This is a story that came to me because I wanted to explore some other characters that the show doesn't focus on all that much. The supporting cast is fantastic on this show and they should use them. Most of the main characters will be present and some, more than others, have pretty big roles but yeah.. Hope I don't bore you all to death! This is my first time writing Nashville fic. Please let me know what you think :) And thanks in advance for reading!

Sadly, most of the character do not belong to me... :(

Chapter 1

They say the more things change the more they stay the same. Things had definitely changed but for some reason so many things were so very similar to the way they were twenty some odd years ago. The south was still the south, church goers still attended service on Sundays and Nashville was still controlled by the elite few who had the money to pay to have things their way.

The chords coming from her piano were supposed to sound happier than they were at that very moment. All she could think about was the fact that her life was nowhere near where she had seen herself thirty years ago. Yes, she was a successful singer like she had wanted. Yes, she was a mother, something she had also always dreamed of. But she was alone. The man that she had loved for most of those thirty years was still the first one that came to mind when the word love floated past her. But she couldn't go back there. She had ended what they had, more than once, and she had to stick to her guns. Easier said than done.

A short fling with her producer Liam McGuinnis was just that. A short fling. They both knew that it meant nothing more than two people working out their sexual tension with the possibility of becoming friends with benefits. The term made Rayna scrunch up her nose. Sex was supposed to be about more than just the physical aspect of it, although thinking back, she had been having sex for just the physical purpose for the last few years when she and Teddy had sex at all, which wasn't very often.

Then there was Luke. He was sweet and caring and stable. He was her equal when it came to their careers so there was never that guilty feeling that she was taking the limelight. People wanted to see both of them. His reluctance to support her with the buyout of her contract was worrying some but that was business. He was someone she could see herself having an actual relationship with but Rayna felt like history was starting to repeat itself. This was the second time she will have chosen stability over what her heart is telling her.

The last few months had been pretty crazy for her. Being with Deacon again, if only for those few all too short weeks, was amazing. He was the man that she always wanted him to be. But then he reacted exactly the way she feared all these years when he found out that she had kept Maddie's paternity from him. That lead to the accident that almost took her life and also ended her relationship with Deacon because she felt like being with him was choosing him over the safety and assurance of a life with her daughters.

Then everything changed the night of the festival. First Luke had sort of brushed her off when she told him about the buyout then she watched as Deacon took center stage for the first time in years. Their daughter was in complete awe of her father and Rayna couldn't say she didn't feel the same way. Seeing him up there, on stage brought her back. She felt like a teenager again. She thought back to seeing him perform countless times without her and it never felt like this before. This was something new. He was trying something new but still something old. Old in the sense that it should have been done years ago but new because it hadn't been followed through then. She always told him to go out on his own while secretly hoping that he wouldn't. Now she knew what he went through and she was finding a hard time dealing with it.

She was also having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that for the second time in less than six months she could have lost her life that night. Everything happened so fast that she couldn't even remember what she had told the police officers after the shooting. She was also very conflicted about how involved she should get with the situation. Obviously she would be there to help Teddy and the girls grieve but she couldn't say that she liked Peggy when she didn't. She would never wish her dead but the women did sleep with her husband and put Maddie through so much that could have been avoided. Her death also made Rayna look at the decision she made regarding Deacon. She chose to let him go because she was afraid of dying when there's never a promise that you'll see the next day even when you only walk on the safe side.

She shook her head as if to clear the thoughts and again tried to lose herself in the music as she began to fiddle with the keys in front of her and wait for the right lyrics to appear. It wasn't working. Luckily for her, the moment she pressed her fingers down to play a minor chord, the doorbell rang. Not expecting anyone that wouldn't have just let themselves into her house, Rayna was caught slightly off guard. She jumped up from her bench to pad bare footed through the house to the front door.

When she opened the door she couldn't help but do a double take. The small woman in front of her was just over five feet tall but had an air about her that was so much bigger. Long, chestnut curls surrounded a beautiful face and the most unique hazel eyes you'd ever see. The smile that graced her face could warm Rayna's heart on the coldest of days and one that she hadn't seen in person in a number of years.

"My god," she gasped before her hand flew up to cover her mouth as her eyes began to well with tears. "Della?" she asked softly through her hand. When the young woman nodded her head, Rayna threw her arms around her and held on tight.

"Aunt Ray… Aunt Ray!" she struggled to get out and then started laughing as much as she could while being slightly suffocated by her aunt's hug. "Ray, I can't breathe!"

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, honey," Rayna jumped back from her but kept her hands planted firmly on the younger woman's shoulders. She moved her right hand to place it on Della's left cheek and simply took in the little girl that wasn't a little girl anymore. "What are you doing here?" Rayna finally asked.

"I'm coming home," was all Della said in response. She looked to Rayna who was drying her tears and just smiled. She had missed her aunt so much.

"Well, come in, come in!" Rayna ushered her further into the house and motioned for her to sit down at the kitchen island on one of the stools. When Della took a seat she watched her aunt flutter around the kitchen putting a tea kettle on the stove and grabbing two mugs out of the cabinet. She smiled to herself when she realized that Rayna must have remembered that she would always choose tea over coffee any day. Granted, she was only ten years old the last time she was offered tea or coffee by her aunt, but she remembered.

Rayna finally turned her attention back to her niece who was sitting in her kitchen. She couldn't believe it. Della had been a little girl that last time she saw her and the thought of all the years they missed together made her feel sad. Trying to forget the sadness and focus on the fact that she was right here, Rayna watched the young woman as she looked around the house. It wasn't much different from the style of house she grew up in while she lived in Nashville but she had no idea what type of house Della had done the rest of her growing up in. The tea kettle whistled pulling them both out of their daydreams and Rayna went about pouring them each a cup then sitting down beside her niece.

"This is a nice house," Della started and then stopped herself when she heard her aunt start to laugh. "What?"

"You've never been a very good liar. I know, it's not something you would have pictured me in but things happened. Times change," Rayna said with a sigh. She looked down at her mug as she wrapped her hands around it. She hoped that her niece wouldn't catch the melancholy tone of her voice but when she looked up, she knew she had been caught.

"I know. Mama keeps me informed as much as she can. Speaking of Mama, where is she? I thought that she would be here with you."

"Oh honey, I completely forgot. Your mother is actually out of town. She went to some spa up in Napa," she answered as she watched the young woman's face drop. "You know what, I'll call her and tell her that she has to come back early. She's going to be so excited that you're here and that you're coming home!"

"No, don't do that. Let her enjoy her time away. I'll see her when she gets back," was the soft reply that came from Della. When she looked at Rayna, she could see the hurt in her eyes that was more than likely a reflection of the pain in her own. She was glad when she chose not to press the subject.

"Well, why don't you stay here until she gets back? She's been staying here the last few months anyway. Or I could give you the key to her house if you don't feel like have three roommates for the time being. It's up to you, babe," she offered watching Della run the options over in her head.

Finally, Della decided that she would take Rayna up on her offer and stay with her and the girls until her mother got back from wherever it was she had gone. Rayna was a bit nervous to ask her niece about why she was suddenly moving back to Nashville. When Tandy and Charles Hampton had divorced, Della had been only ten years old and her father took her to live with him when he moved back to Boston. Tandy fought tooth and nail to try and get custody but her ex-husband knew some very powerful people in high places. Their father couldn't even get the judge to overturn the ruling which was a rare occurrence that Lamar Wyatt didn't have enough clout to get his way. To make things worse, Charles forbade Della from seeing her mother. He went as far as to tell the little girl that her mother didn't want her anymore. Tandy was a mess for months. They nearly had to threaten a hospital stay in order to get her to start eating on a regular basis. That was almost fifteen years ago.

Up until a few months ago, Rayna never mentioned her niece's name to her sister. As far as she knew, the mother and daughter didn't speak. She knew that Tandy kept a box in a hidden part of her closet that held hundreds of letters she had written to her daughter over the years. There were birthday cards, holiday cards and postcards from all over the world that were stamped 'Return to Sender' tucked away in that box. Rayna also knew that Tandy kept a journal for Della to read some day if she was ever given the chance to give it to her.

A few months ago, Rayna had received a frantic phone call from her sister saying that she had to meet her right away. Rayna drove to Tandy's house and found her in tears, clinging to an old photo her and Della. Her sister told her that Della had finally contacted her and she was flying out to Boston to see her. It was sudden but Rayna didn't question it. When Tandy returned she told her that Della had found a letter that Tandy had sent earlier that month that the house staff hadn't had a chance to hide, per their boss's request. Since then, mother and daughter had been trying to reclaim the bond that they once had. Of course, Della's father had no idea, so they kept it quiet which more of a reason for Rayna to be curious about her sudden arrival.

The two women moved to the sitting area and continued talking for the rest of the morning, filling each other in on what had been going on in their lives. Della told her aunt that she had been keeping track of her career and also, sadly, her personal life that had been plastered everywhere as of late. Her mother had also filled her in a bit in the last few months that they had been talking. She knew about her marriage and subsequent divorce, that she had two daughters that she couldn't wait to meet and that she had just bought herself out of her Edgehill contract to start up her own label. In return, Rayna was informed that Della had recently graduated from Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island with her degree in pastry arts and hoped to get a job at one of the bakeries downtown once she was settled.

"I still can't believe that you're here," Rayna said as she reached out to take her hand. After a moment, she noticed the ring that was on Della's left hand. It was a large sapphire with two small diamonds on either side in a gold, antique setting. It took a moment for her to realize why she recognized the ring. "Where did you get this?"

"Mama gave it to me when I was little. She told me that it was your mother's. I just started wearing it a few years ago. It makes me feel like I have a part of her with me. I wish I would have been able to know her," Della spoke softly as she admired the ring. It was one thing that she wouldn't let her father take away from her when she was a child. He had removed almost every remembrance of her mother from her life but this and only because he didn't know about it. When she started wearing it, it was easy to pass it off as a ring she bought at some vintage shop knowing full well that her father never paid that much attention to the jewelry her mother had.

"I wish you would have as well. Hell, I wish that I knew her better."

With that they both sat in silence for a few moments. When Della was younger, she could see so much of herself in the young girl and Tandy would say that she got that from their mother. She surprised everyone when she proved to carry the musical gene that seemed to skip a generation where her mother was concerned as far as others knew. But Rayna knew differently. She picked up the guitar at the age of four and begged Rayna to teach her the few chords that she could play. Later, Della would talk Deacon into giving her guitar lessons when he was sober enough. She wasn't allowed around Deacon when he wasn't sober.

Della also took after her aunt when she turned to the piano, teaching herself when she was old enough for her feet to touch the pedals. Rayna was more of a help on the piano than the guitar, so she helped her young niece with finding the right placements for her fingers and how to read and write music. She wasn't sure if she had kept up with her instruments over the years but could only hope.

When the front door opened, they both turned towards the sound of two little girls chattering away with Bucky who had offered to pick the girls up from school on his way over. Daphne ran into the living room to greet her mother by throwing her arms around her while Bucky and Maddie stayed back just a bit, Bucky looking at the young woman that Rayna was with. He immediately recognized her from the photos that Tandy had shown him and was surprised to see her here, in Nashville.

"Hello sweet girl," Rayna said to Daphne as she wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter. She looked up and caught Maddie's eyes and looked to Della. "Girls, there's someone I want you to meet. This is Della. She's your cousin. Della, this is Daphne," she said as she placed a hand on the little girl's head and then motioned towards Maddie. "And this is Maddie."

"Cousin?" Maddie asked. "I didn't know that we had any cousins on your side of the family. That doesn't make any sense." She was trying to figure out in her mind what was going on and all she could think of was that her mother had kept something from her again. Or could she be a cousin on Deacon's side of the family? Before she got too upset, she decided that she would wait to hear what her mother had to say first.

"It's okay, Maddie," Della said, breaking the silence. "Actually, my mother is your Aunt Tandy. It's probably really strange that I haven't ever met you all before but certain things kept us all apart. I've decided to come home; I just hope it's not too late to get to know you and your sister. My mother has told me so much about you both."

Everyone stayed silent for a moment while Maddie let it sink in. It was so weird that she had another family member that she didn't know about. The more she thought about it though, the more she grew to kind of like the idea. Even though she hadn't had a lot of time to spend with Scarlett, she really liked the idea that she had someone else who was a little bit older than her that she could ask advice from that wasn't her mother or her aunt. There were still things that confused her about why she never knew her but Maddie finally came to the conclusion that she would like to get to know Della. She looked to her sister, who was already making her way over to Della and felt that if Daphne was okay with it than she would be as well.

"Okay," she said.

"Yeah? Okay!" Della replied with a big smile on her face.

"I'm going to go get ready for my guitar lesson," Maddie told her mother as she made her way upstairs. After a look from her mother, Daphne followed her sister.

When the girls were gone Della turned to Bucky with a smile on her face. It had been so long since she had seen this man and she felt tears welling in her eyes. Bucky had been her friend when she was little. When her mother was busy trying to help her aunt with something or getting Deacon out of some kind of trouble he had gotten himself into, Bucky was there with her.

"It's good to have you back, kiddo," Bucky said as he moved forward to take the young woman into his arms.

Rayna watched closely as the pair in front of her silently held each other. She had always known that they were close but now watching them, she felt like there was something deeper there. It made her smile when she thought about it and then she heard Della say, "It's good to be back."

It was good.