Thanks for the reviews. Glad everyone is liking this story.
##
Deacon lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. He wasn't quite sure that it was a good idea to come on this tour. He enjoyed being back on stage, but being out there with Rayna, pretending that everything was like it used to be gnawed at him in a way that made him think about that whiskey bottle he still had hidden in the back of the pantry in his house.
Spending the occasional evening with Rayna and Maddie was one thing, living with her on stage every night for weeks was another. He found himself worrying about her last night, and he wasn't sure he was ready for that either. He still needed to worry about himself, about staying sober, he just wasn't so sure this was the right move for him.
All of a sudden he heard a knock on the door. He looked over at the clock, 8:45 am. Then he muttered to himself as he got out of bed. "No one I know would knock at this hour."
As he opened the door he said it out loud. "No one I know would knock at this hour."
There she was, standing at his door at what time she knew was an ungodly hour for a musician.
"I'm so sorry Deacon, I know it's early."
"It's ok. What's going on Ray? "
He knew he had avoided her last night, but he thought that this morning's early hour house call must be important or else she would have waited until the mid-day sun was shining through his blinds.
"Can I come in?"
"Yeah, of course, sorry." Deacon moved away from the door and let Rayna enter. She breezed passed him and sat on the bed. He noticed that she had a weird energy about her this morning. She was playing with the cuff of her shirt. It was a nervous tick she did that he hadn't seen in a while.
"Is everything alright? Were you happy with the show last night?"
"Oh yeah, the show, no it was fine, great." More playing with her cuff. "I just, I don't know if you noticed I was feeling a little sick out there last night?"
"Yeah, I noticed Ray." At this point Deacon wasn't sure where she was going with this? Had she decided to cancel the rest of the tour already? Was she telling him first as a courtesy?
"Hey, if you're not up to touring yet I totally understand. We went through a lot in that accident. Putting on an arena show every night takes a lot of energy, maybe you just started back a little too soon?"
Rayna smiled nervously, "It's not that. I mean, yeah, it was a little exhausting, but I don't think the accident was the problem."
Now Deacon was really confused. He wasn't quite sure what to say but he could see that she needed some support, and after almost 27 years together his natural reaction was to give it no matter what else was going on with them. He sat down on the bed next to her and took her hands in his stopping her from playing with her cuff.
Then he looked deeply into her eyes. "Whatever it is, it'll be ok."
Rayna breathed deeply and looked back at him. "I'm pregnant Deacon."
"Pregnant?" was about all Deacon could get out.
"Yeah, about a month and a half."
"You mean you're having a baby?"
"That's usually what pregnant means."
"You and I are having a baby?"
"Uh huh, how do you feel about that?"
Deacon let out the breath that he'd been holding for the last 30 seconds. Then he stood up and started pacing around the room.
"Wow, that's certainly not what I was expecting. Not that I'm upset about it, I'm just a little shocked."
"I was too."
"Does anyone else know?"
"Are you kidding? I wasn't going to make that mistake twice. I just found out myself."
At this Deacon smiled. "Thanks Ray, I'm glad we're dealing with this child differently than the last."
"I'm going to have to tell Bucky though, and Teddy, and eventually the girls."
Deacon sat down on the bed in a state of total shock.
"Hey, I'm sorry if I'm being weird, but six months ago I was a single guy who thought I'd probably never have kids. Now all of a sudden I have a 14 year old and one on the way. It's a lot to sink in."
"I know it is, but it's exciting right?" Rayna asked more to convince herself than him.
"Yeah, I mean, for years I looked at you and Teddy and the girls, and I have to admit I was jealous. I always thought that should be my family, that should be me, and all of a sudden we are a family, you and me, and Maddie, and the new baby."
"And Daphne."
"Yes, of course, her too. I'm just trying to wrap my head around all this. I never thought I was going to have a family."
Rayna smiled, "I'm happy to hear you call us your family, because we are your family, and we always will be."
"I know Rayna, no matter what happens with you and me, you know, romantically speaking, you girls will always be my family."
Rayna's heart sank a little, he still wasn't sure about them, about whether or not he wanted to try to make things work with them. Deacon could read that on her face and he walked over to her and placed his hands on her face.
"Hey, I just need a little time to let everything sink in, but I am happy about this." He kissed her softly on the lips then rested his forehead against hers. "Wow, a new baby."
Rayna hated to pull away, but she knew she had a million things to do. "I'm going to try to pull myself together, and rest up a bit before tonight's show. I guess I should tell Bucky."
"Actually Ray, could we keep this our little secret for the time being? At least until the end of the third month. Isn't that what parents usually do?"
"Yeah," Rayna smiled at him. "I'll just keep telling Bucky I can't shake this flu, and hopefully the morning sickness will get better. With Daphne it went away by the end of the second month.
"Let me pull myself together, shower, etc. and then I'll come up and massage your feet or something."
Rayna laughed, "You don't really need to do that until the last trimester, but I'll take it."
Rayna walked out of the room and Deacon sat back down on his bed. "A new baby, damn, I guess I really am a dad.