A/N: This chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter. Thanks to Shiny Jewel for beta and fashion consult.

Chapter Eighteen

White Wedding

Thirty minutes later, all four of them were gathered in the clerk's office, waiting. Tandy and Rayna had disappeared into the ladies' room and returned arm-in-arm, Tandy looking much more like herself. As they had primped, Rayna had been full of questions, but Tandy had said only that it was a long story. She promised that she and Deacon would explain everything after the wedding ceremony. As they walked into the messy, cramped office, Tandy looked around and sighed, smirking a little.

"What?" Rayna had asked.

"Nothing," Tandy had whispered. "I'm just thinking about what Daddy would say if he could see us now."

The thought was so absurd that the two of them broke into a fit of giggles that brought a questioning look from Deacon. But it was too late for explanations of any kind. Ms. Givens opened a side door and ushered them into a small room with a podium at one end. A short, balding man - obviously Mr. Givens - wearing a white shirt and black slacks, an old-fashioned bow tie hanging askew, was standing there holding a bible and another small, soft-cover book. He beckoned them to come closer and shot his wife a look, jerking his head to the left.

Ms. Givens disappeared into the next room as Mr. Givens welcomed them and lined Rayna and Deacon up in front of the high, wooden podium where he'd placed the books side by side. He indicated that Tandy and Gus should take their places, too. His wife hurried back in a moment later, carrying a still-dripping bouquet of green and white mums that had obviously been lifted from a vase on someone's desk.

"Here you go, honey! These'll look right pretty with that color you're wearin'. What do you call that exactly - khaki?"

Rayna, already feeling giddy, started laughing again at this remark and Tandy joined in. But Deacon scowled and slapped his thigh. "Flowers! Damn it, I knew I'd forget somethin'!"

Rayna took the dripping bouquet and held it in front of her, looking over at Deacon with a don't worry about it smile. As far as she was concerned, nothing else mattered now that Tandy was standing on one side of her and Deacon on the other.

"All ready now, everybody?" Mr. Givens asked. Ms. Givens reached up and tied his bow tie as they all nodded. He cleared his throat importantly and opened the small book, starting in on the familiar words of the civil marriage ceremony.

"Dearly beloved," he intoned, "we are gathered here today, in the presence of almighty god and these witnesses, to join together in marriage Rayna Jaymes and Deacon Claybourne."

Rayna handed her flowers to Tandy and she and Deacon turned toward each other and joined hands. Their eyes met and both of them smiled, almost shy all of a sudden. In an instant, the shabby room and her green tent dress and the borrowed flowers seemed to fade into the background. They stared at each other, each feeling the full weight of this moment as it settled around them: The years, the heartache, the good times and the false starts, the setbacks and the do-overs. The times she thought she had lost him; the times he wished she had. Neither one of them had even dared to dream that they would someday get to this place together.

But through all of it, two things had remained constant - their music and their love. Now, against all odds, they were finally going to pledge their lives to each other forever. It was almost overwhelming.

Ms. Givens clasped her hands beneath her chin and sighed loudly, beaming at them. "Ain't she just the prettiest thing?" she murmured, wiping at a tear. "Oh, I always cry!"

Mr. Givens shot her a stern look and then began asking the two of them the requisite questions, the ones put to brides and grooms for centuries. Did they take each other to be lawful wedded husband and wife? Each of them said, "I do," in turn. Then he asked about the rings. First Gus, and then Tandy, produced the matching wedding bands and handed them over as Rayna and Deacon repeated the traditional words about having and holding, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.

Deacon's voice was thick with emotion as he gazed at Rayna, her eyes shining, and promised "to love and to cherish, from this day forward, as long as we both shall live." He slid the ring - the diamond-studded eternity band that had traveled such a long journey with them to this moment - onto Rayna's finger, beaming at her with a smile that reached all the way into her soul. She did the same, sliding the ring inscribed with the words, "A Life That's Good," onto his finger, her eyes never leaving his.

"I'd like to read from Genesis, Chapter 2 in closin', if that's all right," Mr. Givens asked, and both Rayna and Deacon nodded. He picked up his worn, leather-bound, King James bible and opened it to a page where a black silk ribbon held its mark.

"And Adam said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.' Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." He closed the Bible and set it back on the podium and raised his hands over their heads, palms down, for the benediction.

"What god has joined together, let no man put asunder. Deacon and Rayna, by the power that is vested in me by the state of Tennessee, I now pronounce you man and wife. Deacon, you may kiss your bride."

There was no veil to lift, or thundering organ chords, or parents beaming at them from the front row. But Deacon took Rayna into his arms, smiling like she'd never seen him smile before, and kissed her, softly at first, and then with more intensity. As he started to pull back, she grabbed the lapels of his black jacket and pulled him closer, extending the kiss until Mr. Givens finally cleared his throat and Tandy started laughing. They broke apart, reluctantly, and then Deacon rested his forehead against Rayna's and grinned down at her.

"We finally made it," he whispered. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Tandy insisted on taking photographs after the ceremony and then they headed back to the cabin, Tandy riding with Rayna in Deacon's truck and Gus following them on his bike. On the ride, Tandy and Deacon fell all over each other trying to explain how Deacon - with help from Gus and Jill, and even Coleman and Bucky - had finally worn down Tandy's objections to the wedding. The story was so convoluted - especially the previous 48 hours, which had involved someone's car breaking down, Tandy getting lost, and her eventual, white-knuckled ride on Gus's Harley - that Rayna couldn't even follow it. But she sat there, holding her flowers in one hand and Deacon's free hand in the other, and smiled radiantly at both of them.

In the end, what she took away was that Deacon had been dead-set on getting her sister back into her life, and that stubborn as he could be, he had refused to give up. The other thing she took away was how much he loved her.

As they got close to the cabin, Rayna noticed that there were cars lining the one-lane highway in either direction. "Wow, something must be going on up here this weekend," she mused, not catching on until Deacon barreled into the circular gravel driveway with a loud blast of his horn, the cabin doors flew open and people began to spill out.

For the second time that day, Rayna's jaw dropped in surprise and she looked over at Deacon with a gasp. "Babe! What the-?"

But once again, it was too late for questions or explanations. He and Tandy just grinned and helped her out of the truck, where all three of them were quickly surrounded by well-wishers, each of whom wanted to hug them and hear all about the ceremony and offer their congratulations. After the tide of friends finally propelled them inside, Rayna looked around and realized that the cabin had been scoured clean and decorated with white, gold and silver streamers. Cheery red and gold paper lanterns hung from the rafters and the kitchen table was set with a white paper cloth. It was loaded down with platters of sandwich fixings and potato salad, cups of coffee and punch, and a two-tiered white wedding cake, adorned with colorful icing flowers.

When Dave and Kim lined up to hug her, Rayna's eyes grew big. "Did y'all have something to do with this?" she asked, and both of them nodded, happily. "Where in the world did you find the time!?"

They shrugged, gleeful at her surprise. "You really didn't know?" Dave asked, and when Rayna shook her head, he added, "Deacon's been planning this for weeks."

Rayna shook her head again, this time in disbelief, amazed at what he had accomplished. She never would have thought it possible just a few months ago, but she didn't have much time to think about it as she greeted many of her friends from Al-Anon, people she recognized from Riverside and Deacon's AA meetings, Coleman, Bucky, Jill, and all of her long-time band members. She realized there must be at least four dozen people crowded in and around the tiny cabin.

Finally, just as Rayna thought all the surprises were over, a small, dark-haired woman emerged from a corner of the kitchen. She had her hair twisted up in a bun and a radiant smile on her face. "Linnie Mae!" Rayna cried, reaching to pull Deacon's mother into her arms. "You're here, too!? Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!"

"I wouldn't have missed it, darlin' girl," Linnie said, reaching up on her tippy-toes to whisper in Rayna's ear. "Isn't it wonderful, the way Deke pulled all this off?"

"It's amazing," Rayna said, eyeing the white apron that seemed to be permanently wrapped around Linnie Mae's waist. "What's he got you doing?"

"Oh, nothin', really. I just whipped up a batch of my church punch, the kind with the 7-Up and the rainbow sherbet that he likes so well. And I made sure the cake got here safely this afternoon," Linnie said, ducking her head shyly. She said she had arrived the day before and didn't plan to return to Natchez until Sunday.

"Well, you'll be staying here with us tonight, then," Rayna said firmly, thinking that she would take the couch and have Deacon sleep on the floor so that Linnie could have their bed.

"Oh, no, darlin', we wouldn't dream of troublin' y'all," Linnie said, stumbling a bit over the words. She glanced over her shoulder hesitantly and for the first time, Rayna realized that a handsome, dark-haired man was standing behind her with a big smile on his face.

Rayna raised her eyebrows, not sure what to make of this.

"This, uh, this is my gentleman friend, Mr. Richard Jones. He's the choir director at our church. He and I drove up here together on the Natchez Trace Parkway. We ... we're stayin' at a bed-and-breakfast establishment about 10 minutes down the road. It's a real nice place," Linnie said. Although her eyes were cast down, Rayna could see that Linnie's face had gone about three shades of red.

Rayna stood there for a moment, floored by the idea that Linnie Mae and her boyfriend were spending a romantic weekend together. This was the woman, she reminded herself, who had always put her in the bedroom farthest away from Deacon's when they visited - even when she was seven months' pregnant. She smiled to herself and reached over to shake Rick Jones' outstretched hand. Maybe the world was changing, after all.

There were toasts with punch and sparkling apple cider, and singing, and food and a pile of wedding presents stacked high on their bed. By the time the house slowly emptied out late that evening, Rayna thought she'd never been so happy - or so exhausted - in all her life.

Dave and Kim were the last ones to leave, with Tandy in tow. Rayna still wasn't clear about what had happened to Tandy's car, but Dave and Kim had agreed to give her a ride back into Nashville when they saw her blanch at Gus's offer to put her back on his Harley. She and Rayna hugged for what seemed like half an hour on the front porch, while Deacon stood in the doorway smiling, his hands shoved into his pockets.

"I'm so glad you made it."

"I couldn't not be here, babe. Not today. I owed to it you, and to mama. And to myself," Tandy said. "Congratulations. I mean it; I really do." She looked over at Deacon. "He's-" she started, then paused. "Well, anyway, I think maybe he's got some potential in the husband department, after all."

Rayna laughed and put her arms around Deacon. "You think?" she asked, gazing up at him adoringly. "I guess maybe I should give him a 90-day tryout. I mean, if you vouch for him," she said, winking at her sister. Tandy climbed into the back seat of Dave's car, still waving, and Deacon and Rayna stood on the porch, holding each other and listening until the last sounds of Dave's car faded away and the night was still. Then they walked inside and shut the front door.

The cabin was not in bad shape, thanks to Linnie Mae's declaration that it would be bad luck to leave the bride and groom with a mess to clean up on their wedding night. She and Rick had gathered empty cups and plates, cleaned the kitchen, stacked the wedding gifts in a corner of the living room, put the leftover food and cake in the refrigerator, and packed up the trash.

Rayna and Deacon walked into the bedroom arm-in-arm and Deacon flopped down on the bed, stretching his limbs and kicking off his shoes as he watched Rayna take off her makeup and brush out her hair.

"I hope it wasn't too bad, darlin'," he said, twisting the unfamiliar white-gold wedding band around on his finger. He knew Rayna had enjoyed the party he'd organized, with the help of every friend and favor he could call in. And he knew she'd been thrilled when Tandy had stepped off the bike and surprised her. But he was worried about what Rayna had thought of the wedding ceremony itself. "If I'd known how tacky it was gonna be..."

Suddenly Rayna was leaning over and her shoulders were shaking. Deacon stood up and started to go to her, thinking she was crying. But when she looked up at him, he realized she was laughing uncontrollably. "Oh my god, babe - it was so tacky!"

Deacon was stunned, but an immense feeling of relief swept over him.

"I thought I was going to lose it when she asked if we were first cousins!"

"What!?"

"She did! She asked if we were cousins and then she thought you were going to leave me at the altar!"

"Huh?!"

If Rayna could physically have doubled over, she would have, she was laughing so hard. Instead, she leaned nearly all her weight against the bathroom sink, weak with mirth. Deacon put his arm around her and led her over to the bed and the two of them collapsed onto the mattress, lying on their sides facing each other, and marveled at the absurdity of the whole thing. It was a long time before they had finally laughed themselves out and they were still, looking at each other, her hand caressing his jaw and his stroking her hair.

"You know what, though, babe? As crazy as the whole thing was, when it came down to it, it really felt like we were getting married. Didn't it? Like - special, or solemn, or something. I got chills when you looked at me and said, 'I do.'"

Deacon smiled at her and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. I know. I felt the same way."

"And I know what you mean about the Givens' being good folks, in their own way. I don't think we have to worry about leaks at all."

"Nope. I don't either."

"You know, I was thinking we should have a wedding ceremony in Nashville, a few months after the baby comes. But now I don't think we need another one. This one just - it felt right, somehow. Not picture perfect, not one for the Belle Meade Country Club newsletter, but ... ours."

"Yep."

They looked deep into each other's eyes for another minute and then he leaned down and kissed her lightly, but with a sense of heat waiting to ignite. "I'm gonna go bank the fire and then I'll be right back, darlin'," he whispered.

"Promise?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

Rayna took her dress off, deciding she still didn't like it, and shrugged on her robe. She turned down the covers on the bed and smiled to herself, anticipating climbing into it with Deacon. This was their wedding night, after all.

A moment later, she heard him calling her. "Hey, Ray! C'mere a minute."

She walked out into the living room, where he was looking out the back windows into the darkness. She followed his gaze and saw that the back porch, illuminated by flood lights, was covered with snow. She smiled at him and he walked over and wrapped his arms around her. They stood quietly for a while, watching the snowflakes whirling down, settling on the porch railing and the limbs of the pine trees just beyond.

"It's so beautiful," Rayna whispered.

"It is." Deacon looked down at her. "Are you happy - Mrs. Claybourne?"

Rayna smiled up at him. "Yeah, I'm happy," she said, pausing a moment before she added, "You know I'm still gonna be Rayna Jaymes though, right?"

"Yeah," Deacon said, slowly. "But you're gonna be Rayna Jaymes Claybourne legally, aren't you?"

Rayna thought a moment, and then nodded. "The baby's going to be a Claybourne, so - yeah. I will be too, at least legally. I want us all to have the same name."

Deacon smiled and kissed her temple. "I think we'd better get you to bed, darlin'. It's been a long day."

"It's so pretty, I don't want to go. But yeah, I'm awfully tired. Although you know - it is our wedding night, babe."

Deacon looked down at her with a grin. "Yeah, that thought didn't exactly escape my mind, Ray. I'd carry you over the threshold into the bedroom but-"

"Oh no! You won't even think about it, babe. We don't need two bad backs in the Claybourne family."

Deacon smiled and walked Rayna back to the bedroom, his arm around her shoulders. The Claybourne family - the way she'd said it, so casually - it meant the world to him. It was proof that today, everything really had changed. Before they reached the doorway, he stopped just a moment and both of them gazed out at the beauty of the snow for another minute. It was clinging to the branches and starting to pile up on the back porch by now.

"Guess you got your white weddin' after all, didn't you darlin'?"