Rayna squinted her eyes as she turned on the light in the downstairs hallway on her way to the front door.

"Juliette?" She asked in surprise. The porch light illuminated enough of the young woman's face that Rayna could see the exhaustion in her every feature. "It's five in the morning, honey. What's going on?"

Her eyes landed on the baby carrier the same moment its occupant decided to make herself known.

"Can you please make her stop crying?" Juliette shifted uncomfortably.

Maybe it was the utter desperation in the younger woman's voice. Or just the small whimpers, interrupted by the occasional hiccup, coming from the baby carrier on her arm.

"Oh girl, come inside." Rayna said instinctively. "What's wrong?"

Juliette slipped through the door and through the dimly lit hallway into the living room. Rayna made some light while Juliette lifted her daughter out of her car seat.

"Nothing's wrong apparently. At least that's what they told me in the ER. That she's just fine." Juliette said with a hint of desperation. "But I suppose I'm the worst mother in the world because she won't stop crying."

Rayna took the little girl from Juliette's arms and cradled her in her arms. "Oh, honey. You're exhausted, aren't you?" She talked to the baby in a gentle voice, rocking her softly.

"She's exhausted? I'm exhausted because she wouldn't shut up the whole night." Juliette's temper flared. "You know I fed her and I changed her diaper and she wouldn't even shut up on the drive over. Which the whole internet promised me would help. So I've been driving around for hours and now…" She took a deep breath and Rayna could see the tears gathering in her eyes. "I can't do it anymore. Please do something."

"Have you tried just holding her and rocking her?" Rayna asked in a sweet voice, gently swaying left and right with the child in her arms. And much to Juliette's dismay, it seemed to do the trick as the baby girl slowly quieted down.

"You're kidding me, right? Of course I held her." But her voice sounded smaller and more doubtful than Rayna would have expected. Juliette sank down on the sofa and tried to hide her face behind her hands.

"Hey." Rayna gently settled the baby against her shoulder, supporting her little weight with one hand. The other reached out to comfort Juliette as soon as she had settled down next to her. "That's what babies do, sweetheart. They cry."

Juliette just shook her head.

Rayna snuck a look at the little girl and couldn't help a smile when she found her already half asleep against her shoulder.

"You know what?" She nudged Juliette's shoulder and waited until she raised her head. "Why don't you go on up and lie down in the guest bedroom. This one's out like a light for a few hours and I'll just stay here with her."

"Seriously?" Juliette latched on to her words like a life raft and the careful hope Rayna saw in her eyes made her chest hurt.

"Yes. It's the second door on the left. Now go. I think I can handle this." Rayna smiled encouragingly.

::

The grey morning light was already making it's way into the room when a soft knock on the door woke Juliette.

"Hey." Rayna gently said as she slipped through the door. She climbed unto the bed, careful not to jostle the bundle in her arms. "You awake?"

"A bit." Juliette smiled sheepishly.

"Here, take her."

"What? No, she's finally sleeping. We shouldn't disturb her."

Rayna just leaned over and handed the sleeping baby over carefully. "Trust me. She'll be all grown up in the blink of an eye. You don't want to miss this."

Juliette arranged her daughter in her arms until she too felt comfortable and leaned back against the pillows. A small smile played over her face as she watched every square inch of her girl's face.

"She's so beautiful." She whispered.

"She is." Rayna agreed. "Does she have a name?"

Juliette tore her gaze away from her daughter long enough to roll her eyes. "No." She said testily. "Avery and I can't agree on anything."

"Where is Avery?" Rayna asked carefully.

"Working a gig in Chicago." Juliette said. At Rayna's surprised look she rolled her eyes again. "I told him he should go. It's important for him and he was driving me crazy." She admitted. "That was stupid, huh."

Rayna's expression softened. "No. It's totally okay that you want to do this by yourself. You just know that you don't have to. And accepting a little help along the way doesn't make you a bad mother."

"Doesn't it?" Juliette asked in a low voice. "I couldn't even calm my own daughter down."

"Hey." Rayna reached over and laid her hand against Juliette's arm until the young woman reluctantly met her gaze. "It's okay. You were both exhausted and just needed a break. You don't need to feel guilty for that."

"How do you...?"

"I had a baby once, you know." Rayna smirked.

"Yes, but you... " Juliette drifted off, not knowing how to put it.

"I wasn't alone?" Rayna supplied.

Juliette nodded.

"You're not alone either." Rayna pointed out. "Avery is right there. And from what I've seen in the hospital, this little one has him wrapped around her finger." She added with a smile.

"She has, hasn't she?" Juliette chuckled and looked back down at her girl.

Rayna just watched Juliette. It was nice to see her so… calm. And happy even if everyone's attention didn't revolve around her.

"Hey, baby." Juliette cooed and Rayna leaned over to see the little girl opening her eyes. Her gaze was still unfocused but she seemed to take in everything around her.

"Okay, you definitely need a name for her." Rayna declared with a laugh.

"What's wrong with Baby?" Juliette asked indignantly, lifting her shirt so her daughter's seeking mouth could find it's target.

"Nothing." Rayna threw at her, but the look she gave Juliette begged to differ.

Juliette blew out a soft chuckle. "Avery wants a rock star name and I just want something unique. So every time we talk about it we just end up fighting, which makes baby even crankier. At least we agreed to not name her after anyone. She'll be her own person."

"I think as long as you don't name her after the weather or animals or such you'll be fine." Rayna supplied. "She'll hate her name at some point no matter what it is."

Juliette gently shifted her girl around to her other breast. "So. Enough about me and my nameless child already." She said with a sudden gleam in her eyes. "What's with the wedding?"

Rayna groaned and turned her head into her pillow.

"Come on, Rayna. All people want to talk to me about these days is diapers and breastfeeding. Indulge me." Juliette demanded petulantly.

Rayna turned her head and took a long look at Juliette and her pleading eyes. She hummed thoughtfully. "Fine." She said eventually and shifted back onto her back. "What do you want to know?"

"Well…" Juliette gestured wildly with her free hand. "Last I heard it was postponed until July 4th."

Rayna nodded, her eyes floating to the ceiling. "Yes." She said softly.

"So? God, do I have to worm everything out of you?" Juliette asked exasperatedly.

Rayna laughed before she let her head roll to the side so she could face her friend. "There won't be a wedding."

"What?"

Rayna just pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Whose decision was that?" Juliette asked.

Rayna thought for a moment. "Mine in the end, I guess. But it's been long enough for me to realize that I made it impossible for Luke to go through with it. And…" She added as an afterthought. "… he made a move on Sadie. But I didn't know that until it was all over anyway."

"Wait a second." Juliette frowned at her. "Just how long has it been over?"

Rayna pondered that for a few moments before answering. "About two months now."

"And does Deacon know about this?"

"What?" Rayna asked defensively. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Everything from what I've seen in the last two years. And from what I read in that Rolling Stone article." Juliette argued only to instantly calm down her whimpering daughter.

Rayna grimaced and closed her eyes.

Juliette settled the baby against her shoulder and stroked over her back soothingly. "So what happened?" She eventually asked with a gentleness few people knew she possessed.

Rayna met her eyes and shrugged. "A few weeks ago…" She started but had to clear her throat nervously. Thinking back to that particular moment in time still made her feel uneasy. "A few weeks ago Deacon collapsed after his opening gig for Luke in L.A.. And Luke kept it from me." She took a deep breath and looked over at the baby who was currently trying to fit her fist into her mouth. "But things being what they are I found out. And Luke and I had a fight. And I mean… it was huge. And then he gave me an ultimatum."

"Didn't he know you would choose Deacon?" Juliette smirked knowingly.

Rayna just huffed, her eyes once again going to the ceiling. "Hell, I didn't even know I would choose Deacon."

They both fell silent, content to watch the baby fall asleep again in Juliette's arms.

"So what does Deacon think about it?" Juliette kept digging.

"I have no idea." Rayna admitted.

"You mean you haven't told him?"

"I did tell him."Rayna was quick to defend herself. "I told him before I told anyone else. Well… I was just about to board a plane so I sent him a text and all I got in return was an 'Okay.'."

That one word still made her blood boil. And her head ache from all it did and didn't say.

"You're kidding."

Rayna just heaved a deep breath and shook her head. "I'm not. And that's all I've heard from him in weeks."

Juliette shimmied further down the bed so she could lie down again, the baby resting on her chest. "So? What are you going to do?"

Rayna mimicked her position on the other side of the bed. "Nothing. He knows and decided not to do anything about it."

"That's bullshit." Juliette shot her look filled with disbelief.

"No."

"Yes." The younger woman insisted. "That man is bat shit crazy about you, woman. He has waited forever for his chance with you."

"Well he has it and he didn't do anything about it. And for once I'm going to respect that." Rayna argued back.

"Like hell you will." Juliette would not take no for an answer.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"What I want you do to? If you really want him you should fight for him. Like go out there and do something about it. Just…" Juliette struggled to find the right words. "Be crazy and risk something."

"Be crazy?" Rayna asked disbelievingly. "You mean like you when you married that football player?"

"Yes!" Juliette exclaimed whole heartedly. "And I know that's probably not the best example but I got out there and made damn sure I got what I wanted."

Rayna didn't say anything in return and Juliette suddenly started to doubt herself.

"You do want Deacon, right?" She asked warily.

"Yes." Rayna said with a thick voice. "I do."

"Good." Juliette nodded. "I'm serious here, Rayna. Hell I think this is the most time I have spent talking about anyone else but me in a long while. So I'm dead serious."

::