Dallas, Texas

"The bleeding gets any heavier or you have any engorgement issues, you call. You experience any discomfort that seems unexpectedly strong, you call. John Ross has any symptoms that appear to be out of the ordinary, you call. We're not in the business of abandoning mothers and babies as soon as they leave our monitored care, however, you have to contact us if there are issues prior to your next check-up, otherwise we won't know and we won't be able to help. Do you understand?" Doctor Krane looked at Sue Ellen sternly and waited for her to respond; she really did want the best for all of her patients and the Ewings had an excellent insurance policy, so there was no reason for Sue Ellen to suffer in silence if any issues did arise. "I understand. Thank you for all of your help", she really was grateful for everything Doctor Krane had done for her throughout her pregnancy; at times, she'd been the only person who understood what she was dealing with and although she was a professional, paid to care for the wellbeing of both mother and baby, Sue Ellen felt a more personal connection. "You're welcome", smiling at her patient briefly, she then motioned toward the nurse who had brought a wheelchair into the room, "now, are you ready to go home?" nodding eagerly, Sue Ellen looked up at JR and then toward John Ross; going home to Southfork was when everything would finally become real and she was excited to have that happen.

As they drove down the long driveway toward the large white ranch house, Sue Ellen smiled to herself as she remembered the first time she ever visited Southfork, she'd been awed by the beauty and scale of the property and had found herself applying the image before her to the imagined fantasies she'd had as a young girl. As a little girl, she'd always dreamed of raising a family in a place like Southfork and to be here right now, not only as a married woman but as a mother was amazing and almost surreal. "We're home", parking, JR opened his door and walked around to the passenger side to assist his wife and son just as the family walked out onto the patio and toward the driveway. For a moment, he was surprised to see his father and brother present alongside the women of the family, but he then reminded himself that to his father, the first Ewing grandson's homecoming was a monumental event and even Ewing Oil could wait a few hours. "Welcome home", Miss Ellie was the first to greet the new family of three as they walked toward the house and as quickly as she had spoken, everyone else took it as a cue to start speaking too, overwhelming Sue Ellen slightly but also making her feel loved and appreciated. "Sue Ellen, may I hold him?" feeling eager to participate as an aunt, Lucy pushed her way toward Sue Ellen, "Lucy!" JR, feeling protective of his wife and son reacted quickly toward her swift action, grabbing her arm as she attempted to get Sue Ellen to hand the baby over to her. "He's small and fragile, you need to calm down around him", his words came out in an angry tone and Lucy couldn't help but feel a little upset by his admonishment, she was just trying to be nice, but instead she'd been told off, she didn't understand what his problem was. Agreeing with what JR had said but noticing that his tone had come out sounding as if he were angry with Lucy, not simply protective of his son, Sue Ellen felt a little sorry for Lucy and attempted to right the situation, "that's right, he's small and we must be careful around him. I know you're excited to hold him though, so how about we go inside and sit down and then you can hold him?" The last thing she needed was to deal with bratty Lucy and it seemed smarter to fix the problem now than to let her stew in her feelings. "Ok", speaking in a softer and more deflated way than her previous excited tone, Lucy acknowledged that what JR and Sue Ellen were saying was correct, though it didn't make her feel any better to have been called out about her honest gesture in front of the family. "May I hold him after Lucy?" Kristin, who was still in a surprisingly good mood, mostly due to the cuteness of her new nephew, not because she'd changed the way she felt about her sister, moved in on the conversation. She knew that if she didn't ask now, she'd be last in line, that was simply how it worked in a large family like the Ewings, she wasn't a priority for anyone, so she'd learned to make herself a priority. "Of course Kristin; everyone may hold him, as long as he doesn't start getting upset by all of the attention", she hadn't expected to come home to such a crowd and although it was nice to know everyone cared, it was still a lot for Sue Ellen to deal with. However, seeing it from the family's perspective, she noted that they were all excited for the new Ewing baby and they'd not been around him as much as she and JR had, so of course they were eager to spend time with him now that he was home. They were a family of three, but they were also part of an extended family and it would be unfair to purposely limit the amount of time John Ross spent with his extended family, at least within reason. She and JR would always be his parents, but he had aunts, uncles and grandparents too and they deserved to be able to show their love for him. Ushering everyone inside, Miss Ellie directed Teresa to bring in some refreshments for them and made sure that Sue Ellen had everything she needed to be comfortable; seeing the entire family together and happy was a joy and she would do everything in her power to make sure it stayed that way.

"He sure does cry a lot", swiftly handing her nephew back to her elder sister, Kristin made a strikingly obvious observation; although the newest little Ewing was a very cute and sometimes cuddly child, he was first and foremost a baby and when taken down to a base level, babies mostly just ate, cried, pooped and slept. "He must be getting tired; this is a big day for him, he's not used to having so many people around him, it's very overwhelming for a baby to focus on that much information. I think I'd better take him upstairs for a nap…" as if it were an obvious exit line, explaining her intent and future absence, Sue Ellen replied and then stood. She intended on putting her son down for a nap herself, however, from the quick reaction of her mother-in-law, the baby nurse and surprisingly, her own mother, it appeared that everyone else had other ideas about who was in charge of tending to his needs. "If you don't mind, I'd really like to do it myself. I am his mother and it's his first day home…" looking at JR as she spoke, her mood improved slightly as she noted that he was intently observing the situation, ready to mediate if things got too heated but generally staying quiet as to not belittle her position by controlling the situation with his power alone. She then turned her attention back toward the three women who were now discussing her opinion, as if her looking after her own son were only one of many options right now, which in her mind, it wasn't. "It's ok, I can manage…" readjusting her son's position in her arms, she nodded goodbye to everyone and silently left the room, the sound of John Ross' tired whimpers the only thing indicating her position in the house. She didn't know what to say in situations like these, she didn't want to be perceived as rude and tell everyone that she didn't want their help right now, that she was a perfectly capable adult and she didn't always need everyone to do things for her, however, that's exactly what she wanted to say. Instead of getting in an argument though, she'd simply left the room, making her decision clear without having to verbalise it again; they could argue all they wanted, it wouldn't make any difference to her, she had her son and she was going to look after him exactly as she saw fit. As much as she liked having family around and people willing to assist her, she needed everyone to remember that she was his mother and she and JR were the final decision makers in his life. If everyone respected that, then everything would be ok.

Walking into the nursery, she felt a wave of emotion as it all became real; she and Miss Ellie had spent months perfecting the room and now the baby that it was for was actually here to use it. Hearing the door close behind her, she was brought back into the present and gulped as she realised that she was probably going to have to deal with the fallout from her previous 'rudeness'. Noticing her slight jump at the door closing, JR knew not to open with anything other than what she wanted to hear, "it's just me darlin'. I had a word with everyone downstairs, they understand where you're coming from and they'll try to respect that we're his parents…" walking over toward her, he stood next to her and gently patted his son on the back, "now darlin', enough talk, let's put our son to bed, together". He was enjoying the role of being a father and as much as he thought his wife overreacted slightly to things sometimes, he understood where she was coming from on the previous issue; being a man, he didn't quite experience things the way she did, but he understood why she would feel the way she did. His father was a proud grandfather and JR wanted his son to respect him the way he respected his daddy, however, he didn't want him to grow up fearing him or feeling as if he had to be overly formal in his presence. It wasn't the same thing, but he understood the need to establish a power hierarchy early on, because if he didn't, he could potentially end up being steamrolled by his father when it came to decisions about his son and as much as he loved his father, he didn't want to replicate his own childhood. "I'd like that", smiling to herself, Sue Ellen let out a sigh of relief; she'd probably have to deal with everyone at some point, but that was an issue to deal with later, right now, she and JR had more important things to focus on.

To be continued…