A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

Chapter 21

"Welcome home, DJ." Deacon carried all the bags and the baby's car seat in while Rayna carried the baby in.

"Look at this, DJ, your sisters made a welcome home sign for you. You are one lucky little boy." Rayna kissed his cheek.

"Let me see my nephew." Tandy snatched the baby from her sister.

"So basically he's only ours durin' the night right?" Deacon observed.

"If Tandy is around that's a pretty safe bet." Rayna answered him.

"I'm only here to see the kids I could care less what you two do." Tandy retorted.

"At least if she's here to see them she's not gonna mess with us." Deacon shrugged his shoulders. "Baby, I'm gonna go put these bags up. If you wanna take a shower I'll help you. Then I want you parked on the couch where I can take care of you."

"That sounds wonderful and I love you for offerin', but darlin' I love you too much to let you help me shower right now. That's part of the reason Tandy is here right now." Rayna corrected him.

"Babe, I've seen you in the shower before." Deacon pointed out to her.

"Not after she's had a baby you haven't." Tandy arched her eyebrow at him.

"So, I'm not allowed to help her shower?" Deacon asked.

"No, you are not allowed to help her shower. If there are certain things you want to continue to enjoy then you will give her, her privacy." Tandy gave him a knowing look.

"In that case give me my baby. I can wait to put these bags up." Deacon gulped. He dropped the bags in the floor.

"That's what I thought." Tandy patted his cheek and handed DJ to him.

"I won't be long, babe, wait for me to show DJ his room." Rayna kissed his cheek.

"I think he's due for a diaper change. The girls and I will take care of that." Deacon volunteered.

"Thanks, honey, I love you." Rayna smiled at him.

"I love you too, babe." Deacon winked at her.

"Tandy, do you have to do everythin' you can to get under his skin?" Rayna asked once they were upstairs in the bedroom.

"I wouldn't do it if it wasn't so much fun." Tandy retorted.

"You are absolutely terrible when you want to be." Rayna shook her head and laughed.

"I just can't help myself. Now, go get in the shower. You don't want to leave your clueless husband alone with your newborn baby any longer than you have to." Tandy cracked.

Rayna gave her a withering look. "I will have you know that he's not clueless. He's a quick learner and let me tell you somethin' he's so much more hands on than Teddy ever was. He wants to be there for everythin'."

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I'll back off." Tandy held her hands up in a sign of surrender.

"I know that you don't think much of him, but he really is a good daddy. The minute he found out about Maddie she went home with him and he knew what to do for her. He knew what to say to her the other day at the hospital. He's better than either of us give him credit for. I don't always know how to handle Maddie, he does." Rayna defended her husband.

"Let me help you into the shower." Tandy sighed.

Rayna started to strip down. "You have nothing at all to say to that?"

"I was wrong to tell you not to tell him about Maddie." Tandy said the one thing that she didn't really want to say.

"Thank you, I knew that was hard for you." Rayna offered her a smile.

"Go get in the damn shower." Tandy snorted.

"I don't know why I like you sometimes." Rayna laughed.

"I don't know why I like you either you're such a pain in my ass and you always have been. I guess it's because we only had each other after mom died." Tandy replied.

Rayna got into the shower. "Yeah, I guess so."

"You almost went and joined her a few months ago. Don't do anything like that to me again." Tandy told her.

"I don't plan on it." Rayna assured her.

"Alright, now, this can't be too hard. People do this all the time." Deacon had DJ laid out on a blanket on the couch.

"Didn't you change his diaper in the hospital, dad?" Maddie asked.

"Do you not know what you're doing, Deacon?" Daphne inquired.

"I changed his diaper in the hospital. And I know what I'm doin'. I just had your momma there to tell me what to do." Deacon unsnapped DJ's onesie and undid the tabs on his diaper. "Step one out of the way, Daphne, hand me a diaper." He held his hand out.

"Here you go," Daphne handed him a diaper.

Deacon removed the dirty diaper from his son with a pleased look on his face. That lasted only until his son peed on him. "Hey, hey, easy, Bubba."

"Gross," Maddie rolled her eyes.

Daphne doubled over and grabbed her sides from laughing so hard. "He just peed on you, Deacon."

Deacon finally got a new diaper on the baby after he finished peeing. "In the future I'll have to remember to cover you up so you can't do that. You use that thing like a loaded weapon."

"Dad, you should be so much better at this than you are." Maddie let a small smile play on her lips.

"I'm learnin' as I go here. Cut me some slack." Deacon redressed his son.

"I wish we would have recorded that." Daphne was in a full-blown giggling fit.

"What in the world is goin' on down here?" Rayna rejoined them after her shower.

"Nothin' at all." Deacon was stone faced, but the front of his t-shirt was soaking wet.

"Really?" Rayna arched her eyebrow.

"Yeah, really," Deacon answered a little too quickly.

"Why is your shirt all wet, babe?" Rayna asked him.

"DJ peed on Deacon." Daphne got out around a giggle.

Rayna covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter. "Babe, that's, well that's so damn funny." She let her laughter escape.

"It looks like you really had things under control down here, Deacon." Tandy laughed too.

"I'm glad ya'll find this so damn funny." Deacon tried his best to pout.

DJ started to squall in his father's arms.

"No, no, daddy's not mad at you. He's upset with your momma and your auntie." Deacon shushed him.

"That's a hungry cry, babe. I think it's time for you to feed your son for the first time." Rayna corrected him.

"Uh, what do I need to do?" Deacon asked.

"You sit down on the couch with him and I'll get you a bottle." Rayna opened the diaper bag and took a can of formula out. She mixed up a bottle and handed it to him.

Deacon sat down on the couch and put the nipple of the bottle into his son's mouth. "Look at you go to town on that bottle. This is exactly what you wanted."

Rayna sat next to him, put her arm around him, and laid her head on his shoulder. "You're doin' great, Deacon. He does all the work. When he's had half, you need to burp him."

"Alright, I will keep an eye on how much he's eaten." Deacon nodded his head seriously.

"Come on, girls, let's start on dinner." Tandy waved her nieces into the kitchen. She sneakily took a photo of Rayna, Deacon, and the baby.

"Who in the world could that be at this time of night?" Rayna asked when there was knock at the door. She and Deacon were sitting on the couch with the baby.

"Here, take the baby. I'll go see who it is." Deacon handed the baby to her. He opened the door with a loud sigh.

Teddy was leaning against the doorframe obviously drunk. "Deacon,"

"Teddy." Deacon eyeballed him skeptically. "What are you doin' here? And more importantly did you drive yourself?"

"I'm here to see my girls." Teddy swayed unsteadily on his feet.

"You better come on in." Deacon took hold of his arm and guided him to the living room.

"Teddy, what are you doing here?" Rayna asked.

"I want to see the girls." Teddy staggered.

"Teddy, you're a mess that's not such a good idea right now. I think you need to sit down and let me call you a cab." Rayna replied.

"I want to see the girls now, Rayna." Teddy argued.

"Teddy, now isn't a good time they are both sleepin'. Besides, you don't want them to see you this way. That wouldn't do you or them any good." Deacon tried to talk some sense into them.

Teddy responded by taking a swing at him.

Deacon ducked his fist and pushed him down into a chair. "Sit down and calm your ass down."

"It's not fair. I don't understand it, it's just not fair. I've done everything right the way that I was supposed to. I've always had it together and taken care of things that way that I should. I took care of a child who wasn't even mine, because you were too much of a drunk to. Rayna was still in love with you the whole time we were married. Maddie had basically abandoned me for you. Peggy and that baby were supposed to be my fresh start. Instead you got the baby and the wife. How is that fair?" Teddy broke down crying and buried his face in his hands.

"Babe, I'm so sorry about this." Rayna whispered lowly.

"It's ok," Deacon mouthed back. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"Deacon, go put some coffee on. I'm gonna call my daddy to send his driver for Teddy. That way no one has to know that the mayor was wasted." Rayna laid the baby in his playpen.

"She didn't even have to fake a pregnancy I would have married her anyway." Teddy cried harder.

"Mom, is everything ok?" Maddie stood on the steps.

Deacon hurriedly stepped into her line of sight so she couldn't see Teddy. "Everythin' is fine, baby girl. Go on back upstairs. I will be up in a minute to talk to you."

"Is that my other dad? What's wrong with him?" Maddie questioned.

"He's just a little upset. He'd be a lot more upset if he knew that you saw him this way. Go upstairs and make sure your sister stays up in her room." Deacon ordered her.

"But, dad," Maddie stammered.

"Maddie, I promise you everythin' is ok. Go upstairs and entertain your sister please. I never asked you for anythin' and I'm askin' you for this." Deacon leveled with her.

"Fine, I'll go occupy Daphne." Maddie relented.

"Thank you, baby girl." Deacon sighed in relief as he watched Maddie head back upstairs. He went into the kitchen to make coffee.

"What the hell is your problem, Teddy?" Rayna got him to focus on her as best he could.

"My problem is that I have done everything right and I've been the good guy. Meanwhile your current husband hasn't been either of those things, but I lost my family to him. He gets a happy ending and I don't." Teddy retorted.

"Teddy, you cheated on me. You were far from the saint you're tryin' to paint yourself as right now. Deacon isn't the monster that you're tryin' to make him either." Rayna sighed. "I know the looks of a bender when I see one. This isn't gonna help anythin'."

"I'm starting to see why my father liked this so much. It's nice to be numb to the word." Teddy slurred.

"You and that man in the kitchen have a lot more in common than you realize. The difference is he's finally beaten his demons and you ain't even close to rock bottom yet." Rayna shook her head.

"Somehow I sincerely doubt that." Teddy snorted.

"You have no clue. Both your fathers for example. There are things that I never told you about him, 'cause that's his story to tell." Rayna informed him.

Deacon carried a cup of coffee into the room and handed it to Teddy. "Drink that, it won't sober you up any, but it'll help clear your head a little bit."

"Deacon, keep an eye on the baby. I'm gonna go in the other room and make that call to daddy. I trust you have the girls both under control?" Rayna gave Deacon a knowing look.

"I won't take my eyes off him. The girls are taken care of." Deacon assured her.

"Teddy, drink your coffee." Rayna pointed a threatening finger at her ex-husband. She slowly made her way into the other room to make a call.

Teddy took a belt out of his coffee mug. "I'm not even married to the woman anymore and she's still ordering me around."

"She's pretty good at takin' charge." Deacon stared down at his son with a smile on his face.

Teddy got to his feet unsteadily and walked over to the playpen. "He looks a lot like Maddie did when she was born."

"They both take after their daddy I guess." Deacon swallowed around a lump in his throat. It killed him inside that he hadn't gotten to fawn over his daughter like this when she was born.

"Rayna knew without having the test done that she was yours. I held out hope until I saw it in black and white that she wasn't mine. I wanted so badly to believe that she was mine and Rayna wasn't with me out of convenience. That's what I got and I made the best of it. I even thought that we were happy for a while. I know now that even that was a lie never on our best day together did she look as happy as she did when I walked in here tonight." Teddy took another drink of coffee.

"Rayna and I have always been inevitable. We shouldn't have ever tangled anyone else up in our mess. It wasn't fair to anyone. She only looked so happy, 'cause we have a brand new baby." Deacon offered lamely.

"You've always had that effect on her. I was never able to make her light up the way that you can." Teddy replied.

"I shoulda spent more time makin' her light up and less time makin' her clean up after me. We wouldn't be here right now if I had." Deacon shrugged.

DJ stirred and started to whine in his sleep.

Deacon scooped him up without hesitation. He held him close to his chest. "Shh, you're ok, daddy's got ya."

"What did she mean when she said that we have our fathers in common?" Teddy asked after he'd watched Deacon with his son for a moment.

"My old man was a world class mean drunk." Deacon answered.

"Mine was an alcoholic who drove the family name into the ground." Teddy admitted.

"Small world," Deacon didn't know what else to say. He swayed the baby back and forth gently.

"The last thing in the world I ever wanted was to end up like him." Teddy shook his head.

"I know that feelin' pretty well, myself." Deacon agreed with him.

"Why did she have to lie me? I woulda married her. She didn't have to trick me into marrying her." Teddy mumbled.

"I know that feelin' pretty well too. I've been askin' myself that question every day since I found out that Maddie is mine. Why'd she lie to me? Why didn't she just tell me that we had a baby on the way? I woulda married her and helped her take care of our baby. Why didn't she tell me when Maddie was one, or two, or five even? I woulda had time to be her daddy. Now I just get a few years and I'll be shippin' her out into the world. I never got to comfort her when she had a nightmare or have her hide behind my leg when she was bein' shy 'round a stranger. You asked Rayna to make you a promise that wasn't hers to make. You had no business askin' her not to tell me 'bout my daughter. I deserved to know the truth." Deacon spoke from his heart.

"I was scared that Maddie wouldn't love me anymore if she found out the truth and that fear wasn't far off the mark. The minute she found out that you're her father she wanted to go with you. She wants to be with you all the time. I raised her and I gave her my name. Why should she want you over me?" Teddy demanded.

"It's 'cause Maddie and I have lost time to make up for. I ain't sayin' that she don't love you anymore, I'm sayin' that maybe your relationship has to change." Deacon explained to him.

Rayna leaned up against the doorframe and cleared her throat. "Daddy's driver is on the way."

Deacon nodded his head.

"He ok?" Rayna gestured with her eyes to the baby.

"He's fine he was just fussin' a little bit." Deacon told her.

"Honey, can you take the baby upstairs and sit with the girls until I get him outta here?" Rayna asked him.

"Of course, if you need me just yell." Deacon climbed the stairs with the baby in his arms.

"Teddy, this can't happen again. You need to get yourself together. Until you do I can't have the girls seein' you this way." Rayna laid down the law.

"Those are my girls, Rayna, you can't do that to me." Teddy pleaded with her.

"I can and I will. I did it to Deacon and you're no better than he is. I will not expose those two girls to your drunkenness." Rayna stared him down.

"That's how it always is your way or the highway." Teddy retorted.

"Teddy, get yourself together. The girls are gonna stay with me until you do. Don't make me have to take you to court, because I will and we both know I'll win." Rayna told him in a warning tone.

"I don't know how to come back from this." Teddy admitted.

"You just have to find a way how." Rayna didn't know what else to tell him.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come on in, it's open." Rayna called out.

Lamar's driver Adam came in and grabbed Teddy by his upper arm. "Come on, Mayor Conrad, let's get you home."

"Thanks for comin', Adam." Rayna sighed.

"No problem, Ms. Jaymes, I'll make sure that everything is taken care of." Adam guided Teddy out the door.

Rayna locked the door behind them and went upstairs. She found Deacon and the girls in the master bedroom. They were all cuddling in bed watching tv with DJ in the middle of them. She climbed in next to Deacon. She kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. "Thank you for bein' so wonderful with them."

"Thank you for givin' me the chance to be." Deacon whispered back.

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.