Dallas, Texas

Upon hearing JR and Sue Ellen's intention to purchase the property located right next to Southfork land, Jock's business mind had automatically begun to consider how he could spin that decision into something beneficial for the entire Ewing family. However, hearing JR express his and Sue Ellen's desire to purchase a property that was not currently being used as a working ranch, his mood changed again; perhaps his proposition wouldn't go down so easily after all. He had been considering expanding Southfork ranch for years, because although it was already large, it could always be larger, just like Ewing Oil was big, but the end-goal was to grow it into the biggest independent oil company in Texas. Because of various events though, mostly those related to the lack of neighbouring land for sale, he hadn't made any moves toward expanding the ranch operations just yet, however, with the possibility of a Ewing now owning the old Wade ranch land, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a deal. Unfortunately, from what he knew about JR and the tone he'd spoken in when explaining his and Sue Ellen's desire to purchase property that had no ranching operations attached to it, he knew that if he was going to negotiate partial use or ownership of the adjacent land, he would have to be careful about how he worded his proposal.

It appeared that the conversation they were having right now was one borne out of courtesy rather than because his son and daughter-in-law were asking permission to make their move. Because of that, he knew that his protests against their decision would most likely fall on deaf ears, because they had made their decision and nothing could really stop them now. Whether he liked it or not, they were adults and they were more than allowed to, willing to and capable of making their own decisions, so if he wanted it to end in any positive manner for both sides, then he needed to start accepting their decision and working with what he had. Thinking about the overall situation, he knew that he needed to make his idea sound like he was doing them a favour, not that he was negotiating the terms and conditions that they were required to live their lives by, because they were well past the point in their relationship where he could play authoritative father or wealthy banker.

As he silently considered how to respond to JR's explanation, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his wife's voice. "How often will you visit?" from the soft, sad tone of voice, it was obvious that even with JR and Sue Ellen's explanation of their motivations, his wife still wasn't very pleased about the news, though knowing her as he did, he knew that her reasons for not liking their news differed greatly from his. While he loved the atmosphere that came from the whole family being together, he also hugely enjoyed the power and reputation that came from being part of such a close-knit family, however, for his wife, being surrounded by family, especially her grandchildren was enough of a reason for her to love and not want to change their living arrangements.

"Oh Miss Ellie, like JR said, we wouldn't be strangers. I love being here at the ranch and I know John Ross does too, so I promise, we will be here during the day almost as much as we already are. JR and I also discussed family dinners and weekends and decided that if we're welcome to, we'd still like to attend a few dinners each week and we would still come over to spend time with the family. This really is just a physical move; we need our own private space and a little bit of freedom to choose how we arrange our schedules; that doesn't mean that we never intend to spend time here at Southfork or want to remove ourselves from the Ewing family though, because that's not our intention at all. If our plan to purchase the old Wade ranch pans out, then we'll just be a few miles down the road; it's just enough physical distance to satisfy our needs, but it's not far enough that we would really be disrupting the flow of the family dynamic. We thought long and hard about this decision and this is what we have concluded; for the sake of our marriage, we need our own space; for the sake of better family relations, a home of our own is a good idea; and because as luxurious as some of the homes in the suburbs are, they're not what we want. We've chosen to stay in Braddock County and we're hoping to purchase the old Wade ranch because this area is where we want to be, this area is home. I promise, this really will be a good thing for the family; a little space will do us good, because I know how much it bothers you when there's tension in the air; if we can eliminate those situations and only participate in good, happy ones, then the overall atmosphere will be a better, more positive one".

Although Miss Ellie's question had been directed more at JR than her, because up until now, he had been the one doing most of the talking, Sue Ellen felt the need to answer. As a Ewing wife and mother, she spent more time with Miss Ellie than JR or Jock did and she knew that in doing that, her mother-in-law had become quite attached to both she and John Ross, just as she had grown to love the relationship she had with her mother-in-law and John Ross had with his grandmother. Because of their relationship, she felt responsible for making sure that Miss Ellie understood that they weren't deliberately trying to hurt her with their news and that it wasn't a decision they'd made in haste, because she really didn't want to hurt or upset her, and if possible, she would really like her support and continued friendship. Waiting and watching as Miss Ellie considered her words, she hoped that her message had come across correctly. She liked being a Ewing and her and JR had no plans to completely stop being part of the Ewing family, they really were just making moves toward having their own space for their smaller family, but it wasn't meant as an insult toward the larger Ewing family.

To be continued…