Deacon looked down at his phone. It was Rayna calling. He had to be honest-he'd been avoiding her and Maddie. He wasn't ready to tell them about the cancer and he wasn't sure he could keep it from her if he saw her. It had been hard enough that afternoon with Maddie during her guitar lesson.

The call ended but then she immediately called back. Reluctantly, he answered the call.

"Hey, Ray," he said, not trusting his voice to say any more than that. Hopefully she'd just spit out what was so important.

"Deacon-sorry, I know I said I needed some time, but something has come up. I need to talk to you. Can I come over?" she asked.

He looked over at the kitchen, with Scarlett's cures and potions spread across the countertop.

"Uh, can we meet somewhere else? Percy Warner? By the steps?" he offered instead. "I can be there in 20 minutes or so."

"Sure," Rayna replied. "I'll see you there."

He hung up and stuck the phone in his pocket. What in the world could this be about?

Deacon pulled up and parked next to Rayna's Escalade. He could see her waiting down by the steps. He looked up at the sunny sky and smiled. It was an amazing mid-winter day with unseasonable warm temps. Nice enough to use it as an excuse to not have Rayna at the house.

"Hey, Ray," he said as he walked up to her. She smiled and he sat down next to her. "Nice day."

"Uh huh," she agreed, then reached into her purse and pulled out a sheaf of papers. She handed it over to him.

He looked down. It was a contract. With Edgehill Republic. And Maddie.

"What is this?" he asked as he flipped through the pages, finally coming to the last one with Teddy's signature on it. "Did you know about this? Maddie didn't say anything when she was over today."

Rayna shook her head. "First I heard of it was when a diamond necklace showed up at Highway 65 for Maddie with a note from Jeff welcoming her to the label."

"I thought you'd talked about this...that she was going to wait until she was done with school. I thought Teddy was on-board with that."

Rayna sighed and took the contract back from him. "Yeah, I thought we were on the same page. He knows I don't approve of this, but...well, the thing about Teddy is I can never figure out what's gonna happen next with him these days."

"What are we gonna do?" Deacon asked. "Can we get her out of it, is that legal with only his signature on it?"

Rayna shifted so she was looking straight at him. "Yes, it's legal and no, Maddie doesn't know about it. It was something Teddy and Jeff cooked up and according to my lawyers, there's one way out of it."

"What's that," he said slowly, feeling pretty sure he knew what she was going to say.

"We need to go to court and change her paternity on her birth certificate," Rayna replied. "It only takes one parent to sign a contract, but we both know that you and I are the parents and Teddy doesn't have any right to sign that contract, or at least he won't once we get the judge to rule."

Deacon shook his head. "I don't know about that, Rayna, I mean we're doing really well…"

"Deacon, I've tried everything else," Rayna interrupted. "I hate to blow everyone's life up this way, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let Jeff Fordham get his hands on my little girl. You've seen what he does to his artists...if this is what it takes, this is what it takes."

Deacon got back into his truck and headed back toward East Nashville. Rayna had asked him to come for dinner that night so they could talk to Maddie together. This was not going to go well. He loved being in Maddie's life, but he also knew that she loved Teddy and that she saw him as her father as well. Then there was Daphne to consider. It had all been working as well as it could have. This could shatter that careful balance.

As he pulled up in front of his house and got out of the truck he realized that one good thing had happened-he hadn't thought about being sick for the last hour. Was it fair to start all this up and then have to drop another bomb shell on them?

Or was this something he could do for Rayna and Maddie-something that would give them this protection even if he was gone?

He closed the door of the truck, locked it and headed back into the house. He had a couple of hours to figure it out.

Rayna looked down at the paternity test they had run so many years ago, the one Maddie had found and had blown everything up by forcing her to reveal the truth about Maddie's paternity. This paper might make the difference going forward.

She laid it back down on the kitchen counter and picked up her wine glass to take a sip as the back door opened.

"Hey," Deacon said as he walked in and dropped his shoulder bag on the counter.

She took another sip and set the glass down. "Tandy took Daphne out for dinner. I thought it might be easier to talk to Maddie alone."

"You know she's not going to take this very well, don't you?" Deacon asked.

Rayna nodded.

"Have you thought about how we might handle it, the options we might offer her?" Deacon asked.

"Like?" Rayna replied.

"Like another contract. With a label that would care about a young artist?" Deacon said as he pulled up the stool next to hers.

"I don't know about that, Deacon. You know I want her to wait, at least until she's 18."

"But we're not going to be able to do that, Rayna. She wants it. And now you're about to take that chance away from her and in the process erase Teddy's legal role in her life. She's likely to go to court herself to get emancipated like you did and what judge is going to stop her?

"You started your career when you were only a year older. I know why you want her to wait, but she can't see that for herself. Why not sign her to Highway 65, let her make the music the way she wants to, with good people looking after her, let her tour with you or me. I think it's the only way she's going to be able to deal with what we need to do now."

Rayna looked over at him. Of course Deacon was right. The part about Teddy was bad enough, but Maddie wanted this recording contract so badly, she wasn't going to care how she got it. Rayna and Deacon would just be the people stopping her and who knows what would happen next.

"I hate that he's forcing my hand," Rayna replied.

"Jeff or Teddy?" Deacon asked.

Rayna shrugged. "Either. Both. Damn them."

The door opened again and Maddie walked in carrying her guitar.

"Hey, honey," Rayna said getting up from the counter. "I invited Deacon over for dinner-thought we all needed a little time together."

Maddie looked from her mom to Deacon and then back. "Okay…" she said. "But I thought you both needed some more time."

"Well, something came up and we need to talk," Rayna answered. "Why don't you put your things away and come back down here. I made lasagna."

"Deacon said that maybe I could go out on tour with him this summer," Maddie said about half way through dinner. "What do you think, Mom?"

"She's getting pretty good on that guitar," Deacon offered. "Maybe some smaller venues to get started."

"This is really what you want, isn't it?" Rayna asked. "You think you're ready?"

Maddie nodded. "I am. I want to start focusing on my music. I'm almost as old as you were, and Juliette was only 14, so was Taylor Swift. I can do it, Mom."

"Have you thought about where you'd want to sign?" Rayna asked.

Maddie smiled. "Well, I know there's this new label looking for talent, who's supposed to be good for young artists."

"Oh really," Rayna replied. "So, you'd want to sign with Highway 65?"

Maddie looked at her mom and then Deacon. "Seriously? You'd sign me?"

Rayna looked serious. "Yes, Maddie, I would sign you. But that's part of what we need to talk to you about. We...we have a little situation." She reached across and took Maddie's hand in hers. "You know that Deacon and I only care about what's best for you. And I know sometimes what we do doesn't always make the most sense, but it's only because of how much we love you."

Maddie pulled her hand from her mother's. "What do you mean?"

Rayna signed and looked at Deacon.

"Honey, your dad, Teddy, signed a contract with Jeff Fordham and Edgehill Records."

Maddie looked at them both confused. "Dad signed a contract?"

"For you," Deacon explained. "He signed you to Edgehill."

"But, I want to sign with you, Mom," Maddie replied.

"I know, baby. I didn't know anything about this. Your dad...Teddy...didn't tell me."

"Do you have to sign with them? If I don't want to? If I didn't know?" Maddie asked.

"No…" Rayna started. "We can get it voided, but we're going to have to go to court."

"For the contract?" Maddie asked.

Deacon reached over to take Maddie's other hand. "No, to have the court change your birth certificate and put my name on it, that's the only way to void the contract. If Teddy isn't you legal father, then he can't sign a contract for you."

Maddie looked first at Deacon, then at Rayna, her eyes filling with tears. "And that's the only way?"

"I tried everything else, baby girl," Rayna explained. "It's just a piece of paper. You still have both of your dads."

Maddie shook her head. "No, if I do this, he won't understand. Why would he do this? Why would he make me choose like this?" She started to cry.

Deacon moved over and took Maddie in his arms. "I don't know, honey."

Deacon sat downstairs while Rayna went up with Maddie to get ready for bed. They were all upset, but Maddie had been inconsolable.

He didn't like that they were throwing Teddy under the bus this way, but at the same time, he agreed with Rayna-they would do anything necessary to keep Maddie away from Jeff Fordham.

His phone beeped and he looked down to see a text from Scarlett.

Where are you? Did you take your meds with you?

He quickly typed back that he was at Rayna's and yes, he had them with him. He looked up toward the steps, but didn't see or hear any sign of Rayna. He went over and pulled the pill case from his shoulder bag.

He poured a glass of water from the tap and put the pile of pills in his hand, quickly tossing it in his mouth and swallowing them down with a gulp of water.

"You on a health kick?" Rayna said as she walked in the room.

He turned to face her. "It's Scarlett. She's got me taking all these vitamins after I had that cold on the road at the beginning of November. How's Maddie?"

Rayna shrugged. "I don't know. Sad. Mad at Teddy. But then also excited about me signing her. I want to feel bad about this, but I'm just so mad at him too that it's hard to feel too sorry for him."

Deacon held his arms out. "C'mere, Ray."

She stepped into his embrace. "It's like you told Maddie-it's just a piece of paper. And it's a means to an end. One day Teddy will realize that too," Deacon assured her.

He held her for a moment longer, then stepped back. "Hey, I should get going. Call me tomorrow and let me know what time for the blood test and court."

"I will," Rayna answered. She looked at him and smiled. "Thanks, Deacon. For everything."

He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. "Always, Rayna."

He picked up his bag and slipped it over his shoulder.

"And Deacon?" she started.

"Yeah?" He turned back toward her.

"You'd tell me if everything wasn't okay, wouldn't you?" she asked.

He forced a smile on his face and nodded. "Of course I would, Rayna. You're my family. And I love you."

Then before he said anything else, he turned and walked back out of her house. They were going to get through this with Maddie. And then he would tell her everything. Promise.

Author's note: The title is a line from a Chip Esten song "Pretend It Isn't There". I think this is a one-shot...but I'm not sure.