Dallas, Texas

After several trips up and down the stairs, the large, ornately decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the living room now truly looked ready for Christmas Day. With nine members of the Ewing and Shepard families present for the holiday celebration, and the extravagant way in which they liked to show each other they loved each other, the Christmas tree was now home to a large number of festive, gift-wrapped boxes. Watching Kristin and Lucy out of the corner of her eye, Sue Ellen laughed softly; no matter how hard they tried to make it look like they weren't, it was quite obvious to her that they were trying their hardest to guess what was inside each box. Looking around the room, it appeared the only other adult that had noticed was Bobby, and after making eye contact with him, Sue Ellen's opinion about what to do about the situation remained unchanged. Neither she nor Bobby thought anything more of it than being a juvenile, harmless activity, so neither of them would say anything.

A couple of hours later, after sending a reluctant Kristin and Lucy up to bed, the group of family members present began to lessen even more when Patricia, Jock and Miss Ellie all said their goodbyes and excused themselves upstairs for the night. Enjoying a final drink with his brother and sister-in-law, Bobby knew when he was no longer needed or wanted, and after quietly excusing himself and then looking back into the living room as he was heading upstairs, he knew his intuition was correct and he had made the right decision. He didn't always like JR, and he was still a little hurt that he and Sue Ellen had purchased Jenna's old home without even mentioning their plans to him, however, the majority of the issues he'd had with JR were in the past, and as long as he didn't purposely rib him, he didn't really have a problem with him. His opinion of JR had taken a positive turn lately too, because after all the drama of the past year, where JR had definitely deserved the stress and punishment he'd experienced, things did seem to be changing and they did seem to be genuinely different now. If he and Sue Ellen were finally happy and actually making things work in all areas of their relationship, then he was happy too, because Sue Ellen deserved a husband who loved her as much as she did him, and treated her as well as she did him. He didn't really want to see or hear reminders of just how in love they were, but when compared to the tears and tension of the past, he couldn't really complain either. Leaving them to 'talk' alone wasn't that difficult and did ultimately benefit everyone, so that's exactly what he did.

Slightly tipsy after the Christmas Eve festivities, Sue Ellen felt extremely relaxed as the evening wore on. Hypnotised by the flames dancing in the fireplace, the casual conversation and the feeling of physical and emotional closeness with JR, her happy feeling only grew as the group grew smaller and eventually dwindled to just two, her and JR. Allowing her mind to drift as she caught sight of the way her engagement ring sparkled in the warm light from the fireplace, she then sighed happily to herself. She always wore three rings, her engagement ring, wedding band and the interlocking ring JR had given her for their anniversary, just before John Ross' birth; they all had special significance to her, but right now she was focused on her engagement ring. For some reason, in the moment, she didn't feel like she was twenty-five, married and a mother, she felt like the young, innocent twenty year old she had been when she and JR had first met; the young woman she had been during their first holiday season together. During the first few years of their relationship, they had really been in a honeymoon period; they had had difficulties, miscommunications, disagreements and she was now aware he probably hadn't been entirely faithful to her like she had to him, however for the most part, they were extremely happy together. It hadn't taken her long to fall in love with him and she hoped he had truly meant it every time he'd said those words back to her too, but even if he hadn't, she didn't really want to know now; she was happy now and she really believed JR was too. The past was in the past and the present and future looked and felt amazing.

Having observed his wife and their surroundings throughout the evening, JR was now keenly aware they were completely alone; that wasn't something that happened at Southfork very often and he intended to take advantage of it. For whatever reason, he too felt much younger than he actually was, though there was a huge difference between his true younger self and his self now; Sue Ellen was the woman of his fantasies, all of them, and was the woman he truly wanted in his reality too. Things weren't too serious though, he was just thinking and considering, but the atmosphere in the room hadn't changed one bit. He and Sue Ellen had been subtly flirting all evening and he was sure it had probably increased a little once their parents had retired for the evening, and then even more once Bobby had politely excused himself from the room; right now, they were silent, but it was a comfortable silence, not an awkward silence. Grinning to himself, he suddenly knew why he felt younger than he was; for whatever reason, neither he nor Sue Ellen had made a move to take things to the next level yet, just like when they were dating and for ridiculous social politeness reasons, they had often evaded openly acknowledging things before physically acting on their feelings. What made him grin now though was that even though they hadn't 'had to' do anything they'd done in the past, now they really didn't have to behave that way. Of course they both had to want to engage in any mutual activity before they actually did it, but no longer did they have to supress their urges or act as if something they both wanted was dirty, wrong or something they should feel guilty about. He could be a gentleman when the situation called for it, but he could also forget the societal requirements of that title every once in a while. To go with that, Sue Ellen was and would always be a lady, but that didn't mean she had to act within a tight set of rules and behaviours. Acting without inhibitions and having fun was allowed and he was so glad, especially because in the moment they were in right now, there was absolutely nothing weird or unacceptable about what he planned to do next; not that his actions were anything strange or risqué anyway, but it made him especially happy to know how good their relationship was.

Turning her conscious attention back to her husband, Sue Ellen opened her mouth to speak, but before she had the chance to voice any of her thoughts, she found herself occupied by something much more interesting. She wasn't sure whether JR had been having similar thoughts to her own, or her own thoughts were influencing the way she was interpreting his actions, but the slow, passionate kiss they were locked in only added to her feeling of being young. It reminded her so much of the way she had felt during the early years of their relationship, when they did spend a lot of time kissing and touching, but not going any further. This was better though, because just like she had felt on their wedding night and during their honeymoon, it was ok for their actions to develop into more, and if they didn't, that was ok too. As she became more involved in their kiss, her thoughts attempting to analyse everything soon disappeared, because not only was it hard to concentrate on anything else, it was also absolutely pointless; she and JR were happy now and that was all that mattered.

To be continued…