Dallas, Texas

"…to conclude, Pamela is my wife, she's a Ewing now, and she deserves the same respect you would give any other member of this family. Is that understood?" standing, addressing his family as they sat in the Southfork living room, Bobby was firm in his message, there would be no more negativity directed at him or Pam, not if they wanted to continue the happy, peaceful life they'd all been enjoying before the news.

Receiving little more than blank stares in response to his comments, annoying him considering it really wasn't that hard to be respectful or nice, he repeated his question, "I asked, is that understood?"

"I understand perfectly, welcome to the family Pamela", breaking the silence, Sue Ellen's response reassured him; despite caring deeply about pleasing JR, she had a mind of her own on this issue and that hadn't been swayed yet.

"Thank you", thanking her new sister-in-law, Pam smiled weakly, likely still tense as she anticipated the rest of the family's response to his comments, probably a justified position considering what had happened the last time she'd set foot inside Southfork.

"Yes, thank you Sue Ellen. Mama, daddy, JR?" acknowledging his sister-in-law's welcome, he looked to the rest of his family for the same, waiting a long while in silence again before getting anywhere. He couldn't understand why it took so long, his parents knew where he stood, he had made it very clear earlier and they had agreed to go along with his wishes, but they sure weren't rushing to welcome Pam with open arms.

"Of course, we hope you'll be very happy here, don't we Jock?" finally speaking up, his mother addressed Pam, not using many words but at the very least closing her sentence with a kind smile. He knew his mama, she was kind, generous and welcoming, but she was also hesitant, worried about the resurrection of old feuds and the pain that came with that. Reassurance was all he could give her to ease her worries, at least for now, until time passed and everyone was able to see that despite being a Barnes and a Ewing, his and Pam's marriage was nothing to be worried about.

"Mhm, yes. I suppose a wife is exactly what Bobby needs, after all a bit of responsibility never hurt anyone. Taking a wife is a natural step in a man's life", commending him on his decision to get married, his daddy stopped short of actually welcoming Pam, but it was a start.

"Yes, we all know Bobby's been ready to take a wife for years, though his circumstances haven't been quite so accommodating until now", adding his own comments to the conversation, JR's lack of welcome towards Pam came as no surprise, what did come as a surprise though was his long memory. He hadn't thought of Jenna for a long time, but apparently it was fresh in JR's mind, unfortunately.

"JR", growling his brother's name, he warned him to stay silent about his previous engagement and near wedding to Jenna, mostly because it was ancient history that didn't need rehashing but also because he hadn't really told Pam a whole lot about his past relationships and didn't want her finding out this way.

"It was a compliment Bob", laughing off his hostility by claiming he had no ill intentions, JR's smug smile said everything his words didn't; he knew exactly what he was doing, he was stirring, not a lot, but enough to cause ripples if it was to become the topic of conversation. He would talk to Pam about Jenna some time, not now though, not on the evening they were set to spend their first real night at Southfork.

"Sure", shaking his head as he stared at JR, he was pleased when their daddy spoke again, drawing the attention away from them.

"Moving on, I hope you'll be the sort of wife Bobby deserves", addressing the fact that Jenna had left him before their wedding, his daddy was wise enough not to say that and instead brought the subject back to Pam's involvement in his life. He still stopped short of congratulating them or welcomed them but at least he wasn't being openly hostile any longer.

"I'll try", making an effort of her own, Pam replied to his daddy without any criticism or emotional analysis of his attitude, despite having hesitations of her own when it came to returning to his family home and making nice with his family.

"Good, I expect Miss Ellie and Sue Ellen will be able to teach you a thing or two about what it means to be a Ewing wife, won't you ladies?" returning to the topic of acting like a Ewing wife again, it was definite progress that this time his daddy sounded almost warm in his tone. Sure, there was the underlying assumption that Pam would have to change something about herself to conform to what everyone expected of Bobby Ewing's wife, but at least this time it was implied in a nicer way than previously when the phrase was thrown around in relation to keeping her mouth shut.

"I think that's a great idea, I'd like to get to know my new daughter-in-law and I'm sure Sue Ellen feels the same way, don't you? We could start tomorrow, perhaps lunch and then attending the DOA meeting together, it would be a good opportunity for both of you, it's been a while since Sue Ellen showed her face to those ladies and they'll all be eager to meet the new Mrs Ewing". Answering the question, his mother's response felt like too much too fast for him, but looking at Pam she appeared to still be smiling politely, perhaps oblivious to what a DOA meeting entailed or perhaps just happy a Ewing other than him and Sue Ellen wanted to include her in something, he wasn't sure.

"I'd like to, but unfortunately I can't", declining the potential plans with one short sentence, he assumed then that her polite smile was simply because she knew she had an easy excuse to use when it came to how much time she spent with his family, she could say yes or no depending on whether she felt like doing them. If what his mother said was true Sue Ellen had somehow managed to wriggle her way out of regularly attending DOA meetings, but she could always be pulled back in by a comment like the one just made, however, Pam had a legitimate excuse, she couldn't spend her afternoons sipping tea and talking about charity projects, she had a job.

"Perhaps Thursday then?" undeterred by Pam turning down her suggestion, his mother was quick to offer an alternative, showing she was at least trying to make an effort.

"I could probably make time for lunch", accepting the second offer, Pam's comments alluded to her commitments though she didn't explicitly say what she did that meant she had to make time for anything during her day, a fact his daddy seemed to pick up on almost immediately.

"Probably? Whatever is it that's keeping you so busy?" suddenly interested in more than just who Pam's family were, his daddy asked her a direct question, one that had a simple, direct answer.

"I have a job", stating the fact as if it were the most logical answer in the world, he supposed perhaps it was, it just wasn't what his daddy expected to hear.

"A job?" repeating her announcement to himself as more of a rhetorical question than a question that required an answer, he soon received confirmation of the point, whether he was looking for it or not.

"Yes, a job", answering his daddy, Pam glanced at him from her armchair, looking at him as if she couldn't believe they were having this conversation, before returning her focus to his daddy as he spoke again.

"Whatever for?" asking a question Pam probably thought was silly, but he personally completely understood, Bobby felt a little bad for his father as he stood glancing between the two. They had very different perspectives and experiences so it wasn't surprising they didn't understand each other all that well, it was just unfortunate he hadn't thought to mention it to his daddy beforehand.

"What sort of question is that? You're a businessman, I'm sure you understand why people work", answering again as if what she was saying was obvious, Pam looked annoyed, as if she was sick of explaining her actions to men who should but didn't understand.

Nodding, agreeing with some of her comments, his daddy wasted no time explaining his opinion on the rest of the comments. "People, not Ewing women. Pamela Barnes had a job because I assume she needed to, Pamela Ewing has no such need, I'm surprised Bobby hasn't told you this already".

Receiving a glare from his wife at the mention of his name, Bobby shot her an apologetic smile, though he wished he hadn't had to and his father had instead just not said anything. They were literally four days into their marriage, things were extremely fresh and new and whatever Pam's perspective on working it was a little soon for anything to have happened either way regarding her job.

"Look, I don't want to argue with you about this, it's none of your business so I'd appreciate if you stayed out of it", defending herself, Pam attempted to shut down the conversation, although it wasn't quite that easy.

"Bobby", hearing only his name, he knew he was being called to correct his wife and glancing back and forth between the two it took him a few seconds before he settled on a response.

"Pam's right daddy, it's none of your business. She knows she doesn't have to work, she wants to, and that's that", answering his daddy, he was nervous, he didn't want to cause more problems, not when he'd only just fixed the last one, but if defending Pam meant causing a problem then that's what he had to do. They were married now and while he had a duty to respect his family, he too had to respect his wife and start thinking about how things would affect them now rather than just him.

Staring at him in disbelief, his daddy said nothing for a few seconds before muttering, "we'll discuss it privately later", indicating he was not happy and their discussion was not over, but he would respect the earlier request to keep things civil to ensure Pam felt comfortable spending the night at Southfork. If his parents wanted him at Southfork, they'd have to learn to love having Pam around too, and if he wanted to convince Pam that his family home wasn't a horrible place, everyone else needed to make an effort to show her that. He didn't have a problem with getting their own home if things didn't work at Southfork or it was what Pam really wanted, but prior to her mentioning it it really hadn't been much of a plan to him.

"Pam, we really should have lunch sometime, whenever you're free", steering the conversation back to a less contentious subject, Sue Ellen's interruption was a welcome one and Pam was quick to respond, "I'd like that", meeting Sue Ellen's eye as she replied.

Unfortunately, his daddy wasn't quite done talking and while he was happy enough to shelve the job discussion until later, he somehow still thought it was appropriate to move on to the next emotive topic of conversation. "So, tell me, how does your daddy feel about this?"

Wincing, Bobby wondered why his daddy had to push so hard sometimes, he'd already given him the basic rundown on why Pam needed a supportive family right now, clearly it wasn't satisfactory though and he needed to hear it straight from the source.

Glancing up at him, Pam looked resigned to retelling the story, she didn't really want to, but she would if it meant his daddy understood that other people had feelings. "He's not happy and quite frankly I don't blame him, from his perspective I'm another thing lost to the Ewings. It doesn't matter that I married Bobby Ewing and not you, Jock Ewing, it's all the same to him, the company, the handshake deals, matters of the heart, he's lost and he doesn't see that I have no intention of abandoning him".

Sitting in silence again as Pam finished explaining herself, it was his mother that replied first. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry", it wasn't so much an apology for what had been done as it was an empathetic comment to show she understood felt for her in the situation she was now in.

"Thank you Miss Ellie", accepting the empathy offered, Pam was quiet and sedate in her response, appropriate as there wasn't really much else to say.

"That settles it then, doesn't it?" speaking again, announcing his own confusing thoughts, his daddy broke the staid atmosphere.

"Settles what?" seeking clarification about what he was referring to, Pam looked back and forth between the two of them before settling back on her new father-in-law as he spoke again.

"You're a Ewing now, we have to accept that, welcome it even", announcing his position, his daddy surprised everyone in the room, though nobody dared question it. It was sad that it seemed to be Digger's rejection of his daughter that pushed his daddy to welcome her, but ultimately it was what both he and Pam wanted, so Bobby wasn't going to argue.

"Thank you", accepting his welcome cautiously, Pam smiled and looked as if she were about to say something more, however, before she got that far the attention of the family had shifted away from her and onto Sue Ellen and John Ross.

Struggling silently, Sue Ellen appeared to be doing her best to remove her young son's hand from her hair, managing to do so but probably regretting it as the tears started almost immediately following. "I'm sorry, if you'll excuse us, I think somebody is tired", flipping her hair behind her back, she stood, holding John Ross to chest and apologised as she hastily made her way over to the doorway.

Accepting the disturbance and parenting moment for what it was, most of the family smiled sympathetically and nodded, but his daddy once again just had to take it further than necessary, commenting, "good idea, why don't you take Pam with you, it'll be good practice for the future".

"I…" staring at his daddy in disbelief, Pam appeared speechless and he couldn't blame her, it was just one thing after another with his family. He and his daddy were apparently more similar than he'd like to admit now that he knew how Pam felt about certain subjects, they were traditionalists and the type of things they might like in a marriage had to be approached more delicately than they had been so far.

"Daddy, please, just lay off us for a while, give us some time to catch our breath and enjoy being married before pushing us to the next stage". Trying to bring some perspective to his daddy's comments, reminding him he and Pam were extremely newly married and would like to enjoy that first, he immediately felt silly when his daddy shook his head and scoffed in response.

"I'll lay off if you relax. Not everything is meant as an attack", listening to his daddy's response which made it sound as if he was completely overreacting, he wondered if he was and with John Ross' crying in the background making it hard to think straight, he simply agreed, even if his father was in fact wrong, which he wasn't sure he was.

"You're right, I'm sorry", nodding, he felt at peace with his comments; after days of arguments it was remarkably calming to respond to something his daddy said in a completely agreeable manner, not expecting to have to defend himself or prepare an argument in response. He wasn't used to fighting with his daddy, they usually agreed on most things and there was no need to argue, so to return to that was welcome, even if this time it was only because he chose not to pick a fight.

Drawing the attention away from their conversation again, Sue Ellen spoke from the foyer, "Pam, you're welcome to come, or stay down here, I don't mind, but if you'll all excuse us we really do need to head up to the nursery", addressing the family before walking upstairs.

As Sue Ellen disappeared from sight, all eyes were once again on Pam, which appeared to be too much attention for her liking, because despite earlier resistance to the idea of spending time with Sue Ellen and John Ross in order to convince her that children were in her future, she was quick to take the offer now. "Perhaps I'll go and see whether Sue Ellen needs any help", muttering a short comment she stood and left the room, not looking back as she ascended the staircase and disappeared down the hall.

He suspected that more than wanting to help Sue Ellen, Pam probably just wanted to leave the living room, and as JR muttered a comment about the dangers of marrying in haste without discussing the finer details of what being a Ewing woman meant he was glad Pam had made the decision she had.

Shaking his head, he said nothing, silently walking over to the bar to refresh his drink. He had called the family meeting to discuss his marriage and the new order of things, but he was done now, he had nothing more to say, he'd made his point and now it was time for everyone to act the way he'd asked them to. It wasn't necessary to overcompensate, simply being polite and friendly was enough, though perhaps that was too hard for JR. He hoped not, but only time would tell.

To be continued…