A/N: So I couldn't shake the writing bug after all, plus I had this overwhelming need to write something fun and fluffy for a change, with a touch of drama here and there.

It's Maddie's wedding day. One candid picture, taken in the brides' room before the ceremony, becomes a treasured family moment. I'm starting this with what happens, then subsequent chapters will look at it from future individual perspectives of all the participants.

Rayna thought Maddie was so beautiful, it took her breath away. She didn't want to cry and ruin her makeup, but she thought it was probably inevitable. Maddie's dress was perfection. It was a beautiful strapless column dress that seemed to just slide down her tall, slender body. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, with wispy tendrils framing her face. Her smile was huge. She looked so happy and Rayna was happy for her.

Rayna took her daughter's hand and placed a pair of diamond earrings in her palm. "This is something borrowed," she said. "Your dad gave me these earrings a long time ago and I want you to wear them today."

Maddie gasped. "Oh, Mom, thank you. I've always loved these. I had no idea Dad had given them to you." She put them in, then turned to look in the mirror, turning this way and that, admiring them. "Perfect!" she exclaimed.

Rayna took her hand and smiled at her. "I'm so happy for you, baby," she said. She winked. "I still wish you were a little older, but I guess you've never waited for anything."

Maddie lowered her eyebrows, but she was smiling. "I am twenty-one, Mom. So not that young."

"You're younger than I was."

"When has she ever listened to you, Mom?" Daphne said, with a smile.

Maddie scrunched up her face, but then she laughed. "You aren't any better, Daph."

Rayna reached out and took Maddie's hand in her left and Daphne's hand in her right. "I'm so proud of both of you," she said, a little wistfully. "And you're both so beautiful today." Daphne was wearing a pretty lavender cocktail dress, as her older sister's bridesmaid. Her shoulder length blonde hair was falling softly across her shoulders, held back on one side by a small clip of baby's breath.

Maddie looked around with concern. "Where's Sadie?" she asked.

"Your dad has her. And she's probably getting into some kind of trouble," Rayna said with an indulgent smile. "She is definitely the hardest child to control."

"More than Daphne was?" Maddie smiled playfully.

"Hey!" Daphne cried, with a frown.

Just then a tiny girl ran into the room, her brunette hair a mess and the bow on her dress untied and flying out behind her, a scraggly bunch of flowers in her hand. Rayna thought she detected a smudge of dirt, or something, on her face. "Mama!" she cried and ran straight for Rayna. Rayna turned and reached down quickly, grabbing her by the hands, in case they were dirty too.

"Sadie!" she said firmly. "What have you been doing?"

The little girl threw back her head and laughed with glee. "Swinging!" she cried.

"Are you sure that's all?"

Sadie looked up at her with those familiar puppy dog eyes. "Yes, that's it," she declared.

"No, that's not it," came the voice from the doorway. Rayna looked up to see her husband walk in, with an exasperated look on his face. "She had to pick flowers too."

Sadie turned around and gave him her sweetest smile. "But, Daddy, the flowers are for Maddie," she said, with a little sideways curtsy. Then she turned to hand her sister the small bunch of flowers. Daphne snatched them before Maddie could get them. "Hey!" Sadie cried, with a stomp of her foot. "Those aren't for you."

Deacon walked over quickly and grabbed her up in his arms. "Maddie already has flowers," he said into her ear.

Rayna walked over and put one hand on Deacon's arm and the other she used to push back her youngest daughter's unruly hair. "Sadie Faith Claybourne, I declare. You are a mess!" But then she smiled and leaned in to kiss her daughter on her lips.

Deacon sighed. "I'm sorry, Ray. I'm just too old to chase a five year-old around."

Rayna smiled at him and kissed him on the lips. "I think you do a great job, babe. And you're not too old."

Deacon reached around and grabbed her by the waist. "Maybe I'm just tired then," he said with a smile. "We have one getting married, one starting kindergarten, and one driving on her own. Isn't that like too many major life events at once?" He leaned in to kiss her again, with a little more intensity.

"Hey!" Daphne called out. "We're here in the room too, y'all." She gave Deacon and her mom a stern stare. They looked back at her, Rayna blushing slightly and Deacon giving her a broad grin.

"Y'all are just the most embarrassing parents ever," Maddie said, but she had an indulgent smile on her face. "Poor Sadie."

Deacon looked over at his oldest daughter and felt the tears coming. He swiped them away with his free hand, because he knew Maddie didn't want him to cry. If you cry, I'll cry, so please don't, she'd told him that morning. She was so beautiful and he loved her so much. He didn't know how he could possibly give her away, even though he thought Jake Reaves was perfect for her. He felt like he hadn't had her long enough, they hadn't had enough time to be a father and a daughter, and now she was going off to be another man's wife.

Rayna glanced at him and saw the struggle in his face. Dirt be damned, she thought, and reached for Sadie. He needed some time with his other daughter. Deacon looked at her. "I'll take her and get her cleaned up and ready to go," she said quietly. He nodded. "Let's go, Sadie bug. We don't have much time to get you ready for the wedding," she whispered to her youngest daughter. Sadie wrapped her arms around Rayna's neck and kissed her on the cheek, as Rayna walked out of the brides' room with her.

Maddie watched Deacon walk towards her and she saw his red eyes and thought she detected a slight quiver in his lips. She frowned and shook her head, holding her palm up. "Don't. I told you that if you cry, I'll cry, and I don't want to cry today. I'm happy."

Deacon rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, then fixed a smile on his face. "I'm gonna do my best," he said. His chest felt tight. He considered how different this was from the day he'd married Rayna. That day he'd been happy, just like his daughter said she was today. He hadn't felt like crying at all, he just wanted to laugh and shout out to the world how over the moon happy he was. He finally was marrying the only woman he'd ever loved, after almost twenty-five years, and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face that entire day. So he knew how Maddie felt today. But he was a mess.

That morning, as they were getting ready, he'd had to sit down and put his face in his hands. Rayna had come to sit next to him, putting her arm around him and laying her head on his shoulder while he'd cried. "I didn't have enough time with her," he'd said, and then felt bad when he saw the sad look on his wife's face. "I just mean that she's so young. You know, as long as I've known her she's always been in such a hurry to grow up and now she is. And it's just too soon."

Rayna had smiled at him. "We still have Daphne. And Sadie. You have lots of time to be a dad."

He'd pulled her into his arms then and kissed her hard. And that, of course, had led to a little detour in getting ready for the wedding. That made him smile, thinking about Rayna trying, and failing, not to mess up her hair, and it helped him get past his desire to cry over Maddie.

Just then, the door opened and Deacon turned to see Teddy and his wife, Katharine, come in the room. Teddy's face lit up when he spied Maddie and Katharine hurried over to grab Maddie by the hands. "Oh, Maddie, you look so beautiful!" she cried.

Maddie leaned down to hug her stepmother. "Thank you," she said warmly. Then she spread her arms out to take in Teddy, who was still grinning broadly. "Hey, Dad," she said.

Teddy hugged her back. "You look so beautiful, sweetheart," he said. And she did. She had turned into a stunningly beautiful young woman, not surprisingly. He had always known that she looked like Deacon, but she had enough of Rayna in her that it made for a lovely combination as she got older. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you, Dad." Maddie smiled. It wasn't often that both her dads were in the same room at the same time and she wondered sometimes how they felt about her calling them both "Dad". Teddy had always been "Dad", of course, since he had raised her from birth. It would have felt wrong not to still acknowledge that. It had taken some time before she'd felt comfortable calling Deacon "Dad". He'd just been "Deacon" or "Uncle Deacon" for all her life, and finding out he was her biological father had taken some getting used to. But after she'd called him "Dad" for the first time, it seemed to feel natural to keep doing it. Sometimes she had to explain which dad she was referring to, but when they were together, there was still a small tad of discomfort.

Teddy glanced over at Deacon. His face was neutral, although his eyes carried that faint sadness they always seemed to when they crossed paths. He gave him a brief smile and a nod and Deacon nodded in return. And that was it. Maddie had asked them both to walk her down the aisle and they had agreed. They had come to an unspoken truce over time. As Maddie's relationship with Deacon had developed, Teddy had had to come to terms with that. He had fought it for a long time, but finally realized he had no choice but to accept it. Then when Deacon had shown Daphne compassion when she had struggled with Rayna's pregnancy, Teddy had dropped his animosity. It would never be easy, but at least now it seemed they could both acknowledge the love they had for both girls, and that it was no longer a contest.

Deacon didn't think he and Teddy would ever be able to come together for Maddie. He knew that Teddy had always hated him, but he'd always thought it was just because he suspected Rayna still loved him. When he'd found out he was Maddie's father, he'd realized that it went deeper than that. He'd always thought of Teddy as smug and arrogant. And he still thought that, but he knew Maddie and Daphne both loved him and, because of that, he was willing to put aside his own feelings. It had definitely made things easier.

He heard skipping in the hallway and unconsciously he smiled. When he turned his head, he saw Sadie skip into the room, her bow tied, her hair restored to order, and her face clean. Rayna followed and he smiled even more as he considered how beautiful she still was, after three children and a high-powered career. She wasn't touring much anymore, concentrating on her growing label, enjoying the development of new talent. Which was fine with him, because it kept her home and in his bed a lot more.

"Uncle Teddy! Auntie Kay!" Sadie shrieked when she saw them and she raced over to throw herself at them. Deacon shook his head in amazement. Teddy and Katharine had fallen totally in love with Sadie, which had been a big surprise. He had to admit that it was probably good that they had, considering the fact that Sadie liked to tag along behind her big sisters.

Rayna came over and leaned into him, kissing him softly on the cheek. "Hey there, handsome," she said with a teasing smile.

He turned to look at her and kissed her on the mouth. "Hey yourself, gorgeous." He reached his arm around her waist and pulled her even closer. "You know you're outshining the bride," he whispered. She smiled and blushed a little.

"Hey, everybody!" Maddie called out.

Teddy put his arms around the waists of his wife and Daphne and they all turned to smile at Maddie. Rayna stepped in front of Deacon and leaned back against his chest. She looked over and gestured for Sadie to come stand with her and, when she did, took her hand.

"I'm so happy we're all here together today," Maddie said. "You're the people that are most important to me. Well, except for Jake, of course." Everyone laughed. She turned to look at Deacon. "Thank you, Dad," then turned to Teddy, "and Dad, for walking down the aisle with me. That means more than you'll know."

Rayna could hear Deacon sniff and she smiled, knowing how special this was for him. Sadie pulled her hand away and started to walk off. Rayna watched her for a moment until she saw her stop and gaze up at Maddie. She turned back to look at her oldest daughter.

Maddie took a deep breath. She was so excited to start her new life, but it was so special to have all these people with her right now. She looked first at her parents. She'd had almost seven years to watch them together and every single day she had felt blessed to be a part of that family. They had truly shown her what love and marriage were all about.

She looked down at Sadie and smiled at her little sister, who smiled back at her, scrunching up her face, turning this way and that. As much as she had distanced herself from her mother before Sadie was born, the feeling of having missed out filling her up with hurt, once Sadie had arrived, it was all forgotten. Sadie had been an amazing gift.

Finally she looked at Teddy, the dad who'd raised her. She felt lucky that he had embraced her as his own from the moment she was born. And although they'd had their own struggles, she was glad to have him in her life. And of course, there was Daphne, her partner-in-crime. It had always felt like the two of them against the world. She couldn't imagine her life without her. Last of all, there was Katharine, her stepmother. Peggy hadn't been in their lives for very long when she was killed, but she had never had the same place in their hearts that Katharine did. Maddie was happy for her father that he had found such a perfect partner.

And now she would be starting her own life with her soul mate. She knew that her parents – all her parents – wished she'd been a little older and had experienced a little more before settling down, but she knew it was right. She couldn't wait.

The photographer approached the brides' room. As he walked in, he was struck by the scene that was in front of him. The bride front and center, with her family looking up at her. So he quickly pulled up his camera, adjusted the lens, and took the shot.