Dallas, Texas

"Ok, lay it all out for me. How much work did you deflect away from me, how much did you delegate to other people, and how much am I going to have to deal with today?" calling Diane into his office first thing and getting the pleasantries about his mini-vacation out of the way, JR then launched into a series of questions for his secretary to answer. She was a capable woman, but she was a secretary, not the vice president of the company and she couldn't do his job for him while he was away, just like his father could take as much of his workload as he could, but there would always be something he had to attend to when he returned to the office. "Actually, it's not too bad. You were away from Dallas for four days, but you were only out of the office for two. We made sure not to schedule any meetings on Thursday or Friday and I took messages from anyone who called with a general enquiry or meeting request for you and anyone with an urgent matter was directed through to Jock, so I have a stack of messages, but none of them should take too long for you to deal with. Would you like me to read the messages for you now? Jock has requested you meet with him today at two to discuss what you missed and I believe he also wanted to discuss the applications that have been sent through in response to the internal memo you sent out last week. Before that meeting though, I purposely left your schedule clear so you would have time to reacquaint yourself with being back in the office". Listening as Diane explained his schedule, JR relaxed a little; his secretary was right, he had only been out of the office for two days and he had planned for it, so while he had things to catch up on, it wasn't anywhere near as much as he had been worried about. "Ok, good. Start with the most important message and we'll work our way down the list", leaning back in his chair, he waved his hand to indicate to Diane to begin speaking. If they worked together smartly, he might just get everything he needed to do done and maybe, just maybe, he would actually return home to Sue Ellen and John Ross exactly on time at the end of the day.

Across town, at Southfork, Sue Ellen split her attention between recounting her and JR's trip to Colorado and watching John Ross carefully toddling a few steps before falling, looking at her and Miss Ellie for reassurance and then getting up again. He was still wobbly on his feet, but he was growing stronger and stronger by the day and soon enough he would be completely mobile. As far as she could tell, he hadn't changed too much during her and JR's time away from him, however, she had noticed that instead of babbling completely random syllables now, he did seem to be saying things a bit more repetitively now. His speech was still just babbling though and although ba-ba-ba and na-na-na could mean something, she wasn't totally convinced that they actually did, especially since he didn't seem to reserve his words for specific people, objects or events, they were just random sounds; ba-ba could mean banana, or it could mean ball, either was possible. She was relaxed about his development though, he seemed to be very happy and healthy and that was what truly mattered; he didn't have to be a genius or develop too quickly, there was plenty of time for him to grow up; he was still a baby and she wanted to enjoy the stage he was in now.

"Thank you", thanking Teresa as she brought their coffee into the living room, Sue Ellen waited a moment for her to leave before continuing her conversation with Miss Ellie. "As I was saying, it was lovely, just lovely; the scenery was beautiful, the service was for the most part, very high quality, the ski resort was luxurious, and the activities were a lot of fun. I know JR doesn't really like to talk about his time in the military but whatever they were doing overseas he must have had some free time, because he's no novice skier, at least in my eyes. Overall, I had a wonderful time and I think JR did too. I am glad to be home though, I've missed John Ross and the family, and it's nice to be back in our own bed and bedroom again", leaving out the slight negatives about being back in Dallas and returning to everyday life, she took a sip of her coffee and then turned the conversation over to her mother-in-law. "Enough about my vacation though, fill me in on what happened here while JR and I were away. How was John Ross, and how much grandfather-grandchildren bonding actually occurred? Last night was a surprise, a happy surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. Tell me about it?" asking a few questions, she hoped Miss Ellie would elaborate on what she had witnessed the previous night rather than get offended that she was pushing the subject.

"I'm pleased you had a good time, it's very beneficial in marriage to take time to focus on yourselves and enjoy being together as a couple. We had a good time here while you were away too; during the weekdays John Ross and I read stories, played with his toys, sang, went to the park, visited the horses, practiced walking, tried a little bit of drawing, or I suppose, scribbling, and in the afternoons when Lucy was home she would do it all again with him. I have to say, for a little while I was concerned about Lucy, but I think having you and John Ross around has really helped with her loneliness, and having Doctor Lacey in her life has truly helped her to become a more confident, mature young lady. I don't think the Lucy I knew a few years ago had quite as much patience or empathy as she does now, and I don't think the situation with Jock would have unfolded the way it has recently. As I said last night, you will have to ask Lucy if you want to know the details, but I'll tell you what happened from my perspective. I can't guarantee anything is permanent, but it does look promising".

"On Saturday is when I really started to notice a change, at breakfast we were discussing our plans for the day and Lucy mentioned that she was planning on taking Toffee for a ride and suggested it would be nice for Jock and I to bring John Ross down to the stables. I'd already been planning to do that, but you know Jock, sometimes he comes, sometimes he doesn't; today though, he was there and he was trying and I was very proud. He helped John Ross to feed the horses, he showed him how to brush their manes, and showed him the tack room and then they watched one of the ranch hands saddling up a horse and from John Ross' pointing and babbling it seemed like he wanted to go for a ride. Naturally he didn't let him do that, but he did take him in to see Chestnut and he held him while he sat on his back for a few minutes. After that, we came up to the house for lunch and to my complete surprise, though what I'm sure from the look between he and Lucy was somewhat planned, he actually offered to feed John Ross. I have to say, that didn't go too well; you know how much John Ross likes applesauce, and with the new situation he was a bit squirmy and I'd say more of the applesauce ended up on his face, clothes and highchair than did in his mouth. As I keep saying, Lucy had to have been coaching Jock, because although he didn't offer to bathe John Ross, he was still there and he was still interested in spending time with him later when we came back down after getting him all cleaned up. It's not difficult to play with children's toys, but it does take a bit of patience and relaxation, but I do think that once he started, Jock actually quite enjoyed it. He had no problem with building a tower of blocks and watching John Ross knock it over, and he seemed to find it an enjoyable challenge to get John Ross to actually roll his ball back to him instead of looking at it, chewing it and then throwing it off to the side. He's no master of childcare by any means, but like I've been trying to explain to him, no one expects him to be, it's enough for him to be there willingly playing with his grandson; John Ross won't remember the exact activities they did together, but he will form an emotional bond from the time spent together".

"Mhm, and the story time? That was the same thing? Jock was just trying?" nodding, Sue Ellen decided to ignore Miss Ellie's obvious obliviousness to how both she and Jock had neglected to form a true emotional bond with JR for now in order to gather as much information as she possibly could. She wanted to know what she had missed while she was away and interrupting the story now may mean she wasn't informed of important details, or even just details that were of no importance or interest to anyone but her as John Ross' mother. It was also interesting to hear her mother-in-law's thoughts on childrearing, because she agreed with her, but she also took issue with the way she had raised her own children and had to remind herself every so often that it was best to take other people's opinions with a grain of salt, because saying and doing were two different things.

"Yes, we had dinner together then after dinner instead of allowing Jock and Bobby to go off and talk about business, Lucy commented that it'd be nice for Jock to read John Ross a story, and then all of a sudden it was the three of them doing the bed time routine rather than just me and occasionally Lucy. Bobby even commented as they walked upstairs that Jock seemed to be different and that it was nice for him to finally realise how enjoyable it is to not just have a child, but to be involved in their life. That was Saturday, and on Sunday we did it all over again, this time though Bobby was there for a while too, and he and Jock insisted we fetch John Ross his cowboy boots and hat for his trip down to see the horses. Inevitably, by the end of a weekend of activity they were all exhausted and as you saw yourself last night, by the time John Ross' bedtime came, it was a welcome rest for both Jock and Lucy too. They had been asleep for a couple of hours by the time you and JR arrived to collect John Ross".

Listening to Miss Ellie finish speaking, Sue Ellen was satisfied that she had received an accurate recount of the past few days and she was pleased to hear that despite Lucy being there nudging Jock every step of the way, he did seem to have actually enjoyed his time with his grandson. One thing was still weighing on her mind though and she knew that in this situation it was best to just say what she was thinking, because from previous experience, holding her tongue with the intention of finding a more appropriate moment to speak rarely worked out and she never really received the answers she was looking for. "Thank you for recounting all of that for me. It sounds like you all had a lovely few days, I'm not unrealistic though, I know it's hard work to look after a child fulltime, so thank you all for giving up your time and energy to care for John Ross". Smiling and taking another sip of her coffee, she allowed Miss Ellie to nod and respond as expected, with a few comments about how it wasn't a bother at all and they all loved having John Ross to stay. As the predicted exchange between them came to a close though, she decided it was now or never to say what was on her mind, "Miss Ellie? I think Jock is on his way to becoming a much loved grandfather, he already is in Lucy's life, but I am curious, he raised three sons, surely none of this is new to him? He must know something about children. I don't understand why it took him so long to even try with John Ross, and please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't understand why you could see his aloofness with John Ross, but from the accounts I've heard, his lack of emotional bond with JR was never really a topic of concern when JR was young? JR and John Ross are the two most important men in my life and I truly just want the best for them, and I think for everyone's sake, it helps to understand these things". Looking at her mother-in-law with wide, honest eyes, she hoped she understood that she was being sincere and honestly just trying to understand rather than being catty and judgemental. It was true, she was a little bit judgemental of JR's parents parenting skills, but before she passed any true judgement, she wanted a more well-rounded understanding of the situation circumstances that had shaped her husband into the man he was today.

To be continued…