Dallas, Texas

December 1978

Driving home, Sue Ellen reflected on her conversation with Doctor Richardson. She should have expected this, her fertility had always been complicated, starting the day she married JR, now, it was even more so.

"It's difficult to say, especially given your medical history and that of your husband, as you've shared with me today."

That she could understand.

"You may be able to get pregnant within one to three months of stopping the pill. Most women can conceive within a year, but this is also dependent on the quality of your husband's contribution."

That too.

"I'd recommend speaking with someone about the psychological effects a third pregnancy might have on you before trying to conceive."

Doctor Richardson didn't sugarcoat things, addressing her history more directly than anyone had since she'd come back home.

"There's no data available on the risks of taking your prescribed antidepressant during pregnancy. I'm not a specialist in psychiatric medication, so I can't provide a full list of risks and benefits of continuing or stopping it before and during pregnancy."

She hadn't considered her mental health recently, only realising now that perhaps the pills were what kept her stable, not any real improvement of her own. Stopping them could be dangerous, not just for her but for John Ross, a potential baby, and even JR. Was it worth the risk? She wasn't sure.

"You may be at greater risk of uterine rupture based on the damage from the induced miscarriage earlier this year."

The shift from discussing her mental health to her physical health hurt. If she thought about it long enough, she could remember the pain and fear in the bathroom at the Singletree, the horror of knowing she'd done that to herself.

"Research indicates that the shorter the interval between pregnancies, the greater the risks to both mother and baby. We generally recommend waiting at least twelve months, ideally closer to eighteen."

Doctor Richardson wasn't exactly the bearer of good news, and it seemed she wasn't going to be the bearer of JR's next child anytime soon either. They had some serious decisions to make, and the more she heard, the easier those decisions were becoming, unfortunately.

January 1979

Miss Ellie was trying to give Southfork back to her brother, the one they'd all thought was long dead. She was acting entirely against his wishes, ignoring his judgement as her husband and the rightful patriarch of the land. Garrison hadn't mattered for decades; he was the man of Southfork now, and no one was going to take that away from him.

Garrison had no children, no sons. Ellie would inherit the land when Garrison passed, and from her, it would go to her sons, his sons, and to their sons after them.

Little John was meant to be JR's heir. Biologically, things were murky, but only Jock knew that.

Another son would solidify their claim, ensuring their family stayed on their own property. And another son, he was determined to have.

'Business or pleasure?'

The handwritten note came with a photo of JR and an unidentified woman. Seeing it was one thing, but catching him herself was another.

Sue Ellen had never understood what he wanted with other women. But he couldn't deny that he did want them; she had photographic proof he was getting them. And she was far from happy about it.

Julie was back, full of apologies and regrets. It seemed she'd set her sights on any man named John Ross Ewing who'd give her the time of day. He knew she'd spent some time with his daddy, and now she was chasing him.

He had a wife, a son, a good life, but he'd never had much self-control.

"They look the same, but they're all placebo."

Rifling through the bathroom cabinet and then the drawer when he didn't find what he was after, Jock's heart pounded when he finally located what he was searching for.

His contact at the pharmacy was right: the two sets of pills were nearly indistinguishable. Popping the correct number out of the replacement packet to match the set Sue Ellen was already partway through, he dropped the excess pills into his pocket and swapped the packets.

He carefully put everything back in place before slipping out of the room and the house. Soon, he disposed of the evidence of his interference in a public trashcan in Braddock.

There was no intimacy happening between JR and Sue Ellen right now; she was still upset over the implications of infidelity, despite JR's denials. That bought him some time to figure out his next move, as would the inevitable disruption his contact at the pharmacy had warned about when the switch took effect.

He didn't know yet how he'd convince Sue Ellen that little John needed a sibling, a full sibling, but he knew that when the time came, she'd need to be ready. And today, he'd just laid the groundwork to ensure she would be.