Dallas, Texas

"Pammy, please talk to me", brushing his wife's hair off her face as she lay atop their bed, still dressed in her work clothes with a blank facial expression, Bobby urged his wife to communicate with him, he wanted to help her, but he didn't know where to begin.

"I…" looking up at him, she blinked back tears as she made an effort to speak, ultimately unable to say much of anything.

Concerned, he leaned down to kiss her cheek, whispering, "it's ok, lie down and rest. I'll be right back", then he left their bedroom and walked down the hall to the guest room. As far as he was aware, she'd been in the same, quiet, stunned state since she'd arrived home, what was making her that way was still a complete mystery to him, but he was going to try to find out.

Dialling The Store, assuming something had happened to her during the day, he was surprised to hear from Liz herself that Pam had left in a hurry after hearing something about her daddy's health. The limited information Liz was able to give him didn't answer his question, but it did give him a good idea of where to look for a better idea of what had happened.

"Cliff, it's Bobby", reaching his brother-in-law relatively quickly, he was relieved to hear what sounded to be the sound of someone talking in the background, someone he hoped was Digger and if that was the case then he was alive and well.

"Oh, I'm glad you called. How's Pam doing?" sounding relieved to hear an update, Cliff's comments indicated he knew all about Pam's emotional state, which was good to know, but didn't answer any of the many questions he had.

"Not so well. She seems very distressed but she hasn't said a word about why. Tell me, what happened?" having very little idea what was upsetting Pam, he hoped it was something easily fixable, but he knew that sometimes things were more complicated than that and there wasn't always a simple solution.

"She hasn't said anything?" answering his question with a question, Cliff's response didn't help further their discussion at all.

"No, she arrived home completely dazed and can barely form a sentence at present. What one earth happened with Digger to make her like this? Did he take the news of her pregnancy badly?" gathering from his discussion with Liz that Pam had seen her daddy and knowing she'd been on edge about how he'd react to that considering who she was married to, he could only assume that it hadn't gone well since she was clearly upset, but he didn't know that for sure.

"Oh no, he was thrilled about becoming a grandfather, even if he has to share it with Jock Ewing. It's not what he said, it's how he is", answering the question as if it all made sense, Cliff's comments simply confused him further.

"How he is? Cliff, I understand you about as much as I do Pam right now", reiterating that he had no idea what was going on, he wished his brother-in-law would just get to the point.

Silent for a few seconds, Cliff then audibly blew out a breath, indicating to him that something was wrong, and when he finally spoke, he understood what it was, "Digger got some news about a health condition he has, a health condition we all have, it's genetic".

"What health condition?" having a general idea of why Pam would be upset, she loved her daddy and nobody wanted to hear that they or anyone they loved were sick, he didn't understand the specifics. Mostly he didn't understand why Cliff wasn't in the same state as Pam if the news was so bad, however, he also didn't actually know what the disease they were speaking about was, so it was difficult to know how he was supposed to react either.

"Pam should really be telling you this", still not answering his question, Cliff seemed uncomfortable discussing the developments at all.

"Pam isn't saying anything", reminding him that he'd called because he was worried about Pam and couldn't help her unless he had some information, he urged Cliff to talk to him.

Hesitating, Cliff sighed, sounding sad and tired as he spoke, "it's called neurofibromatosis, it causes tumours and it seems two of our siblings died from it".

"Siblings? I didn't know there were more than you two", worried by the news of a condition that caused tumours, his surprise regarding the other new information was the only thing that he actually managed to verbalise.

"There aren't, not anymore, but there were. A boy and a girl, they died when they were just babies", explaining the situation, Cliff's tone was apologetic, something he didn't quite understand in the moment.

"Babies…" saying it more to himself, it took him a few moments to process what Cliff was telling him, reaching a conclusion on his own, a conclusion backed up by his brother-in-law who quietly added, "that's what's got Pam so concerned".

"We have excellent health coverage", attempting to be optimistic, he didn't know the details of what they were dealing with, but money was no object and that had to count for something.

"I'm not sure that matters", sounding tired rather than apologetic this time, Cliff's words were not what he wanted to hear.

"Even so, we'll still get a second opinion", he didn't know whether another doctor would give Pam different information, but it was worth a try, they could afford to see as many doctors as they needed to and they would.

"I think you should, but like I said, it's genetic. Pam is a carrier and her children could be fine, or they could die, it's not something she can control", saying it again, this time more clearly, without tiptoeing around the point, Cliff's comments hit him hard.

Speechless, he understood why Pam might feel hopeless right now. It wasn't a question of whether she was going to have children knowing what she knew now, not the way Cliff could decide for himself, she was already pregnant, and the possibility of going through pregnancy and birth only to have her baby die was a terrible thought.

"I'm sorry Bobby", saying what he could, Cliff's thoughts were little comfort.

"No, thank you", numb, he thanked his brother-in-law and ended their call. Pam was already emotionally uncertain about becoming a mother and this was the last thing she needed to hear, but it was reality, and it was his job as her husband to support her through their new reality.

To be continued…