This started out as a short chapter, but kept expanding into a pretty long one.
##
Deacon rolled over and pressed his body against Rayna's back, then he slid his right hand over her hip and down onto her belly. He buried his face in her hair and breathed in the scent, moaning at the pleasure he was getting from just being near her. They'd been sleeping like this for over a week, ever since she'd told him about the baby. It had been more comforting than sexual, but they both seemed to be in a state of elated bliss.
He'd gone up to her room after the show that first night and brought her pistachio nuts. He'd remembered from when she was on tour while pregnant with Daphne that she craved them.
She'd been so excited. "You remembered? I was just thinking how great these would be right now."
He'd massaged her shoulders while she cracked the nuts, popping them in her mouth, and then they had both fallen asleep on the couch. When they woke up in the middle of the night he'd mumbled something about going back to his room, but instead she'd stood up, took his hand, and led him into the bedroom. "Let's sleep in here," she'd said. "It'll be more comfortable than the couch."
Since then, that had been the ritual, through the rest of Austin, Dallas, Houston, and now in Phoenix. Deacon loved sleeping with her like this, but if he was going to admit it to himself, he'd woken up more than a few mornings with an aching he just couldn't shake. This morning was one of those.
He continued to rest his hand on her stomach but moved his mouth to her neck and started planting tender kisses along her exposed flesh. He heard Rayna moan and then she stirred. She reached her hand down and intertwined her fingers with the ones caressing her still rather taught abdomen.
Deacon worked his way around to her throat turning her over to face him, then he lifted his head and looked her in the eyes.
"I know we said we were going to put the breaks on us being romantic until your divorce was finalized, but I've got to say Ray, I want to make love to you so badly. What do you think?"
"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for you to make a move for over a week now!"
Deacon smiled, and Rayna grabbed his face with her hands pulling him into a long and tender kiss. Then she slid his hand that had been on her stomach further down under the waistband of her underwear so it was between her legs.
"I love how wet you get," Deacon purred.
"Only for you Babe," Rayna replied breathlessly, already feeling turned on by the movement of his fingers inside of her. She couldn't believe how quickly he got her to a place where she was losing control. He stopped to pull off both of their underpants, and replaced his fingers with his mouth in the process softly licking and sucking her. That was her undoing. Within seconds she was crying out as the orgasm overtook her. Just as she climaxed Deacon moved up so he was on top of her and quickly entered her feeling the tightness of her muscles contract around him.
"Oh god, Ray," he moaned. "You feel so good."
Rayna pulled him closer moving her hands over every inch of his body. They hadn't made love since that day in the hospital and she was going to savor every minute of this just incase there was another two month break. Her whole body continued to tingle as he moved inside of her bringing her close to another orgasm.
"I'm almost there Deacon."
He swirled himself inside of her then pushed in as deep as he could finding a surge of relief in his own orgasm. They collapsed exhausted on top of each other, and then Deacon pulled Rayna into his arms so she was draped across his body.
"Remind me why we waited so long to do that?" Rayna said.
"We were working through things."
"Oh right, well I think we just worked through a whole bunch of things right there."
They smiled at each other, then Rayna rested her head on his chest. She didn't want to rush things, but she wanted to know where they stood.
"When we get back to Nashville, do you think you'll want to move in with me and the girls?"
"I don't know Ray, that's a big step, and there's a whole lot of complications in our life right now. There's the girls, Teddy, and I've got to admit, I've never lived with more than one person before."
"I know, that person was me."
"Yeah, and look how well that turned out, you moved out."
Rayna ran her hand up and down his chest running her fingers through the hair.
"That's only because of the drinking. You're not going to drink anymore, right?"
"Yeah, of course not. I mean, I know I slipped when I found out about Maddie, but I promise Ray, no more drinking."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Could you really see me living in a house in Belle Meade? That's just not me Ray."
"Well, I've been staying in the house for the sake of the girls, but if you don't feel comfortable there we could talk about moving someplace else. I could give Teddy the house in the divorce settlement, then the girls wouldn't be having to completely move."
"Let me just think about it a bit Ray, this is just all moving so fast."
"OK, no decisions yet. We still have time."
Rayna put her head back on his chest and Deacon pulled her closer into his arms kissing the top of her head. Then they both drifted back into sleep.
##
Two weeks later they were flying back to Nashville in Juliette's plane. The last two weeks had been nothing but encores of songs and more private performances. They were sitting on the couch in the plane working on a new song when Juliette interrupted.
"Looks like you guys are back to your old sappy selves. I thought you were fighting or something."
"We weren't fighting," Rayna replied. "Adults work through their problems rather than running away from them."
"Uh, huh. Is that what you guys were doing in that SUV, working through things?"
Deacon gave her a look of utter disappointment.
"Alright, I'll shut up. I'm just saying."
When they landed Rayna stayed behind on the plane with Deacon so they could have a few moments alone. They'd been living in a bubble the last few weeks, truly living up to Deacon's promise of "You and me, right here, right now." They'd been shutting out anything but their love, and their love for the new baby that was coming. But now that they were back in Nashville, the realities of their lives came rushing back. They were two people with a lot of problems, and a lot of other people to consider.
She grabbed onto his collar rubbing her fingers up and down the fabric.
"I'm going to go pick up the girls, but I'll see you tomorrow at the studio, right?"
"Yeah you will." He smiled at her and gave her a kiss.
"I know things are complicated now that we're home, but I want to try to hold on to what we regained out of the road. No backsliding."
"I know Ray, I've been real happy the last few weeks too, but we both know a baby doesn't solve everything. It's not like we're starting again from scratch 14 years ago. This baby isn't Maddie."
"I know, but I still feel like it's our second chance, and I really want to take it if you do."
"I want to, and no matter what I'll be here for this baby, I just still need to sort some things out for myself."
Rayna got a little misty, "I love you Deacon."
"I love you too Ray." Then he leaned down and gently kissed her one more time before getting off the plane.
##
When Rayna arrived at the house the girls were watching a movie in the TV room. Teddy pulled her into the kitchen before she got a chance to even say hello.
"What's going on, why are you dragging me in here?"
"I wanted to talk to you about something before I go."
"OK, what is it?"
"Peggy's pregnant."
"What?! I thought you guys broke up? How far along is she?"
"About four months. Yeah, I was surprised too. I found out just before your accident, then I thought I should wait to tell the girls, but I think it's best if I tell them as soon as possible, and I thought it would be good if you were there too."
Rayna shuffled her feet a little and then looked up at Teddy.
"I guess I should tell them my news as well at the same time."
"What news?"
Rayna took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm pregnant too."
"Are you kidding me? Don't you two ever use protection!"
"Don't you?"
"I'm not the one with two accidental pregnancies under my belt with the same loser. At least Peggy is a respected member of the community."
"Who almost overdosed on sleeping pills, and talked to the press about our divorce."
"We're passed that alright."
"And Deacon and I are working through our stuff too."
"Fine, so two new siblings, the girls are going to love that."
"Well, Daphne always wanted a little sister or brother, now she'll have two."
"Let's just tell them."
"Can we wait until tomorrow? I want to tell Deacon that I'm telling them."
"Rayna, I don't want him here when we tell them, I'm not bringing Peggy."
"Well Peggy isn't the biological parent of one our daughters and Deacon is."
"Yeah, I've very well aware of that, but can this just be our thing, from the looks of things there are going to be a lot of things coming up that are yours and Deacon's things."
"OK, but let me just call him and let him know."
"Fine. I'll come back tomorrow after breakfast."
##
The next morning Rayna woke up and picked up her phone. There had been a text from Deacon on it that she'd missed from the night before.
"Thinking of you and all of our little ones."
Rayna smiled then dialed his number.
"Hey, Darlin"
"Hey Babe. Thanks for the sweet text."
"How are the girls? "
"Good, they practically jumped into my arms last night when I got home. Maddie wanted to play a song for me and Daphne had baked me a cake."
"That girl is all about the dessert."
"Hey Babe, I know that we said we were going to wait another couple of weeks before we told anyone about the baby, but I kind of had to tell Teddy last night and we were planning on telling the girls this morning."
"What? Why? I'm not happy that you told Teddy even before I told my sister."
"I know, but he told me first that, get this, Peggy is pregnant."
"Seriously? I didn't think that guy had it in him."
"I have a kid with him, remember."
"Yeah, but for some reason I always think of Daphne as being only yours."
"I should go, I just heard Teddy at the door."
"Sure, well tell me how things go."
"I will, I love you."
"I love you too Ray."
Rayna put down the phone and went to answer the door. Teddy seemed anxious when she let him in.
"How are we going to do this?"
"I don't know, this was your idea to tell them this soon. Girls, your dad is here."
Daphne came bounding down the stairs, and Maddie trailed behind her.
"Dad!" Daphne screeched.
Maddie was a bit reticent, she wasn't sure why her father was back so soon. "What are you doing here? I thought it was mom's week?"
"It is girls, but your mom and I needed to talk to you about something. Why don't we sit down here in the living room."
The last time they had done this was when they were telling them they were getting a divorce, so Rayna was anxious to express that this was good news.
"So, well, girls," Rayna stammered a bit. "Well, why don't you tell them Teddy."
"You're going to be big sisters."
Daphne was so excited she couldn't contain herself. "Oh my god, oh my god. You guys are having another baby."
"No sweetie, I mean, we both are having babies, but just not together."
"Oh my god, twins, how exciting."
"No dummy, not twins, she just said they're both having babies with other people. Right?"
"Yes, you remember my friend Peggy?"
The girls shook their head, Maddie with a bit of an eye roll.
"Well she and I are having a little girl."
"Wow, a little sister, I'm going to be a big sister!"
"Half-sister Daphne, she's not going to be your full sister."
"Well, you're not even related to her."
"Yeah, but the baby mom is having is going to be my full sibling. Right? It is Deacon's?
"Of course, how many people do you think I'm having babies with? And girls it doesn't matter if you're full siblings, or half-siblings, or not blood relatives at all, we're all one big family."
"Well," Teddy interrupted. "It's going to be a few more months before the babies start coming, so we'll have plenty of time to adjust. Also, Peggy and I are going to get married before the baby comes, so you're both going to be in a wedding."
"Oh my god, a baby and a wedding?" Screamed Daphne. "Can I wear a purple dress? Purple is my favorite color."
"We'll see about that. I'm going to head home, but I'll see you girls on Saturday."
He kissed the girls good-bye and headed out the door. Daphne followed him out, but Maddie stayed behind with Rayna.
"So if you and Deacon are having a new baby are you guys going to get married too, or at least live together?"
"I don't know honey, we haven't really talked about it yet. Would you want us to live together?"
"I don't know, would you?"
"Honestly, I'd love it if we could all be one big happy family, you, and me, and Daphne and Deacon, and the new baby, but you know Deacon and I have been going through a bit of a rough patch after the accident so we'll see how things go. I do know that he's excited about having another baby."
"You mean A baby. He wasn't around when I was a baby."
"I know, and that's my fault, but that doesn't mean he loves you any less."
"I guess. I have to go to study group tonight so I won't be home until later."
"8th graders have an evening study group?" Rayna seemed suspicious.
"Yeah, it's just over at Zoe's, it's every week until about 7:30, then we have dinner at her parents' house."
"Well that's real nice of her parents. I'll have to thank them."
"Sure, sometime, bye Mom, I've got to go to school."
"OK, see you tonight."