Dallas, Texas

"What about you Sue Ellen? Will you and John Ross be joining us this week?" packing up John Ross' things after playgroup, Sue Ellen looked up at Carol and her son Daniel before shaking her head. "No, unfortunately we won't be able to make it this week", picking John Ross up, she then directed the next part of her answer toward him, "we're having lunch with daddy aren't we?" Hearing his happy squeal and mumbled but understandable, "dada", she smiled widely; he knew who 'daddy' was and his obvious happiness at the mention of him made her very happy. "Oh, well we'll miss you. Have fun though, it's not every day we get to see our husbands for lunch", sensing a slight tone of envy in Carol's voice, Sue Ellen just smiled politely and nodded, "no, it isn't. Our husbands are busy men, but it's always nice when they can take a moment out of their day to spend time with their families isn't it?" Looking at her watch, Sue Ellen feigned surprise at the time before smiling again, looking around the room at the rest of the mothers and babies and waving goodbye to them, "we'll see you next week". She wasn't prepared to match Carol's potential negativity and lack of enthusiasm because it seemed petty to do so, and in all honesty, if she put herself in Carol's position for a moment, she understood where she was coming from and why her words may have come out in the tone they had. It was true, JR was a busy man and he often didn't have time for lunch himself let alone lunch with his family, however, he was also a much more alert and sensitive man now than he had been in the past and he was more aware of how his behaviour affected his family than some men were. Carol was probably like a lot of wives in the society they lived in; overworked, underappreciated and a bit too quiet about her opinions when it came to expressing them to the people that truly needed to hear them.

Half an hour later, Sue Ellen stepped into the elevator, allowed John Ross to press the button for Ewing Oil's floor and then closed her eyes as the doors closed and the elevator began to move. This was a happy occasion, JR had come home in a wonderful mood the previous evening and the slight shakiness between them during of the past few days had been all but forgotten, however as she approached Ewing Oil now, she felt a little apprehensive. As the elevator doors opened and the Ewing Oil reception area came into view though, her slight nervousness resided and she suddenly felt a lot better than she had just a moment ago; Julie was nowhere in sight and from the look on Diane's face, she wasn't going to have any trouble during her visit to the office today. "Good afternoon Mrs Ewing, John Ross", smiling widely and genuinely as she stood and greeted them, it was obvious to Sue Ellen that Diane held nothing but positive feelings toward them, and for that she was eternally grateful. "Good afternoon Diane. John Ross, you remember daddy's secretary don't you?" speaking to Diane and then turning her attention to John Ross, her good mood increased as her son made a happy sound at the mention of 'daddy' again before smiling shyly at Diane.

A couple of minutes later, after a little small talk and strangely, a long tight cuddle from a newly shy John Ross, Sue Ellen large smile only got larger as the door to JR's office opened and he walked out to greet them. "Hello darlin'" leaning down to give her a short but passionate kiss, he then scooped their son out of her arms and lifted him in the air, causing him to smile and giggle, "that's my boy". Observing the situation, Sue Ellen was relaxed and happy; John Ross was clearly just a little shy around people he didn't know too well, however, when it came to those he knew and loved, he was a cheerful, delightful little boy. "Let me go and get my hat and then we'll go, ok?" nodding to indicate she had heard him, Sue Ellen then took hold of her son again and returned to her general conversation with Diane. She didn't know where Julie was, or Jock for that matter, but she didn't care to ask, she was just happy that her husband and son were happy and her day was running smoothly.

Not long after leaving the office, Sue Ellen smiled contently to herself again as she buckled John Ross into the restaurant highchair, handed him his favourite textured book to play with and then began to look at the menu. Family friendly restaurants were never somewhere she and JR had gone before they'd had a child, however, now that they were parents, she was very thankful for their existence, because despite John Ross being fairly well-behaved, she had a feeling that diners at nicer restaurants like the Oil Baron's Club and Scalini would not be thrilled by his presence. Ordering their food and drinks, she held back a laugh as JR emphasised to the waitress how he wanted his steak cooked, just as he always did when they ate somewhere where he wasn't a regular and the staff didn't know his preferences or understand just how much their good service would benefit them financially. It was funny, JR hated being seen as predictable, and in many ways, he wasn't, but in a lot of other ways, he was. It was fine, she enjoyed a little bit of predictability just as much as she enjoyed when he was spontaneous, especially when his predictability revolved around their family life. They had been through enough confusing, hard times in their marriage and she was glad to finally feel sure that when he said he loved her, he meant it, when he said he was and would always be faithful to her, he meant it, and when he promised to do something for her and John Ross, he would do it. A little bit of spontaneity and surprise was always nice to have in their marriage though and she felt like they had just enough of that too, especially since they had started the new year off with a resolution to spend more time together as a couple. She had pre-booked time in his schedule for the upcoming year because he was a busy man, but for a number of the trips away they had planned, the majority of the planning was for JR to figure out. As well as that, he was good at planning things on his own and then surprising her with them. It was nice, she loved being married and she loved being a mother; she was very happy with her life and she was very happy that her husband and son appeared to be happy with their lives too.

To be continued…