Dallas, Texas

Watching as Teresa walked into the living room with the champagne and glasses he'd requested, JR squeezed his wife's hand and then loudly cleared his throat, and one by one, the family quietened down to listen to what he had to say. "Sue Ellen and I have some news to share", pausing for effect, he observed the family's facial expressions; his parents clearly knew what was coming and were apprehensively excited, but from the look on Bobby and Lucy's faces, it was clear that they had no idea what the news was. "Sue Ellen and I signed the papers this morning; the old Wade ranch is now the new Ewing property…" Grinning as he spoke, he was happy for reasons related not only to his family's future, but because just as expected, it appeared that the news had come as a complete shock to Bobby and although he wasn't a completely horrible person, he couldn't say he didn't somewhat enjoy throwing unexpected surprises at his youngest brother. Before he could consider anything any deeper than what he was observing, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his young, brash niece speaking to his wife; "that's it? The Ewings buy property all the time. I thought this was going to be exciting news, like a new baby or something". Hearing her words, he was both shocked and annoyed, though as he looked at Sue Ellen's face and then heard his father laughing, his annoyance began to disappear and turn into amusement. It appeared that Jock had seen Sue Ellen's reaction before he had and when Lucy's words were combined with Sue Ellen's shocked and flustered expression and her stuttered denial, the situation went from uncomfortable to humorous. They wanted and were planning to have more children, but as of right now, it wasn't a reality and it was absolutely nothing to do with their current news. Once again, Lucy and her big mouth had managed to edge in on their exciting news. It didn't stay that way for long though, because as Teresa poured the champagne and handed everyone a glass, everyone was reminded of the reason why they were celebrating and as soon as Miss Ellie made the first move to congratulate them on their purchase and wished them well in their future, the rest of the family soon followed. JR could tell though that when it came to Bobby and Lucy, there were still a lot of questions they needed to answer before they understood exactly what they were celebrating.

Austin, Texas

Thanking Mr Prescott and allowing him to give her a chaste kiss, Patricia then unlocked her front door and entered her house, alone. Letting out a loud sigh of relief as she heard his car door opening and closing, she then hurried upstairs to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Thankfully, she hadn't had to deal with Herbert Prescott's tongue in her mouth tonight, because if the smell of his breath was anything to go by, she would have had to exercise a lot of self-control and after an evening of acting, that may have tipped her over the edge. Brushing her teeth and then wiping her makeup off, she sighed to herself again, this time in a more resigned tone. Was this it for her? Had her life really come to a point where the only eligible wealthy men she could snag a date with were those who had been rejected by the younger money-hungry women of Texas? She'd always known that as women aged, the opportunities available to them shrunk, that's why she'd been so adamant that Sue Ellen marry well when she was young, however, in focusing so much on Sue Ellen and Kristin's futures, she'd neglected to really plan properly for her own, at least outside of piggybacking on her daughter's successes. Now, with Sue Ellen and JR refusing to support her as she had initially planned, or even to the same degree they had supported her in the past, and Kristin off at boarding school getting the social and academic education she deserved and would benefit her in the future, she was all on her own in Austin.

After getting over the initial shock of JR and Sue Ellen's serious visit to Austin a few months ago, one that had come with threats about what would happen to the limited benefits if her 'bad attitude' continued, she'd then thrown herself into shopping around for a husband worthy of her. It hadn't taken long for her initial enthusiasm to wear off though, because after just three dates with three different wealthy men, it had become clear to her that the situation she'd imagined and the reality of life were quite different. In a way, she empathised with Sue Ellen for all of the dates she'd forced her to go on, despite her insistence that she had absolutely no romantic or even platonic interest in them, because after arranging situations for herself similar to those she'd arranged for her daughter, she'd come away with a bad taste in her mouth, literally. She would never admit that she had been wrong about the way she had treated Sue Ellen though, it was just how she was, she hated to admit failure or weakness, so she didn't.

Washing and then patting dry her face, she sighed to herself again. She was in a bad position right now and as much as she liked to shift the blame for her problems onto other people, she couldn't deny that she'd played a large part in her current situation. If only she had thought out her life plan a little better; perhaps then she wouldn't have been in the situation she was in. Perhaps if she had chosen a better husband when she was a young woman, she could have had a completely different life. Perhaps if instead of automatically becoming defensive, she instead attempted to have an honest conversation with her eldest daughter about how she'd treated her, perhaps they would have a better relationship. Walking out into her bedroom to change clothes, she shook her head; she'd never had much time for Sue Ellen's dramatic moments of self-doubt, but she was beginning to rethink that attitude. Confusion and regrets were legitimate and very real thoughts and they weren't as easy to dismiss as she'd originally tried to pretend.

To be continued…