Dallas, Texas

"Good luck", running his hands over Pam's shoulders as they stood outside on the driveway, Bobby gave her his well wishes and welcomed the kiss she leaned up to pull him into after thanking him. It would've been nice if they'd had more time to themselves after the wedding because he couldn't get enough of her, but they were back home now and as far as real life went it wasn't the worst thing to have Pam's attention on work and their marriage rather than his history with Jenna or her discomfort living at Southfork.

"I'll see you tonight", pulling away from their embrace, Pam's demeanour told him she enjoyed exactly where they were right now and was reluctant to leave, however, as much as she liked being in his arms and was looking forward to being reunited later on in the day, she had another commitment, one she really was excited for.

"I look forward to it", giving her a final quick kiss, he leaned over and opened her car door, admiring her as she situated herself, started the car and gave him a little wave as she backed out. She looked beautiful and happy as she was, but she was a Ewing now and that meant she deserved the world, not that she necessarily wanted the world, but he didn't see any problem with easing her into the lifestyle by organising a Ewing 6 licence plate and a new car to match.

Watching as she drove off down the driveway, he waited until she was out of sight before turning around and heading back to the house to grab his own car keys. Bumping into his father as he opened the sliding door, he greeted him with a respectful "good morning" only to receive a grumpy, "I don't like this one bit" in response.

Offering a weak smile to offset his father's bad mood, he asked the obvious question, "you don't like what daddy?" His father had been fine, if not a little quiet, at breakfast so he really didn't know what was going on.

"This job business. What does Pamela need a job for? Ewing women don't work", without hesitation his father told him exactly how he felt, putting him in an awkward position.

"Daddy, Pamela doesn't consider herself a Ewing woman and she wants a job", defending his wife, he understood why her decision was so difficult for his father to accept, it wasn't the easiest thing for him to accept either if he was honest with himself. He wanted his wife to want the life he envisioned for them, but she was resistant and until she came around to his way of thinking there would probably always be a little bit of conflict there because he didn't think his perspective was going to change drastically.

"And you allow that?" questioning him as her husband and the leader of their new family, his father's expectation weighed on his mind.

"I'm not going to forbid her from doing what she wants to do if that's what you're asking", defending himself this time, he wasn't sure what else to say. He personally didn't agree with her opinion about working, that it was necessary for her to feel useful and satisfied with herself, he thought she could surely find another rewarding way to spend her time, but he wasn't stupid enough to stop her from working, he knew that would only cause her to resent him and his family.

"I'm not saying forbid her, I just don't see why it's necessary? You have all the money you two will ever need", verbally saying he didn't expect him to prohibit her from working, his father's tone told a different story.

"It's not about the money, believe me, she's worth a lot more than what they value her position at", defending her decision again, he had a hard time really throwing his heart into it. He wanted Pam to be happy and she'd told him repeatedly that she wasn't happy when she felt her days were empty, nor was she happy when she filled her days with superficial activities; she wanted to feel needed and accomplished and unfortunately, solely being his wife didn't fulfil those needs, fortunately though working and coming home to him did. It was an easy fix to support her efforts to go back to work, she really did seem to instantly cheer up when talking about having something to fill her days with again, the hard part was accepting that he wasn't enough and nothing he could give her was enough, at least not now.

"I'll tell you what's worth a lot more than money, a family", nodding, appearing to accept that money wasn't a motivating factor in Pam's return to work, his father moved along, returning to reminding him of his opinion when it came to a wife's primary role outside of supporting her husband.

"We'll have a family, eventually", saying very little, he made the only commitment he could. He wanted children and if it was up to him they'd be parents by the time Christmas rolled around, but Pam's thoughts on the subject differed slightly and he respected her wish to wait. He respected her wish not to involve the entire family in their private business too, so he said what he had to and left it at that.

"What's wrong with now? She's young and seems to have plenty of energy to go out to work, motherhood would suit her", unrelenting, his father saw no reason for them to wait to start having children and told him exactly that.

"Daddy, I agree with you, I think motherhood would suit her, just not yet. We're only just married, we want some time to ourselves to enjoy being young and childless", putting it out there that they were very newly married and their relationship itself was fairly new, he made clear their intention to wait, but to eventually have children, however it appeared all his father heard was that they wanted to enjoy themselves.

"The time for that was before you said I do", frowning, his father's gruff response was unsurprising. Simply from watching his daddy deal with JR he knew he had no problem with a man enjoying the company of women, but he considered marriage to be a serious commitment with serious responsibilities and whether they were discussing fidelity, fruitfulness or fun, he saw a clear difference in what was acceptable before marriage and after marriage.

"We're not just waiting for selfish reasons, it's for you too. I want our children raised right here in Dallas. I'm about to go off to grad school in the fall, you don't want to have to commute to College Station to see your grandchild do you?" Using his upcoming departure from Dallas to justify their decision to wait, he knew he was being a little deceitful considering grad school was just about the last reason why they were waiting, and Pam hadn't actually agreed to join him when he left town, however, it was a convenient excuse that didn't require much explanation of their private business.

"Grad school is not your only option", reminding him he wasn't being forced to seek higher education, his tone indicated that he expected that if a situation arose where a choice needed to be made, there was no choice, Dallas was their home and he expected any future Ewings to call it home too.

"I know", nodding, he indicated he understood what was being said, relevant or not.

"A baby needs family", reiterating his feelings, it was as if his father was trying to make him feel guilty and agree to staying, despite the fact that there was no baby and neither he nor Pam intended for there to be a baby while they were away from Dallas.

"Yes sir, I agree", considering it was a hypothetical situation anyway, he saw no harm in agreeing, it was certainly easier than disagreeing.

"You know, it took JR a while to give me a grandchild, delaying the process until everything is in place is no way to go about it", pulling JR's experience into the conversation, his father twisted things so they were about him rather than JR and Sue Ellen, which told him everything he needed to know. His father was family oriented, but he wasn't empathetic.

"We'll take our chances", considering his wife, he knew that at this moment in time what would upset her more than infertility was fertility, whether he liked it or not that was the truth and until she changed her mind delaying the process was actually exactly the way to go about it.

"I don't think you should", shaking his head, his father didn't seem to want to accept what he was hearing, but he didn't have much choice.

"With all due respect, it's not your decision, it's ours", stating their position again, he reminded his father that he and Pam were the married couple and until they made it everyone else's business, it wasn't anyone else's business.

"I don't like it, but I suppose I can respect it, for now. We have Lucy and John Ross, and with the amount of time JR and Sue Ellen spend away from Southfork I'm expecting they'll have news for the family any day now". Finally seeing reason, his father accepted what he was saying, it was at the expense of JR and Sue Ellen's future plans, which Pam had indicated was about the same as theirs at present, but that wasn't his issue.

"Pammy and I will have news for you someday too, just not yet", reiterating that they weren't saying no to children and they were just waiting until the time was right, he appreciated the understanding nod he received in response. He'd always had a good relationship with his father and despite recent uncertainty when it came to his involvement with Pam, he didn't doubt that once things settled down they'd return to normal, a good normal.

"Well don't wait too long; you know your mother likes having children around the house, I do too for that matter", slapping him on the back, his father's comment and behaviour told him he was right, things were going to be ok.

"I know daddy, we won't. Now, I don't mean to be rude but I have to go, Ray's expecting me", aware of the time and the fact that Pamela wasn't the only one with a job to get to, he made his excuses to leave, waiting for his father's nod and "go ahead", before walking through the sliding door, back into the house.

To be continued…