Austin, Texas

"You did what?" staring at her in disbelief, Cliff's question made Pam's stomach flip, it was hard enough saying it to him once without having to repeat it, but repeat it she did, "I married Bobby Ewing".

Nodding, Cliff looked up at the ceiling of his hotel room, shook his head lightly and then returned his gaze to her, "that's what I thought you said".

"Well, what do you think?" prompting him for his thoughts, Pam wasn't really sure she actually wanted to hear them, she'd already heard so much negativity and now she was opening herself up to receive more.

"I think you've made a mistake", stating his opinion clearly, without much of a verbal explanation, but with a look that said a lot, this time it was her turn to shake her head. Was it really that terrible what she and Bobby had done?

"Please Cliff, don't say that", begging him to be the person she knew he could be, supportive and loving, her stomach continued to churn. She'd lived through her fair share of stressful situations, but this was relentless, everywhere she turned there was something else to put a dampener on her day.

"Pamela, he's a Ewing. You know who those people are, what they did", offering her his opinion again, Cliff made a valid but unhelpful point. To her family, Ewing was a dirty word, and to Bobby's family, Barnes was a dirty word; to mix the two was unthinkable and unacceptable, at least to the certain members of both families, and as was true of any situation, logic was often drowned out by whoever was the loudest objector, whether the argument was strongest or not.

"I know, but I'm one of them now", answering him, she knew she wasn't exactly arguing her case, that claiming her new status as a Ewing did nothing to erase her former status as a Barnes or the problems that the two families had with each other. She also knew that although in listening to Sue Ellen, one of the nicer members of the Ewing family, she and Bobby had managed to claw their way back to a happier time in their relationship the previous evening, reminding themselves that they loved each other as individuals, outside of whom their families were, avoiding the conflict couldn't last forever.

"Oh? How do they feel about that?" questioning her claims that she was a Ewing now, Cliff didn't seem convinced by her comments, and she couldn't really blame him, it wasn't as if he'd ever heard anything positive about the Ewing family growing up, least of all that they would accept her as one of them without question.

"I don't care, I love Bobby Ewing and that's that", avoiding the question, she reiterated what was most important, though Cliff continued to look sceptical.

"Right, so not a good reception at the Southfork ranch?" seeing straight through her act, Cliff made an accurate assumption about her situation, the atmosphere at Bobby's family home had gone from chilly to tepid. The previous day Miss Ellie had been motherly and concerned, and Lucy had taken a cautious interest in her later on, but with Sue Ellen and Jack gone, and Jock's ongoing attitude, she hadn't felt comfortable staying at Southfork and didn't see herself moving in anytime soon, despite Bobby's effort to reassure her that it wasn't such a bad place.

"Cliff", saying his name, she gave him a look that likely indicated how defeated she felt, because before she could say anything else, he was speaking again, starting with an apology and continuing with more questions.

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what you're thinking. We used to be on the same team, you used to think worse of them than I did, do worse, and now what? Now you're just going to forget all of that and play happy Ewing wife?" He had a point about their history with the Ewing family, but people could change and she felt he was being overly critical of her choices. She wasn't her daddy and Bobby wasn't his daddy, there was no reason why they shouldn't be happy together, not that anyone else seemed to understand that though.

"If everyone would lay off me and give me some space I'd like to play happy wife, I am a newlywed", raising her voice as she replied, he frustration with the situation was evident. Was it really so hard for people to understand that she loved Bobby as a man, not as a Ewing, and that considering this was supposed to be one of the happiest times in their marriage, it would be nice to be able to experience even just a little bit of that.

"Everyone?" ignoring her raised voice, Cliff appeared more curious about who she'd already come up against in her short marriage.

Nodding, she walked over to the armchair in the corner of his hotel room, drained and anticipating further tiredness, sitting down before answering him. "From what I've seen, I wouldn't have any trouble believing that Jock Ewing is everything daddy said he is. The rest of them aren't so bad, just a little too interested in everything".

Surprising herself with her second comment, she assessed it in her head; it was true, she wasn't used to anyone sticking their noses into her life to the extent the Ewing's did and while she could tell in some cases they meant well, she couldn't say she liked it all that much.

Whether it was Bobby's grand life plan for them, Sue Ellen's eagerness to make sure she integrated, or Miss Ellie's overly disappointed response when she and Bobby had announced they were leaving Southfork to stay at a hotel overnight, it was all just too much too soon. Perhaps that was the real problem, not only did she dislike being disliked, she wasn't all that fond of having all eyes on her and having the owners of those eyes feel the need to make comments and suggestions about every little thing.

"I wouldn't trust the interested ones any more than I'd trust Jock Ewing, they're probably trying to get close to figure out how to more effectively eliminate you", assuming the worst of her new family, Cliff brushed off her comments, causing her to feel defensive all of a sudden which was a confusing response to say the least.

"Cliff", looking at him as she spoke, her tone of voice must have conveyed her feelings, because he moved on soon after.

"Sorry. Where were we? Oh, right, what about Digger? Have you told him about this?" changing the subject, this time she had no good answer for him, and shaking her head she simply replied, "no, not yet. I wanted to tell you first".

"So you'd have an ally?" seeing through her again, her brother's comments didn't exactly offer the support she'd been hoping for. The way Jock Ewing had reacted to the news that she and Bobby were married had ruined any naïve expectation that her daddy would respond any better, instead confirming that both men were just as bitter now about what had happened between them as they had been decades ago.

"Please Cliff", pleading with him to be her ally, because she needed one right now, she was genuinely thrilled when he nodded, shrugged and muttered, "I'll come with you, assist you along, I'll even try and talk him down when he inevitably reacts badly, but please, don't expect me to sing Bobby Ewing's praises like you are".

"Thank you Cliff", standing, she hugged him tightly, grateful for his show of support, despite his lack of enthusiasm about her choices. Bobby was a good man and she was sure his good qualities would speak for themselves eventually, so she could deal with Cliff not warming to him just yet because sooner or later he would come to that conclusion on his own, she was sure of it.

"So, where is this new husband of yours?" pulling away from their hug, Cliff asked a question she had no trouble answering.

"Downstairs in the lobby", twisting the rings on her left hand, she smiled at the thought of Bobby sitting downstairs waiting for her to call him, he'd been so insistent that he wanted to be there with her when she told Cliff, but he'd backed off when she'd responded with her own insistence that she deliver the news alone. Now that Cliff knew though, she was ready to introduce them again, openly this time, without having to be sneaky and secretive.

"Oh", surprising her with his surprised tone, she realised he'd probably been hoping she was in Austin alone and they had some time before he met Bobby again, but that wasn't the case.

"Please Cliff, try to get along with him", appealing to him again, she was relieved when he didn't argue, probably understanding by now that it was important to her.

"I'll try, but if he's anything like JR…" shaking his head as he replied, he surprised her again with his mention of JR.

"You know JR?" she had little interest in JR himself, but she was keen to know exactly what Cliff knew about him and why it differed from what she had known previously. She had started dating Bobby with very little knowledge of who he was or who his family members were and assumed Cliff had the same depth and breadth of knowledge, or lack thereof.

"I know of JR", responding, Cliff's words didn't explain much, but his tone of voice said a lot.

"You don't like him?" assuming his opinion from his tone, she looked to him for confirmation. She wouldn't be surprised if he didn't like JR, he'd never given her a reason to like him and despite Sue Ellen's best effort to humanise him, she just couldn't picture people warming to him.

"Do you?" turning the question back on her, Cliff looked at her expectantly, and shaking her head, she replied flatly, "I feel about as positive toward him as he does me".

"We can finally agree on something to do with the Ewings", chuckling to himself, Cliff seemed genuinely pleased that he hadn't completely lost her. He had to know that he'd never lose her though, she'd always be his sister, she just had a husband now, one who happened to be a Ewing, but they were trying their best to not make that a defining part of their relationship.

"Do you think you can bring yourself to feel even a little bit of the positivity I feel towards Bobby?" hoping the answer was yes, she knew it was optimistic to think his answer would be simple.

"He's not what I wanted for you", answering her briefly, his comments struck her as honest and with that she knew that she could accept his opinion even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear, because she knew it came from a place of love.

"He's not who I expected to end up with, but I love him and I want you to too", honest in her own comments, she willed him again to give Bobby a chance, hoping that if and when he did, he'd realise that disliking him because of his surname was silly.

"I'm not making any promises, but I'll try", shrugging, he gave very little but it meant a lot to her anyway.

"Thank you", smiling, she walked over to the phone, ready to call downstairs to let Bobby know to come up, stopping only when Cliff commented, "I didn't say I like him yet". Stopping in her tracks, she turned and walked back to him, patting his arm as she spoke, "I know, but thank you". At this stage, any show of support helped, no matter how small, and that was all that really mattered.

"He better treat you well", changing the tone of their conversation, she could tell he was keen to get away from her sentimentality. Understanding, she smiled and nodded, "I won't accept anything less, but for good measure, why don't I invite him up here so you can tell him yourself?" and with that she walked back over to the phone and picked up, ready to dial. Bobby and Cliff had met before, not with such transparency though, but now if either had anything to say, they could say it to each other, without going through her.

To be continued…