Not sure if this is going to be the last chapter, or I'll continue this into a longer story. If it's the last, hope you enjoyed the story!

##

Deacon walked into his bedroom carrying a tray with coffee and French toast, finding Rayna folded into the sheets admiring the ring on her left hand. He placed the tray on the bedside table and sat down beside her on the propped up pillows. Rayna let out a little sigh that Deacon couldn't quite place.

"Is that a good sigh or an unhappy sigh?"

"It's a good sigh, I love this ring, it's so special, it's just," Rayna paused for a second choosing her words carefully. "I'm a country girl. I like a little bling."

Deacon laughed. "Uh oh, you feeling nostalgic for that 7 carat rock Ray?"

Rayna snuggled into Deacon reassuring him that she was happiest when she was in his arms. "Well, not the man who went with it, but maybe the ring just a little bit."

Deacon took Rayna's hand in his and slowly slid it off of her finger.

"Hey, what are you doing? I didn't say I wanted to give it back."

"I'm not taking it back, at least not permanently, but if you want some bling baby, I'll get you some bling. We can use this ring for your wedding band and I'll get you something with a diamond in it. How does that sound?"

"That sounds nice." Rayna purred kissing the stubble on Deacon's cheeks and jawline.

"Now, I'm going to warn you it's not going to be as big as that crater you were wearing before, but I promise it will be adequately shiny."

Rayna lay back, engulfing herself in the pillows. "That's okay, that other ring was too big anyway. I don't want to wear anything that's going to outshine my natural luster."

"Baby," Deacon said pulling her into his arms. "Nothing could outshine you. Not even the Hope Diamond."

##

A couple of days later Teddy dropped the girls off at Deacon's for their weekly guitar lesson. Deacon thought about how when he moved in with Rayna they wouldn't have to have these scheduled meetings, they'd be together all the time, and a 7:00am impromptu concert could be a regular occurrence. Well, maybe not 7:00am, he never liked to leave the warmth of Rayna's sleeping body that early in the morning.

The girls blew through the front door like a hurricane and started opening their guitar cases. Maddie with her new L00, and Daphne with Maddie's old guitar.

Deacon stopped them. "Not so fast girls, we're going on a little field trip today."

"Are we buying me a new guitar?" Daphne asked.

"Um, not today. Let's wait until you get used to that one first," Deacon responded.

Maddie and Deacon laughed at Daphne's disappointed look. "We are going to buy something pretty expensive, but it's for your mamma."

"A new car? A house? A pony?" Daphne threw items out as if she was a game show host offering up possible prizes.

Maddie's eyes got wide with realization. "An engagement ring?"

"Yeah, I'm going to go pick one out, and I thought maybe you girls could help me. What do you say?"

The girls got all excited and the three of them streamed out the door and into the car. When they hit the store the girls were racing around running their fingers over the cases as they admired everything from a 100-year-old antique to a 5-carat stunner that Deacon would have to sell half of his guitars to afford. Daphne took his hand and pulled him towards a case with pink diamonds. "These are really cool!"

"Yeah, but maybe not your mamma's style. Let's stick to white, okay?"

"How about these?" Maddie gestured from a case in the back of the store. The three of them gathered around and looked down into the case of antique style rings with stones that seemed to range from a half carat up to about two carats. The clerk came over as Deacon gestured for his attention. "Could you pull out that one in the center back?"

The store clerk pulled it out and set it on the counter. "This is a VVS1 F colored 1.25 carat princess cut diamond with side filigree and .25 carats of chips."

"VV what?" Deacon asked.

"VVS1, it means that it's almost flawless, and F is the color meaning it's nearly colorless." The clerk responded.

Deacon picked it up holding it up to the light, then he handed it to Maddie. "What do you think girls?"

Maddie and Daphne looked over the ring in Maddie's hand and then looked up at Deacon nodding emphatically. "It's perfect!"

"It's $11,200." The clerk mentioned as he re-locked the case.

Deacon took a deep breath when he heard the price. "$11,000 for a ring?"

"Luke's was $350,000," Daphne added as Maddie gave her a sharp look.

"What? I read it in US Weekly." Daphne responded.

"350 grand? Really? That's about what my house is worth." Deacon rubbed the scruff on his face contemplating the ring.

"This is much nicer," Maddie reassured. "That ring was gaudy."

Deacon pulled his credit card out and placed it down on the counter. "Okay, we'll take it."

##

On Saturday the girls were back at Rayna's. Deacon came in with an overnight bag and placed it down by the kitchen counter. "What's that for?" Rayna asked. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Yep, rest of the stuff is in my truck, but since we can't fit four in there we'll have to take your car."

"Oh, we're all going on a journey. You gonna fill me in?"

"We're just heading to the cabin Ray. I thought it would be nice if all four of us headed up there for the weekend." Just then Maddie and Daphne bounded down the stairs with their own overnight bags thrown over their shoulders. "We're ready!"

Rayna looked around a little shocked. "Am I the only one who wasn't aware of this little trip?"

"Deacon asked if we wanted to go. We thought it would be fun to get out of the heat of Nashville and head to the lake for a couple of days."

Rayna gave them suspicious looks. "I'm not sure what's going on here, but I could use a couple of days away I guess. Let me go pack a bag."

"Already packed!" Maddie held up her mother's overnight bag.

"Well then, I guess there's nothing more to do but leave."

Deacon threw all their stuff in the back of Rayna's SUV including the overnight bags, the guitars, and a cooler full of food. "You'd think we were going for a whole month with the amount of stuff that's back here." Rayna said as she peered into the car. "That's not part of the surprise is it? Once you get me up there you're kidnapping me for a month?"

Deacon smiled as he climbed into the drivers seat. "I'd love to Ray, but I don't think you could spend that much time without phone reception, or your hair dryer."

Rayna slapped Deacon on the shoulder as they pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. "I could go at least a week without my hair dryer."

The family sang songs on the way down highway 65 to the cabin. Some pop songs from the top 40 along with some new ones that Deacon and Maddie had written together. "It is okay that I've been writing with Maddie, right Ray?"

Rayna laughed. "Yes, of course it's okay that you're writing with our daughter, but I'd like to get in on that too. Maybe we'll have some time for that up at the cabin? Unless of course you've planned out every minute once we get there?"

Deacon looked over at her, Rayna's red waves bouncing in the breeze from the open window. He couldn't get over how much he loved her, and how lucky he was that she'd not only given him a second chance, but a third and a fourth, and a fifth. This time he promised himself, he wasn't going to let her down. He didn't want there to have to be a sixth chance. "I'm sure we can find time for some family song writing somewhere in there."

##

Up at the cabin the early evening sun shown down on the lake, creating rainbow like prisms in the rippling water. Deacon and Rayna sat on their front porch while the girls cooked dinner. Both contemplated how it wasn't that long ago that they were sitting in the same two chairs yelling at each other over Rayna keeping Maddie from Deacon. She was still with Luke, and both were afraid that Deacon would never forgive her for the years of silence. Rayna felt him reach out and grab her hand, kissing her slender fingers. Suddenly she was aware of him slipping something onto her ring finger. When she got her hand back she looked down ogling the new addition. "What's this?"

"You said you wanted bling, so I got you some bling."

Rayna moved her hand around in the sunlight watching it sparkle. "Oh Deacon it's lovely."

"I wasn't sure, but the girls really liked that one."

"Oh no, it's perfect. They were right." She smiled up at him resting her hand on his knee. "You showed it to the girls?"

"We picked it out together. Thought it should be a family affair. Plus they have better taste than me when it comes to this kind of thing."

Rayna reached up sliding her hands over Deacon's face and kissing him softly. "Well I love it, which is a good thing, because this one is never coming off of this finger. Not ever."

Deacon pulled back an inch flashing her that smile that made her weak in the knees. "I love you so much Ray."

"I love you too Deacon. I can't wait to get my own ring on your finger."

"Let's not wait." He responded.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't need a long engagement. I'm sure I want to marry you today, and that's only going to grow every day we're together. Let's just do it."

"You don't mean today? You don't have a preacher hiding in the bushes do you?"

Deacon laughed. "No Ray, I don't mean today, but I do mean sometime in the next few weeks. Let's just have a party at the house. You, me, and the girls. A few friends, Tandy, Bucky, and Scarlett, and I guess I'll have to invite my sister."

"Oh, that'll be fun." Rayna raised an eyebrow. "Nothing like drunk Beverly at a special event."

"Why couldn't she have been the one who had to give up drinking?" Deacon mused. "She's not mean, she just runs her mouth off a bunch when she gets drunk."

"Don't remind me. Remember our first CMA win when we threw that big party and she felt like she had to share with the world that she'd seen us having sex in that old hammock we used to have in the backyard?"

Deacon groaned. "How about a dry wedding? Me and the girls can't drink it, and I doubt that anyone else will miss it."

Rayna nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Just then Maddie came outside. "Dinner's ready." She spotted the ring on Rayna's finger. "You gave it to her already?! I thought you were going to do it when we were there?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I couldn't wait. I got too excited."

"Do you love it mom?" Maddie asked taking her mom's hand in her own in an effort to admire the ring.

"Yes sweetie, it's beautiful, and Deacon said that you and your sister helped him pick it out?"

"We thought this one was a lot nicer than the last one. More you."

Rayna smiled at her daughter. "Yes, definitely more me. Everything I have today is more me. Come on. Let's go eat some of that delicious dinner you cooked." Rayna stood up to follow Maddie into the house while Deacon held back for a second. "Aren't you coming?"

"I'll be in in a second."

The girls closed the sliding door behind them as they entered the house. Deacon stood up and walked to the edge of the porch and stared out at the lake for a minute. Then he turned around and watched all three women buzzing around the dining table through the glass door. He couldn't believe how lucky he'd gotten. This was really his family. It was everything he'd ever wanted. He smiled to himself, then slid the door open stepping inside. Yep, this was truly his life that's good.