Dallas, Texas

"Bobby, hold back for a minute, I want to talk to you", hearing his daddy's request as he followed Lucy's lead to leave the dining room after breakfast, Bobby's mind flashed back to the last time his daddy had pulled him aside after breakfast, although this time he didn't have nearly as many concerns about where the conversation was heading.

Stopping in the doorway, he turned around to address his daddy, "yes sir?"

"I'm as happy as can be, do you know that?" patting him on the back, walking them from the dining room into the living room, his daddy emphasised again how pleased he was at the news he and Pam had announced a couple of days earlier.

"I do, I'm very happy myself", thrilled that he was going to be a father sooner rather than later, he accepted and agreed with his daddy's words without hesitation.

"How's Pam?" ushering him into the downstairs office, his daddy enquired generally about his new daughter-in-law's condition.

"She seems well", speaking about her physical condition, he didn't want to get into the details of her emotions with his daddy, it wasn't fair to Pam to share her vulnerabilities and his daddy was the last person he'd expect to understand that a married woman wasn't necessarily looking forward to becoming a mother.

"Good. She's in good health?" seeking more information, his daddy's concern was understandable considering Sue Ellen's recent miscarriage, though also potentially selfishly motivated. Jock Ewing made no secret of wanting a large family and taking pride in the Ewing name; he loved his grandchildren and encouraged his sons to procreate without hesitation once they were married, and although he wasn't exactly known for being present in his grandchildren's day-to-day lives, he was a product of a generation where that wasn't expected of him.

"I think so. She doesn't see the doctor again for a few weeks, but she seems to be coping just fine so far", surprised by how well Pam was doing physically considering how Sue Ellen had reported feeling early in her first pregnancy, he wasn't upset at all. He didn't like seeing Pam sick and he was sure she had no desire to feel nauseated, tired, faint or actually vomit, not in general and especially not when she had so many things going on in her life.

Nodding, appearing pleased that things were going reasonably well, his daddy changed the subject slightly, though in a way it still very much concerned Pam's condition. "How does she feel about you starting grad school a couple of months before she's set to give birth?"

Laughing nervously, knowing exactly what Pam thought of his intentions, he hesitated for a moment before answering the question. "Well daddy, she wasn't particularly fond of the idea even before she was pregnant, not the grad school aspect, just that we'd have to leave Dallas". Saying Pam wasn't particularly fond of the plan was an understatement, he'd asked her to marry him and they'd eloped based on a series of thoughts he'd only vaguely shared with her, so when he did elaborate on his plans for their future, supporting him had been the last thing on her mind.

Appearing unsurprised by his revelation, his daddy added nothing to the discussion other than a further question, "and now?"

"I haven't mentioned it for a while, I'd rather my wife not be upset with me", laughing nervously again, he admitted that he'd shelved the subject for now to avoid another argument, which really wasn't a particularly responsible thing to do considering the spring was coming to an end and he was set to start grad school in the fall.

"Then you're both in luck. I've changed my mind. It's bad enough that John Ross isn't being raised right here on Southfork, I won't have my next grandchild growing up outside of Dallas completely. I think you can learn to run the ranch just fine without those years of extra academics", looking pleased with himself, his daddy turned everything he knew on its head.

Staring at him in disbelief as he processed what was happening, all he could say when he did find his voice again was, "daddy, are you telling me I went through all of this for nothing?"

"It's character building", slapping him on the back, his daddy brushed off his comments without even a hint of awareness or concern about what he'd gone through.

Breathing out, a weight now lifted, he shook his head and murmured, "a lot of arguments could have been avoided if I'd known it was going to turn out this way".

"I told you the last time we talked about this that grad school wasn't your only option", shrugging, his daddy defended his position.

"I meant with Pamela", clarifying where his thoughts were, he laughed again; things sure would have been easier if he'd never even had to consider grad school, although if that had been the case, he might not have married Pam so quickly either, so perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing after all.

"Well, it's settled now, so she'll be happy", simplifying the situation, he left it at that.

"Mhm", murmuring a sound of agreement, he didn't quite go as far as saying he actually agreed. Naturally, he was pleased that they could strike the issue of leaving Dallas off their list, but that didn't automatically mean Pam's complete outlook on life was going to improve from here on out.

"Good, now, has she told Digger yet? Because I don't like keeping quiet about the good news", changing the subject again, his daddy's Ewing pride shone through in his words.

"Not yet", shaking his head, he answered succinctly. He understood where his daddy was coming from in wanting to tell the world he was about to become a grandfather again, but that was going to have to wait.

"She should probably do that soon, she can't hide it forever, nature will make sure of that", appearing to accept that for now he would need to keep his mouth shut, that didn't stop him from stating the obvious.

"She's nervous, her daddy didn't react well to the news of our marriage and the last thing she needs right now is the stress of his bad reaction to the news of a new Ewing baby too", empathetic to his wife's concerns, he reminded his daddy of the reasons why Pam was hesitant, reasons his daddy was well aware of.

"Nothing wrong with a Ewing baby", restating his opinion, his daddy offered nothing of any value to their discussion.

"There is if your name is Digger Barnes", completely disagreeing with his father-in-law's perspective, he was still able to understand where he was coming from, and he said exactly that.

"There are a lot of things wrong if your name is Digger Barnes", muttering, it was obvious that his daddy's mind was elsewhere now, Digger Barnes was a lot more to him than just Pamela's father and that was something he had to work through on his own terms.

Shrugging, he took the opportunity to close the conversation, telling his father he needed to get back to work, which seemed to spur him into action too, saying, "go on", and showing him out.

To be continued…