Dallas, Texas

"It's amazing that they've all grown and developed so much in just two weeks", sitting on the floor watching their children interacting with each other and playing with the toys spread out on the rug, Sue Ellen listened and nodded as Marie spoke. It was true; the break they had taken over the holiday period did seem to have been a period of growth for each of the children in the group, and for Sue Ellen, it was both exciting and reassuring. Life at Southfork, raising the Ewing heir, meant she was never short of compliments about John Ross and his abilities, and with JR and Miss Ellie around, she felt confident about her own abilities too. The playgroup really solidified all of her thoughts though, because seeing John Ross around other children allowed her to compare him and his progress and even though he was clearly not miles ahead of the other children like Jock and occasionally JR would make comments inferring or declaring, he was definitely on par with them; he was happy and normal.

Additionally, being able to share her experiences and hear the experiences of other women in the same stage of motherhood as her was enjoyable, helpful and reassuring. Her life was easy compared to some women, but at the same time, the basic events and feelings they were all experiencing were similar and it was nice to know she was not alone. Some of her thoughts probably weren't things Doctor Williams would encourage, because he had always emphasised that it was unhealthy for her to be so concerned about how others perceived her, it was unhealthy for her to critically compare herself to others, and it was unhealthy for her to rely on other people to validate her and make her happy. This was different though, or she told herself it was. She didn't attend the mother and baby playgroup for selfish or needy reasons, she attended because it was good for her and John Ross to be around other people; being a part of the Ewing family was wonderful, but it wasn't the be-all and end-all of life and there was no reason why they should isolate themselves. Being a part of a group of women and children who were in a similar phase of life was a good thing, it put things in perspective and provided a much needed sense of normalcy. They were privileged, but on a less societal and more human level, they were just mother and baby, just regular people.

Watching John Ross as he slowly shuffled his body toward one of the brightly coloured toys that were laying on the rug, just out of his reach, Sue Ellen also observed Marie's daughter Rebecca as she did something similar. It was clear that John Ross was nearer to crawling properly than Rebecca was, but from her earlier observations, she had a feeling Rebecca was further along in her verbal development than John Ross was. Neither baby was smarter or overall more developed than the other was, they were just different and it was nice to be able to compare, but not feel or appear to be cocky or overconfident about John Ross' development and her teaching abilities. John Ross was happy, healthy and from what she could tell from her observations of the other seven children in the room, he was developing at a completely normal rate.

Considering Marie's comment, Sue Ellen then responded, "yes it is; I can't believe how much can happen in such a short space of time". Pausing for a moment as she watched and noted just how mobile John Ross was becoming, she then continued to speak, "John Ross is definitely his daddy's son, but I think he's also inherited some of his uncle's traits. He doesn't like it when he feels he's missing out on all the fun, which in this case is free movement apparently. My mama and sister came to stay with us during the holidays and John Ross seemed thrilled to have a house full of people paying attention to him, especially my sister and niece. They're good girls, but they're not particularly interested in just sitting still. It was Christmas Day when he first started to really make an effort to not just reach out for the toys he wants, but also work on moving his entire body toward those things. I think my niece and sister definitely had something to do with that, he probably got sick of watching them moving around the room going from gift to gift. Whatever it was, it triggered something inside him, because although he hasn't mastered it entirely just yet, he hasn't stopped making an effort to move himself toward the things he wants rather than waiting for someone else to give them to him. Back when he started rolling over, my mother-in-law said it wouldn't be long before he was completely mobile and I'd be the one chasing him; I have a feeling that she wasn't wrong. He's not there just yet, but it's coming…" Pausing as she finished speaking, she then had a moment of self-consciousness, wondering whether her response had been too detailed for the conversation she and Marie had been having prior to her speaking. Unsure, but not willing to put herself down, especially over something so miniscule, she then moved on and did the polite thing in any situation, she enquired about Marie's view on the topic, "what about Rebecca? From what I can tell, she'll be talking up a storm soon enough".

Half an hour later, after their class singalong, story time and then free playtime was over, Sue Ellen packed up her and John Ross' things and said goodbye to the other women and babies. Usually, she would accept the invitation from Kathy to go for coffee after the weekly meeting, however, today was different. Although JR was busy with getting back into the swing of things at the office, he wasn't so busy that he couldn't spare an hour for lunch, especially lunch with his wife and son, so that's exactly what they were going to do. There were a few nice, family friendly restaurants near the Ewing Oil building, and it was only twenty minutes or so for Sue Ellen to get downtown from where she was and around thirty minutes back to Southfork, so once they were all there together, there was little stress about being too far from where they had to return to. It was nice to spend some time alone together as a family of three outside of the obligatory Ewing family get-togethers, so if it was doable within JR's schedule, Sue Ellen was keen to make it happen, and so far, her plans were working out nicely. Everything would be even better in just a few short weeks, once they truly had their own lives, separate from the rest of the Ewing family; for now though, she really didn't have any complaints, she was happy and she believed JR and John Ross were too.

To be continued…