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<blockquote data-quote="CeeCee72" data-source="post: 227441" data-attributes="member: 5055">I don&#039;t own any of the characters in this story and no copyright infringement is intended.This is a &quot;What if?&quot; fanfic. What if in the season eleven episode &quot;Top Gun&quot; Sue Ellen had changed her mind at the last possible moment and instead of teaming up with Kimberly and Wendell to beat JR she voted her Weststar shares to make him CEO?***What IfPart 89***&quot;Who was that?&quot;Cliff hung up the phone and looked over at Afton. &quot;JR. I have to go to Southfork.&quot;&quot;Is everything alright?&quot;&quot;I don&#039;t think so. He&#039;s having a family meeting after dinner. He said what he had to say might affect Ewing Oil and Weststar…&quot;&quot;So you have to be there,&quot; she finished for him.&quot;Yeah. Plus he said it would definitely affect Christopher.&quot;&quot;You go ahead, Cliff. Pammy and I will be fine.&quot;&quot;He said you were both welcome. Lucy and Sue Ellen both said it would be alright if you wanted to come.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s good of them. But no… I don&#039;t think I&#039;m ready for that.&quot;&quot;I thought you&#039;d feel that way. I just hate to leave you on Pammy&#039;s first night here.&quot;&quot;Cliff, look at her. She&#039;s happy. She&#039;s secure. We&#039;ll be fine.&quot;Cliff looked over at his daughter, quietly&nbsp; coloring a butterfly at a table in the nursery. &quot;Does she ever smile?&quot;&quot;Sometimes,&quot; Afton told him. &quot;Not very often. But it used to be never. So she&#039;s making progress. She talked for the first time today.&quot;&quot;Really?&quot; Cliff beamed. &quot;What did she say?&quot;&quot;Mama, play. She was asking me to play with her.&quot;&quot;She&#039;s just beautiful, Afton. I think she&#039;s perfect just the way she is. Thank you.&quot;&quot;For what?&quot;&quot;Giving me my beautiful daughter.&quot;***&quot;Hey, beautiful,&quot; Jack stopped in the kitchen to drop a kiss on April&#039;s cheek.&quot;Hi, yourself,&quot; April laughed. &quot;You smell like a horse!&quot;&quot;Well, I DO work in a stable!&quot; Jack winked at her. &quot;I&#039;ll go up and take a shower. Happy you&#039;re here.&quot;&quot;Me too,&quot; she smiled at him.&quot;Oh, glad you&#039;re both in here,&quot; JR said, coming into the kitchen. &quot;Family meeting after dinner.&quot;&quot;Don&#039;t worry, JR,&quot; Jack replied. &quot;We won&#039;t be here to get in the way. We&#039;re going to April&#039;s after dinner.&quot;&quot;Did you not just hear me say family meeting?&quot; JR snapped.&quot;Yes... normally you don&#039;t want me around for those.&quot;&quot;Don&#039;t be stupid, Jack. You&#039;re family aren&#039;t you? Plus you own part of Ewing Oil. You need to be there.&quot;Jack glanced over at April who nodded. &quot;It&#039;s fine, Jack. You can meet me at my apartment afterwards.&quot;&quot;Have you both been taking stupid pills today?&quot; JR demanded. &quot;You need to be there too, April.&quot;&quot;Why? I&#039;m not family.&quot;&quot;Well, by the looks of things between you and Jack, you will be soon enough. Besides, the subject could affect Weststar too.&quot;&quot;Alright, JR,&quot; April agreed.&quot;Good. And take a shower, Jack. You smell like a horse.&quot;April and Jack watched him walk out of the kitchen and into the patio then both burst out laughing. &quot;He&#039;s in a fine mood, huh?&quot; April giggled.&quot;Seems so. Hey, did things go okay with Michelle?&quot;&quot;I think so. Hard to know if she&#039;s sincere, but I&#039;m willing to give her a chance. I&#039;m going to help her get an apartment and give her some start up money. She&#039;s coming to work at the restaurant as a hostess and assistant manager. We both felt that was a better option than her working for Cliff.&quot;&quot;I hope she doesn&#039;t burn you.&quot;&quot;Me too, Jack. But she&#039;s my sister. I have to try.&quot;***&quot;So we&#039;re all in agreement?&quot; Bobby asked. &quot;Sue Ellen will do most of the talking?&quot;&quot;Yes,&quot; Pam agreed. &quot;I think that&#039;s best.&quot;&quot;They&#039;re so happy right now,&quot; Sue Ellen sighed. &quot;I hope this doesn&#039;t change that.&quot;&quot;It won&#039;t,&quot; Pam said softly. &quot;They have all of us to help them understand. Our boys are strong and smart and they&#039;ll understand.&quot;&quot;I hope you&#039;re right,&quot; Sue Ellen chewed on her bottom lip worriedly.&quot;Hey,&quot; Pam walked over to hug her sister-in-law. &quot;I KNOW I&#039;m right.&quot;***&quot;Hello? Oh, hi, JR! How is the family? Oh, yes. Lucy told us about that. Yes, he&#039;s right here. Hold on just a second.&quot;&quot;It&#039;s JR,&quot; Valene handed the phone to Gary. &quot;He wants to talk to you.&quot;Gary took the receiver from his wife and held it up to his ear. &quot;I&#039;m here, JR. Uh huh. Sure. What time? Anything you need me to do? Alright. Talk to you then.&quot;&quot;What&#039;s going on?&quot; Valene asked, taking the phone back and hanging it up.&quot;Family meeting. He wants us to be involved by telephone.&quot;&quot;Must be serious.&quot;&quot;Yes. It must be.&quot;***James sat in his hotel room, flipping through the channels on his television and trying to shut off his mind.Ray had called him earlier to tell him his mother had gone to Dallas and confronted JR. She&#039;d threatened to accuse him of rape if he didn&#039;t agree to manipulate the results of the paternity test. JR had refused. He and his wife had been so angry, they&#039;d thrown Vanessa out of his office and told Ray to bring James straight to Southfork when they arrived in Dallas tomorrow.James fully understood why his mother was so worried. The Brumin fortune wasn&#039;t passed down not through estate planning and wills&nbsp; but through a carefully constructed trust. His great-grandfather had taken great care to ensure that no one other than a Brumin would ever inherit one dime of his fortune. The wives and mothers were all well taken care of, but only if they produced heirs. Vanessa stood to lose everything.Still, he had no sympathy for her. She created the situation with her lie. His childhood had been miserable. All of his life, he had felt like an orphan. A rich orphan, yes, but still an orphan. His father had always been cold and resentful towards him. His mother has always viewed him as nothing more than a perpetual meal ticket.He wondered for the millionth time if things would be any different with the Ewings. Yes, their family seemed perfect from the outside looking in, but he would be an interloper. Judging from everything that Charlie and Ray had told him about JR, the key to whether or not he would accept James was how his wife reacted. He prayed she would be able to understand that he wasn&#039;t after JR&#039;s money. He didn&#039;t want to take JR away from his family. All he wanted was the opportunity to be a part of it.***JR stood by the window and carefully studied the reactions of John Ross and Christopher as Sue Ellen told them about James.Sue Ellen and Pam were seated at the table in the playroom with the boys. Bobby was on the other side of the room, leaning against a bookcase.&quot;Do you understand what I&#039;ve just told you?&quot; Sue Ellen asked the boys.&quot;Yeah,&quot; John Ross answered. &quot;I might have a brother.&quot;&quot;How do you feel about that?&quot;John Ross looked up at his mother and shrugged. &quot;Okay, I guess. I mean, I hope he&#039;s not mean.&quot;&quot;Me too,&quot; Christopher piped up.&quot;I don&#039;t think you need to worry about that,&quot; Sue Ellen assured them.&nbsp; &quot;I think he just wants to know the truth and be a part of his real family. I bet he will love you both.&quot;&quot;What if…&quot; John Ross stopped.&quot;What is it, sweetheart?&quot; Sue Ellen pressed him.&quot;What if you and daddy end up loving him more than you love me?&quot;Sue Ellen moved&nbsp; forward and took him into her arms. &quot;That will NEVER happen, John Ross!&quot;JR walked over to the table and squatted down in front of his son. &quot;Listen to me, John Ross. You&#039;re my son. Your mother and I love you more than anything in this world. Nothing will ever change that. Nothing. And that goes for you too, Christopher,&quot; he reached out and touched his nephew&#039;s arm. &quot;You boys are always going to be the most important people in our lives. No one else could ever take your places in our hearts.&quot;&quot;I know it&#039;s scary,&quot; Pam said softly, speaking for the first time. &quot;Did you know that both me and Aunt Sue Ellen were scared about me coming back to Southfork? I was scared Christopher&nbsp; wouldn&#039;t love me anymore because he loved Aunt Sue Ellen so much. She was afraid you wouldn&#039;t love her anymore because you had me back. But what happened?&quot;&quot;I love you both!&quot; Christopher cried out.&quot;Exactly,&quot; Pam smiled. &quot;It will be the same with James. He won&#039;t take away anyone&#039;s love for you or John Ross. He&#039;ll just be loved too. Aunt Sue Ellen and Uncle JR have big hearts. There&#039;s room in there for enough love for all of you.&quot;Sue Ellen looked at her sister-in-law and smiled a genuine, grateful smile. &quot;Aunt Pam is right. We&#039;re a family. We always will be.&quot;&quot;When can we meet him?&quot; John Ross asked.&quot;Tomorrow,&quot; Sue Ellen answered. &quot;Uncle Ray is bringing him to Southfork.&quot;&quot;Okay,&quot; John Ross said thoughtfully. &quot;I sure hope he likes water guns!&quot;&quot;And Star Wars!&quot; Christopher said excitedly.&quot;I&#039;m sure he will,&quot; JR laughed. &quot;I&#039;m sure he will!&quot;***JR fixed himself a drink and watched the family file into the living room.This was going to be a difficult conversation. They all already knew about James. But now he had to tell them all that the boy would be at Southfork tomorrow and worse, he had to tell them about Vanessa&#039;s threat to accuse him of rape. He dreaded it. He was most worried about his mother&#039;s reaction..Ellie detested a scandal almost as much as Sue Ellen did.&quot;Thank you all for being here,&quot; he said once everyone was settled. &quot;Ray, Gary, and Valene are with us on a conference call. It&#039;s on speaker. Can you guys hear me?&quot;&quot;Yes,&quot; three voices came out of the speaker.&quot;Alright,&quot; JR took a deep breath. &quot;You all know a young man surfaced in Europe recently claiming to be my son. His mother is Vanessa Beaumont. She and I had an affair many years ago - before I even met Sue Ellen.&quot;&quot;James produced a blood test eliminating Allister Brumin, Vanessa&#039;s husband, as his father. I agreed to take a paternity test. Ray is flying into Dallas with James tomorrow. Our original plan was for him to stay at a hotel and avoid the family until we got the results. But things have changed.&quot;&quot;Vanessa came to see me today. She asked me to falsify the results of the paternity test. When I refused… she…&quot;&quot;She what, JR?&quot; Ellie spoke up.JR looked over at Sue Ellen and shook his head. How was he supposed to find the words to tell his mother that he was going to be publicly accused of rape?Sue Ellen stood up and walked over to stand beside her husband. She put her arm around his waist and squared her shoulders. &quot;She stands to lose her entire fortune if it turns out James is JR&#039;s son. She wanted us to lie about it - to pay the doctor to fake the test results. When we said no, she said she was going to go to the press and claim that JR raped her her all those years ago and that James is the result of that rape.&quot;Everyone started talking at once. &quot;Everyone hold on,&quot; JR held up his hand to stop the chatter. &quot;I want all of you to know I never raped a woman in my life, least of all Vanessa.&quot;&quot;We know that, JR!&quot; Clayton waved his hand dismissively. &quot;What we want to know is what we&#039;re going to do about this!&quot;&quot;We&#039;ve contacted Harv Smithfield,&quot; Sue Ellen told them. &quot;He&#039;s going to help us with the public fallout.&quot;&quot;You need to sue the bitch for slander,&quot; Lucy growled.&quot;Yes, that&#039;s one option,&quot; JR nodded. &quot;I won&#039;t sugar coat this though. It&#039;s going to be ugly. I will be dragged through the mud. My personal life will be under a microscope and we all know they&#039;re going to find plenty of mud to sling at me. It will affect everyone in this room. And Ewing Oil might suffer if no one wants to do business with me. Weststar stock might take a hit because of my association with it. This could get very bad for us all, very quickly. The press will be all over all of you. Wanting quotes. Asking for comments. It&#039;s going to be a pressure cooker.&quot;&quot;And James? What about him? Where will he be?&quot; Ellie asked.&quot;Here with us,&quot; Sue Ellen said firmly. &quot;We can&#039;t leave him out there all alone. The press will destroy him. And Vanessa can get to him too.&quot;&quot;And you&#039;re alright with that?&quot; Ellie pressed her.&quot;Yes,&quot; Sue Ellen said evenly. &quot;He isn&#039;t to blame for any of this.&quot;&quot;Ray?&quot; Gary&#039;s voice came from the phone. &quot;You&#039;ve spent time with this young man. What&#039;s your impression of him?&quot;&quot;He started out on a bad foot with me,&quot; Ray answered. &quot;He got close to Charlie to figure out a way to get to JR. But he couldn&#039;t bring himself to use her that way. He&#039;s messed up. Had a horrible childhood. He was brought up to lie and scheme to get what he wanted. But I honestly think he has a good heart. He just wants to know who his father is and to get to know his family. I truly believe that.&quot;&quot;I agree with Sue Ellen that he should stay here,* Ellie said. &quot;When will the paternity test be done and how long will it take to get the results?&quot;&quot;The test is being done tomorrow afternoon,&quot; JR told her. &quot;We&#039;ll have the results in a couple of days.&quot;&quot;Don&#039;t worry about the publicity, JR,&quot; Cliff spoke for the first time. &quot;If Weststar and Ewing Oil take a hit, we&#039;ll ride it out.&quot;&quot;As far as the mudslinging goes, it&#039;s not like most of that stuff hasn&#039;t been in the press before, JR,&quot; Bobby said thoughtfully. &quot;We&#039;ll survive.&quot;&quot;How much do the boys know?&quot; Patricia asked.&quot;That James is coming to Southfork and why,&quot; Sue Ellen answered. &quot;Anything else, we&#039;ll tell them when and if we have to.&quot;Ellie stood up and walked to stand in front of JR and Sue Ellen. She hugged them both then turned to face the rest of the family. &quot;We stand with JR,&quot; she told them all. &quot;No one makes any comment to the press or anyone else. We circle the wagons on this. Everyone understand?&quot;Everyone nodded and there were &quot;yes, ma&#039;am&quot; responses. &quot;Good. This will be hard, but we&#039;ll get through it together. We&#039;re Ewings. Vanessa Beaumont has poked the wrong bear. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.&quot;***.&quot;The boys in bed?&quot;&quot;Yes,&quot; Sue Ellen told her husband, coming into the bedroom and taking a nightgown out of her dresser. &quot;They actually seem excited. Poor James better hope he&#039;s a Star Wars fan, otherwise he is in for hours of misery.&quot;&quot;Are you alright?&quot; JR asked her, concern in his voice. She looked pale and tired.&quot;Yes,&quot; she sighed. She walked over and sat down beside him on the edge of the bed. &quot;I was relieved to see how the family rallied around us.&quot;&quot;I wasn&#039;t surprised,&quot; JR chuckled. &quot;Ewings stick together.&quot;Sue Ellen nodded and reached out to touch his cheek. &quot;JR… you have been so worried about me, the boys, the family...you haven&#039;t…&quot;&quot;I haven&#039;t what?&quot;&quot;You haven&#039;t said much about how you&#039;re feeling about all this. You&#039;re so concerned about us that I&#039;m afraid you haven&#039;t processed your own emotions about having a new son and having to deal with Vanessa&#039;s threats.&quot;&quot;I don&#039;t need to process anything,&quot; JR told her. &quot;If James is my son, I&#039;ll try to build a relationship with him and see how it goes. As for Vanessa, she can&#039;t hurt me. I don&#039;t care what she says or what anyone else thinks. I know the truth. I&#039;m only worried about how it will affect you and the boys. I don&#039;t want you to have to deal with the rehashing of all my affairs in the papers. I don&#039;t want the boys hearing other kids calling me a rapist at school.&quot;&quot;I think Harv will take care of all that,&quot; Sue Ellen said softly. &quot;And if he can&#039;t, well, we&#039;ll get over one obstacle at a time.&quot;&quot;You amaze me, you know that?&quot;&quot;Why?&quot;&quot;You could have fallen apart. There was a time you would have.&quot;&quot;Yes,&quot; Sue Ellen admitted. &quot;Not anymore, JR. I am your wife. I love you. And I&#039;m going to stand by your side and fight with you.&quot;JR sat up and reached out to stroke her shoulder. &quot;If you stay by my side, there&#039;s no way I can lose,&quot; he whispered in her ear. He took the nightgown from her hands and tossed it onto the floor. &quot;You won&#039;t be needing that tonight, Miss Texas.&quot; He pulled her into his lap and lowered his head to kiss her. Sue Ellen tangled her hands in his hair and returned his kiss with deep passion. He reached over, flipped off the light and turned his entire attention on making love to the woman in his arms.***</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CeeCee72, post: 227441, member: 5055"] I don't own any of the characters in this story and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a "What if?" fanfic. What if in the season eleven episode "Top Gun" Sue Ellen had changed her mind at the last possible moment and instead of teaming up with Kimberly and Wendell to beat JR she voted her Weststar shares to make him CEO? *** What If Part 89 *** "Who was that?" Cliff hung up the phone and looked over at Afton. "JR. I have to go to Southfork." "Is everything alright?" "I don't think so. He's having a family meeting after dinner. He said what he had to say might affect Ewing Oil and Weststar…" "So you have to be there," she finished for him. "Yeah. Plus he said it would definitely affect Christopher." "You go ahead, Cliff. Pammy and I will be fine." "He said you were both welcome. Lucy and Sue Ellen both said it would be alright if you wanted to come." "That's good of them. But no… I don't think I'm ready for that." "I thought you'd feel that way. I just hate to leave you on Pammy's first night here." "Cliff, look at her. She's happy. She's secure. We'll be fine." Cliff looked over at his daughter, quietly coloring a butterfly at a table in the nursery. "Does she ever smile?" "Sometimes," Afton told him. "Not very often. But it used to be never. So she's making progress. She talked for the first time today." "Really?" Cliff beamed. "What did she say?" "Mama, play. She was asking me to play with her." "She's just beautiful, Afton. I think she's perfect just the way she is. Thank you." "For what?" "Giving me my beautiful daughter." *** "Hey, beautiful," Jack stopped in the kitchen to drop a kiss on April's cheek. "Hi, yourself," April laughed. "You smell like a horse!" "Well, I DO work in a stable!" Jack winked at her. "I'll go up and take a shower. Happy you're here." "Me too," she smiled at him. "Oh, glad you're both in here," JR said, coming into the kitchen. "Family meeting after dinner." "Don't worry, JR," Jack replied. "We won't be here to get in the way. We're going to April's after dinner." "Did you not just hear me say family meeting?" JR snapped. "Yes... normally you don't want me around for those." "Don't be stupid, Jack. You're family aren't you? Plus you own part of Ewing Oil. You need to be there." Jack glanced over at April who nodded. "It's fine, Jack. You can meet me at my apartment afterwards." "Have you both been taking stupid pills today?" JR demanded. "You need to be there too, April." "Why? I'm not family." "Well, by the looks of things between you and Jack, you will be soon enough. Besides, the subject could affect Weststar too." "Alright, JR," April agreed. "Good. And take a shower, Jack. You smell like a horse." April and Jack watched him walk out of the kitchen and into the patio then both burst out laughing. "He's in a fine mood, huh?" April giggled. "Seems so. Hey, did things go okay with Michelle?" "I think so. Hard to know if she's sincere, but I'm willing to give her a chance. I'm going to help her get an apartment and give her some start up money. She's coming to work at the restaurant as a hostess and assistant manager. We both felt that was a better option than her working for Cliff." "I hope she doesn't burn you." "Me too, Jack. But she's my sister. I have to try." *** "So we're all in agreement?" Bobby asked. "Sue Ellen will do most of the talking?" "Yes," Pam agreed. "I think that's best." "They're so happy right now," Sue Ellen sighed. "I hope this doesn't change that." "It won't," Pam said softly. "They have all of us to help them understand. Our boys are strong and smart and they'll understand." "I hope you're right," Sue Ellen chewed on her bottom lip worriedly. "Hey," Pam walked over to hug her sister-in-law. "I KNOW I'm right." *** "Hello? Oh, hi, JR! How is the family? Oh, yes. Lucy told us about that. Yes, he's right here. Hold on just a second." "It's JR," Valene handed the phone to Gary. "He wants to talk to you." Gary took the receiver from his wife and held it up to his ear. "I'm here, JR. Uh huh. Sure. What time? Anything you need me to do? Alright. Talk to you then." "What's going on?" Valene asked, taking the phone back and hanging it up. "Family meeting. He wants us to be involved by telephone." "Must be serious." "Yes. It must be." *** James sat in his hotel room, flipping through the channels on his television and trying to shut off his mind. Ray had called him earlier to tell him his mother had gone to Dallas and confronted JR. She'd threatened to accuse him of rape if he didn't agree to manipulate the results of the paternity test. JR had refused. He and his wife had been so angry, they'd thrown Vanessa out of his office and told Ray to bring James straight to Southfork when they arrived in Dallas tomorrow. James fully understood why his mother was so worried. The Brumin fortune wasn't passed down not through estate planning and wills but through a carefully constructed trust. His great-grandfather had taken great care to ensure that no one other than a Brumin would ever inherit one dime of his fortune. The wives and mothers were all well taken care of, but only if they produced heirs. Vanessa stood to lose everything. Still, he had no sympathy for her. She created the situation with her lie. His childhood had been miserable. All of his life, he had felt like an orphan. A rich orphan, yes, but still an orphan. His father had always been cold and resentful towards him. His mother has always viewed him as nothing more than a perpetual meal ticket. He wondered for the millionth time if things would be any different with the Ewings. Yes, their family seemed perfect from the outside looking in, but he would be an interloper. Judging from everything that Charlie and Ray had told him about JR, the key to whether or not he would accept James was how his wife reacted. He prayed she would be able to understand that he wasn't after JR's money. He didn't want to take JR away from his family. All he wanted was the opportunity to be a part of it. *** JR stood by the window and carefully studied the reactions of John Ross and Christopher as Sue Ellen told them about James. Sue Ellen and Pam were seated at the table in the playroom with the boys. Bobby was on the other side of the room, leaning against a bookcase. "Do you understand what I've just told you?" Sue Ellen asked the boys. "Yeah," John Ross answered. "I might have a brother." "How do you feel about that?" John Ross looked up at his mother and shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I mean, I hope he's not mean." "Me too," Christopher piped up. "I don't think you need to worry about that," Sue Ellen assured them. "I think he just wants to know the truth and be a part of his real family. I bet he will love you both." "What if…" John Ross stopped. "What is it, sweetheart?" Sue Ellen pressed him. "What if you and daddy end up loving him more than you love me?" Sue Ellen moved forward and took him into her arms. "That will NEVER happen, John Ross!" JR walked over to the table and squatted down in front of his son. "Listen to me, John Ross. You're my son. Your mother and I love you more than anything in this world. Nothing will ever change that. Nothing. And that goes for you too, Christopher," he reached out and touched his nephew's arm. "You boys are always going to be the most important people in our lives. No one else could ever take your places in our hearts." "I know it's scary," Pam said softly, speaking for the first time. "Did you know that both me and Aunt Sue Ellen were scared about me coming back to Southfork? I was scared Christopher wouldn't love me anymore because he loved Aunt Sue Ellen so much. She was afraid you wouldn't love her anymore because you had me back. But what happened?" "I love you both!" Christopher cried out. "Exactly," Pam smiled. "It will be the same with James. He won't take away anyone's love for you or John Ross. He'll just be loved too. Aunt Sue Ellen and Uncle JR have big hearts. There's room in there for enough love for all of you." Sue Ellen looked at her sister-in-law and smiled a genuine, grateful smile. "Aunt Pam is right. We're a family. We always will be." "When can we meet him?" John Ross asked. "Tomorrow," Sue Ellen answered. "Uncle Ray is bringing him to Southfork." "Okay," John Ross said thoughtfully. "I sure hope he likes water guns!" "And Star Wars!" Christopher said excitedly. "I'm sure he will," JR laughed. "I'm sure he will!" *** JR fixed himself a drink and watched the family file into the living room. This was going to be a difficult conversation. They all already knew about James. But now he had to tell them all that the boy would be at Southfork tomorrow and worse, he had to tell them about Vanessa's threat to accuse him of rape. He dreaded it. He was most worried about his mother's reaction..Ellie detested a scandal almost as much as Sue Ellen did. "Thank you all for being here," he said once everyone was settled. "Ray, Gary, and Valene are with us on a conference call. It's on speaker. Can you guys hear me?" "Yes," three voices came out of the speaker. "Alright," JR took a deep breath. "You all know a young man surfaced in Europe recently claiming to be my son. His mother is Vanessa Beaumont. She and I had an affair many years ago - before I even met Sue Ellen." "James produced a blood test eliminating Allister Brumin, Vanessa's husband, as his father. I agreed to take a paternity test. Ray is flying into Dallas with James tomorrow. Our original plan was for him to stay at a hotel and avoid the family until we got the results. But things have changed." "Vanessa came to see me today. She asked me to falsify the results of the paternity test. When I refused… she…" "She what, JR?" Ellie spoke up. JR looked over at Sue Ellen and shook his head. How was he supposed to find the words to tell his mother that he was going to be publicly accused of rape? Sue Ellen stood up and walked over to stand beside her husband. She put her arm around his waist and squared her shoulders. "She stands to lose her entire fortune if it turns out James is JR's son. She wanted us to lie about it - to pay the doctor to fake the test results. When we said no, she said she was going to go to the press and claim that JR raped her her all those years ago and that James is the result of that rape." Everyone started talking at once. "Everyone hold on," JR held up his hand to stop the chatter. "I want all of you to know I never raped a woman in my life, least of all Vanessa." "We know that, JR!" Clayton waved his hand dismissively. "What we want to know is what we're going to do about this!" "We've contacted Harv Smithfield," Sue Ellen told them. "He's going to help us with the public fallout." "You need to sue the bitch for slander," Lucy growled. "Yes, that's one option," JR nodded. "I won't sugar coat this though. It's going to be ugly. I will be dragged through the mud. My personal life will be under a microscope and we all know they're going to find plenty of mud to sling at me. It will affect everyone in this room. And Ewing Oil might suffer if no one wants to do business with me. Weststar stock might take a hit because of my association with it. This could get very bad for us all, very quickly. The press will be all over all of you. Wanting quotes. Asking for comments. It's going to be a pressure cooker." "And James? What about him? Where will he be?" Ellie asked. "Here with us," Sue Ellen said firmly. "We can't leave him out there all alone. The press will destroy him. And Vanessa can get to him too." "And you're alright with that?" Ellie pressed her. "Yes," Sue Ellen said evenly. "He isn't to blame for any of this." "Ray?" Gary's voice came from the phone. "You've spent time with this young man. What's your impression of him?" "He started out on a bad foot with me," Ray answered. "He got close to Charlie to figure out a way to get to JR. But he couldn't bring himself to use her that way. He's messed up. Had a horrible childhood. He was brought up to lie and scheme to get what he wanted. But I honestly think he has a good heart. He just wants to know who his father is and to get to know his family. I truly believe that." "I agree with Sue Ellen that he should stay here,* Ellie said. "When will the paternity test be done and how long will it take to get the results?" "The test is being done tomorrow afternoon," JR told her. "We'll have the results in a couple of days." "Don't worry about the publicity, JR," Cliff spoke for the first time. "If Weststar and Ewing Oil take a hit, we'll ride it out." "As far as the mudslinging goes, it's not like most of that stuff hasn't been in the press before, JR," Bobby said thoughtfully. "We'll survive." "How much do the boys know?" Patricia asked. "That James is coming to Southfork and why," Sue Ellen answered. "Anything else, we'll tell them when and if we have to." Ellie stood up and walked to stand in front of JR and Sue Ellen. She hugged them both then turned to face the rest of the family. "We stand with JR," she told them all. "No one makes any comment to the press or anyone else. We circle the wagons on this. Everyone understand?" Everyone nodded and there were "yes, ma'am" responses. "Good. This will be hard, but we'll get through it together. We're Ewings. Vanessa Beaumont has poked the wrong bear. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost." ***. "The boys in bed?" "Yes," Sue Ellen told her husband, coming into the bedroom and taking a nightgown out of her dresser. "They actually seem excited. Poor James better hope he's a Star Wars fan, otherwise he is in for hours of misery." "Are you alright?" JR asked her, concern in his voice. She looked pale and tired. "Yes," she sighed. She walked over and sat down beside him on the edge of the bed. "I was relieved to see how the family rallied around us." "I wasn't surprised," JR chuckled. "Ewings stick together." Sue Ellen nodded and reached out to touch his cheek. "JR… you have been so worried about me, the boys, the family...you haven't…" "I haven't what?" "You haven't said much about how you're feeling about all this. You're so concerned about us that I'm afraid you haven't processed your own emotions about having a new son and having to deal with Vanessa's threats." "I don't need to process anything," JR told her. "If James is my son, I'll try to build a relationship with him and see how it goes. As for Vanessa, she can't hurt me. I don't care what she says or what anyone else thinks. I know the truth. I'm only worried about how it will affect you and the boys. I don't want you to have to deal with the rehashing of all my affairs in the papers. I don't want the boys hearing other kids calling me a rapist at school." "I think Harv will take care of all that," Sue Ellen said softly. "And if he can't, well, we'll get over one obstacle at a time." "You amaze me, you know that?" "Why?" "You could have fallen apart. There was a time you would have." "Yes," Sue Ellen admitted. "Not anymore, JR. I am your wife. I love you. And I'm going to stand by your side and fight with you." JR sat up and reached out to stroke her shoulder. "If you stay by my side, there's no way I can lose," he whispered in her ear. He took the nightgown from her hands and tossed it onto the floor. "You won't be needing that tonight, Miss Texas." He pulled her into his lap and lowered his head to kiss her. Sue Ellen tangled her hands in his hair and returned his kiss with deep passion. He reached over, flipped off the light and turned his entire attention on making love to the woman in his arms. *** [/QUOTE]

Verification

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