Disclaimer: I don't own Nashville and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

Rayna Jaymes loved going out on tour because she felt at home when she was on the stage. Luckily, it was summer and the girls were with her, which they loved. They couldn't visit Teddy since their father was in prison, so this was the least she could do for them. Plus, she was tired of Maddie and Daphne whining about not being able to go with her on tour. They were allowed to sing one song only with her, something her fans thought was adorable.

Today, however, Rayna didn't feel much like singing. She was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but unfortunately, that wasn't an option. She felt like she was coming down with something like a cold, but wasn't entirely sure. Deacon had just recovered from the flu, so she had probably caught the illness from her husband. "You okay, Ray? You don't look so good." Deacon was definitely worried about Rayna since she never liked to admit she was sick. It was actually pretty irritating and drove him nuts, but she didn't seem to care all that much.

She nodded and immediately wished she hadn't because of the nausea that suddenly rose up within her. After taking a few deep breaths that calmed it down, Rayna cringed when she saw the look on his face. "I'm fine and I can go out there tonight," she lied.

He wasn't so sure of that, but his wife was stubborn and always had been. Deacon would definitely be watching over her tonight and making sure she was okay. He'd keep her hydrated, too. "If you're sure." He pushed the hair out of her face and then kissed her.

Rayna smiled. "Love you," she murmured. She was happier with Deacon than she had been in a long time. Her career was back on track, her daughters were happy and healthy, and she was happily married to the love of her life. Sure, they fought like every other couple, but they were nowhere near as bad as the fights had been between her and Teddy.

Deacon beamed at her. "I love you too, Ray." He kissed her again, squeezed her hand, and then went off to talk with some of the crew members. He tried not to worry so much about Rayna, which was hard considering the fact that he thought about her pretty much all the time.

Rayna decided a short nap was in order so she could be energized for the concert and fell asleep rather quickly on the hotel bed. She only woke up about two hours before the concert because Deacon shook her awake. She rubbed her eyes to try to clear the cobwebs in her mind and then looked up at him. "Hi."

"Hi. You look worse than you did before the nap. I think maybe we should cancel tonight and reschedule for another day. I want you to go to the doctor." He felt her forehead and frowned when she didn't feel hot. That was weird, especially if she had caught the flu from him. Maybe it wasn't fully affecting Rayna yet? Or it could be a milder form of what he went through.

"No. I am not doing that to our fans because it's rude. And I'm feeling better." It was a half-truth – Rayna wasn't feeling worse or better, but she did feel about the same. The nap hadn't helped her much at all.

He wasn't buying that at all, but he knew he wasn't going to convince her to postpone the concert. She hated to disappoint her fans, always had. "The instant you feel worse, you're going to the doctor's. I do not care what you say or do or how much you lie because I won't buy it. I'm not buying it now, truthfully."

"You worry too much." But it made her smile anyway – She loved that Deacon was so worried about her. She had missed so much during her marriage to Teddy and was so grateful to have it back. She still hated herself sometimes for staying so long in an unhappy marriage. Her father had been furious when she filed for divorce, but Rayna had cut him out of her life because she couldn't deal with him anymore. She had put up with entirely too much from Lamar her whole life.

"Well, someone has to and I don't mind worrying about you." Okay, Deacon hated worrying about her, but he wouldn't change a thing. He had loved her for over twenty years and that was never going to change.

"And you're sweet again." She grinned and then stood up, hurrying to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Rayna felt a little better afterwards, but it didn't last long because she was feeling horrible again pretty soon afterwards. She stopped to consider canceling the concert like her husband had suggested, but decided against it since she didn't want to anger and disappoint their fans attending the concert.

About half an hour later, the concert finally started up. Rayna made it through three songs before she started to feel dizzy. Determined to finish the fourth song, she tried her best to plow through it, but that didn't work. She was about a minute away from finishing it when the lightheadedness got to be too much and before she knew it, everything went black for Rayna.

Deacon immediately rushed to his wife's side and tried to revive her. "Somebody call 911!" At that moment, he didn't give a fuck about all the people there or the fact that everyone would know within seconds what happened – His priority was Rayna.

"They're coming, but why don't you let the paramedics here check her out first?"

He nodded and let them get to work. Rayna was revived pretty quickly, but fell back asleep just as the ambulance arrived. After making sure Maddie and Daphne were being take care of, Deacon hopped in the back with his wife as she was rushed to the hospital. Several tests were administered and then she was admitted into a private room for observation.

When Rayna woke up and actually didn't pass out again, she cringed when she saw the look on Deacon's face. "Guess we should have cancelled?"

"Yes we should have cancelled! But all that matters right now is figuring out what's wrong and getting you better." He was entirely too panicked right now to be angry at her, even though he wanted to be.

"The girls? Are they okay? They were backstage!" Rayna hoped she hadn't traumatized them too much.

"They're fine. Tiffany was taking care of them." Maddie insisted she didn't need a baby-sitter since she was a teenager, but Rayna insisted on the nanny to watch over the girls on tour when she and Deacon couldn't be with them. It made her feel a whole lot better.

She sighed in relief. "That's good."

Deacon was about to start talking but was interrupted when the doctor walked in. "Have you figured out what's wrong yet?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, and there's really nothing wrong, per se. Congratulations, Miss Jaymes and Mr. Claybourne. You're having a baby."

Deacon stared at him. "What did you just say?"

"I'm pregnant?" Rayna's mouth had dropped open, but she was the first to recover from the bombshell that had just been dropped on them.

He nodded. "Your blood pressure spiked, which is cause for concern, especially considering your age. I suggest that you find a doctor immediately even though it's coming down now."

"I was dizzy before I passed out. And I was exhausted. And I can't believe I didn't think of pregnancy sooner, but my periods have been irregular since I had the girls. And I'm forty-three years old! I can't believe this." Underneath the disbelief and the worry, happiness was starting to bubble up inside her. She was going to be a mom again!

"I suggest you cancel your concerts for the foreseeable future and make an appointment with a high risk OB/GYN immediately. We'll do an ultrasound now and see how far along you are."

"We're having a baby, Ray. I can't believe this." He was Maddie's biological father, but hadn't been too involved since he hadn't known for years. He was excited about being there for Rayna during the pregnancy, even though he was still reeling from the news.

"I can still miscarry, depending on how far along I am. There are so many things against us, especially at my age." She was starting to worry a little about what was going to happen.

The doctor started up the ultrasound machine and started to move the wand across Rayna's stomach. "There's your baby, Miss Jaymes. You look to be about nine weeks along."

"Wow. I feel stupid for not figuring this out sooner. And I thought I was in the clear too, since I'm pre-menopausal. Clearly not."

"You want to hear the heartbeat?"

"Yes!" Deacon definitely wanted to hear his child's heart beating for the first time because that sounded like it'd be amazing.

He laughed and flipped a switch. The heartbeat echoed around the room rather quickly. "It's strong, so that's good news. I'll print you out copies so you can show your family and friends."

A few minutes later, the doctor left. Rayna was going to be staying until the next day just so they could make sure she was okay. "The girls are going to be so excited. But I don't want to tell anyone else until after the first trimester is over, especially since the risk of miscarrying is high. Are you okay with that?"

"I'm okay with pretty much anything right now, Ray. You're pregnant!" He couldn't believe they were going to have a new family member in a few months.

She couldn't help but smile at him. "You're thrilled about this, aren't you?" His happiness was infectious actually, and it was having a calming effect on her.

He nodded. "Don't you worry about anything. I'm going to make sure that nothing stressful happens. And I think all concerts over the next two weeks should be cancelled." He didn't want a repeat of tonight to happen because she had scared the shit out of him.

"How are we going to explain away what happened?" Rayna hated that everyone knew she had passed out by now. It was probably all over the Internet.

"Don't worry. I'll tell our publicist the truth and they'll probably just explain it away as you being sick and pushing yourself too hard because you wanted to please the fans. Something like that because I wouldn't know what to say." He kissed her, placed a hand on her stomach, which was already starting to swell with the life growing inside her (How hadn't he noticed before?), and went outside to talk to their team.

Although there were a few tiny scares during Rayna's pregnancy, everything went well. Rayna and Deacon's son Caleb was born a month early, but he was otherwise healthy. And the new family of five cohabitated together happily, but not peacefully.