Dallas, Texas

"JR?" reaching out and taking her husband's hand to stop his pacing, Sue Ellen took a step forward and closed the gap between them, giving him a soft kiss before pulling away and looking him in the eye. "It's going to be fine. Your mama is coming over to talk, she knows the situation and where you stand on it, and she knows she's the one that needs to put forth the most effort to change things. You've already moved past the most awkward part, and with your daddy not present to say something mean and unhelpful I think you stand a chance at making further progress toward the resolution and commitment for a different future that you deserve. I'm proud of you for talking, even when you didn't want to, and I love you, please remember that", holding eye contact with him until she received a mumbled "I know", in response, she then leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, and I love you too", hearing his barely audible words as she held him tightly, she felt both happy and sad. She felt incredibly blessed to finally be in a position where she and JR could talk about their emotions, but she was also sad that he had such a hard time communicating his feelings with other people, because in his experience and from what he had been taught, it wasn't something men did and even when they did nobody listened.

It was nice that JR and Miss Ellie were finally going to have a chance to speak with each other privately, but it was maddening that it had taken more than three decades for everything to fall into place in a way where JR had even half a chance of building a proper relationship with his mother. Forgiving his mother and allowing her into his life to prove she could show him the love he deserved wouldn't be the end of JR's personal problems though; Jock was an issue all on his own and with his stubbornness and negative attitude neither she nor JR were under any illusions that it would be quick, easy, or even possible. They had to try something though, doing nothing meant nothing would change and that wasn't healthy; JR needed to know his parents loved him, thinking otherwise was slowly tearing him apart. He was a powerful, commanding man in business and when challenged he wouldn't hesitate to disregard morality and do something that would ensure he and Ewing Oil remained at the top. In his personal life though, with all the progress he had made with Doctor Williams, it was difficult to go back to being cold and selfish; he deserved love and he wanted love, but just because he had changed and wanted something different to what he had didn't mean everyone else had or did.

Staying embraced in a tight hug for a little while, they eventually came apart, and after one more short, but loving kiss, they both knew it was time for them to separate for the evening. She had arranged to vacate her own home and take Lucy to the roller rink for a few hours in order to give JR and Miss Ellie some time to talk in private, and make sure Lucy didn't spend her evening wondering what was going on with her grandmother, or having to listen to her grandfather's ranting about family appreciation. The meeting between JR and Miss Ellie was all their own doing though; she had just arranged things around their plans. "I should get going, your mama will be over any minute, and Lucy will be bouncing off the walls if I make her wait any longer", walking over to the table in the foyer, she then grabbed her purse and walked back to him, smiling as he finally spoke in a normal tone, "I'll see you to your car". There were times when he wouldn't stop talking, and there were times when he was a man of few words, the way he was now was the latter, but that was ok, she knew he meant well, he was just lost in his own mind. She hoped being in a thoughtful mood meant he would be inclined to listen to his mother, but she wasn't sure it did, she couldn't do any more than she was already doing though, she had to stand back a little and allow JR and Miss Ellie to figure things out on their own. "Thank you", responding, she relaxed into him as he placed a hand on the small of her back and then walked with her out to her car.

Down the street, at Southfork, Lucy Ewing tied her long, blonde hair in a ponytail before running down the hall to check on Bobby's progress; she was excited to go skating and she wouldn't have him slowing them down because he wasn't prepared. Family dinner at Southfork had been another quiet affair, everyone had done a good job at taking an interest in her day and her plans for the evening though; Bobby so much so that she had invited him to join her and Sue Ellen, though she hadn't really expected him to accept her invitation, lately he never did. She loved her uncle Bobby and she loved spending time with him, but his job kept him away from Dallas a lot, and when he was in town, he quite often he spent the night away from Southfork, dating, whatever that meant nowadays, because it sure didn't mean he had a serious girlfriend, his dates all had different names. Whatever it was he did with his free time she was glad he was choosing to spend it with her, because she had missed his attention. With everything that was going on at Southfork too, not that she knew exactly what that was, she was glad to have the opportunity to get away from the house and have a little fun.

To be continued…