Disclaimer: I do not own Nashville or any of its music, characters, and dialogue.

A/N: Hey, y'all! I've recently discovered the magic that is Nashville, and after watching the first three seasons and now watching the 4th, I've always wondered what would have happened if Rayna accidentally became pregnant with Luke's child while they were dating. I feel like this pregnancy could definitely shake up the plot of the show and cause a lot of complications. This story takes place at the beginning of Episode 19, Season 2 ("Crazy") but takes a turn of its own.

This will be an ongoing story that will still deal with the events of upcoming episodes, but it will have this added twist with its added complications and emotions. Please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

**CHAPTER RECENTLY REVISED TO BETTER DESCRIBE RAYNA'S FEELINGS FOR DEACON*

Ball and Chain(ed)

o1.

"I Cross My Heart" (George Strait)

It couldn't be true. Taking the container of Dawn dish soap and squeezing it more harshly than she intended to, Rayna continued to wash dishes, her eyes flickering over to the garbage can. As she scrubbed a bowl with scraps of hardened chocolate syrup and bits of peanut back stuck to the edges, she again glanced at the slightly ajar garbage can, her eyes piercing through to the pink surface of the pregnancy test.

Scrubbing harder, Rayna thought back to those wild romps with him during his tour. She thought of how quickly it had all happened and how passionate it had been, and she thought of how she had failed to use protection. She couldn't exactly blame herself – after Daphne was born, the doctor had told her and Teddy that it was almost impossible for her to become pregnant, and they certainly didn't have any worries for the eight years after that. But what Rayna only just now realized was the indefinite nature of the word almost. Almost was still a probability, and as far as Rayna was concerned, her fertility had beaten all the odds.

But most prominently, as Rayna continued to scrub the brown-painted plate clutched desperately in her hands, she thought of how complicated her paternal situation was with Maddie and Daphne, and she thought of how much worse it would be with this one. Also, she thought, feeling a tear threaten to escape, she thought about how it would all be her fault, again.

"Hey." Jumping slightly, Rayna turned around to see Luke enter the kitchen, stopping to look over at her.

"Hey," she replied, touching her hair and glancing down at the garbage can. Did he know? He couldn't possibly know. She herself had only just found out! She was being ridiculous, but as she swallowed the lump in her throat and looked back up at Luke, she couldn't quite shake the panic and guilt that raked through her stomach. "How ya doin'?"

"Listen, I... I know what I said about needing time and all that, but..." Of course, Rayna thought, trying as hard as she possibly could not to look back at the garbage can. Of course it's about how we left things last night at his concert. Of course he wouldn't know anything. "I shouldn't have reacted the way that I did," he continued, "and I'm sorry."

He was sorry? Honestly, Rayna almost let out a laugh. After everything that happened last night and everything that happened this morning, he of all people had nothing to be sorry for. Rayna was the one who kept secrets from everyone she loved and Rayna was the one to drag everyone into the mess; truly, Ranya realized that she alone was the only person to blame. Her entire life was starting to feel as if it were built on a series of lies, and as she stood there trying not to look back at that garbage can, she wondered if she could ever change the mold.

"Man, it got crazy last night." To say the least. Luke had discovered that Deacon was Maddie's father, and Maddie had posted a video calling herself "Maddie Claybourne." Crazy didn't serve it all justice, to be honest. But hey, it got crazy.

"Yeah," he agreed, chuckling toward the end. Hearing his laugh was reassuring, but Rayna still knew that he wanted to say more. She felt nervous knots mix in with the guilt, and she hoped he wouldn't press the subject any further. She really hoped he would instead talk about the tour, talk about his kids, talk about his ranch – talk about anything. "The thing is, I..." He paused just then, sighing. "I got a sore spot when it comes to Deacon."

That was the last thing Rayna was expecting him to say. He wanted to talk about Deacon again? Even after they agreed to leave it alone last night? And he had a sore spot for him?

Things had always gotten complicated when it came to Deacon. That had always been the case. Deacon had been around for over half of Rayna's lifetime now, and as she had admitted to both herself and to him, there was no difference when it came to music and to Deacon; they were one in the same, and no matter how hard she tried to deny it, that was just the way ir was. Deacon just couldn't not be in her life, as they had miserably realized.

"You do?" She wasn't sure where this would go, so she proceeded carefully, feeling her muscles tense.

"Yeah, it goes way back. You remember the' 92 Oklahoma State Fair?"

"Yeah – You know I do." That was a long time ago. As Rayna hopped up onto the counter, keeping the garbage can distinctly to her backside, she really didn't know where this was going. "The two of us stuck up on the top of that Ferris wheel... Best seats in the house for that George Strait show."

"Yeah," he said, slightly impatient, "but before that, before we hit the Midway. You know, we were still a bunch of nobodies that had to play a tent outside the Livestock, and you were about to start your set, but... you couldn't find Deacon anywhere."

Oh. Looking down, Rayna did remember that. It had been such a common occurrence that it didn't really stand out anymore, but of course Luke would remember. And of course he would bring it up. "And you sat in for him. I remember."

"I never could understand why you put up with it for all those years. The way he treated you, the way he disappeared..." No one ever understood. Glancing down at her shoes, Rayna knew that no one could possibly understand. Especially not Luke, who indeed had witnessed it all and experienced it first-hand with her. Why did he need to bring this up again? Why did it even matter? And why was he staring off distantly behind her, alarmingly close to the garbage can?

"Anyway," he continued, looking at her carefully, "you were still pretty torn up about it after your set, so I thought, you know, maybe this is it. Maybe this is the night she finally sees me." She looked over at him then, feeling a sad sort of ache fill her heart. He was a nice guy. Luke had always been a nice, nice guy. He didn't deserve any of this. "But even alone together on top of the world on that Ferris wheel with George Strait singing I Cross My Heart, all you could talk about was Deacon."

Deacon was all she'd ever known; he was all she ever needed. It had always been that way, and in a lot of ways, it still was, even though it wasn't. Again resisting the urge to glance back at that garbage can, Rayna realized that history was starting to repeat itself, as ironic and morbid as that could be. "That's how it was back then."

"We're here now... Right?"

"Mhmm." But were they? Yes. They were there, her sitting on her kitchen counter and Luke leaning next to her. The way he looked at her, Rayna knew that Luke loved her. She could tell by the way his eyes shimmered softly and the way his mouth formed a gentle smile, and she knew by the way his body was leaned toward her, comfortable and natural. But so did Deacon. That thought was always there in the back of her mind. Deacon loves you. Deacon has always loved you.

Was this the right time to tell Luke about the baby, then? Rayna shook off that voice and focused on the matter at hand. Didn't she owe it to Luke to tell him? Would there ever be a perfect moment to share something like this?

"Luke," she whispered, her eyes looking past him and into the living room, "I think I need to –"

Before she could finish, her phone started ringing. Glancing down at the Highway 65 cover, she knew it was Bucky, and since it was so soon after last night's incident, she knew it had to be important. Bucky would never intrude on her personal time following something like that if it wasn't damn important.

"This is Bucky, I should probably –"

"Go ahead." He was so understanding; he was so nice. Couldn't Rayna trust him? After everything they'd already been through together, wouldn't he be able to handle the truth? Wouldn't he be able to maturely and lovingly handle the situation of their unborn child?

But after hearing the news from Bucky, Rayna felt as if everything had changed perspective. Up became down and left became right as she turned on the television and watched her baby girl's paternity be scrutinized and outright judged on national television. She didn't know what to even feel anymore, and as she turned the television off and turned back to Luke, she knew that she had to do it. Now that everything was public, she knew that hiding it from him would only make it worse.

"Rayna, I... I don't know how that could have happened." Luke began to pace the room, shaking his head furiously. "I told Colt not to post it, and you have to believe that he didn't. He would never do anything like this to Maddie, Rayna. Not after I explained to him how private you like to keep her life. I swear to you that he didn't do it."

"Luke," she rasped, feeling the tears start to fall down her cheeks. Instantly he was there, holding her steady and stroking her hair, placing a kiss on her head.

"It's gonna be alright, Rayna," he crooned, holding her tighter. "Everything will work out. Bucky will know how to handle this, and Maddie's gonna be fine."

"No, Luke." It was important that he look at her and that she wasn't folded pathetically in his arms. Squirming out of his grip, she took a step back and took one final look at the garbage can, clearing her throat.

"This isn't our only problem right now." He tilted his head to the side and looked at her closely, waiting. Was that the mark of a patient, understanding man? Was that the appropriate behavior of the person she would spend a lifetime raising a child with? "I took a pregnancy test today, and... it was positive." Fighting back the tears, Rayna looked up directly into Luke's widened blue eyes. "I'm pregnant, and it's yours."