A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.
Chapter 7
"Momma, what am I gonna do? I know I don't wanna do what the label is tryin' to force me into, but then at the same time I think it could be good for me. It would introduce me to an entirely new audience. My last album really didn't sell the way I'm used to them selling." Rayna rubbed her temples and then laid her head down on her mother's patio table.
Virginia leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "I'm one to do things my way and damn what anyone thinks. I'll tell you this I think it's a good idea, but she should be openin' for you. I don't know what kinda crack Marshall is smokin', but she's a brand new country artist. Who cares if she can fill stadiums?"
"I'm tempted to do it. I mean my own girls love her music. There's just one little problem." Rayna knitted her brows together and looked up at her mother.
"What's the problem, doll baby?" Virginia asked her.
"It's Deacon's turn. He pulls double duty playin' guitar for me and doin' his thing as a solo artist. This year is supposed to be his turn to tour while I work on a new album. I mean he plays his songs when we tour together, but we try not to do that too often and leave the girls on your mercy." Rayna explained to her.
"You know as well as I do that Deacon will do whatever you need him to do and he will do it with a smile on his face. He is good like that. And this isn't a matter of if you wanna go on this tour or not, you need to. You need it for your career." Virginia replied.
"I just hate that it seems like I'm sayin' to him that his career isn't as important as mine. I saw daddy do that to you for years and I promised myself that I would never do that to Deacon. I don't wanna be that person." Rayna groaned.
"Honey, you've never had to worry 'bout Deacon's ego when it comes to your career. He has always been willin' to do what needs to be done when it comes to you. That's why I have always been so supportive of your relationship with him. He's all I can ask for in a son-in-law and then some. I'm sure if we sit down and explain the situation that there won't be any problems at all." Virginia explained to her.
"You're right and I know you're right, it's just, momma, we have been married a long time and there in the middle of it we had a rough patch for awhile there. I don't ever wanna put us at risk like that again. I love that man more than life and if I gotta choose between him and my career I choose him every time there is no competition." Rayna stressed.
"From the way you talk you would think that you married Luke Wheeler or someone like him. Deacon is one of the best men I've ever met even with his flaws." Virginia gave her a knowing look.
"I know that in my head, but in my heart I'm worried. I'm scared that my marriage will fail. He's all I've known since I was sixteen and we've been married since I was eighteen. I don't wanna lose him." Rayna sighed.
Virginia reached over and cupped her face gently. "Doll baby, I want you to listen to me. I don't want you to worry or be scared. Your momma has got you. I'm not gonna let that happen."
Rayna nodded and gave her a faint smile. "Ok, I trust you."
Virginia grinned at her. "You damn well better trust me, little girl. I only want what is best for you, your sister, and your ne'er do well baby brother."
"We all have to look after the boy child. He needs all the help he can get to make sure he gets the best outta life." Rayna arched her eyebrow.
"Very true. He wouldn't know what's good for him if it was lookin' him right in the face." Virginia chuckled.
"Speak of the devil here he comes now with his little posse in tow." Rayna smiled when Ridge rode up on a horse followed closely by Maddie and Daphne each on their own horse.
"Woo wee, I'll tell you these two little cow pokes don't even need me to tell 'em how to ride no more. I've had 'em on horses for so long that they are a couple of pros now. Not to mention that little one is ridin' a tight ten seconds on the practice bull." Ridge reported. He dismounted his horse with the ease of someone had been riding his whole life.
"You had my baby on a bull?" Rayna's eyes went wide.
"Relax, the practice bull is the mechanical bull I have in the barn. I wouldn't put her on a real bull without wrappin' her up in foam rubber." Ridge shook his head. He couldn't believe that his sister thought he would be so reckless with his nieces. He loved those two little girls more than he was able to put into words. They were the closest things he had to younger sisters and daughters. Being an uncle was by far the most important thing in the world to him.
"It was so much fun, mom. Ridge made the bull go really fast and spin around and around." Daphne got off her horse and chirped happily.
"She even lasted longer than I did." Maddie dismounted her horse.
"I'm so glad that y'all had a good time with your Uncle Ridge." Rayna smiled.
"The only time I can count on him to behave is when he's with his nieces. Otherwise I have to worry 'bout what he's gonna do." Virginia shook her head.
"They came with me while I took care of that coyote that's been gettin' the calves." Ridge replied.
"Jeremiah Stoneridge Virgil Jaymes the fifth." Virginia scolded him.
"What did I do this time?" Ridge just shrugged his shoulders. He was used to being in trouble no matter what he did.
"I can't believe mawmaw just busted out your full name." Maddie laughed.
"You hush when I need your help I'll ask for it. I've had many years of dealin' with this woman and I know what I'm doin'." Ridge tried to silence her.
"You took your nieces out with you to kill a coyote." Virginia shook her head at him.
"It's the circle of life, momma. If I don't expose 'em to it this way they are just gonna figure it out another way." Ridge retorted.
"As much as I wanna yell at him right now he does have a point." Rayna bit back a laugh. The last thing she wanted was for him to know she thought he was funny. It made him that much worse to deal with if he knew he was amusing.
"Anyway, gettin' back to business. Is your husband 'round here anywhere?" Ridge inquired about Deacon.
"No, sweetie, him and Vince are in the studio today. I don't know what they're doin' and frankly I don't wanna know. I've learned over the years that I'm better off that way." Rayna answered him.
"It's no big deal I'll just call him later then. I was hopin' that he'd be free to come to a rodeo event with me later in the week." Ridge replied.
"What kind of event?" Rayna asked. She liked to get to as many of her baby brother's rodeos as possible.
"This is an actual rodeo. This isn't the PBR. I'll be doin' team calf ropin', bronco ridin', and bull ridin'." Ridge explained.
"Deacon and I will both be there. It's been awhile since we had a nice date night. This kinda thing is right up our alley." Rayna answered for herself and her husband.
"Are you sure you should be ridin' again so soon after what happened last time?" Virginia arched her eyebrow at him.
"What are you talkin' 'bout, momma?" Ridge tried to play dumb.
"Ridge, don't you try to play stupid with me. I'm your momma. I know the things that you don't want me to know. I listen to, watch, or otherwise get updates on all your rides even the unimportant ones and the ones I can't be there for. I know that the last bull you rode threw you." Virginia gave him a knowing look.
Ridge hung his head in resignation.
Maddie and Daphne giggled at him. "Ridge is in trouble." They both said in unison.
"What else is new?" Their uncle rolled his eyes. "Momma, I just have a few cracked ribs and a mild concussion. I will be good to ride. I didn't tell ya, 'cause I didn't wanna worry ya. I figured that I did enough of that when I was in the Marines. I had 'Lett come pick me up from the hospital and everythin' is good." He tried to reassure her.
Virginia got off the porch with her drink in her hand and she poked her youngest child in his chest. "Let me tell you somethin', little boy, I am your momma. I'm gonna worry 'bout you no matter what happens. I don't know why you try to lie to me I always find out the truth. I have sat by your hospital bed and prayed for you to live before I don't wanna have to do that ever again. I've told you on more than one occasion that I had my two girls and was set, but then I found out I was pregnant with you and you are my miracle in this world. You're my baby and my only boy. I don't ever want anythin' bad to happen to you. You're a goofy ass man child, so I have to worry 'bout you more than I ever did your sisters."
Ridge did the only thing he could do under the circumstances, he pulled his mother into a hug and kissed her cheek. "I love you, momma. I will be fine to ride this weekend and I promise that I'm ok."
"I love you too, but you are such a little kiss ass when you wanna be." Virginia kissed both his cheeks. She looked over her shoulder at her middle child. "Don't you have a meetin' that you need to be gettin' to?"
"You're not gonna come with me?" Rayna asked her.
"I think that Buck can handle this one without me. You and I just talked 'bout it and what needed to be said was said." Virginia retorted.
"If that's what you wanna do." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.
"That's what I wanna do. You get on to your meetin'. I will keep the girls. I can't promise you that I won't teach 'em somethin' that they don't need to know." Virginia smirked.
"Why can't you be a normal grandmother and bake cookies with 'em or somethin'? I swear you don't know the meanin' of the word behave. And then you wonder where I get it from." Rayna laughed a little. She stood and picked up her car keys.
"Now, what fun would that be? I don't behave I have a good time. I have never wondered where you get it from. You're all me. From the attitude to the tendency to be a little wild at times." Virginia arched her eyebrow. Even though she was a grown woman with two grandchildren it didn't tame her any. She was still the same wild spirit she'd been when she was younger.
"If I didn't love you so much you would be more trouble than you're worth sometimes." Rayna called over her shoulder as she got into her SUV. "And for the record you not behavin' is how we got Ridge."
"We got Ridge 'cause the antibiotic I was takin' interfered with my birth control." Virginia put an arm around each of her granddaughters. "Never sass your momma the way she sasses me." She kissed them both on the head.
Maddie and Daphne both giggled at their mawmaw.
Rayna shook her head and waved as she drove away. Sometimes she just couldn't find the words needed to deal with her mother.
"Momma! That's gross. I'm standin' right here and so are the girls." Ridge groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I didn't say anythin' they don't teach in health class. You ain't innocent and as much as I hate to admit it Miss Maddie here knows more than any of us want to think 'bout." Virginia shrugged as if to say so what.
"I don't know what we are gonna do with you." Ridge chuckled lightly. "Maddie May, Daffy Duck, come help me brush these horses down. You had fun, now you gotta put in the work for it." He rounded his nieces up.
"Ya'll run on with your Uncle Ridge. When you get done with that we will go in the kitchen and start one of our food projects. I may even teach you a few new cuss words your daddy hasn't gotten 'round to teachin' you yet while he's workin' on a car." Virginia urged them on.
"You're really trying to get mom to stop leaving us alone with you, aren't you?" Maddie asked her.
"Your momma would never deprive me of spendin' time with you little ladies. I raised her and she turned out just fine." Virginia took a sip of her drink. She loved being a mawmaw even more than she loved being a mother. She could spoil the girls rotten and then send them home to her daughter and son-in-law to deal with.
Deacon watched as his wife threw her monitors down on the stage and he grimaced. He could tell that she was in one hell of a mood. He wasn't sure that he wanted to diffuse the situation and put himself in the crossfire yet again. But, he was her husband it was in his job description. He made the time out signal with his hands. "Hey, guys, let's take twenty."
"Y'all, I'm sorry, I'm havin' a diva dip. Let's take a few minutes and let me get sorted out." Rayna heaved a great sigh.
"This is two band practices in a row I've had to call a time out in. Do you wanna tell me what's goin' on?" Deacon pressed his forehead to hers.
Rayna wrapped her arms around his neck. "I just talked to Marshall and I think I'm gonna have to go out on the road with Juliette whether I want to or not."
"Baby, if you gotta do it then that's just what you've gotta do for right now. And I will be there by your side every step of the way. You should know that by know. My career will be just fine if I don't go out on a solo tour this year." Deacon ran his hands up and down her back in a soothing manner.
"But, it's your turn to tour and I do know that. Plus, I told Marshall that if I do this I refuse to open for her. She can open for me or we won't do this at all. Momma seems to think it's a good idea and you know that she gives the best advice." Rayna took a deep breath and inhaled the comforting scent of his familiar after shave.
"Don't worry 'bout it bein' my turn. I don't need the spotlight that comes with bein' a front man. I would be just fine bein' your bandleader like I was when we started out. You on the other hand belong out there on that stage. They don't get to put you out to pasture yet." Deacon put his fingers under her chin and tilted it up so he could stare into her eyes.
"You're way more than just a bandleader and you have been for a long time now. You post numbers to rival that of Luke Wheeler and people happen to like you better than him 'cause not only are you the better musician, but you're more down to earth than he could ever hope to be. I don't wanna set this up to be the beginnin' of the end of your career." Rayna searched his face with her eyes to try to get a read on him.
"You don't have to worry none 'bout that. Just 'cause I'm gonna be on tour with you don't mean I won't still be makin' music. I just put an album out, but that don't mean I can't do another one or that I have to be your bandleader for every show." Deacon grinned and winked at her.
"What did I do to deserve you?" Rayna smiled and then bit her lip.
"You stuck by me even when I made leavin' the easy choice for you. You deserve everythin' I do for you and then some." Deacon pulled her body flush against his.
Rayna pressed against him. "I may have tried to leave you a time or two, but I could never go through with it."
Deacon rubbed his nose against hers. "Darlin', we may have a problem if you compare my music to that crap Luke Wheeler makes ever again. I make real country music. He panders to these people who like a little country with their pop. I have played with the likes of Willie, Waylon, Johnny, and Merle. He can't hold a candle to that."
"Can you ever forgive me for sayin' somethin' so stupid?" Rayna pecked his lips.
"I think that I can manage. You've been known to be mighty persuasive when you need somethin' from me." Deacon chuckled.
"So, I have a proposition for you. What do you say you take me on a good old fashioned Deacon and Rayna date this weekend. My brother has a rodeo in Chattanooga this weekend and I was hopin' that you would take me. I thought that we could take the girls down Friday night and then they could hang with mawmaw and pawpaw on Saturday. Then on Sunday we could all do somethin' as a family." Rayna suggested to him.
"When you say as a family you mean me, you, the girls, your momma, Watty, and Ridge, right? That little scenario doesn't include your father and sister does it?" Deacon asked hopefully.
"I make no promises when it comes to that. Tandy may or may not come down and the same goes for my daddy. You know momma, she's never confirmed or denied who Ridge's real father is. It's likely he's Watty's, but he could just as easily be daddy's son." Rayna could only laugh at how wound up her mother was capable of getting the men in her life.
"It doesn't matter. I would love to go spend some time with my favorite girls and the closest thing I have to a little brother this weekend." Deacon peppered kisses along her jawline. "And who knows maybe this weekend we can work on havin' that son you've been promisin' me for the last twenty years." He whispered huskily in her ear.
Rayna tilted her head back and giggled. "I ain't gonna turn down that idea."
"Seriously?" Deacon's voice and face were full of hope. He'd wanted to try for another child for a long time now, but the timing had never been right before.
"Seriously," Rayna smiled. "At least we can practice this weekend and then maybe time it out so we have some down time to be with the baby once the tour is over."
"You're mighty damn agreeable today. I should maybe ask you for all sorts of things you normally say no to." Deacon chuckled softly.
"You act like I say no to you so often. You've always had your ways of bein' able to talk me into whatever you want. I married you at eighteen didn't I?" Rayna smiled.
Deacon wrapped his arms around her waist. "I thank God that you did every day when I wake up next to you and every night when I tuck our girls into bed."
"You want a son, but I swear you were born to have daughters. You are way too good at bein' able to calm the three of us down and knowin' how to say what we need to hear in the moment." Rayna relaxed into his embrace.
"Makin' you three happy is my most important job in this world." Deacon placed a soft kiss on her neck.
Deacon and Rayna stood out in the parking lot talking with the band when Juliette pulled up in an old school truck.
"My money is on Ray." Vince said in a harsh whisper.
"We taught her how to fight didn't we?" Deacon whispered back.
Neither of them were being as quiet as they thought they were. Rayna shot them both a dirty look. "There really is no hope for either one of you. You will always be those two teenaged boys I met all those years ago." She rolled her eyes at them.
Juliette rolled down the window and started talking to Deacon. "Deacon, I'm glad that I caught you. I was hopin' that we could do some writin' together." She gave him a flirty smile.
"I have a lot on my plate right now and I honestly don't know when I would have the time." Deacon gave the most diplomatic answer he possibly could.
"You sure about that? I know your work and I would love to have you put a song on my next album." Juliette tried to tempt him.
"I have a wife and a mother-in-law who also have albums they need help with. I don't see how I'll have the time." Deacon shot her down again.
"You're Deacon Claybourne, you're the best in the business. I would really love it if you would change your mind." Juliette batted her eyelashes at him.
"Seriously? I'm standin' right here." Rayna rolled her eyes. "Down boy, I know that you like 'em young." She said to her husband out of the side of her mouth.
Deacon just cut his eyes to the side, but he knew better than to say anything to that.
"You can't lend me your writin' partner for a little while? You're that insecure?" Juliette arched her eyebrow.
"I don't tell him what to do I never have. He writes with or doesn't write with whoever he wants to. Let me tell you somethin', little girl. I have nothin' to be insecure over when it comes to him. I've had him since I was sixteen and he's not goin' anywhere. Women greater than you have tried and failed to turn his head. If he said no then the answer is no. Whatever this thing is you're tryin' to do is between me and you. You can leave my husband out of it. You won't be able to get to me that way. I'm sorry to be the one to break that to you." Rayna plastered a fake smile on her face.
"You always let her do your talkin' for you?" Juliette looked Deacon up and down.
"She ain't talkin' for me. I already gave you my answer. She was just backin' me up." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, if you change your mind let me know." Juliette winked at him before she drove away. She wasn't one to give up that easily though. She'd get to the older woman through one man in her life or another.
Rayna grabbed his arm and looked up at him. "Come on, you dirty old man, I'm gonna take you home before any other barely legal young women try to put the moves on you."
Deacon dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "You know that I only have eyes for you." He reassured her.
"Hell, Ray, you're lucky you're married to him and not me. I wouldn't have behaved myself as well as he just did." Vince couldn't help himself he had to tease her every chance he got. She was just like a little sister to him.
"I'm only jokin' when I call Deacon a dirty old man. With you it's the truth. I know I tell you this all the time, but when Shelby divorces your ass I'm takin' her side in court." Rayna flipped him off.
Vince just smirked. "Fair enough,"
Deacon walked into the music room with his guitar after putting the girls to bed for the night. It was more for Daphne's sake than for Maddie's. His teenager rather play with him than have him play for her these days. He put his guitar on the stand smiling to himself. Those two girls were his entire world and he enjoyed every minute that he got to be their daddy.
"How'd bedtime go tonight?" Rayna sat cross legged on the couch with a pencil in her hand and pad of paper in front of her. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and she was dressed in her sleep clothes.
"Four songs for Daphne and two times runnin' through the new song she's learnin' on the guitar for Maddie." Deacon sank down on the couch beside her and put his arm around her shoulders.
"You're such a good daddy and those girls are so lucky to have you, but darlin', Daphne is eight. I think she might be gettin' a little big for it to take that many songs to get her to bed at night." Rayna leaned over and put her head on his shoulder.
"She's our baby and she ain't gonna want a bedtime concert from her daddy for much longer. Before I know it she's gonna be like that surly almost teenager that sleeps across the hall from her. So 'til she tells me that she no longer wants to sing her to sleep I'm gonna play her as many songs as she asks for within reason." Deacon kissed the top of her head.
"That's so sweet, babe. I really need to give you another baby don't I?" She teased him.
"You really do. You get bonus points if the next one is a boy. We have the two girls and I gotta tell you I don't know how I'm gonna survive the teenage years with 'em. Maddie is already gettin' that attitude someone else I know had when I met her." He teased her right back.
"I was bad, but I was never as bad as she is." She corrected him.
He looked around and saw the room was littered with rumpled up paper balls and the legal pad she was writing on had numerous scratch outs on it. "What have you been up to while I was dealin' with our spawn?"
"I don't know if this tour with Juliette is gonna work out or not. I heard from Buck before I got in the shower and she's wantin' to be difficult 'bout this. I have to have a backup plan in case we can't come to an agreement. Tourin' ain't gonna do me any good without an album to back it up. I thought that I would get a jump on that. Nothin' is really comin' to me right now, though." She informed him.
"Don't you worry 'bout that right now. We can write somethin' together or I can write somethin' for you. We've never not been able to come up with songs when we put our heads together. We could always get Bucky to look into some songwriters or producers for you." He reassured her.
"This is why you're the best husband in the world. I love you and I don't know what I would do without you." She climbed up onto his lap and straddled him. She peppered kisses along his jawline.
"Now, woman, don't you start somethin' those girls are barely asleep," That didn't stop him from sliding a hand up her shirt.
"They ain't babies anymore. They sleep a lot more soundly now. We don't have to be that quiet anymore." She pulled her shirt over her head.
He didn't bother to argue with her anymore. She'd pulled out her secret weapon. He buried his face in her chest and let himself get lost in her.
A/N: Here is the next chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.
