Dallas, Texas

"Jock?" Miss Ellie removed her simple jewellery as she prepared for bed, though she wasn't sure she would actually get any sleep tonight, her mind was racing with a million thoughts and none of them were good. "Mhm", Jock encouraged her to say what was on her mind, it seemed obvious that she was thinking about something, and if he wanted to get any sleep tonight, then it was better to let her say it now than stay awake worrying about it all night. "I'm worried about Sue Ellen…" she paused as she thought about the situation, it was Wednesday night and Sue Ellen still wasn't home from her trip to Austin, that in itself was unusual, but the fact that she hadn't even called to give an estimated timeframe of when she would be returning to Dallas was what worried her. "Sue Ellen? What the hell for?" her comment had Jock's attention as soon as she said it, he hadn't expected that to be what she was so worried about and he didn't understand why she would be worried either. "The girl is in Austin with her mother and you know that woman wouldn't let anything happen to her; she's fine, now, come to bed and stop worrying", he brushed off his wife's concern before he even allowed her to explain, as far as he was concerned, she was worried about nothing. "That's what I'm worried about; you cannot honestly tell me that you think Sue Ellen would willingly spend more time with her mother than was necessary can you? Sue Ellen is very polite and will do what is necessary for her public image, but to extend her visit to Austin just because she wants to, not because she has to, that seems suspicious", she paused as she tried to gather exactly how to explain what she was thinking, because Jock didn't seem convinced. "Then there's the way JR's been acting since she left for her little trip; they were so happy a few weeks ago, but now, he's been moody and more aggressive than usual and he seems so indifferent when I ask about when Sue Ellen's coming home, as if he doesn't want to talk about it and isn't excited. Something is off about the whole thing and I'm worried; you know Sue Ellen doesn't deal with stress and problems very well in her normal life, and now she's pregnant. I know from experience how difficult pregnancy can be, both emotionally and physically and I don't want her to have to deal with that all alone; even if she is at her mother's house, I still feel she would be better off here at Southfork. Look, I can't explain it completely, but I have a bad feeling about this whole thing and I know that I'd never forgive myself if something did happen and I'd just ignored the warning signs", she sighed and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, leaving Jock to reflect on what she'd just said.

Sitting in bed, Jock thought about his wife's words, specifically the part that was related to JR. The truth was, he had noticed a change in JR's attitude over the past week or so, however, he had no complaints about his aggressiveness or moodiness because in an odd way, it was good for business. Each of his sons had a different temperament and was good at different things, and it just so happened that JR did his best work when he was angry, frustrated or feeling gypped. Jock knew that he treated his eldest son worse than he treated his youngest, but it worked well for Ewing Oil and Ewing Oil was a huge part of their lives, so he thought it important to maintain the status quo. He had Bobby for the work that required a charismatic, people-person kind of man, but for the serious negotiations and getting the job done properly and profitably, JR was the man for the job, and when he was focusing too much on outside things, his standard of work began to drop. He had noticed the change in JR's attitude and the standard of his work lately, but he was rather pleased about it and it hadn't occurred to him to consider Sue Ellen's position in the whole situation, so when his wife brought it up, he didn't really know what to think. Naturally, he was concerned about Sue Ellen's wellbeing, he wanted a healthy grandchild, preferably a grandson, and in an ideal world, a child would live with its parents, so Sue Ellen's mental and physical state was important too. However, he didn't really think it was his, his wife's or anyone else's responsibility to make sure that she was in a good place; Sue Ellen was a married adult woman, she had a personal responsibility and her husband had a marital responsibility to ensure her wellbeing. As far as Jock was concerned, it wasn't his business what she did with her time or his responsibility to seek answers and to remedy situations that were wrong, at least not until either JR or Sue Ellen proved themselves incompetent or irresponsible. If a situation did arise where JR appeared to be ignoring his responsibility as a husband to care for and ensure the safety of his wife and unborn child, then he would not hesitate to step in and do something, but from what he could tell, that wasn't the case right now and his wife was overthinking things.

Changing into her nightgown and getting into bed, Miss Ellie looked at her husband, he appeared to be thinking and she wondered exactly what he was thinking, because he hadn't said anything in response to her concerns. "Jock?" he snapped back into reality as she said his name, "hm", he contemplated how to respond, he'd been married for long enough to know that telling her she sounded paranoid wouldn't go down well, "I understand what you're saying, but I think we need to let those two kids sort out their own problems before interfering in them ourselves. Hell, we don't even know that there is a problem yet. That being said though, I know you're concerned and the Ewings are a family that looks after each other, so I don't see any harm in calling Sue Ellen, you have a valid reason and I'm sure she'd be happy to talk to you. For all we know, she's coming home tomorrow anyway and there's nothing to worry about. As for JR, I'll have a word with him and see if I can gather any information about whether they're having any problems. I don't intend to push it though, he's a grown man, he's capable of making his own decisions without his daddy telling him what to do", he mentally added a remark about Gary needing more guidance in the ways of adulthood than JR, but he knew better than to vocalise those thoughts. Miss Ellie smiled at her husband, it was about as close to a sensitive response as she was going to get and it pleased her that he hadn't disregarded her concerns out as if they were the ravings of a silly, paranoid wife, because as far as she was concerned, they weren't. "You're right, I could save myself a lot of worry if I just call her and ask her myself, so I think I'll do just that. I know she has a doctor's appointment next week and we are supposed to be interviewing baby nurses sometime soon too, so it isn't as if she's never coming back. I'd really just like to know a timeframe of when she intends on returning and I want reassurance that everything is ok. I know they're adults and they can run their own lives, but I worry, it's the mother in me", she felt better as she voiced her thoughts and made a plan and saying goodnight to her husband, she turned off the bedside lamp and lay down to go to sleep.

To be continued…