A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

Chapter 12

Rayna looked out the passenger window of Luke's SUV. "Luke, when are you gonna tell me where we are goin'? You told me a few days ago that you needed some time and now today you say you have a surprise for me. I'm really confused."

"I do need some time, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be with you or do nice things for you." Luke pulled up the drive of his ranch.

"Well, I just don't wanna pressure you. I don't want you to think that you have to be in this situation when you don't have to be." She replied.

"I'm right where I wanna be." He drove the truck up to one of the pastures where there were huge white tents set up. He got out and opened her door for her.

"Luke, what is all this?" She looked around and saw all the people who were gathered.

"My mother and my sister insisted that I needed to throw you a baby shower if I was serious 'bout bein' with ya. I couldn't argue with 'em." He told her.

"I don't know what to say to that." She had tears fill her eyes.

"Come celebrate this baby with me." He offered her his hand.

"Thank you, Luke, you didn't have to do this." She took his hand and smiled at him.

"You're welcome, darlin'," He smiled back at her.

"Mom!" Maddie and Daphne called out and rushed into their mother's arms.

"What are you girls doin' here? You're both supposed to be with your fathers." Rayna put her arms around both her daughters and hugged them tightly.

"I guess Luke talked to dad and Deacon and got them to agree with us being here today." Maddie informed her.

Luke smiled broadly. "That's exactly what I did. I had a word with Teddy, since the girls were supposed to be with him today and I got him to agree to let them come here and celebrate this baby."

Rayna looked at him lovingly. "Well, thank you." There wasn't much she could say besides that.

"Again, you're welcome. I want you to enjoy the day and not have to worry. I know that too much stress isn't good for you or the baby." He told her.

Rayna just smiled there wasn't anything that she could say to that.

"Luke, you need to let that woman breathe and let us fuss over her." Linda Wheeler told her son. She took Rayna in her arms before he could reply. "Hey, darlin', congratulations on this brand new baby boy of yours."

Rayna hugged her back, not that she had much of a choice. "Hi, it's so nice to finally meet you. Thank you for doin' all this for me."

"Don't mention it. If Luke loves you this much to talk 'bout you all the time, then you're worth it." Linda hugged her tighter.

"Rayna, don't you let my momma scare you off. We are very excited that my brother finally has a woman to bring 'round us and that he looks to be settlin' down again." Luke's sister Hayden took her turn to hug Rayna.

Rayna laughed politely. "There is no scarin' me off, I'm much stronger than that." She hugged Luke's sister. She tried her best to ignore the look that Maddie was giving her. She could see that her daughter wanted to be anywhere else in the world, but there right now.

"It took me some doin', but I even got Colt and Sage here for the occasion." Luke pointed at his two children.

"Colt, Sage, it is so good to see y'all. Thank you so much for comin' today and helpin' your daddy out with this." Rayna hugged both his children just to make nice. She wasn't sure that this was such a good idea, but now wasn't the time to say anything about it.

"It's not like we had much of a choice." Colt grumbled.

Sage ignored her brother's bad mood. "We are excited to be and we are excited for there to be another baby in the family." She squealed excitedly.

"Daphne, have you met Sage yet? Y'all are 'bout the same age." Rayna introduced the two young girls. It would be good if they got along.

"We've met, mom." Daphne reassured her.

Luke put his arm around Rayna's shoulders. "Come on, you need to meet my brother." He led her away without giving her any choice in if she wanted to follow him or not.

"Ok," Rayna smiled tightly. This was throwing a massive wrench in her moving on with her life with Deacon. Luke could make all the grand gestures that he wanted, but a life with him just wasn't what she wanted.

Luke stopped in front of another man who looked a lot like him only younger. "Rayna, this is my brother, Matt."

Rayna extended her hand to him. "It's nice to meet you."

"Put that thing away. With as crazy as Luke is 'bout you we have to hug." Matt hugged her.

Rayna laughed. "I've heard so much 'bout you that I feel like I know you." She gave in to the hug he was giving her.

Maddie watched from off in the distance and sighed. This was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want her mom to get so comfortable with Luke that she moved on with him instead of Deacon. She wanted her parents together and she wasn't about to apologize for that.

"If you wanted to we could always go up to the house and escape this lame party." Colt offered. He wasn't thrilled about being there either. To him it seemed like his dad was rushing headlong into a new relationship with a pregnant woman. He acted like he was more excited about her having a baby than he was to spend time with his own kids.

"Yeah, I guess that's the only thing that is gonna make this day bearable. I don't even wanna be here right now." Maddie retorted.

"I agree, come on." Colt gestured with his head for her to follow him.

Rayna looked over her shoulder in time to see Maddie and Colt walk off together. "I wonder where those two are gettin' off to."

Luke looked in the direction he saw her staring in. "That's nothin' to worry 'bout. Colt 'probably just wants to show her 'round the place. Let 'em be. They will bond better without us right there keepin' an eye on every move they make. We want 'em to get along that way they won't give us too much push back 'bout bein' together."

"That's what you think. You don't know my daughter very well." Rayna rolled her eyes and sighed. He really was clueless. He'd been dragging her kicking and screaming to make every advance in their relationship. She just wasn't that in to him and he couldn't see that.

"What the fuck? You have got to be fuckin' kiddin' me." Deacon groaned out loud.

"What has you in such a mood?" Scarlett asked her uncle.

"Deacon Henry John, you need to watch your damn mouth." June called her son down. She was in town to spend more time with both her granddaughters once Maddie was back with Deacon.

"Momma, I can't help myself and you know that." Deacon rolled his eyes. "Just talk a look at that damn tweeter and you tell me what's wrong, Scarlett."

"Twitter," Scarlett corrected him automatically. She took his phone from him and looked at what had drawn his ire. She saw a picture of Luke and Rayna with both their kids and his hands on Rayna's pregnant belly. "Uncle Deacon, it doesn't matter what he posts or what he says. Maddie and the baby are both your children and he can't take that away from you. He can try to step in your shoes, but that isn't gonna change what's true." She tried to talk her uncle down off the ledge he was on.

"I know, that, but that don't mean the fairytale he's tryin' to spin don't piss me off." He sighed loudly.

"Deacon, you know what you feel and you know what that woman feels. Don't let the façade he's tryin' to put up change that for you." June put her two cents in on the matter. She knew how her son could get when he got fired up and she was trying to avoid that if she could help it. She didn't need him acting like his father for no good damn reason. Really she knew that he had reason to be pissed off, but she didn't want his temper to go off the rails if she could avoid it.

"I know that, but it don't make it any easier. Rayna has done let one man raise my daughter, it's a little hard for me to trust that she won't let the same thing happen when it comes to my son. If it's at all possible that would break my heart even more than her lettin' Teddy raise Maddie." Deacon wore his emotions on his sleeve. He could be vulnerable like that when it came to his mother. She had seen him at his weakest at the hands of his father and he didn't need to put up a front with her.

"I think that you need to trust that Rayna won't make the same mistake twice and let her make this mistake with Luke. She will come to her senses sooner rather than later." June pointed out to him.

"That's easier said than done." He shrugged his shoulders. He just couldn't stand Luke acting like his family belonged to him. The other man had always had a thing for Rayna and now he was acting like he'd won some kind of game instead of the heart of a good woman.

"Uncle Deacon, if you can't tell she isn't comfortable with the way he's pushin' her." Scarlett chimed in.

"I've noticed, but I also ain't seen her doin' anythin' to stop that behavior." He couldn't just look on the bright side of things.

"Just give her a chance. I'm sure that she will prove you wrong." June added.

"I hope she does. It just can't stand the fact that he's actin' like this baby is his." He fumed. He had every right to feel that way given that he'd missed out on most of his daughter's life.

Rayna drove up to the cabin with Maddie. She was making things easy by taking her up there to meet Deacon and his mother. He was being a good sport about everything and she didn't want to challenge him on that.

Maddie rushed out of the SUV when she saw her grandmother was sitting on the front porch next to her father. "Mawmaw! You're here!" She had her arms wide open to hug her.

"Maddie, you're finally here!" June took her granddaughter into her arms and hugged her as tightly as she could.

"Deacon, our daughter has very good taste. She loves your momma dearly." Rayna smiled and stood in front of her car holding Maddie's bag.

"I can't argue with you there." Deacon walked over and took Maddie's bag from her. "My momma is 'bout the only Claybourne worthy of her love."

"That ain't true. Her daddy is pretty damn worthy of her love too." Rayna gave him a look.

"I really don't feel like that. I can't be too worthy of love if the mother of my children keeps choosin' other men over me." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

Rayna closed her eyes and sighed. She should have known that it was too much to hope for that Deacon hadn't seen any of the pictures that Luke had posted of the baby shower he'd thrown her.

"Deacon, that's not true at all. I happen to think that you're very worthy of her love and of mine. If this is 'bout that baby shower Luke threw I had no control over that. If I had been given a choice, I would have told him not to do that. He can act like this is his son all he wants, but that ain't true. This is your son and nothin' will ever change that. I would have much rather you'd and your family had been there. When he does things like that he makes it very hard for me to end things with him no matter how much I want to. On the plus side he is goin' outta town and maybe I can dodge a bullet that way. I want to raise this boy up with you and don't you forget that." Rayna brushed her knuckles over his cheek.

"Maybe this way you can just say that you two grew apart and it was no one's fault." He replied hopefully.

"I'm hopin' for that too. You and June have a good time with our girl this weekend. I hope you have plans to bring our boy up here and teach him to love this place as much as we do." She kissed his cheek.

"I agree on both counts and I will make that happen on both counts." He smiled at her.

"I'm serious, babe. I want to raise this baby up with you as a family." She told him to make sure he knew she meant business.

"I want that too. I'm just waitin' for you to get rid of the dead weight." He arched his eyebrow.

"I'm more sure of this than I've ever been of anythin' in my entire life. When he gets back from his tour I'm gonna end things with him and everythin' will be alright." She swore to him.

"You know when done crossed a line that we didn't cross when you were married to Teddy. I don't see the harm is us livin' our life together and then you givin' him the boot when he gets back." He told her.

"I said I wanted us to take things slow. I don't wanna get Maddie's hopes up and then this not work out." She retorted.

"You know that when it comes to us there is no takin' things slow. We are either all in or all out." He pointed out to her.

She shrugged her shoulders and grinned. "You do make a point. I could keep fightin' this pull between us and it would be pointless. I just need to give in now and save us a whole lotta time and a whole lotta heartache."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that." He took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. He didn't care if their daughter or his mother saw them.

"I'm so glad that you just did that. You know I need to get on home. I would love to stay, but I can't. You have your mother and our daughter here with you this weekend. I don't wanna intrude on that." She rested her forehead against his.

"You wouldn't be intrudin' at all. You would be welcome." He informed her.

"I don't have any clothes and there isn't a place for me to sleep." She loved the idea of staying with him and their daughter, but she didn't think it would be possible.

"I think I can get some clothes for you and you can take my bed. I will sleep on the couch." He said after he thought it over for a moment.

"Are you sure you want this?" She asked him.

"I'm positive. And if we do this right we can spend a little time in that bedroom together after momma and Maddie go to sleep." He made his eyebrows dance.

"I'm not gonna argue with that." She hooked her arm through his and walked up on the front porch with him.

"Rayna, I just made some lemonade. Do you want some?" June asked the younger woman.

"I would love that." Rayna smiled as Deacon helped her into one of the rockers that was on the porch.

"Then you just sit down and take a load off. Maddie and I will get that for you." June smiled knowingly. "Maddie, come on let's get some drinks and snacks." She led her granddaughter into the house.

"Do you think we are foolin' her?" Rayna asked.

"Probably not, I think she knows exactly what's goin' on between us. She may know even better than we know." Deacon laughed.

"At this point I don't give a damn." Rayna tilted her head up and stole a kiss form him.

"I don't give a damn either." Deacon kissed her back and smiled against her lips.

Deacon snuck in the side door of Rayna's house and closed it behind him softly.

"Well, I'll tell you what, in this light you look an awful lot like the boy who used to sneak into the bedroom at my daddy's house." Rayna was in the kitchen waiting for him to come over. Every since that they had agreed to just go for it and be together no matter what he had been sneaking over to see her regularly.

"The adorable pregnant belly aside you look an awful lot like the girl whose bedroom I used to sneak into." Deacon wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.

"Hey, now, you better watch yourself, boy. I didn't call you over here for that tonight." Rayna pushed her hips back against his and bit her lip.

"What did you call me over here for then?" Deacon asked her. He bit back a moan.

"I called you over here to write with me. I know that we have the single, but I want a bonus song just to make things fun." Rayna replied.

"We can make that happen." Deacon agreed happily.

"Did you bring your guitar?" She didn't have to ask that she already knew the answer. He always came prepared with his guitar whether he needed it or not.

"Of course, I brought my guitar. Do you even know me?" He joked.

"I do know you very well. That's how I know that I didn't have to ask that question. Meet me in the music room after you get it outta the truck." She winked at him.

"I will be right back." He stole a quick kiss and then went back out to his truck.

Rayna was in he music room waiting for him when he got back. "There you are. You know better than to keep me waitin' on you that long." She teased him playfully.

"I do know better than that. I can't help it that I don't move as quickly as I used to. You need to realize that the boy you fell in love with got old while he was waitin' on you to come back to him." He sat down across from her and took his guitar out of the case.

"You waited for me?" She was blown away by that. It meant more to her than she could put into words that he had been waiting for her to come back to him.

"Of course, I waited for you. I knew that it was only a matter of time 'fore we ended up back together. I saw you with Teddy and I knew without a doubt that he wasn't what you wanted, no matter what line you were tryin' to sell me." He sat his guitar down and took both her hands in his.

She squeezed his hands and smiled. "You always have known me better than I know myself. The faith that you have in us as a couple blows me away. I saw the looks you gave me when we weren't together and I knew that you still loved me. You're the one who has always been more secure in our love than I have been. You see us for what we are and you are more than willin' to take that leap of faith. And now I'm all in with you. It's taken me a lot longer than it should have, but I'm ready to jump in with you right now."

He leaned over and kissed her. "I will always have faith in us even when you doubt us. I know that we are meant to be."

"Damn right we are." She rubbed her nose against his.

Deacon started playing around with a guitar string that was in his case. He twisted it into a ring and he got down on one knee. "Ray, I love you and it's as simple as that. Please marry me, baby." He slipped the makeshift ring on her finger.

Rayna gasped and then she smiled. "Of course, I'll marry you. I have one baby with you and another on the way. There is no way that I can say no to you."

"I was hopin' you'd say that." Deacon kissed her and then he kissed her belly. "Hey, Bubba, daddy just got momma to agree to marry him. You better be ready for a wild ride." He told his unborn son.

Rayna just laughed and ran her hands through his hair.

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope y'all enjoyed it. Don't think that it is gonna be that easy for Rayna and Deacon to be together. I plan to throw an obstacle or two in their way before they get to play happy family. No worries, though, they are gonna make it out the other end together and stronger for it. Until next time please review.