Dallas in the 90's

[Karin]

Thank you everyone for the feedback.

Ms Southworth, yeah like I've said before it's gonna take some time before they'll arrive at Southfork...
You are right that the updates are short at the time being. There is a longer one coming later that day though...

Presea, I'm glad that you thought the Afton and Mario scene was funny.
I think Jack is showing up for a wedding or something like that.

Tommie, you are right most people who goes sightseeing in Tennessee tends to stop by at Graceland. It's definitely on my bucket list!

Another short update tonight I'm afraid:


Over at Dealey Plaza, Miss Ellie, Clayton, Donna, Ray and Margaret were standing on the street looking up at the building where the six floor museum was located.

“Oh my God!” Margaret said excitedly, as she recognized the place from photos. “This is the actual place!” Margaret pointed to the building. “Mommy look there is the window!”

“I see it darling,” Donna said.

“Oh being here reminds me of that day,” Miss Ellie said.

Margaret turned to Miss Ellie with wide eyes, “You were here ma’am?”

Miss Ellie nodded, “Yes. Jock, Bobby, Jenna and I stood in the street corner over there watching as the Presidents car drove by.” Ray twisted a little as Miss Ellie continued, “Then that awful minute when the shot came! I felt so sorry for Mrs. Kennedy!”

“You know I'm surprised you were here,” Donna said. “I mean I always thought Jock was a republican!”

“He was. That’s why he didn’t try to get a meeting with the President,” Miss Ellie said and they smiled.

“Well shall we go in?” Clayton asked. Margaret nodded and they started walking towards the building.

 

[Ms Southworth]

Nice update

Interesting that Miss Ellie and Jock had witnessed the Kennedy shooting along with Bobby and Jenna. Somehow, I have a hard time picturing a couple of teenagers would want to tag along! At approx. 13, isn't it TOTALLY embarrassing to be seen with your parents anywhere?

PS. I brought up Tennessee in the hope that you'd notice the tiny "inconsistencies"! In your update on March 6, you said that Jenna, Charlie and Lucas were visiting Nashville's Centennial Park (which I presume is located in Tennessee). According to your update on March 12, "Jenna, Charlie and Lucas had now reached Tennessee ... ...". Thus, one or the other has to be "off"! Are the Wade's going to make a stop in Little Rock (Arkansas) too?

 

[Karin]

Thanks for your feedback Ms Southworth.
I think they would tag along to see the President. Especially if they had to miss school to go!

If you wanna talk embarrassing try being 14 years old and going to a concert with your dad and he is called up on stage by the warm up magician (right after you've already been humiliated by him) and you know that there's some boys from your school in the audience. You know that's what I call embarrassing.
Just being seen out with your parents not so much!

As for the inconsistencies in the story, that's what you get for making last minute changes in the text before you post. In the saved document I have on my computer the scene began with: "Out on the Tennessee highway near Memphis were Jenna, Charlie and Lucas driving towards Dallas. Charlie looked at her watch and said,"
You'll see when they'll make their next stop after Graceland.

Finally here's another short update:


At Barnes Oil, Cliff came out of his office saying, “Well now I am done with my phone call so we can go to the funfair.”

“Finally,” Becky said. “I was beginning to think we’d never get there.”

“Me either. I didn’t exactly think that spending a day out with you meant hurrying from lunch to get to your office. Couldn’t you have scheduled that meeting for tomorrow?”

“Well…I guess. I’m sorry. I didn’t get out anything from it anyway so…”

“Oh Cliff you’re incredible,” Afton sighed.

“Well let’s get to the funfair and I promise we’ll have a good time,” Cliff smiled and they left his office together.

 

[Ms Southworth]

The updates seem to get shorter by the day! It's a bit challenging to give feedback when the scene practically is over before it begins (which may be why the majority of the faithful "followers" of this fanfic choose not to comment)!

Anyway, I'll give it a go! Typical Cliff behavior ... leaving important people waiting for him while he finishes up his business work! Even Afton seems to be having flashbacks! I just hope that Cliff will do his very best to give his daughter an amazing day at the funfair (and not be cheap like he sometimes can be)!

Please update soon!

PS. Karin, never make last minute changes ... it can end up biting you in your rear end!
PPS. Karin, in terms of your comment about "some wedding", I just realized that this could potentially include beautiful marriage proposal scene(s) on top of the wedding(s) themselves! I'm so excited! There is so much to look forward to for all our favorite couples! :wink@ Can we speed this up?

 

[Karin]

Thank you for the feedback Ms Southworth. You are right that the last couple of updates have been very short. Sorry for things moving sort of slowly but I don't believe in speeding things up too fast. I mean just think about Dallas TNT how they had John Ross and Elena get engaged and break up in the same episode. That was just ridiculous!
Of course it would go faster if the couples would say elope. But I don't think it's such a good idea, because surely we'd want those big eventful Southfork weddings, right?

Yeah Cliff hasn't changed much that's for sure. You'll find out a bit later how their day at the funfair goes. But first here's another update:


In Memphis at Graceland, Jenna, Charlie and Lucas were walking around in the trophy room, where they could see all the gold records as well as the famous jump suits. Lucas wrinkled his nose and said, “Oh God, those bellbottom trousers looks so silly!”

“Well it may look so to you, but in the 1970s those were very fashionable,” Jenna smiled.

“Did you have any?” Lucas asked.

Jenna smiled, “A few but not with those kinds of stones on them.”

“I think the stones are pretty,” Charlie remarked.

“Well of course you do,” Jenna laughed. “You like all jewelry!”

“Well I am my mother’s daughter,” Charlie smiled.

“Wow! Look at all these gold records!” Lucas exclaimed, pointing towards the walls.

“Yeah Elvis was really popular,” Jenna replied.

“Yeah he must have been,” Lucas said, before looking into the hallway, “What’s over here?”

“Pictures I think,” Jenna said and they walked into the hallway.

Charlie stopped in front of a picture of Elvis with his wife Priscilla and daughter Lisa Marie. She looked at the photo and said, “Wow mom, Elvis wife looks a lot like you did when I was little!”

Jenna laughed, “Really?” Jenna took a closer look at the photo and frowned. “It must be the mascara!”

“No seriously, they say that everyone has a lookalike somewhere and she sure could be yours!”

“Oh hush up,” Jenna shook her head in amazement and they all laughed.

 

[Presea]

In a way, the Jenna chapter was sort of funny because it was like you were breaking the fourth wall (Or would it be the third wall? I don't remember exactly how that is categorized.) with having them look at a picture of Priscilla Presley.

 

[Ms Southworth]

Thanks for the update

Part of me agrees that suspense is a good thing and that you shouldn't rush things (i.e. good things come to those with patience!). . Yet another part of me is having a hard time waiting for all the (what I consider) "good stuff" in your fan fic! And I often feel like pulling my hair out and screamin out loud! :hair: :scream: :rlol: Just imagine if you had to "read" classic books like "Gone with the Wind" or "Uncle Tom's Cabin" at this speed - with only one scene per day? It would get a bit frustrating at times, right? :wink@

Please update real soon!

PS. I laughed so much reading about your dad embarrasing you at a concert when you were 14! Just typical teenage stuff!

 

[supermanfan]

:fantastic::bravo::fantastic::bravo:

 

[Karin]

Thank you everyone for the feedback. As always it's much appreciated.

Presea, I googled the expression and breaking the fourth wall is correct. It's apparently from the theatre where you see three walls on stage and the fourth wall is the imaginary one where the audience looks into the play from. And yeah since we just love Priscilla Presley we thought it would be fun to sort of acknowledge how Jenna resembles her in terms of looks.

Ms Southworth, I must confess I never made it through Gone With The Wind! It's odd when you take into consideration that I did read all of the Karamazov brothers by Fjodor Dostojevskij when I was just 16. I read it for school and that triology is harder to read than GWTW. So I think the reason I gave up on it was because I watched the movie first and the book was just so different that it bugged me.
I think I got like maybe 200 pages into the book or something. My sister read all of it and loved it. I've been telling myself I should give GWTW a new try for ages but somehow I always have other books on my list to read first.

Anyway I can see why you are starting to get impatient and I promise the short scenes are soon done and then the scenes will have a bit more substance again.

Shan, I'm glad you thought the latest updates were fantastic.

Then here's tonight's update:


Back at Dealey Plaza they had now entered the sixth floor museum. They were standing in the room dedicated to “the trip to Texas” where they were watching a TV. Margaret was carefully hanging on to every word that was being said. But Ray wasn’t as interested so when the segment ended he sighed, “So shall we move on now?”

“Yes let’s go down the corridor. The sniper’s nest is supposed to be up ahead,” Clayton said. They moved down the corridor.

“This is so interesting,” Margaret said. “But it is also a little creepy to think of that the hit man was standing right over there!”

“Margaret, are you sure you wanna see the rest of this then?” Ray asked. “I mean it’s pretty scary pictures.”

“I know dad but I’ve seen most of it before,” Margaret said.

Ray gave Donna a look and she said, “What?”

“She is only eight years old,” Ray pointed out.

“True but she has a greater understanding for this then you think,” Donna said.

When Margaret called from the window, “Mommy come look at the view from here!”

“Maybe but she’s still a child,” Ray said, as they walked over to Margaret, Clayton and Miss Ellie who stood three windows away looking down over Dealey Plaza and Elm street.

 

[Ms Southworth]

Thanks for today's update! :site:I'm on Ray's team - there are things that an eight year old child doesn't need to see or hear about yet!

Karin, you should give it another go with GWTW when you get a chance! But then again, I know exactly what you mean when you say that other (and perhaps newer) books keep moving ahead on your need-to-read list! I must admit that I've never heard of the Karamazov brothers, so when you included the book in your fan fic, I didn't question it when you said that it had the same effect as a sleeping pill! :cooler:

I do hope that you will honor Patrick Duffy's birthday tomorrow by giving us a scene which he's in! .
Let me know, if I need to stack up on popcorn, because I only have one bag left! :lolo: :shy:

 

[Mrs Bobby James Ewing]

Great updates Karin! I still enjoy reading your story and I can't wait to found out what happens next with all of the different couples and their families in your awesome story about my favorite all time favorite soap opera Dallas.

 

[Ray&Donna]

Margaret is perhaps too young to have seen some of those images, but since I've been watching soap operas since I was old enough to stare at the TV, I'm in no position to judge. I would like to see her spend some time alone with Ray, or both of her parents, somewhere on the ranch

 

[Ms Southworth]

I would like to see her (Margaret) spend some time alone with Ray, or both of her parents, somewhere on the ranch

I second that! Ray needs some one-on-one time with his daughter!

I'm sure that Donna has some old friends in Dallas she can visit, while Ray and Margaret try to make up for lost time! If father and daughter are going to bond, they need some time alone - without Donna, IMO!

Ray and Donna can always share a night cap and reminisce after Margaret has gone to bed, since they all live under the same roof! There'll be plenty of opportunity for Ray and Donna to catch the "love train", and for the three of them to spend quality family time together! ... ... Unless, of course, Jenna & Co. arrives too soon and spoils all the "fun"!

 

[Karin]

Thank you everyone for the feedback.

Ms. Southworth, I disagree with you when you say that Donna shouldn't be with Ray and Margaret when they bond because considering the fact that Margaret barely knows her father having Donna there helps the situation and it also gives the Krebbs some time to spend together as a family. Something which they have never really had.
I'm sure I'll get around to reading GWTW again some day when I run out of other books to read. It is my most favorite movie so I really love the story and characters.

I'll hold off on those popcorns until you read "The next morning" if I were you. Also sorry to disappoint you but Bobby will not be in today's scene.

Sanda, I'm glad you're still enjoying this story. Dallas is my favorite tv-show ever. So it's fun to write about these characters that we all love. You know sometimes I feel like we've adopted them. Since they were never ours to start with.

Tommie, well considering how close Donna and Ray used to be to Clayton and Miss Ellie we thought it would be nice to make a family day out of it today. But don't worry learning how to ride with Ray & Donna is coming up later on.

Anyway here's today's update:

At Graceland Plaza, the gift shop at Graceland, were Jenna, Charlie and Lucas walking around looking for souvenirs. They had already put several things in their shopping basket however Lucas was desperately trying to find the one thing he really wanted, a pink Cadillac. He looked everywhere but the toy car was nowhere in sight, “Mommy I don’t see any Cadillacs!”

“I’m sure they must have it,” Jenna said. “They have everything else Elvis!”

“But I don’t see it,” Lucas whined. “Help me look!”

“Well there’s someone who works in the store, maybe he can help us?” Charlie suggested pointing towards a man putting up Elvis clocks on a shelf.

“Okay,” Lucas nodded and they walked up towards the salesman.

Jenna tapped the man on the shoulder saying, “Excuse me?” The man turned around and Jenna went on, “My son is looking for a pink Cadillac, but we can’t seem to find one!”

“Well that’s no problem, just follow me!” The salesman said.

“Thank you sir,” Lucas smiled. They walked over towards a shelf, which was empty.

The salesman scratched his head, “Oh I’m sorry, looks like we’re out of them. I could have sworn I saw some earlier today. Let me double check.”

The man walked away and Lucas turned to Jenna and said, “Mommy I don’t like this I want my Cadillac!”

“I know sweetie,” Jenna said. “Let’s hope they find one!”

“Yeah otherwise the trip to Dallas ain’t gonna be fun!” Charlie sighed.

The man returned holding a book and said, “I’m afraid we’ve just sold the last Cadillac, five minutes ago!”

“What?” Lucas exclaimed. “No Cadillac?”

“I’m afraid not,” The man said.

“But I want one!” Lucas pouted.

“Well wasn’t there another gift shop nearby?” Charlie asked.

“I’m afraid that won’t help you, they’re out as well,” The salesman said.

Jenna sighed, “So when will you receive new ones?”

“Not until next week, but if you’re around then…”

“We won’t be,” Charlie shook her head.

“That’s too bad, however I do have a little gift for the boy,” The salesman held up a book and said, “This is the Graceland Children’s Activity Book!”

Lucas looked displeased at the book and put out his lip pouting, “No thank you. I want my Cadillac!”

Jenna sighed, “Sweetheart, they don’t have one, now take the book the man so kindly offers you!”

“No I don’t want any stupid book, I want my Cadillac!” Lucas started crying.

“Stop it Lucas, you’re embarrassing,” Charlie scolded Lucas.

Jenna reached for the book and said, “We’ll take the book, thank you!” Then she dragged a crying Lucas out of the store, as people were staring at them.

Charlie looked from the people staring at her to the overstuffed shopping basket and said sheepishly to the salesman, “I’m sorry about that, um…do you take American Express?”

 

[Ms Southworth]

Thanks for updating your amazing Dallas fanfic!

I'm finding it difficult to comment on the latest update in isolation. What I want to say, really ties in with my overall view of this fourth episode, "The Wade's are back"! Please keep in mind that everything is said with the best intentions at heart.

Personally, I'm finding this fourth episode to be slow-moving and somewhat tedious so far. Thus, this episode needs some more "work" to bring it up to "speed" with the brilliant first three episodes of your fanfic. This episode more than anything consists of a majority of rather short and news-lacking scenes without much substance, which is a real shame, IMO. I support my position with a short index of the last 13 updates:

• March 5: Breakfast at Southfork (John Ross and Christopher joins, Rebecca gets grounded, Bobby and Pam kiss, etc.)
• March 6: Centennial Park (Tennessee)
• March 7: Ewing Oil (JR and Bobby arrive / secretary talk)
• March 8: Pam and Rebecca go riding and talk
• March 9: John Ross and Christopher play video games and talk
• March 10: Breakfast at Southfork (Ray, Donna, Margaret, Miss Ellie, and Clayton)
• March 11: Mario visits Afton and Becky
• March 12: Tennessee highway
• March 13: Dealey Plaza / outside
• March 14: Barnes Oil (Afton and Becky wait for Cliff)
• March 15: Graceland / Trophy Room
• March 16: Dealey Plaza / Sixth Floor Museum
• March 17: Graceland giftshop

The update from March 5th was the last update that I found brilliant, since it contained a lot of different and exciting storylines - all in one scene! Thus, I give you an A+ for that! :10::10::10:
Unfortunately, it went downhill from then on!

IMHO, for this fourth episode to include the Wade's in the title, I would have presumed that there would have been a lot more indepth stuff or storylines about the Wade's (and not only more or less typical conversations between mother/child or sister/brother that basically could have taken place anywhere).

Like I've said on numerous occasions, I absolutely love your fanfic. Don't ever doubt that! And I'm looking forward to more updates! You and Jenny are brilliant writers! Thus, my critique is only intended to bring out the very best in the two of you and make you rethink how to put together each episode. All of the above mentioned updates could easily work, if only there had been a much more indepth storyline to bring it all together (if that makes sense)!
Best wishes to you and your sister!

PS. I maintain my position that an eight year old girl who is as mature, articulate and well-spoken as the Margaret we have been introduced to in your fanfic (and who already has spent numerous hours/days at Southfork with both her parents present), is quite capable of spending some alone time with her dad at Southfork! For Ray to, for instance, show his daughter around Southfork on foot does not have to take place with Donna present, IMO! Things would have been different, if they didn't reside under the same roof, or if Margaret only had been four or five years old (or younger)! :cooler: However, it's fine if we disagree about this topic, Karin!

 

[Mrs Bobby James Ewing]

Great update Karin! I love your story so much. Episode 4 of your story is awesome and amazing. I am enjoying reading about all of the kids doing different things with their parents and grandparents. It adds more realism to your story. You and your sister Jenny are doing an awesome job with your story. I felt bad for Jenna and Charlie when Lucas pitched a fit at Graceland because he didn't get the toy car he wanted but Jenna handled it well. It isn't fun to be around a child in public when they don't get the item they want because the store is out of stock.

 

[Karin]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Sanda, I am glad that you still love this story and that you find this episode amazing. You are right that these scenes add realism to the story and although it might not seem that way right now these filler scenes actually add character depths. It's not just about plot twists.
I agree with you about Jenna and Charlie, it was totally embarrassing for them when Lucas acted out like that at the gift shop!

Ms Southworth, thanks for your constructive feedback. You are naturally entitled to your opinion and I can see why you feel like all these short scenes are slowing down the over all plot and I can sense that you are getting impatient in your wait for other scenes you rather wanna read about. For instance Pam and Christopher's talk. But sometimes it is necessary to slow things down a little to add character depth and in these scenes we have introduced a new character (Mario) and allowed characters like Jenna, Lucas and Charlie as well as Cliff, Afton and Becky as well as Margaret, Ray and Donna (+ Miss Ellie & Clayton) a chance to bond. It is true though that most of these scenes are new scenes that were added in the re-write. But they do serve a purpose. Also I am not surprised that you find a big amount of scenes about the Wades boring considering that you don't like Jenna and her kids much to begin with. But believe me when I say we are working up to something and the episode is not over yet. So come tomorrow night you might eat your words about the lack of indepth storyline to bring it all together!

Then as for Margaret and Ray's bonding. Let me put it this way, don't you want Ray and Donna to get back together again?
And if you do, how are you supposed to accomplish that if they don't spend any time together?
So if you think about it you might realize that Margaret is the perfect excuse for Ray and Donna to bond too.

Enough about that, let's move on to tonight's update:

At the funfair were Cliff, Afton and Becky walking around in a house with mirrors showing distorted images. They were laughing, pointing at the weird images. After a while they stepped out of the house and Cliff said, “Alright what’s next?”

“Cotton candy!” Becky exclaimed delighted.

“No, not before dinner,” Afton objected.

“Oh come on mom,” Becky said pleadingly.

“Yes come on Afton it won’t hurt her!”

“Yeah, yeah okay,” Afton gave in.

“Yeah!” Becky cheered.

“Let’s go,” Cliff smiled and they went over to the stand and bought two cotton candy. Cliff and Becky started eating their candy immediately.

“Oh this was really good,” Becky smiled.

“Definitely, want some?” Cliff reached over his cotton candy to Afton who shook her head.

“No I don’t think so.”

“But mom it’s really delicious,” Becky said. “Here have some of mine!” Becky pulled off a piece and gave it to Afton.

Afton reluctantly ate it and said, “Oh you are right it really is good. But messy! Look at my hands.” Afton held up her hands and Becky and Cliff laughed.

“Here,” Cliff handed her a Kleenex, which she took. “So what’s next?”

“Flume-ride!” Becky beamed.

“Oh no! We’ll get all wet,” Afton sighed.

“That’s the fun part,” Becky said and took each parent by the hand dragging them towards the long queue.

 

[Ms Southworth]

Cute update from the funfair! I loved how Becky was able to convince her dad to have sweets before dinner! Afton caved in easily (like a lot of mothers would, I'm sure ... including myself)!

It's no secret that I have certain favorite characters. And naturally, I'm looking forward to learning about their fate (even though I feel quite safe with you and Jenny at the "steering wheel")! However, it doesn't mean that I mind reading about other characters as well! I guess that I had imagined that I would get more insight into Jenna's thoughts about the status of her marriage, her life overall, etc. all the while she was driving half way cross country! I would like flashbacks to the years she's spent with Ray! I would like to know where she's coming from, when she eventually shows up at Southfork! I don't feel like I know enough about Jenna.

I guess that the same goes for Mario! I need some more indepth info about him for me to know how to feel about him!

As much as my ultimate dream is for Ray and Donna to end up together, I do not want Ray to cheat on Jenna! Neither physically nor emotionally! It would just be plain wrong, IMO! Adultery in any shape or form is WRONG ... and that goes for ALL the characters on Dallas!

Ray came to Dallas to spend time with his daughter! Thus, his first and foremost goal should be to do just that! But so far, he's not very succesful. And nobody is offering him a helping hand, which saddens me! Yes, family time is important! While I love Margaret's enthusiasm for politics, etc., I just wish that she would take an interest in getting to know her dad and where he's from. If Ray is to get a fair chance to really bond with Margaret in the short time that she (supposedly) will be visiting, every hour counts, IMO!

You could very well be right, Karin! I may end up eating my words again! Yesterday, I thought long and hard about whether or not to post a reply at all! If I was going to reply, I wanted it to be an honest, sober, and constructive reply that was backed up by examples! There was a part of me that also considered "dropping out" for a while and let some days go by (while hoping for the fanfic to pick up speed). As you already know, I chose to reply, mostly because I feel bad that almost nobody else gives you any feedback right now! I am truly sorry, if I've hurt your feelings, but I just didn't want to "sugar coat" things! It would be completely dishonest of me to only give you positive feedback (while leaving out stuff that I don't like). I do hope that you will accept my sincere apology!

I'm going to take a step back now. I guess that you could say that I'll be in the "backseat" for a bit, still reading your updates and making observations, but just keeping it to myself! I do hope that others will be so kind to leave you feedback! I'll be back after some time ... trust me!

 

[Karin]

Thank you for the feedback Ms Southworth.
I do appreciate that you take the time to comment and leave such detailed feedback.

You are right when you say that flashbacks to the past years in Europe would have given some character depth on Jenna and the missing years. But we hadn't even thought of this. We are using flashbacks further on for a new character to understand his past though. So yeah I see what you mean but no it's not something we have thought about at all. Or anything I thought people would be interested in reading about on here as most fans seem to dislike Jenna and Ray.

Oh I'm sure you'll figure Mario out soon enough.

Then finally here's tonight's update and it's a longer one:

On the highway in Arkansas were the Wades passing by the last exit to Forrest City. Charlie was driving as they were listening to an Elvis CD. Lucas, who was sitting in the backseat, was still grumpy that he didn’t get a toy car. He was looking at the children’s book he got at Graceland. However as he turned the page he noticed a drawing of a pink Cadillac. He said in a whiney tone of voice, “This is not fair, there’s a Cadillac in the book. But I wanted a real one!”

“Oh no!” Jenna sighed, as she turned around and saw the car on the page.

“Lucas shut up already!” Charlie cursed. “You didn’t get a Cadillac get over it!”

“But I wanted one!” Lucas whined.

“Lucas for the last time, they didn’t have one, so you’re not getting a Cadillac. Now stop whining!”

“This is not fair,” Lucas whined. “You could have asked them to send me one by post!”

“But they didn’t have one!”

“They were gonna get new ones next week,” Lucas pointed out. “So you could have ordered one for me!”

“Lucas get real that would have cost extra,” Charlie said.

“You know if daddy was here, he would have ordered one for me. No matter how much it cost!” Lucas whined.

“No he wouldn’t,” Jenna said firmly.

“Yes he would,” Lucas insisted. “He always gave me lots of cars back home!”

Charlie rolled her eyes and Jenna sighed before saying, “Well your daddy is not here…”

“Well that is not my fault, why don’t we ever go together to visit grandma?”

“Because we can’t,” Jenna insisted.

“Why not?” Lucas asked. “I miss Daddy, he would have gotten me that Cadillac!”

Jenna could feel her blood boil at the mentioning of her husband again. This sucks Ray left us and my kid hero worships him and he’s not even his father, Jenna reflected, as she could feel the anger rise within her. It had been a long day and she was fed up with listening to Lucas constantly praising Ray when she didn’t even know why he’d left them. “Oh for the hundred time, Lucas will you stop this?” Jenna yelled angrily as the kid had pushed her one step too far. Then in a moment of anger she accidentally said what she’d only thought before. “Ray isn’t even your father!” She regretted it the moment the words had left her lips, as she had now revealed the one secret she’d promised herself never to tell. But it was too late now. Jenna closed her eyes.

Charlie looked surprised and as she flinched, the car became unsteady for a moment before she steadied it again. However most shocked of all was the little boy in the backseat, Lucas mouth dropped open, his eyes grew wide as he said in a small voice, “What?”

Jenna bit her lip, as she turned around. Seeing the pain in her son’s little eyes Jenna felt like the worst mother ever. Maybe I should deny it, say I didn’t mean it. Say it was just a lie? Jenna pondered.

“Daddy isn’t daddy?” Lucas asked confused before he demanded an answer, “Mom?!”

Jenna looked at Charlie for support but seeing the approval in her daughter’s eyes she knew it is too late to take it back now. “You have to tell him sometime,” Charlie urged her to go on, “Now is as good a time as any.”

“Okay,” Jenna sighed, as she had been dreading this conversation ever since the day she and Ray had left Dallas and moved to Europe. How do I tell him his father’s not his real father? Jenna pondered. Somehow she’d always pictured Ray to be here with her when she had this conversation to back her up. Somehow she’d always thought that they’d tell him when he was older. Yet now here she was, telling her son all by herself, with no one but Charlie for backup. Not that Charlie’s a bad back up. After all we’ve been through the exact same thing. Only difference was that Charlie thought Bobby was her father…Jenna remembered. Let’s hope Lucas doesn’t run away when I tell him, Jenna then bit her lip before she said, “Lucas darling. Of course Ray is your daddy and you do know that he loves you very, very much?”

“Yes I know, but?” Lucas asked, his eyes still seeking an answer.

“Well you know that daddy and I were married after you were born?”

“Yes,” Lucas nodded.

“What I am trying to say is that before I married your daddy I was engaged to be married to another man. And this other man is your natural father.”

Lucas shook his head, “No I don’t believe you!”

“Lucas you have to believe me, since it’s true,” Jenna insisted.

“Okay so who is he then, my other father?” Lucas wondered. “Anyone I know?”

“Well yeah you can say that,” Jenna hesitated. “Um…do you remember your uncle Bobby?”

“No,” Lucas shook his head, before his eyes widened in realization. “Hold on, are you trying to tell me that Uncle Bobby’s my father?”

“Yes,” Jenna nodded.

Lucas crossed his arms and said in a disgusted tone of voice, “But how could you do that to daddy?” Lucas asked. “I mean Bobby’s his brother!”

In that moment Jenna regretted that she’d ever mentioned it. Damn! Why are we having this conversation in a freaking car? Jenna sighed, as she knew that she would never have slipped up if Lucas hadn’t provoked her. “I know it’s not easy for you to understand, this Lucas. But Bobby and I was a couple long before I even knew your daddy. You’ll see we grew up together and…”

“Did you love him?”

“Yes, I loved Bobby a lot,” Jenna nodded. “He was my first love and there was a time I would have given anything for us to be married…”

“So why weren’t you?”

“Because of Pam that’s why,” Charlie said bitterly.

Jenna gave her a stern look and Lucas asked even more confused, “Who’s Pam?”

“Christopher’s mother…” Charlie replied.

“You’ll see Bobby was divorced when he came back into my life again. He had another wife, Pam and they have a son, Christopher. Circumstances pushed them back together so he remarried her instead of marrying me,” Jenna hurried to explain before Lucas could even ask.

“You mean he choose his other son over me?” Lucas asked hurt.

“No it wasn’t like that at all,” Jenna lied. “Bobby had decided to remarry Pam before he even knew about you. Anyway that was a very painful time for Charlie and me, and I really don’t know how we would have gotten through it if it hadn’t been for your daddy.”

“So daddy’s the good guy and Bobby’s the bad guy?” Lucas asked.

Charlie snorted, “Yeah right!”

Jenna looked a little offended before she insisted, “No they are both good guys!”

“Yeah I like Bobby. He’s been more of a father to me than anyone else,” Charlie insisted.

“But I thought Naldo Marchetta was your father,” Lucas said confused.

“Well he’s my birth father. But I barely knew him. So Bobby was more of a father than…” Charlie didn’t have a chance to finish that sentence, before the car suddenly became unstable and slowed down. “What the f**k?!” Charlie exclaimed before she steered the car to the shoulder of the road, where the car came to a standstill.

“Charlie what happened?” Jenna asked.

Charlie turned on the all round blinker, “I don’t know,” Charlie said, as she tried to start up the car again.

“Oh no, we’re out of gas!” Lucas sighed and pointed at the gasoline meter.

“Crap,” Jenna sighed. “How could this happen?”

“Oh shit,” Charlie cursed. “All this talk about Bobby and Ray made me forget to turn off at the gas station!”

Jenna sighed, “Do we have a spare-dunk?”

“No mom,” Lucas said. “You and Charlie decided we didn’t have room for one!”

“Oh no we’d better call the auto club,” Charlie sighed. She picked up her cell phone. However before she had a chance to call anywhere at all a motorcycle pulled up in front of them and a man in his mid-40s stepped off it and came walking over towards their car.

He knocked on the window of Jenna’s side of the car. Jenna pulled down a little crack and the man asked, “Hi do you need some help Mrs…”

“Krebbs,” Jenna replied.

The man took a better look at her and said, “Hey, wait a minute now, I recognize you, aren’t you Jenna Wade?”

“So?” Jenna didn’t like the way he knew her name and locked the front door.

The man put on a little too helpful smile and said, “Oh nothing to worry about ma’am. I just read about you in the paper that’s all.”

Jenna sighed, “Oh really?”

“Yeah you’re related to JR Ewing of the new movie right?”

Charlie frowned, “Which movie?”

“A family Affair that Sue Ellen Ewing produced!”

Jenna and Charlie looked surprised, “Never heard of it!”

“Well it hasn’t opened in the states yet,” The man offered. “Anyway what seems to be the problem with the car?”

“We’re out of gas!” Lucas said.

“Oh I see. There’s a gas station about a mile from here. I can ride over there and get you a dunk if you’d want?”

Jenna not really liking the man said, “No that won’t be necessary. We’ve already called the auto club,” Jenna lied. “But thank you for offering!”

The man looked annoyed before he said, “Alright then, bye!”

The man left and Lucas said, “Mom why did you lie to him?” Lucas asked. “He just wanted to help!”

“Well mommy didn’t like him and you know we don’t take help from strangers Lucas!”

“Yeah there was something weird about him,” Charlie agreed.

“Exactly, now will you give me that phone so I can call the auto club?”

“Sure mom!” Charlie handed Jenna the phone. Jenna sighed before she dialed the number. She was none too fond of this but she knew it was necessary to get them off the highway and after everything she’d just been through she couldn’t wait to get to a nice hotel. She was longing to take a warm bubble bath and just forget that this miserable day had ever happened.

 

[Mrs Bobby James Ewing]

Great updates Karin! I love your story so much but I feel bad for Lucas now that he knows the truth about the circumstances surrounding his birth. Jenna and Charlie did a wonderful explaining everything to him even though they are both still very bitter about everything.