A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.
Chapter 9
"Dad, we really need to get going. Where is mom?" Maddie tapped her foot impatiently.
"Maddie, please chill out for a minute. She's upstairs, you know that she needs help gettin' down here. I will go up and see what she's doin'." Deacon replied.
"This is really important. It's my single release party. It would be a good idea if I was there on time." Maddie pointed out to him.
"Relax, Maddie. You're gonna get there on time. Your momma was late before she got hurt. She's even slower now that she's on crutches." Deacon explained to her.
"Dad, this is so, so important." Maddie groaned.
"Take your car and head down there. I will get your mother and we will meet you there." Deacon came up with a compromise.
"I have no idea what I'm supposed to do at the kinda thing. I need you both there to make sure I don't mess up." Maddie stressed.
"Bucky will be there. He's there especially for you. He will tell you what to do and what to say. We aren't gonna be far behind you, though. Just go on. You know that we won't miss this for anythin' in the world. She probably just needs a little help gettin' ready." Deacon handed her the keys to her car and shooed her out the door. He couldn't deal with her and Rayna at the same time.
He turned on his heel and walked up the steps. "Please, let this woman at least be awake." He muttered under his breath.
He knew that the chances were fifty-fifty on whether she was awake or whether she had passed out from taking her pills after her PT session. That was par for the course lately. She couldn't sleep at night and she slept on and off all day. She didn't so much sleep as she was in a drug induced coma most of the day. It wasn't that he thought she had a problem with her pills, it was the part of her recovery she wasn't dealing with.
Every time he tried to talk to her about the nightmares or what had happened she shot him down cold. That was just her way. She didn't talk about things until she wanted to talk about them and there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't to blame for Maddie's stubbornness that was all Rayna. He could be stubborn when the occasion called for it, but he was in a different league from his wife and daughter.
The bedroom light was on and so was the light in the bathroom. Rayna was sprawled out in the middle of the bed snoring with her mouth open.
Deacon sighed and ran his hands over his face. He shook his wife gently to wake her up. "Baby, wake up. You're snorin' like a trucker."
Rayna sat straight up and rubbed her eyes. "Huh? I'm up, I'm up."
"Do you know what you wanna wear? Your daughter is just as high strung as you are. If we don't get to this thing on time she's gonna flip." Deacon told her.
"It's hangin' up on the closet door." Rayna indicated where her outfit was. "Did you tell her to calm down and that everythin' was gonna be ok?"
Deacon grabbed her outfit for her. "Of course, I told her that, but she's just like you in some ways. I wouldn't be surprised if we got there and she's holdin' a cigarette."
"Don't you dare make fun of me right now. I only do that when I get really nervous." Rayna scoffed. "I need shoes too."
"Which shoes do you want?" Deacon went back into her closet. It was like walking into a strange land for him.
"Dean says it's time for me to get my confidence back. I will take my boots. I'm not quite ready for my heels yet." Rayna said after she thought it over for a minute.
"One pair of boots." Deacon sat her boots where she could easily slip her feet into them.
"You are a prince, honey." Rayna flashed him a smile.
"At the risk of pissin' ya off after a compliment like that. If you don't wanna talk to me 'bout what happened you need to talk to someone. You can't keep up takin' these pills like candy and sleepin' on and off all day. I can't help you if you won't let me in. More than anythin' I wanna help you, baby." Deacon stared into her eyes.
"Deacon, I'm fine. I will talk about it when I'm ready to talk about it. Not before then. It's still so jumbled up in my head. I want to get better and put this behind me." Rayna grabbed his arm to steady herself while she put her pants on.
"If that's what you really want that's what we will do. That's only gonna work for so much longer. You really do need to watch it with those pills I know better than anyone how addictive they are." Deacon offered her a word of advice.
"I know that you're concerned and I'm not indifferent to your concern, but you can't help me get to the place where I can let you help me." Rayna rattled off.
"I just wanted my feelings on the table." Deacon sighed softly.
"I hear your feelings. They will be fully taken into account." Rayna pecked his lips. "Now, let's go help our daughter launch her first single."
"Let's do it." Deacon gave her a small smile.
Rayna stood with Deacon holding her steady. She raised a glass of champagne. "I think by now everyone around here knows my story pretty well. I don't need to go over it again. When I was sixteen and startin' out I had all these stars in my eyes. I had these goals that I set for myself. As everyone knows I hit those goals and then some." She paused and waited for the laughter to die down. "As proud as I am of that there's somethin' or rather someone that I didn't see comin'. The young lady we are here to celebrate today. Maddie is one of the two things I've done with my life that I'm proudest of. She's more talented and shines even brighter than I did at her age." She had to get her emotions under control. "Maddie, you've always done things in your own time and at your own pace no matter how difficult that made things on anyone else." She winked at her daughter. "I'm so proud of you and I'm honored to be standing beside you as you start this new journey. You've waited a long time to get here. I hope it's everythin' you ever wanted." She finished her toast.
"Allow me to add to that." Deacon lifted his water glass. "Maddie, you're half me and half this brilliant woman standin' next to me, but you got a talent that's all your own. You got no idea how much it means to me to be standin' here with you ready to help ya write the next chapter of your life. Remember to always have a good time."
The room erupted into applause.
"Wow, I don't even know what to say to that." Maddie smiled from ear to ear.
Bucky looked at her with pride shining in his eyes. "I'm going to ask you what I asked your mom a long time ago. You ready?"
"For what?" Maddie looked confused.
"For the big show. This is it, kiddo." Bucky squeezed her shoulder.
Maddie nodded her head. "I was born ready."
"Let's start then. First up you have a very casual interview with Pitch Fork." Rayna smiled at her reassuringly.
"I can handle it, mom." Maddie smiled back at her.
"Go for it then. Buck will be by your side the whole time." Deacon urged her. "Good luck," he kissed her cheek.
"Thanks, dad," Maddie gave him a quick hug and let Bucky lead her off to be interviewed.
"Deacon, there goes our baby. It seems like yesterday she was learnin' to crawl on the tour bus." Rayna's eyes filled with tears.
"She grew up in the blink of an eye. I got to be her daddy for five minutes I guess that's somethin'. I can't get over the fact that I had anythin' to do with helpin' to make that wonderful creature." Deacon kissed her cheek softly so he didn't smear her lipstick.
"Sometimes even I believe I have a hard time believing that I had anything to do with that amazing young woman." Rayna squeezed his hand.
"She's better off for havin' you as a momma." Deacon whispered in her ear.
"You're so sweet, babe." Rayna smiled at him. "Ok, we are gonna try somethin'. I'm gonna hang onto your arm and make my way around the room without those crutches."
"Let me lead the way then." Deacon offered his arm for her to hold on to.
"Thank you, sir." Rayna took his arm.
"Easy, just take it slow. We ain't runnin' a race." Deacon encouraged her.
"When have those words ever described a thing I've done?" Rayna smirked at him.
"It hasn't since the day I met you." Deacon retorted.
"You do what you do best try to keep up." Rayna winked.
"You know that your wish is my command." Deacon bantered back.
"Sugar, I've had you wrapped 'round my finger since the moment we met." Rayna couldn't let him get in the last word.
"Rayna, it's good to see you out." Zach walked up.
"It's good to be out." Rayna plastered her stage smile on her face.
"I have to admit that you were right about doing Maddie's single drop this way." Zach conceded defeat.
"I'm always right you should ask my husband. The only man I've haven't been able to convince of that is my physical therapist. He's mean and he likes to make me do things I don't like." Rayna could effortlessly charm people.
"We need you to get back in fighting shape and back in the office. Listen to your physical therapist. Your sister is mean and she makes me do things that I don't like." Zach advised her.
"I plan on it. Tandy is like that. She's our father's daughter. She can be very scary when she wants to be." Rayna shrugged.
"She scares me." Zach nodded his head.
"There's someone else you should be scared of." Deacon leaned in and lowered his voice. "If you ever get my daughter drunk again I will come for you."
"Deacon, I didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't realize that it was gonna hit her like that." Zach took a step back.
"You may not realize this, but I'm an alcoholic, my father was an alcoholic, and that's not somethin' that we play 'round with in this family. That ain't somethin' I want for my daughter. You need to learn your place and stay in your lane." Deacon pointed his finger at him.
Zach held his hands up in a sign of surrender. "I hear you, man. I got it."
"Zach, he's obviously off his leash. It would be wise for you to walk away." Rayna warned him.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna go over there." Zach walked away quickly.
"You need to behave yourself." Rayna glared at her husband.
"I'm sorry. You know how I feel about him." Deacon let out a ragged breath.
"I know that you don't like him, but today isn't about him. Today is about our perfect daughter. Let's focus on her." Rayna redirected his attention.
Deacon looked over at Maddie and swelled up with pride. "Look at how she's handlin' that reporter. She's a natural."
"She is. She's more ready for this than I realized." Rayna agreed with him.
"Rayna, look at you. It's so good to see you." Liz her stylist came up and talked to her a little while later.
"Liz, what are you doin' here?" Rayna smiled and hugged her with her free arm.
"This is Maddie's big day. I wasn't gonna miss this for anythin' in the world. I watched her grow up from a baby." Liz hugged her back. "And look at your handsome bodyguard here. I hear he's been doin' a pretty good job of keepin' the label runnin' without you."
"Bite me, Liz." Deacon teased. They went back a long way.
"I would, but I'm sure that you're dirty and you taste funny." Liz spit back at him.
"Alright, you two behave." Rayna warned them playfully.
"We don't behave you know that by now." Deacon teased her.
"Deacon, I have a hard time believin' that you had anythin' to do with makin' that girl. She's a little too perfect to be yours. If I hadn't just read Rayna's latest press release I wouldn't have believed it." Liz joked.
"Blame it on the pain meds. It was my anniversary present to him. I thought that people should know he really is a good guy." Rayna replied.
"I've known him for a long time and even I can't argue with that." Liz agreed. She looked over at Maddie again. "She's gonna be big."
"She shines just like her momma." Deacon was so proud of his daughter he was about to burst.
"How is she doing today, Deacon?" Tandy slid up beside her brother-in-law.
"She was passed out after PT. She woke up screamin' last night. She tosses and turns all night. I've checked her pill bottles and I know she's takin' 'em more frequently than she should be. I can't get her to talk to me. I think she wants to stick her head in the sand and pretend like it didn't happen." Deacon looked over to where Rayna sat talking to some of the staffers from Highway 65.
"I think we've ignored this issue as long as we can. It's time to do something about it." Tandy replied.
"Yeah, it's time to do something about it." Deacon sighed loudly.
Tandy rubbed his arm reassuringly. "It's gonna be ok, Deacon. We will get her through this."
"In the mean time what do we do 'bout keepin' that kid from destroyin' her company?" Deacon ran his hands over his face.
"We will figure something out. Between you, me, and Bucky we can handle this." Tandy promised him.
"Ok, Tandy, get the ball rollin'. We need to do this now." Deacon agreed.
"I'll get the information together and I'll bring it to you." Tandy slipped off to make a phone.
Deacon looked over at his wife again and his heart broke for her. It made him want a drink worse than he had wanted one in a long time. He felt powerless to do anything to help her.
A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. This is the start of the angsty stuff, but I promise you that it'll be worth the payoff. Until next time please review.
