A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

Chapter 5

"Hey, I hope we aren't too late." Scarlett walked into Rayna's house with her grandma and great-grandparents.

"Girl, don't even think anythin' of it. Y'all are right on time. the girls aren't here yet and your Uncle Deacon will vouch for the fact that I'm never on time with anythin' I do." Rayna hugged her.

"She ain't wrong." Deacon chuckled softly.

June put her arms around her son. "You be nice to her. She is havin' a hard enough time carryin' your baby, son."

"I'm always nice to her, momma. She's the one who ain't always so sweet to me." Deacon hugged her back. "Where's Beverly?" he looked over his mother's shoulder to see who all had come.

"She wanted to be here, but she couldn't get off work." June covered for her daughter.

"Don't worry, Uncle Deacon, I'm gonna take a video for her, so she can see it." Scarlett assured him.

"I guess I should make some introductions." Deacon pulled away from his mother.

"Let me," Rayna stepped in for him. "Daddy, Tandy, this is Deacon's momma June, his grandpa Big Deacon, his other grandpa Henry, and his grandma Ruth."

"Lamar Wyatt, it's nice to meet you." Lamar waved at them.

"Nice to meet you too. I don't know what's wrong with you young'uns these days that you don't believe in shakin' hands." Henry grumbled.

"Daddy," June called him down. "I apologize for him. I can't take that man anywhere. It gets even worse when he's with my father-in-law."

"He has a point." Big Deacon agreed with him.

"Henry and Deacon, both y'all knock it off and behave like you know how to." Ruth laid down the law with them.

"They are fine. We know all about dealing with difficult old men around here. We have that for a daddy." Tandy pointed at Lamar. She really laid on the charm. "Can I get y'all anything to drink? Daddy, I already know what you want."

"The two old men will take a bourbon neat and the other two are good with sweet tea. I've got 'em covered." Deacon answered for them.

"Deacon, I am ok to get them some drinks. It's not a big deal." Tandy flashed him a forced smile.

"I can help." Rayna protested.

"No you can't. You ain't doin' no heavy liftin' on my watch. You're just gonna sit right down and relax and enjoy yourself." Deacon helped her sit down on the couch.

"When you say it like that it sounds like an order." Rayna teased him. She was glad that they could fall back into their easy banter no matter how strained things were between them at the moment.

"I'll just go help Tandy with those drinks." Scarlett could sense the tension in the air and she didn't want to be in the room if it exploded.

Luke came into the room from the kitchen at that moment. "I got the cake out on the counter like you asked me to. Is there anythin' else that I need to do before the girls get here?" he sat down next to Rayna and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Big Pa, I see the look in your eyes right now and you're better off not sayin' it." Deacon cautioned his grandfather.

Big Deacon just shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't gonna say anythin'. I ain't you or your daddy I know when to keep my two cents to myself."

"June, Ruth, Henry, and Big Deacon, this is Luke Wheeler, my boyfriend. Luke, this is Deacon's momma and grandparents." Rayna made the introductions.

"Boyfriend?" Henry hooked his eyebrow.

"Pawpaw, stop," Deacon spoke through clenched teeth. It was obvious that he'd gotten his temper from both the older men.

"It is very nice to meet y'all. This is one lucky little tadpole to have such a big extended family." Luke did his best to disarm the situation.

"We are callin' the baby tadpole now? I thought we were callin' it Squirrel." Big Deacon looked confused.

"We are; that's just what Luke calls the baby." Deacon explained patiently. He couldn't believe that Rayna had put him in this situation in front of his family. It made him look and feel like less of a man.

"That's right, this is one loved baby already. We may be a lot to handle at times, but we have a whole lotta love to give." June knew just what to say to pour oil on troubled waters.

"And we do love big." Ruth agreed with her daughter.

"That we do." Deacon just smiled and nodded his head.

Teddy dropped the girls off a little while later. Maddie ran straight to June and hugged her tight. "Mawmaw, you're here." She wouldn't have been so open had Luke been in the room, but he was outside on a phone call.

"I am, sweet girl. I wouldn't have missed this for anythin' in the world." June hugged her back. "Why don't you introduce me to your sister?"

"Daph, this is my mawmaw, June. My great-grandpa Big Deacon, and my great-grandpa and great grandma Henry and Ruth." Maddie made the introductions.

Daphne gave them all a shy little wave.

"Well, Miss Daphne, it is very nice to meet you." June smiled at her brightly.

"Nice to meet you too." Daphne replied. "Mom, when are we gonna find out what the baby is? You said that we couldn't know until we got home and we're here now." She asked excitedly.

"I thought you two would want a minute to get settled before we got into that." Rayna laughed heartily.

"We are excited to know what this little blob is gonna be." Maddie responded for her and her sister.

"Maddie, it ain't nice to call the baby names like that and you know it." Deacon cleared his throat to hide a chuckle.

"I'm not saying it to be mean. I'm saying it, because it's true. I saw the ultrasound picture and the thing looks like a little alien blob." Maddie retorted.

"Good lord, that girl couldn't be more like her daddy if she tried." Henry got a good laugh out of that.

"If you girls are ready we can find out the sex now." Deacon was very excited for them to find out they were having a baby brother.

"There's no right or wrong answer to this as long as it's a boy." Henry joked.

"I agree with you, Henry. I happen to think that Wyatt Henry Jaymes would be the perfect name for a boy." Lamar chimed in.

"The baby's last name is Claybourne." Deacon corrected him. He got a black balloon and handed it to Maddie. He gave them each a straight pin. "On the count of three you use those to pop the balloon." He instructed them on what to do. He'd never seen anything like it before and he thought it was a little much, but it was worth it if it got the girls excited about their baby brother.

"I'm ready to go anytime the girls are." Scarlett had her phone set to record the whole thing.

"I'm back just in time not to miss anythin'." Luke reclaimed his seat next to Rayna.

"One, two, three." Deacon and Rayna counted in unison.

Maddie and Daphne used the pins they'd been given to pop the balloon. A shower of blue confetti rained down on them.

"It's a boy!" Daphne exclaimed excitedly.

"My first great-grandson." Big Deacon's eyes teared up and the joy in his voice was obvious.

"Big Pa, this is my first grandson. I get to spoil him before you do." June teased him.

"He's my first male heir as well I have big plans for this boy." Lamar's chest puffed up with pride.

"Daddy, he still has to come into the world and get into diapers before you start making plans for him to take over the world and your company." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"Maddie, what do you think 'bout havin' a baby brother?" Deacon asked his daughter.

"I think it's gonna be fun. I mean I already have a little sister. I don't think a baby brother will be much worse." Maddie shrugged. She didn't know what more to say than that.

"You can ask my momma how havin' a younger brother works out for ya." Scarlett was careful with her words. She wasn't sure if Luke knew that Maddie was Deacon's or not.

"Oh, I will." Maddie and Bev had been instant friends.

"Rayna, you're gonna have to put this little guy on a horse at the ranch as soon as he's born. You gotta start early with him, so he ain't scared. There's a place for him to fish and he can go huntin' out there he'll love it." Luke kissed her temple.

"He's got his very own cabin where he can go fish any time he wants to. And he's got huntin' property in Mississippi and some here in Tennessee where he can go. He ain't gonna have no shortage of outdoor activities he can do with his daddy." Deacon had a friendly smile on his face, but an edge in his voice. Luke had stepped over the line big time.

"That's great, every little boy needs to be able to make those memories with his daddy." Luke spoke to cover up his embarrassment.

"I think that's the one thing you and I agree on right now." Deacon snorted.

"Have y'all thought of any names yet?" June asked.

"Not really, but we have thrown out a couple names that are a possibility. I like Wyatt Jaymes, he likes Henry Samuel, and I love Deacon Henry John Claybourne Jr." Rayna answered for the both of them.

"Those are all good names. Don't stress yourself out over this. You'll know what the perfect name for him is the minute you look at him." Ruth advised her.

"We will get it figured out. It ain't like he can go through life bein' called Baby Claybourne or Squirrel." Deacon chuckled lightly.

"We sure will." Rayna smiled up at him.

Maddie sat in the middle of her bed playing her guitar when she looked up and saw her mother standing in the doorway. "Hey, mom, what's up?"

Rayna eased herself down on the edge of the bed. "I just wanted to come see how you're feeling. I know that this has been a lot to spring on you at once."

"I'm fine. I really am. And I'm excited to be having a new baby brother." Maddie replied.

"Just so you know you can talk to me about anything. If you're having feelings about this, it's ok. I don't know how to help you if I don't know how you feel." Rayna reasoned with her.

"I just hate having to pretend in front of everyone that Deacon isn't my father. I have this whole other family that I know nothing about. I have a grandma and three great-grandparents that I want to get to know. And with everything else that's going on you're dating Luke and that doesn't leave me any room to be who I am." Maddie explained in the best way she knew how.

Rayna leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I know that it's a lot to handle and I understand that. I agree that this house is the one place you should be able to be who you are without pretending. It's just that this is your truth and I want you to have a chance to explore that without any added outside pressure. I want to make sure you know that your daddy and I love you as much as we love this baby. I know it may not seem like it 'cause he's so excited about his new son, but he loves you fiercely. He just got here and he's still trying to figure out how to be your daddy. I'm doing everything I can to help him with that. I promise that you'll have the type of relationship you really want with him soon."

Maddie rested her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. "Mom, why are you dating Luke? I mean you and Deacon are having another baby together and I would have thought you would have wanted to give being a family with him a try. Or at least you would want to try to figure it out without someone else in the picture. I mean this is basically what you did to him with dad the only difference is that Deacon knows he's the father this time."

Rayna just looked at her at a loss for words. Her daughter had just vocalized everything she'd been feeling since she found out she was pregnant. "It's complicated and it's not something that even I really understand. I would love to be a family with you girls, Deacon, and the baby, but I don't know that that is in the cards for us. Deacon and I have hurt each other in ways that you shouldn't hurt the person you love. I will always love him, because he's given me two of the three most precious gifts I've ever been given. I just don't know what us bein' together and I mean truly bein' together again looks like."

"If you ask me I think you owe him a chance to give it a try and see. You never gave him a chance when it came to me and look at the situation we are in now. I think my baby brother at least deserves a shot at having the kind of home life that you gave me and Daphne for so many years. It's not really fair to Deacon to have to compete with Luke to be a dad to this baby." Maddie countered.

"You know you're pretty wise for someone your age. Your dad and I we are chaotic at times and I don't want y'all to get caught up in that. We love each other to distraction, but we aren't always good for each other. I mean look at what happened last time we tried to be together. I don't want to put y'all through anythin' like that again." Rayna didn't know what else to say to her daughter. She wasn't sure that she knew what was going on herself and she was an adult.

"Can you just promise me that you won't get really serious with Luke without giving us a chance at being a real family? Dad did that with Peggy and it didn't feel good at all." Maddie asked her.

"I can promise you that things with Luke won't go too far too soon. That is nothing for you to worry about. The ink on my divorce is barely dry. I don't need to be getting into anything too serious right now especially with me bein' hormonal and pregnant." Rayna assured her. She grabbed her phone when it rang. "This is your dad callin' to say goodnight to the baby. Do you want me to take it in here or give you some privacy?"

"You can take it in here." Maddie answered her.

Rayna answered her phone and put it on speaker. "Hey, I'm in with Maddie and you're on speaker."

"Alright, that's great. I can say goodnight to both my babies this way. Now, put me close to your belly, so I can tell my unborn baby goodnight." Deacon's voice came over the phone line.

Rayna moved the phone in front of her stomach. "Ok, say what you've gotta say."

"Goodnight, baby boy. Daddy loves you so much and he can't wait to meet you. Until then momma is gonna take good care of you. Sleep tight little man and I will talk to you again in the mornin'." Deacon made a kissing noise.

"Deacon, it is ridiculous how much you love this boy already." Rayna couldn't help laughing at how sweet he was being.

"You hush, you know you think it's cute." Deacon laughed too. "Night, Maddie, I love you too and I will see you soon for your guitar lesson."

"Night, Deacon, I love you too." Maddie replied.

Rayna kissed her daughter's head. She took her phone off speaker and put it up to her ear as she walked out of the room and shut the door behind her. "Hey, how long is your family gonna be in town?"

"They are gonna be here for a few days. I'm not sure how long yet. I know that they would really like to see Maddie again." Deacon told her.

"That's great. I was thinkin' that maybe you would like to have her for a couple days, so she can spend some time with them. I know that she has a lot of questions and she wants to get to know her family. I think that it would be good for her." Rayna replied.

"I would love that. I just don't wanna push her too far too fast. I don't know that she's ready to spend the night over here, but she is more than welcome to come over and spend as much time as she wants to." Deacon said thoughtfully.

"I will talk to her and see what she wants to do, but I know that she is really wantin' to get to know them and spend more time with them." Rayna retorted.

"I would love to have her stay over. If that's somethin' she wants I'm entirely on board." Deacon couldn't hide the happiness in his voice.

"I think she would love that too. I will talk to you in the mornin' when you come over to check on baby boy." Rayna laughed softly.

"Talk to you then, get some rest, Ray." Deacon hung up.

"Rayna, how much longer are we gonna be at this? It's been three hours already." Deacon checked his watch. He was sitting outside a fitting room waiting for her to try on maternity clothes.

"I told you that you didn't have to come with me to do this. You were the one who insisted that you needed to be here. I'm just buyin' maternity clothes. It ain't like you woulda missed much." Rayna stepped out of the dressing room wearing a designer maternity dress. "What do you think?"

"I think what I thought 'bout the last five outfits you've tried on. It looks very nice. You would look good wearin' a flour sack and you know it." Deacon grinned. "And yeah I do gotta be here. It's important for us to have these little moments together."

"Listen to you pour on the charm. You just know all the right things to say to get on my good side." She teased him lightly.

"It's a gift of mine, darlin'. You should know that by now. I've talked myself outta trouble with you more times than I count by puttin' on the charm for ya." He smirked.

"I'll tell ya what. I think that I have enough clothes for now. It'll keep me goin' for a few months. When I need more I will come back." She stopped short of saying that she would come back without him because he was more of a hindrance than a help.

"What's next?" He asked her.

"We have enough time to make it to a birthing class if you're interested in somethin' like that. Or we could go back to your place and write a single for my new album, because according to the market research none of the songs on there are commercial enough." She didn't need a birthing class she'd been through it twice before.

"I will take option two. I won't make you sit through a class that you don't need. You can show me where to stand when it comes time for him to be born." He picked up all the clothes she'd picked out and carried them to the register for her.

"I thought you might feel that way." She took her credit card out of her purse.

"Rayna, put that away. I wanna pay for this." He pulled his wallet out.

"I am not lettin' you pay for all this. I know how important it is to you to take care of this baby, but this is for me. I promise you that there will be plenty of other things for you to pay for. I ain't gonna argue 'bout this with you. You know that I am more stubborn than you are." She countered.

He put his wallet back in his pocket. "Ok, whatever you want." He knew when to leave well enough alone and let her have her way.

"That's what I thought." She shot a wink in his direction.

"If this don't bring back old memories I don't know what does." Deacon took another slice of pizza out of the box and took a huge bite.

"If you start talkin' about writin' that damn song while eatin' a triple cheeseburger I'm gonna throw somethin' at you." Rayna warned him. She too grabbed another slice of pizza.

They were sitting in his living room floor trying to come up with a single for her album. There were pizza boxes, soda cans, and paper balls littering the area.

"Hey, now, there is no need for violence. Writin' a song while eatin' that cheeseburger is one of my greatest achievements. That should tell you that I ain't done much to be proud of." He laughed.

"That ain't true. I've had the pleasure of carryin' the two things you should be the proudest of." She corrected him.

"I can't argue with ya there. We have this absolutely amazin' daughter who by the way is the light of my family's life. And I know that our son is gonna be every bit as amazin' as his sister. I just can't wait to meet him." He flashed her a genuine smile.

"How does Maddie get along with 'em?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Like she's known 'em her whole life. Momma and mawmaw really enjoy passin' down their traditions to her. And she is the apple of her granddaddies' eyes. Big Paw just loves playin' guitar with her and pawpaw taught her the special prayer that he's taught all his grandchildren. It's one of the greatest things I've ever experienced and I know that it's gonna be even more special when he gets here." The whole time he talked he was beaming with pride.

His smile was contagious and she broke out into a grin as well. "I love seein' you this way. Bein' a daddy really looks good on you. I can already see how you're gonna be with him and it makes my heart melt. I can see you sittin' in your favorite chair and playin' guitar with him layin' on your chest. I can see you walkin' 'round the neighborhood with him up on your shoulders. I can see y'all tossin' a ball 'round in the front yard. I can see you fishin' with him up at the cabin. From where I sit it seems like the sweetest sight ever."

"Where do you fit in the picture?" He arched his eyebrow. He wasn't going to give up on them being together not by a long shot. He just needed to know that he had some hope. If he at least had a glimmer of hope then it would be easier to fight for her, for them. He would be damned if he let yet another man step in and take his family from him without a fight.

"I truthfully don't know yet and I know that's not what you want to hear. 'Cause I can see myself sittin' next to you while you play guitar for him. I can see myself holdin' your hand while you carry him on your shoulders. I can see myself and the girls swimmin' and tannin' while you fish with him. But, I can also see the fights, the broken promises, and all the hurt that comes with us bein' together. I don't know that I want to put him and the girls through that." She went into a long rambling explanation.

"I think that we are in a place where we won't mess this up again or hurt each other the same way we have in the past. I think that you and I both want to raise this little boy up together under the same roof. I think that you're just scared and you're hidin' behind Luke the same way that you hid behind Teddy for years." He didn't pull any punches. He said what he thought she needed to hear.

"I just don't know, Deacon. We really haven't even addressed the fallout from you findin' out that Maddie is yours. I don't think we are in a place where we can be together. I think it would be a small mercy if we just let each other go and learn to adjust to a new normal." She shrugged her shoulders.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was going to play his ace in the hole and hope like hell it worked. "Maybe we should try therapy." He wanted to crawl in a hole and die he minute the words left his mouth. He hated shrinks poking and prodding at him. He'd been through enough of that when he was in rehab.

"What?" She was dumbfounded. That was the last thing she thought he would ever suggest. It just wasn't his way.

"I said maybe we should go to therapy and work this out. It ain't fair to just throw what we have away without tryin' to fix it first. I ain't the same guy I was when you found out you were pregnant the first time. I ain't even the same guy I was a few months ago. We deserve a chance to be a real family." He had laid himself bare for her and he hoped that that would be enough.

She didn't say another word she just crawled across the floor to be closer to him and she took his guitar out of his hands. She straddled his lap and kissed him deeply. Her hands went to the hem of his shirt and she pulled it over his head.

"Ray, are you sure?" He asked breathlessly.

"Just shut up and go with it." She kissed him again to silence him. In that moment she wasn't about to deny herself the one thing she wanted the most. It was only fitting that he take care of her needs since it was his baby she was carrying.

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