A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

Chapter 2

Deacon sat next to Rayna in the waiting room of her doctor's office. He was surprised that she hadn't made him sneak in to avoid the press. He was grateful when the nurse called them back to the exam room. "Did you want me to wait outside while you get changed?" he wasn't really sure where the boundary line was these days.

"It's not like I've got anythin' that you haven't already seen. I'm sure it's burned into your brain anyway. There's no sense in you waitin' outside." Rayna started to change her clothes as soon as the nurse closed that do.

"That it is." He smirked.

"I can say the same thing about you." She sat up on the exam table once she'd finished changing.

"I got a greatest hits album that I play over and over in my head." Deacon couldn't help himself.

"You need to stop. That's how we got in this position twice." Rayna laughed at him. Despite all the hurt and anger they were harboring toward each other, she still felt comfortable with him.

Another smirk played on his lips. "As I recall it we both like the positions that get us in this position."

She swatted his chest playfully. "Stop, you are terrible."

"As I recall you like that too." Quitting while he was ahead wasn't in his wheelhouse.

The doctor walked in and stopped their banter. "Alright, Rayna, today we are just gonna do an ultrasound and see how things are looking."

"That sounds good to me." Rayna agreed.

"You must be dad." Dr. Ford addressed her comment to Deacon.

"That'd be me." Deacon smiled.

Rayna laid back on the bed and pulled her gown up so the doctor could do the ultrasound. She held out her hand for Deacon to take. "Come hold my hand you aren't gonna wanna miss this."

Deacon took stood beside her and took her hand. "You're right,"

Dr. Ford grabbed the ultrasound gel. "This is gonna be a little cold." She squirted the gel on her stomach.

Rayna flinched from the temperature of the gel.

"You ok?" Deacon looked concerned.

"I'm fine. It was just cold." Rayna reassured him.

Deacon nodded his acceptance of that. "I was just makin' sure."

Dr. Ford picked up the wand and moved it around Rayna's belly. "We have a perfectly healthy fourteen-week old fetus. Everything is on track with where it should be. I would ask if y'all wanted to hear the heartbeat, but I already know the answer to that." She turned up the volume on the ultrasound machine.

Soon the rhythmic thump-thump-thump of the baby's heartbeat filled the room. It was a strong, steady sound almost like a melody. That was fitting considering both Rayna and Deacon were musicians.

Deacon's eyes teared up as he stared at the screen. It was overwhelming enough when he could see his baby, but hearing the heartbeat was almost emotional overload.

"Are you ok?" Rayna asked him. She knew from experience what he was feeling, she was feeling it too, but it wasn't the first time for her. It wasn't even her first time with his baby, but it was her first time with him by her side.

He swiped at his misty eyes. "Yeah, I'm good. That's just 'bout the sweetest sound I've ever heard."

"I know, it's amazin'." She was in awe watching him go through this range of emotion. It warmed her heart to see him so excited. It meant even more to her that he seemed to be in a stable place with his sobriety.

"Ok, I'm going to go print off these pictures and you can schedule your next appointment on the way out." Dr. Ford told her.

"It's ok that I waited so long between my positive pregnancy test and getting this first exam?" Rayna asked. She was a little concerned with how long the doctor had wanted her to wait to come in.

"It's perfectly fine. I scheduled your appointment this way, so at your next appointment you can find out the sex of the baby if you want." Dr. Ford reassured her.

"Ok, I've been worried about that and that's a weight off my shoulders." Rayna replied.

"The baby is really ok?" Deacon asked. He was worried that something had happened because of the accident.

"The baby is completely fine. That heartbeat you just heard is a great indication that everything is going to continue to be fine." Dr. Ford did her best to calm her first time daddy jitters.

"That's all I needed to hear. I know that my little Baby Claybourne is a fighter." Deacon smiled happily.

"You wouldn't be a good daddy if you didn't worry." Dr. Ford smiled at him. "Rayna, I will leave you to get dressed now. You can pick up your ultrasound at the front desk and make your next appointment on the way out. I will see you in six weeks to find out the sex and to the amnio. After that I want to see you every four weeks. You know the drill by now." She said before she left the room.

Rayna wiped the gel off her stomach. "I don't know about you, but it's a relief for me to hear that everything with the baby is ok." She got off the table and started to get dressed.

"Me too. I would never forgive myself if somethin' had happened to the baby 'cause of that accident." Deacon retorted.

Rayna nodded her acceptance of that. "What do you say you meet me back at the house and we talk about things? I know that we talked before, but now things are real and we need to have another conversation."

"I agree, I will meet you there." Deacon slipped his hands into the back pockets of his jeans.

Rayna had a glass of sweet tea waiting for Deacon when he got to her house.

"Well, this is some kinda service. I could get used to this." Deacon made a lame joke.

"You shouldn't. You know me better than that." Rayna joked back with him.

"What do you wanna talk 'bout?" Deacon asked her. There was no use in putting off the inevitable.

"How do we make this work? Whether we are ready or not this baby is comin' and we need to have a plan." Rayna stated bluntly.

He took a sip of his tea to give himself a minute to frame his reply. "We just make it work like we always do. I mean I know at first that the baby is gonna have to stay with you. I figured that I could pop by every day and see the baby. I don't wanna miss anythin'. I can't miss anythin'. This is my one chance to be a daddy from the start and I don't wanna waste it. I of course, will pay you child support. I won't be a deadbeat dad. I've made it this far in life without becomin' my father and I ain't 'bout to start now."

She nodded her head. She understood where he was coming from. "I don't want you to miss anythin'. I want you to be there for every little mundane thing. I kept you from this once and I ain't about to do it again. I am not about to make you pay child support I can provide for this child just like I do the other two. I'm lucky enough to be in a position where this isn't a financial burden for me. And not for one second am I worried that you won't provide for this child as well. I know that you aren't your father even if you don't always know that. From where I stand the only thing you got from that man was your looks. You may have gotten his disease, but you have a handle on it. You had a slip up and I know that it won't turn into a fall. I was young and scared before, but I know I can count on you to raise this baby up with me."

"Rayna, I'm gonna pay child support there is no question 'bout that. A man provides for his family. I ain't tryin' to take away all that you have and all you've accomplished. You have everythin' that you've been wantin' since we started out. I was there with you for all of it and you know that I support you. You know that you don't have to make yourself small, so I can be big. But, I can't let you take care of our child with no financial support from me. This is our child like Maddie is our child and this is somethin' that we have to do together without any outside input. This baby is our legacy made from a place of love not my damn meal ticket." He shook his head stubbornly. He would be damned if he was saw as the man who was leeching off a successful woman just because they had a baby together.

"I can understand that. Instead of child support we can figure out things that you can pay for. I want us to figure this out together on our own without involving any lawyers. We can write up an agreement and handle this amongst ourselves. I don't want anythin' out there that the press can get ahold of and have a field day with." She was more than willing to meet him in the middle.

"I can live with that. To start off with I can buy all the nursery furniture for here and my place. Oh, hell I'm gonna have to get a bigger place. I don't have enough room for Scarlett and Maddie to have a room and for the baby to have a nursery, but I can figure that out later." He sighed.

"Not everythin' has to be figured out now. We will work it out. No matter what state we are in now we both have a lot of love for each other and I know that we are both crazy about this baby." She gave him a reassuring smile.

He smiled brightly. He could tell just by the tone of her voice that she already loved this child just as much as he did if not more. He could say a lot about her, but he couldn't say that she wasn't a good momma. He knew that if she was nothing else she was that. The proof was that she'd kept Maddie from him just to protect her. "You really are happy about this baby aren't you?"

"I am. I know this sounds crazy, but all I can think about since we got out of that appointment is baby names." She smiled back.

He laughed softly. "What were you thinkin'?"

"I was thinkin' that if this baby is a girl then maybe we can name her Virginia after my momma. And if it's a boy Jaymes Wyatt or Wyatt Jaymes would be a good name." She told him what she was thinking.

He just nodded his head. He didn't know what to think of those names. He got wanting to name a girl after her momma, but he had some important men in his life that he might like to name a boy after. He had to smile though when she said that she was thinking of Jaymes as a first name it meant that she already was giving this baby his last name. "As far as I can tell the one thing we agree on right now is that the last name is gonna be Claybourne. I would be happy to name a girl after your momma she gave me you. But as for boy names there's Henry and Samuel after my momma's daddy and then there's Deacon after me and my father's daddy."

"Henry would be after you too. I'm one of the few people in this world who know your name is actually Deacon Henry John." She teased him.

"Hey, don't you go callin' me by my full name, woman." He laughed a little. "We don't have to settle on a name right now. The pressin' matter is I have to tell my family and you have to tell yours." He replied.

"Did you want me to come be with you when you told your family? I would offer to have you be with me when I tell mine, but you know how daddy and Tandy feel about you." She offered.

"No, that would only raise questions that I don't wanna have to answer. You know that my momma loves you, but my sister not so much. I don't wanna hear it, I already got that song playin' in my head nonstop." He let her down as gently as he could.

A knock came on the side door and it opened before either of them had a chance to say anything else.

"Rayna, you here? I hate to just stop by like this, but you weren't answerin' your phone and I wanted to check in on you." Luke walked in without waiting for a response to his knock.

Deacon looked down at the counter and tried his best to keep his feelings under control.

"Hey, Luke, I wasn't expecting to see you. What are you doing here?" Rayna put a smile on her face.

"I knew that you had your big appointment today and I wanted to stop by to see how it went." Luke replied. "Hey, Deacon," he added as an afterthought. He wasn't thrilled to see his girlfriend's baby daddy there.

"Luke," Deacon nodded his head stiffly.

"The appointment went well. Everything is ok with the baby." Rayna reported she showed him an ultrasound picture.

Luke studied the picture for a moment. "Well, that is one good lookin' baby. Looks like its momma already."

"With Deacon and me either way this baby is gonna be good lookin'." Rayna replied.

Deacon cleared his throat to ease how uncomfortable he was feeling. "Listen I should really get goin', but before I do I know it's early. But, I bought the baby somethin." He pulled a onesie out of his shoulder bag. It had a guitar on it and Nashville written under it.

"Oh, Deacon, I love it. This is perfect for Baby Claybourne." Rayna took it from him and smiled.

Deacon smiled back. "I figured that the Squirrel had to have clothes."

Rayna laughed happily. "I can't believe that you're callin' our baby that and I love it at the same time."

"That's a good ol' country boy nickname if I ever heard one." Luke had to give his input on the matter.

"Yeah it is. I'm gonna get goin' now." Deacon bent down and kissed Rayna's belly. "Bye, Squirrel, daddy loves you. Have momma call me later, so I can tell you night-night." He left before things could get anymore awkward than they already were.

"Finally," Luke put his arms around Rayna and kissed her softly. "I thought he'd never leave and give us some privacy."

"Luke, this is his baby too. You can't expect me to keep him on the outside. He's gonna be involved and I need you to be ok with that if you wanna continue with whatever this is." Rayna laid down the law.

"I understand that part of it. In his shoes I know that I would feel the same way. I can't begin to understand how difficult the situation you're in is, but I can promise that I will be here to be your shoulder to lean on without makin' this hard on you." Luke swore to her.

"That's all I can ask for. I know that this is a lot to handle. In your shoes I don't know that I would stick it out." She replied. She appreciated him being so understanding.

"Like I said before I'm crazy about you and I can love anythin' that comes from you." Luke reassured her.

Deacon studied his reflection in the rearview mirror of his truck. He took a deep breath to collect himself. It was now or never, he could either get out of the truck and face the music or he could run like had been doing his whole life. He knew that Maddie and his new baby needed him to be better than he was, so he opened the door and stepped out onto the driveway of the ranch house he was parked in.

He walked up on the covered porch and knocked on the front door.

An older blonde haired woman opened the door wearing an apron. "Deacon, you're here." She threw her arms around his neck.

"Hi, momma, it's so good to see you." Deacon wrapped his arms around her.

"I am so happy to see you. I've been excited ever since you called and said you were comin'. It's such a rare treat for us to see you here in Natchez. You don't come around unless it's important. Come on in." June Claybourne ushered him into the house.

Deacon looked around and saw his grandparents and his sister sitting in the living room. "What's all this?"

"You said that you had somethin' that you wanted to tell us and I thought it would be easier on you if we were all in one place." June replied.

"Alright, I'll just get this outta the way, so we can have a nice time together." Deacon reached into his wallet and fished out the baby's ultrasound picture. "Momma, this is your newest grandbaby. Rayna and I are havin' another baby together. I wanted y'all to hear it from me 'fore you heard it somewhere else."

"You mean to tell me that the Belle Meade Princess decided you were good enough to know about this baby, but you weren't good enough to know about the other?" Beverly spit out hatefully. She couldn't cut her brother just a little bit of a break.

"Please don't start, Beverly, I just got here and I don't wanna fight with you. I want you to be happy for me and I want you to be excited to be Aunt Bev to Maddie and Baby Claybourne." Deacon sighed loudly.

"Deacon, do you have a picture of our Maddie?" Henry Jones asked. He was June's father.

"Yeah, Deac, we wanna see her." Big Deacon agreed.

Deacon pulled up a picture on his phone and showed it to them. "That's our Maddie right there. She is the best part of my life right now next to this baby. I'm both scared and thrilled. Come August I'm gonna be responsible for one that needs me for everythin' and I'm just gettin' used to one who can take care of herself."

"Oh, Deacon, she is beautiful. She looks so much like you." Ruth was Big Deacon's wife.

"Yeah, her momma likes to say that she looks like me, but I see a lot of Rayna in her." Deacon replied.

"That girl is clearly a Claybourne even Rayna can't deny that. I don't know how you didn't see it ages ago. There's no way that girl belongs to any man other than you." Beverly couldn't help sounding bitter.

June put both her hands on his cheeks and kissed his forehead. "I'm so happy for you, my boy. This may not be the way you wanted it to happen, but I'm so glad that you're gonna get the chance to be a daddy and I'm glad that you're gettin' the chance to get to know your daughter. I for one can't wait to meet my other granddaughter. Scarlett says that she's a lot like and that she is amazin'. I'm just sorry that I didn't know 'bout her 'til now."

Deacon kissed his mother's cheek. "I can't wait for y'all to meet her. I was actually hopin' that you would come to Nashville for a visit, so I can introduce you. I don't think that I can get her to come for a visit here just yet. I just don't think we should wait another minute. Grandmomma already didn't get to meet her and I don't want that to happen with y'all."

"I think we can manage that. I know I wanna see Nashville again and I would love nothin' more than to see my great-granddaughters together." Big Deacon spoke up.

"Big Pa, I want her to meet you almost more than anythin'. She's a Claybourne as much as she reminds of her momma she's like us. And I just know that she's gonna love you. I'm only sorry that you didn't get to do your thing with her when she was baby where you lay her on your guitar and play it." Deacon leaned over the back of the couch and hugged him around his neck. He didn't hesitate to place a big kiss on his cheek.

He walked around the front of the couch. He kissed his grandma lovingly and hugged her tight. "There's one of my best girls. If I have another daughter, I promise you that she's gonna have your name in her name."

He moved next to Henry. He hugged him and kissed his cheek. "I can't wait to see you show Maddie and Baby Claybourne how to pray. You taught me, Bev, and Scarlett. I want you to say a bedtime prayer with Maddie and then the first one with the Squirrel."

He hugged his sister and kissed the top of her head. "Gettin' to be Scarlett's uncle has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope you're gonna enjoy bein' Aunt Bev as much as I have enjoyed bein' Uncle Deacon."

"Deacon, it is so good to have you home. We've all missed you." June just beamed. She was so happy to finally have her son under her roof again that it wasn't funny.

"Mom, I don't understand why I'm doing my guitar lesson on a Saturday. I don't know why Deacon had to push it." Maddie complained to her mother as they pulled up in front of Deacon's house.

Rayna put the car in park and checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. "He had some things he had to take care of earlier in the week and he had me arrange it, so you guys could have a lesson today." She opened the door.

"What kind of things?" Maddie questioned.

"The kind of things that you will have to ask him about. I know that there is a part of yourself that you want to know more about, but he has to be the one to tell you his story. Now, come on let's go in." Rayna urged her.

"You're coming in? Normally you just stay out in the car." Maddie looked confused.

"I'm not here to interrupt your time with Deacon. We're havin' another baby together, we can't avoid each other anymore." Rayna put her arm around her shoulders and walked up to Deacon's front door. She knocked and waited for him to answer.

"Y'all quiet down in there. I'm tryin' to answer the door. I don't want anyone to think that I've got a bunch of wild animals in here." Deacon called over his shoulder as he pulled the door open. "Hey, Maddie, I'm so happy you're here. Come on in, y'all, I'm really excited for today." He opened the door wider to allow their entry.

June, Henry, Ruth, and Big Deacon all sat around the living room. Big Deacon and Henry both had guitars in their hands.

"Deacon, what is all this?" Maddie looked around and felt even more confused than she already was.

"It looks like you have a real party goin' on here." Rayna commented with a smile.

"You could say that." Deacon grinned. "Maddie, I have some people here who are real excited to meet you."

"Uh, ok," Maddie more or less agreed.

Deacon put his hands on June's shoulders. "Maddie, this is your grandmomma. Over there is your great-granddaddy Henry, your great-grandmomma Ruth, and your Big Pa or the original Deacon Claybourne as he likes to tell everyone." He pointed to each person as he spoke.

"Deacon, I am impressed. I can't believe you got all four of them in Nashville at the same time." Rayna told him. "It's so good to see y'all again."

"It took some doin', but I made it happen. Or rather Maddie made it happen. They all wanted to meet our girl." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

"Rayna, come here. It's so good to see you. I can't believe that you're makin' me a grandma again." June pulled Rayna into a hug.

"It's good to see you too. I'm happy that I'm makin' you a grandma again too. Your son did what he does best and he gave me another surprise to go with the one he already gave me." Rayna pointed to Maddie. "Maddie, come meet your grandma. I can tell you from personal experience that you are gonna love her so much."

Maddie walked over shyly. "It's nice to meet you." she said meekly.

June smiled at her warmly. "Maddie, I'm so happy to finally meet you. You are beautiful and you look so much like your daddy. Even the way you hold yourself reminds me of him. Now, I don't wanna make you uncomfortable, so I'm gonna ask, would it be ok if I gave you a hug?"

Maddie looked unsure.

"Maddie, it's ok, sweet girl. Hug your grandma." Rayna encouraged her.

Maddie stepped into June's open arms and hugged her. She let herself relax and she breathed in her scent. "Don't think that this is weird or anything, but you smell like a grandma should."

June laughed and kissed the top of her head. "If you think I do you should go hug my momma. She is the epitome of a southern grandma and I learned everythin' I know from her."

"I think I'd like that." Maddie smiled.

Rayna and Deacon locked eyes and shared a meaningful look. Even with everything between them they could still communicate without using words.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rayna walked Maddie into Teddy's house when she dropped her off later that night. Maddie went straight up to her room after saying hi to Teddy.

"Rayna, I don't think I have to tell you this, I'm sure you already know, but I am not thrilled with the fact that she was gone so long today or that having these guitar lessons are cutting into my time with Maddie. I can't believe that you're just going along with it." Teddy didn't bother with pleasantries he got right to the heart of the matter.

Rayna pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Teddy, he's her father I can't do anythin' about them both wanting to spend time with each other. Maddie has questions about who she is and he is the only one who can answer them for her. And then he wants to spend time with his daughter and I can't take that from him neither can you. We've already taken over a decade from them."

He scowled. "She's my daughter and I don't deserve to have my time with her cut short."

She shook her head. "Well, she is his daughter too. You need to play nice. At any time he could decide to take legal action and he would be well within his rights to do so. If he did that he would without a doubt win."

"I don't understand why you're going along with being so accomadating to him. They have their set day for lessons and he missed that he shouldn't get to take one of the only days I don't have official business because he couldn't be bothered to make time for her." He spit out.

"Because I have to be, Teddy. I don't know if the girls told you or not, but I'm havin' another baby with him. He's not gonna sit idly by and be all in with one child when he doesn't get to be with his first child." Rayna sighed loudly.

Teddy gave her a dirty look. "I can't believe you would do this again or put the girls in this position he almost got you killed, but you're having his child and letting him back into your life."

"This is my child too not just his and I love it. There is no way that I would consider not havin' it or makin' the same mistake that I made with Maddie and not tell him at all. You don't get to have an opinion here after the whole Peggy situation that you put them through. It's not like I'm gonna blind side them and marry him on a whim. Like I said the girls already know and they are happy about the baby. I don't need your permission and I'm damn sure not gonna ask you for it. Teddy I'm tellin' you right now you either get on board with Maddie spendin' time with Deacon or you will lose her if you fight it." Rayna stormed out without another word. She didn't need his judgment the stress it caused wasn't good for her or the baby.

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