Dallas, Texas

"…yes …mhm …yes, I agree ….ok, take care. Goodbye", responding with short answers and politely ending her conversation with her mother, Sue Ellen then hung up the phone and smiled; things looked as if they were really going to work out and she couldn't have been happier; calm was good, calm was all she wanted. It had been a few weeks since the hostile interaction between mother and daughter and mother-in-law and son-in-law had occurred and although Patricia was still holding a grudge against the two Ewings, she was also a little less angry than she had been. JR and Sue Ellen may have made her life a little more difficult, however, they weren't completely evil; they were taking care of Kristin and that was a huge burden off her shoulders, in a financial sense. There were a lot of costs associated with shaping her youngest daughter into the person she needed to be to succeed in life and with JR now committed to providing those things for her by proxy at her new school, the distance and relinquishing of power was worth it. The other positive of the situation was that although she'd taken a 'pay cut', she wasn't actually in a bad financial situation; yes, she needed to find another way to increase her income or access to money, but the money she did have access to was more than enough for her to live as a single, middle class woman. Raising children as a single mother had been a struggle, but she had managed, and she was more than capable of looking after herself; and now that she had more free time, she had the perfect opportunity to work on improving her own situation.

"From the smile on your face, I'm going to assume that Kristin's all settled in now and everything went smoothly?" Walking into the foyer as his wife finished her phone call, JR was happy; he'd had a rough night and he was still a little on edge about the whole Cynthia situation, however, his home life was almost perfect right now and he couldn't ignore the way that made him feel. Sue Ellen really was the perfect wife; she was a wonderful mixture of sweet, loving, caring, sexy, independent, submissive, and everything else he wanted her to be, but more importantly, she was happy with who she was and the way their lives were. It gave him so much pleasure to see her enjoying her life, as a wife, a mother, a friend, a family member and as a woman, independent of titles and roles; seeing her happy was important to him and experiencing the woman that she was when she was happy and trying to make him happy too was very much enjoyable. Sue Ellen's plan to improve his mood had worked; he'd awoken that morning to the slight smell of breakfast and the sensation of light kisses and caresses, and before he really had a chance to comprehend what was happening or feel bad about letting his wife treat him so well when he didn't deserve it, he was enjoying himself immensely. They'd had a wonderful morning together as a couple, as a family of three and as part of the wider Ewing family, and from the sounds of it now, Sue Ellen's phone call to her mother meant only good things for their relationship. Of course, he had to make sure that he kept his secret for a few more days and was able to get rid of the issue altogether before Sue Ellen ever had to know about it. He was sure he could though; he didn't plan on allowing Cynthia or her child anywhere near he or his family, not in the long run; if it was proven that her child was also his child, he would settle and send her away, and if it wasn't, then she would pay the price for messing with him. However, neither option required anyone apart from he, his lawyer and a member of law enforcement to know, so he had no plans to ruin his relationship with his wife by telling her; it would all be over soon anyway.

"Yes, that was mama calling from the airport; they flew in late last night, stayed in a hotel and then moved Kristin into her room this morning. Apparently, the dormitory staff were very helpful with Kristin's bags and because of the limited items students are allowed to bring, it took almost no time to set everything up as they had planned. Hearing that, I almost envy Kristin a little, I can't say my college move in day was quite that calm…." Letting out a small laugh as she remembered her own experience, she promised herself that when John Ross went to college, she would try her best to respect his privacy and personal wishes and not attempt to micromanage his life away from Southfork, no matter how much she believed that there was a 'better' way of doing things. "They're an hour ahead of us, so she and Kristin had lunch together in town before they returned to campus, Kristin then met her roommate, my mother 'introduced herself' to Kristin's roommate's parents and then a member of staff came around to remind the students that there was a dormitory meeting in the afternoon. They then said their goodbyes and mama left; she just called to tell me that everything went fine and thank us for our generosity, I think it's finally hit her that we don't want hostility and most of the negativity in our relationship comes from her. For the sake of our future relationship, I hope that she really takes that knowledge to heart and changes, however, I'm not stupid, I know she'll probably always be the same person, deep down…" Pausing for a moment as she thought about it and truly did hope that they could work on building some kind of constructive and positive relationship, she then remembered the final thing she needed to relay to JR.

"Oh, she also made a point of telling me how pleased with the service she and Kristin received while in the hands of the Ewing jet pilot, the chauffeur to and from the airport and anyone else that may or may not be a Ewing Oil employee. She said that it was nice to be back travelling in such a comfortable fashion and that your kind gesture was noted and acknowledged… Now, if I know my mother, I believe that was a thank you, or at least as close to one as you'll get". Smirking at the ludicrous way her mother said things, as if she were entitled to them, she then laughed at JR's expression, one of slight disbelief and then amusement. Stepping forward, she then kissed him, and when their kiss ended, she finished speaking, "because of that, I'll say it for her, and for me. Thank you for being so kind and generous toward my family. I know they're hard to deal with sometimes, but I love that you do and you do it so well", looking him in the eye as she spoke, she was worried for a moment as he briefly looked away, as if something horrible had just come into his mind, however, when he looked back at her, her worry disappeared. It was obvious from the way that he was looking at her that he loved her, wanted to be with her and would do anything for her, and she was thrilled by that kind of emotion, it was all she'd ever really wanted in a husband. "Mhm, yes, it's a hard job being Patricia Shepard's son-in-law, but apparently she comes with the territory if I want you as my wife, and I do, so I suppose I have to deal with her, and if being a nice person means that everyone is happy, then I'll do it, for you, because I love you". Maintaining their eye contact, JR started out joking, though he soon became more serious; he wanted her to understand how deeply he loved her, for the general purpose of making her happy and as a precautionary defence mechanism. If she did find out about the mess he was in, hopefully she would be more understanding if she remembered that his actions were in the past and didn't represent who he was as a man today. Smiling widely as she listened to her husband expressing his love for her, Sue Ellen felt wonderful; finally, after years of not quite having everything aligned, finally everything felt good and right, "I love you too", whispering her words as she looked him in the eye, she then leaned up and kissed him again. It was nice to feel so comfortable and accepted in their relationship that she could freely express herself without having to think about or conform to a silly set of conservative rules; everything was better when the lines of communication were open and the things they were communicating were positive.

To be continued…