Rayna stood in her roomy bathroom staring at herself in the mirror as she finished putting the final touches of her make up on. Before she opened the bathroom door she took one last glance at herself in the full length mirror on the back of the door. She fluffed her hair, check her watch then stuck her head out into the hallway and yelled "Girls it's time to go." She walked out into the hall and made her way into her bedroom where Deacon was buttoning the last 4 buttons on his shirt. "Do I look okay?" he asked with his charming smile. She smiled back as she walked over to him and grabbed ahold of his hands that were buttoning his shirt. "You look like a million bucks." She replied in a teasing voice as she yanked him closer grabbing ahold of his collar this time and letting his hands free to grab her waist as she kissed him. She helped him finish button his shirt and fix his collar she had ruffled up as a dirty thought ran through her head. She wanted to be undoing the buttons on his shirt and lock the bedroom door but a small voice interrupted her thoughts. "Mom" Daphne stepped into the doorway of her mother's bedroom sounding annoyed. "Maddie is keeping secrets again" Daphne's small voice continued. Rayna looked at Deacon as if she were challenging him to go check on their teenage daughter. Deacon wrinkled his nose as if saying it was her turn.
Rayna made her way down to Maddie's room where she laid stretched out on her bed with a pencil and a notebook. Maddie saw her mother walking closer to her and quickly sat up and placed her notebook under her pillow. "Whatcha writing there?" Maddie stood waving her arms in anger. "Can I just have a little privacy here?" From the time Maddie was a toddler whenever she would get mad and throw her toys or scream at the top of her lungs, Rayna could see Deacon's hot temper coming out of her. "Maddie I understand you've been going through a lot these past couple of months. You're growing up and it's not cool to have your little sister hanging around you all the time but she is feeling left out." Maddie sat back down on her bed and rolled her eyes. "That little snitch needs to learn how to knock." Rayna remembered looking up to her big sister, Tandy and how annoyed she used to get when Rayna snuck into her room to borrow her lip gloss when they were kids. Rayna played with her daughter's hair, trying to calm her down. "I will talk to her about that. Are you ready to go to your pop pops now?" Maddie grabbed her cell phone to distract herself so she didn't have to make eye contact with her mother. "I'm not going." She spoke in a soft yet firm voice. Rayna raised her eyebrows in shock but before she could open her mouth to say anything Maddie continued on. "I'm old enough to stay home by myself." Rayna finally able to speak replies in a motherly voice. "Your Granddad would like to see you and I think you owe him that on Father's day." Maddie shrugged her shoulders. They both looked at the door to see Deacon and Daphne standing there. "You girls ready?" Deacon asked. Maddie brushed past them and headed downstairs to wait in the car. Rayna and Deacon shared a look. Rayna knew it was a long road ahead of them until Maddie was over this teenage phase.
Deacon, Rayna and the girls arrived at Lamar's. Maddie's mood lightened over the car ride there. Rayna and Deacon walked in hand in hand following the girls. The girls ran over to the white haired man sitting in a comfortable chair in the livingroom and gave their grandfather a hug. Rayna could see how uncomfortable Deacon looked. She knew he felt out of his element. She squeezed his hand a little tighter and placed her other hand on his chest bring him closer so she could whisper in his ear. "Just relax." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and walked over to her father. She bent down to kiss her father on the cheek. "Happy Father's Day, Daddy." Lamar smiled. Deacon stood back with Tandy watching Rayna and the girls interact with her father. "Thank you, baby." The girls ran into the other room. Lamar grabbed Rayna's hand and stared at it. Rayna knew exactly what he was thinking. "Don't start with this." She pulled her hand away. "This family could use some good publicity, Clayborne." Rayna was embarrassed by her father's comment, she could only imagine what Deacon was feeling being put on the spot like that. "Okay enough of that. Tandy, why don't Deacon and I help you in the kitchen." She was trying to escape from her father grilling Deacon on when they were getting engaged. She walked over to Deacon and placed her hand on his shoulder to get him out of that room as quickly as possible. He knew she was just trying to save him but he knew if he was going to be a part of Rayna's life he was going to have to get on Lamar's good side. If Lamar wasn't happy, no one was happy. "You and Tandy go ahead." Deacon nodded his head towards Lamar. A look of concern was on Rayna's face. She stroked his face with her hand knowing he was doing this for her. "You don't have to do this." Deacon was able to fake a smile even though he could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. "It's okay." Rayna kissed him and walked out of the room with Tandy.
Deacon found the courage to take a few steps closer to Lamar. "I spent most of life fighting with Rayna because I wasn't a good father to her. I disappointed her time after time but that's in the past. Now I just want to see her happy and son you make her happy." Deacon breathed a sigh of relief. He was happy to hear that Lamar approved of his relationship with Rayna. "Thank you, Sir. I too have put Rayna through hell through the years but she's given me a second chance and I plan on making her happy for the rest of our lives." Lamar nodded in approval. "That's exactly what I want to hear." Deacon studied Lamar. He sounded like he truly wanted to see Rayna happy but tried to figure out if there was a hidden agenda behind it. "You sound like you really mean that, Lamar." Lamar knew Deacon was testing him. "This doesn't have anything to do with getting back at Teddy, does it?" Deacon continued.
Tandy stood over the stove as Rayna peeled potatoes. "You two seem pretty serious." Rayna wanted to smile but she sensed her older sister was about to over analyze her relationship as she has for years. "We are. Things are different this time. We're honest with each other. There's no more secrets." Rayna didn't know why she always felt she had to defend herself to Tandy but she did. "Any word from Teddy?" Tandy never wasted time with small talk, she always said what was on her mind. "Not since he disappeared six weeks ago." Tandy looked up from cooking on the stove. "He was embarrassed." Rayna placed the knife she had in her hand on the countertop, she raised her voice. "Why are you defending him?" Tandy interrupted before Rayna could continue. "I'm not defending him." Rayna quickly jumped in. "He left those girls because I told Deacon Maddie was his and he couldn't handle the bad press when it got out to the public. That's a pretty cowardly thing to do!" Tandy tried to calm her down. "I agree." Tandy continued and Rayna rolled her eyes knowing there was a but coming. "But I think the whole situation could've been handled differently. For fourteen years he was the only father Maddie knew and you took that away from him in two seconds of blurting out the news because you had a guilty conscience." Rayna took a step back from her sister. She couldn't believe this was happening. "I didn't take anything away from him. He left! Nothing had to change. He could've continued being a father to both those girls but he walked away." Tandy shook her head, clearly not getting through to Rayna as she intended to. "Everything would've changed whether he stuck around or not." Rayna was frustrated at this point. She could read Tandy like a book. "You sound just like him. Have you been talking to him? Do you know where he is? Did he put you up to this?" So many questions flew out of Rayna's mouth. Tandy looked down at the floor, answering Rayna's questions. "Well you tell him that if he dare step a foot in this town again, he is not to go near the girls." Deacon walked into the kitchen. Rayna walked over to meet him. "Let's go home." Deacon could see Rayna and Tandy had been arguing. Deacon and Rayna started to head out of the kitchen when Rayna turned around to face her sister. "Have Daddy call me to come pick up the girls when ya'll are finish your dinner. I'm not going to let you ruin this day for them too." Rayna turned on her heels and kept walking out the door with Deacon following behind.
Rayna vented the whole way home about Tandy being in contact with Teddy this whole time. They arrived at the house. Rayna slammed her purse down on the island in the kitchen and opened the fridge to get herself a Deacon water bottles. Deacon leaned on the island, placing all his weight on his forearms. "I'm sorry for thinking it was a good idea to go over there today in the first place." Rayna sounded like she was blaming herself for what happened between her and Tandy. "Hey" Deacon whispered in a reassuring voice. "It's not your fault." He continued. As Rayna shut the fridge a picture that she had held up with magnetics on the fridge caught her eye. It was Deacon and the two girls. "This is your first Father's Day with the girls." Deacon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't need a special day. They know how much I love them." Rayna made her way over to where Deacon was standing and handed him his water bottle. She touched his face. "They love you too." She leaned in for a kiss. She placed her hand on the back of his head wanting more. Before either one of them knew it, they had made their way upstairs, leaving a trail of clothing along the way.