A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

Chapter 6

Deacon grazed his fingers over Rayna's growing baby bump lovingly. In the early morning light streaming through their bedroom window she looked absolutely radiant. The light highlighted the red-gold accents in her hair. He was content to just watch her sleep knowing that they both belonged to each other completely.

He shifted in the bed so that he could kiss her stomach. "Hey in there, little one. This is your daddy. I just wanted to tell you that I love you very much. Today we get to find out if you're a boy or a girl. Yes, we do. Your momma and I are both very excited 'bout that. So are Scarlett, Aunt Tandy, and your pawpaw. Your mawmaw is pretty excited too, but she has her hands full dealin' with your Aunt Bev and my father. I promise you that you will never have to meet him."

He looked up when he felt Rayna's fingers in his hair.

Her eyes fluttered opened and she smiled. "What are you doing?"

"I'm talking to the Peanut." He grinned.

"What time is it?" She stretched out with a groan.

"It's 'bout time to get up. I was just talkin' with the baby while you were sleepin'." He explained.

"You should go make sure that Scarlett is up and ready for school. I need to get ready for our appointment." She told him.

"I'll go do that. I should mention in the early mornin' light you look like an angel." He crawled up the bed and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"You sure know how to make an ever expanding pregnant woman feel good about herself." She grinned against his lips.

"That's my job while you do all the hard work." He kissed her deeper.

"You better watch yourself that's how we got this bun in the oven." She ran her hands up and down his muscular back. Since getting out of rehab he had stuck to the workout regimen he started in there.

"Well, since there's already a bun in the oven a little more of the same won't hurt none." He chuckled and his lips migrated to her neck.

"You need to stop. Scarlett is gonna be up any minute and you know that she will walk right in here to see where we are." She pointed out to him.

He stared deeply into her eyes. "You have a point. This is to be continued while the Bug is at school or somethin'."

"I'll hold you to that rain check." She stole one last kiss from him.

"I'll deliver I always do." He smirked at her.

"Go get that girl up." She laughed.

"I'm goin'." He grumbled. He got up and padded down the hall to Scarlett's room. It came as no surprise to him that he was already up and dressed.

"Hi, Uncle Deac," Scarlett chirped happily when she saw her uncle standing in the doorway.

"Mornin', Bug," Deacon smiled at her. The change he'd seen at her since she'd come to stay with them had been dramatic.

"I was just gettin' ready for school." Scarlett explained to him.

"I'll go make you some cereal you can eat while I get dressed." Deacon replied.

"Ok, Uncle Deac." Scarlett agreed with him.

Deacon walked into the kitchen with her and sat her at the counter with a bowl of cereal. "Alright, you eat and I will be right back."

"Was she awake?" Rayna asked when he walked back into the bedroom. She was dressed and she was putting a little bit of makeup on.

"She's in the kitchen eatin' now." Deacon stripped out of his pajamas quickly and changed into a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt.

"Let's go join her." Rayna took his hand and they walked back into the kitchen.

"Mornin', Aunt Ray." Scarlett sat on her stool swinging her little legs back and forth.

"Good morning, Bug." Rayna kissed the top of her head. She made sure that she even more so than Deacon showered the little girl with affection. It was apparent that with Beverly Scarlett had never really known any type of maternal affection.

"Do we find out what the baby is today?" Scarlett asked excitedly.

"We sure do. With any bit of luck the baby will cooperate and we will be able to find out if it's a boy or a girl." Deacon told her.

"What are you hopin' for, Bug?" Rayna played with her hair.

"A healthy baby." Scarlett replied maturely.

"That's what I'm hopin' for too. You 'bout ready to head to school?" Deacon laughed a little.

"I'm ready, Uncle Deac." Scarlett smiled at him.

"What is takin' this doctor so long?" Deacon sat in the chair beside the exam table.

"Babe, it hasn't been that long you're just excited." Rayna reached over and took his hand.

"You're right. I'm very excited. I just wanna know so I can stop callin' the baby an it." Deacon squeezed her hand.

The doctor walked in a moment later. Dr. Tom Beecher was a fairly young man, but he had been Rayna's doctor since she was a teenager.

"Rayna, this is the exciting appointment. You are getting closer. Are you ready?" Dr. Beecher smiled at her.

"I still have a ways to go, but I'm already so ready to have this baby out of me." Rayna replied.

"You must be the dad." Dr. Beecher offered his hand to Deacon.

"That's me." Deacon shook his hand. This was his first time meeting her doctor. His partner had handled Rayna's last appointment.

"Dr. Beecher, this is my husband, Deacon." Rayna introduced them.

"Ok, let's get this show on the road. I'm sure that you're both anxious to know what you have in the oven." Dr. Beecher sat down on the stool. He grabbed the gel and the wand. "This is gonna be cold." He squirted the gel on Rayna's belly and started moving the wand around.

Rayna flinched a little bit from the cold.

"You ok? Did that hurt?" Deacon asked concerned.

"I'm fine it was just cold." Rayna assured him.

Dr. Beecher pulled up an image on the screen and enlarged it. "Look at that the baby is cooperating. You see that right there?" He pointed to the corner of the screen.

"I see it. What am I lookin' at?" Deacon replied.

"That means congratulations it's a girl." Dr. Beecher told him.

"Did you hear that, Ray? It's a girl." Deacon smiled and his eyes teared up.

"I heard, baby. We're having a little girl." Rayna pulled him down so she could kiss him. "You are gonna be amazing with her."

"Thanks, babe." Deacon kissed her forehead.

"I will go print these pictures out for you two and I will be right back." Dr. Beecher smiled at them.

"Ray, why didn't you tell me sooner that your damn doctor looks like a male model?" Deacon asked as soon as he left the room.

"Because I knew you'd react just the way you are. He's a good doctor and I feel comfortable with him." Rayna hid a smirk.

"I don't know if I'm comfortable with someone who looks like him that close to the parts of you that I like the best." Deacon retorted.

"Babe, I'm gonna take that for what it was and not think that you meant you're only with me for sex. I promise you that I ain't attracted to any man other than you. I wasn't even attracted to Teddy. You are the only one who can do it for me." Rayna squeezed his hand.

"I better be." Deacon stuck his bottom lip out in a pout.

Rayna got up and started to get dressed. "So, I have a stop that I need to make this afternoon. I'm pretty sure that you don't want to be around for that."

"What stop?" Deacon asked her.

"I have to go talk to Teddy. I promised I would keep him in the loop. I know without a doubt that this is your daughter, but he won't listen to that." Rayna informed him.

"Ok, I need to go pick up Vinny from rehab anyway. He did thirty days let's see if that did anythin' to help him." Deacon replied.

"I will pick up Scarlett from school then. I want you to bring Vince back to the house. I want him there when we tell everyone else that we're having a girl. Vince is family and he needs the support right now. In my experience those thirty day programs only make you mean." Rayna replied.

"Not this rehab. They are real good. They don't just have you work your steps they try to get to the heart of what made you drink. For instance, I'm not actually an alcoholic I'm a binge drinker. That don't mean that I ever plan on touchin' anythin' again. I'm just tellin' you that that is one of the things that they dig into while you're in there." Deacon explained to her.

"Deacon, I can't get over how well that rehab worked for you. A year ago you wouldn't have been able to stand back and take stock like that. I'm really proud of you." Rayna kissed him.

"Thanks, babe. I'm pretty proud of me too." Deacon smiled. "And I think as my reward you should get an OBGYN that doesn't look like a damn underwear model."

"Nice try, babe, but I'm stickin' with him." Rayna laughed and slapped his chest playfully.

Teddy looked up from his computer screen surprised to see Rayna standing in the doorway of his office. "Hey,"

"Can I come in?" Rayna asked.

"Sure come on in." Teddy waved her into the room.

Rayna walked in and took something out of her purse.

"What are you doing here?" Teddy wondered.

"You wanted to be kept in the loop about my pregnancy. That's what I'm doing here." Rayna arched her eyebrow at him.

"I thought you said that there was no possible way that this is my baby." Teddy replied.

"As far as I'm concerned there isn't. You're the one who keeps pushin' to be involved. That doesn't exactly help anythin' with my husband, but I'm here I'm tryin' to do right by everyone involved." Rayna told him.

"What if I am the father though? What happens then? Until I have proof otherwise I will believe that I am." Teddy posed that question to her.

"If you're the father then we will work something out. I know it's not gonna come to that though." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll tell you what's gonna happen if this is my baby. I'm gonna make damn sure that your unstable husband is nowhere near my child. If you wanna be a mother to this baby you'll have to choose between the baby and him. He's not fit to be around adults much less an innocent baby that is gonna depend on him for everything." Teddy lowered the hammer.

"Teddy, here is my word of warning to you. If you even think about tryin' to take my baby from me you will deal with the Wyatt side of me. Deacon would never do anything to hurt a child. You don't know him the way I do. You don't know what he's been through or what a serious accusation that is to him. I won't choose between my child and my husband. If I didn't know for a fact that the baby and I were both safe with Deacon I wouldn't be with him. He knows if he even thinks about slipping I'll leave him so fast it'll make his head swim." Rayna put her hands on her hips.

"I'm telling you if this baby is mine I don't want it around him." Teddy repeated.

"And I'm telling you that you do not want to test me. You won't like what happens if you do." Rayna glared at him.

"Is that all you came here for today? To argue with me?" Teddy arched his eyebrow.

"No, Teddy, I didn't come to argue with you. I came here to tell you that it's a girl and she's healthy." Rayna slammed the ultrasound picture down on his desk and stormed out before he could get another word in.

"Thanks for doin' this, Deac. I didn't have anyone else." Vince climbed into the passenger seat of Deacon's truck and threw his bag in the backseat.

"No problem, Vinny. We are family. I would do anythin' for you, man. I know that you kept an eye on Ray all those times that I was in rehab." Deacon replied.

"She's like a baby sister to me. Of course I kept an eye on her while you couldn't be here. There was never any question 'bout that. Like you said it's what you do for family." Vince shrugged his shoulders.

"How you feelin', brother? You look good." Deacon pulled out into traffic.

"I feel good. For the first time in a long time my mind ain't all clouded by the whiskey. I think I'm gonna be able to handle this." Vince took his sunglasses off his head and put them on.

"That's good to hear. I'm here if you ever need to talk or anythin' like that. It's easier when you got someone to talk to who knows what you're goin' through." Deacon offered.

"Thanks, Deac, I'll take you up on that offer for sure." Vince smiled over at him.

"Good, I want you to." Deacon smiled back.

"So, where to now?" Vince asked him.

"We are gonna head over to the house. Ray wants you to be there when we tell everyone what we're havin'. The Bug will be real happy to see her Uncle Vinny too." Deacon told him.

"I'm game for whatever, man. You know me. I'll try anythin' once." Vince retorted.

"Yeah, I know you will. That's how we normally end up gettin' into trouble." Deacon laughed at him.

"But you can't deny that we have had fun." Vince pointed out to him.

"We had a little too much fun and that was part of the problem." Deacon reminded him.

"There ain't no such thing as too much fun." Vince grinned.

"You're trouble and yet I still keep ya 'round. That says somethin' 'bout me that I don't even wanna think 'bout." Deacon shook his head.

Scarlett ran to Rayna and threw her arms around her when she came out of the school.

"Hey, Bug, did you miss me today?" Rayna laughed and ran her fingers through the little girl's hair.

"I missed you so much today, Aunt Ray." Scarlett replied.

"Let's get you in the car so we can get home." Rayna bent down and kissed the top of her head. This was exactly what she needed after her disastrous meeting with Teddy.

Scarlett threw her backpack in the back seat of Rayna's Jeep and got in the front seat. "Did you and Uncle Deac find out 'bout the baby?" She asked.

"You are just gonna have to wait and see for a little while." Rayna laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Aw, man I thought I'd know when I got off school." Scarlett fixed a playful pout on her cute little face.

"I know you did. You can blame Uncle Deac for that one. He had somewhere that he needed to go and he couldn't come with me to pick you up today. Now you have to wait for just a little while longer to find out what the baby is." Rayna teased her.

"Can we make him sleep on the couch for this?" Scarlett asked brightly.

"I think I have a better idea. We can make him run out and get us ice cream while he thinks about what he did wrong." Rayna winked at her.

"That is a better idea, Aunt Ray." Scarlet giggled.

"Your aunt and your baby cousin are hungry. What do you say we stop and get a snack before we head home?" Rayna suggested.

"I'd like that." Scarlett replied.

"Alright, that's what we will do then." Rayna drove them to a gas station. Her weird pregnancy cravings made her want gas station food for some odd reason. "Scarlett, get anythin' that you want."

"Ok, Aunt Ray." Scarlett agreed.

"Rayna? Rayna Wyatt?" A dark headed woman about Rayna's age called her name.

Rayna turned around and fought the urge to groan. She hated running into people that she had gone to high school with. "Peggy, I should have known that was you. You're 'bout the only person that would still address me by my father's last name." She fixed her fake stage smile on her face.

Peggy Kentor was a skinny, bubbly brunette. She and her group of friends had made Rayna's high school experience pretty miserable because she was into country music instead of the country club scene like they were. "I keep forgetting that it's Jaymes now. Though I don't know how. You're kinda a big deal around here. You've been all in the news lately what with your wedding and your baby news. Congratulations by the way. You and I even have an ex in common."

"That's right I took my momma's maiden name. Thanks, Peggy, that means a lot to me. Bless your heart." Rayna issued the biggest insult that she could according to southern lady society.

"Aunt Ray, can I get this?" Scarlett held up a soda.

"Of course you can, Bug." Rayna turned her attention back to Scarlett.

"And who is this?" Peggy bent down with her hands on her knees at Scarlett's level.

Scarlett buried her face in Rayna's leg shyly.

Rayna rubbed her back. "This is my niece, Scarlett. She's a little shy."

"I didn't realize that your sister had children." Peggy replied.

"She's Deacon's sister's little girl." Rayna explained.

"That's right you married your guitar player that you were dating in high school." Peggy acted like she had just remembered that.

"Aunt Ray, can we go home yet?" Scarlett looked up at her.

Rayna was thankful for Scarlett at that moment. "Of course, sweetie." She smiled at Peggy again. "I gotta get this one home. It was good to see you."

"Good to see you too, Rayna." Peggy waved as she walked away.

"Scarlett, that is why you don't keep in touch with your former classmates if you can help it." Rayna grumbled lowly.

"Whatever you say, Aunt Ray." Scarlett agreed.

"Well, look at that, Scarlett, Uncle Deac beat us home." Rayna pulled her car up in front of the house.

"Uncle Deac!" Scarlett rushed into Deacon's waiting arms when she walked into the house.

Deacon picked her up and kissed her cheek. "There's my Bug. I heard this rumor that you've been a very good girl. Is that true?"

"I think so." Scarlett nodded her head.

"I sure hope so cause I brought you a surprise home." Deacon covered her eyes and past her off to Vince.

"Hi, Scarlett Bug." Vince whispered gruffly in the little girl's ear and rubbed his beard against her neck.

"Uncle Vinny!" Scarlett wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Uncle Vinny sure missed his Bug." Vince hugged her tight.

"I missed you too, Uncle Vinny. You have been gone for forever." Scarlett complained.

"I know I have been, but I'm here now." Vince promised her.

"Was that a good surprise to come home to, Bug?" Rayna smiled at her little makeshift family.

"It sure was, Aunt Ray." Scarlett nodded her head vigorously.

"You glad that Uncle Vinny is back?" Deacon asked even though he could see the answer to that question. He walked over and put his arm around his wife.

"I am. I missed him so much." Scarlett kept her arms around Vince's neck.

"I missed him too." Deacon admitted.

"Scarlett, how 'bout you and Uncle Vinny go in your room and do your homework? We can give Uncle Deac and Aunt Ray some alone married people time." Vince carried her to her room without waiting for an answer.

"You seem a little tense, babe. Is everythin' ok?" Deacon rubbed soothing circles on Rayna's back.

"I'm fine. I just got a little frustrated earlier. The Bug and I stopped at the gas station on the way home and Peggy was there. Peggy that I went to high school with and can't stand Peggy." Rayna gave him a look that said all he needed to know.

"That explains it then. I know how much you dislike her." Deacon kissed her temple.

"She just makes it so hard for me not to put my fist through her face." Rayna clenched her teeth. It was better for right now if she didn't relay the content of her conversation with Teddy to her husband. Then he would have the urge to his fist through Teddy's face.

"Well, all that matters is that you're home now and you don't have to deal with her anymore. You just have to deal with our crazy family." Deacon kissed her cheek.

"That's enough to make me wish I could drink." Rayna chuckled.

"Oh God, you guys just had to invite him to this." Tandy groaned when she saw that Vince was present. Truly she didn't mind Vince she just couldn't act like she liked him.

"He's family, Tandy. There's nowhere else he should be right now." Rayna told her sister.

"Mhmm, if only he behaves himself like he should." Tandy rolled her eyes.

"Tandy, I'm just thankful for the fact that Vince and Deacon are in the same place and they are both sober for a change. If you had any idea how rare that was you wouldn't be complaining." Bucky threw out there.

"Buck, I don't know how many times I've told you this, but you need to get my sister to give you a raise. You put up with way more than any manager should have to." Tandy replied.

"I see that the president of my fan club is in rare form tonight." Vince chimed in.

"Vince, why don't you do the world a favor and hold your breath until you pass out?" Tandy quipped.

"Alright, ya'll hush and stop carryin' on like you ain't got no sense. Vinny, you know better than to get Tandy started. If she comes after you ain't no one gonna rescue your ass." Deacon laughed.

"Deacon John, watch your mouth in front of Scarlett." Rayna scolded him.

"Aw hell, Ray. I can guarantee you that she's heard a lot worse than that from my good for nothin' father." Deacon waved her off. "Speakin' of fathers. Where's Lamar? We can't get on with this 'til he gets here."

"He should be here any minute. I talked to him just before I came in and he was close." Tandy answered him.

Lamar walked in the door without bothering to knock he sat down on the couch and made himself right at home. "I apologize for running late. Traffic was bad leaving the office." He held his hand out to Scarlett. "Scarlett, come sit with me."

Scarlett didn't hesitate to go crawl into Lamar's lap. "Hi, pawpaw." She hugged him. He had insisted that she call him that.

Lamar smiled fondly and kissed the top of her head. He could be ruthless and he wouldn't for one second deny that, but he also had a soft side. For whatever reason his son-in-law's niece brought it out. Perhaps it was because he'd never been attentive enough to his own girls. "Hi, Scarlett."

"Daddy, I'd offer you a drink, but I'm reasonably sure that there's no alcohol in this house. At least I would hope not." Rayna replied.

"Hold that thought for just a minute." Deacon reached behind the fridge and pulled out a whiskey bottle wrapped up in a brown paper bag. "Here, if he has to have a drink give him that."

"Seriously? I thought I found all your hidin' spots." Rayna sighed.

"You found the ones I wanted you to find anyway. I didn't even know 'bout all my hidin' spots. I'm pretty creative when I'm drunk. I just found that one last night and there's no tellin' how long ago I put it back there." Deacon shrugged his shoulders. He grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and broke the seal on the whiskey bottle to pour a drink for Lamar. He walked over and handed it to him. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Lamar was cordial, but stiff with him.

"Alright, the only thing left to do is for me to call momma." Deacon thought out loud.

"Already on it." Rayna dialed June's number from memory. "Later you and I are gonna have a long talk 'bout your hidin' places." She smiled when June picked up the phone. "Just hold on a minute while I put you on speaker." She pressed the speaker phone button. "Deacon, hit it."

Deacon wrapped his arm around Rayna's waist. "Ray and I are happy to announce that we are havin' a baby girl."

"Congratulations, sweet boy, I know that you're gonna be an amazin' daddy." June told him.

"Thanks, momma." Deacon replied.

"Deac, I'll go get the shotguns right now, brother. We're gonna need 'em." Vince spoke up.

"I feel sorry for this poor little girl. Between Deacon and Vince and not to mention Lamar no boy is ever gonna look at her." Bucky shook his head.

"That's a good thing. Boys are obviously trouble. I'm looking at two right now that are more trouble than they're worth." Tandy pointed at Deacon and Vince.

Rayna just rolled her eyes and looked at her husband.

"Don't look at me like that she's your sister." Deacon grinned.

"All of these crazies are our family. Like it or not we are stuck with 'em for life. I don't think I'd want it any other way." Rayna stole a kiss from him.

After everyone had gone home and they'd put Scarlett to bed Rayna and Deacon laid in bed next to each other talking.

"You know we're gonna need a bigger place than this don't you?" Rayna rolled on her side and propped up on her elbow.

"Yeah, I know we are. This is just the first real place I ever had to call home and I'm gonna miss it." Deacon admitted.

"Just because we're moving on doesn't mean that we have to get rid of it. I'm thinking that Vince is gonna need a place to stay. And I'm sorry, but there is no way that our marriage or my sanity could survive me having to live with the two of you again. This is for our girls. They need a place to call home that their daddy has never hidden a whiskey bottle behind the fridge so I didn't know it was there." Rayna laid her head on his chest.

"You know that you just referred to Scarlett as ours don't ya?" Deacon grinned and ran his hand up and down her back.

"Because she is ours, Deacon. We can't let her go back to Beverly and the way the judge was talkin' I don't think he wants that either. Your sister already hates me and barely speaks to you, so what would the harm be if we just went ahead and filed for custody anyway? I don't ever want her to have to go back to that mess ever again." Rayna looked up at him.

"Believe it or not I'm pretty sure that Beverly would be more open to that idea than you think she would be. She never really wanted to be a momma and Doug didn't even sign Scarlett's birth certificate even though they were married. Don't get me wrong she's loved Scarlett the best that she could, but she just ain't cut out to be a momma. It wouldn't take much talkin' from me to momma to get her to agree to this. Just let me handle it first. If that don't work then we can pull in the big guns." Deacon replied.

"I think that's a damn good idea." Rayna leaned up and kissed him.

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