Dallas, Texas

"Oh Sue Ellen, I'm so glad you chose to come home", Miss Ellie, Lucy and Sue Ellen walked back up to the house together, JR and Jock were a few yards in front of them, but they were having their own conversation, so it was almost as if they weren't really there. "Yeah Sue Ellen, it's nice to have you home. Uncle Bobby simply doesn't understand the basics of coordinating shoes and outfits and uncle JR is always so grumpy when you're not around", Lucy made a humorous comment and smiled at her aunt before she grew quiet again. She didn't want to admit it out loud because she didn't want to be seen as needy or attached, but she did like having Sue Ellen around, not just for her fashion advice and ability to calm JR, she liked her as a person and she was glad that she was home. Sue Ellen laughed aloud at Lucy's comments, but she was more curious about what she didn't say, because although she and Lucy hadn't been close in a while, during her time away, she did find herself missing every member of the Ewing family, even domineering-Jock and sometimes-obnoxious-Lucy. "Thank you Lucy; I'm not sure I can teach Bobby how to give good fashion advice, but I do plan to keep JR happy", she looked toward her husband and as if by magic, but probably just a strange coincidence, he turned around from his conversation with his father and looked straight at her. Although she had intended her comment in a general way, the moment she made eye contact with JR, all of her thoughts of how to please him and be a good wife to him turned into how she was going to fulfil his deepest desires. She blushed as his blue eyes stared at her and a small grin appeared on his face, it was as if he knew what she was thinking and agreed with her, and that thought was somewhat embarrassing to have in front of the family. She was pretty good at being obedient, caring and gracious, so she didn't particularly need to improve those wifely skills; their biggest issue was in the bedroom, and she was looking forward to the beginning of a new chapter in their lives, one where she didn't have to be a lady all the time. Looking from Sue Ellen to JR and then back again, Lucy rolled her eyes, they were back to that stage in their relationship again, the one where she was going to witness more PDA than she cared to. However, from experience, she wasn't totally dreading their new relationship development, because if JR and Sue Ellen were happy, then JR had less time to snap at her for silly things and she had more time to be the spoiled Ewing grandchild, a role which she very much enjoyed. Her time as the only Ewing grandchild was coming to an end, however, she wasn't too worried; she had her grandfather wrapped around her little finger and her grandmother was too kind to tell her she couldn't have or do things that she really wanted. She didn't expect her life to change too much in the coming months, she was already doted upon and she didn't foresee that changing anytime soon, especially since the new grandchild was just a baby and they would never be competing for the same things or the same kind of attention.

Arriving back at the house, JR groaned to himself when his mother invited Sue Ellen upstairs to look at the nursery furniture that had arrived while she was away; he was invited too, however, he chose not to go, partially because he'd seen it before and partially because he knew what he was getting himself into if he said yes. Knowing the women as well as he did, he knew that the furniture would not be the only topic of conversation and they would end up in a discussion analysing every little detail, no matter how insignificant it was, and then all of a sudden, their small tour of the nursery would end up being much longer than originally anticipated. He had seen the nursery a number of times and he thought it was nice, but he didn't understand the big deal about making every little colour, furniture item and accessory coordinate, especially since the baby probably didn't care at all what their bedroom looked like. He left the women to their chatter and made his way downstairs to make himself a drink and read the newspaper for a while. Selfishly, he'd been hoping that after their quick hello to the family, they could go off on their own and resume their activities of the previous day and earlier in the morning; it had been weeks since he'd been with a woman and now that he had his wife back, he wanted to take advantage of that. He realised now though that he wasn't the only person that had missed having Sue Ellen around and enjoyed her company, so instead of having her all to himself like he had at the hotel yesterday, he now had to share her. He didn't like the thought of sharing her though, because first and foremost, she was his wife, not Lucy's aunt or his mother's daughter-in-law. He honestly believed that as her husband, he should always have final decision-making power over her, however, he didn't dare say that right now, not around his mother, she was much too enamoured with his wife to let him make 'sexist' comments like that. Giving up on spending the next hour with her, but hoping for a little time later in the afternoon, he walked over to the bar, made himself a nice, large drink and then picked up the daily newspaper; if he was going to be alone, then he may as well spend the time wisely.

"Oh Miss Ellie", Sue Ellen gasped in surprise and delight as she walked into the nursery; she'd left in the midst of the decorating process and hadn't seen much of the significant progress that had been made in the weeks that she was away. No longer was the former guest bedroom simply just freshly painted and wallpapered, it was now an actual bedroom, fit for purpose. The furniture, decorative pictures for the wall, toys and other items she had helped select for the baby, but had only seen in the store or in a catalog were all here now and they had been set up perfectly, just as she had originally imagined. The clothes she had bought for the baby months ago and a few more that Miss Ellie had selected or they had received as gifts had been placed in the dresser, the non-perishable items such as diapers, bottles and pacifiers had been stacked and arranged in an orderly fashion, ready and waiting for the baby nurse to access. All that was missing now was the baby that the room was designed for, though Sue Ellen wasn't too eager for the baby to be here just yet, she wanted a healthy child and that meant being pregnant for a few more months before she could finally see her son or daughter, not just feel them moving inside of her. "It's perfect, I love it. Thank you", Sue Ellen felt herself getting emotional at the thought of having missed the experience of putting everything together, however she quickly reminded herself that Miss Ellie didn't like her doing much physical work anyway, so even if she had been there, she probably wouldn't have been the one arranging things. "You really like it? I know it's what we discussed, but anything you don't like, we can change", Miss Ellie was receptive to her daughter-in-law's moods and wants, she simply wanted her grandchild to be born into a happy marriage and a happy family, and if that meant changing a few things to please Sue Ellen, then she would do whatever was necessary. "No Miss Ellie, everything is exactly as we discussed and seeing it in person makes me even surer of my decision. It's a beautiful room", she paused for a moment as she wondered whether to apologise for her absence; she knew Miss Ellie wasn't upset with her, she knew everything that had happened and she understood why she had left, but still, Sue Ellen felt a little bad for leaving all of the hard work for her mother-in-law to deal with. Instead of verbalising her thoughts on the matter, she simply turned to Miss Ellie and hugged her, "thank you, for everything", her words and actions were loving and said more than enough and Miss Ellie knew exactly what Sue Ellen was getting at, so instead of opening the topic for discussion, she simply hugged her back. It was good to have Sue Ellen home and things back to normal again.

To be continued…