A/N: Thank you all so much for all your kind reviews.

Chapter 4

Deacon and Rayna walked to her dressing room together after the show. They both had huge grins on their faces. Being back on that stage together again had been incredible. After debuting their new song they had launched into Postcard from Mexico to the delight of the crowd.

"Wow, that was insane, Ray. I forgot what it's like being up there on that stage with you. The energy and excitement basically everything I haven't felt on this tour." He laughed. He felt more alive than he had since right before he'd found out he was Maddie's father.

"I know, thank you so much for doing this for me, Deacon." She threw her arms around him.

Her touch soothed his battered body and ignited a spark in him he'd thought had gone out when she chose Luke.

That one touch was all it took and they were on each other. He tangled his hand in her hair and she let her hands roam the muscles of his broad back as they kissed. He pulled on her lip seductively and she shoved her tongue into his mouth. They broke apart panting when there was a knock on the door.

She cleaned her lipstick off of his mouth before she called out. "Come in!"

Bucky walked in holding his hand over the mouthpiece of his cellphone. "Deacon, Scarlett is on the phone for you. She said it's important or she wouldn't have called." With just one look he knew what was going on between Deacon and Rayna, but he chose not to say anything. He wasn't stupid Rayna was at her happiest when she was with Deacon. From her recent change in attitude he could tell that she had been talking to him more.

"Thanks, Buck," Deacon took the phone from him and put it to his ear. "Scarlett, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry to worry you. Nothing is really wrong, but you need to come home. Maddie and Colt threw a party at Rayna's house that got out of control. Daphne called me crying hysterically because she was scared and couldn't get ahold of you or Teddy. Gunnar, Avery, and I managed to break it up without any problem." Scarlett explained to her uncle.

"Maddie did what? Where the hell is Teddy? Is Daphne ok? Can you please put her on?" Deacon rolled his left shoulder and winced in pain. There was some shuffling as the phone was passed around.

Rayna started changing clothes as soon as she heard her daughters' names. "Bucky, call the airport and have them get a plane ready for us."

"You got it, Ray. I'll take care of everything. Don't worry about it. You just go take care of those girls." Bucky assured her. He grabbed a phone from a staffer and made the arrangements.

"Deacon, where are you? I can't get my dad on the phone and it was really scary here. I don't mean to be any trouble, but I didn't know who else to call." Daphne sniffled.

"Listen to me, Squirt, I'm gonna be home in maybe an hour and a half tops. It's no problem at all this is exactly why we gave you Scarlett's number in case there was ever anything you needed. She is gonna stay with you until I get there. I will be there really soon. Put Scarlett back on for me." Deacon spoke to her gently.

"Ok, I'll see you soon." Daphne sniffled again. Again there was a rustling noise as the phone was passed back to Scarlett.

"Deacon, just take your time getting here. Everything is fine now. Get here as soon as you can I have nothing else to do tonight." Scarlett tried to calm her uncle down.

"I'm getting on a plane soon. Thanks for being there for them, sweetie." Deacon hung up the phone. He clenched and unclenched his fist a couple of times. His jaw was set in a hard line.

"Deacon, what is it?" Rayna asked. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a loose blouse while he was on the phone.

"That Wheeler kid has managed to drag our daughter into trouble once again. They had a huge party at your house. Daphne got scared and called Scarlett when she couldn't get ahold of Teddy. Scarlett brought Gunnar and Avery over and they took care of getting everyone out of the house." Deacon seethed. He handed Bucky his phone back.

"Where is Teddy? Or my sister? I'm coming with you. I'll call Luke on the way. There is no way that I'm letting you handle this alone with as pissed off as you are right now." Rayna took his hand to calm him down.

"That's a good idea." Deacon agreed.

"Your sister had a meeting with some vendors in Memphis and she was staying overnight. I've got you two a plane fueled up and ready to go. There's a car waiting for you outside." Bucky reported.

"Thanks, Buck, I really appreciate you." Rayna sighed.

"Just let me know how me know how things go and if I'm going to have to spin this to the media." Bucky replied.

"Scarlett, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when you invited me over here." Avery threw plastic cups and empty beer cans into a trash bag. He found an unopened beer and claimed it for himself. He'd been a mess since his breakup with Juliette. He drank from the beer and made a face. "Oh God, cheap beer still tastes just as bad as it did when I was this age." That didn't stop him from finishing the whole thing.

"Avery, I said I had to go help my cousins out of a mess. What else did you expect? And that's gross because it's warm and teenagers don't care as long as it gets them drunk." Scarlett was down on her hands and knees scrubbing a spot off the carpet. "Gunnar, how are things going in there?"

"Daphne and I have just about got the kitchen clean. It seemed to be the least affected area. This wasn't a house party it was a rave. We chased like two hundred kids out of here." Gunnar replied.

"There were a lot of people in here and they were being loud and rude." Daphne supplied.

Avery made a face and fought the urge to gag. He gestured for Scarlett to get Daphne out of the room.

"Daphne, why don't you go upstairs and make sure that Maddie and Colt are both still where we left them. Go on and get ready for bed while you're at it." Scarlett smiled at her.

"Ok, Scarlett." Daphne scurried off up the stairs.

"Why'd you run the munchkin off?" Gunnar asked with a confused look on his face.

"Because there is a used condom on the bottom of my shoe. What the hell were these kids doing here? This is savage." Avery used a paper towel to remove the condom from his shoe.

"They are like barbarians with raging hormones. I think we've got it as clean as we can for right now. I think that stain will come out of that carpet." Scarlett got up off the floor.

"We've gotten it clean enough anyway." Gunnar agreed.

"Ya'll didn't have to clean this mess up. I would have handled that in the morning." Deacon came through the front door with Rayna.

"It was fine it saved us from the two sullen teenagers upstairs that are freezing us out." Scarlett waved off his thanks.

"Thank you for coming, Sweetie. I really appreciate you being here for the girls like this." Rayna hugged her.

"You're welcome it was no trouble at all. I'm more than happy to look after them." Scarlett replied.

"Gunnar, Avery, thank ya'll for comin' and keeping my three girls safe. Go on and get we've got it from here." Deacon thanked the two young men.

"Just to warn you this is the only part of the house that is anything that resembles clean. We did our best." Scarlett waved over her shoulder on her way out the door with the guys.

Rayna pinched the bridge of her nose. "Luke is on his way and I still can't get ahold of Teddy. I wonder where he is."

"It looks pretty bad in here, Ray. I don't even know where to start." Deacon scratched his head at a loss.

"I've seen worse. This right here is what you and Vince could do on your own if you both got good and drunk." She said without thinking.

"We were pretty bad. I'm sorry that we put you through that. I don't think I've ever apologized and I'm apologizing now." He couldn't remember if he'd said sorry to her since he'd been sober.

"It was a long time ago, Deacon. You don't have to apologize to me for the rest of your life." She smiled at him.

"Deacon! You're finally here." Daphne ran and threw her arms around his waist.

"I'm here, Squirt. It's all ok now. Look who else is here." Deacon spun her around to face Rayna.

"Mom!" Daphne rushed into her arms.

"Hi, Sweet Girl, where is your sister?" Rayna hugged her tightly.

"She's upstairs in your room and Colt is in her room. Avery tied a string of beer cans to each door so he could hear them if they tried to escape." Daphne reported.

"He's creative I'll give him that." Deacon chuckled.

"Do you want to go talk to Maddie or do you want me to?" Rayna asked.

"You spend some time with the Squirt. I'll go up and talk to Maddie." Deacon needed to handle this himself.

Maddie sighed and scooted around her mom's bed and tried hard to make herself comfortable. She couldn't believe how lame this was. The first cool thing she got to do and Daphne had to rat her out.

"Maddie, we need to talk." Deacon walked in without bothering to knock.

"Of course we do." She grumbled and rolled her eyes.

"Maddie, don't give me that attitude tonight. This is not the time for it. Like it or not you screwed up and now I have to be the bad guy. I don't like being the bad guy, but when you leave me with no other choice I have to act like the big bad wolf." He crossed his arms over his chest and winced. After he did it he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be doing that yet.

"So then don't be the bad guy." She countered.

"This is serious, Maddison. I want you to look me in the eye and swear to me that you haven't been drinking." He put his finger under her chin and brought her eyes up to meet his.

"God, dad, no I haven't been drinking." She huffed.

"I'm an alcoholic, Maddie, you could very easily become one too if you aren't careful. I just don't want to see you repeat my mistakes. If I had been sober I could have been your dad from the beginning. Now, you broke our trust. Not only did you put yourself in a dangerous situation you put your sister in the same situation. You swore to me and to Teddy that you could handle watching her for the night while we were both busy. I trusted you to do as you said." He was disappointed in her. He knew that she was responsible for her own actions, but he couldn't help noticing that the poor judgment always came out when Colt was involved.

"I know, I'm sorry." She bowed her head.

"You're grounded for a week. No guitar, no phone, no friends. You go to school and come home. Got it?" He laid down the law.

"I got it." She nodded her head and a tear slid down her cheek.

He pulled her to him with his good arm. "Shh, it's ok, it's gonna be ok. You just made a mistake everybody does it. The important thing is that you learn from it. I only come down on you because I don't want to see anything bad happen to you. I was so worried when Scarlett called Bucky."

"I'm sorry, dad.' She apologized again.

"I know you are. I know." He kissed her head.

"Daph, you can go on up to bed if you want to. You don't have to stick around down here and help me clean up. I'll make sure that your dad comes up to see you when he gets in." Rayna told her daughter.

"You're not leaving tonight?" Daphne's eyes got wide with excitement.

"No I'm not leaving tonight. I'm gonna stay with my girls." Rayna smiled back at her.

"Ok, I love you, mom." Daphne smiled before running up the stairs.

"Rayna! You here?" Luke called out when he walked through the door.

"In here." Rayna called back to him.

"What the hell happened? Freakin' Deacon fall off the wagon and redecorate for you?" Luke looked around and gave a low whistle. His cheeks were flushed and it wasn't hard to tell that he'd been drinking.

"Not funny, he's right upstairs. Don't be an ass. The kids had one hell of a party here from the looks of it. And it looks like I called you away from one." She commented dryly.

"That's life on the road, darlin' one big party." He shrugged his shoulders.

Deacon came downstairs rubbing his forehead. "Alright, Ray, it's taken care of. She's up there waiting on you." He didn't notice that Luke was in the room.

Luke's eyes darkened when he entered the room. "There's Mr. I'm Too Hurt to be Your Opening Act, but I can Go Play Guitar for My Ex. You told me your doctor said you were supposed to take it easy for four weeks. That video that's plastered all over the internet doesn't look like taking it easy to me."

"That was two songs and I'm paying for it now." Deacon groaned and moved his arm around gingerly.

"If you can do that you can go back out on tour." Luke stared him down.

In the last few months Rayna had saw a side of him that she didn't know existed. She didn't know if this side was the real him or the other side. "Luke, now is not the time for this."

"If just saying if he can go running at your beck and call he can do the job I'm paying him for." Luke didn't know when to stop.

"Deacon, excuse us a minute I need to have a word with him." Rayna pulled him out of the room by his elbow.

"What the fuck, Rayna?" Luke asked once they were in the kitchen.

"Hold on," She opened her cabinet and pulled her checkbook out. She wrote a check and ripped it out before handing it to Luke. "There, I just bought out Deacon's contract. You're releasing him from your tour for medical reasons. Obviously you can't handle working with him and I can't handle this macho posturing bullshit that you do when it comes to him. So, take that and stop pouting."

Luke ripped up the check. "Forget the check you can have him. He's obviously the one you want anyway."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rayna asked.

"It means he's your damn guitar player and always will be. So he's yours." He may have been drunk, but he was smart enough to walk back what he'd just said.

"Mhmm, just release him. It's better off for everyone that way." She looked at him hard. "Come on, let's go back in there."

"Yeah, you're right, let's go." He took her hand.

Deacon leaned against the back of the couch talking to Teddy when they returned to the room. "You were supposed to be the on call dad tonight, Teddy. Where were you?"

"I know my phone was off because I was in a business meeting. I'll call Scarlett and thank her for taking care of this." Teddy replied. It was easier on the girls if he and Deacon really made an effort to get along. And he didn't want to say where he'd really been.

"I think she ran those kids out of here like they were on fire that's for sure. It could have happened on my watch too. I talked to Maddie about breaking our trust and putting Daphne in that situation." Deacon went on.

Rayna looked between her daughters' fathers. "Who are you two and what have you done with Deacon and Teddy?" She was very impressed not only with how well those two seemed to be getting along, but with how seriously Deacon took his role as Maddie's father.

"We're co-parents we probably won't ever like each other, but we make it work." Teddy informed her.

"We are being adults as best we know how." Deacon agreed.

"I better go upstairs and get that boy of mine." Luke said. "Uh, Deacon, thank your niece for me. And I wanted to tell you not to worry about the rest of the tour just heal up."

"I'll do that, thanks." Deacon snuck a look at Rayna out of the corner of his eye.

Luke went upstairs to collect Colt and left as quickly as he could.

"Rayna, are you keeping the girls tonight?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah, I'll make sure they get to school in the morning I have enough time for that." Rayna replied.

"I'm gonna take off then." Teddy left them alone together.

"You got him to release me from my contract didn't you?" Deacon asked her.

"I did something occurred to me tonight up there on that stage. I need you there is no difference between you and music to me. If I have any shot of making this label work I need you by my side. Juliette is running around doing this movie and I'm the only one making any music right now. Deacon, I know that things are so complicated right now, but I've looked over your contract with Belcourt and I wanna sign you." She knew it would probably be the straw that broke the camel's back with Luke, but she didn't care anymore.

"If you're sure you want me I'd be glad to do it for you." He grinned.

"I'm sure I want you." She smiled back. They both knew that she didn't just mean on her label. "You can start work on an album while you have nothing else to do."

"I can do that." He reached over and took her hand. He was powerless to tell her no they both had always known that.

"Deacon, thank you for being such a good dad. I'm sorry that I took the chance to be one sooner from you." She leaned against him.

"She's my world, Ray. You don't have to apologize for the rest of your life either." He let go of her hand and put his good arm around her.

"What are we gonna do? I am still so in love with you, but I don't know how to get out of the mess I'm in with him." She looked up at him.

"Ray, what are you saying?" He dared to let himself hope that she meant what he thought she meant.

"I choose you, Deacon, I love you and that has never not been true. Let's raise these girls up together and be a family." She said the words he'd wanted to hear for so long.

"That's all I want in this world." He leaned his forehead against hers and kissed her gently. "I have to go, because as much as I want to be here right now and as thrilled as I am to hear you say that you're still with him. We've never cheated before and we aren't gonna start now. Take your time with him I know you have to be smart about it, but I will be waiting for you."

"God help me, Deacon Claybourne, I love you." She pressed her lips to his again.

"I love you too, Rayna Jaymes. I gotta go now or I'm gonna stay and like I said we aren't cheaters. I'll be by in the morning." He pulled himself away from her and left no matter how much they both wanted him to stay he couldn't.

"Wow, Rayna, I can't believe it. How did you manage two nominations in one category?" Sadie asked on the morning that CMA nominations came out.

Rayna had been nominated for single of the year, female vocalist of the year, album of the year, entertainer of the year, and song of the year by two or more artists for Ball and Chain and Something Bad. "You, Deacon, and I created quite the buzz with our performance. I swear everything I touch with that man turns to gold."

"That's for sure." Sadie agreed with a smile.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of either. Two nominations and you're a brand new artist that's very impressive." Rayna praised her. She sat her champagne glass down and got up to answer the knock on the door. She tipped the messenger and accepted her package.

"What did you get this time? Another of Deacon's crazy packages?" Sadie asked.

Deacon had been sending Rayna silly little packages to remind her of their past together. He sent of her postcards from cities they had played and copies of their old set lists.

"Probably," Rayna opened the package and pulled out a t-shirt from the Bluebird and a note. "You may be a big star now, but to me you'll always be the girl I met at the Bluebird, Deacon." She read the note out loud.

"You two are so supportive of each other." Sadie commented.

"We've been through a lot together. And we have a daughter we are bonded for life." Rayna replied. She couldn't help noticing that Luke hadn't even called to congratulate her.

"I should be going I have a radio interview to get ready for I'll see you before show time." Sadie excused herself from the room.

Rayna went to get something and her head got dizzy and she had to sit down. That was the third time in as many days that had happened. She picked up her phone and called Bucky. "Buck, I need a favor. I need to see a doctor and I need it done on the sly. No one can ever find out about this." She had her suspicions about what was going on with her. She just hoped she was wrong it would only complicate matters.

"Congratulations, Ms. Jaymes, you're pregnant." A concierge doctor told her a half hour later. The doctor had signed a non-disclosure agreement and everything would be kept confidential.

A cold sense of dread gripped Rayna. No, this couldn't be happening not now not like this not with Luke. "Do you know how far along I am?" she asked.

"We will know that in just a minute. I have a portable ultrasound machine if you'll just lay back and pull your shirt up we will get started." The doctor replied.

Rayna did as the doctor instructed. He grabbed the equipment out of his bag and got it set up.

The doctor squirted the gel onto her stomach and began the ultrasound. He studied the picture on the screen for a moment. "Double congratulations are in order, you're sixteen weeks pregnant with twins."

Rayna felt a wave of relief wash over her and tears slipped down her face. "You're sure about that?" she had to be sure.

"I'm positive you're sixteen weeks. I can maybe tell you the sex if you like. It's a little soon, but still possible." The doctor offered.

"No, I'll make an appointment with my regular OB. Is there a way for you to print that out?" Rayna asked.

"Of course I'll do that for you right now." The doctor replied.

"Ray, what do you want me to do about this? How do you want me to handle this? Do you want me to call Luke?" Bucky questioned her after the doctor had gone. She didn't keep secrets from him and she'd asked him to remain in the room for this.

"Bucky, don't do or say anything right now. Please I'm begging you not to call Luke. He's the absolute last person I want to tell." Rayna shook her head.

"What's going on? You have to be honest with me, Ray. I can't protect you if you don't tell me the truth." Bucky took her hand.

"Buck, Luke isn't the father Deacon is. And I can't breathe a word of this to anyone else until I tell him. I owe him that much." Rayna confided in him. It all made sense now. Why she had felt so fatigue and why she seemed to be gaining weight. It was normal that she hadn't noticed she'd been so busy that missing her period didn't even register.

"How sure are you, Ray?" Bucky questioned.

"I'm positive. Luke and I weren't sleeping together sixteen weeks ago. He was off on tour because he said he needed time." Rayna explained.

"How did this happen? I mean I know how it happened it's you and it's Deacon enough said, what I mean is when?" Bucky rambled.

"If you really want to know, I'll tell you, Buck." Rayna opened up.

"I really wanna know." Bucky replied.

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it. Next chapter is a big chapter and I think you are going to like it. Until next time please review.