Dallas, Texas

Admiring her husband as he carried John Ross into their home, Sue Ellen's earlier exhaustion began to dissipate and the thoughts she'd had earlier in the evening began to return. JR wasn't a child or a dog and she didn't want to emasculate him, so she would never verbally tell him she wished to reward him for good behaviour, however, she did still want to show him how much she loved him, how proud she was of him, and how wonderful things could be when he acted well. Their dinner at Southfork had not been completely perfect and neither she nor JR had probably helped the situation at times, however, it hadn't been the disaster she had worried it would be, and it hadn't been the saddening experience JR expected it to be. She would have to speak to Jock again sometime, she had been completely surprised that he had actually listened to what she had to say, but now that she knew he could and would, she was going to use that to her advantage. As for JR, he had reacted to provocation and had done some provoking himself, but he had also listened, had pleasant conversations, and he had left with her and John Ross in a better mood than he had arrived in. Overall, their evening had been much better than either of them had anticipated and she felt good. They had gone, socialised, debated a bit, dealt with small stresses like John Ross' distress, and managed to leave not too soon afterwards, and now they were home, all safe, all feeling relatively good, and with plans to continue building their position in the larger Ewing family.

Following JR upstairs, her thoughts lingered on her emotions for a moment before turning toward her physical attraction to her husband. In comparison to Southfork, their house was still and silent, but with JR and John Ross in the picture, it was home and it was exactly where she wanted to be. Very rarely was she not attracted to JR, but on occasion she was extremely attracted to him, now was one of those times; there was something about seeing him in his role as a father that really appealed to her. It struck her as odd at times that she found her husband so attractive when he was with their son, because their time parenting was completely different to their intimate couple time, whether that be physical or emotional; but at other times, it made a lot of sense to her. When he was with anyone else, JR had a hard time opening up, but when he was with John Ross, he seemed to relax and embrace his natural instinct to protect, provide, and love, letting his guard down without constantly reflecting on previous bad experiences in his life. Emotionally, it was incredibly attractive to see her usually tough, serious husband in such a cherishing role, and physically, she couldn't help but stare and admire him and the picture he made with John Ross; he looked good with a baby and when they were alone later, she'd let him know that.

A few minutes later, after transferring a sleeping John Ross into his crib without issue, JR turned and noticed his wife staring at him, and when she waved her hand toward the nursery door, he followed, intrigued. Admiring her behind as she sashayed down the hallway toward their bedroom, he grinned to himself and walked a little faster; he had a fair idea of what was coming, but he wasn't going to waste time wondering when he could be doing it instead.

Hours later, after a night that reminded him of when they were dating, because they'd spent a long time kissing and cuddling, because apparently Sue Ellen was in the mood to show him just how much she loved him, and he was never opposed to hearing that, JR once again admired his wife as she gracefully moved around their bedroom. He couldn't say he was so enthusiastic about what he knew was about to happen this time, however, that didn't stop him from appreciating the way she attired herself. Dressed in jeans, a collared shirt, and riding boots, she looked so different to how he usually saw her, but he liked it. He noted too that she seemed to be in a very good mood, likely because she was about to share something she loved with him; she went riding a lot, but that was usually during the day when he was at work, and even when he wasn't at work, he didn't usually join her, today he was going to though. If he could, he would swap places with John Ross, because he appeared to take after the rest of the family in the equestrian department but since he was still too young to actually ride, he was going to stay behind at Southfork with Mrs Smith while the rest of the family explored the ranch on horseback. Staying behind and just joining the family for lunch sounded like a good plan to him, but somehow he had been roped into actually taking Onyx out of the stables. He wasn't nervous, he knew how to ride and he knew how to do it well, he'd learnt how to ranch just like Bobby and Gary had, but he disliked it, a lot, and he wasn't looking forward spending his morning riding, not at all.

Down the street, at the Southfork stables, Jack was once again on the opposite end of the spectrum to JR when it came to his opinion on anything. Bobby had just introduced him to Midnight, shown him how to check the horse tack, taught him how to mount and dismount, and now he was riding in rings around a small paddock; it had been a long time since he had ridden, but it was all coming back to him and he was excited. Dallas was turning out to be a strange experience for him, but it was one he was enjoying, conflict with JR and all. The rest of the family had been welcoming, and he had looked around town enough to know that even if he never achieved anything in the oil business, there was a lot more he could do with his life in Texas than he'd ever considered he could in Alaska. JR might not like him being around, even if he stayed away from Ewing Oil, but that was tough, because now that he'd found his bearings, he had no plans to leave.

To be continued…