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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Justine" data-source="post: 145959" data-attributes="member: 404">[MEDIA=youtube]n33TqJnQLCw[/MEDIA] The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) Season 9 (Between "Curiosity Killed the Cat" and "The Missing Link")Sue Ellen leaned upon the doorway to the foyer of the house. In the calm after the storm, that was the aftermath of Christmas Day, she was utterly exhausted. She had worked around-the-clock to ensure the first Christmas without Bobby was one of Southfork’s finest and she was humble in her conclusion that it had been just that. “You must be pretty wiped,” Clayton candidly remarked, once he stalked her into the kitchen. Sue Ellen quietly wiped dry the plates removed from the dishwasher and handed them to Clayton, who returned the fine China to the cupboard. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you run ‘round like a damn lunatic this past week.” Sue Ellen smiled, bashful. She hadn’t done so for the acclaim, but it was nice to be appreciated. “I don’t know what we would have done without you here. Not just at Christmas, all year round,” he remarked, in reference to her recent return to Southfork.Sue Ellen shook her head, as if it had been no chore. “Well, it was important to me that the family were able to celebrate the holidays.” Her notable absence - justified, as it may have been - in the weeks that followed Bobby’s death still bothered Sue Ellen. She hoped that she was able work toward rectification of that, and Christmas was only the first step in her master-plan. “Especially you,” she added and stroked his back. Clayton expressed his obvious confusion at her sentiment. “You carried the weight of this family’s grief and you did it alone.” He had bore the brunt of their fury and sadness, which was no easy task, and certainly not one Sue Ellen felt confident to achieve.They eventually returned to the family room, where the family had collected after their brunch. Almost everybody was present, but for Donna, who Sue Ellen had tasked the responsibility to drive Jenna and Charlie to the day-after-Christmas sales at the mall, so that Pamela didn’t feel unwelcome, when she and Christopher drove by for an hour or two. Everybody chatted happily, as if the loss of Bobby had been temporarily erased from their heart and mind; and Sue Ellen almost allowed herself to relax, until J.R.’s absence alerted her attention.“J.R.,” she finally tracked her husband down to the balcony that overlooked Southfork’s pool. Their relationship was far from perfect but it had been cordial since she returned to Southfork, pleasant even for the Christmas week. It was his uncharacteristic quietness that informed Sue Ellen how much he missed his little brother. He had held his emotions in-check so well, that no one else noticed.“Yeah,” he replied, barely audible.“I just wanted to say thank you.” His wife pressed her palms into one clammy mess, “It’s been a difficult few days for everyone. It’s been a difficult year.” Bobby’s accident, the loss of Ray and Donna’s unborn child, her rehabilitation… the list went on and on. “I’m sure you would have preferred to spend the day with Mandy -”“Sue Ellen,” J.R. stopped her short, emotionally unprepared for one of their usual confrontations about his fidelity - or lack of fidelity. “I am not in the mood for this discussion. It’s Christmas. My mama and our son are downstairs. At least, try to behave appropriately for them.”“J.R., what I meant was…” Sue Ellen exhaled, uncertain exactly how to phrase her sentence. “I appreciate how hard this first Christmas without Bobby must have been for you and I’m thankful that you decided to spend it with John Ross and me.” He had been the ultimate family man all week; he had stayed home from the office and dismissed all work-related calls; he helped Miss Ellie decorate the house; he played with John Ross and his new toys; he had even avoided any confrontation, especially with Clayton. The diamond-studded bracelet he had kindly presented Sue Ellen with was the cherry on top. J.R. swivelled on the spot and Sue Ellen steeled herself for his inevitably cruel remark that would bite into her skin. “It’s what Bobby would have wanted.” He conceded, with the easy fallback notion that any sense of kindness was not his personal nature. J.R. bypassed Sue Ellen but, as he walked beyond, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas, Sue Ellen… and a Happy New Year.”</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?