A/N: So this is the last chapter. Thank you for staying with this, even though I know a lot of the chapters were very long. I appreciate everyone who followed this all the way to the end and all the people who left such kind reviews. I know sometimes things didn't play out the way you might have wanted or expected, but I wanted to explore a world where Deacon always knew about Maddie and Rayna had to figure out where that left them in the end. She made some of the same choices, but for different reasons, and I think she just wanted to be sure to protect not only the hearts of everyone around her, but her own as well. That much didn't change. So now let's see how this wraps up….
Maddie
She'd been back home long enough that most of the awkwardness had gone away. They still really hadn't talked about everything though. And she was hesitant to bring it up, a little afraid that it might all go up in a puff of smoke.
On a night when Daphne was visiting Teddy and Peggy, her parents came into the den, where she was watching TV. She glanced at them, then muted the TV, and turned her attention back to them, as they sat down. Her mom smiled, a little hesitantly. "I guess I thought maybe we could talk, the three of us," she said, gesturing between each of them. "About what led you to want to leave home."
Maddie sat up and leaned forward slightly. She wanted to be honest. "I felt trapped," she said finally. "I didn't think I had another way out." She breathed in, feeling a little emotional. "It didn't feel like you were listening to me. Like you thought my dreams were silly."
Her dad's face got a little pinched as he reached out and touched her knee. "Sweetie, we never thought your dreams were silly," he said.
She looked at him. "Maybe you didn't, but" – she looked over at her mom – "it felt like you were trying to hold me back. Why didn't you tell me about Edgehill? And why weren't you going to tell me about Sony? It's like you didn't want me to have a career." She could feel the tears and heard the quiver in her voice.
Her mom's eyes were glassy with unshed tears. "Maddie, I didn't want to tell you about those offers because they just weren't going to be good for you. They truly weren't in your best interest. And I thought telling you would only make it harder to say no." She squeezed her hands together in her lap and sighed. "I guess I've spent your whole life protecting you, because I love you so much, you and your sister. And your father keeps reminding me I need to let you spread your wings" – she glanced over at her dad – "even when I'd rather keep you close." She took a deep breath. "Clearly I should have at least talked to you about the offers. I know you think I was trying to control you, Maddie, but that's not true. I will always support you. I just don't want you to be taken advantage of."
Her dad looked over at her mom, then back at her. "Sweetie, your mom had people want to sign her, back when she was starting out, and they wanted to take advantage of what she had. The contracts they wanted her to sign weren't in her best interest." He breathed in. "We had to figure out all that on our own. All we wanna do is help you not make a mistake."
She still felt frustrated. "But this is what I want." She looked at her mom. "You got started when you were sixteen."
Her mom sighed, lifting her shoulders. "You're right. I did. But I wasn't standing on a stage in front of twenty thousand people, Maddie. Not when I was sixteen. And I was doing it on my own."
She frowned. "You had Dad. And you got married when you were seventeen. My age."
Her mom made a face. "I did. But that doesn't mean you should. And I was lucky to have your father." She smiled at him and took his hand, then looked back at Maddie. "You have him too. And me." She sighed. "I know you want to perform on your own…."
She threw her hands out. "I do! I know you want me to do it with Daphne, but she's just too young for me right now."
Her mom nodded. "I get it. I really do."
Her dad looked at her mom then and she saw that thing she saw between them so often, the way they seemed to be able to talk to each other without words, with just their eyes. When they turned back to her, he said, "We're willing to help you if you wanna do this on your own. But you gotta let us do that." He breathed in. "Listen to us."
Her mom smiled softly. "Will you do that, Maddie? Let us help you follow your dream?"
She could hardly catch her breath. The truth was, when she thought about going out on her own, it felt scary. She wanted to write music and perform on stage, that hadn't changed. Maybe they could help her. She just stared at them for a moment, then finally nodded her head.
Deacon
He watched Rayna as she got her things together to leave for the Silicon Valley event. He didn't know why she was doing it, other than that she kept talking about needing to expand her reach and the reach of the label. She was unenthusiastic about it, had been from the beginning, and she didn't look happy now. He knew she was thrown off balance by Juliette's plane crash and the aftermath. They'd talked about it privately, after every visit to the hospital, and they were both worried about Juliette, but Rayna seemed unusually bothered. He would ask her if she was okay, and she would say she was, but he just wasn't sure that was true.
It went beyond just the plane crash, though, and they both knew it. It had started when Cash Gray had tried to lure Maddie away, trying to convince her to emancipate herself. Even though they'd won that battle, Maddie had changed and it had changed their relationship with her and with each other. Rayna had blamed herself, blamed him, but they had worked hard not to fall back on old patterns, spending a day with a therapist to help them manage through it all. And even though they'd all recovered, she'd still seemed off-center somehow, not completely back to normal.
In fact, the only thing that seemed to be fine was their marriage. After they'd gotten past the rocky spot with Maddie, things had been better than ever. The session with Dr. Voris seemed to help them re-center, letting them really come together as parents and partners. Together they were stronger, but she still seemed unsettled on every other front. He watched her, shutting out all the noise around them, just laser-focused on her.
The girls were bickering, which was the norm these days, and he noticed that Rayna seemed distracted. He picked up her overnight case off the kitchen island, where she'd left it, and walked over to where she'd left her rolling bag. She wasn't even listening to the girls. "Hey, I'm outta here," she said, over a sigh, as she picked up her purse and jacket. She headed for him. "My love, I leave you all the messes."
"I'll do what I can to clean them up," he said, as she put her arm around him and leaned in for a kiss. He reached around her and gripped her belt as he pulled her close. He found himself feeling unsettled about her going and he wrapped her up in his arms.
"I feel like I can't breathe," she murmured.
"I feel like that when I look at you," he said, trying to lighten things up a little. She didn't respond, but he felt her arm tighten around his neck.
She kissed him again, then stepped back. "I need my hugs," she said to the girls, her arms spread out. "Can't leave without my hugs." The girls ran over to hug her and wish her a safe trip.
He caught sight of her face when Maddie said 'fly safe' and he realized she probably was a little freaked out about flying in a private plane. Truth be told, he was a little freaked out for her. He opened the door for her. She looked at him. "Fly very safe," he said and kissed her again. She looked at him and he could have sworn he saw fear in her eyes for a second and then it was gone. "Call me when you get there." She nodded and then took her bags out to the car without another word.
He didn't like how she sounded on the phone when she called him after the performance. He could tell she was a little bothered that it wasn't really a country music crowd, but it didn't really seem like it was what was bothering her most. He could hear fear in her voice, more like terror, at the idea of flying, but it was even more than that. He knew her so well, better than anyone, and he knew that was just a symptom of whatever was really at the core. He'd been worried when he talked to her after she landed, but now he had a gnawing sense of real discomfort. He sat back on the bench and bit his lip. He remembered the fear she'd had for him back when he was drinking, but this was different. Back then she channeled her fear into action. She'd get angry and then she'd make a plan, take charge. But she was floundering now. He could hear it in her voice and he'd seen it even before she left. She seemed paralyzed by whatever it was that was at the root of her fear and that was not like her.
He got up and walked downstairs. He got his laptop and sat at the dining table, firing it up. He checked the airlines, found a flight and booked it, then headed back upstairs to pack a bag.
He tried to sleep on the plane, but he was too worried about Rayna to more than doze. This really wasn't at all like her. He'd never seen her this unsure of herself. Although he had chafed against it at times, he'd always counted on her being strong and decisive, self-confident and driven. But this was a Rayna who was very different from that other woman. He thought maybe he could help her.
After Maddie came home, they'd found out that part of what had fueled Cash's interest in Maddie had been Frankie's perception that Deacon had taken over his bar. Although Frankie had been enthusiastic when Deacon first got involved, at some point that had changed. Deacon let Frankie buy back his share, much to Rayna's relief. Even he had to admit, though, that these days, spending time on his music and acting as Rayna's unofficial sounding board for Highway 65 made for a much more fulfilling life. And it meant he was even more tuned in to her and her needs.
When he got to the hotel, he was glad she'd left a copy of her travel arrangements with him. He felt sure the front desk clerk wouldn't have given him her room number. He approached the door and knocked. "Room service!" he called out.
After a moment, he heard her say "I didn't order room service." But then a few moments later, after he'd knocked again, she opened the door, a look of happy surprise on her face. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" she cried happily.
When he had her in his arms and they were together in her bed, he was glad he'd come. She always accused him of being impulsive, sometimes with humor but often with frustration. He could tell she'd needed him and had appreciated that he'd been impulsive this time. It seemed to give her some resolve and he started to see the Rayna he knew again.
Rayna
Zach's assistant had a car delivered to the hotel. Deacon walked her out, before he headed to the airport. He helped her put her bags in the trunk, then leaned against her as she leaned back against the driver's side of the car. "Will you call me every night?" he asked, as he held on to her tightly. "I'll worry."
She smiled. "I know you will. And yes, I'll call," she said. She liked how he felt against her body and she kind of wished they could stay an extra day. She wouldn't mind going back and getting into that super soft bed with the incredible sheets. Especially with her man next to her.
"How long you think it'll take?" he asked.
She shrugged. "A week, I think. I'll stop after every three hundred fifty miles or so." That had been their deal. She put her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. "Thanks, babe, for being so understanding."
He put his index finger under her chin and tipped her head back to look at him. "I'm nervous about you doing this, all by yourself. Knowing you got so much on your mind."
She smiled a little. "I think that's why I need to do it, my love. I need to clear my head. There's just too much. Everything we went through with Maddie, the label, my music. I just feel lost." She'd said that to him earlier, about feeling lost, and she still felt like that. It was what had become clear to her as she contemplated what to do next. She'd never felt so unsure of herself in her life.
He sighed. "I'm gonna miss you, baby," he said.
"I'm gonna miss you too, babe." She kissed him. "But I'll be back before you know it."
Deacon
He was pretty sure it was going to feel like the longest week he'd ever lived, but he wanted to see a real smile back on her face and he wanted the weariness he saw to be gone. He really was worried about her. She seemed distracted, had for weeks, maybe even months. It was like the light had gone out inside her and it scared him a little. He reached for the door handle and opened the door for her. She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him, deeply, almost clinging to him, he thought. He put one arm around her waist and pulled her close as he returned the kiss. Finally, reluctantly, he let her go and she moved to get into the car.
He shut the car door as she fastened her seatbelt and put on her sunglasses. She looked up at him. He slid his hand over the back of her head. "Travel safe," he said.
She smiled. "I will. You too."
He leaned down and kissed her one more time, then he tapped the door. "I'll see you back in Nashville then," he said. He stepped back and watched as she started the car. She looked back at him one last time, with a wave, and then pulled out of the parking lot. He stood watching her until she had disappeared from his sight. He sighed. He hoped this was what she needed.
Rayna
The first day she was on the road, she missed Deacon terribly. She thought about him a lot, wandering, in her mind, back through the almost thirty years she'd known him. She smiled when she thought about the good times and she wept when she thought about the bad. She had bittersweet feelings about what she now referred to as 'the Teddy years', the years when she questioned herself at every turn. She could never quite get to a place where she regretted that time of her life, though, if for no other reason than her sweet Daphne.
There were times when she cleared her mind, as much as she could, and just looked at the country around her. She would stop at off-the-grid kinds of places for lunch, lingering over a bbq sandwich or a bowl of soup with grilled cheese. The weather was mostly good, so she didn't have to pull up the top much. She liked the feel of the wind in her hair and the sun on her skin.
Her mind flitted from one thing to another. Deacon, the girls, the next steps with Maddie, her mom, Juliette, her career. Things felt so unsettled and she didn't like that feeling. She was normally in control and she was feeling lost, like she'd told Deacon. She couldn't decide exactly what that meant, except that she felt not in control of her life. She thought back to the tour after she'd had Maddie. She remembered feeling like that was where she belonged – on stage, in front of an audience, being creative, making music. That started her thinking about how long it had been since she'd felt that way. She started peeling away the layers of that.
I'm not recording anymore because…I don't have anything to say. Was that really true? When had that started? It was true that it had been a long time since she'd written anything. She thought back and realized that the last song she'd written had been that song she'd performing on Dancing With The Stars. 'Lies of the Lonely'. She wondered if Luke had ever listened to it, since it was really a song about him and everything he'd represented. It wasn't long after that when things had all blown up and she'd left him. But that was, what, nearly three years before? That was a long drought.
She had teased Deacon about writing together again, that night they'd performed at the Bluebird before his surgery. But life got in the way. Her label got in the way. Her artists got in the way. Her girls got in the way. And, before she knew it, she'd lost her way.
She would stay at out of the way places off the highway. She called Deacon every night and they talked about what she'd seen that day and where she was headed the next. The conversations were short, because she wanted to be able to take in everything she was experiencing and figure out what to do with it, before she really talked to him in depth. But she had wanted to hear his voice, feeling it wrap around her like a comfortable old blanket.
She listened to music, from old classic country to some of the current music, but mostly she listened to favorites like John Conlee and Loretta Lynn and Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, the music she related to and that fed her soul. Music that told stories, the way she and Deacon had always liked to write.
About halfway through the drive she began to feel like she had slipped off the tightness, the melancholy, the indecision she felt she'd been plagued with. She stopped for gas just after she'd crossed into Oklahoma, which was where she'd seen the blind man playing 'Wayfaring Stranger'. When she got back in the car, she couldn't get the song out of her mind. You should let yourself sing. Singing's good for the soul. You might find the joy you're looking for. That was when she finally felt like she had pushed through the fog, that she was beginning to find a sense of what came next. She was ready to go home. Ready to be with her man and her family. Ready to tell her story.
She pushed herself to drive a little further on day five so that she was closer to home. The sun was starting to set in the sky when she pulled into the driveway at home on day six. She got out of the car and stretched, smiling, glad to be back in Nashville. She got her bags out of the trunk and let herself into the house. It was quiet and the downstairs was empty.
"Hello?" she called out. She left her bags at the door and then dropped her purse and the keys on the counter. "Anybody home?" She waited and then she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Hey, baby!" Deacon cried as he hurried down the stairs and over to her. He took her in his arms. "I didn't expect you back until tomorrow."
She smiled at him. "I drove straight through. I just needed to be home." She kissed him. "So where is everybody?"
He smirked. "We didn't know you were coming today, so Maddie's at that Song Suffragette deal and Daphne's spending the night with one of her friends. So you just got me."
She wrinkled her nose. "Just who I wanted to see." Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him as he kissed her warmly.
He cooked her dinner, but not before she'd grabbed his t-shirt and pulled him into the den and down onto the couch. As long as we're the only ones here, why not? It had felt a little like the early days, when it was just the two of them and all it took was to brush past each other and then they'd be all wrapped up in each other. It had felt fun and a little naughty and part of why she'd hurried home, because she was tired of not having him. And afterwards they stretched out next to each other, their legs and fingers entangled, just kissing and laughing softly. I sure ain't a kid anymore, Ray. I don't know, babe, I thought you did pretty well for an old guy.
After dinner, they'd scrambled up the back stairs and tumbled into their bedroom, unable to keep their hands off each other. She noticed, not surprisingly, that the bed was unmade. She smiled a little to herself. He was definitely not one to make up a bed, as she remembered from their first years together. But it certainly made it easier to crawl under the covers. "I am so glad to be back in our bed," she said.
"It sure feels better with you in it," he said, with a grin, as he crawled in on his side. She scooched over and laid across him, her leg crossed over his. She laid her head on his chest and felt him grab her hair and kiss the top of her head. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you so much too."
He ran his hand up and down her arm. "So what you find out there on your trip?" he asked.
She rested her chin on his chest and looked at him. "Clarity, mostly. You know, when you take a drive like that, everything that's not important just kind of falls away."
He pushed her hair off her face. "Sounds like what you needed."
She nodded. "I had so much time to think, you know? I thought about everything. Our lives together, all the good and the bad, how we've always been so intimately connected. I thought about my mom and about Juliette and how everything can be gone in an instant. And I thought about how I got myself so caught up in my label that I forgot what's inside of me, the part of me that wanted to be in this business in the first place. I've lost the creative side of me, Deacon, the real me, you know? That thing that makes me feel energized and alive." She smiled. "I came up with an idea though."
He raised his eyebrows. "Yeah? What kinda idea?"
She bit her bottom lip. "I want us to do a record together, like we talked about."
"Like a duet album?"
She shook her head. "Bigger than that. Like our story. A concept album. Where we write all the songs, sing all the songs, you know, the story of us." She smiled. "What do you think?"
He breathed in. "Wow. You sure?" She couldn't be certain, but she thought he might have seemed less than enthusiastic.
"Yeah. I think it could be amazing. Don't you?"
He leaned in and kissed her. "What I think, is that you had all this time to dream this up and I think we need to talk about it more tomorrow. 'Cause that ain't really what I want to talk about right now, you know?" He smirked.
She laughed. "I think I know what you want to talk about right now," she said.
He grinned. "Actually, I don't wanna talk at all." Then he slid his arms around her and kissed her deeply and she forgot all about her trip and the album and just concentrated on being home again with this man she adored.
Deacon
He figured Rayna was probably exhausted from the long drive, so he slid out of bed and went downstairs. He started the coffee and then leaned against the counter waiting for it to make. He thought again about what Rayna had proposed the night before. Our story. A concept album. Where we write all the songs, sing all the songs, you know, the story of us. He breathed in slowly and frowned. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Actually, that wasn't true. He knew exactly how he felt about it. He didn't want to do it. For a lot of reasons, not the least of which was that he wasn't sure he actually wanted to wade through their history again. Their painful history. He wasn't really sure why she wanted to do it either. And he kind of hoped maybe she'd forget about it.
He was sitting in the den with his coffee and a book when she came flying down the stairs. "Babe, I overslept!" she cried, as she ran to the coffee maker and poured coffee in the travel mug he'd left out for her. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
He looked back at her over the back of the couch. "You just looked so peaceful. I hated to wake you up," he said.
She gave him an exaggerated sigh and walked over to him. She leaned down and kissed him and he turned slightly so he could thread his fingers into her hair and hold her an extra moment. When she stood back up, she smiled down at him. "You do look extra sexy in those glasses, babe," she said. "I just have to say that."
He grinned. "I guess I need to wear 'em more often then," he said.
"I think that would be an excellent idea." She sighed again. "I need to run. I'm gonna be late for a meeting with Bucky." She pointed at him with her finger. "We'll talk more tonight." She walked over to the kitchen island and picked up her purse, sliding her phone into it.
He just gave her a half-smile, knowing that meant the duet album conversation wasn't over.
Rayna
She had stewed over the conversation with Bucky all the way home. And then having Zach call her afterwards. It made her feel a little bit like she was losing some of the clarity she'd gained during her road trip. This, the Highway 65 stuff, was what took so much away from her, zapped her creativity. She really wanted to get into the concept album with Deacon before she lost the desire. Which made her think back to his reaction the night before. He hadn't really responded to her question about how amazing it could be. He'd actually seemed kind of meh to the idea. She frowned as she considered that.
He was in the kitchen when she walked in. "Hey," he said as he looked up. "How was it today?"
She made an irritated noise. "I had the most disappointing conversation with Bucky. Talking about Highway 65 being in trouble. But no really out-of-the-box solutions for that. And then, quite coincidentally, Zach Welles calls with this interest in getting into the country music business."
He raised his eyebrows. "Zach Welles?"
She rolled her eyes as she laid her purse and phone down. "Yes, Zach Welles. I mean, he's the kind of person who blew up country music and now he wants to come in and save country music." She shook her head. "I get that a lot has changed, with streaming and all that, but gosh, Deacon, I just don't need all this doom and gloom stuff." He looked at her a little funny. She frowned. "What?"
He looked away from her. "Look, uh, you sure you want to spend your company's money doing a duet album with me?"
She rolled her eyes. "This is not a duet album, babe." She thought about Bucky's comments around it not being commercial enough and wanting her to do something like this with someone who had a higher profile, which had irritated her. But that wasn't what she wanted. This was important, to her, and she wanted it to be important to Deacon. She put her hand on the counter and looked at him. "Do you just not want to do this?"
He looked back at her. "Maybe I don't. But at the risk of stating the obvious, you could do this with someone who's a bigger draw than me."
She huffed. "Deacon, this isn't just an album with someone else. It's our story. It's about us, not about the money. I mean, I came back from my trip with this great idea and it feels like you're letting fear keep you from doing it with me."
He shook his head and frowned. "It ain't about fear, Rayna. I don't know why you think that."
She raised her hands up in a frustrated gesture. "So you just don't wanna do it?"
He shrugged. "Maybe I don't."
"But why?"
He looked at her and sighed. "Our life together ain't been all flowers and hearts, baby, you know that. There's been a lotta pain and struggle and, you know, with us getting married again, I finally feel like I'm coming out of that. Maybe I don't wanna go back and drag all that back up again. It's painful, Rayna."
She considered what he'd said. "But you know, probably better than anyone, that some of the best music comes from the darkest places."
He raised his eyebrows. "I do. You're right. But I don't know that I wanna do that now. I just don't wanna do that."
She sighed. "It doesn't have to be dark and painful, Deacon. It can be beautiful." He had turned away from her by then and she felt hurt. "Will you at least think about it?" she asked. "Not completely close the door yet?"
He looked over at her. She couldn't really read him and she was afraid he'd completely shut her down. Finally he breathed out. "Yeah. I'll think about it." But he didn't look happy about it.
She wanted to understand his hesitancy to do the concept album. But he really didn't want to talk about it with her. Maybe I underestimated how much all that hurt him. It wasn't that she wanted to hurt him again, just show how their love had persevered during all of what they'd gone through. She thought again about how easy it would have been to have just let themselves break instead of holding onto the love they shared. They fought hard, the two of them. They were both passionate souls. She was always grateful though that, no matter how hard they fought, they always came back together in the end. That they knew each other so intimately and that they knew their love would never allow them to break that bond. So she was sure eventually they'd find their way.
When she did try to reengage him in conversation about it, it didn't always go well and they would both end up frustrated. In the heat of a particularly difficult argument about it, when they couldn't seem to find their way through it, she said, "I don't wanna be afraid of it. I don't wanna be afraid of who we are, you know? I wanna be able to touch our pain without having to hurt each other. I don't want us to go back into our patterns and our drama."
"So you tell me, Rayna," he said, looking resigned. "What do we do? How do we do this?"
It had been hard to get through it. There weren't any easy answers. They were both stubborn people, she acknowledged that. It had felt like they were at an impasse they struggled to get past. But they finally did, as they always did. And she was reminded of the words from the song he wrote to let her know he was all in on the album. I'm never singing, unless my song is for you / So slam the door and I'll slam it back / Baby I love you, and it's as simple as that. It didn't mean it was easy and it didn't mean they didn't still struggle with it, but it finally felt as though they could move forward.
She curled up on the couch in the music room and watched Deacon talking to the sound guy as they worked through the songs they'd recorded so far. She had recorded some harmonizing vocals for 'Simple As That', the song he'd written to let her know he was on board with the concept album. She smiled to herself as they worked on mixing the two together. Now that they'd found a rhythm, the process was going more smoothly. Then Gene crossed her line of vision, focusing his camera on Deacon, who looked up at the videographer and frowned. Her smile broadened when she considered how much Deacon was still annoyed by Gene. She, however, had come around to the idea that not only would this be a meaningful accompaniment to the album itself, but the totality of it would be like a visual scrapbook of their lives together, along with the girls, that they could keep forever.
It's an imaginary line we never crossed / But it might seem like all is lost / From the outside looking in…. She felt a little emotional shiver go through her as she listened to that line. It seemed to sum up their whole relationship so well. All the things they ever did to each other or put each other through had never broken their bond. He was still that young man she'd fallen in love with all those years ago, with his impulsiveness and his deep feelings, but she'd watched him grow stronger over the years. We've got a lot of water under the bridge and a lot of history and I've seen Deacon go through all of it and he always comes up stronger than he was before. He's just incredible that way. He never gives up. She sighed and felt tears in her eyes. It was true. He'd been her anchor, always. He was always the one she clung to, when things seemed overwhelming. He was her constant.
She breathed in deeply and then reached over to pick up her writing notebook. The words flowed out of her almost without her thinking about them. It's like you've been the only one for all my life / Like I've never looked into another's eyes / The only hand I've ever held on to / No, I can't remember never loving you. She would show it to Deacon later and hopefully they could craft another song from that. She leaned back against the couch, focusing again on him, feeling grateful for the chance to do all this again with him.
And from the corner of her eye, she realized Gene had, once again, captured all of that, and she smiled.
Deacon
Deacon looked up when Rayna opened the door to the music room. "Hey," he said. "You're home."
She smiled as she walked over and slid her hand down his arm, leaning over to kiss him. Then she walked around the couch and sat next to him, as he set his guitar aside. She leaned into him and he put his arm around her. She settled her hand on his leg, running it up and down. "So Zach made kind of an interesting proposition today," she said, with a sigh.
He smiled. "I ain't into sharing. You can tell him that ain't happening."
She looked up at him, her eyebrows raised, and then she laughed. "He does not want to have a threesome, babe," she said, with a smirk. "In any case, I think he might be gay, so it would be you he'd be interested in, not me."
He laughed out loud. "Well, you can tell him you ain't interested in sharing either then."
She smiled up at him. "Actually, all kidding aside, apparently he heard that Luke Wheeler might be interested in selling Wheelin' Dealin' Records. And he thinks Highway 65 should buy it."
He sat back and looked at her with surprise. "Seriously?"
She nodded. "Seriously."
He contemplated that. "What do you want to do?"
She breathed out. "Well, you know, normally I wouldn't do something like that. I'd rather grow the label organically. And Highway 65 definitely doesn't have the cash to do that." She looked up at him. "But Zach does."
He wasn't at all sure how he felt about Luke being part of Highway 65. Or what Zach's presence meant to Rayna's label long term. "You sure about this?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I'm not sure about any of it, really. I'm not even sure Zach's information is right. But, as it happens, Luke's in town tonight at Bridgestone and Zach thinks we should talk to him about it." She looked up at him. "You wanna go with me?"
"Not really," he said. She frowned. "You know how it is, baby. No matter that we sort of called a truce, Luke Wheeler sees me as the guy who stole you away. It ain't like we're buddies or nothing."
She made a face. "You didn't steal me away," she said. "That's ridiculous."
He shrugged. "You know how men think, baby," he said. "Always so simplistic." He cut his eyes down to her.
She swatted his chest. "Stop." She rolled her eyes. "I made all the moves, you remember. I just want to be sure we're clear on that." She looked at him playfully and he laughed. "Are you okay then if I go with Zach and we sort of explore this idea? See if it's even real?"
He ran his hand over his mouth and thought about it. "I guess it makes sense. You'd sure get some firepower back on your label." He looked at her. "Would Luke come with the deal?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. That's a good question. Somehow I think he wouldn't want to do that, and I'd be okay with it. Having Juliette back and adding Will Lexington and some of the other up-and-comers he has would be good adds for us though."
He pressed her a little closer to him and smiled at her. "Then I think you should go for it," he said.
He opened his eyes when he felt her fingers against his back. He rolled over and looked at her. "Hey," he said, with a smile, his voice sleepy.
"Hey," she said, smiling back. She let her fingers run along his jawline.
"You do the deal?" he asked.
She nodded. "I did." She rubbed his cheek with her knuckles. "You'll be happy to know that Luke won't be coming with the deal. I agreed to let him go sign with another label." She grinned. "So it wouldn't be awkward or anything."
He chuckled. "Good for you," he said. Then he wrapped his arms around her and rolled her over onto her back and hovered over her, as she squealed. He leaned down and kissed her, lingering on her lips. "My little mogul," he teased.
She reached her hands up and put them on his face, pulling him down for another kiss. Then she laughed, that throaty, full laugh of hers that he hadn't heard lately. "That sure did feel good," she said.
He settled on top of her. "How does this feel?" he whispered against her neck. He kissed her on the neck right where she liked it and she moaned.
She laughed again, softly this time. "It feels like I have way too many clothes on," she answered, and he agreed.
Daphne
She walked away from Gene and hurried up the stairs to her room. She threw herself down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. That had not really gone the way she'd meant. The question Gene had asked was pretty simple. What is it like having your mom and dad work on an album together? She'd started okay. It looked hard, that was true. She'd watched them over the last couple days and they'd seemed at cross purposes with each other. That didn't look fun to her. When she and Maddie worked on songs together, it came together pretty well, but her mom and Deacon? Well, they'd looked kind of upset with each other.
When she slipped and made the comment about it not always looking like they loved each other, she'd stopped the interview. She hadn't meant to say that. She knew they really loved each other. She knew they'd loved each other for a long time, and she'd accepted that. She felt more comfortable with Deacon now and appreciated how he took time for her.
It was a tightrope though. She lived with her mom and Deacon. She still loved her dad though and it sometimes felt like she was in the middle. And when her mom and Deacon argued, it sometimes made her feel unsettled. She had asked her mom about it, back when they were first getting started with the album.
"So what is it you're writing about again?" Daphne asked.
Rayna sighed and then put her arm around Daphne's shoulders. "You know Deacon and I have a long history." Daphne nodded. "There was a lot of pain in that history, a lot of heartache, but also a lot of love." She smiled a little. "I met Deacon when I was sixteen years old and I fell in love with him that very day. We kind of grew up together and there were times when it was really messy and it hurt. And then we went through a lot of years where we were friends, being supportive of each other, learning to give each other space. So it's a lot of that."
"Seems like it would be hard."
Rayna nodded. "It's not easy, that's for sure. There's a delicate balance when you tell a story like that. And we're trying to tell it the right way, with respect for each other."
Daphne frowned. "But it seems like you're mad at each other."
Rayna pulled her close. "We're not mad at each other, sweetheart. I promise." She leaned her head down on Daphne's. "You know, Deacon and I have always had a relationship where we could really be open with each other and sometimes that means we argue and yell, but we always find our way back." She looked down at her daughter. "I hope you find a relationship like that one day. Where you can be yourself and know you're loved no matter what. Where you can always be honest because that other person understands you and knows you, deep down inside."
Daphne smiled. "Sounds like it's going to be an amazing album."
She knew it would be. They were the best at what they did. She loved all their old songs and she knew they would write beautiful new ones. And even if they were painful, there would still be love.
Rayna
It was always a tricky thing with fans. The good news was that country music fans were mostly respectful people, at least in her experience. She'd done Fan Fair in the early days and continued with CMA Fest when it evolved and there were always meet and greets for fans. She was happy to do them, happy to meet the people who bought her records and came to her concerts and requested her songs on the radio. She went through a six year stint of playing the big shows at the football stadium.
Living in Nashville, she'd learned to appreciate that locals mostly left stars alone. She could go out with her girls or with Deacon and know she wouldn't be bombarded with fans wanting autographs or pictures. There wasn't much of a paparazzi presence in Nashville either, except at big award shows. She knew that people took pictures sometimes, because they would show up in tabloids. Grainy phone pictures that were rarely flattering. But it was a small price to pay.
She still did meet and greets for VIP fans at certain shows. She saw it as part of the deal, part of being a star. She knew there were a lot of other artists who didn't do them or only did them early in their careers. Luke was one of those artists.
"Truthfully, Rayna, I hate doing them," he told her on a rare day when they were relaxing at the ranch. "Always have. I don't like being hugged or touched or grabbed at by strangers."
She looked surprised. "Really? Because you always seem so engaged with them when you're on stage. And they relate to you so well."
He shrugged and smirked. "The trick is making them think you're approachable even when you're not. Talking to 'em like you would love to meet 'em, but just can't."
"Didn't you do Fan Fair and CMA Fest?"
He nodded. "Oh, yeah, sure, in the beginning. But when I got to that point where I could play arenas and stadiums and I was always on the big stage at the fest, I stopped. No need." He looked at her. "Aren't you afraid of stalkers? That's what I worry about. Get too close to 'em and you end up with a stalker."
She shrugged. "That could happen anyway, though, right? I really haven't had an issue though."
He reached for her hand and squeezed it, smiling lovingly. "Well, that's because you're everybody's friend, darlin'. You have that warm smile and the 'how y'all doing' thing going on and they all think you're their friend."
She had laughed back then, but now she had to wonder. Had she been too available? Too open? Certainly there were parts of her life that were off limits. She worked hard to keep her girls mostly out of the spotlight, particularly when they were very young. She'd only had one person even close to a stalker. The woman who used to mail her socks. It was strange, but it blew over pretty fast. And there were a handful of overzealous fans along the way, but nobody got really close. But this letter, with the rose petals, that was straight up scary.
Deacon
Once they finally got going on the concept album, things seemed to fall in place more easily. They had struggled to write the first song together, for a lot of reasons. It had been a long time since they'd written together about each other and they realized that was a muscle they'd had to develop again. They'd both somehow assumed it would just fall into place, as though all the years and all the ups and downs of their relationship would just melt away. Once they'd gotten past the initial hurdle, however, it got easier.
Of course, there was still Gene, good old Gene, hanging around, filming everything. Eventually he'd become like part of the background noise and he, mostly, followed the boundaries Rayna set up. He was still less okay with it than she was, but it had finally stopped being the sword he wanted to fall on.
The stalker bothered him though. That part raised his anxiety level and had him on alert. He had a bad feeling about it from the start, but everyone kept telling him the guy was likely harmless. After all, it was just letters and flowers and non-threatening things. But then it wasn't. This guy showed up at Rayna's office, he approached Daphne at school, he stood outside their gate. They had a state-of-the-art security system and bodyguards and yet, he still felt helpless. Like he couldn't keep everyone safe. He felt a sense of panic every time Rayna left the house, any time the girls left the house. He wasn't worried about himself – he knew he could handle this guy himself – but he couldn't protect his girls all the time and that scared him, deep down inside.
Rayna was the right amount of nervous. He thought she'd probably learned how to be alert and aware of her surroundings and what was happening near her from all the years she'd spent with him. It hurt him to think about it, but he also knew it meant she didn't overlook things. He was glad she didn't balk at having a bodyguard with her, though, as inconvenient as it was. If nothing else, it made him feel secure.
She had a busy Saturday planned. He was sitting on the bench in the bedroom when she came out of the closet, sliding on a light leather jacket. He looked up. "You going?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna stop by the Five Spot to see Maddie's boyfriend perform." She made a little face. They'd both been nervous about him. He was older than Maddie and it worried them that he might try to take advantage of her. But they had also come to realize Maddie wasn't a little girl anymore and they were trying to straddle the line between being overprotective and giving her the right amount of space.
He grinned. "She'll be surprised to see you."
She shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, she will." She walked over and sat down next to him, bumping his shoulder. "But you're right. She's not a little girl anymore and we need to give her a little freedom."
He raised his eyebrows. "What was that? I was actually right?"
She swatted his arm and made a face. "I'll admit there probably was some value to you not being the parent she lived with all the time. I can learn from you too."
He leaned in and kissed her. "You still going by the office after?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I want to listen to some demos Bucky left for me. There are a couple artists he's really excited about."
"You be home by seven or so? I can get Chuck to come by and we can do some more recording."
She smiled. "Yeah, that sounds good. I did those scratch tracks for 'Can't Remember Never Loving You' and 'You're Mine'. Maybe you can take a listen today while I'm gone and we can wrap those up tonight." She scrunched up her face. "I'm still thinking we need one more song though, babe."
He frowned slightly. "You sure? We got like sixteen or something. More than we need."
She turned towards him. "Well, I know, but it wasn't all pain, Deacon, you know that. I feel like we need something that shows how we came out of it in the end." She screwed up her face. "You know, like at the end of a book there's an epilogue, so you know how things turned out."
"You want an epilogue?"
She shook her head, a thoughtful look on her face. "It's not that, exactly. But, you know, that promise of something more, the last thing you hear that makes it all make sense."
"Like a coda?"
She smiled. "That's it." She leaned in and kissed him. "You're so smart, babe." He grinned. She sat back. "That's what I want us to write. That song that kind of wraps it up, that shows where we are now. Because this, you know, what we have now, this is beautiful." He could see just a wisp of a tear in her eye.
He took her hand and squeezed it. "We'll do that then," he said. She reached up and stroked his cheek with her hand for a moment, then got up. He stood up with her.
"So, you're on Daphne duty today, right?"
He nodded. "Yep. She's got concert rehearsal and I'll get her there. I think she's going off with her friends after though." He pulled her into his arms. "Be careful, baby," he said. Deep down inside, he had an uncomfortable feeling, but he couldn't figure out why. He was tense about this Wayne business all the time, but this felt different, somehow, like a warning. He pulled her close and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Please."
She smiled a little. "Of course. I have my security with me. I'll be fine." She pressed her lips against his, but he pulled her even closer, tugging at her lips until she opened her mouth to his and he kissed her almost savagely. When he finally pulled his lips from hers, she was breathing heavily. "What was that about?" she asked, her voice a little breathy.
He shook his head and smirked a little. "I just wish I could keep you right next to me, baby, all the time. I hate letting you out of my sight, even for a second." He pulled her even closer and looked at her intently. "God, I love you so much."
She ran her hand over his face, her eyes darting over his face. "Me too," she whispered. She grazed her thumb over his lips. "I'm gonna be fine."
He nodded, feeling intensely emotional just then. "I know," he said. "I worry though."
She smiled then. "I love that you worry." She brushed his lips with a kiss. "And that you look out for me. What would I do without you?"
He chuckled softly. "You ain't never gonna need to worry about that again," he said.
She pulled back from him then and turned towards the door, taking him by the hand. "I need to get going," she said. "Walk me out?"
"You bet," he said and he followed her out the door and down the hall.
Rayna
She thought about how it ended. She had never been so scared in her life. Not even back in the days when Deacon was struggling so much and she was so afraid for him. She didn't think she'd make it out alive. She thought about Deacon, about her girls, and was terrified they'd have to go on without her. She had slid down onto the floor as the police took Wayne out of the office.
Wayne. Even though he told her the knife was dull, she knew he could still hurt her. He was bigger than her, stronger than her. He could easily overpower her. She tried everything she could think of, as he stood there in her office, adrenaline racing through her body. She struggled to stay as calm as she could, to try to reach him somehow, reason with the unreasonable. She asked him questions and then tried to give him a story that would let him see she struggled too. She tried to identify with his pain, understanding somewhere deep inside, totally on instinct, that it was what he'd needed.
Then the bodyguard was there, gun drawn. Cops were swarming her office. There was so much shouting and she could feel Wayne's panic as he held her with the knife perilously close to her neck. She still tried to reason with him, reach him, and finally he had dropped the knife and she was safe.
She had been in a daze when she walked out of the office. There were flashing lights and sirens all over but she felt like she was in a fog. A female cop told her they would take her to the hospital, but all she wanted was to go home. She wanted to see Deacon. She wanted to hold her girls. She needed her family. I don't want to go to the hospital. I just want to go home. They gently put her into the squad car and then the car headed towards the main road.
She found her phone and called Deacon. "Hey, we've been waiting on you," he said, when he answered. She started to cry when she heard his voice. "Baby, what happened?" he asked. She tried to speak, but she couldn't. "Rayna, what is it, sweetie?" He sounded scared.
She finally found her voice. "Something terrible happened," she managed to say, gasping for breath. "I mean, it's okay, I'm okay." She was still struggling to breath. "I'm coming home."
"Come home, baby," he said. His voice wrapped around her, as surely as if he were right there with her, his arms holding her tight.
She was nodding, knowing he couldn't see her, still crying, but feeling better after hearing his voice. "I am," she said. "I'll be there…soon." She hung up the phone and sat back against the seat as the car raced through downtown Nashville.
She closed her eyes and breathed in, but all she could see was Wayne coming in her office, him chasing her down, him holding that knife against her throat. She gasped for breath and her eyes flew open. She thought about what Deacon had said to her about her panic attack, during the trip to Silicon Valley. Giving into this panic is just the worst thing for it. Just tell yourself you're gonna be fine. She breathed in deeply and smiled a little. Just like a man, to think it's so easy. Then the emotions of the night washed over her again and she felt the tears welling up in her eyes.
Before long they were at the gate and she gave the police officer the gate code. The gates swung open and the squad car eased down the drive. Rayna could see all the lights were on in the house and she felt her chest tighten. The car pulled up by the front door and, as she looked through the window, she saw Deacon throw open the door and start out. She choked on a sob and opened the car door, flying across the drive, and letting him wrap her up in his arms as she cried on his chest.
"I got her. Thanks for everything," she heard him telling the officer. He just held her and she heard the police car drive off. "It's okay, baby," he whispered. "You're home. You're safe." Then she started shaking, her knees feeling like they were going to buckle underneath her. Her sobs turned ragged and she was struggling to breath. She was aware of him sliding an arm behind her knees and picking her up. All she could do was wrap her arms around his neck and bury her face in his shoulder, her sobs loud and wrenching.
Almost before she knew it, she was on the couch, with a blanket wrapped around her, and he was smoothing the hair back off her face. She finally was able to stop crying and drew in a deep breath. "Are the…are the girls here?" she asked. She almost didn't recognize her own voice. It sounded thready and weak to her ear.
He shook his head. "Daphne's at choir practice. Maddie's still out with Clay." He breathed in and then leaned in to kiss her gently. "You want me to get them home?" She nodded. He started to get up, but she grabbed his arm.
"Wait. Maybe not just yet," she said. "I don't…I don't want them to see me like this."
He nodded and sat back down. "Okay." He took her hands. "Can I get you something?"
She looked at him. Her beautiful, amazing husband. The man she'd fought so hard to get back to. The man she almost lost forever. The only man she'd ever truly loved. She smiled a little tremulously. "I have it already," she said softly. "You."
He leaned in and kissed her, then let his hand drift down over her cheek. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked, his eyes filled with concern.
She breathed in and made a face, shrugging slightly. "I think I still need to kind of process through it first," she said. "But I think that's the most afraid I've ever been in my whole life. And you know that's saying a lot because I've been through some pretty scary stuff. But what's different now is that you're right here next to me." She took his hand, feeling a wave of emotion rolling over her. "That's just the sweetest feeling in the whole world." She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. "I thought I was gonna die, Deacon," she whispered. "And then all I could think about was that I just wasn't going to die tonight. You know?" She tried to laugh and bit her lip. "I just wasn't ready for that. I've got too much to live for. We have too much to live for."
He looked at her and she could see the tears in his eyes. He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. "Oh, baby," he whispered, his voice shaking. "I ain't ready to lose you. Not nowhere close." She let herself relax into his arms, finally feeling safe.
Deacon
It took her a long time to stop shaking. It was like she had this deep, impenetrable cold she couldn't get past. But he understood, because it had taken until he saw her get out of that police car before his own heart had stopped racing. After he had talked to her on the phone, her bodyguard had called and given him a very high level accounting of what had happened at Highway 65. Hockney hiding in the office, taking Rayna hostage and then threatening her with a knife. He understood why she was so scared, why she said it was the most scared she'd ever been in her life.
She turned in his arms and looked at him, her eyes searching his face. "Let's wait until tomorrow to tell the girls," she said. "I don't want to scare them."
He smoothed her hair and nodded. "I agree," he said. "I want you to get a good night's sleep."
She made a face. "I don't know if I can close my eyes, Deacon. Every time I do, I see him. I see him walk in my office, hold up that knife, chase me down the hall." She shuddered. "I don't think I'll ever forget it."
He pulled her back into his arms and shushed her, rubbing her arm with his hand, trying to soothe her. "But you're safe now, baby," he said.
She nodded against his chest. "All I wanted to do was get back to you. I wanted you to hold me, just like this." She grabbed his shirt, making a fist. "I was just so scared that after everything, after all we've gone through, that it would be…." She trailed off and started to cry again.
He held her tighter against his chest. He could feel tears in his own eyes, thinking about how badly it could have gone. He'd spent a lot of years without her, having lost her to his own demons. When he finally got her back, he'd vowed to take care of her for the rest of their lives. It had never crossed his mind that he might face losing her again, but with no hope of getting her back. He thought it must have been how she'd felt, when he was fighting cancer. It made him want to never let her out of his sight again, never let her go.
She was finally sleeping, deeply he knew, because she was lightly snoring. He smiled a little to himself, thinking about how she always got defensive when he told her she snored. But the smile turned to the hint of tears, as he thought about how close he'd come to possibly losing her. He quietly slipped out of their bed and went to sit in one of the chairs by the window, not wanting to leave her alone in case she woke up. The dim light in the room put everything in shadow and all he could see was the outline of furniture in the room.
He slumped down in the chair and ran his hands over his face. He breathed in deeply, another wave of anguish washing over him. He thought about his conversation with the bodyguard. He had a knife. She said he threatened her with it and then, when we got there, he held it against her neck. Turns out it wasn't particularly sharp, but, you know. He did know. Even if it wasn't a sharp knife, he could have hurt her with it, had he used it. He could have killed her with it.
His eyes got damp again and he had a lump in his throat. He looked over and saw her shadowed form lying in the bed, and he considered how differently that could have gone. Suddenly he couldn't catch his breath, as he considered how differently that conversation with her bodyguard could have gone. What if I lost her? Would I have even gotten a chance to tell her goodbye? That I loved her my whole life? That she was everything to me? That I don't know who I am without her?
He swallowed hard. He remembered how she'd told him, when he was waiting to go into surgery, that if anything ever happened to her, she wanted him to move on. She had said it because he'd said it to her, but it scared him to think how close he might have come to actually having to consider that. Of course, he could have not survived the surgery or maybe he would never have gotten the surgery at all and then she would have been faced with that same possibility.
He sighed deeply. She was here, though, sleeping in their bed. She hadn't died that night, she'd come home to him. He hadn't died either. They would have their whole future, just like they'd planned. What had she said that day they'd finally had their breakthrough on the concept album? All I know is I'm here, right now, and I'm not going anywhere, ever. He breathed in deeply as the tears welled up in his eyes. That's right, baby. We're not going anywhere, ever. He smiled to himself and then he got up from the chair and gently crawled back into bed, next to her.
She woke up not long before dawn with a sharp scream. He opened his eyes and sat up. She was sitting there, breathing in and out, a ragged sound. He put his arms around her and she turned into him, nestling into his side. "You okay, baby?" he asked soothingly.
"I just dreamed…there was blood everywhere," she whispered.
"It's okay," he said softly. "You don't gotta worry about him no more. You're safe."
She nodded against his chest. "I'm so glad you're here," she murmured.
He leaned his head on hers, running his fingers through her hair. "Me too, baby," he whispered. "Me too." He leaned back into the pillows, drawing her down with him.
She ran her fingers over his chest. "Are the girls home?" she asked.
"Yeah. But don't worry, I didn't say nothing. Just that you had gone to bed."
"Thanks, babe." She sighed. "He just appeared, you know," she said then, and he turned his head slightly toward her. "Like he was a ghost or something. With that knife. My heart was beating so hard, I thought he could probably hear it. But I knew I had to reach him somehow, you know? So I could get out of that situation alive." She turned to look up at him and he nodded. "I don't think he was a bad guy, Deacon, just lonely and sad and mixed up."
He frowned. "I think it was more than that, baby," he said.
"No, I mean it, Deacon. He just needed someone to listen. And understand."
"But why you?"
"Well, because he heard something in my music. He said it was like I spoke to him, like I understood him." She moved so she could look at him. "That's when I knew I needed to figure out a way to relate to him. To not scare him. To reach him somehow so I was human to him. Not just a voice on the radio or on a record."
"What did you do?"
"I asked him some questions and then I tried to talk to him like I understood. And, you know, in some ways I did. I understood growing up like he did, with pain. So I tried to relate that way." She breathed out. "His father was an alcoholic, so he thought I understood that too." She looked at him, sadness in her eyes. "Which I do. I mean, my story had a happy ending, but I had to try to relate to his, babe."
He nodded. "So you threw me under the bus?"
She reached out and ran her index finger over his chin. "A little. Just to try to make him trust me, though."
He breathed out. "Long as it got you home safe to me, it ain't nothing, baby," he said.
She laid her head on his chest, letting her fingers trace over the scar on his abdomen. "You know, when I got home last night and you held me right there on the front steps, I realized that the most loved and protected I've ever felt in my whole life was with you." She looked back at him, with tears in her eyes. "I don't know why I didn't realize that before. Even when things were so hard for us, I always knew I could count on you to protect me. I always knew how much you loved me." She ran a finger across his jaw. "Why did it take so long for me to figure that out, Deacon? Why did I fight it so hard all those years?"
He breathed in slowly. "I think we just had to go through all that, baby," he said. "But we never really lost each other, we just found our way differently. That's what I think."
She ran the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip. "You were always there," she said softly.
He let his fingers trail over her hair. "All I ever wanted to do was take care of you, Rayna," he whispered. He kissed her, then rolled her over onto her back and moved to lay on top of her. He kept kissing her and touching her and she began to respond to him. He finally leaned in and kissed her on the spot on her neck under her earlobe that always drove her crazy. She moaned deep in her throat and he knew she was ready.
He was pouring coffee when she walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist, leaning against his back with a soft sigh. "You sleep okay?" he asked.
"Mm hm," she murmured. "You knew just the right thing, babe."
He turned in her arms and she tilted her head back to look up at him. "It's my job to take care of you," he said with a smirk. She grinned at him and he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, kissing her on the top of her head. "How do you feel?" he asked.
She looked back up at him and smiled. "Free," she said. He breathed in deeply, feeling like they'd finally come out of a long, painful tunnel. He smiled back at her.
Just then the girls came into the kitchen and Rayna looked over at them. "Come here, girls," she said, waving them over. She pulled them into the hug with him and kissed both of them on the forehead. "I love y'all so much," she said, and he heard the emotion in her voice. "All of you. I love our family. We really do have a life that's good." They would tell the girls about everything that had happened the night before, but right now, it was enough to just be together.
And then Maddie laughed. "Mom, you're such a weirdo," she said, and they all laughed along with her.
As he held tight to all of them, he was just grateful he had Rayna back in his life and the girls to round out their family. Maybe it was cheesy, but he really did finally have everything he ever wanted.
'Cause when it's true, you don't have to change a thing / Like me and you, holding on together, forever.
THE END
Thank you so much, again, for reading this and for the very kind reviews. I hope you enjoyed how this ended.