Dallas, Texas

Walking into their bedroom as she returned home from a DOA meeting on Friday afternoon, Sue Ellen was surprised to see three gift boxes sitting on her side of the bed and she smiled to herself as she looked at the small card attached to the ribbon on the biggest box. It wasn't as if she expected the gifts to be from anyone else, but it always made her happy to know that JR was making an effort and was thinking of her even when he wasn't physically there with her. Opening the first package, a large, rectangular box, she gasped as she saw what was inside; JR had impeccable taste and the beautiful, dark blue evening gown was no exception. Removing it from the box, she smiled to herself as she noted the empire waistline and bigger bust; JR must have had some input into the dress, even if he'd had his secretary organize the actual ordering, wrapping and delivery; no one else knew her body quite the same way he did, especially her new body. Moving her attention to the next box, she removed the lid and crinkled her forehead in confusion; it was February, what use were bathing suits and cover-ups to her right now? Yes, they were pretty, but it was still fairly cold in Dallas and she doubted that they'd be using the pool any time soon. Looking at the bathing suits for a few more seconds, she then moved onto the third and final box and laughed at herself as she realised that JR had probably intended for her to open the boxes in a different order. Everything made perfect sense now, the smallest box contained only a short, handwritten note, a guidebook and a pen and she grinned as she looked at them. JR was taking her on vacation to Cozumel for their anniversary and in addition to the gifts he'd given her, he wanted her to have some say in what they actually did on their vacation. Looking at her watch, she decided that she had just enough time this afternoon before JR came home to go and get a manicure and pedicure in preparation for their trip; she liked to look nice for JR and she liked to look nice for herself, and a vacation was a perfect excuse to pamper herself a little bit.

Pulling into the Southfork driveway, JR grinned to himself as he noticed his wife leaving her position on the balcony above the swimming pool, appearing outside on the patio just a few seconds later. She'd obviously received the gifts he'd sent her and he was pleased that she was reacting the way he'd intended; he wanted his wife to be happy and he wanted to be the one that made her happy. "I love you!" her excitement was evident as she ran toward him as he got out of his car, she didn't seem to be able to stay still and evilly, his mind went to other places that she could exert her energy. "I love you too darlin'", he gave her a quick kiss and then pulled away to speak again, "I'm assuming you got my gifts. Did you like them?" he grinned as he prolonged the conversation; it was obvious that talking was the last thing on her mind right now. Sue Ellen nodded and smiled, "mhm, I did, and I loved them", she paused for a moment and then grinned, "I did have a few questions though, perhaps you could answer them for me… upstairs", she raised an eyebrow at him and turned back toward the house, taking a bold position as she assumed that he would follow him. It wasn't much of a risk for her though, because as much as he was teasing her with his questions and slight physical delay, JR wanted exactly the same thing she wanted; he knew that there would be no discussion when they entered the bedroom, at least not until much later in the day.

Cozumel, Mexico

Just under three hours after they left Dallas, around midday local time on Saturday morning, the couple landed on the beautiful Mexican island and their waiting limousine drove them the short distance from the airport to their resort. Initially, JR had considered returning to St Thomas and St John, where they had honeymooned two years ago, however, he decided against it for two reasons. The first reason was purely related to travel time; to fly to the United States Virgin Islands from Dallas meant seven hours of travelling, and in Sue Ellen's current state, although travel was safe and possible, he didn't want to exhaust her or make her uncomfortable by forcing her to spend a whole day on airplanes and in airports. The second reason was cheekiness; late last week, he had realised that a trip outside of the United States was possible this time, because his father hadn't said anything about not leaving the country, so he really wanted to take advantage of that and bring his wife somewhere new and different, but still beautiful and relaxing. Mexico seemed like the perfect destination, and after a little bit of discussion with his travel agent, he'd booked them a five day vacation in Cozumel; it was a lot closer to home than the USVI and at this time of year, the weather was a lot nicer than in Dallas. He had been able to book the entire trip without her knowledge and he was pleased that he had, because seeing the excitement on her face when he returned home on Friday was very rewarding. Prior to booking their honeymoon, he had insisted that she apply for a passport, however, because they technically hadn't left the United States, the passport was still pristine, no stamps or marks, and looking at it last week, he felt a little guilty for promising her such a grand life and then never delivering on that promise. He was determined to be a better husband now though, in whatever way he could.

On their honeymoon, they had stayed in a resort that had a number of private villas and Sue Ellen had absolutely loved that experience, but this year they were staying at a resort where the building was designed more like a hotel, and the grounds were what made it a resort. Initially, as their limo pulled up outside the building, she had been a little disappointed, not by the vacation or the effort JR had gone to, just simply by the type of accommodation he had chosen. A large hotel wasn't nearly as private or romantic as she would have liked and she was worried that they weren't going to be able to spend as much quality time alone together as she wanted. As she was now aware, thanks to Lucy's dramatic request for a new bedroom a few days ago and the passive aggressive remarks toward she and JR that followed, they weren't exactly silent when they were together. As embarrassing as it was to face with the family after that realisation, she was eventually able to deal with it, however, she knew that she would be completely mortified if other guests reported them to the hotel security. She wanted to enjoy her vacation with her husband in any way they wanted to, she didn't want to have to censor herself or her actions simply out of courtesy to other guests, so it did disappoint her a little that they didn't have the same amount of privacy that they had had on their honeymoon. However, as they exited the elevator on the top floor and walked toward the large, double doors, all concerns about a lack of privacy disappeared and she realised that she was being silly worrying about something that probably wouldn't ever actually happen; JR had rented the penthouse suite for them, so they had an entire floor to themselves. As the bellhop opened the door for them, Sue Ellen gasped at just how beautiful even the view from the doorway was and as they toured their accommodation for the next five days, she was speechless. They were quite literally just a few hundred feet from the ocean and it was apparent that the resort had been designed with that in mind; ceiling to floor windows opened onto a large outdoor balcony that overlooked the ocean, and in the interior rooms, there were as many windows as structurally and architecturally possible. The amazing view was the focal point of the room and the architecture and clean, spacious, interior design did a wonderful job at emphasising that. She felt like a newlywed again and she couldn't wait to show JR just how happy she was.

To be continued…