London, England

December 22 1991

Pushing the wrought iron gate open and knocking on the wooden door, he studied the redbrick façade of the home as he waited for someone to answer.

An invitation to Sunday lunch had been quite unexpected, it sounded like a truly family focused event, however, as John Ross had made clear, he was family and he was welcome.

Seeing the door open, his surprise was surely obvious when he spotted who'd answered his knocks.

"Lucy."

As tiny and blonde as ever, his niece wasn't at all who he'd expected to see when visiting his wife and son, but both Sue Ellen and John Ross had mentioned she lived and worked in the city, so her presence wasn't unexplained.

"JR."

"Hi daddy."

Appearing at her side, John Ross greeted him with an energy that only children seemed to possess.

"John Ross."

Greeting his son, he entered the hall, removed his coat and then followed the pair into the reception room.

"Are you surprised to see me?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting to see you today, but I was aware you were in town."

Thinking to himself that she had a habit of showing up where she wasn't wanted, he thought better of saying so because it seemed she had been invited and was quite welcome.

"I'm told you've found yourself an Englishman of your own. Is he here?"

He hadn't had much time for Mitch the first time around but the second time things had seemed promising, yet she'd still ended up divorced again. The last time they'd been in the same place she'd spent more of her time focused on what was going on in his personal life than her own, but since leaving Dallas it seemed she was living for herself again.

"He's in the study with Don."

Lucy spoke very naturally of Don, but that wasn't surprising considering it turned out she'd been involved in his and Sue Ellen's libellous film project.

"Don."

"Mhm. You know artists."

Indicating her new beau was one of Don's kind, a creative, she made a sweeping assumption about what he understood, which could have been intentional but he wasn't sure.

"I don't, but I'll take your word for it."

"Cally was an artist."

Smirking, Lucy reminded him of a past he'd rather forget.

"Let's not go there."

"Go where?"

Entering the room and the conversation at just the right time, Sue Ellen looked at them expectantly.

"Nowhere, darlin'."

Quick to get off the subject of Cally, he approached Sue Ellen and kissed her on the cheek. He wished they were better acquainted with each other and it was appropriate to show her more affection, but that wasn't the case at present.

Pulling away, he handed her the box of chocolates he'd brought as a hostess gift, in place of the bottle of wine he'd usually arrive with, "these are for you."

"Thank you."

"Daddy", catching his attention again, John Ross reminded him of part of the reason he'd invited him over again, "I want to show you."

He'd not yet been shown around John Ross' new home and the boy was more than excited to lead the tour, mostly just to his bedroom, but also to the rooftop terrace.

"Excuse me."

Interested and a little nosy himself, he nodded at Sue Ellen and Lucy and then followed his son out of the room and upstairs.

"You know when you feel it? That's when you let it take you where it wants to go."

Having been pulled into a conversation with Alexander almost by accident, he couldn't make head nor tail of what the man was talking about or what Lucy saw in him.

The Ewing women had always made strange decisions, but the ones Sue Ellen and Lucy had made recently had him completely confused.

"What's 'it'?"

"The feeling, the inspiration."

Nodding as if to pretend he understood, he still didn't have a clue what they were discussing.

"I've been experimenting with mixed media recently."

"Uh-huh."

Nodding again, he looked around the room for an out, finding none.

The house was not empty, but everyone seemed to have disappeared at once.

"You wouldn't think it, but there are rules. You've got to know them before you can break them."

Continuing his spiel, Alexander didn't seem to notice that he was hardly listening, which was good, because he really didn't have it in him to pay much more attention to their conversation, especially not when he spotted Sue Ellen out of the corner of his eye.

Watching his wife descend the staircase, he admired how good she looked. Her health was obvious, as was her happiness. Unfortunately, it seemed part of the reason for her radiance was the man that showed up beside her a few seconds later.

Seeing Sue Ellen gladly accepted a soft kiss from Don, he had to look away, not keen on the reminder that she considered her title of wife to be in relation to the Lockwood man rather than him.

John Ross was right; Sue Ellen was happy with Don and if he wanted her back, he'd need to offer her something more than fleeting passion.

"Daddy, have one of these."

Holding the basket of baked goods out to him, John Ross had not only his attention but the attention of everyone at the dinner table.

"What are they?"

"Yorkshire puddings, you'll like them."

Assuming they were a pastry or perhaps bread, he took one.

When John Ross had invited him for Sunday lunch he hadn't realised it would be such an event, but the full roast felt comparable to Thanksgiving, which had him wondering what Christmas would look like in only a few days.

"So, y'all do this every week?"

Making conversation, seeing as all eyes were on him anyway, he wasn't prepared for the singular laugh he received in response to his question.

"What was that?"

Baffled, he had to ask for clarification. He didn't think he'd said anything funny at all, but Alexander was all smiles.

"Is that natural?"

"Is what natural?"

Still unsure, he wasn't prepared at all for what followed.

"Y'all," mimicking him, his imitation was exaggerated and frankly terrible.

Laughing at the absurdity of the conversation, he didn't think twice about the look he shot in Sue Ellen's direction.

Attempting to control a smirk, Sue Ellen shrugged and answered, "apparently we have accents."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry sir; I didn't mean anything by it."

Appearing embarrassed by his reaction, Alexander apologised.

"This is a strange place."

Chuckling, he made his assessment of the surroundings and this time everyone seemed to be on the same page, because he wasn't alone in his amused reaction.

"There's something off about that man, isn't there?"

Having found his way over to Sue Ellen after lunch, settling beside her as they drank their coffee by the fire, discussing anything but the two of them wouldn't have ordinarily been his first choice but he had thoughts and he needed someone to tell them to.

"Who?"

"Alexander." Exaggerating his tone of voice as he said the man's name, having thought since he first met him that his refusal to go by Alex was a bit much, he was pleased when Sue Ellen laughed along with him.

"You get used to it."

"I suppose you did. Don's not much of a conversationalist, is he?"

Making an assumption, Sue Ellen was quick to correct him.

"Not with you."

"Not with anybody."

Noting that from what he'd observed, Don wasn't much of a talker whether it was to him or anyone else, he didn't think his opinion was wrong, but Sue Ellen wasn't having it.

Holding her hand up, she was firm. "JR, don't ruin a nice day."

"Fine."

Taking her warning to heart, it occurred to him that she'd just revealed something she might not have said otherwise.

"So, you're having a nice day?"

Smiling, she looked as if she were about to respond, but as she opened her mouth to answer her housekeeper appeared at their side.

"Excuse me, there's a phone call for you Mrs Lockwood."

"Thank you."

Standing as she did, he left the question with her.

"Think about it."

He'd spent a lot of time thinking about them and he thought she might benefit from doing the same. She had a good life, but he could offer her an excellent one, he was sure of it.