epilogue
—
"Happy birthday, baby!"
Her daughter smiles as Rayna enters her bedroom holding a cupcake with a little blue candle in the shape of a star on it. She kisses the top of Maddie's head before she sits down next to her on the bed.
"Where's Dad?" Maddie asks.
"Downstairs, getting your super special, super secret birthday breakfast ready. He said this," Rayna explains, pointing a finger at the cupcake, "is our thing."
It's been a year already, a year since Maddie made a wish which forever changed their and Deacon's lives. Deacon's been living with them for almost six months now, and he's officially been in her band for almost as long. They've been spending all their time together, with their daughter, either in Nashville or on the road. They've got ten years, ten missing years to catch up to, and sometimes it feels like they're scared to let go of each other, scared they might wake up one day and it will all turn out to have only been dream.
"You've thought about your wish?" Rayna asks.
Maddie nods, and Rayna hands her the cupcake. Her daughter breathes in, but Rayna stops her at the last second. "Wait! I think you should take your time, really think this thing through, you know?"
Maddie laughs at that. "Alright." She closes her eyes for a moment, her brow creased in concentration. "I'm ready," she says as she opens her eyes again.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah."
She looks at her mom, and then at the cupcake, and she blows out the candle.
—
When he knocks on her half-open door, Maddie's already lying in bed, reading. He glances at the cover and recognizes the pink cover of The Princess Diaries, one of the many — many — books she got from Uncle Watty today.
"How was that birthday?" he asks, and she smiles, dog-earing the page and putting the book on the nightstand.
"Pretty good."
He sits down at the end of the bed. "On a scale of 1 to 10?"
She pretends to think about it for a few seconds. "I'd say 9."
"9 is pretty good." There's a beat. "Hey, so, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
He reaches for his jeans pocket and gets a little dark blue velvet box out of it. Before he even has time to open it, Maddie shrieks and launches herself at him, almost making him lose his balance.
"Shhh," he laughs as he catches her, "or your mom's going to run up here."
"Sorry," she whispers, and she sits back, but she's still grinning. "Can I see it?"
"That's the point, I want your opinion on it."
He opens the box, and she takes a few seconds to really look at the ring. "It's so pretty."
"Does that mean you're okay with this, me asking your mom?"
"Dad," she sighs, like she can't believe he would have any doubt about that.
"Okay, I was just checking."
"How are you going to ask her?"
"Well, since keeping secrets isn't exactly your for—"
"Hey!" she protests.
He laughs. "All I'll say is that it will involve a Ferris wheel, and I'll let your mom tell you all about it afterward, alright?"
"Fair enough. You know, I'd like to change my answer. It's a 10 now."
He smiles at this. Every day since Maddie Jaymes knocked on his door a year ago has been close to a 10 for him too.
"Alright, I'll let you get back to it, birthday girl," he says, pointing a finger at the book on her nightstand. He kisses the top of her head before he heads out.
As Maddie grabs her book, she looks at the little blue candle in the shape of a star that's been lying on her nightstand since this morning.
She smiles.
Birthday wishes do work.