Dallas, Texas

Letting out a loud "harrumph" and waving his hand in JR's direction, Jock's unsympathetic manner was obvious and it was clear he was nearing the end of his tether when it came to listening to his son's opinion regarding how his actions had affected him. "I don't believe this. JR, cut this melodramatic nonsense, it doesn't suit you at all. Nobody tossed you aside and you weren't treated differently to your brothers for negative reasons, if anything it was for your own good, because you had potential and someone needed to tap into it. It's not bad to be driven and successful. You were the oldest son, the Ewing heir, and we had high expectations of you, so what? Would you really rather have struggled through school and work? You're lucky your mind works in the way it's expected to and I don't think that's something to complain about, and it's certainly not something to start comparing to completely unrelated things like Bobby's sporting accomplishments, or Gary's laziness and lack of commitment to academics".

"I think you're suffering from selective memory and a bad case of self-pity. We praised you plenty of times and if you made any effort to get to know Bobby you would know he doesn't think he's superior at all, in fact he feels inadequate compared to you sometimes. You are both jealous of what comes naturally to each other and it's ridiculous; I can't believe how childish you two grown men can be sometimes. I spent plenty of time with you as a boy, as a teenager, and now as an adult, and if you take issue with the quality of that time then it's up to you to change it, not me. I happen to think we work well together at the office and I was hoping now that you're back in town for a while before you jet off again, we'd all get to spend some time together as a family. I think that says it all; I want a relationship with you as my son and John Ross as my grandson, but if you're going to whine and complain about everything past, present, and future every time we see each other, then I don't know what to do. As for all of this emotional gibberish you and your mama are passing back and forth regarding your relationship, if you want to keep doing that, go ahead, but don't expect me to participate next. I maintain I did a fine job parenting you, aside from not teaching you boundaries when it came to women and business, but we've dealt with that so I see no reason to discuss it again. Now, do you have anything enlightening to say, or is this all just a platform for you to air your grievances to a captive audience?"

Gripping JR's hand tightly and glaring at her father-in-law as he finally said something after a long silence in the conversation, Sue Ellen was ready to jump in and speak at any moment if JR wanted her to. JR and Miss Ellie seemed to understand the point of their get-together, however, Jock didn't, but before she told him to get out if he couldn't say anything nice, she wanted to give JR time to think and react as she didn't want to take control of the direction of the conversation before it was absolutely necessary. Feeling JR squeeze her hand back, she knew he had everything under control, and when he let out a loud sigh and then spoke, she knew he would need her at some point, but for now he was just fine handling things on his own. "Daddy, this is pointless, you're not understanding me at all; I'm not trying to whine and feel sorry for myself, and I'm not trying to be melodramatic in the way I tell you how I feel, I'm trying to be honest and explain my perspective, a lot of which was the perspective of a very young child. I don't even know how the hell we all got into this conversation, it sure wasn't my idea, but now that we're all here, it's certainly an opportunity to investigate things I've wondered about for years".

"To clarify my point in relation to your responses, I don't want to be Bobby or Gary, you're right in that I enjoy the position I am in in my own life, but dammit, there's a difference between wishing I had had the same quality of attention my brothers received and actually wishing I was them. This isn't about Bobby's trophies or Gary's bad grades, it's about the way you and mama reacted to those things in comparison to how you reacted to me, and how it made me feel then and how it continues to make me feel. I did everything and more than I was supposed to and expected to, but I barely received a pat on the back; in comparison, one of your other sons does something much less important or special and yet they receive a celebratory party and real, honest congratulations. Now, the party might be an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. You said it yourself, you treated me differently, what you mean though is you like Bobby best and everyone knows it, and I don't think mama would deny that Gary is her favourite, so naturally, that leaves me; I might be the eldest son, but I'm also the third wheel in this family. Like I said before, I'm not trying to be melodramatic, I'm just trying to explain how I feel, even if I have no idea why we're having this conversation. If you're not interested in talking any more though, that's fine, you're free to leave, you're not part of a captive audience, the door is right there", pointing at the wide doorway that separated the foyer and the living room, he remained silent as he responded to his father and then waited for him to stay or stand and leave.

"See there you go again, you're being dramatic and I've now learnt that you're impossible to talk to when you're like this. I'll see you in the office tomorrow morning, when you've cooled down a little…" putting his glass down on the table and standing, Jock addressed JR before looking to his wife to follow him, which she did, though he noticed that she didn't exactly stand in haste.

"JR, I meant what I said and I'd like to talk more, maybe we could discuss things alone together sometime…" Knowing she was in for an earful when she returned to Southfork as it was, Miss Ellie knew when to pick her battles and decided to leave with her husband now to avoid an even bigger argument later, however, before doing so, she knew she had to make an effort to smooth things over with JR. Her eldest son could be ruthless and unfeeling in business, but it appeared in his personal life he was really just human, and knowing that the human part of him was hurt, angry, and disappointed really pained her. She had had a big hand in making him how he was today and she knew now it was going to take more than a short apology to mend things and rebuild their relationship. "I'd like that mama, I'll call you..." listening to JR, she noted that he was leaving things open, but she didn't object, he had Sue Ellen to encourage him to make the call, and he probably did need time to process everything that had gone on. They had made some progress, they had at least spoken a little bit, and that was a start. Standing and touching JR's hand lovingly, she then gave Sue Ellen a short hug before turning and walking with her husband, son, and daughter-in-law toward the door so JR and Sue Ellen could see her and Jock out. She wasn't looking forward to another conversation with Jock that went nowhere because he wasn't interested in listening to anyone else's experience, but she was tired and emotionally drained, so she wasn't all that upset about leaving. There was hard work to be done with JR, but they had made a start and whether Jock was interested in making amends or not was irrelevant to her now; she had lost her son through her own actions a long time ago, but she could rebuild a relationship with him through her own actions too.

To be continued…