I decided to write a story based on Valentine's Day but it got a little long...Enjoy!
Deacon stands nervously on Rayna's porch staring at the closed door before him. He holds flowers in his hand, slightly tipping them enough so he can check his watch under his black dress jacket sleeve to make sure he's not too early. He clears his throat and pushes the doorbell, hearing it echo inside the big house.
The door slowly opens moments later to a small petite blonde. "Deacon!" Daphne exclaimed opening the door to the Belle Meade house. Deacon looked down at the small girl with a smile on his face. She lunges into his arms, taking him off guard. He laughs, loosening up a bit at Daphne's friendly gesture. "Hey." He says.
Daphne steps back to admire the flowers he holds in his hand. "Are those for Mom?" She asks, placing her nose in the middle of one flower and inhaling. "Maddie." Deacon corrects her. Daphne nods sighing all her energy out.
Deacon knows it's been an adjustment for all of them after finding out Maddie was his daughter. He's enjoyed his time getting to know Maddie better but he also adored Daphne and didn't want her to feel left out. He reaches into the bouquet of flowers and plucks out a rose to hand to the little girl. "This one is for you!" He says.
Suddenly her energy returns as she jumps up and down. "Thank you!" She grabs Deacon's free hand, leading him inside.
He stands awkwardly in the kitchen. "We should probably get these in water don't you think?" He asks holding the flowers. Daphne giggles. "Probably a good idea." She opens the cupboard and pulls out a vase.
He sits down on the stool at the island in the kitchen, watching the young girl fill the vase with water. "Mom and Maddie are upstairs getting ready for their dates." Deacon nods. "You have to see mom! She's looking really pretty tonight!" Daphne adds. Deacon couldn't imagine Rayna looking anything but pretty. He smiles. "I bet she is!"
Daphne turns the faucet off. "Do you have a date for Valentine's Day?" She asks curiously. "Nope." He says shaking his head. She places the vase on the counter. "Why not?" She asks. He shrugs his shoulders. "Do you have a date?" He reflects. She picks up the bouquet and places the flowers in the vase. "I'm only ten!" She says rolling her eyes. He laughs. "Well just between you and me, it's just another day." He says. "It's not just any day! It's a day to get flowers and chocolate-" Her eyes grow wide at the mention of chocolate. "And cards from creepy boys at school!" She adds wrinkling her nose at the thought.
Deacon chuckles at her many facial expressions. He starts sniffing around. "Is something burning?" He asked Daphne. A look of horror crosses Daphne's face. She covers her eyes with her hands. "Oh no! My cookies!" She says. He runs around to the other side of the counter and grabs an oven mitt to pull them out of the oven.
Daphne takes a look at the cookies. "They're ruined!" She cries. Deacon frowns at the black cookies. "No, no they're good! See!" He says trying to make her feel better. He picks one up, holding the edges to not burn himself. He puts it in between his teeth, trying to bite down. She watches him struggle. "They're hard and they're burnt! I can't believe I forgot to set the timer!" Daphne says picking up the timer sitting on the kitchen counter. She walks around the counter and sits down on the stool, crossing her arms and pouting. "Now I'm not going to have anything to bring into my class tomorrow for Valentine's Day!"
Deacon places the tray down on the counter and throws his arm around the little girl. "Don't you worry! I'll fix this!" She smiles, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you Uncle Deacon!" She hops off the stool and runs towards the stairs.
Rayna descended the stairs, holding a clutch in one hand and gripping the railing with the other to steady her balance in her heels. Daphne runs passed her up the stairs.
"Hey!" Rayna said smiling at Deacon. "Hey." He said taking in the sight of her. "She's almost ready. Just working on the last minute hair change." Rayna informed him.
"You look amazing, Ray." Rayna smiled brushing the hair out of her face. "Thank you. Luke should be here any minute." Deacon suddenly felt uncomfortable again.
Rayna walks around the counter, eyeing the cookies. "What happened here?" She asks taking a closer look. "They're just a little burnt." He replies. She raises her eyebrows at the word 'a little'. She notices the flowers setting on the counter and smiles as she sniffs them. "These are gorgeous! For Maddie?" She asks. Deacon nods. "Yeah well except for that one rose. That's Daphne's." Rayna looked up at him, her heart melting a little.
"You're so good to them! Thank you for taking Maddie to the dance. She's been really looking forward to this!" Deacon started to act bashful at the compliment. He shoved his hands in his pocket and swayed back and forth. "Thank you for including me." He said, watching her clean up the cookie disaster. "This was all her idea!" He smiles playfully as he starts to relax again. "Well that's very kind. Must've got her thoughtfulness from me." He grins. Rayna turns around and chucks a cookie at him. "Hey!" She exclaims. He laughs as he dodges the cookie.
"So any plans after the big valentine's day dance?" Rayna asked trying to change the subject. "No." Deacon replied with a light shrug. She nods rinsing the cookie tray off in the sink. "I'm sorry to hear about you and Megan."
He seems calm about the whole thing. "It's nothing new. I'm used to being alone on Valentine's Day. Just another day of the year is all."
"I'm ready!" Maddie yelled from upstairs. Rayna and Deacon both stood in front of the island, watching Maddie come downstairs. Maddie smiled as she saw the expressions on their face. "Oh sweetheart! You look adorable!" Rayna gushed. "Mom!" Maddie said annoyed as she rolled her eyes. Rayna wrapped her arms around Maddie. "I'm sorry baby, it's just you're growing up too fast!" She gave Maddie a kiss on the head.
"You do look beautiful." Deacon smiled. Rayna hugged Maddie tighter. "Thank you." Maddie replied. "Must've got that from me." Rayna mocked teasingly. Deacon chuckled. "She sure did. Just as pretty as her mama." Rayna giggled, getting lost in the moment.
Maddie lifted her head off Rayna's chest and looked up at her mother and then over at Deacon. They were both in a daze, smiling to themselves. "You guys are so weird." Maddie replied. Deacon chuckled. "Oh hey, these are for you!" He said gesturing to the flowers. "Roses! My favorite! Thanks!" Maddie exclaimed picking one up and twirling it in her fingers.
"Well should we get going?" Deacon asked. Maddie nodded. "Bye y'all have fun!" Rayna said waving them goodbye.
Later that evening, Rayna drops by the dance after dropping Daphne off with Teddy. She walks into the school gym and sees Maddie and Deacon sitting on the bleachers. "Hey isn't this a dance? Why aren't y'all dancing?" Rayna asks over the loud music and chatter surrounding them.
Maddie crosses her arms and looks away. Rayna looked at Deacon for some answers. "Oh no! What happened?" Rayna asks sensing something was up as she takes a seat next to them. "Ryan asked Nicole to dance." Deacon informs her. "Ryan? Ryan the kid you liked? Oh sweetheart I am so sorry." Rayna says wrapping her arms around Maddie. "Mom please." Maddie says shrugging her mother off and sliding down the bleachers to put distance between them.
Talia walks over to them, seeing how miserable Maddie looks. "Don't worry about her Maddie. You're way prettier than her." Talia says. Maddie rests her chin on her hand. Talia nods her head towards the other side of the room. "Come on let's cheer you up." Talia says. Maddie gets up and follows Talia.
"I'm sorry she's having such a horrible time. She was really looking forward to this." Rayna says watching Maddie and her friend disappear. "Yeah me too." Deacon replies. "Hey what are you doing here anyway? I thought Luke-" Deacon started to say. "He got delayed in New York with the weather up there." Rayna explains. Deacon nods his head. "I'm sorry. Spending Valentine's Day alone isn't that bad. Trust me I'm an expert." He says with a smile. She smiles back. He always knew the right thing to say to make her feel better.
The song at the dance changes. They both share a look and burst into giggles. "Wow! This takes me back about 20 years." Deacon comments on the music. Rayna grins. "Yeah." She agrees. He stands up, offering her his hand. "Would you like to dance?" He asks. Rayna looked around nervously but decided to go for it anyway. She allows him lead her to the dance floor.
He holds her hand close to his chest with his arm around her back. He loosens his grip and twirls her. She spins back into him with a big grin on her face. "I couldn't help but notice how at peace you seem with ending things with Megan. I really thought there was something there." Rayna says swaying to the music. Deacon remains silent. "I'm sorry I don't mean to pry." She explains.
"It's not a big deal. I think we both had really bad timing. She had just lost her husband. I always felt like she was comparing me to him and she always felt that I was comparing her to-" Deacon explains stopping mid-sentence. Rayna raises her eyebrows. "Me?" She asks trying to sound surprised.
Deacon looked away. "I met her when I was in that dark place. I didn't have much to offer her I guess." He says avoiding her question. "Deacon you have plenty of good qualities to offer a woman." He laughs. "Oh yeah?" He asks surprised. "Yeah." She says. "Name one." He challenges.
"Well there's that charming smile of yours, you got a good sense of humor, you have good taste in music and you can dance. There's five good qualities right there and I could list a thousand more." She smiles.
He laughs. "Geez Ray. Do you want to spend Valentine's Day with me?" He asks still laughing in a jokingly way. "Sure." She says simply and serious.
He stops swinging her around the dance floor and raises his eyebrows at her. "I mean you said it's just another day of the year right?" Rayna asks. Deacon nods. "Luke and I had dinner reservations at Riverside. I doubt he's going to get out of New York by tomorrow night. No sense in wasting them. We could do dinner and catch up. I'd love to hear how your record deal is going." Deacon smiles. "Yeah that sounds great!" He says. "Alright." She smiles.
Maddie stands over by the punch bowl with her friend, Talia. Talia nods towards the dance floor. "I thought you said your mom was dating Luke Wheeler."
Maddie looks over at Rayna and Deacon dancing together. "They're just friends or at least that's what my mom keeps telling me." Maddie says referring to Deacon.
Talia raises her eyebrows. "Looks like more than friends to me." Maddie tilts her head to study Rayna and Deacon. "You think? They would've told me right?" Talia shrugs. "They're definitely still in love." Maddie stares over at Rayna and Deacon again. "Now let's go find you love. Come on." Talia says yanking Maddie's arm and pulling her away from the dance floor. Maddie follows her but looks back at Rayna and Deacon.
The song Rayna and Deacon were dancing to changes. "We should probably check on Maddie." Rayna said searching the gym for her daughter. Deacon nods and follows her off the dance floor.