Deacon glanced at the clock on the wall one more time. He and Juliette were sitting in the courthouse's hall, waiting to find out about the outcome of Jolene's hearing. Her lawyer was trying to negotiate a plea deal so her charges would be dropped as long as she would complete rehab. He'd insisted it would have meant a lot more if it had been Juliette who'd talked on her mother's behalf at the hearing, but she hadn't felt ready to, so Deacon had proposed to do it.

He'd been checking on Jolene since she'd entered rehab to see how she was doing. He'd gone to visit a few times, and they'd sat outside at one of those stone tables in the facility's park, talking about a bit of everything but mostly about Juliette. Jolene was resolute to finish rehab, she knew she needed to prove to her daughter she could if they wanted to have a chance to start mending their relationship.

Unlike the first time, Deacon had succeeded in keeping the bad memories at bay when he'd gone there. Not all memories were bad ones, though.

—

january 1999

—

Deacon glanced at the clock on the wall one more time. Rayna was always on time, it was part of her work ethic that carried over into her personal life, so when she finally appeared at the end of the corridor, ten minutes late, he let out a deep sigh of relief.

He hadn't seen her in person since he'd checked into rehab. It had been the first time they'd spent Christmas apart since they'd met, and he'd missed her like hell. They'd talked on the phone. They'd sent each other letters, too, which was both weirdly old-fashioned and so them at the same time. They had a natural inclination to put their feelings into written form.

Rayna's face lit up when she spotted him. She hurried down the corridor until she was in his arms, and he buried his head in her neck.

"I've missed you," she whispered so quietly that, for a second, he wondered if he'd imagined it. She pulled back before she ran a hand along his cheek. "You look good."

"You look good, baby."

They were alone in a room reserved for visits, and they sat next to each other at a little table. "I'm sorry I'm late, but I–" Rayna began to apologize. She stopped short. She saw no point in lying. "I have no excuse really, I waited in the car. I guess I was nervous."

It sounded silly in retrospect, but she was nervous. In three weeks, Deacon would be out of rehab, and she was dreading as much as she was longing to have him back home. There was so much hanging in the balance this time. She'd made it clear to him that their future as a family would depend on his ability to stay sober. She'd promised Tandy she would be strong enough to leave him if it turned out it wouldn't stick, but truth was she wasn't so sure about that. She wanted so bad for Deacon to get better. She'd been crying herself to sleep she wanted it so bad.

She'd planned to spend Christmas on her own – she hadn't been in the most festive mood – but on Christmas Eve's morning, Adria had dropped by unannounced and had all but kidnapped her. She'd given Rayna 15 minutes to pack a bag before they'd driven five hours to Adria's parents' house. It had been nice in the end to get out of Nashville and to spend time among people who hadn't asked any questions about her pregnancy or Deacon or why she was alone on Christmas Eve.

"I get it. It's stupid, but I was nervous too," Deacon admitted. "How are you doing?" he asked. He smiled then, unsure. "I mean... How are the two of you doing?"

Rayna realized it was the first time the three of them were together since she'd told him she was pregnant and he'd agreed to check into rehab. "We're good." She smiled. "Both of us." She hesitated. "I just... I wanted to ask, I'll have my second-trimester ultrasound in two weeks, and I would really like for you to be there. Do you think there's a chance you—"

"Of course. Of course I'll be there."

She'd been debating whether to ask him. She wasn't sure how involved he should be during her pregnancy. She wasn't sure if it was best for him to only stay focused on his recovery or not. In truth, she wasn't sure of anything lately. She felt like she was moving in quicksand. On one leg. Blindfolded.

She reached for his hand. "Thanks." She asked how he was doing then, which was the real heart of the matter. He said it was one day at a time, but he'd never been more determined.

They talked about a bit of everything after that, and she noticed they were intuitively moving closer to each other as the discussion went on. They ended up pressed against each other, his hand on her thigh, and her hands clutched around his arm. She realized how much she'd missed this, just having him near, his smell, the sound of his voice. She was reminded of the conversation she'd had with her sister. You've tried to help him, but you cannot help somebody who doesn't want to help himself. You want him to be the father? Do you have any idea what could happen to you or to that baby if he was? She couldn't imagine her life without Deacon. If it came to it, she would have to be the stronger one, though.

"Deacon?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, but I'll do whatever I have to do to protect our child." When she'd rehearsed that part alone at home, she'd sworn to herself she wouldn't cry. "So, please, I'm begging you, don't put me in that position. Please, babe."

"I won't. I swear I won't. I know I've been a mess, and I know my promises sound empty at this point, but this is different. Don't give up on me now," he pleaded, his voice cracking.

She pressed her forehead against his and broke her own promise not to cry. "I never lost faith in you. And I have not lost faith in you now."

—

"Is it a good or a bad sign it's taking so long?" Juliette wondered aloud, pulling Deacon out of his reverie.

Just as he was about to answer, they saw Jolene and her lawyer walking down the hall toward them. "What did they say?" Juliette asked as she and Deacon got up.

"Well, it didn't work, the plea," Jolene announced.

Her lawyer explained she would have to finish rehab, and then there would be another hearing to try to get the criminal charges dropped.

"Couple more weeks then," Deacon told Jolene. "You still got a free pass today. What if you and Juliette came over to our house for dinner tonight?"

This caught Juliette off-guard. "To... your house?" she repeated.

"You and Rayna keep crossing paths at events, it would be nice for you two to finally meet for real."

Jolene stared at her daughter expectantly. "Yeah, I'm not sure—" Juliette tried to object.

"Rayna said I should insist. And I know our girls would be over the moon."

Juliette raised a skeptical eyebrow. "It was Rayna's idea?"

"Yes," Deacon lied without a flinch.

"I..." Juliette began.

"It's settled then," Deacon interrupted before she could come up with an excuse to refuse. Jolene looked thrilled. "See y'all at seven."

—

Juliette stopped at the bottom of the porch stairs and looked up. The house was smaller than the kind of mansion she'd imagined a superstar like Rayna Jaymes would be living in. The land it was built on, though, was massive. The house was surrounded by trees and was far enough inside the property that it wasn't visible from the main road.

She still wasn't sure why she'd agreed to come. If it had been only Deacon, she wouldn't have minded. She'd been a fan for a long time. She loved his songs and his playing, she owned his very first record on vinyl, one of her most treasured possessions. Now that she knew him, she was happy the saying "You should never meet your heroes" had been proven wrong. He was exactly like she'd imagined he would be.

There was something about Rayna, on the other hand, that rubbed Juliette the wrong way. She wasn't entirely sure why since she didn't really know her, the extent of their interactions being limited to a few words exchanged at various industry events. Maybe it was because Rayna had grown up in Belle Meade. Maybe it was because when Juliette was starting out, she couldn't go anywhere without hearing her name. Maybe it was because Jolene loved her so much.

"Honey, you're coming?" Her mother was already standing at the top of the stairs, looking happy as a clam.

Juliette sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

—

The first part of the evening had gone much smoother than expected. The minute the bell had rung, Daphne had run to the front door. She'd been the one doing most of the talking in the beginning, so it had removed the pressure from the adults to have to engage the conversation. It had somehow helped put everyone at ease. Maddie, for her part, had stayed more quiet. Rayna was still surprised to see how much she'd grown in the last few months. One year ago, she would have been the one running to the door to meet Juliette.

Sue had played shy and had been a no-show. It wasn't until they were outside, getting settled around the patio table for dinner, that he finally decided to make an appearance. They'd all just sat down when he scampered toward Deacon's chair with something in his mouth.

"What did you steal this time?" Deacon sighed. "Maddie, I think we've found your missing shin guard," he announced as he retrieved the item from the dog's jaw.

Maddie shrugged. "He can keep it."

"You're playing soccer?" Jolene asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure why. I'm not getting any better."

"I'm sorry you got your athletic ability from me, honey," Rayna teased.

"It's okay, I got my guitar skills from Dad," Maddie quipped back, and this made Juliette smirk. As everyone started to pass dishes around, Maddie turned to her. "I saw the video of that new song Consider Me you did in Chicago," she told her. "I love it."

"You did? Thank you."

"Is it going to be on your next album?"

"I wish, but the label doesn't like it. They say it's not my brand." Juliette huffed. "I swear, sometimes it feels like I'm in a straitjacket. I mean, I do one thing they like, and they're making me do it over and over and over again, and that's it. Nothing else."

Deacon smiled because he remembered having had the exact same conversation with his wife a number of times.

"It's a shame," Rayna chimed in. "It's a great song." Juliette appeared genuinely surprised she'd listened to it. "Did you write it?" Rayna asked.

"Yeah, with a friend. Well, he's a roadie on my tour, but we've kinda become friends." She paused. "I think. Anyway, his name's Avery Barkley."

Rayna and Deacon looked up from their plate at the same time. It had to be a coincidence, it couldn't be the same Avery. The last time they'd heard about him from Scarlett, he was working with a producer in Atlanta and was about to become the next big thing. Why would he be a roadie on Juliette's tour?

"Something's wrong?" Juliette asked.

"No, but if it's the same Avery, he used to date our niece Scarlett."

This seemed to amuse Juliette. "Huh. Small world."

—

After dinner, they all moved to sit around the fire pit. Even if it was too warm to actually make a fire, Juliette thought how pretty and comfy that space looked with the couches and the little lights above. She missed having a place like that at her new house. Not that she was spending much time there anyway. She'd started renting the house a few months ago because she needed a change, but she'd been away most of the time, and once her mother had moved in, a couple weeks before rehab, she'd begun to purposefully avoid spending time there.

Daphne insisted she and Maddie should play their version of Gonna Get Even to Juliette, after which the latter asked if they wanted to hear a new one. Juliette was oblivious to it, but Deacon noticed how Jolene stared at her daughter in awe while she was singing. He hoped someday Juliette would notice it too. He hoped the two would be able to get over the past, he more than anyone believed in second — hell, in third or fourth — chances. He also knew the road to get there was going to be long and rocky.

On the drive over there, Juliette had tried to think of a few excuses she could have come up with to leave early, but she didn't end up using any of them. It was, in fact, quite late when they all said their goodbyes.

Juliette and Jolene were standing on the other side of the front door, on their way out, when Juliette turned back to Rayna. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You had no idea I was coming to dinner before Deacon came back from the courthouse, right?"

"None."

Juliette smiled at that. "Well, in any case, thank you, it was..."

"Less awkward than it could have been?"

"Definitely."

—

TBC