Dallas, Texas

"Oh, Sue Ellen, we were so excited when we heard about the baby and seeing him now…", Kristin, although usually uninterested in the details of Sue Ellen's life, couldn't help but coo at her new nephew. She was just as enthralled by the baby as everyone else and although she'd heard her mother speak about the future Ewing heir securing Sue Ellen's place in the Ewing family a million times before, right now, she couldn't care less about the Ewing money. "Congratulations dear, he's beautiful", Patricia joined her youngest daughter in praising her eldest, Sue Ellen had done a good thing and didn't see an issue with expressing that; she was a proud grandmother and as a mother, she had succeeded in providing Sue Ellen with everything she needed to live a comfortable, well-respected life. On top of Sue Ellen's prosperous and happy present and future being wonderful outcomes from the birth of her first child, there was an even more obvious positive outcome, John Ross Ewing III really was a beautiful baby and it pleased her that both JR and Sue Ellen looked like proud, elated parents. She never intentionally wanted her daughter to be unhappy, she simply wished that she would have been more accepting of the path she had laid out that would lead her toward the life she deserved. In Patricia's mind, there was nothing wrong with her parenting, Sue Ellen had just been a difficult teenager and young woman, but that was Sue Ellen's issue, not hers. Her daughter's life had taken a more complicated path toward the end result than she would have liked, Billy Frampton would have made a fine husband, if only Sue Ellen had been more obedient and understanding, however, although JR Ewing was her second choice for son-in-law, she wasn't displeased with the way things had turned out. The Ewings were a well-respected and well-to-do family and she enjoyed the trappings that came with having JR Ewing as a son-in-law, even if the benefits were getting smaller and smaller by the year. "Thank you mama", smiling at her mother, Sue Ellen temporarily forgot all about the worries of the morning and felt a sense of pride, in part due to being a mother and having everyone compliment her on her son and in part due to finally having made her own mother proud. It was nice to hear something kind come out of her mother's mouth and although she knew it probably wouldn't last and she would start criticising her parenting soon enough, she reminded herself to just be happy with what she had right now, because her mother was who she was and it wasn't worth trying to change her.

"Quiet only when he sleeps, just like his daddy", laughing to herself quietly, Miss Ellie paused for a moment and then spoke again. "How are you feeling?" handing her grandson over to her eager husband for a moment, she changed from joking to serious as she took a moment to engage Sue Ellen in a conversation about how she was feeling, because although it wasn't the main thing on Sue Ellen's mind, she could tell there was something there, something was bothering her. Despite the wide smile on her face and the stream of joyous comments coming from both she and JR, she knew Sue Ellen had to be feeling something else, even if it was just physical pain as a result of giving birth, and she wanted her to voice those thoughts before sentencing herself to suffer in silence. Smiling at her mother-in-law as she addressed her as a person and not just as the mother of John Ross Ewing III, Sue Ellen was pleased that someone other than JR was concerned about her, though she didn't blame the rest of the family for their eager excitement, that wasn't what was really bothering her. "I'm very happy Miss Ellie; tired and a little sore, but still, very happy and very much in love", it was the truth, though not the whole truth. She had omitted the fact that the family hadn't arrived at a particularly good time for her and that seeing everyone interact with her son so well was making her feel worse than she already did. However, she wasn't going to get into her issues now, not with the rest of the family in the room and not before she spoke to JR. Sensing that Sue Ellen didn't need to be pushed into talking right now, but making a mental note to not forget about it, Miss Ellie smiled and politely continued the conversation, letting Sue Ellen speak freely about whatever she wanted.

An hour later, noticing Sue Ellen yawn for a third time, Miss Ellie took the initiative to start the process of getting the entire Ewing and Shepard family to start saying their goodbyes. She was enthralled by her new grandson but she also had a lot of empathy and admiration for her daughter-in-law and she could tell that both mother and baby needed sleep. It appeared that the maternity staff had the same thoughts, because just as everyone was saying their goodbyes, a nurse appeared in Sue Ellen's room to take John Ross back to the nursery. A little disappointed that she wasn't going to get to spend any time alone with her son before they took him away from her again, Sue Ellen stayed quiet, simply because although she wanted to be with him, Miss Ellie's comment about how she must be exhausted wasn't too far from the truth. Prior to the family's visit, she'd had her first real taste of what it meant to be a mother; with a nurses guidance, she'd been shown how to feed, change and comfort her son and although she was trying her hardest to do everything perfectly, it didn't come as naturally to her as she'd hoped. John Ross had been fussy and uncooperative with her efforts and although she understood that it was neither her or his fault, that this was a new experience for both of them and it would take a little while to get the hang of it, it had still caused her self-confidence to drop a little. It saddened her that he had wriggled around in her arms as she tried to feed him, cried as she tried to change his diaper and hadn't seemed comforted at all by her attempts at soothing him to sleep. What hurt her feelings the most though was that whenever JR or anyone else went near him, he seemed to calm down a little and when the nurses handled him, they seemed to have some kind of special connection to him, one that allowed them to seem like the ones in control, not the tiny baby in their arms. As much as she wanted to try again to be the perfect mother, she knew that she was tired and probably not in the right frame of mind right now, so kissing her son goodbye, she allowed the nurse to take him back down to the nursery for a while.

Sensing his wife's frustration, JR hoped that she wasn't too hard on herself, she had to be exhausted, so obviously she wasn't operating at full capacity right now, and even if she were, John Ross was a baby, all he needed was someone with good intent and love for him, her perfectionist instincts weren't necessary. She needed to relax and stop worrying about it so much, she was a new mother, no one expected her to be an expert and no one was blaming her for not being able to immediately calm her newborn son, especially not when he was less than twenty-four hours old. Walking his family out of the room, JR couldn't help but feel a deep sense of pride and happiness at what he and Sue Ellen had done and at the response they had had received from their families; not once had anyone uttered anything even remotely negative about Sue Ellen or John Ross and that pleased him very much. It was possibly due to the fact that everyone was relieved and pleased that the newest Ewing was a boy, but he had a feeling that it had more to do with the fact that their son was sweet, adorable and everyone was absolutely in love with him. His parents had been waiting a long time for another grandchild and to finally have that, and for him to be a little boy, the son of the eldest son in the Ewing family, everything seemed perfect, especially since John Ross Ewing III had been born into such a loving and caring marriage. Lucy's birth had been marred by the tension between Gary, Valene, Jock, JR and Miss Ellie, but John Ross' birth couldn't have been more different; JR and Sue Ellen were finally in a good place in their marriage, they got along as well as could be expected with JR's parents and even Patricia seemed to be behaving herself lately. Things really were near perfect right now and JR envisioned that once they got over the small hurdle concerning Sue Ellen's approach to motherhood, their happiness would just keep growing; everyone had what they wanted and they were all in a good place to actually enjoy what they had.

To be continued…