Disclaimer: I do not own Nashville or any of its music, characters, and dialogue.

A/N: Hey! Thank you so much for the reviews and for the interest in this story. I think it'll be an interesting ride, and I hope you stick around to see how it all turns out! Let me know what you think!

Ball and Chain(ed)

o2.

"Whiskey Lullaby" (Brad Paisley)

"Congratulations, Ms. Jaymes. The test results are back, and you're twelve weeks pregnant."

Twelve weeks. Twelve weeks. Sitting there on the examination table, Rayna smiled and thanked the nurse, but in reality, she was utterly stunned. She had been pregnant for twelve weeks and hadn't even noticed. She didn't feel sick and she didn't feel particularly moody, but surely she or one of her costume people would have noticed that her breasts became fuller and her stomach grew larger? She had put on some weight, but Rayna had assumed that was just due to the stress of trying to run her label and take care of her family. Her period had come later than normal the past three months, but Rayna had just thought (or rather hoped) that she was finally starting menopause. Clearly, though, she was wrong, and clearly she was pregnant with her third child by a third man.

"That's wonderful!" Luke, however, was ecstatic. Grinning broadly, he shook the nurse's hand and then sat down on the table next to Rayna, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head. "Twelve weeks, darlin'." He rested his forehead against hers, his blue eyes gazing at her softly. "We're gonna have a baby."

He had taken the news quite well. Better than Rayna had, even. Immediately following her revelation, Luke had grabbed Rayna's keys and drove her to a low-key clinic in College Grove, just to be sure. He wasn't angry and he didn't yell at her. On the contrary, he had hugged her and kissed her more passionately than he had done in weeks, and he made Rayna feel like a complete and utter bitch for feeling the exact opposite.

It wasn't so much that Rayna didn't want the baby. To be honest, she had been crushed when the doctor told her Daphne would most likely be her last, and she had cried about it for months as she and Teddy tried desperately to conceive another child. She had grown to accept the fact that the good Lord just didn't plan for her to have another one, but now, she had to accept the fact that the good Lord changed his mind.

Even though this pregnancy was nothing short of a miracle (especially given her age), Rayna couldn't help feeling guilty and pained at the life she would be bringing this baby into. The truth was that there were more things at stake than there were in the past. It was different with Maddie and Daphne because, at the time, Rayna wasn't quite so famous, and her personal and professional lives certainly weren't so blown out of proportion like they were now. Society wasn't watching her every move and reveling in her every misstep, but now it was.

Luke's entanglement made it even more complicated. Rayna loved Luke, she truly did, but she hadn't given much thought to how much she loved him and how far their relationship would go. Her love life had always been complicated due to the whole Deacon thing, but now, there were so many different parties involved and so much going on that Rayna didn't know what she was going to do, especially after the entire "Maddie Claybourne" incident.

Claybourne. Deacon Claybourne. For some reason, as Luke helped Rayna down from the table and walked her out the door, she couldn't stop thinking about Deacon. Regardless of what she was going through right now with this baby and with Luke, Deacon was hurting. She knew he would be hurting bad. Their biggest secret had just been broadcasted to all of America, and while she and Luke could privately deal with this baby and privately plan their next move, Deacon wouldn't have that same chance. His house would be swarmed with paparazzi desperate to get the big scoop, and with Deacon's temper, damage would definitely be done. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

"I have to talk to Deacon." Luke paused, frowning as Rayna pulled out her cell phone and hopped into the passenger seat of her car. It looked as if he wanted to say something, but he went around to the other side of the car as Rayna pushed the green call button and put her phone to her ear, waiting.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You better be right about this, Rayna." Pulling into the driveway of Deacon's cabin, Luke eased the brakes and parked just beside the house, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "You better damn well be right about this."

"Of course I'm right," Rayna snapped, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door. "He always comes here when things like this happen. Just wait here while I go and find him."

"Are you kiddin' me?" Quicker than Rayna could have anticipated, Luke jumped out of the SUV and ran over to Rayna's side, closing the door for her and taking her arm. "I'm not letting you go in there alone."

"I'll be fine, Luke. It's just Deacon."

"Yeah, it's just Deacon, and he just might have started drinking. You think I'm gonna let you go in there and face that? Especially when you're carrying our child?"

There it was – the child card. Rayna expected something like this to happen. Of course Luke would now be using their unborn child as an excuse to get involved in anything that didn't include him. Luke would play the concerned, need-to-know daddy who only had Rayna's best interests at heart, and Rayna would feel completely and utterly guilty for every decision she made that could potentially affect him.

In that instant, Rayna fully realized just how connected she and Luke's lives would be from then on. Even if she didn't know what their next relationship move would be, he would still be in her life, just like Deacon always would be. If she were to be honest with herself, she didn't know how she felt about that. She certainly didn't know how she felt about his current behavior, so she couldn't possibly know how she felt about where the two of them would be in the future.

"Stop it, Luke." Pulling away, Rayna broke to a trot, almost nearing the door. She couldn't' deal with this right now. She had to face one thing at a time. "I can take care of myself."

"God damn it, Rayna."

As Rayna reached out for the sliding door, however, she looked over to her right and stopped, her jaw tightening.

"Hell no." Luke saw it, too: the empty whiskey bottle lying on the grass. "Oh hell no. Rayna, can't you understand that this is who he is? Can't you finally see how dangerous he is?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Deacon?" Storming inside, Rayna didn't want to believe it. He had done so well the past fourteen years with only that one slip, which had been entirely her fault. But now, he was in a new relationship, he and Maddie had a special bond, he was starting to get back into his music – he had too much going for him. There was nothing Rayna could have done to ruin it for him again, and with all of her heart, Rayna prayed that it just wasn't true and that he was able to deal with this situation maturely. "Deacon?"

"What the hell, Rayna?" Dark circles hung below Deacon's eyes as he threw his shirt on and entered the living room, his eyes adjusting to the light and stopping dead at the sight of Luke.

"What the hell." Rayna knew that look too well. Holding up the bottle, she fought back the tears that scratched her throat. Deacon moved his eyes from Luke to the bottle, and in an instant, that frustrated look was back – the one he used many, many times before.

"Damn it."

"Whoa, whoa!" Deacon had lunged forward to take the bottle, but Luke was there, closing in the distance between Deacon and Rayna. Deacon glared at him, his fists curling, but Luke stood his ground. "Take it easy."

"Why did you do this?" How could he do this? Rayna knew that Maddie's video would be hard on him, but it was hard on her, too. It was hard on everybody. As her parents, they needed to be there for one another, and since Deacon was Maddie's father, Rayna needed him. "Why did you do this?"

"I didn't drink, Rayna, alright? I poured it out the second I got here. I –"

"You just trashed the place, too? Really?"

"I'm redecorating."

"I've seen you redecorate."

"Yeah, well, you're seeing it again." They merely stared at each other, each searching for something in the other's gaze. For Rayna it was sincerity, and for Deacon... Rayna couldn't even imagine. "Maybe you can take your body guard here and just go."

This wasn't going to be easy. On the ride there, Rayna had thought of dozens of different conversations to have with him, but it was never the same when he was actually standing in front of her and looking at her like that, like she betrayed him. It certainly wasn't any easier with Luke standing right there, and since Rayna would also have to inform Deacon of her pregnancy, she didn't know if she could do it in front of Luke. She just didn't know what to do about anything.

"Luke, can you give us a second, please?"

He paused. It was almost as if he knew. Did she wear it so clearly on her face? Was he able to read her that well? "Yeah. I'll be outside."

"Thanks."

He left, and as soon as he slid the door shut and made his way out of sight, Rayna looked back over at Deacon, feeling her suppressed tears start to fall. Deacon held her gaze, his own eyes slightly misty, and Rayna felt that connection surge between them, as strong as always. Damn how she always felt that connection.

"How could you bring him up here?"

"I didn't want to." That surprised him, and he waited as she added, "he was driving me back from the clinic, so I really didn't have a choice."

"Hold up. He took you to the clinic?" There was concern to his voice. Damn. "Why the hell were you at the clinic, Rayna? You alright?"

Taking a deep breath, Rayna knew that this was the most logical time to tell him. He directly asked her. But as she stared at him, his lip slightly pouting and his eyebrows furrowed, she couldn't. She knew that he cared about her, and after the blaze of panic that had surged through her body at the sight of that empty liquor bottle, Rayna knew that she cared about him, too. No matter how hard she tried to move on with her life and stop feeling so completely and irrevocably attached to him, she just couldn't. And perhaps she would never be able to.

"That's not important right now," Rayna finally answered, shaking her head and closing her eyes. "We need to talk about Maddie right now."

Deacon let out half a protest and then stopped. Rayna opened her eyes to see him staring at her again, his face scrunched up. "Rayna, there's something goin'... but, Maddie? What?"

He never was the most emotionally sophisticated. Biting back a laugh, Rayna remembered how many times he would get flustered when he had more than one emotionally-pressing thing happening at a time. He couldn't deal with her crying hysterically during her periods and then laughing her head off seconds later, and as way more complicated as all of this was now, she knew that he wasn't able to fully confront it.

"You didn't see the video?" His eyes widened and his lip parted. He didn't know. And now Rayna had to be the one to tell him, amidst everything else.

"Rayna, what the hell's going on?"

"Oh, Deacon." It was just too much. It was all too much. "Damn it, Deacon, I didn't expect to have to tell you, but..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked him directly in the eye. As if nothing had happened between them over the years, he stepped forward, taking her hands. "Maddie posted a video on YouTube and called herself Maddie Claybourne. The View got a hold of it, so now the entire world knows about our daughter."

For a few moments, he didn't say anything. Standing there, his fingers entwined with hers, Deacon merely stared into her eyes and watched her.

"There's something else you're not tellin' me." She broke away just then. He saw it in her eyes, and she didn't want to go there. "No, Ray. I know that there is. Why were you at the clinic with Luke? What's wrong?"

"Nothin' is wrong, okay?" She couldn't do it yet. Even though every cell of Rayna's being wanted to tell him, she just wasn't as ready as she thought she'd be. She remembered how hard it had been to tell him about Daphne and how hurt and conflicted he had felt, and she wasn't emotionally able to go through that again. Not right now. "What I need you to do is not worry about me but worry about Maddie. This is a big deal and I need you to be there for her, and for me. Can you do that?"

Blue eyes met blue, and he nodded. "Yeah. You know I can, Ray. Always will."

Just then, there was a sharp tap on the door. Rayna jumped, seeing Luke peering through the glass door. Even though she and Deacon weren't holdings hands anymore, she wondered if he had seen them doing so, and she wondered what he was going to say to her later. Guilt struck her again as she thought of how loving and supportive he was being during this time, and she kept thinking about how she didn't deserve that and how he was too good for her. Tears filled her eyes for the fourth time that day, and she felt as if she were completely losing it.

"Rayna..." Not seeming to care that Luke was right there, Deacon leaned forward and wiped Rayna's tears with his thumb. The door slid open and Luke started shouting, but Deacon was still there, his breath warm on Rayna's face. "You can tell me, you know. You can tell me anything."

I know, Rayna thought, closing her eyes as Luke took Deacon by the shirt and dragged him away, their heads practically butting. The two men started to push each other around, yelling about this and yelling about that, but Rayna didn't even care anymore. Deacon was the one person she could tell anything to, yet there she was, standing there with Luke's baby worrying about how he would react to Deacon.

It was all just too much, and as Rayna's phone rang and lit up with the Highway 65 emblem, she knew that she had to push it all aside and take care of the Maddie situation – for her sake and for all of her children's sake.