Sue Ellen began to button her blouse. She listened intently to what the doctor was saying to her about her due date, foetal heart rate and measurements as she finished dressing. She cleared her throat, summoning all her courage to speak. "There is something I wanted to ask you" she began. The doctor, a colleague of Dr Crane who was away on vacation, looked up from his notes. "Of course," he responded in a business-like tone. "Is there any way to determine who the father of an unborn baby is?" she asked, cringing inside as she heard the words escape from her mouth.
"Mrs Ewing?" The clinician stared at her, increasing her discomfort. "I'm er asking for a friend… someone who made a mistake and had an encounter with someone other than her husband" she tried to explain, making her predicament all the more obvious. "I see. Well, the answer is no. The science has come a long way but not that far, yet. Your er, friend, could commission some tests after the birth but that would need samples to be taken from the putative father which might prove awkward." She shook his hand, thanked him and exited the consulting room as fast as she could, tears pricking her eyes.
Tonight was the night that she and JR had agreed to announce the pregnancy, over dinner to the entire family, the ante-natal appointment marking the fact that the pregnancy had survived what was usually regarded as the highest risk trimester. What she had wanted so badly now represented nothing short of a nightmare, a gigantic mistake that she could do nothing about. She got in her car and closed the door behind her just in time for the floodgates to open. Weeping uncontrollably for the next five minutes, she could see no way through her dilemma. She took a shaky breath and started the engine. By the time she arrived at home she must have regained her composure, she told herself.
As she reached the highway, she tried to persuade herself that the child must be JR's. After all, she and Jock had only spent that one afternoon together whereas she and her husband had enjoyed far greater in the way of relations in the lead up to her finding out. Plus, Jock was much older than JR. Surely that must count for something? However, her optimism remained fleeting with other, darker thoughts intruding, turning her stomach and making it difficult to resist the urge to pull over to vomit.
About a mile from home, she pulled into a layby. Opening the window, she took several deep breaths before reaching into her purse for the small make-up bag she kept for touch ups. Re-doing her face proved more difficult than usual given her shaky state, but within ten minutes she appeared more presentable. If JR questioned her, she would say she had a bout of morning sickness on the way back, she decided.
She arrived home to find her husband waiting for her, anxious to hear how the appointment had gone. "Everything is fine" she reassured him as they walked upstairs to the bedroom. "So, we tell the family tonight then?" JR enquired excitedly. "Yes" she replied unenthusiastically. "Sue Ellen? Are you sure everything is alright" he asked suspiciously. He knew her, she realised, sometimes better than she knew herself. She nodded firmly. "Yes, JR. I just wish this sickness would pass" she lied. He placed his arms around her and gazed into her eyes. "It will, darlin, real soon. You know, I think mama suspects something already. She has asked me about your lack of appetite a few times in the last week or so. It will be a relief finally to be able to tell them all."
The news tumbled out of JR's mouth during cocktail hour. He could contain himself no longer. This was his moment, his opportunity to let his daddy know that there would finally be an heir to assume responsibility for the Ewing empire after both of them. Swept up in a sea of hugs and congratulations from the female members of the family, Sue Ellen stole a glance at her father-in-law. Slapping JR's back on the pretext of surprise and delight, Jock made eye contact with her right at that minute and smiled slyly. Leaving his son, he walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. "Who's a clever girl then?" he asked. "I couldn't be more pleased." She shuddered inwardly at the veiled comment before thanking him and feigning happiness for the entire family to witness.
As dinner was announced and they all began to walk to the dining room, Jock kept her back from the others on the pretext of asking about her health. "You and I need to talk, Sue Ellen" he whispered to her. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to appear casual. "I don't know what you mean" she countered. "Oh, I think you do" he replied gruffly. "Meet me in town tomorrow, at the Botanical Gardens. Ten thirty sharp. Tell Miss Ellie you need to run some errands. I will leave the office."
She took her seat next to JR and, in an attempt to needle her father-in-law, she kissed her husband on the cheek. "Darlin?" he asked quizzically. "I am just so happy, JR, that you have given me the greatest gift a husband could ever give" she responded pointedly. JR and some of the others, Miss Ellie included, smiled widely at the demonstration of affection. Just a few months earlier things couldn't have been much worse between them, but now they were united and on the road to starting the family that had previously and so bitterly eluded them. Raising his glass, Jock proposed a toast. "To JR and Sue Ellen whom God has finally blessed with the gift of a child!" he announced whilst staring pointedly at his daughter-in-law.
TBC