4.

Fourth Time - Just Bein' A Dad

"My mom told me that you used to come up here together and write songs," Maddie said quietly, gazing out the passenger side window of Deacon's black Suburban.

After the accident, he had bought a new car instead of another crappy used one; for the first time in his life, actually caring about the safety features that came along with a newer model.

Maddie's eyes were wide, completely mesmerized by the abundance of hills and lush trees that flew past them as they drove deeper into the countryside.

"We sure did," Deacon replied. He smiled, happy and relaxed, staring straight ahead at the road from behind his black aviator sunglasses.

"The first time I brought your mama up to see it she just about turned around and ran back to the car."

He chuckled, the image of Rayna's astonished face as she laid eyes on the tiny, run-down shack still vivid in his mind despite it being almost two decades ago.

"You said it was rustic," Rayna had said, leaning up against his pickup, nose scrunched and eyebrows raised. "More like rust-y."

"Oh c'mon Ray. You'll see how quaint and charming it is if you just keep an open mind," Deacon had shot back, with the sexy smile that could literally convince her of anything, dimples flashing as he laced his fingers through Rayna's and tugged her towards the house.

Deacon was far from a showy guy, a product of his modest upbringing and the fact that he spent most of his late teens and early twenties working odd jobs in addition to his low-paying music gigs, just to make ends meet. As long as he could play the guitar for a living, have enough to eat, make rent and expand his guitar collection as he saw fit, he was content. Even once the money started rolling in, it never really meant all that much to him, though it was nice to finally have the means to spoil Rayna with things like nice dinners and diamond earrings for her birthday.

While fancy cars or designer clothes didn't interest him much, Deacon had always wanted to own a piece of property up in the mountains. Somewhere he could go to fish, hunt, and clear his head. Back in the early nineties, he purchased a cabin from an uncle of one of the guys in Rayna's band. It was bare-bones and needed a lot of work, but it sat right on a lake and was a decent plot of land for what he could spend.

Despite Rayna's initial dismay at the condition of the place, once Deacon fixed it up a bit, the cabin quickly became a safe haven for both of them. It was somewhere they could temporarily escape the stresses and demands of their rising fame in the music business. A place where they could go to reconnect and get inspired without the distractions of business managers, rowdy friends or record label execs. A place where Deacon had often gone to kick-start yet another attempt at sobriety, putting distance between himself and the temptations that were just too overwhelming back in Nashville.

Deacon couldn't even begin to count the love songs that they had written on the rickety porch swing, both of them usually barefoot and half-dressed. Rayna would rest her head on his shoulder while he strummed his guitar, a faraway look in her eyes as she haphazardly scribbled words on a notepad.

The home of an endless string of memories, both good and bad, the cabin was an important part of Rayna and Deacon's history. It was a part Deacon was excited to share with Maddie, especially in light of his recent reconciliation with her mother.

Deacon and Rayna had broken up and gotten back together quite a few times over the years, but this one was different. It wasn't the result of some dramatic admission of feelings that they already knew to be true anyway, or one that was provoked by an impulsive kiss or feelings of jealousy.

It was simply a decision they'd come to on a random Monday, sitting on the front steps of Deacon's house while Maddie was inside doing her homework.

"The way I figure it," Rayna had said, looking into his eyes, "for better or for worse, I'm never going to be with someone and not wish that they were you."

Deacon smiled softly, eyes shining in agreement, leaned over and took her face in his hands. He kissed her deeply in response, and that was it.

In the year following their accident, while she was understandably skeptical at first, Rayna watched Deacon commit to his sobriety in a way that she had never seen before. He had a steadiness and a sense of purpose that she believed in more than she ever had during the entire thirteen years he'd been sober.

Maybe, she thought, it was because he wasn't staying sober for what he could have, but for what he actually did have.

Maddie.

After the wreck, Rayna and Deacon had kept their distance from each other for a while. At first physically, and then emotionally, but watching him slowly become a father without even realizing it, made her fall in love with him all over again, more intensely than she ever thought possible.

They didn't delude themselves into thinking it would be all blue skies and smooth sailing. There was still a lot to work out, but the desire to move forward, and to be a family, was what they both wanted more than anything. Something about it felt more permanent than it ever had before.

Deacon turned off the highway and maneuvered the truck on to a bumpy country road. He looked over at Maddie, who had pulled out her rhinestone-encrusted cell phone and was emphatically typing a text message.

"I hate to tell you this darlin'," he said, "but I don't think you're gonna be sendin' many text messages this weekend. Service is pretty spotty up here."

She nodded, shoving the phone back into the pink tote bag sitting in her lap. "My mom warned me about that."

Deacon smirked, carefully steering the car to the right to avoid a pile of tree branches scattered in the middle of the road.

"Well, I'll do my best to keep you entertained. You sure you still want to go fishin' later?"

"As long as you promise I don't have to touch any of those yucky worms."

Maddie scrunched up her nose in disgust and Deacon laughed heartily, thinking to himself how much she looked like Rayna. He had been kind of surprised, but definitely pleased that Maddie was even open to the idea of fishing in the first place.

When they got to the cabin, Deacon gave Maddie a quick tour of the property and got to work unpacking the groceries he had brought along with them while she sat outside reading a book.

When he finished, Deacon opened the front door and stepped outside on to the porch. He found Maddie on the swing, book in her lap, an uncomfortable expression on her face.

"Hey...you okay?" He bent down and placed a hand on her arm.

Maddie looked at him, her face suddenly white as a ghost.

"I..I just don't feel that..."

She leaped from the swing and darted to the far end of the porch where she began to vomit over the side of the railing.

Deacon hurried over, grasping her hair in one hand and gently rubbing her back as she alternated between crying and gagging.

"Shh...it's okay darlin'," Deacon, soothed smoothing Maddie's hair back from her face until she finally stopped heaving and caught her breath.

"Sometimes I get carsick," she admitted, sniffling and wiping her nose with her shirt sleeve. She looked down at the wooden planks of the porch. "Sorry I threw up on your grass."

Deacon laughed, putting an arm around Maddie and steering her toward the front door of the cabin.

"Don't you worry. That grass has seen a lot worse. Nothin' a simple spray of the hose can't fix. C'mon inside."

Once Deacon had Maddie settled on the couch with a glass of water and a trash can in case she had to be sick again, he walked into the kitchen and picked the cordless phone off its cradle atop the counter. Rayna had always given him a hard time about not having a land-line up there and he was suddenly grateful he had finally given in six months ago and had one installed.

Deacon dialed Rayna's number. When she answered, her voice was chipper on the other end.

"Hey babe. Y'all get up there okay?"

"Yeah, we got up here just fine."

Deacon paused for a minute, wondering if he was making a mistake by calling Rayna. He didn't want to worry her unnecessarily but the part of him that was scared of taking care of his sick daughter for the first time wanted the moral support.

"I don't want to alarm you Ray," he began, leaning on the kitchen counter, "but I think Maddie caught a bug. She's not feelin' too great."

"What's wrong?"

"Well, lets just say, whatever was in her stomach earlier is now on the grass outside the cabin. At first I thought she might just be carsick. You know how bumpy the drive can be. But now she's shivering and her head feels hot. God knows I'm no expert, but I think she's got a fever."

Deacon heard Rayna draw in a sharp breath on the other end of the line.

"I'm guessin' you don't have a thermometer to find out."

"Nope. You know I don't keep much up here in the way of that kind of stuff, but I guess I should start. This came completely out of nowhere. I swear, she seemed totally fine on the way up," he glanced into the living room at his daughter who was huddled under a blanket on the couch looking miserable. "I'm gonna call Jo Ann and see if she can do me a favor and stay here with Maddie while I pick up a few things from the store in town."

Jo Ann was a sweet older woman who lived with her husband, Jim, about two miles down the road. They were Deacon's closest neighbors.

"I'm just gonna come up there Deacon," Rayna said, a nervous edge to her voice.

Deacon exhaled loudly, irritated.

"Ray, I didn't call you for that. I just wanted to let you know what's goin' on. I can handle this."

"I know you can, but I'm her mama and I'm worried. I'm gonna see if Tandy can watch Daphne overnight and then I'll get right on the road."

"Rayna…you don't have to..." Deacon started, but before he could finish his thought, the sound of the dial tone filled the receiver.

He shook his head as he put the phone down, annoyed at her stubbornness and lack of faith in him, but his attention was quickly diverted to Maddie, who was hunched over the trash can he had given her, getting sick again.

It was after ten at night when Rayna finally arrived at the cabin. She flipped over the rubber welcome mat and grabbed the spare key from under it, letting herself in. The entire place was dark, save for a faint glow of lamplight coming from the living room.

She stepped inside, surveying the scene. Various items were strewn on the wooden coffee table: a bottle of ginger ale, Gatorade, aspirin, a wet dishtowel. Maddie's stuffed bear sat atop the mess of blankets and pillows on the couch.

Rayna found Deacon on the floor of the small bathroom he had put in as an addition to the cabin a few years earlier. He was sitting with his back up against the bathtub with a sleeping Maddie sprawled across his lap, looking completely exhausted. It was a look she recognized immediately, one that she had seen many a times in the mirror after a long night with a sick kid.

"Hey," she said quietly, hovering in the doorway.

"Hey," he whispered back.

Deacon shifted his weight slightly. Rayna could tell by the uncomfortable look on his face that his legs were probably asleep, but that he didn't want to move and risk disturbing Maddie.

She walked into the bathroom, crouching down to kiss him on the lips.

"Doesn't feel like she has a fever anymore," Rayna said, touching her hand to Maddie's forehead.

"Yeah, I gave her some aspirin a while ago and so far so good. She hasn't been able to keep anything down all night, so we've been hanging out in here, but I think we've finally turned a corner. I was going to try and convince her to move back to the couch but she passed out and I didn't want to wake her up."

"It seems like you're takin' real good care of her."

"I wish you would have just trusted me, Ray."

"I do Deacon. I'm just being a mom, that's all."

He nodded at her, a look of understanding on his face.

"And I guess I'm just bein' a dad, huh?"

She looked at him, her smile wide. "Yeah," she said, "yeah, you are."

A/N: So I lied...there will be one more part to this :)

Big thank you to KarenES for the beta and her wonderful suggestions as always. Any errors edited in post-feedback, are all me.