Cozumel, Mexico

"JR?" Sue Ellen smiled to herself contently as they entered the elevator, she was completely happy and satisfied right now and she wanted her husband to know. JR wasn't oblivious to her mood, he had been observing her all evening, well, all day really, and it pleased him that she appeared to be very happy; just knowing that he was responsible for a lot of that happiness made him happy, because he now saw things differently to how he had in the past. The old JR had been mostly focused on satisfying his own desires, of course, he wanted to have a happy wife, but he also hadn't entirely realised just how much her happiness depended on how he treated her and what he did when he wasn't with her. She wanted a husband who could give her as much of himself as she gave him of herself; he understood that now. It had taken him a long time and a lot of things had happened in that period, bad things, but now, he finally understood that their relationship and their lives, both as individuals and a couple, were better when they did things equally and for each other. He'd thought long and hard about his beliefs and expectations, and for the first time, he had begun to see things from a perspective that wasn't entirely his own; Sue Ellen's speech in the hotel room had prompted him to take a look at the way he assumed things without evidence or anything real to base them on. Yes, in his mind, ladies acted a certain way, but when Sue Ellen, a true lady, told him in no uncertain terms that just because she was a lady, didn't mean that she always had to act that way and that she quite enjoyed not having to be so proper all the time, he was dumbfounded, but also receptive. For some reason, it had taken her yelling at him for him to finally realise that he was being ridiculous when he insisted on stuffy, conservative roles in their marriage, especially when it wasn't what either of them wanted. What they did in their marriage was no one's business but their own, at least as long as they were happy and demonstrating that they could be adults. Sue Ellen's mother was naturally nit-picky, they couldn't do much about that, and although his parents meant well when they interfered in their everyday lives, it often ended up putting more pressure on them than anything else; so for them to take anyone's opinions more seriously than their own simply wasn't a good idea, and he finally understood that. The past few weeks had been wonderful; he wasn't sure what to make of it yet, because he kept expecting to find himself wanting more, but surprisingly, his wife was keeping him totally satisfied, both in and out of the bedroom. They seemed to have finally come to a common understanding and their marriage was benefitting immensely from that understanding and their new methods of communication.

"Yes darlin'", he was interested in what she was thinking, because all throughout dinner, she had appeared dreamy and meditative; something was going on in her mind, and if the recent past was anything to go by, she was a fascinating woman and she was thinking something interesting. Exiting the elevator and walking into their hotel room, Sue Ellen said what was on her mind, "when I came back to Dallas, I made a total commitment to you; I want to wipe out all of the bad times and start over. Promise me that things will always be this good", she knew that they'd made and broken a lot of promises in the past, but this felt different, it felt more real this time, as if she finally had every part of her husband. Pulling her toward him as they entered the living room, he stopped her from walking any further, concerned that she was speaking almost as if she was still holding a certain amount of resentment toward him. "Sue Ellen, look at me", holding her shoulders and then using one of his hands to tilt her face up to his, he made sure that they maintained eye contact as he spoke, "darlin', I love you, and I promise, I do not intend to do anything to bring us bad times again. I want our marriage to remain strong, no matter what else is going on in our lives", he spoke with a little bit of awareness of their situation, but he fully intended on making sure that their relationship remained strong, even when other things weren't easy. Listening to her husband's words, Sue Ellen felt better for a moment, however, his comment about their lives saddened her a little bit; things were going to change, whether they wanted them to or not. They wouldn't always be alone on an island together, they did have real lives to get back to and some things were simply out of their control. In their lives, smooth sailing was a rare occurrence, at least for long periods of time; unfortunately, rough patches were to be expected. Ultimately, they couldn't control anyone but themselves, however, they were in control of how they dealt with situations and she was completely prepared to work with him in any way that he needed her. Even if everything else in their lives was good, she wasn't stupid, she knew that the baby would change their relationship, but whether it was positive or negative, she really did feel like she had some control over that, and she was determined to make it a positive experience.

Looking away for a moment as she processed her thoughts, she then looked him in the eye again, "I love you JR, and I want the same thing. I want us to be happy together and work with each other, not against each other. Promise me, please, promise me that when we get back to Dallas, nothing will change in regards to our love for each other. Promise me and really show me that you've made the same commitment that I have to our marriage and our relationship; promise me that we'll always talk about and really discuss our lives with each other, and that includes really, honestly listening to each other. I don't completely understand the way your mind worked before, but I want to make it clear that I am here for you, all of you, not just the good parts, or the parts you think are appropriate for me. Your problems are my problems; your happiness is my happiness. Please, please promise me that everything will be good between us from now on, because I really want to make things work. If you have any doubts, then tell me now, because I don't think I could stand the pain of having you go back to your old ways. I'd hate to not be your wife anymore, but I have to do what's best for me, and if being together is going to cause me more pain and distress, then I'm willing to give it up, because I want to be happy, not miserable".

JR looked at his wife confusedly, she'd been so happy just a moment ago, but now she seemed sad and she was voicing doubts about their relationship, doubts he absolutely did not want to hear, especially since he was serious about their relationship and was trying to make an honest effort to be a good husband and a better man. "Oh, Sue Ellen…", he sounded defeated and sad as he spoke, he had really only asked out of curiosity about why she was so happy, he'd never intended to upset her. "What's brought all this on darlin'?" he asked her a question, though he didn't really expect her to answer it, it wasn't really something he wanted to discuss, even if they were supposed to be making an effort to communicate with each other better. Pausing and looking her in the eye again, he did the one thing he knew would convince her, his kisses always said so much more than his words did, because emotionally, he just wasn't a good verbal communicator. Surprised by his actions, but also immensely attracted to him, Sue Ellen found herself more convinced of her place in their marriage and his position on their relationship, he did love her, he just wasn't very good at expressing his feelings sometimes; it wasn't exactly surprising, Jock Ewing wasn't the kind of man that encouraged emotional expression. Pulling away, JR stroked her cheek and looked her in the eye again, "I love you Sue Ellen and I promise, I want our marriage to work and if you'll just give me a chance to show you, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. The fact is I already have what I always wanted… you. I was too stupid and too vain to realise it before, but I do now, and I am trying and will continue to try damn hard to be the husband you deserve, that is the husband I want to be". It annoyed him that no one seemed to believe that he could change, but he understood why people had doubts, and he understood that they only way to change people's beliefs about him was to prove them wrong. Things in his life were good now, he and Sue Ellen had opened a world of possibilities with their previous discussion, he was about to become a father and make his parents grandparents again, and as long as he kept to his commitment to his wife and child, then Ewing Oil was his too. He wanted to prove everyone wrong and he wanted to have a good life for himself, his wife and their child, so he was determined to do everything the right way.

Looking up at him again, Sue Ellen gulped, she wanted to believe him, and honestly, she did believe him, he hadn't done anything to make her not believe him; she was being silly and worrying about non-issues again, that's all it was. "Do you think you can stand living with just one woman?" she didn't really know why she was asking him, it would be awful to hear anything other than the answer she was looking for. Sighing exasperatedly and then calming himself, JR spoke, "yes darlin', as long as the one woman is you", he looked at her tenderly for a moment and then grinned to himself as he noticed the way her eyes lit up and a smile appeared on her face as he confirmed what she wanted to hear. He didn't understand her sometimes, she was a very confusing woman; none of what he had said was really new information, but apparently, she'd needed to hear him say it again, and if that was all it was, then he wasn't going to question it. Breaking into a grin of her own, Sue Ellen felt relieved and happy as she got the confirmation that she had been subconsciously looking for; for some reason, even with him showing her that he loved her, she needed to hear it again, and now that she had, she felt a lot better. Sensing the change in her mood, JR seized the opportunity and kissed her, the way he had wanted to when they originally entered the room, he loved his wife and he wanted to be with her, and he realised that sometimes, she needed both verbal and physical communication of that want, and he was happy to oblige. As his skilled hands moved to the zipper on her dress, she worked on undoing his tie and removing his jacket, quickly moving on to his shirt and pants. It seemed crazy to outsiders that they could go from tender and caring to passionate in a matter of seconds, but to them, it was just one of the many things they loved about their marriage, and they intended on taking full advantage of it, especially with their new location. A vacation was the perfect time to get to know other parts of each other, both physical and emotional.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Dialogue partially inspired by the episode Hello, Goodbye, Hello, written by Leonard Katzman.