When Deacon woke up, the room was dark. He brushed his hand over his face and looked over at the clock on the wall.

"Shit," he shot out.

"Watch your language, there's a lady here," Rayna replied from the chair across from him.

He sat up. "Ray, it's late...we were supposed to go an hour ago. Why didn't you wake me up?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, there's something kinda sexy about sitting here watching you sleep. You gonna deny a girl that?"

"I just...I was just gonna close my eyes for a minute," he explained. "I'm sorry, did I ruin your plans?"

Rayna stood up and turned on the lamp on the table next to her, casting a warm glow across the room. "Nothing is ruined at all. C'mere, babe." She held out her hand to him and he took it, standing up from the couch. She pulled him close into an embrace. "You definitely look smart and you smell pretty darned good, too."

He nuzzled the tender spot between her neck and shoulder. "Not as amazing as you, babe."

"Hey, don't mess up my smart look," she teased him, pulling back. "Plus, I think if we go right now, we'll be right on time for our date."

"Where we going?" he asked, looking expectantly at her.

She held out her hand. "Come and follow me."

He took her hand and followed her down the hall to his back door. She pushed the door open and led him out into the yard behind his house.

"Oh, Ray," he said as he looked up. "It's like magic."

There was a small patio floor laid with a table and two chairs. Lights had been laced through the branches in the trees, giving it a fairytale look. They walked over to the table and he pulled out a chair as she sat down. A waiter appeared and lit the candle on the table. He opened a bottle of ginger ale and poured it into the goblets on the table.

Rayna raised her glass. "To us. To our history and to our future."

Deacon took his glass and lifted it toward hers. "To our family."

They each took a sip and then set the glasses down.

"So, I know the setting isn't quite the same, but I wanted to remind us of another important event," Rayna explained. "Many years ago, more than I care to remember at this point, we were starting a new time in our life and we marked that special occasion with…"

"Ginger ale," Deacon started, then he turned and looked toward the waiter standing near the corner of the house. "Please tell me that they made it…"

"Oh, they did," Rayna replied, a smile crossing her face. She nodded her head and the waiter came over with their plates and set them down on the table.

"Macaroni and cheese," Deacon said, shaking his head and smiling. "From a box. Just like my mom used to make for every special occasion."

"You made this for me, that night after Lamar kicked me out, when I wasn't sure what was going to be next for me," Rayna replied. "And cracked open that bottle of ginger ale and said we were going to celebrate the next step in our lives."

"And you made it for me that first night after I got out of rehab."

"And after my first CMA."

They sat quietly at the table, looking at one another.

"Lot of water under our bridge," Deacon said, quietly.

Rayna reached for his hand. "We're lucky to have one another, to have found one another and to have gotten back to this place. I love you, Deacon. I'm never gonna love anyone like I love you. No matter what."

Deacon pushed his chair back and looked up at the lights in the trees. "I kinda like this...think we can keep them?"

Rayna laughed. "Honestly, chances are the squirrels would come in here and chew along the cords and you'd end up with the glass from the bulbs everywhere."

"Sounds like maybe you have some experience in this area," Deacon replied, smiling at her.

Rayna took another sip of her ginger ale. "We put lights like this up for one of Daphne's birthday parties. It was a pool party...we had to drain the pool to get out all of the shards of glass."

Rayna looked down at her phone. "I better head toward home. Teddy will be dropping the girls off soon."

"They aren't staying with him for the night?" Deacon asked. "Wasn't it Tuesday and Wednesday at his house and every other weekend?"

Rayna sighed. "I do want to talk to you about this, but can we just leave it at this...Teddy's got some stuff going on and for right now, the girls are staying with me, full time. They can do dinner with him, but they're not staying with him."

"Okay," Deacon responded, his voice serious. "But Ray, you can talk to me about this stuff. I want you to share it all with me. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay. But tonight, I need to run." She stood up from the table and he joined her, walking her around the front of the house and to her car.

"I did get you something," she said as they leaned against her Escalade.

"Oh, yeah?" Deacon replied as he leaned in and kissed her. "What's that?"

She reached in her purse and pulled out a key. "Here you go. Your own key to the house and a fob for the gate. No more punching in the security code."

Deacon took the key and the fob from her. "Thanks, babe." He fished in his pocket and pulled out another key and handed it to her. "In case that one under the flower pot goes missing."

Rayna pulled her keys from her purse and immediately put Deacon's key on her key ring. "Okay, I really should go."

Deacon leaned in and kissed her, gently. "I'll see you in the morning."

Rayna walked around to the other side of the car, unlocked the door and got into the Escalade. She started the engine and then rolled the window down on the passenger side. Deacon walked over to the car and leaned in the open window

"Deacon, why don't you follow me back. Maybe the girls will want to watch a movie or something."

"You don't want some time alone with the girls?" he replied. "I think they might be missing their mama with you running all over town and such."

She shook her head. "No, we all want to spend time together. It'll be fun."

Deacon stood there for a moment, not responding.

"I mean, if it's easier to stay here…" Rayna started. "Don't feel like you need to come."

Deacon shook his head. "No, that sounds great. But go ahead. I'm gonna run inside and do a couple things, put on some flannel."

"Okay, but don't take too long," she replied.

Deacon waved and she pulled away from the curb and headed into the night.

"Anyone want ice cream?" Teddy said as he headed back toward Rayna's house in Belle Meade. "We have time before you need to be back to your mom's house."

"I'm fine," Maddie said as she looked out the window at the street passing by.

Teddy looked up into the rearview mirror at Daphne in the back seat. "Daph?"

"I'm up for ice cream," she responded. "I bet if we stop, Maddie will want some, too."

Maddie didn't respond, but kept looking out the window. Teddy drove a bit further and then pulled into the parking lot at MaggieMoo's. "Let's go in-it's messy to eat in the car."

The girls followed him into the ice cream store and took turns ordering cones. Teddy led them to a table in the corner and they sat down.

"So, ice cream was okay with you?" he asked Maddie as she licked her cone.

"Whatever," she replied.

"That's five 'whatevers' and a couple dozen 'huh's from you tonight. Talk to me, honey," Teddy pleaded. "I know you're upset about Deacon...it's gonna be better if you talk about it."

Maddie shot him a look and set her ice cream cone down on a napkin. "I'm done. Let's go home."

"Maddie," he tried again, reaching to take her hand.

Maddie pulled it away and shook her head. "We aren't supposed to talk about it. He doesn't want us to. It's a secret and we're not supposed to tell anyone."

"But I know. And your mom knows. I wish you'd talk to us or talk to Deacon. It's not good to keep it all bottled up inside the way you are."

Maddie shook her head again, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"It's not really a good place to talk about this," Daphne offered. "First of all, nobody likes to make a scene in public and besides, It just doesn't really feel like the right setting, here in an ice cream parlor, with kids having a birthday party to talk about that kind of stuff."

"Okay, I get it," Teddy replied. "But you can talk to me. You both can. I know that I haven't always been Deacon's biggest fan, but I'm your dad and if you're hurting, I want to help you out."

Rayna was sitting at the kitchen counter when she saw a car pull up behind the house. She got up and walked over to the door.

"Hey, girls!" she greeted Daphne and Maddie as they came in. Daphne gave her a hug. Maddie walked past her and headed toward the stairs.

"Good to see you, too, Maddie," she called after her.

"Hey, Rayna," Teddy said as he walked in and handed her Daphne's backpack.

"Night, Dad," Daphne said, giving Teddy a kiss. "Thanks for the ice cream." She took her backpack and headed toward her room.

"You have a good dinner with the girls?" Rayna asked as she sat back down on a kitchen stool.

"It was okay," Teddy said. "Maddie's awfully quiet."

Rayna nodded. "She's taking it pretty hard. I've tried to talk to her, but it seems like she's just locking herself up."

"I tried to talk to her as well," Teddy responded. "Well, let me know if I can do anything to help. And if you need the girls to stay with me, let me know."

Rayna nodded. "For now I'd like to keep things the way they are, but honestly, I don't know what might come next. We're hoping for some good news, but until then, we just have to wait and see."

Another set of headlights swept across the back of the house as Deacon pulled up in his truck.

"Well, I better get going," Teddy said. "I'll be back to pick them up Saturday morning."

Rayna walked with him to the door, which opened to reveal Deacon just as they got there.

"Deacon," Teddy said as he headed out to his car.

Deacon nodded and walked past the other man and into the house, closing the door.

"I thought I'd timed that a little bit better," Deacon said as he walked over and dropped his overnight bag on the floor near the kitchen island.

"Based on some evidence from Daphne, it looks like they took a detour for ice cream," Rayna replied. "So, you brought a bag?"

Deacon shrugged. "Wasn't totally sure what I was coming over for, so thought I'd grab a couple

things."

"Maybe I should clear out a drawer for you," she offered as she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Maybe you should," Deacon answered.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading the story and especially for the reviews. They are so appreciated!