A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.
Chapter 6
Rayna padded into the kitchen wearing her pajama pants and one of Deacon's old t-shirts. She was a woman on a mission. Her unborn son caused her to burn twice as many calories as either of her daughters did. She needed food and she needed it now.
She searched the cabinets and the fridge and she couldn't find a thing that she wanted to eat. She let out a loud sigh and she picked up her phone. She was going to make a call to the one person that she didn't really know how to deal with at the moment. She typed out a quick text and sat down at the counter with a sigh.
"Mom, what are you doing up?" Maddie came into the kitchen.
"Your baby brother is starvin' and I can't find a thing I want to eat in this house." Rayna replied.
Maddie grabbed a bottle of water and sat down next to her mother. "Mom, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, you can. You can ask me anythin' you know that." Rayna reassured her.
"Do you think Deacon will ever look at me the way that dad looks at Daphne? Will he ever be as proud that I'm his as he is of his unborn son?" Maddie asked.
"Oh, sweetheart, if I know one thing 'bout your daddy it's that he loves deep and hard. The only thing he needed to love you even deeper than he already did was to know you were his. He loves you fiercely 'cause you're part of me and that's multiplied by the fact you're his. You are not in competition with your baby brother for his affections. He's slow playin' this 'cause he wants you to be comfortable. If you want more from him you're gonna have to let him know. He just wants you to be ok. He may not show that in the way you want, but he does love you very much." Rayna told her.
Maddie gave her a little smile. "You really think so?"
"Oh, baby girl, I know so. Let me tell you somethin' he was born to be a daddy to a girl. He's always done his best to please me and he will do the same thing for you. Where he's gonna be unsure is when it comes to your baby brother. I will let him tell you the reason why, but he's not great with the father-son relationship thing. This baby is the answer to a prayer I prayed for him a long time ago, but you are our first baby and nothin' will ever change that." Rayna reached over and took her hand. "In case I haven't told you yet, I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you two 'bout each other sooner. You two have always had this unbreakable bond and it broke my heart 'cause I knew the truth. You're so much like him it's not even funny. I'll let you in on a little secret I love you more than I already do 'cause you're his."
"It's not ok, but I do get it I guess. I just wish I knew more about myself." Maddie tried her best to explain how she was feeling.
"I know it's not ok and I'm gonna be apologizin' to you for a long time for what I did to you. That bein' said he is your daddy and I never want you to be sorry for wantin' him or wantin' to be with him. If you want or need more time with him all you have to do is let me know and I will make that happen. Honey, that man would move heaven and earth for you. You never have to worry that he doesn't want you or want to spend time with you. You'll have to ask him to take you to his cabin just the two of you before the baby comes. It's so pretty up there and I know you'll love it." Rayna hugged her.
"Mom, why haven't I met my grandfather on his side yet?" Maddie asked.
"That's a complicated question with a complicated answer. I will tell you that he's not a nice man and leave it at that. Actually, I will tell you that he was an abusive alcoholic and if you wanna know more you will have to ask your daddy. I don't know much, 'cause he doesn't like to talk 'bout him. He will open up to you as much as he can." Rayna kissed the top of her head.
"He's so sweet. I don't know how anyone could ever be mean to him." Maddie shrugged.
"I don't know either, baby girl. You hungry?" Rayna tried to change the subject.
"Yeah, I could eat again." Maddie nodded her head enthusiastically.
"I'll do what I can 'bout that." Rayna shot off another text.
Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the side door. Rayna got up and unlocked it. "Come on in."
Deacon walked in carrying two bags full of food and a tray of drinks. "I heard that someone 'round here wanted some food. I came to deliver." He sat the food down on the counter.
"Deacon, it's a surprise to see you here." Maddie hugged her father tightly.
Deacon hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. "Your momma texted and said my babies needed food. I wasn't gonna be anywhere else in the world."
"Don't you mean your baby?" Maddie asked him.
"No I mean my babies. She told me that you were hungry too. I didn't know what you would want so I brought a little bit of everythin'." Deacon corrected her.
"Thanks," Maddie smiled up at him.
"I'm your daddy you ain't gotta thank me. This is my job. Open up those bags and dig in. Just leave the bacon cheeseburger alone that's your momma's. I should probably get goin'. I will just leave y'all to it." Deacon replied.
"No, please don't go. You just said that you bought a lot of food." Maddie begged him.
"If it's ok with your momma." Deacon looked a little unsure. He and Rayna hadn't really talked since their song writing session. She had been gone and her side of the bed had been cold when he woke up the next morning.
"Of course, you should stay and eat with us. Both your babies are happier when you're around." Rayna smiled at him.
"Well, I did get myself a bacon cheeseburger and fries too." Deacon took a seat at the counter.
Rayna started unpacking the food. "Deacon, you got me cheese fries. I'll love you forever for this in addition to lovin' you for the two babies you've given me."
"I remembered from when we were out on tour and you were pregnant with Daphne that cheese fries are your cravin' food of choice." Deacon grinned at her.
"Look at you gettin' all the daddy points." Rayna teased him a little bit.
The three of them ate in an easy silence. Deacon smiled when Maddie reached for one of vanilla milkshakes that he had bought.
"That's an interestin' choice." He commented.
"Did I do something wrong?" Maddie asked worriedly.
"No, Maddie, you did somethin' right. He's smilin' like that 'cause he brought four milkshakes in here and you took his shake of choice." Rayna explained to her.
"Vanilla is your favorite too?" Maddie was excited to find something she had in common with her father.
"It is. Vanilla is my favorite, but I won't turn down a salted caramel shake. Your momma took that one. I bought two vanillas, a chocolate and a salted caramel. I love seein' the things that you get from me, Maddie. I'm your daddy and the only things I know for a fact you got from me are your looks and your guitar playin' skills." Deacon had a shit eating grin on his face.
"So, Deacon, you don't look like mawmaw, you look like Big Pa. Does that mean we look like your dad?" Maddie asked innocently.
"Yeah, we look like him, but personality wise we are like Big Pa. I like to think that you're more Claybourne than Jaymes. We will see what the case is when it comes to your brother." Deacon laughed softly.
"Can I suggest a name for the baby?" Maddie asked.
"Sure," Deacon told her.
"Of course, you can." Rayna chimed in.
"I like Deacon Henry after Big Pa and Pawpaw." Maddie gave her two cents on the matter.
"We will put that on the list for sure." Deacon grinned like a fool.
"Oh yeah," Rayna agreed.
"Why is he smiling like that?" Maddie asked.
"He's smilin' like that 'cause his name is Deacon Henry John." Rayna explained to her.
"That is so cool." Maddie smiled and looked between her parents.
"Hey, Ray, can I talk to you a minute?" Deacon asked after Maddie had gone to bed.
"Deacon, I'm really tired and I don't feel like talkin' right now." Rayna groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was rehash the rash decision she'd made in sleeping with him again.
"That's fine you ain't gotta talk you just gotta listen. I don't know what is goin' on in that head of yours and I don't have enough time in the day to try to figure it out. I think that we need to go to therapy and I think you need to be honest with yourself 'bout what you really want. I'm not sure that you even know what you want. I just know that I deserve better than wakin' up to you gone and then barely talkin' to me for days. I am an important part of your life and you're an important part of mine weather you like it or not. We have to deal with each other for the next eighteen years and we will be linked together for the rest of our lives 'cause of these two kids. I made us an appointment for Monday I'll be there whether you are or not." Deacon told her bluntly.
"Ok I'll be there. I don't know what you think it's gonna accomplish, but I'll show up. You need to show up tomorrow. Your daughter is playin' a kids open mic thing and I know she'd love it if you were there. She just didn't know how to ask you or if she should ask you. She didn't want to do anything that was going to make things difficult or make things be called into question." Rayna replied. She couldn't really argue with him. If they couldn't figure things out themselves then maybe they needed someone to help them.
"I will be there. There is no where else on earth that I rather be. It just kills me that I can't show up there as her daddy. You promised me, Ray. You said that you were gonna find a way to work this out, so that we don't have hide the fact that I'm her father anymore. I want to be her daddy full time not just on the three days a week that you and Teddy decided I could spend time with her. As a matter of fact nothin' I do with Maddie should be decided on by Teddy. You and I should be talkin' these things over together just the two of us. Again like it or not I am her father not him. I've played nice 'bout this, but I could cause a whole lotta trouble if I wanted to. I would be well within my rights as that girl's father to take y'all to family court and establish my paternal rights and have him stripped of all his." Deacon's voice got dangerously low.
"I promise you that I am workin' on figurin' that out. I know how much it means to you and to Maddie. I know that you have a horrible temper and I hope you wouldn't do that without givin' it a lot of thought first. That would only hurt Maddie to be drug through a big messy custody battle like that. I rather we just handle this between the two of us and see what we can do. I know that you don't wanna deal with Teddy, but you're gonna have to. Whether you like it or not your daughter does love him and he is all she knows. You can't cut him out completely." Rayna tried to reason with him.
Deacon's face got red and slapped the counter. "That's exactly what you and him did to me. That was ok though. I wasn't allowed to be a daddy to my daughter and now I'm expected to jump through hoops just to get the chance to spend time with her. You know me better than anyone and you know how I get with what and who I love." His eyes were wide with anger.
"I do know what you're like. I know that when things get hard that's when you turn tail and run or go get wasted. I don't want that for her. I don't want you to commit to bein' completely in her life and then let her down." Rayna yelled at him.
"I ain't the same guy I used to be. I wouldn't do that to her. I'm very damn sorry that I did all that to you, but you can't comprehend how I feel 'bout her. All I wanna do is be for her what my father never was for me. I never want her to feel 'bout me the way I feel 'bout my daddy. I know that I fucked up by the numbers when I got shit faced wasted after I found out I'm a father. Do you realize what you not tellin' me 'bout her said to me? It said to me that you think I'm exactly like my daddy." Deacon screamed back.
Rayna grabbed on to the counter tightly and grabbed her belly in pain. "Ow, shit," She breathed heavily.
Deacon's anger melted away instantly and a look of concern came to his face. "Ray, what's wrong, baby?"
"I don't know. I'm crampin' real bad and it hurts a lot." Rayna grabbed onto his arm and squeezed it tightly.
"Ok, that's it we are goin' to the hospital right now." Deacon rushed her out to his truck.
"But the girls," Rayna protested weakly.
"Don't worry 'bout the girls Tandy is here with 'em. We need to see 'bout you and the baby." Deacon helped her into the truck. He got behind the wheel and he sped all the way to Vanderbilt hospital. He ran inside to get someone to help him get her inside.
Rayna was taken back to a private room right away. It didn't take long for the on call OBGYN to come in and take a look at her.
"Ok, first things first I wanna do an ultrasound and see if I can find out what's going on." He said.
"Please, just see if our baby is ok." Deacon begged him.
The doctor squirted the ultrasound gel on Rayna's stomach and moved the wand around. The loud whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of the baby's heartbeat filled the room.
Rayna was holding tightly to Deacon's hand and she breathed a huge sigh of relief. "He's still alive."
Deacon's eyes teared up. "He's there."
The OB studied the screen for a moment. "Your son is perfectly fine. I would like to do a pelvic exam and make sure that nothing is going on."
"Do what you need to do." Rayna told him.
"I can leave the room if you want me to." Deacon offered.
"No, this is your son too. He needs us both here for this." Rayna shook her head.
Deacon stayed put and laced their fingers together.
The doctor did a quick pelvic exam on Rayna. "Everything here looks good. It appears to be that this whole thing was brought on by stress. You need to keep your stress levels to the minimum. I'm going to recommend that you just relax and not do too much for the next couple of days, but other than that you are fine and your son is fine."
"Ok, we can do that." Deacon agreed readily.
"We most certainly can." Rayna seconded his sentiment.
Deacon waited for her to get dressed and then he drove her back home. "Listen, I'm really sorry that, that little fight we got into caused this. Right now it just ain't worth it. I'm more convinced now that goin' to therapy and havin' someone help us work this out is the best. I don't want anythin' to happen to our son. We can keep the schedule we have with Maddie 'til he is born if talkin' 'bout this upsets you this much. I want my daughter and my son not just my daughter. I will not put the wellbein' of one of them over that of the other. Maddie is safe and loved right now and that's all that's important. Baby Claybourne needs more TLC right now and he's gonna get it."
Rayna's eyes filled with tears. Partially from her hormones and partially from how sweet he was bein'. "You really are a perfect daddy. I'm so sorry I took away the chance for you to show me that sooner. I shoulda known that you would clean up your act the minute you found out we were havin' a baby. I promise you I will make this right." She leaned over her seat and kissed him on the mouth. She was really kicking herself for staying involved with Luke and insisting that they couldn't be together.
Despite the reservations he was feeling Deacon kissed her back like she was his lifeline. After a moment he pulled away. "You best go on in the house before this goes somewhere that it don't need to right now. I know that I wouldn't regret it if we went all the way. I don't think that in the long run you would either, but right now for whatever reason you'd beat yourself up 'bout it and use it as an excuse to keep me at arm's length. I ain't gonna give you an excuse to push me even further away than you already have. Go on and get some rest I'll see you tomorrow at this thing for Maddie." It killed him inside to stop kissing her. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life kissing her, but right now just wasn't the time for that.
Thanks to some heavy traffic Rayna was running late to Maddie's open mic event. She just wanted to claim her seat and enjoy her daughter's performance. Of course, she was ambushed by Peggy almost as soon as she walked through the door.
"Rayna, hey, we saved you a seat that way Maddie only has to look one place to see her family." Peggy hugged her and made kissing sounds by both her cheeks.
"That was good thinkin'." Rayna plastered a fake smile on her face. It was bad enough that she had to share her daughter with Teddy and Deacon she shouldn't have to share her with Peggy too.
"Plus, I thought it would be helpful for you in your condition if you didn't have to search for a seat." Peggy alluded to her pregnancy.
"That is really helpful." Rayna's face ached from keeping up her smile.
"I'm sure your unborn son appreciates it. He's already under stress from you starting your label." Peggy replied.
"You know that we're havin' a boy?" Rayna asked.
"Daphne told us. She's very excited about having a baby brother." Peggy informed her.
Deacon walked in with every intention of finding a seat in back and making himself as least noticeable in possible. He just wanted to be there for Maddie without any of the drama. He wanted to see his daughter play, but he didn't want to call any attention to himself.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Teddy's expression turned dark.
"Don't start, Teddy. Maddie wanted him here. I made that happen." Rayna spoke through clenched teeth.
"That makes sense they have been doing an awful lot of lessons together. She just wants her teacher to see her do well." Peggy stepped in to break the tension.
"Of course, she does." Teddy claimed his seat. He fixed a smile back on his face.
Peggy sat beside him and took his hand.
Rayna sat down with a sigh. If she could make it through this without killing anyone it would be a miracle.
"Please welcome to the stage Maddie Conrad." The MC said.
Teddy, Rayna, and Peggy all smiled and clapped.
Deacon clapped, but it felt like he had been stabbed in the heart. Maddie was his daughter, she shouldn't have another man's last name. But, he'd promised Rayna this could keep until after the baby was born. He would just have to grin and bare it until then.
"Hi my name is Maddie. The song I'm going to do I didn't write, but it is very important to me. It's called A Life That's Good. I'm not used to singing alone. Deacon can you come up here?" Maddie introduced herself.
Deacon moved from his spot at that back of the room and joined his daughter on stage.
"You remember the words right?" Maddie asked him.
"I hope so." Deacon grinned.
"Did you know about this?" Teddy whispered harshly to Rayna.
"No, I had no clue." Rayna shook her head.
Teddy sat back in his seat and silently fumed.
"I didn't realize they were so close." Peggy commented.
"Neither did I." Teddy retorted.
After Maddie's performance Deacon walked out of the building with a huge smile on his face. It felt good to be able to do that with his daughter even if no one else knew that she was his daughter.
"Deacon!" Teddy walked out after him and called his name.
Deacon turned around. "Hey, can you tell Maddie that I had to run?"
"What do you think you're doing?" Teddy demanded of him.
"What are you talkin' 'bout?" Deacon looked confused.
"I mean getting up on stage and singing with her." Teddy clarified.
Deacon sighed and rolled his eyes. "I didn't plan that. She asked me to come up and sing with her. I wasn't gonna turn her down. I don't ever wanna disappoint her."
"Let me make something clear to you right now. Rayna and I aren't interested in co-parenting with you." Teddy told him bluntly.
Deacon took a deep breath to try to keep his temper under control. "Anythin' that has to do with Maddie and me I don't have to clear with you. I am co-parentin' with Rayna not with you. She is my daughter not yours. You do not get a say in if I'm involved in her life or not. Now I'm very sorry if you don't like that, but that is the way it's gonna be from now on." He made sure to keep his voice low. He didn't want to yell something out and risk someone hearing it. He didn't want to embarrass his daughter.
Teddy grabbed him by the lapel of his jacket. "You're not her father, I am."
"Stop it right now." Maddie yelled. She had just walked out the door with Rayna and Peggy.
Deacon jerked away from him. "I'm gonna do us both a favor and I'm gonna walk away. This ain't fair to Maddie and it ain't good for my unborn baby." He walked to his truck without another word.
Rayna ushered Maddie to her car and got her inside before she dealt with Teddy. "What the hell do you think you're doin'?" She hissed at him through clenched teeth.
"I was trying to make sure that he understood the boundary lines." Teddy retorted hotly.
"Teddy, that is not the thing to do in this situation and you know it. It is only gonna make things worse on all of us, but most of all on Maddie." Cold fury flashed behind Rayna's eyes. She was doing her best to remain calm. After her scare last night, she didn't want to do anything else that would put her unborn son at risk.
"What Teddy means I think is that he doesn't want any bad influences on Maddie. I mean Deacon did just almost get you killed in that car accident. You can't blame him for not wanting her around him too much." Peggy put her nose in where it didn't belong.
"Peggy, I am doin' my very best to be civil to you, but that becomes hard when you talk about things that are none of your business and you have no clue about. I will not allow you to talk that way about my child's father and my unborn son doesn't need to hear those things either. I want him to idolize his daddy. I won't have you poison my children against him. That accident wasn't his fault he wasn't drivin' I was." Rayna tried her best to keep her cool.
"Peggy, let's just go." Teddy didn't want it to come out there on the street that he wasn't Maddie's father.
Later on that night Deacon showed up at Rayna's front door with a bouquet of tiny pink tea roses.
Rayna opened the door. "Deacon, what are you doin' here?"
"I'm here to see Maddie, please don't stand in the way of that." Deacon replied.
"Come on in. I warn you she's very upset." Rayna informed him.
"I know that's why I'm here." Deacon stepped over the threshold.
"She's up in her room." Rayna knew that she couldn't stop him from seeing her. It would only make things worse.
Deacon walked up to Maddie's room and knocked on the door softly when there was no response he opened the door. "Hey, sweet girl."
Maddie sat up on the side of her bed. "Deacon, what are you doing here?"
Deacon extended the roses to her. "I'm here to see you. I brought you somethin'."
Maddie took the roses from him. "Thank you," she looked down at the flowers in her hand.
"I didn't like how things ended today and I'm sure that you didn't either. I'm very sorry for that." Deacon apologized.
"That really sucked." Maddie admitted.
"Look, all I've done since we found out 'bout each other is be honest with you and I'm gonna keep doin' that now. I don't like Teddy and I never ever will. The way I see it he stole somethin' from the both of us that wasn't his to take. That don't mean that I can't be civil to him though. I'm tryin' my best to do that. I just don't guess he's there yet and that makes him lash out at me. I know I should be the bigger man and not take that bait, but I need you to know somethin' 'bout me. I always fight for the things that I love. There ain't nothin' more important to me than you and your baby brother. I will never back down when it comes to y'all. I will never let anyone come between the three of us. Back in the day I thought I would never love anyone more than I loved your momma, but you and Baby Claybourne, well I love y'all more than I can put into words. I can't promise you that I won't protect our relationship, but I can promise you in the future I will do my best to keep my temper in check. I am a man who protects what he loves with his life and I'm not sorry for that." Deacon swore to her.
"I understand that I guess. I just wish it didn't have to be this way." Maddie shrugged her shoulders.
"Me too," Deacon's voice was barely above a whisper.
Rayna had been standing out in the hall listening to the pair talk. She thought that now would be a good time for her to step in. "Hey, y'all how are things goin' in here?"
"Deacon, came to apologize and he brought flowers." Maddie mustered up a small smile.
"I see that. Let me put those in some water for you. Maddie, I'm sure that you can see he loves you very much and wants to do right by you. Don't push him away. It would be a shame if you didn't get to know him the way I do. The thing I want for you the most is for you to have the same relationship with him that your brother is gonna." Rayna took the flowers from her and kissed the top of her head.
Deacon kissed the top of her head too. "Alright, my baby, I have got to get goin'. I just wanted you to know how sorry I am and that I love you so very much and that's why I reacted the way I did."
"I love you too, Deacon." Maddie wrapped him up in a huge hug.
Rayna just watched both of them with a smile on her face. He really was a great daddy.
A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.