Hey y'all :) I have been trying to keep myself occupied during this hiatus and this is the result ... I re-wrote the proposal again. I just can't help it. I'm still trying to process that our babies are really getting married. This is so exciting ! Anyways, I thought about doing a series of OS leading up to the wedding, maybe some after the wedding as well. I don't know how much time I will have for writing now that the holidays are over, so for now it'll be one chapter at a time.

I'm not a native speaker, so this might not be perfect, but I hope you like it anyway. I'm grateful for every review, good or bad, and if you have any suggestions for future chapters (scenes you'd like me to write), please let me know. I can't promise anything, but I might consider you're suggestions.

All characters of "Nashville" belong to ABC and the wonderful Callie Khouri.

Thanks for the edit, Rachel !

"Baby, I love you so much. Will you marry me ?"

Rayna's breath caught in the back of her throat when she saw the beautiful diamond ring Deacon was holding. Looking at the love of her life kneeling in front of her, she felt her eyes filling with tears of joy. A simple "yeah" was all she managed to say before she bent down to take Deacon's face in both of her hands and placed a soft kiss on his lips. She only pulled away from the kiss, because she knew that Deacon was still holding the ring in his hand and she wanted nothing more than for him to finally put it on her finger. Never taking her eyes off of him she couldn't suppress a soft laughter when Deacon just looked at her and remained speechless for a short moment.

He had never felt something more powerful than this in his entire life. Asking the woman he had been loving for almost thirty years now to become his wife was something he wanted to be perfect down to the last detail. He bought the ring three weeks ago and carried it with him ever since. The opening of the bar seemed like the perfect time and place for the proposal, but as luck would have it, they somehow ended up on their favorite bridge tonight and Deacon knew it was now or never.

Finally realizing what just happened he removed the ring from the box and carefully placed it on her finger.

She watched this intimate action, feeling overwhelmed with love for him. As she finally saw the ring on her finger she felt her eyes becoming wet again.

Starting the day with a fight about Markus, which wasn't really a fight in her opinion, and then another argument just before they met on the bridge, Rayna never thought that this would turn out to be one of the happiest days of her life. On second thought, this day was the perfect reflection of her relationship with Deacon. They were passionate people and both of them were pretty stubborn, which is why they often fought about and discussed everything and everyone. At the end of the day, though, they always found their way back to each other. They were like two magnets. There was no denying in the strong pull towards each other and with the shiny ring on her finger it felt like they were finally showing everyone that they officially gave up fighting this mutual attraction.

Turning his eyes away from her left hand, Deacon got up and searched her eyes with his again. They exchanged a look of love and mutual understanding that said more than words ever could. Both of them knew that this time, without any secrets, addiction or a severe illness keeping them apart, they would make it work.

Not wanting to wait any longer Deacon brought his lips to hers and could feel her intensify the kiss as soon as their lips melted together. She buried her hands in his hair and brought him even closer. Feeling her tongue begging for entrance, Deacon willingly opened his mouth a little more and let out a small moan when her tongue completely slipped inside. As their tongues were dueling Deacon let one hand wander from her waist to her lower back and pulled her as close as possible. Completely entangled, with no space between them, they felt their hearts beating in unison as they were passionately kissing each other in front of the Nashville Skyline. Breaking away from the kiss in the need of air, Rayna gently stroked his stubble and looked into his deep blue eyes.

"I love you," she simply said and gave him a warm smile. One, that only he would ever get to see.

Deacon intertwined his fingers with hers and brought her left hand to his mouth to cover it with several soft kisses, his lips carefully brushing over the new ring.

"Let's make this official, baby. Everyone's still at the Beverly and I can't wait to tell everyone that you're gonna be my wife," he smiled and leaned in for another kiss.

"That sounds so good coming out of your mouth, babe. Let's not waste any more time. We waited long enough for this," she replied.

As she felt him moving and tugging on her hand to make her walk with him, she stayed put and held him back. Taking a few steps, she closed the distance between them again and placed one last lingering kiss on his lips, before they continued to stroll across the bridge, hand in hand.

As they arrived at the bar Scarlett noticed them immediately. Standing close to the door her eyes caught sight of the ring Rayna was wearing on her left hand; the one Deacon had shown her earlier. Scarlett excused herself from the table she was standing at with a few friends and ran towards the newly engaged couple. Giving both of them a bear hug she squealed with excitement. "Oh my God, guys! Congratulations, I'm so happy for you!"

As Scarlett reached for Rayna's hand and admired the engagement ring a few people around them noticed what was going on and came closer to congratulate them as well. Soon Rayna and Deacon found themselves surrounded by people, who wanted to celebrate their engagement with them. Both of them were beaming with happiness and they only reluctantly let go of each others hands when they were pulled into hugs from other people. As happy as they were to share and celebrate their love with everyone in this room, Rayna remembered that their girls still were in the room somewhere and she felt like talking to them was the most important thing in this moment. Excusing herself from the knot of people around her she searched the room for the girls and found them sitting in the pews in front of the stage with Frankie's daughter, Cash. They didn't seem to have noticed what was going on in the back of the room as they were chatting with Cash and watching the guy on stage, who was entertaining the crowd. Rayna tried to make eye contact with Deacon, but he was talking to Frankie and surrounded by several friends and it didn't seem like they wanted to let him go anytime soon. Laughing about everyone's excitement, Rayna stole away from the little engagement celebration in the back half of the bar and approached the girls.

Daphne was the first who noticed her. "Mom, you're here! Where have you been? You missed Scarlett's and Deacon's performance," she exclaimed.

"Well, I had to take care of a few things first …," Rayna began, but was interrupted by her youngest.

"Is Markus gonna stay in Nashville or is he really going back to LA?" she asked, referring to the drama that took place earlier this day.

"I'm afraid he's really moving back to LA, honey, but this …," she was interrupted again, this time by her oldest daughter.

"Mom, is there something else you wanna tell us?" she asked, her eyes pointing to Rayna's new ring.

"Yeah actually, this is what I ..."

"Oh my Gosh! Does that mean what I think it does?" Daphne grabbed her mother's hand and eyed the ring. "Did Deacon give this to you? It's a beautiful ring," she went on, not giving Rayna a chance to speak.

"Of course he did. It's an engagement ring," Maddie commented.

Rayna looked at her eldest daughter and tried to read something from her facial expression, but as her voice it was rather neutral and didn't give away any feelings.

"That's right. He gave it to me. How do you feel about this? Are you okay with this?" Rayna carefully asked, hoping the girls wouldn't have any objections, because there was no way she would call off the wedding. Not this time.

Before she could answer, Rayna felt a hand on the small of her back. She turned around to see Deacon standing behind her. Smiling, she leaned against him and focused her attention on the girls again.

"I think it's great," Daphne explained and added," when's the wedding ?"

"We haven't talked about this just yet, but you won't have to wait too long." Deacon looked at Daphne and then back to Rayna, who nodded eagerly and assured him, "Definitely not too long.".

"Well then, congratulation," Maddie said dryly and tried not to make eye contact with her parents.

Daphne, on the other hand, seemed to be genuinely excited about the news. When Cash got up to congratulate Rayna and Deacon, she followed suit and gave both of them a big hug. Maddie, however, made no move to get up. Stubbornly keeping her eyes on the stage she tried her best to ignore what was going on next to her. Rayna and Deacon both noticed their daughter's reticence, but only exchanged a glance and decided not to act on it right now.

"Okay girls, I think it's time to go home," she declared instead. The girls complained, but didn't really protest and soon began to say their goodbyes to everyone.

"Maddie's excitement was very limited, wasn't it?" Deacon remarked as the girls bid their farewell to Scarlett.

Rayna nodded. "Yeah, but it didn't really surprise me. She's been acting like that all the time lately. I'm gonna try to talk to her on the way home, but I doubt she's gonna talk to me."

"Maybe we can talk to both of them tomorrow. I just wanna make sure they're okay with this," Deacon replied.

Reaching out to gently stroke his cheek, Rayna said. "Don't worry, babe. They will be okay. I guess they even knew already that this was gonna happen some day. They just didn't know when."

"Seems like everyone saw it coming, didn't it? I mean, they were all happy for us, but it didn't seem like we really knocked anyone off their feet with this," he laughed.

"As long as you can still knock me off my feet, I don't care what everyone else does," Rayna laughed and leaned in for a sweet kiss.

"I can still do that?" Deacon playfully asked, knowing full well what effect he still had on her after all these years.

"How about you try later?" Rayna flirted and kissed him again.

"I'd love to. I try to get home as soon as possible, okay? Just need to coordinate a few things with Frankie and then I'll hopefully get outta here," he replied.

"Okay," Rayna whispered against his lips and captured them with hers again. She would rather he just came home with her now, but she knew that he didn't want to leave Frankie hanging on the opening night.

"I'll see you at home then," he promised, stealing one last kiss from her lips. He tucked a flick of hair behind her ear and added, "Drive safe ! I love you," before they reluctantly let go of each other and Rayna headed for the exit.

The light in the master bedroom was dimmed, but still on when Deacon came home. He'd kept his promise and left the bar only half an hour after Rayna drove home with the girls.

Sitting on their bed now, Rayna was reading something on her iPad and didn't see Deacon coming through the door. Smiling at the sight of her, wearing glasses and one of his old Bluebird Cafe shirts, his smile got even bigger when he saw the ring on her finger. He still couldn't believe that this gorgeous woman would soon become his wife, but the ring on her finger seemed to be a good indication that today really wasn't a dream.

"You're here," Rayna smiled as she looked up and noticed him.

"Promised you I'd get home soon," he replied as he approached her. Coming to a stop in front of the bed he leaned over and gave her a tender kiss.

"You look kinda gorgeous wearing those glasses. Did I ever tell you that?" he laughed and pulled away from the kiss.

"Oh quit mocking me, babe. Maddie said the glasses made me look like the teacher she had in the first grade. She wasn't very popular with the pupils, if I remember that correctly," Rayna replied as she took of the glasses and put aside the iPad.

"Well, she must've been pretty hot, though," Deacon smiled and brought his lips to Rayna's again. Feeling his lips on hers, Rayna wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Her hands played with the short hair in the nape of his neck while she deepened the kiss. Lightly biting down his lower lip she could feel him moaning deep in her throat as their tongues began to dance around each other. He was practically laying on top of her as she started to undo the buttons of his vest. He pulled away from the kiss only so much so she had better access to the buttons. As soon as they got rid of his vest, Rayna unbuttoned his shirt and left a wet trail of kisses on the skin she revealed. She placed several kisses on the scar on his chest and then kissed her way down to the waistband of his jeans. When the shirt fluttered open, he helped her push it off of his shoulders and captured her lips with his again. Not intensifying the kiss this time, he let his lips wander to her neck and covered it with sweet kisses. Making sure to pay attention to every inch of skin on her neck and throat, he gently sucked at the spot behind her ear. Knowing that this spot was very sensitive, he wasn't surprised when he felt her holding her breath and then moaning lowly. He continued to nibble her neck as his hands found the hem of her shirt. Slipping them underneath the fabric, he could feel her warm and soft skin as he stroked her sides with both of his hands.

His hands and lips on her bare skin caused a tingling sensation all over her body. After all these years he still was the only one who could drive her this crazy with just his touches and kisses.

As his calloused hands cupped her breasts and he gently began to play with her nipples, Rayna bit her lip to suppress a loud moan. She ran her finger tips up his back and then raised her arms so he could pull her shirt over her head.

The shirt fell on the floor as Deacon shifted his position and pulled Rayna on his lap. She wasn't wearing a bra so she sat in front of him now wearing nothing but her panties. Taking in the sight of his beautiful fiancee, Deacon's breath caught in his throat. Knowing her for almost thirty years, he was familiar with every inch of her body by now, but seeing her like this still took his breath away.

"God, you're so beautiful, Ray," he whispered and sealed his words with a passionate kiss. She tasted like home to him and he never wanted to miss this taste anymore. Savoring it as long as possible, they only broke the kiss when they were gasping for air.

Rayna moved slightly on his lap and could feel him hard against her thighs. Painfully slowly she let her hands wander down to his belt. As he felt her slender fingers fumbling with the belt buckle and then the button and zipper of his jeans he took a sharp breath. Feeling her hand innocently brushing over the bulge in his jeans, he tightened the grip on her hips. He was incredibly turned on already and he could tell that she didn't want to wait any longer either. Getting of his lap she helped him pushing the jeans off of his hips, with his boxers and her panties following in now time.

Locking eyes with each other he gently pushed her on her back as their lips found each other once again and he slowly slid into her. A sense of security and bliss of love took over her as their bodies melted together and both of them knew that today would mark the final beginning of their eternity.