Invisible Strings

Chapter Forty-Two

"I'll always love her Chase. But things with Laney... man, I don't know. It's just different. Feels different. More right..."

"Sounds to me like you're hearing wedding bells." said Chase.

"Ain't far off, brother..." I said.

"No shit, BG. Are you serious?"

"Serious as a fuckin' heartattack." I said. "She's the one Amber picked for me so there is no way that I am letting this one slip away. I know she's not ready for all that just yet given everything that's happened lately, but one day soon, you'll be getting that wedding invite. Just gotta give me a little over nine months."

"I hear ya ma– wait a damn minute. I got three kids, BG. I know the whole nine month thing. Are you serious? There's a baby Gilbert on the way?"

"Yeah. We're actually going to the doctor later to see how far along Laney is." I said, deciding to leave out the multiples part. Not that I wasn't excited for that. But I just wanted to keep that piece of information close to me so that we could surprise everyone. And if it turned out that we aren't expecting multiples, no one would even know.

"That's awesome news man." Said Chase. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, man." I said, a smile spreading across my face as Delaney stepped out onto the back deck where I had been smoking. She immediately walked over to me, wrapping her arms around me.

"Anyway, I better get going. Got to finish packing and all." said Chase. "Like I said, use the house as long as you want. You're welcome to stay however long you need to. But given that news you just told me, I don't suspect that you will be here too long before heading back to Georgia."

"Thanks man. I appreciate it."

My hand aimlessly trailed down Delaney's back, rubbing the tension out of the muscles as I wrapped up the call with Chase. When I slipped my phone back into my pocket, I wrapped my arm around her, hugging her front to my back. Delaney tipped her head back, looking me in the eyes.

"Everything all good?" She asked.

'Yeah, Chase and Leighanne were actually leaving today anyway to head back to Nashville. He's got some recording to do."

"You know, we are really going to have to think of a way to specify which Chase we're thinking about," said Delaney. "For a moment last night, it took me a minute to realize that you weren't talking about Clyde but instead were talking about Chase Rice."

"I know." I said, placing a kiss atop her head. "From now on we will just refer to Chase Elliott and Clyde, and Chase Rice by his name. Sound good?"

"Works for me." she said with a smile.

"So, are you all packed?"

"Yeah, everything but toothbrushes and things like that." Said Delaney. "Gotta get Chloe and Colton's things together. Need your help with Barrett and Braylin."

"Sure, I can throw some things together. Then we can get the SUV loaded and drop the kids off with either your mama or mine. Doesn't matter who we drop them off with. The other is going to end up there." I smiled as I thought about that last part. If there was one thing I was learning about Mama and Gwen, it was that they loved our brood of kids dearly, loved spending time with them, and oftentimes would visit the other just to get their 'grandkid fix'. Their words, not mine. But I couldn't lie. It did my heart good to know that Mama loved Chloe and Colton and treated them like her grandkids just as much as Gwen loved Barrett and Bray. Neither of them had to treat the other person's kids as their own but they did and it was a beautiful thing. It made me feel even more like all of this was happening because someone else had a hand in our lives, that was pulling the strings to make sure that we all got the happy ending that we deserved.