Austin, Texas

Walking through the airport arrivals gate, Kristin's stomach dropped; her mother was waiting for her and although she didn't look angry or upset, she also didn't look happy, and knowing her mother, a neutral expression scared her almost as much as an angry one; neutral meant that she was displaying a public façade, but was struggling to maintain it. "Kristin, lovely to see you again dear", as Patricia greeted her daughter with polite words that unfortunately lacked any genuine warmness, Kristin's thoughts were confirmed; her mother wasn't happy and that was a scary situation to be walking into. Luckily, the orientation for new students at her new school was just a week away, then she was set to officially move in to her dorm room the weekend after that and classes were scheduled to start the following Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. She found comfort in the fact that she only had to survive another eight days with her mother before she could leave again; she would return briefly to Austin after her orientation to really pack her things, but after that, she would officially be a boarding school student, free from the constant pressure her mother put her under. She didn't have a problem with following her mother's social rules or working toward the goals her mother had set, however, it was too much pressure and negativity to be around her all the time now. It had been different when she had JR's money to help her, but now that she was fending for herself, there was a lot of hostility and misdirected anger in the Shepard house and Kristin didn't like dealing with that. Having confessed her fears to Sue Ellen before boarding the plane, she tried to put on a brave face though; acting anything less than polite and submissive to her mother's wishes wouldn't do her any good and she knew it. She did hope that her mother would eventually come around though, especially since the situation wasn't actually a bad deal, not really. Yes, Patricia was losing the tight control she had over her youngest daughter's life and she was no longer receiving regular payments from JR, however, although not a rich woman, she also wasn't a poor woman; she was completely middle class and the money she did have would be fine for her to live as a single woman.

Patricia Shepard was a gold-digging snob who was never happy with what she had and always wanted more, however, what she did have was nothing to turn her nose up at; she'd married a man who was firmly middle class and when he wasn't drinking, was a dependable and responsible person who had the good sense to plan financially. Thanks to her husband's sober dependability and financial planning skills, she and her daughters hadn't been left to beg on the streets after he left her, or later, after he died. Luckily for the remaining members of the Shepard family, the life insurance policy he had been paying into meant that not only was the mortgage on their family home paid in full upon his death, but the lump sum payout was a reasonable amount to support their family for a while, provided that it was correctly budgeted. Being very aware of monetary matters, Patricia had been able to stretch the life insurance money a long way and as soon as Sue Ellen was old enough to start competing in pageants that had larger prizes and modelling for a bigger, more popular agency, she had directed her toward those activities. Building Sue Ellen's personal skills, public presence and financial worth were three of her goals and the day she finally saw her daughter marry the wealthy JR Ewing, she knew she had succeeded. Kristin was a little younger than Sue Ellen was, so she'd had to do some financial recalculations in the meantime, however, she'd always intended for her to follow in Sue Ellen's footsteps, and getting to the age that she was, it was just about time for her to really start the process of making herself into the ideal woman. Allowing her to move two thousand miles from home was a risk, a big risk, but with JR Ewing's assurance, knowing her current situation if she kept Kristin in Austin and from looking at the school prospectus, she knew she was doing the right thing, even if it was hard to let go. With Kristin provided for away from home, she had less bills and more time to work on a plan to improve her own social and financial status and she intended on doing just that. Sue Ellen had jokingly suggested that she marry a wealthy man herself, even one that she wasn't remotely attracted to, and although that had been something she hadn't ever really considered, she did have a few standards, it now didn't seem like such a terrible idea; love wasn't everything. However, knowing that decisions made in haste often resulted in a lifetime of regret, she decided to simply focus on her and Kristin's lives for now, everything else would happen in due course.

Dallas, Texas

"…father's name?" sitting next to the young, unmarried woman and her newborn son as they filled out the required forms, the nurse wasn't particularly surprised when she received the reply, "no father", it did surprise her however when she kept speaking "…not yet anyway". Crinkling her forehead in confusion at the statement, she decided not to question her, it wasn't really her place and she had a feeling that the young woman would be just fine on her own, even if her son were currently fatherless. "Fine", giving her a warm smile, she then stood and turned, "a doctor will be with you and baby John soon and as long as they give you the all clear, you should be able to go home this evening", walking toward the door, she then left the room, leaving the young woman and her baby alone. "Did you hear that little John? We should be going home tonight", excited to be a mother, even if she had no idea who the real father was or how she was going to survive if JR Ewing didn't go along with her plan, the young woman held her newborn son's hand and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his forehead. "You'll have a good life, I'll make sure of it", content to just hold his hand and enjoy this time together, before things inevitably turned into a crazy mess, she reassured him and then watched as he drifted off to sleep again.

To be continued...