A/N: Thank you so much everyone for the reviews.
It doesn't happen often, but at this very moment, Rayna Jaymes has no idea what she's supposed to do.
Should she try to find that woman? It seems unlikely it's a coincidence, but she doesn't have a clue where to start looking. She had never met her before last night. She's not even sure she would recognize her, she didn't talk to her for more than a minute.
And even if, by some miracle, she would find her, what would she say? Who are you and what did you do to me?
It sounds insane. It is insane.
She supposes her best course of action is to... go with the flow. Act like this is her life and see what will happen. She hates not being in control, not knowing what's going on, but what else can she do?
There's another thought that has started to brew in the back of her mind, but that one is much scarier. What if this is her real life, and the one she thinks is real doesn't exist. That would mean she's having some sort of serious mental breakdown.
No. She can't go there. She won't go there. She wants to believe there is a better explanation to all this.
—
Trying to fit in this new life, it turns out, doesn't require much effort on her part.
They sing Friend of Mine as they bake cookies. Rayna hasn't heard that one in years, but she still knows it by heart. Deacon doesn't have a lot of good memories from his childhood so he tends to hold on to the few he has. Maddie puts red icing on Daphne's nose and reindeer antlers on her head, and after that, Daphne refuses to take off either all day.
They play Christmas Pictionary, and when it's Rayna's turn to draw, Deacon purposefully suggests all kinds of crazy answers just so the girls will burst into fits of laughter. Rayna ends up throwing her pencil at him which only makes the girls laugh harder.
They take a walk in the snow with Sue, and even the dog seems to be warming up to her. Deacon holds her hand the whole time, and when they get back to the house, she feels reluctant to let it go.
By the time they leave for Tandy and Bucky's, she realizes she hasn't thought about Teddy in hours. A wave of guilt washes over her. Shouldn't she be fighting to get her real life back instead of so easily adjusting to this new one? Shouldn't she at least try to do something, anything?
She's thinking about this when Deacon turns the truck's radio on, and the girls start to sing in the back seat, and suddenly nothing else matters anymore.
—
According to the date of the wedding photo on the fireplace mantel, her sister and her manager have been married for three years.
Rayna had expected it to be weird to see them together, but Tandy appears genuinely happy and Rayna has never seen Buck so at peace, so it all... makes sense. Of everything that has transpired today, this isn't the most surprising.
Because she couldn't think of a casual way to ask Deacon, Rayna isn't sure how many people are supposed to attend tonight. She assumes more people will arrive since Tandy and Bucky have hired a chef for the evening.
For now, though, it's only the six of them. They have settled in the living room, and Daphne has begun to tell Aunt Tandy and Uncle Bucky all about her day. She's still wearing her reindeer antlers as she agreed to let Rayna wash the icing from her nose but refused to take the headband off. Rayna didn't have the heart to argue.
When the doorbell rings, Tandy turns to Rayna. "Can you get that, sis? I'm going to check in the kitchen real quick."
"Sure."
Rayna heads to the foyer expecting to find Lamar, or Coleman and Audrey, or one of Bucky's relatives behind the door.
When she opens it, though, she freezes.
She doesn't move.
She doesn't breathe.
Vince.
Vince is standing on the doorstep, a big smile on his face.
She has been doing a good job all day at keeping her reactions in check, but this is too much. She doesn't care what it looks like, she launches herself at him and holds him tight.
"Alright, what's going on?" he asks after it's been 20 seconds and Rayna still hasn't let go of the hug.
She pulls back. "I've missed you," she whispers, her voice breaking. "So much."
"Since... last night?"
"Yeah, since... last night." She tries to pull herself together, but she's still not moving.
"Are you going to let me in or has Tandy finally decided to ban me from this house?"
"Oh, sorry," she says, stepping aside so Vince can get in.
"Now it's getting creepy, Ray," he remarks after he has hung up his coat in the foyer closet and she's still staring at him. "You're eyeing me like I'm a ghost."
He is a ghost. She attended his funeral on a cold February day, she cried for days and days, she watched Deacon hang on to the guilt he felt over his death for years and ultimately lose everything he ever cared about because of that. Vince is a ghost, a ghost who's been haunting them all these years.
"I'm just... so, so happy to see you." She grabs his arm, mainly to make sure he's real, and she doesn't let go until they've reached the living room.
As soon as the girls see him, they run to him. "Uncle Vince!"
"My favorite people!" he cheers. He picks each of them up in his arms in turn to kiss them on the cheek.
"Where's Carly?" Maddie asks.
"Carly and I decided to... part ways, sweetheart."
"When?"
"Well, this morning."
At that, all the adults turn to stare at him.
"You broke up with your girlfriend on... Christmas Eve?" Bucky asks.
"I don't believe there's a good or bad day to break up with someone."
Deacon eyes him suspiciously. "It's because of that girl from last night at the Edgehill's party, right?"
"That girl has a name, her name's Sadie, and well... yes." He smirks. "Don't y'all look at me like that, she's great, I'm sure you're gonna love her."
Deacon shakes his head in amused disbelief, and Rayna watches him, smiling. It seems Vince hasn't changed that much.
The doorbell rings again, and this time, Rayna panics. She's not ready for another surprise like the last one. She holds her breath until Buck gets to the door, and she only lets it out once she hears Coleman and Audrey's voices.
Her heart skips a beat again, five minutes later, when the bell rings once more, but it's Lamar. She thinks she's never been as happy to see her dad. Tandy then mentions that everyone is here now, and Rayna lets out a big sigh of relief.
—
TBC