Deacon and Rayna were running around the house getting everyone ready to head out the door.
"Daphne, don't forget your science project. You worked too hard on that, and I won't have time today to run home to get it."
"I've got it mom don't worry!" Daphne yelled from upstairs.
Deacon was sitting on the couch putting on his boots when Maddie came in and sat down next to him. "Dad. Does it hurt when you get a blood transfusion?"
"Not really baby, but I wouldn't say it was enjoyable."
"What are we going to do now that Aunt Beverly isn't a match either?"
"I don't know sweetheart I guess I just have to hope that I get a liver off of the list."
Rayna walked in and watched Maddie and Deacon on the couch. She loved seeing them together. She was always aware that there was a time when she thought they'd never be like this, that they'd never be a real family, but now they had everything they'd ever dreamed of. Deacon just had to survive long enough for them to enjoy it.
Rayna took notice how thin Deacon was looking lately. At first she told herself that it was because they were so busy at Highway 65 that neither of them really had time to eat, but she could no longer deny that the illness ravaging Deacon's body was no longer just wreaking havoc on the inside. If she was being honest with herself he was looking a little pale, and his normal rosy color had turned to a sickly green pallor.
"Everyone ready?" Rayna asked.
"Yep!" Deacon said as he stood up. Maddie grabbed her backpack and ran towards the car. Rayna grabbed onto Deacon's arm as he slowly made his way behind her. "You okay babe?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Ray." Deacon patted Rayna's hand. "Don't worry about me."
##
By 9:30 the girls were at school and Deacon was hooked up to a bunch of tubes pumping brand new blood through his veins. Rayna was sitting beside him holding his hand as he dosed off a bit. All of a sudden he startled and shook awake.
"Is everything okay? Are you alright? Do you want me to get the nurse?"
"I'm fine Ray. You know you don't have to sit with me through all this. I know you have a ton of stuff to do at the office."
"It can wait Deacon. I'm not leaving you. There's no other place I need to be."
Deacon brushed a loose strand of hair away from Rayna's face. "I love you Ray, you know that right?"
Rayna nodded her head as a she began to tear up. "I love you too Deacon." She leaned down kissing his shoulder and resting her face against his arm. "You know what?"
"What baby?"
"We should get married."
"Sure, as soon as I'm well we'll plan something."
"No, this weekend."
Deacon turned to look at Rayna. "Ray, I'm sick, and I know we don't want to think about it, but I could die. A wedding should be a happy time. You don't want to be a newlywed with a dying husband, I don't want to be a burden."
"That's exactly why we should do it now." Rayna stroked Deacon's face. "I have wanted to marry you since I was 18-years old Deacon. I do not want to leave this world without being your wife." Rayna started peppering his face with small kisses. "Please?"
Deacon just took in the sensation of her lips on his body. It was so hard to deny her anything she wanted. It always had been. "Let's just talk about this when we get home. Alright?"
Rayna nodded her head and lay it back down on Deacon's shoulder. She started remembering back to that first realization that she wanted him to belong to her forever.
She'd been 18 at the time. They'd been together for almost two years by then. Rayna knew she loved Deacon, but it had been more of a teenage love. She got butterflies when she saw the way his muscles moved underneath his shirt, she was obsessed with the things he could do to her body, the way he could make her feel just by touching her. He was her best friend and her confidant, but everything had been about right now, there'd been no future past the moment when she could be in his arms again. That is until they went to Mississippi.
Deacon had told Rayna a little bit about his family life, how his father was abusive, how the moment he could afford that bus ticket he was out of there, but she'd never been back with him to visit his family. Actually, Rayna couldn't remember a time in the past two years when Deacon had been back either. Things had been going well for them career wise. Watty had booked them in gigs clear across the country and most of their time was spent writing and making sweet love in the back of an old beat up tour bus he'd gotten second hand.
Right now they were heading to Mississippi to see Deacon's sister Beverly. She had gone into labor at 4:00 in the morning and by 4:30 Deacon and Rayna were on the road. "What happened to the father?" Rayna asked.
"Doug? He's a no good deadbeat. Always was. Couldn't believe that Beverly chose to stay in Mississippi and marry him rather than come with me to Nashville. Guess I was right, moment things got too real, he got gone."
"Your poor sister. I don't know what I'd do if I was pregnant and my man wasn't around."
Deacon placed his hand on top of Rayna's. "You'll never have to worry about that baby."
That had comforted Rayna, but it had also surprised her. She hadn't realized that Deacon had been thinking that far into the future, to them having children. She knew he was a few years older than her, but one didn't exactly look at Deacon Claybourne with his ripped jeans, his beat up pick-up truck, can of beer usually placed strategically in one hand and think of family. Mostly she just thought of peeling off those ripped jeans and fucking him in the back of the pick-up truck, but now she started to wonder.
When they reached the hospital Beverly was already deep into her contractions. Deacon headed into the delivery room while Rayna stayed outside in the waiting room. "I'll come out and get you when it's here Ray."
"That's fine." Rayna pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. "I'm going to work on some lyrics anyway."
Two hours later and two verses into" Already Gone" Deacon came out with one of the biggest smiles on his face that Rayna had ever seen. "It's a girl!"
Rayna tucked the notebook in her purse and scurried to catch up with Deacon who could hardly contain his excitement. "A girl? Wow!" Rayna said to herself.
"Come on, the doctor said it's okay for you to come see her now. Beverly's asleep, it was rough going, but the baby is awake and perfect. She's calling her Scarlett."
When they reached the room a nurse was holding Scarlett in her arms. She was the smallest thing that Rayna had ever seen. She was all squished and wrinkled, and truthfully she barely looked human to her.
Deacon walked over to the nurse. "Can I hold her?"
"Of course. You're the uncle right?"
Deacon nodded as the nurse lay Scarlett in his arms showing him how to support her head. Rayna just watched as she saw a side of Deacon she'd never seen before.
"Hey there little Scarlett. I'm your uncle Deacon, and I want you to know, that I will always be there for you. No matter what happens you can rely on me, because I know we just met, but I love you more than I ever thought possible."
Rayna could feel the tears forming. Right at that second she couldn't wait till the moment he was holding their daughter in his arms, when she could hear him say those words to her. She knew right then and there that there'd never be anyone else for her but Deacon Claybourne. That more than anything she wanted to be his wife, and she wanted him to be the father of her children.
Rayna sighed. They'd gotten so far off track. She knew that a lot of that had been Deacon's drinking, but she also knew a good portion had been her fault as well. One thing she was sure of was that no matter what, she was going to have that family that she dreamed of when she was 18. Nothing was going to stop her from getting it, not the drinking, not the years of lying, and certainly not a sudden illness.
"We're going to find you a liver Deacon. I promise you. I can't live without you, you're a part of me."
Deacon leaned over kissing the top of Rayna's head then lay back in the chair closing his eyes."
Rayna stared at him as he slept, there was no way she was going to lose her family again. Not this time.