This is a little bit of a fluff chapter with a slight adult content... l am still trying to figure out the direction l want to go with the cancer storyline, until then enjoy.

Looking over as the credits rolled for the 'Wizard of Oz', Rayna smiles seeing Daphne and Maddie leaning against each other in a deep sleep. Snuggling up against Deacon, she brings their entwined hands up and kisses his fingers. She senses his smile against her hair. It still seems new to her, that they were sitting here as a couple. She was afraid that she would wake and find that her mind had played a horrible trick on her. It was this fear that made Rayna cling to Deacon all night. She normally wasn't an outwardly affectionate person, she didn't need her hand held nor did she feel the need to show public displays of affection. Tonight however, any chance she got she touched Deacon. More to confirm to herself that it was real, that he was there with her and not a dream, also to reassure herself that the cancer hadn't taken him away from her.

Twisting onto her side, Rayna wraps her arm around his middle and snakes her leg between his, while pushing her face further into his neck. Breathing in his unique scent, she places kisses on his neck and slowly makes her way up to his ear. Her lips gently caressing his ear as she whispers softly, "Thank you, for choosing us". Nibbling along his jaw line and peppering soft kisses along the way, Rayna hovers millimetres above Deacon's lips. Looking into his blue eyes, dark with passion Deacon's breath catches as Rayna slowly lowers her lips to his, her warm breath tickling the sensitive skin of his lips.

Her kiss is painfully soft, as her lips part to allow her tongue to wet his lips before darting back. Deliberately moving slowly, Rayna's lips retreat from his before returning to claim them again. Trapping his lower lip between her teeth, gently biting down and then soothing his lip with her tongue Rayna transfers her weight so that she is lying almost completely on top of him. Deacon's arms wrapped firmly around her as his hands roamed up and down her back, before cupping her buttocks. He squeezes and caresses her butt, relishing the fact that she was pressing her body firmly against his. A moan, deep from within him is matched by a murmur from Rayna. Their breathing becomes more rapid and they both make small groans of pleasure as their kisses deepen.

A sleep induced snuffle from behind them cause their lips to separate and they both struggle to get their breathing under control. Pressing their foreheads together, they both have matching, self-conscious smiles on their faces. Rayna reluctantly pushes herself off Deacon, sitting next to him she pushes her hands through her hair trying to get her racing heart to calm down before she woke the girls. Glancing over at Deacon, her eyes twinkle as she notices the sheepish grin on his face. Her thumb reaches out and traces the fading bite mark on his bottom lip, her pupils dilate when he purses his lips and kisses her thumb.

Clearing her throat, she turns her attention towards her daughters fast asleep on the couch. Pushing herself up and away from Deacon, she makes her way across to them. Gently shaking Maddie to wake her, Rayna softly whispers "Come on sweetheart, time to go to bed." Maddie murmurs a response as she flops over onto her stomach before pushing up off the couch. With her eyes barely open, she hugs her mom and kisses her on the cheek "Night". Making her way on unsteady feet to Deacon, she kisses him goodnight and tightly hugs him "See ya in the morning Dad."

Deacon's eyes mist over, hearing his daughter acceptance of his presence in her mother's life. Watching her make her way towards the stairs Deacon smiles at how amazing his daughter was. She had such a sensitive and caring nature, he really was a lucky man to not only have her in his life, but also to have the ball of sunshine that was her sister. Turning towards Rayna, he suffocates a laugh that was threatening to bubble up. Seeing Daphne's little face scrunched up against Rayna's pleading for her to wake up reminds him so much of Rayna's morning face. Moving next to a hunched over Rayna, he runs his hand up her back and whispers in her ear. "Let me." Suppressing a shiver, Rayna steps aside as she watches Deacon slide his arms under Daphne and lifts her to carry her up to bed. Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Deacon looks back at Rayna and gives her a smile basked in complete happiness.

After making sure both girls were sleeping soundly, Deacon makes his way back downstairs. Leaning against the kitchen wall, he watches as Rayna picks up the remnants of family night. The girls were so happy that their mother and himself had finally worked out their differences. After they had gotten over their embarrassment of being caught making out by not only the pizza guy, but their kids, Deacon and Rayna had confirmed their excitable demands. Maddie hugged him so tightly, as Daphne danced around them shouting "yes, yes, yes."

Smiling to himself Deacon was amazed at how easily the girls took the news. He had known for a while that Maddie had been angling to get her parents together so her reaction wasn't a surprise. Daphne however had embraced Luke more fully than Maddie, and was genuinely heartbroken when the wedding was called off. Deacon was expecting a little bit of hesitation on her behalf but being the sweet child that she was, she seemed even more excited that Maddie…if that was possible.

"Babe?" snapped out of his pondering Deacon smiles over to Rayna, who was standing at the kitchen bench with a quizzical expression on her face. "Sorry, just thinking about how amazing those girls are. I mean…" running his hands through his hair, he pushed himself off the wall and walked slowly towards Rayna "… their reaction tonight to us. Wow! They didn't question it, they just welcomed me in." Smiling at his words, Rayna continued to tidy the kitchen up, "Well babe, you have been in their lives since they were born."

Leaning his elbows on the island bench, Deacon looked up at Rayna as she stood next to him, watching as she popped some leftover M&Ms from movie night into her mouth. "Ye, but I was Uncle Deacon. Then Maddie's dad and the brief time when we were together...I nearly killed you. Those girls have every reason to hate me, but they just opened their loving arms and welcomed me in."

Nudging him with her hip and giving him a lopsided grin, "what you forget is that they love you, and they want to see you happy…They also want to see their momma happy. And guess what? It's you...you make me happy. I think those two knew before I was ready to admit it to myself, especially Maddie. She is too damn perceptive for her own good sometimes."

"Hmm, ye guess you're right"

Snorting at his response, Rayna gently pushes him and states in a disbelieving tone, "when am I ever wrong?"

Stumbling a bit, resulting from her pushing him off the bench, Deacon's eyes twinkle as he turns back to a smug looking Rayna. Leaning back on the bench, Rayna crosses her arms across her chest as she dares Deacon to challenge her. Standing in front of her, Deacon leans forward placing his arms either side of her. Tracing her lips with his eyes, he slowly lowers himself towards her. Closing her eyes in anticipation of his sweet kiss, she can feel his warm breathe on her lips. A shiver starting in her toes runs through her body, quivering with expected delight, Rayna wets her lips as she feels her skin tingling at his closeness. The warmth from his body pressed against her caused her breath to catch in the back of her throat.

Confusion, mixed with arousal, showed on her face as she struggled to comprehend the sudden loss of his body against hers. Opening her eyes slowly, she was greeted with the sight of Deacon looking pleased with himself as he placed a chocolate in his mouth. Slapping his chest, "that's just mean Deacon." Laughing at her frustration, Deacon leaned towards her as he whispered "never wrong Rayna?" Opening her eyes widely, "come on now, you know I'm rarely…"

"Wrong? Sure Ray."

Laughing softly, Rayna wraps her arms around his back as she pulls him towards her. "Well…maybe once or twice I might have been known to be wrong."

Placing his arms on the bench either side of her again, Deacon smirks at her as he nods in agreement. Rayna kissing him softly prevents any further discussion. Punctuating each word with a gentle kiss Deacon exclaims "Ray I should go." Murmuring her protest, Rayna pulls him more firmly against her, "no, stay."

"I cant, I have to go." Blinking in disbelief at him, her eyes ask the question, "why?"

"All my medication is at home, and it's not good for anyone if I miss any dose. Besides, I want to woo you."

Snorting against his shoulder, Rayna laughs at him. "Woo me?"

"Ye, woo you. I want to wine and dine you. Take you out on a date, do all that stuff that we missed out on" Caressing his face, Rayna is touched that he wants to sweep her off her feet. "Babe, I'm wooed. You have wooed me, you wooed me 20 years ago, consider me wooed"

Gently tugging a strand of her hair, "I know, but wouldn't it be nice to just pretend for a while…to go out on a first date…to…I don't know, do whatever 'normal' people do."

Nuzzling against his neck, Rayna nods her agreement, "hmm, ye I guess." She is quiet for a while, enjoying the closeness between them. "It would be good to keep this under wraps for a while. God knows, I don't want the media to know about us, to turn it into another circus. I want this to be just us... the way it should be."

Pulling her more firmly into his embrace, Deacon nods. Cupping her head in his large hands, he tips her face upwards and their eyes speak of the depth of their love. Deacon places a soft kiss on her lips as his thumbs caress her temples."See you in the morning for breakfast" with a final kiss on her tingling lips, Deacon releases Rayna and reluctantly makes his way out the door. Rayna takes a shaky breath, leaning back against the bench as her trembling body lamented the loss of him.

Making her way up the stairs, turning lights off as she went Rayna senses were humming in anticipation of seeing him in the morning. After so many years of denying the way her body responded whenever he was around, it was a novelty to Rayna that she was finally able to openly feel this way.