Dallas, Texas

Checking her hair, makeup and outfit one last time, Sue Ellen turned her attention toward her husband. Looking him up and down, she shivered involuntarily; he looked very handsome tonight and she couldn't wait to remind him just how much she enjoyed when he dressed up. They had only been living in their new home for a week, but already they had established a more relaxed evening routine. Cocktails, dinner and couple time still occurred, but it wasn't so rigid and there was no strict dress code when it was just them. Of course, they still made an effort to dressed nicely and look clean and tidy, it was only natural to them to do so, but somehow, it felt different when it was just them. Francisca didn't care what they wore, and Mrs Smith was hardly around anyway, though even when she was, she was more focused on tending to John Ross' needs than analysing clothing choices; the only people they had to 'impress' were each other and that was nice.

Walking over to JR, Sue Ellen leaned up to kiss him softly before speaking, "you look very handsome tonight. I wish our guests weren't scheduled to arrive so soon…" leaving her comment hanging for a moment, she then kissed him again before gently attempting to break away. In the same instance, she found herself surprised, but blissfully happy as he grasped her hand, pulled her back toward him and kissed her passionately before whispering in her ear something akin to her sentiment. Blushing at his very direct wording, she was grateful she had to go and get John Ross before heading downstairs; she and JR were just having fun with each other and no real harm would come from her distracted thoughts, but it was always easier to face her in-laws with a clear head.

Heading down the hallway toward John Ross' bedroom, she was surprised at how good she felt. She and JR had promised months ago and more recently that they wouldn't be strangers to the Ewing family, and honestly, they didn't really want to be either, they just craved a little space to live their own lives. As part of their promise to keep in contact, occasional family meal times seemed like the least they could do, though if they were going to participate, there was no rule that said it had to be at Southfork.

It had been a long time since Sue Ellen had played lead hostess, but two decades of her mother's lessons and almost three years of being Mrs JR Ewing and working with Miss Ellie to plan and host events at Southfork meant her homemaking and hosting skills were still second to none. She was perfectly capable of hosting a dinner party, especially with Francisca to assist her and with her and JR's guests being their family. Meals at Southfork were fairly formal, but that didn't mean they never had a good time or every meal descended into disaster; for the most part, family meals were nice, it was really just the excessive closeness that had turned a nice event into something to dread. If JR's updates about Ewing Oil were anything to go by, things at the office weren't totally calm, but they were a lot better than they had been, so if they could keep the conversation light and keep the drinks flowing, they were on the path toward a successful evening.

Down the road, at Southfork, Jock Ewing poured himself a drink as he waited for the rest of his family to finish getting ready. Their plans for the evening weren't ideal, but they were far from terrible. He didn't like the idea of a family dinner where he wasn't the man of the house, especially since JR had been so vocal about his opinion lately; however, a Ewing family dinner of any sort was better than none at all, so if had to be at JR and Sue Ellen's home instead of Southfork, then so be it.

Upstairs, as she changed from her daywear into a dinner appropriate dress, Miss Ellie's thoughts were a lot more positive than her husbands were. Things were working out ok; JR, Sue Ellen and John Ross moving out of Southfork was not the end of the world; she still got to see her grandson during the week, Sue Ellen still sought out opportunities for them to spend time together and after explaining to Sue Ellen about Lucy's feelings, that entire situation had changed too. The physical distance between their families took a bit of getting used to, but she couldn't deny that it made separating their business and personal lives a whole lot easier.

She could tell her husband wasn't too fond of JR's strong opinions when they differed from his own, however, it didn't strike her as an entirely bad thing that JR was speaking his mind. Sometimes Jock's stubborn bullheadedness wasn't the best approach to situations and even she could see that decisions made weren't always what was best overall; she was just Jock's wife though, she didn't know anything about oil or business, but JR did. JR was set to become the president of Ewing Oil sometime in the next few years, and with Bobby moving into working on the ranch, the future of Ewing Oil, and the main source of income for the Ewing family, would be JR's responsibility. Arguing wasn't good for the family, but openly discussing things, compromising, working together and coming to an understanding about where they stood both personally and professionally, were good things. She would never support JR being rude or disrespectful toward his father, but she didn't get the feeling that that was what was going on now, and if the warmth from Sue Ellen and her and JR's good-natured dinner invitation was anything to go by, whatever was going on at the office was not the end of the world. Even if it didn't seem like it sometimes, there were other things going on in their lives and they did have topics other than money, oil and power to talk about. Tonight was not the time for the men to discuss the same things they did at the office; tonight was time to enjoy being a family; she hoped everyone would remember that.

To be continued…