Dallas, Texas

"Oh Sue Ellen, he's precious"; holding John Ross as she and Miss Ellie socialised with the DOA ladies at the Ewing barbecue, Sue Ellen felt happy and proud; it was lovely to hear people complimenting her son, her marriage, her appearance and the Ewing family as a whole, but it was even nicer to feel that those compliments were genuine. At just three and a half months old, John Ross was still very young and mostly unaware of what was actually happening at Southfork that day, however, his age hadn't stopped his parents from going all out with his outfit and including him in the day's events. Wearing a tiny pair of cowboy boots, ones that matched his daddy's favourite pair, a small cowboy hat, jeans and a plaid shirt, he looked absolutely adorable and Sue Ellen had a strong feeling that when compiling photos in his baby photo album, the Ewing barbecue would be a well-documented event; it was hard to resist taking photos of him. Having spent a little time in the morning in the petting zoo area, showing John Ross the horses and other animals, she had then taken to carrying him around with her for a little while longer, at least until he needed to go down for his next nap. Greeting their guests and socialising with various members of Dallas society, all with John Ross in her arms, she grew fond of hearing people compliment her son and her life and she was contented by the confirmation that her perspective as a wife and mother wasn't completely delusional; she didn't just think her life was good, it actually was good. "Thank you", responding to Linda Bradley, she smiled genuinely and then politely turned the conversation back to something they could both equally contribute to, the charitable acts of the DOA.

Half an hour later, having hashed out tentative plans to reintegrate herself back into DOA activities, Sue Ellen excused John Ross and herself and made her way into the house to put him down for a nap. Walking past the door to the downstairs office, she didn't notice her husband or Harry McSween inside and happily made her way upstairs to the nursery, completely unaware of the conversation that was happening on the floor below her, one that concerned a situation that had the potential to tear her current happiness to shreds. "…the medical records state that Miss Moore's son was born full-term, actually, perfectly full-term, right on his predicted due date. This is good news, not only for the child's health, but your case against her..." flipping back a page and then pointing at a small section in the papers, Harry waited for JR to examine them before he continued speaking. "It's written right here in black and white; estimated date of conception: November 28th 1971; estimated due date: August 20th 1972". Pausing as he allowed JR to comprehend his words, he then explained a little more, "now, my source tells me that these things aren't an exact science, the doctors can only do their best to calculate from the information they have, which includes a chart of some sort. Honestly, don't ask me how a woman's body works, I have no idea; however, from the information you provided me with about your encounter with Miss Moore and the hypothetical questions I posed to my source, I think it's safe to say that you're not the father of that child. From what I understand, the estimated due date of a child conceived around December 18th 1971 would be September 9th 1972, and with Miss Moore's records indicating a full-term birth, exactly in line with her estimated due date, I strongly believe that she saw an opportunity and took it, not that she actually, truly believes that you're her son's father".

Grinning as he heard the words, now confident that Miss Moore was playing games with him in hopes of making a quick buck out of his potential embarrassment, which was quite frankly a stupid, overconfident assumption to make, JR spoke, "well, well, well, isn't that interesting… thank you Harry". Finishing their conversation, he made a mental note of the dates and began plotting his next move; he still had a blood test on Tuesday, but he was now much more confident that the result was going to be negative and with that confidence, his inner turmoil began to calm. Everything was going to be just fine, revenge came naturally and easily to him, but dealing with the fallout of having an illegitimate son did not, and to know that he only needed to think about revenge from now on pleased him greatly.

Walking downstairs after changing, feeding and then putting John Ross down for his nap, Sue Ellen smiled to herself as she spotted JR outside on the patio, talking to Punk Anderson and Jordan Lee; it wouldn't be too difficult to get JR away from that conversation, Punk and Jordan were good friends with the Ewings, their conversation probably wasn't urgent. Walking up next to her husband and taking his hand, she nodded and politely greeted Punk and Jordan as they tipped their hats to her. "Hello darlin'", turning as he felt her hand slip into his and noticed the gentlemanly reactions of the other two men, JR smiled at his wife and squeezed her hand; it was nice to have her with him again after a morning of separate socialising and networking and especially after his meeting with Harry McSween. Politely including Sue Ellen in their conversation, Punk and Jordan were socially adept enough to know that although JR was interested in their conversation, he'd have to be stupid not to want time alone with his beautiful, charming wife, so they soon excused themselves. "Dance with me?" pleased with the development of the situation and much more relaxed and ready to have fun than he had been in a while, JR took his wife's hand and guided her over to the dancefloor, the two of them quickly falling into the rhythm of the music and moving exactly in time with each other. Smiling to herself and to her husband, Sue Ellen was truly happy; she had a wonderful family and life and with the way things were in that moment, she foresaw only a wonderful future too, and the thought alone filled her with joy. Everything was perfect.

To be continued…