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

A/N: Hey y'all! Here is chapter 3, split between Rayna, Deacon, AND Luke's POVs. There's also a little bit of dialogue pulled directly from the show, but then there's another, ah, complication... I'm working out future updates now and there will be more soon! Please leave a review and let me know what you think, and have a good one!

Ball and Chain(ed)

o3.

"Already Callin' You Mine" (Parmalee)

"Babe, I know you have to do this whole GMA thing for Maddie's sake, but I'd be lyin' if I said this didn't all bother me." Luke was driving Rayna to the studio, and as they turned the corner onto the expressway, she closed her eyes. "I mean, everyone's all hyped up about this whole Teddy and Deacon show-off, so what does that mean about me? Are we gonna be doin' this in a year because everyone will think our baby is Deacon's?"

She really couldn't blame him. Trying not to reveal her wariness, Rayna reached over and took Luke's hand, squeezing it gently. "I understand, babe." And she did. It was hard, hard for everyone, but especially for Luke. He and Rayna had been dating for several months, and their lives were starting to become intertwined. Drama always seemed to follow Rayna, so now, drama would follow him, too. And it wasn't fair.

"It's just... What are we gonna do about our baby?" He didn't look at her, but Rayna could see the crease in his mouth, which meant that he was serious about something. "It'll have Maddie and Daphne in its life, of course, and Colt and Sage, but what about Teddy and Deacon? How is this all gonna work?"

"This isn't something we can discuss right now, hon." It really wasn't. They had only just discovered the pregnancy a couple days ago, and Rayna had more pressing things to attend to. She knew Luke was probing Rayna for her thoughts on their future together, but since she'd been dancing around the subject, she was firm in not wanting to discuss it. "We'll figure everything out. It'll be fine."

He didn't answer her. They pulled into the studio's parking lot and he shut off the ignition of his truck before finally turning around to look at her. He gave her that small, lopsided smile that she loved so much, and as he reached over to put his hand over Rayna's neck, massaging it softly, Rayna felt warmth spread through her body.

Luke really was a good man, and Rayna knew that he would be a good father to this baby. Unlike Deacon, he wasn't locked away in rehab, and he was ready to take full responsibility. He already had kids and he was already so good with Rayna's kids, so there really wouldn't be a problem regarding Luke's ability to be a father. That worry never crossed Rayna's mind.

However, something else did: was she ready to be with him for the rest of her life? Babies had a way of bringing people together, but would that be the way it worked out with Luke? A part of Rayna could see her married to Luke and could see the two of them lying in bed together with their newborn baby, but another part saw something different. It saw strong fingers playing well-worn guitar strings, and it saw the life that Rayna had always wished to have.

Shaking off these thoughts, Rayna leaned forward to peck Luke's cheek before unbuckling her seatbelt. "We'd better get going. I've got a lot to do here over the next hour."

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

"Excuse me." Deacon made his way through the backstage wings, taking care to ram into Luke's shoulder as he did so. It hurt a little bit, to be honest, but seeing the cowboy's start of surprise and annoyance was worth it. Deacon strangely felt like a child engaged in a game of tug-of-war, which he was definitely winning. "Y'all got another chair?"

He immediately looked over at Rayna, and he felt satisfied to see her face brighten up. Jumping out of her chair, she turned to the producer and said, "Can you give us one quick second, please?" before rushing over to him.

Rayna was always like that. Whenever something happened, be it good, bad, or ugly, she always took control. He could see it in her eyes, which were trained on him with all of the Rayna-Jaymes-intensity that Deacon had ever known. It was always in her eyes, if you knew how to read them. And Deacon did. Everything he ever needed to know about Rayna was always nestled in her eyes.

"Hey." Glancing sideways at Luke, who was still rubbing his arm, Rayna pulled Deacon off to the side. Her touch was gentle, and for a moment, it made Deacon want to smile. He almost wanted to reach out and touch her, too. "I didn't think you were comin'."

"I'm here." Had she really doubted him? Her eyes were slightly glassy, and they gazed unflinchingly into his. That was her way of trying to hide the answer. She had doubted. She really, truly did. "What do you want me to say?"

Rayna was painfully aware that Luke could hear their entire conversation. Deacon knew this by the way she looked around warily, and he knew by the tone of her voice. It was tight, controlled, low and serious, and it was the tone she reserved for careful situations like this. Normally her voice, like her eyes, was full of such vibrant emotion, but at the moment, it wasn't. It was flat, and it was namely unbecoming of her. "Well, I want you to tell the truth."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Still the act. Glaring into her eyes, which, unlike her voice, started to dance a little bit, Deacon knew that she was serious, but he also knew that she was unhappy. She had never wanted it to go down like this, and to be fair, neither did Deacon.

"Then that's what I'll do." At this she bristled, trying to gauge what he meant, but he wouldn't give it to her. Unlike her, Deacon could wear a poker face.

"Sorry, folks – New York is on a tight schedule. Can we go?"

"Let's do it." Without waiting for her, Deacon turned around and strode over to his chair, not even bothering to look at Teddy. He sensed her lingering back in the wings, and without even having to look back, he knew that it would be because Luke was hovering like a goddamn idiot and Rayna was lost between what she felt was right and what she felt was proper.

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

"Hey, Luke! Luke!" As soon as he left the studio, Luke was completely mobbed by paparazzi. An entire crowd moved in on him as he made his way out to his truck. Microphones were jabbed in his face, cameras were waving madly, and people were just getting too close and personal for Luke Wheeler's liking. "Talk to us, Luke! How do you feel about your girlfriend's baby daddies?"

Damn these people! The entire country world was gossiping about Rayna and her long-lived love triangle, and no one even knew the truth. They didn't understand how much of a bastard Deacon was in the day and how hard it was for Rayna to keep Maddie from him, and they didn't understand how Luke had to watch it all happen, not able to do a thing.

More importantly, though, he realized as people continued to shout daddy banter at him, the world didn't know what a good father figure Luke had been to Rayna's kids. He knew that it hadn't gotten to that level yet, but he also knew that he sincerely loved those kids. He'd often take little Daphne out to his ranch to pet all the animals and ride all the horses, and he even was there at one of Maddie's talent shows and picked her up from school a time or two. He was there for them, and it was more than what the paparazzi could perceive. They were starting to become a family.

According to Rayna, the world deserved to know the truth about Maddie and the circumstances of her birth, but the world didn't deserve to know about him? No one was supposed to care about how much Luke had sacrificed to be a part of Rayna's life and how now he and Rayna would be having a child of their own? Those parts just weren't as important?

"Hey, Luke!" A particularly zealous reporter stepped in Luke's path, almost causing a collision. "Are you gonna be Dad number 3?"

It was then that Luke lost it. Taking the man's microphone, Luke threw it to the ground and turned around to face all the reporters, whose cameras and microphones were now directly zoomed-in on him. That question hit a nerve because that's all they saw him to be right now: another lover of the famous Rayna Jaymes. They saw another scandal, another front-news story, and by God, they had no idea which tree they were barking up.

"Yeah," Luke shouted, his fists clenched as he stared into the cameras. "I am, actually. Rayna and I are expecting a baby. Y'all happy now? There's your goddamn front page story. Now get the hell out of my way."