It turned out that having those ten days off was perfect timing. After Deacon told me about his dad and what he had gone through growing up, we went to the cabin with Maddie and just holed up for a few days. We spent some really good time together, just the three of us. I really felt like it helped him be able to see that he was definitely not the man his father told him he'd be and he was not that kind of father. I remembered walking out on the porch to find the two of them together, asleep on the porch swing. It had brought tears to my eyes. Deacon was so far from what his horrible father had been.

I was ready for the next six weeks. We were on our way to Denver, one of those long trips. I was feeling tired and went back to our room for a nap. As I drifted off to sleep, I smiled as I heard Deacon's laughter among the others and Maddie's squeals of pleasure. The next thing I remembered was being kicked awake. I smiled to myself, imagining that this new little girl was turning cartwheels or somersaults or something. Instead of getting up right away, I lay there and rubbed my stomach as the baby moved. I was actually enjoying being pregnant this time. I couldn't help but think a lot of that was because of Deacon, because of his excitement, just because he was there. With Maddie, although I was looking forward to her being born, all the circumstances were so confusing and painful. I knew that Teddy had loved me then, but the stress of knowing what was to come made life difficult.

I pushed myself up to a sitting position and leaned my head back, just focusing on the movements of the baby, thinking about how my life had changed that day that I had showed up on Deacon's porch. I remembered how I'd made the decision to leave. I packed a couple suitcases for me and then a few more for Maddie and put them in the car. I had gone to her room and picked her up. As I carried her into the den, I told her that we were going to see her daddy. I had strapped her into her car seat, then taken her out to the car. I got in myself and took a deep breath before I put my key in the ignition and had finally driven out of Belle Meade, around on the 440, then into East Nashville. I'd been so scared when I'd pulled out of the driveway, but the closer I got to Deacon's house the more sure I felt that I was doing the right thing.

At the beginning it had felt like us against the world. Starting with Teddy, who was predictably furious with me and with Deacon when he found my letter. Although the letter I had written thanked him for his generosity and acknowledged what he had done for me and for Maddie, he, of course, did not see it quite that way. He tracked me down at Deacon's and showed up one morning, no doubt to confirm that Deacon and I were living together.

Deacon answered the door, since I was in the bedroom feeding Maddie. I heard Teddy demanding to see me and Deacon trying to get him out of the house. Teddy accused Deacon of luring me away and told him that he would only hurt me in the end. Deacon fought back, telling Teddy that he had been underhanded in forcing me to lie about Maddie and threatening me if I told the truth. I was afraid they would come to blows, so I hurriedly put Maddie in her crib and, pulling my robe tightly around me, rushed out to the living room. I could hear Maddie crying, probably because of how tense I had seemed, and I gave Deacon a look that he understood meant that I needed him to go see to our daughter.

Teddy stood there with his hands on his hips, scowling at me. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Rayna?"

"Doing what I should have done in the beginning," I told him.

Teddy smirked. "What, throw your life away on a deadbeat drunk? Put our daughter in harm's way? Are you insane?"

I fumed. "He's not a deadbeat drunk, Teddy. He's sober."

Teddy laughed unkindly. "For how long, Rayna? And how many more times are you going to make a fool out of yourself putting him back in rehab?"

"Get out, Teddy. You need to leave. Right now." I was shaking with anger.

"Oh, I'll leave, but I'm going straight to my attorney. I don't have any problem divorcing you, but I'm going to get custody of Maddie. I'm not letting you put her life in danger."

I walked over and slapped his smug face. "You don't have any right to custody," I shouted at him.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me roughly towards him, then practically spat in my face. "I'm her father. It's my name on her birth certificate."

I pulled my wrist out of his grasp and glared at him. "All it will take is a paternity test, Teddy. We already know you're not her real father."

Teddy raised his eyebrows. "It's not going to be as simple as you think it is, Rayna. Besides, even if he is her biological father, he's not fit to be a father to anyone."

"Get the hell out of here, Conrad," came Deacon's low, measured voice. I turned and he was standing there, holding a sleeping Maddie, his face a thundercloud of anger. "Get out of my house."

Teddy grinned sarcastically. "Oh, I'm leaving," he said, pointing at Deacon. "But make no mistake, Deacon, I'm getting Maddie back. There's no judge in this state that would let you have her. Not a five-time loser."

Deacon started for Teddy, ready to go after him, but I grabbed his arm. "Deacon, no," I pleaded.

We stood and watched as Teddy left the house. Deacon looked down at me. "What are we gonna do, baby?" he asked, sadness crossing his face.

I frowned. "We're going to get that birth certificate changed so that you're Maddie's father. And then I'll divorce Teddy. You are Maddie's real father. We can prove that easily. And then we are going to raise her. Together." I took Maddie from him and then he put his arms around us both and held us tightly.

It turned out not to be as simple as I thought it would be. Getting a paternity test on Deacon was easy and, of course, it turned out that he was Maddie's biological father. Teddy protested the results and forced us to have a court-ordered DNA test. Ultimately he had to back down on the custody issue, but then he dragged out the divorce, seeking a settlement from me. Six months later, I finally had my divorce and felt like my life could move on. I worried about Deacon and all the stress this was creating for us. More than once, it was too much, and I had to leave him with Coleman and wait to see if he came through it. Every time I was afraid that it would send him back to the bottle, that he wasn't strong enough, that I had put too much pressure on him, but each time he showed up at Tandy's to pick us up, I felt such relief. And I finally began to believe that he was truly going to beat this this time.

I had been divorced for nine months when Deacon asked me to marry him. In all the years we'd been together we'd never really talked seriously about getting married. I didn't need a piece of paper to say that I belonged to him, but, after going through the whole getting married thing with Teddy, I realized that it did mean something to commit to each other in a more formal way. But I didn't want to pressure Deacon and, truth be told, I would probably still have gone on as we were – happily – forever. I still didn't need that marriage license to prove my commitment to him.

I also knew that he needed to do things on his own timetable. He was committed to making sobriety work this time and I knew that he had a plan for how everything would play out. I was proud of him, that he was making this work. That was what was important. After all the unpleasantness with Teddy and him dragging out the divorce and trying to gain custody of Maddie, it was nice to just nest with Deacon and our daughter. To work on building a life for our family, one day at a time.

On a beautiful April day when we were on a break from my latest tour, we put Maddie in her stroller and went to East Park. We sat on a bench, not talking much, just sitting close and enjoying the day. I leaned my head on Deacon's shoulder and sighed happily. He turned his head to look at me with a smile and then he kissed my forehead.

He cleared his throat. "So, Ray," he started. I sat up and looked at him. He took my hand and looked deeply into my eyes. "So, I think it's time for us to do this."

"Do what?" I felt a little quiver of anticipation.

"Make it all official. You and me. I mean, we've been together for so long, but now we have a daughter. I think we need to officially be a family."

I took a breath. I had told him, of course, about the first proposal, the night Maddie was conceived. I had told him when I let him know Maddie was his. We had never talked about it again, because it was painful for him. I'd never told him about the ring, or shown it to him, and he'd never asked about it. I decided he didn't even remember giving it to Coleman, probably didn't even know it existed. Another casualty of his disease. I wanted us to move forward and bringing up old stuff didn't seem to be the way to do that. "We are a family, Deacon," I said.

He nodded. "Yeah, we are. But I want to marry you, Ray." He laughed. "I want to make an honest woman out of you."

I couldn't help but laugh as well. We had been pretty open about everything surrounding my leaving Teddy and moving back in with Deacon. Because of the custody issue, it became common knowledge that Deacon was Maddie's father. It had been a tough PR issue to deal with and caused some ruffled feathers with both my fans and the label. But things had settled down and it seemed my fans had forgiven me and the label had weathered the storm. My last album went double platinum and I had a sold out tour, so the firestorm didn't last long. "You're so sweet, Deacon," I teased.

He leaned in and kissed me. "I'm serious. Marry me, Rayna."

I felt the rush of tears. I watched him reach in his pocket and pull out a ring. Very different from the ring he'd given me at the cabin, this one was a thin band covered with tiny diamonds. His hands were shaking as he slid it on my finger. "Oh, Deacon," I breathed.

He looked up at me. "I love you, Rayna. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?"

I nodded and then leaned in to kiss him. "I would love to marry you." I held my hand up and admired the ring. "This is beautiful," I said.

He smiled. "It's called an eternity band. I thought it was appropriate."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head on his chest, tears rolling down my cheeks. "It is, babe," I whispered. He put his arms around me and held me close. Everything seemed to be going our way. I couldn't have been happier.

We didn't really want a big, fancy wedding, although Deacon told me I could have one if I wanted. When Teddy and I got married, I was almost four months pregnant and already showing a bit and we got married in our Sunday best in front of a judge. When I was a little girl I used to dream of the big, princess wedding, with the beautiful white dress and flowers everywhere. But these days that kind of over-the-top stuff didn't appeal to me. Deacon let me plan everything. The only thing he asked was that he not have to wear a suit or a tux, although I thought he would look amazingly gorgeous in either one.

We got married in Tandy's courtyard on a beautiful sunny early summer afternoon. It wasn't too hot and there was a very light breeze. We only had very close friends and a few family members there. Deacon's sister Beth and her daughter Scarlett came. Daddy refused to come, which was ok with me, so Tandy was the only family there for me. She helped me pick out my dress, an ivory eyelet sundress. Close to white, but not completely. Deacon did wear a jacket over a white shirt and black jeans. Maddie wore the sweetest pink dress and a bow in her hair.

Deacon held Maddie as we said our vows to each other and to her. She giggled and waved her tiny arm through the whole ceremony, making us both smile. At the end, when Deacon kissed me, he put his arm around my waist and pulled me in close. He smiled and then he gave me a deep, lingering kiss, while Maddie tangled her hand in my hair. "I love you, Ray," he whispered against my mouth.

"I love you too, babe," I said, tears in my eyes. I reached a hand up and put it around his neck, running my fingers through his hair and pulling him back to me for another kiss. Then Maddie yanked hard on my hair and I pulled back, laughing. "I think somebody doesn't like not being the center of attention," I said and everyone laughed, while Maddie clapped her hands with glee.

I watched as Deacon nuzzled her neck, causing her to squeal with laughter. It gave me such a warm feeling inside to see how well he had adjusted to being a dad. I knew when Maddie was born that Teddy would have been a good and loving father and I still appreciated that he had accepted her as his own the day she was born. But Maddie needed to know her real father and I was just so grateful that Deacon had stepped up. He'd been terrified when Maddie and I first moved in. He didn't have the same ease about him at first that Teddy had had. I think a lot of it was because he was afraid he would disappoint me, and her. But soon enough he had adjusted to being a father and he had turned into a very good one.

The whole day had been wonderful. I could hardly believe Deacon and I had actually gotten married. It was the most amazing day of my life. And it just got better with every day. I lay still, closing my eyes, feeling the movement of the baby, and feeling so very blessed. Then the door opened. "Mama?" I heard Maddie's little whisper. I opened my eyes and smiled at her. She jumped up on the bed and scrambled up to hug my neck. "Did I wake you up? Daddy said not to wake you up."

I reached my arm around her and hugged her to me. "No, I was already awake. Just thinking about stuff."

Maddie tilted her head. "What stuff?" she asked.

"Well," I said and I rubbed my hand over my stomach. "Your baby sister is moving around, so I was thinking about her."

Maddie's eyes got big. "Really?" She looked down at my stomach, then back up to my eyes. "Can I feel her?" she whispered. I nodded and she gingerly reached her hand down and gently laid it on my stomach. The baby kicked right there and she pulled her hand away and laughed. Then she put her hand back and pulled it away again.

"Did you feel that?" Maddie nodded. "She must have known it was her big sister." Just then, Deacon appeared in the doorway. He looked at me, glanced at Maddie, then raised his eyebrows. "I was awake," I told him. He came in and sat on the bed.

"Daddy, I felted baby sister," Maddie said to him very seriously.

Deacon smiled. "You did?"

Maddie nodded. "Have you felted her?" she asked.

I hid a smile as I watched Deacon nod in response. "Yes, I have," he said.

Maddie pointed at my stomach. "Feel now," she commanded.

Deacon reached out and laid his hand near where Maddie had. We smiled at each other. Then Deacon reached for Maddie and stood up. "I think it's time for you to go take a nap," he said, and walked out to take her to Haley. When he came back, he shut the door and crawled into bed with me, curling against my back. I sighed contentedly as he started running his hands over me. I knew it wouldn't be long before we found ourselves naked together under the sheets, as we continued the long journey to Denver.