A/N - So, here we are...final chapter. Thanks for everyone who was reading this summer. My special thanks to my beta Beth Pryor and my main sounding board, piratewench78. I appreciate your feedback and friendship. And to all who left reviews-you feed the soul! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Deacon reached down and put his fingers around the neck of the guitar, forming a G chord. His other hand, grasping the pick, ran across the strings as he looked down at the familiar instrument back where it belonged.

He moved to the next chord and looked up and smiled at Rayna, the baby cradled in her arms. Nothing ever...ever felt so right.

A year earlier

"Okay, shall we call this welcome home take two?" Rayna asked as she pulled into the driveway.

Deacon chuckled and shook his head. "I guess. Man, I never want to feel like that again."

Rayna leaned over and kissed him. "I think everyone in this family would agree with you. Okay, let's get you back in the house and try this again."

Rayna waited as Deacon eased himself from the truck, back home less than 48 hours since they'd left for the ER to treat his drug reaction. The offending medication had been identified and flushed from his system.

Deacon paused as he rounded the vehicle. "You know, stuff like that can happen again."

Rayna nodded. "Of course, babe, but weren't we going to focus on a little optimism for at least the next couple days?"

Deacon chuckled. "It's always good to try something new."

Rayna walked up to the kitchen door and opened it. "The girls are at school. You want to take a nap?"

"Actually, if you don't mind, I was thinking I might do some writing," Deacon answered. "Is that offer still open to record an album with you?"

Rayna put her hand up along the edge of his face, slid her other arm around his back and pulled him into an embrace. "I'd love nothing more, Deacon Claybourne."

Rayna came into the music room, easing the door closed behind her. "That sounds great, babe."

Deacon looked up. "Thanks. I just feel like I've got a lot more to say all of a sudden."

"You need some help?"

Deacon slipped off his glasses and set them down on the table in front of him. "Actually, I need to go see Scarlett."

"Everything okay?" Rayna asked as she sat down next to Deacon on the couch.

"I can't tell. It's been three months since she moved Beverly back to Mississippi. I've been asking her if she wants to go down there, saying I'd go with her but she hasn't wanted to go. And now she and Gunnar getting ready to go out on the road…"

"Is she still staying at your house?" Rayna asked. "Did she ever tell you what happened with Caleb?"

Deacon shook his head and took her hand in his. "No, she's been real quiet about that. I'm worried about her, Rayna."

"Go, talk to her-make her tell you what's going on," Rayna encouraged him. "And then come back here so we can write some songs."

"Thanks, babe," Deacon replied. "What do you have on your schedule today."

Rayna sighed. "Supposedly a settlement conference with Juliette. If she shows up."

Deacon turned toward her and frowned. "I'm sorry about all of this, babe. This all, it just doesn't sound like Juliette. I mean, I know she can be difficult, but this doesn't seem right."

"I agree," Rayna replied. "And I've spoken to Avery and I know she's been struggling since the baby, that they've separated, but Deacon, I can't even get her to talk to me. I'm not sure how to help her."

Deacon took her hand in his. "I think you do what's necessary to protect you and yours-like Avery's doing with the baby and we just all wait and hope that she can come back to us, healthy and whole. But just like it took for me, with my addiction and struggles, she's got to want to get well, Ray. We can be there for her but if she doesn't want our help…"

Rayna laid her head down on his shoulder. "I know. I know, but it's just so hard. And complicated because it's Luke. And Jeff Fordham. Honestly, if I never saw that man again..."

"Go to your appointment. Work things out," Deacon advised. "How about I pick up some barbecue on the way back for dinner tonight."

Rayna shook her head. "Maybe not tonight-my stomach's not quite feeling right. Raincheck?"

Deacon leaned in and kissed her. "Of course. But after that, well, I think I'm feeling back to myself again."

Deacon pulled up in front of his house. As much as he loved being with Rayna and the girls, he missed his little East Nashville house and neighborhood.

He got out of the truck and waved to his neighbor across the street, then headed toward the house. He knocked, then slid his key into the lock and let himself into the house.

"Hey!" Scarlett called out from the kitchen where she was pouring a cup of coffee. "You're a sight for sore eyes."

Deacon set down his bag and crossed over to his niece. "How you doin', girl?"

Scarlett smiled and came over to give him a hug. "I'm good. Enjoying sleeping in my own bed for a couple of nights."

"How's the tour?" he asked as he stepped back, taking the cup of coffee she offered.

"It's good," she replied.

"And Gunnar?"

Scarlett smiled. "He's good too."

Deacon smiled back at her. "So he is...good, that is."

"Yep," Scarlett said, her smile growing even larger.

"Well, look at us," Deacon replied. "Happy, loved, healthy. It's kind of amazing what a difference a year can make."

Deacon sat watching Daphne, Maddie, and Rayna as they laughed and discussed their day. He felt like the luckiest man on the face of earth.

After they'd finished cleaning up the dishes from the meal, Rayna leaned into him.

"You want to go watch a movie with the girls?" she asked, her hand tracing down the front of his flannel shirt.

"You think they'd miss us if we didn't?" he replied.

She shook her head and wordlessly held her hand out to take his. Slipping from the kitchen past the family room where the girls sat, they moved quickly up the stairs.

"I missed this," Rayna said as she unbuttoned his shirt. It wasn't the first time they'd been together since the surgery, but this was the first time it had felt like old times.

"We've waited way too long, babe," Deacon replied as he moved in and nipped the soft, sweet skin on her neck.

She slid back on the bed and he followed her, his body molding next to hers.

Later, wrapped in her arms, she sighed.

"Penny for your thoughts, babe," Deacon said, his fingers tracing down the soft skin on her arm.

"I want to finish our album," she said. "I want to get out on the road."

"Can we do something first?" Deacon asked.

She rolled onto her side so that she was facing him. "What?"

"I love being at home with you, Ray and here, with the girls, but it's not my home. I think I realized that today when I was back at my place."

"We can't move there, Deacon," Rayna responded.

"Oh, I know," he replied. "I just think it would be good for us to have a place that's ours. I'm sure you burned a ton of sage or something like that, but I don't really treasure the thought of spending the rest of my days sleeping in a room you used to share with Teddy and Luke. It's just...it's got a lot of baggage."

Rayna nodded and stayed quiet for a moment. "I've been thinking the same thing, but then I worried with everything going on with Teddy, that it would be too hard for the girls, but now that we've been together for a while, I think they would be okay with it. But there's one thing I want to do, too."

"What?" Deacon asked.

"Get married," Rayna replied.

"Now?" Deacon asked. He took her hand in his, weaving their fingers together.

"Well, not this instant," Rayna replied. "I mean, I'd want to do my hair and you'll need to wear pants. But yeah-I think finding our own home and finishing the album and going on tour are all things I want to do, but first I want to get married. Cause I loved making promises to one another before your surgery, but I want to be married to you, Deacon Claybourne."

"You gonna change your name?" he teased.

"Stop it," she replied, laughing. "I want to do it soon, Deacon. I don't want to wait any longer."

"Okay," Deacon replied. "Then let's do it." He got up out of bed and went over to the dresser. "But if we're going to do it, then you need this."

He held out the ring to her. The one he had first given her so many years ago. The one she'd kept for so long. The one he'd tried to give to her again when she chose Luke.

"You don't think we should try a new one?" she asked as he stood there, the ring balancing between his fingers.

"No, I think this ring knows the story of us. It knows what we've done to get here and no matter what happened, it's still here, so this is the ring I want to give you."

She took it from his fingers and slipped it onto her own, looked up and smiled at him.

"It's never going anywhere else.

The ceremony was simple. Rayna had wanted it at the cabin and so it was. The girls and Tandy, Bucky, Gunnar and Scarlett-very simple.

Rayna and Deacon stood in Bucky-who had been ordained online earlier that week-and exchanged their vows. After they made their promised, Gunnar and Scarlett came forward to sing. Rayna had requested one of their earliest songs. They rarely played it on tour, but she said she could never hear it without thinking of Deacon and how much he meant to her.

There's no music, no confetti
Crowds don't cheer, and bells don't ring
But you'll know it, I can guarantee
When the right one comes along

What they're thinkin', what you're feelin,
You no longer have to guess
All those questions are finally put to rest
When the right one comes along

Everything in their lives had brought them to this moment, to pledging their love in front of their family and friends. To making the promise to be together for the rest of their lives. No matter what.

"This feels very country western song," Rayna said as she walked into the bedroom at the back of their tour bus and climbed into bed with Deacon.

"What? A honeymoon on tour with our kids in bunk beds outside our room?" Deacon responded as he rolled on his side to make a space for her.

"When I told Bucky I wanted to get back out there, I had no idea that he'd do it quite so fast."

"Yeah," Deacon replied, then was quiet.

"What's the matter, babe?"

"I was thinking about how beautiful everything was yesterday and then started feeling bad."

"Cause Bev wasn't there?" Rayna asked.

Deacon slid his arm around Rayna's waist and pulled her closed. "No, I mean, maybe it's really bad of me to say, but I didn't miss her being there-she's been gone for a lot of my life, a lot of my big moments. No, I actually was feeling bad that Juliette wasn't there."

Rayna was silent. She knew that Deacon had felt bad about Juliette's disappearance from their lives, but he never really mentioned it.

"I tried to call her, see if she would come. I mean, even with everything that's been going on between you two, she's my friend and she's been there for me when very few other folks were. And now, when she's needed me-I've not been there for her. And I wish that wasn't the case."

"I know, babe," Rayna responded. "And I've been trying, too-I mean, that girl drives me crazy, but I can tell she's hurting. Honestly, I thought the lawsuit would bring her to her senses, but she just cut Highway 65 a check and settled with us."

"She's playing that festival we're doing in Wisconsin," Deacon replied.

"You think she'd talk to you?" Rayna asked.

Deacon shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I'm willing to give it a try."

Deacon and Rayna's bus pulled into the festival grounds as that night's show was beginning to wrap up. After kissing Rayna and leaving the girls playing around with a new song, he crossed over to the stage area where he could see Juliette up on stage playing her finale.

It was quite a show, with dancers and lights, but under it all, he could see that it wasn't really Juliette.

There had been rumblings in the trade publications that this tour wasn't playing like the rest. The crowds and tickets were good, and the reviews hadn't been bad, but more than one reviewer had commented that this was a very different Juliette.

And there had been a couple of missed shows, which was not Juliette at all. She'd never cancelled a show willingly in her life.

He flashed his badge to the backstage security and mounted the steps to the wings. He saw Jeff Fordham off to the left, so moved over near a couple of the roadies. He did not need to have that conversation.

Juliette finished the song, thanked the crowd and came off the stage, reaching for the towel and bottle of water that her assistant handed her.

"Nice show," he said as he walked up to her.

"Deacon," she replied slowly. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, I am," he responded. "You got a few minutes for an old friend?"

Juliette looked over at the stage, then back at him. "Well, I still owe them an encore. You can wait-or you can come out there with me."

Deacon smiled. "And do what?"

"Sing our song?" she offered.

"Undermine?"

"Sure. C'mon, Deacon Claybourne. You're still my friend, aren't you?" Juliette asked as she turned and headed toward the stage.

"Thanks, y'all! You've been awesome!" Juliette called out to the cheering crowd. "And I found a surprise backstage. Please welcome my friend, Deacon Claybourne!"

Deacon paused for a moment, then took the guitar the roadie was offering to him. He adjusted the strap slightly as he headed out onto stage. Juliette said a few words to her band leader who nodded and started playing the opening lines to Undermine.

Sometimes good intentions
Don't come across so well

Get me analyzing everything that
aint' worth thinking 'bout
Just cause I ain't lived through
The same hand that was dealt to you
Doesn't make me any less
Or make any more of you

I wouldn't trade my best day
So you could validate
All your fears

And if I've only got one shot
Won't waste it on a shadow box
I'll stand right here

Deacon stepped up to the mic and joined in.

It's all talk, talk, talk
Talkin' in the wind
It only slows you down
If you start listenin'
And it's a whole lot harder to shine
Than undermine
Yeah, undermine

He watched her as she sang. As the song went on, it seemed like a variety of emotions crossed her face. He could see she was...had been...struggling.

It's a whole lot harder to shine
Yeah, it's a whole lot harder to shine
Than undermine
Yeah, undermine

Sometimes good intentions
Don't come across so well

As he played the last chord, Juliette turned to her band leader and nodded.

"Okay, y'all...thanks for a great night!" she called out as Deacon shook his head at her. "Nah, Deacon, I know you know this one, so stay on up here with us!"

I had a broken heart and a broken heel
And a break down when those big old wheels
Left with him and left me in a cloud of deep old dust

She was sitting there
With her beehive hair
And said, "Honey, that's a waste of good mascara."
She handed me a pink Kleenex
And I'll never forget what she said next,

Deacon crossed to her microphone and joined her.

"Boys and buses got a lot in common
They both pick up speed when you
Try to stop 'em
You could waste your breath
You could scream and cuss 'em
But there's no use chasing after boys and buses."

Deacon looked over to see Maddie and Daphne standing near the edge of the stage. He smiled as Juliette finished the next verse and she indicated he should take the guitar solo. As much as he hated some of Juliette's more pop stuff, he loved riffing on this one.

As the song finished, Juliette reached for his hand and lifted it.

"Thanks, Wisconsin!"

They took a bow and then headed off stage.

"That was awesome!" Daphne cried as she ran up to them.

"Hey, girls," Juliette said as walked up to them. "Y'all enjoying your first big tour?"

"It's great," Maddie said. "Mom and Dad have been letting us do a couple songs each night."

"That's great," Juliette said, looking over at Deacon and smiling. "Say, I'd love to catch up with y'all, but I promised your dad something. Can we take a raincheck? Maybe when we all get back to Nashville?"

"Sure," the girls answered in unison.

"Hey, you tell your mom I'll be back in a while, okay?" Deacon asked.

Maddie and Daphne agreed and Deacon followed Juliette off stage toward her bus.

"So, you seem...man, Juliette, I don't know how you seem," Deacon finally said as they got to the bus.

She stopped and turned back to him. "C'mon, let's go in. Lots of ears around here."

Deacon took the bottle of water Juliette offered and sat down.

"How many more dates do you have?" he asked as she opened her own bottle and sat down across from him.

"Like twenty," she said, taking a drink. "I think we're done in a little over a month. Festival season, you know."

"Yep," he replied. "So…"

"So," she responded.

"You didn't return my calls," Deacon started. "I've been worried about you."

"I've been busy," Juliette started.

"C'mon, Juliette. We're friends and we've both spent a lot of years on the road. You weren't that busy. Why are you avoiding me?" Deacon asked.

Juliette looked over at him, suddenly looking more vulnerable than he'd seen her since her mom died.

"I guess I didn't know what to say," she replied. "I wasn't sure why you were calling, why you'd even want to talk to me after everything that happened with Rayna."

"Have you talked to Avery?" he asked, his voice quiet.

She shook her head.

"He loves you, Juliette and I know he's been worried."

"I'm not so sure anymore," she replied. "I think I messed that one up for good."

"You seem like you're doing better," Deacon said. "Is it a show or did you get some help?"

Juliette shrugged. "Luke made me go to a doctor, after I missed that second show. He's got me on an antidepressant."

Deacon reached across the table and put his hand on his arm. "Is it making you feel any better?"

Juliette nodded.

"Then why haven't you called Avery, gone home, seen him and the baby?"

Juliette shrugged again. "I guess I'm afraid of what he'll say."

Deacon shook his head. "You're never going to know if you don't give him a chance. What's your schedule after this?"

"I have the Indiana State fair in a couple of days," Juliette replied.

"Go home, Juliette-give him a chance, give yourself a chance," Deacon said. "Don't miss out on all of those years like I did. You never know what life might deal you. Don't waste it."

Juliette nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

"Okay, I have a hot new wife and a couple of kids who seem to think that every night is a party on that bus, so I've got to go, but do this for me-give your family another chance."

"Thank, Deacon," Juliette said quietly.

Deacon stood up, walked over and gave her a hug. He'd done what he could do.

"Okay...that makes sense...but can we...okay. I'll let Deacon know," Rayna was saying into the phone as Deacon climbed back on their bus.

"What will you let me know?" Deacon asked as she finished her call.

"Scarlett's sick. They're gonna cancel all three dates this weekend," Rayna said as she set the phone down. "I need to sign more artists so we're not cancelling dates like this."

"Is it that serious?" Deacon asked as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"She said it's the flu. Nothing too serious, but bad enough she doesn't want to travel and Gunnar backed her up."

"I should call her," Deacon said as he fished his phone out of his pocket.

"Wait til morning, babe. It's already after 11 pm," Rayna advised.

Deacon looked at his phone for a moment, then stuck it back in his pocket. "But Gunnar was with her?"

"Bucky said they had come back from the dates in Utah and he'd taken her to his house."

Deacon nodded.

"How as Juliette?" Rayna asked.

Deacon shrugged. "Better, I think. I told her to go home and talk to Avery. Luke did get her to go to a doctor, get her head taken care of."

"Good," Rayna responded. She shook her head. "I only want what's best for her. I mean, she's frustrating as hell, but I hate seeing them fight like this when the baby is so young."

"That's what I told her," Deacon replied. "I told her to fix it now before it got any worse."

Scarlett walked into Gunnar's house, dropped her banjo case and ran down the hall.

"Scar? You okay? You want me…" Gunnar stood in the living room, a guitar in one hand, a suitcase in the other. "Uh, I'm just gonna…"

"Wait there!" she called from the bathroom.

Gunnar walked over and got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water from the fridge. A few minutes later, when Scarlett walked back out, he handed it to her.

"We gonna talk about this?" he asked.

She looked at him and sighed. "Guess we're gonna have to."

He walked over to the couch and she followed.

"So," he started.

"I'm pregnant," she answered.

"I kind of figured that out," he admitted. "I mean, at first I thought maybe it was the tuna on craft services, but it's getting pretty bad."

"Yeah," she responded, taking a sip of water from the glass.

"Have you seen a doctor?" he asked.

She nodded. "When we were in Salt Lake."

"And?"

"Well, I'm pregnant. And he said that the sickness should be getting better, but I just don't know if it's gonna," Scarlett admitted.

Gunnar was quiet for a moment. "Have you told Caleb?"

Scarlett shook her head. "No."

"Are you going to?"

"No," she answered. "Cause...cause it isn't his baby."

"Oh," Gunnar replied. "Oh!"

Scarlett looked over at him. "You gonna be okay with that? I mean, we haven't really talked, we've just kind of…"

Gunnar sat for a moment, then held his arms open. "Come here," he invited her. She scooted over on the couch into his arms. "Wow, so we're gonna have a baby."

As the pastor called them up for the baptism, Deacon adjusted the guitar one more time, then began to play.

Go, my children, with my blessing, never alone.

Maddie and Daphne joined in.

Waking, sleeping, I am with you, you are my own.
In my love's baptismal reiver I have made you mine forever.
Go, my children, with my blessing, you are my own.

He looked over at Juliette and Avery standing in the front pew, Cadence asleep in Avery's arms and smiled.

Go, my children, sins forgiven, at peace and pure.
Here you learned how much I love you, what I can cure.
Here you heard my dear Son's story, here you touched him, saw his glory.
Go, my children, sins forgiven, at peace and pure.

Scarlett reached down and took her mom's hand in hers, and smiled at her. Gunnar slipped his arm around Scarlett's waist.

Go, my children, fed and nourished, closer to me.
Grow in love and love by serving, joyful and free.
Here my Spirit's power filled you, here my tender comfort stilled you.
Go, my children, fed and nourished, joyful and free.

And then Rayna, her grand-niece and goddaughter in her arms, looked straight at him and smiled. Everything had been worth coming back for-he was a lucky man.

I the Lord will bless and keep you, and give you peace.
I the Lord will smile upon you, and give you peace.
I the Lord will be your Father, Savior, Comforter and Brother.
Go, my children, I will keep you, and give you peace.

FIN

A/N - The last song was "Go, My Children, with My Blessing" text by Jaroslav Vajda, music - Welsh folk tune.