Dallas, Texas

"Sue Ellen", Mavis warmly welcomed Sue Ellen back to the DOA and immediately brought her into the conversational group she was a part of; she knew more about Sue Ellen's absence than the other ladies in the DOA did, so she was trying to make an effort to include her and make her feel a part of something. The young woman had had a difficult few weeks and needed something to occupy her time, and she had exactly the task to suit those needs. "Clothes, books, toys, cosmetics, anything that the girls may enjoy; they don't have a lot, so anything we can give will be a welcome addition to their lives", Sue Ellen listened as Linda Bradley explained their newest project and she was excited to be included in the group, she really had missed being useful and wanted. The DOA was the perfect outlet for her desire to give as much as she took; with JR, it was difficult for her to give him anything that he didn't already have or have the ability to attain himself, so she was left trying to please him on a personal, emotional level rather than a material level. As a member of the DOA though, she got to work with people who were far less privileged than she was and had clear needs and wants; it gave her a purpose and a direction, she liked having something to focus her attention on. Throwing herself into the conversation, Sue Ellen took on the somewhat self-appointed role of chairwoman of the committee, though technically she was just a member, not the one in control; she simply enjoyed planning and thinking of how they were going to go about completing their task though and she got excited to have something to do. She enjoyed planning fundraising balls and dinners where the aim was to raise funds for a bigger project, but she also enjoyed shopping and putting together care packages; she really had missed being needed and wanted and it felt good to be back again. From across the room, Miss Ellie smiled with pride as she observed her daughter-in-law mixing and mingling with the other ladies; she knew all about the issues Sue Ellen held, ones where she often found herself lost and lonely, and it was nice to see that she wasn't always that way. She hoped that everything remained this good forever, because from the way JR and Sue Ellen had looked as they came down to breakfast, things seemed to be going well for them as a couple as well as individuals, and with their baby set to arrive in just a few short months, they were on the right path.

Sitting in his office, JR found it difficult to concentrate on his work for any decent length of time as his mind was filled with images of his wife; just when he thought he knew everything about her and was beginning to take that for granted, she came at him with new and exciting information. It had been a while since anything like this had happened to him and in his previous experience, it had never quite been this intense; but now, with the recent developments in their relationship, he found himself more enamoured with her than ever before. Looking over his calendar for the upcoming month, he noticed the two days in the middle of the month that had been highlighted in pink by his secretary, pink for personal commitments, not work ones. In just two weeks, it would be Valentine's Day and then their second wedding anniversary, and after making rushed plans last year and knowing how he felt about her right now, he knew that he had to do something big, something special; his wife deserved a treat. Scanning over his upcoming events and meetings, he made a few notes for his secretary; the important meetings could be rescheduled and the less important ones could be delegated to either Bobby or his father. Ewing Oil was important, but with the happenings of the past few weeks, he had a feeling that his father would understand his request for a few days leave; he had insisted that JR be a good husband and father and doing something nice for his wife was an action that directly played into both of those roles. He wanted his wife happy and healthy, because if she was happy and healthy, then their baby had a higher chance of being that way too. He knew Sue Ellen's desire for their marriage was for them to be closer and spend more time actually doing things together, not exclusively intimate things, just in general, she had expressed to him that she wanted their marriage to be about them and their family, not just entirely focussed on fulfilling their roles as husband and wife. She had enjoyed the way their relationship worked when they were first dating and then were first married; when they actually went out on dates and made time to simply just be together. JR knew that she craved the affection and attention that she received and was able to give when they were in a loving relationship and he wanted to please her and fulfil her desires, because now that he remembered how good they were together and the potential they had to be even better, he felt the same way.

Down the hall from JR's office, Jock was dealing with a whole other set of issues, namely, how to deal with JR from now on. He'd always known that JR had a less than ethical approach to business, he'd taught him a number of his tricks himself, however, he'd always emphasised that there was a time and place for his actions and that as well as succeeding in business, he had personal responsibilities, such as making sure that his wife was happy and satisfied. Happy, supportive wives were exactly what businessmen like them needed, their work was very demanding and adding a chaotic personal life to the mix simply wasn't a good idea and didn't benefit anyone in the long run. Jock understood JR's desire to be with other women and he understood him occasionally being with other women, because JR was a natural philanderer, he didn't necessarily condone it, but he understood it. Now though, he felt guilty for standing by and doing nothing with the knowledge that when JR was out of town on business, he probably wasn't spending his nights alone, because as harmless as it had seemed at the time, he hadn't recognized the bigger issue. What JR had failed to understand and what Jock absolutely did not approve of was the side-women JR had in Dallas and the negative effect it had on his wife and their marriage. He saw a difference between JR having a little fun while he was away or as part of a business deal, and JR simply neglecting his wife in favour of other women. He didn't really know all the details, but from what his wife had told him, it appeared that JR had forgotten that first and foremost, after Ewing Oil, Sue Ellen was supposed to be his number one priority. For months, he had just focused on his own needs, neglecting and upsetting his wife in the process, firstly hurting her by not being there enough and then with the knowledge that he hadn't been respecting their marriage vows the way she had. Jock was a male chauvinist and he didn't particularly enjoy having to consider a woman's feelings about a situation before making his own decisions, however, he loved his wife and he would never purposely do something that would cause her pain, directly or indirectly, so for JR to do so was something he disapproved of.

Jock felt a little responsible for the way JR had acted, partially because he'd taught him to use sex as a weapon and a bargaining tool, and partially because he had had the power to guide JR in a better direction and had really only done the bare minimum at that. He'd told his eldest son to respect his wife, to call her, to love her and to do things for her, but at the same time, he'd driven him to dedicate excessive time and energy to Ewing Oil, sending him to out negotiate deals, sort issues and keep up the good image of Ewing Oil with their associates. He had Bobby for a lot of the 'fun' work, the parties, the women, spreading the three B's, but some things really were best dealt with by JR, and having taught him to do things a certain way, he felt guilty and a little responsible for the whole situation. However, after his talk with JR and the visit JR and Miss Ellie made to see Sue Ellen last week, it appeared that things had changed for the better and were actually good between the couple now. Sue Ellen was back at Southfork and she and JR seemed to be in love and very much lusting after each other, sometimes a little too much for what he cared to witness, however, that wasn't the point, the point was, he was pleased with their progress and changed relationship and he wanted things to remain that way. He had meant what he said to JR last week, he wanted Sue Ellen happy to be his wife and he wanted his grandson proud to call JR his father. JR had to start treating his wife with more love and respect and that meant changing a lot of things that he did; there was no other way to go about it, it was what it was and that was final. The conundrum Jock was in now though was how to continue to get the best performance out of JR while also keeping him on the right path in his personal life. He wasn't sure that he could trust JR to do the essential social tasks that came with being the vice president of Ewing Oil; business lunches, parties, out-of-town events, spreading goodwill, he feared that the temptation would be too great and JR would find it difficult to control himself, especially after living his life a certain way for so long. However, Jock knew that he couldn't simply just have JR do nothing that involved social events and he couldn't just tell him to change his methods of operation, because JR had been doing things the same way for years and they worked well for him, so making any major changes now could be disastrous for Ewing Oil. It was a challenge Jock was willing to tackle though, because he would not allow JR to hurt his wife and child, it wasn't right and it wasn't acceptable; things had to change, he just had to figure out how to change them.

To be continued…