went back to focusing on the paperwork in front of him; truthfully, he was just as ready to be done and have a little break from working as his father was and the sooner he got it done, the sooner he could relax, at least for a little while.

JR always enjoyed the holiday break, it was really the only time he got to take time for himself and his wife, away from the stress of the oil business, however, it was a double-edged sword, because with the nine day break from the oil business came an even stricter expectation for how he was supposed to fill his time. For the next few days at least, he would be spending a lot of time with his family and his in-laws and although the pressure was off he and Sue Ellen to provide answers about when they would be having a child, he still didn't particularly feel like making conversation with everyone about the future. He liked his family for the most part, and he tolerated Sue Ellen's family, but there was only so much time he could spend with them together before the smallest things began to grate him and he became irritable and not so charming. In the past, he'd always had Ewing Oil and his little black book to keep him sane and allow him a place to escape, but now, more than ever, he had to be careful about his actions and how he was perceived, especially by his father and his wife. His father was watching his every move and evaluating him to make sure that when the time came, he would be a good successor for the president of Ewing Oil, because with Sue Ellen's pregnancy and the future of the Ewing family secure, Jock felt as if he were finally able to really consider retiring in the next few years. Then there was Sue Ellen, she'd been clingier and needier than ever this week and he feared the consequences of her finding out about the things he tried so hard to hide; he'd made the mistake of not being careful enough about covering his actions last weekend and for that, he was annoyed with himself.

He'd entered into marriage without really understanding the full extent of what it involved, but he'd managed to adapt his former lifestyle to allow him to continue to do what he wanted as well as keep his parents and wife happy, however, last weekend, his self-control had slipped and he'd made the mistake of allowing Sue Ellen to get suspicious. She was usually quiet, unquestioning and accepting of his responsibilities, supporting him in his pursuit of the presidency of Ewing Oil and he didn't quite know what had triggered the change in her, but she'd been less accepting and more questioning about his actions lately and he knew it had to be because of something he'd done. Things had been relatively good between them since she'd told him the news of her pregnancy and he'd thought that it was the beginning of a new Sue Ellen, one that had purpose, focus and meaning in her life that wasn't directly related to him and his problems, and that thought had pleased him. However, with whatever it was that was making her act differently, she had changed again, back into the insecure, needy, emotional girl that she had been in the early weeks of her pregnancy and at other points in their marriage and it had come at an entirely inopportune time, he needed her to be supportive, not inquisitive right now. What annoyed him the most about her rediscovered clinginess and sudden interest in his activities was that aside from his unmemorable indiscretion on Saturday night, he hadn't actually been doing that wasn't work related this week, so whatever suspicions she did have were completely unfounded at the moment. When he said he had to work late this week and didn't have a lot of time for them as a couple, he meant exactly that, and feeling like he was being interrogated when he wasn't actually guilty of doing anything wrong was the last thing he needed right now.

Things were finally going well in his life and his wife having another emotional breakdown just wasn't something that factored well into their life plan, especially now that she was carrying their child, the future Ewing heir. No, he needed to regain control over his actions and her thoughts, because he couldn't have her risking their child's or her own health and he couldn't have his father questioning him about their relationship and blaming him for her unhappiness again. His father didn't particularly care about how he and Sue Ellen made their relationship work, just that they did and she was pregnant and about to provide the grandson he'd been wanting for years now. However, with her pregnancy came the idea that she was really a Ewing now and somehow Jock felt as if he had some kind of a claim on her, an idea that irked JR. He disliked that his father would question him to make sure that he was taking care of her properly and make him feel guilty when it appeared that Sue Ellen wasn't entirely happy, as if he were responsible for every little mood swing she had. It seemed inauthentic to JR though, because he knew his father was really just concerned about the child Sue Ellen was carrying, not her personal wellbeing, so his 'helpful' suggestions just weren't something he wanted to hear. Thinking about it as he read over his paperwork, he made a decision; even though he hadn't done anything wrong this week and his wife's questions and actions had been unfounded, he decided that instead of being extra careful about his actions from now on and he needed to cease doing those things, at least for a little while. It would be much easier to regain her trust if he was actually being truthful with her, and honestly, spending time with his wife wasn't a negative thing for him at all, so it didn't seem like such a bad idea, especially since it was the holidays now. The fact of the matter was, he did love his wife and he did enjoy her company, he just happened to also enjoy the company of other women and selfishly indulged in that activity, mostly just because he could. He didn't want to permanently change the way he lived his life, but temporarily, he was capable of being a one-woman man.

To be continued…