London, England

December 17 1991

Supposedly, he'd arrived yesterday however he hadn't called, he hadn't shown up on their doorstep and she hadn't spotted him watching her from afar. She hated not knowing where he was or when he intended to make himself known.

John Ross was a ball of nervous energy and had been for weeks. It had been his idea to invite JR to visit but she got the feeling he'd gone back and forth on whether it was a good idea or not. She hadn't read the letters they'd exchanged and she was careful not to pick up the phone when the weekly calls were occurring, so she didn't know exactly what was going on but whatever JR had said about his Thanksgiving had been enough to push their son to take the next step.

She was conflicted about the next week or so but she couldn't do much about it, JR and John Ross needed the time together and she wasn't going to be selfish and stand in the way.

They were settled now; John Ross had started at his new school in September and since then had made friends and gotten used to the different, stricter system; she was married to Don and happy about it, and although she was a Lockwood now, she'd found a good balance in life where the Ewings were concerned.

Miss Ellie and Clayton had been travelling for more than a year now and occasionally their travels brought them through London. Ray and Jenna had settled in Switzerland and they too occasionally made their way off the continent. Bobby hadn't travelled abroad since tragically losing April however Christopher had come to stay a couple of times over the summer. Lucy too had found herself away from Dallas, landing a job working in an art gallery in Marylebone, which wasn't far from where she lived.

Watching out the window as cars and pedestrians moved past the home she shared with Don and John Ross, she was reminded how far from Dallas she truly was. She never would have chosen to live in the midst of everyone else's daily lives in Dallas, but that was what people in London did, and she was one of them now.

The redbrick home was beautiful, and large as far as homes this side of the Atlantic went, but it was no Southfork. There was a rooftop terrace and Hyde Park wasn't far if she wanted to go outdoors, but it wasn't the same. Don had warned her before they'd arrived that space was limited but she hadn't been prepared for the change in lifestyle, although that didn't mean she hadn't adjusted.

She'd been away from Southfork for years now, moving out before she'd divorced JR and before she'd ever met Don; she'd lived in homes before Southfork and after it, but it was always the property she compared things to now.

Southfork was her past, and her present was somewhere quite different. She loved Mayfair, Don wasn't so comfortable with it, but she'd won in the end, seeing no reason why they couldn't at least try to build a life in the stunning area she'd taken a liking to before they opted for his choice of St John's Wood, which while also nice hadn't wowed her in quite the same way.

"Sue Ellen?"

Jumping at the feel of a hand on her arm, Don's presence pulled her out of her thoughts completely.

"Mm?"

"You were miles away. I said I'm going now. I'll be home early afternoon."

"I'm sorry, I was thinking."

Apologising, she didn't need to tell him where her mind had been, he knew. They'd discussed JR's calls and letters between them, his rational and far less emotionally charged perspective refreshing when she felt compelled to overthink and worry. If he was concerned that JR might be in town for reasons other than to see John Ross then he didn't show it, which too was pleasantly different. She'd come to expect conflict in marriage and marriage to Don had very little of that.

"Don't waste too much energy on him."

Smiling weakly, she knew what he meant, but it was easier said than done.

JR had been her husband for almost 18 years and he'd been in her life for nearly 25 years, they shared a son, and common experiences, good and bad; she couldn't just forget him, especially not now.

She'd loved him at a time in her life and that hadn't been good for her. She'd given herself to him which had left her shell of a person. He said he was coming back for John Ross, but she couldn't shake the fear that he was back for her too, and that was not good news.

"I'll see you later."

Kissing Don goodbye, she watched him retreat from their bedroom. He was good man, one who didn't deserve the trouble she felt JR's arrival was about to bring to their lives.