Denison, Texas

"JR?" hearing his wife whispering his name in a sedate tone, JR rolled over to face her. "Hm?" answering her sleepily, having awoken only a short while earlier, his imaginings of what their morning would hold now that they were both awake were shattered when she spoke again. "Would you tell me if you thought I wasn't meeting your expectations as a wife?" hearing her question, it took him a few seconds to comprehend what she was asking and when he did, he was suddenly wide-awake. "Er…" hesitating before answering, trying to work out what she really wanted to hear, because it was a strange question, his lack of understanding only grew when she spoke again, making an assumption that seemed to upset her. "Is that a no?" appearing overly concerned by his uncertainty, Sue Ellen's behaviour puzzled him; they'd had such a good night the previous evening and even before that things had seemed good, so he had no idea where her question was coming from.

"That's an 'I don't really understand what you're asking'", answering her honestly, he was relieved when she moved her head slightly, looking as if she now understood why he had hesitated. Moving her arm so she could sit up without the pillow obscuring her view of him, she spoke again, this time explaining her question a little more clearly, "ok, let me rephrase. If you were unhappy in our marriage, would you tell me so I'd know and we'd have a chance to work on things together, or would you just stay quiet, leaving things as they are and look for what you need elsewhere?" Asking a more direct question, this time with a real example, he still didn't really know why she wanted to talk about such a topic, unless perhaps she had doubts about them, which seemed odd to him considering their current relationship, but still, she did tend to worry about odd things sometimes.

"Are you asking me if I've been unfaithful?" jumping to the obvious conclusion at the mention of looking for what he needed elsewhere, he was both saddened and annoyed that everything between them seemed to come back to her insecurity about his fidelity and past infidelity. "No, we've been through that. Unless you have something new to tell me?" listening to her reply, his feelings grew stronger. She was right, they had been through that, many, many times before, which was why he didn't understand her reasoning behind bringing it up again now, he was and had been faithful to her for a long time now and her continued doubt about that fact was almost offensive.

"I don't, but I don't like this conversation either. It sounds to me like you're looking for a scandal where there isn't one", answering her, he sighed heavily when she retorted, "that's not what I'm doing", without explaining her intentions. "So what are you doing, because I don't understand this discussion", frustrated by their conversation, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath when she replied again, confusing him even further. "I'm asking if you'd be honest with me about my shortcomings or whether that's too messy and the alternative is easier?" covering his face with his hands as he listened to her question, he took a few seconds to think about his own response before sitting up and looking at her.

"Sue Ellen, right now one of your shortcomings is you're not speaking any language I understand. Please, try again, in plain English this time, no dancing around the question", speaking firmly, he tried to also be as nice as possible as to not upset her further than what she potentially already was, for whatever reason. If the sudden look of understanding that flashed across her face meant anything, it seemed they had finally communicated at least one thing between them without misunderstanding.

"Ok. If I wasn't satisfying you, in bed, out of bed, at home, on vacation, wherever, whatever, just in general, would you tell me?" doing better this time, asking a question he could at least comprehend, broad as it was, Sue Ellen looked to him for an answer and finally, he felt able to give her one. He still didn't really understand why they were having this conversation, especially now, first thing on a Saturday morning, however, at least he now understood what their conversation was about.

"That I can answer, yes and no, it depends. If you told Francisca you were going to cook dinner and it turned out terribly, I wouldn't tell you so. If you wore a dress that was fine, but wasn't my favourite, I wouldn't tell you so. If you bought me a gift and I didn't like it, I wouldn't tell you so. All of those sorts of things aren't worth upsetting you for; if you make an effort and are excited, then it's completely unnecessary to hurt your feelings by telling you my real feelings. In other cases, I would tell you, because contrary to what you might think, I have learnt some things during our time with Doctor Williams. I don't want to criticise you in bed or out of it, but if you really want an answer to that question then it's yes. I wouldn't want to criticise you, but if the situation was that dramatic that you think I'd look for what I need elsewhere, then I would tell you, I'm not going to risk what happened last time happening again".

Trying his best to answer her question, he finished off by referring to their previous separation, an experience he never wanted to repeat, hoping that if that were what she was worried about happening again, she would soon stop, because there was no reason to feel that way anymore. Unfortunately, her response to his thought out answer was less than satisfying. "I'd hope not", hearing her, he thought about her words again, wondering whether he'd missed something and realising that if he had, he was still missing it.

"That's all you have to say? What else did you want from me?" vexed, he raised his voice to her, regretting it almost immediately as she visibly pulled away from him, sinking into her pillow and staring at the ceiling. Waiting a few second before doing anything, he eventually reached out to touch her and it seemed that was all that was required to finally get an insight into where all of her strange questions were coming from. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't stop thinking about something Jenna said", looking at him as she spoke, everything clicked into place. Jenna was a lot like him in some respects, she had the ability to stir the pot and sometimes she did so just for fun, though not everyone felt that way about her contributions. He certainly wasn't all that pleased about whatever it was she'd said to Sue Ellen to spur this line of questioning.

"Jenna? What did she say?" looking for details about the situation, he wasn't thrilled about how Sue Ellen responded, though he was pleased she was at least being honest. "She said men stray because their wives aren't doing enough to look after them, that she thinks men need an understanding woman and not all women are that", hearing her explanation, he knew he had to tread carefully as they had faced a situation in the past where he had strayed for similar reasons. It hadn't been her fault that he'd been unfaithful, it was his own stupid ideas about women, however, it was still a sensitive subject between them.

"Was she talking about us or generally?" seeking clarification before he defended his part in their marriage, he shook his head and almost laughed when she responded, "generally. She acknowledged that our relationship does seem good". For some reason, she had taken Jenna's compliment and turned it into something to analyse and look for reassurance about, which was typical of her, but he could deal with much easier than having to prove once again that he was faithful just as he had promised to be. "So why all the questions?" asking her the obvious, he felt the mood of their conversation change when she simply replied, "call me curious". Chuckling and sighing, he relaxed, "I'll say". Her curiosity had the potential to cause disasters if she wasn't careful in choosing her words; it would have been much less of a concerning topic to talk about if he'd known they were talking generally, not specifically. Now that he knew it wasn't just about their relationship though, he was interested in what else Jenna had to say and asked his wife just that.

"About us? Just that not everybody is as lucky as we are to have each other", snuggling closer to him as she responded, it was clear that he was not the only one feeling the change in mood between them. He was still interested in hearing more about the conversation that had obviously affected her though, asking "and in general?" looking for information before they surrendered to what usually happened when the mood changed between them. "Women's talk, you wouldn't be interested", brushing the rest of the conversation off as unimportant, he raised an eyebrow in response, "if you say so". He didn't have much interest in what he assumed women talked about together, shopping, children, charity work, things like that, but he was interested in what she was now insistent on moving on from, men. "I do", murmuring in response, she moved closer to him again, skilfully positioning herself so they could talk, or not talk, properly face-to-face.

Taking a moment to enjoy the view, JR decided to make her wait a little longer before giving her what they both wanted, continuing to talk instead of taking the other, more obvious path. "So, I'm curious now. If I was failing to meet your expectations, would you tell me?" turning the question back on her, he wasn't sure what he hoped to achieve by asking it, apart from perhaps reassurance that he wasn't failing to meet her expectations, not now after they had spent months in therapy trying to fix the problems in their relationship.

"Oh believe me, you'd know it, if it were serious, you're not the only one who doesn't want to hurt feelings over inconsequential things", appreciating her effort to consider his feelings, especially when nobody else ever seemed to really do so, he found himself also remembering some of the things she had made a fuss about in the past. "I appreciate that darlin', though I do happen to remember a certain car I bought you that didn't meet your expectations", jokingly mentioning that she had been quite adamant about not driving around town in the Ewing men's choice of 'family car' when she was pregnant, he didn't even flinch when she swatted him playfully, retorting, "that was not inconsequential". Laughing, he shook his head, muttering "of course darlin'", he was happy to give her what she wanted, especially when it was something material and so easy to attain.

"I remember too a lot of conversations about exactly what works for us right here", reversing their positions and the topic of conversation, he patted the bed beneath them and grinned suggestively. "That was not inconsequential either", murmuring her response as she met his lips for a soft kiss, it took him a few moments to respond to her this time, enjoying her attention first, "no, the consequences continue to be very satisfying". He told many untruths, but this wasn't one of them, he found satisfaction in almost everything they shared together, from the simplest moments to the more planned or complex experiences, and he hoped she did too. "Mm", making a sound that he inferred to mean she agreed with him, she kissed him again before pulling away and staring at him admiringly.

"Speaking of…" thinking about their time together as he gazed down at her, it appeared from her tone as she responded that he had piqued her interest with his short comment, "oh?" Brushing her hair off her shoulder slowly and delicately, he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I'll tell you what I have in mind right now", grinning as she giggled and met his lips again as they moved together, happily starting what he'd been hoping for earlier, before their little misunderstanding.

To be continued…