Glad to be calling an early end to his workday, Matt stomped up the back steps, sending clumps of dirt scattering from his boots. “Shit.” He stopped halfway up and raked the soles of his boots over the edge of the next step to dislodge the pasture muck he’d collected throughout the day, but it was no use. Gabby would have his ass if he tracked that much dirt into the house.

As he peeled off his boots and socks, leaving the smelly pile on the stoop, it crossed his mind to strip out of the rest of his sweaty clothes, kidnap his wife, and take her for a naughty afternoon dip in the creek. That was until he remembered that Gabby was in Billings. “Double shit.” For the first time in so long he couldn’t remember, their house was kid-free for the day, and she wasn’t there to take advantage of him.

The kitchen screen door slammed closed behind him as he headed for the sink to wash the grime off his hands, but a heavy thud from upstairs drew his attention to the ceiling. “Grey!” He paused to listen, rolling his eyes at Grey’s muted curse. What had started out as a simple, one-room remodel to turn Connor’s old bedroom into a nursery for their first grandchild, had grown into a two-room renovation fit for a cable rehab show.

He paced to the sink and turned on the tap, frowning when nothing came out of the faucet. “What the…” He flipped the handle from cold to hot. Nothing. “Grey!” What in hell was his brother up to now? “Grey!” he shouted again as he climbed the stairs.

“In here!” his twin, Mason, shouted back.

Matt followed the voices into the demolition zone, stopping short when he saw the gaping hole in the wall that once stood between the now-joined bedrooms and the upstairs bathroom. “What are you doin’?”

His arms raised over his head, Grey torqued down on the pipe wrench in his hand. “Almost…got it,” he grunted, tucking the wrench into his tool belt before he inspected the water pipe he was working on.

Matt shoved a dirty hand through his sweaty hair. “I guess that explains the no-water thing.” A whiff of stink floated off his shirt and he lowered his arm in disgust.

“Hey, did Gabby call you yet?” Mason asked him, his eyes filled with the same edgy excitement he’d felt all day, waiting to find out if they were expecting a grandson or granddaughter.

Matt shook his head. “You?”

“No.” Mason grimaced. “I guess she was serious about keeping it a secret until dinner tonight.”

Grey checked his watch. “Shit. I didn’t realize how late it was getting.”

Matt propped his hands on his hips with an agitated sigh. “Why on Earth are you tearing out that wall?”

Grey swiped his forearm across his brow and stepped back to inspect his work. “Each room had its own closet. Now that they’re one big room, we didn’t need both. So, I figured I’d expand the bathroom into this closet. Look,” he said, stepping through the hole in the wall. “Adds five feet to the bathroom. We can put in the claw tub Gabby’s always wanted and add a door into the bathroom from the nursery.”

“Yeah.” Matt mumbled under his breath and scratched his head. “Because every baby nursery needs a private bathroom with a claw tub.” Although, Gabby would love it, but still. He walked over to the outer closet wall. “Why did you tear out this part of the wall? Don’t we need that?”

Grey grumbled as he tapped on the pipe. “Because whoever the dumbass was who plumbed the house originally, ran the cold-water line through the closet wall for some unknown reason. I have to move it.”

Matt bit down on the inside of his cheek to avoid pointing out that plumbing wasn’t Grey’s strongest skillset. He looked over at Mason who, judging by the way he ground his teeth, apparently shared his concern. The last time Grey attempted to fix a plumbing problem he flooded the barn.

“To hell with both of you,” Grey grumbled, stooping to pick up a crowbar. “You’ll be happy to know I called Papa Jake, and he’s going to take a look at it when he comes over for the family dinner tonight.”

Matt and Mason released a collective sigh of relief.

“Go take a damn shower.” Grey waved them off.

“Um…hello?” Matt gestured to the pipe. “No water?”

“I’ll go turn it on,” Mason said, and headed toward the stairs. “Just tell me when.”

“Give me a second!” Grey shouted after him. “I need to tighten one more fitting!”

Matt gave him a skeptical look, cringing away when Grey pulled his wrench back out and threatened to throw it at him. “Okay,” he chuckled on his way out the door, but he stopped and turned back. “I almost forgot. Did you order that seal kit I need for the tractor?”

Grey cursed. “Sorry, man. I got distracted.”

Matt smirked. Distracted by his distraction. Everyone knew Grey was using this project to distract himself from the fact that Dani was getting married and moving to Texas. The closer the wedding got, the larger the nursery became. At this rate, they’d probably be living in one big bounce house by the time their daughter said I do.

“I’ll get it as soon as I finish up here,” Grey offered, but Matt waved him off.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll order it after I grab a shower.” Matt stripped off his shirt as he descended the stairs, afraid to hope there’d be running water by the time he got to the other bathroom.

He darted into the laundry room and tossed his dirty clothes into the washer, leaving the lid open so Grey and Mason could add theirs to the load. Naked and sticky, he treaded into the bathroom, holding his breath as he turned the knob. Cold water sputtered from the shower head.

“Fuck, yes!” He stepped beneath the chilly spray, unconcerned about the lack of hot water. The late August days were still holding onto the unusually brutal summer heat, and he appreciated the brisk refresher.

Blessedly clean, dried, and dressed for dinner, sans boots, he grabbed a cold beer from the fridge on his way to Grey’s office. The tart ale fizzed on his tongue with his first sip and he sank down into the leather chair. “Damn, that’s good,” he said with a hiss and logged on to the computer.

He clicked over to the supply website and found the parts he needed, adding it and a couple other items to the cart, but before he checked out, a sponsored ad at the bottom of the screen caught his attention. Curious, he clicked over to another page on the website and a similar ad appeared.

“Hey, have you logged off yet?” Mason asked as he rushed into the office, dressed only in a pair of jeans and scrubbing a towel over his freshly washed hair. “I remembered that I need a hitch lock for the new trailer.”

Matt waved him over and turned the screen so he could see the ad. “What do you make of this?”

Mason leaned in to look, squinting as he read. “Is something wrong with the log splitter we have?”

“No, not that.” Matt pointed to the ad. “This.”

Mason leaned in again, squinting harder to read the finer print.

“Good Lord. Here.” Matt handed him Grey’s reading glasses.

Mason batted them away and leaned closer. “The Menopause Baby.” The second the words were out of his mouth, Mason shot upright like a soldier snapping to attention. “Why are you showing me that?”

Matt shrugged, then clicked on the ad, which took him to a different website. “The risks and rewards of having a baby in your forties and fifties.”

Mason blinked. “Again, why are you showing me this?”

“All the ads are the same.”

Mason blinked again. “So?”

“So…” Matt leaned back in the chair. “You know how, when you look at somethin’ online, and the next thing you know that same thing pops up in all the ads on all the websites you go to?”

He would have laughed at his brother’s audible gulp had he not been about to hyperventilate himself.

“What are you saying?”

Matt raised a brow. Mason knew exactly what he was saying. “Someone’s been searchin’ the internet about havin’ a baby during menopause.”

The corner of Mason’s eye began to twitch. Seconds passed in silence before he snatched Matt’s beer off the desk, tipped it back, and guzzled it down. When the bottle was empty, his hand fell to his side, the bottle dangling from his fingers, and he finally met Matt’s gaze. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Dumbfounded himself, Matt couldn’t do more than shrug. He didn’t know what he was saying.

Mason shook his head in denial. “If Gabby was pregnant, she would have told us.”

Matt looked back at the screen. “I’m not so sure.”

“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t she?”

“Think about it.” Matt pushed up from the chair to close the office door. “Dani’s gettin’ married,” he continued, lowering his voice to make sure Grey couldn’t overhear them. “All the trouble Breezy’s havin’ gettin’ pregnant. Our first grandkid on its way. And let’s not forget about Uncle Cade.” He ticked off each reason on his fingers. “You know how she is. If she is pregnant, she wouldn’t want the attention right now.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Mason scoffed. “She’d still tell us.”

Matt chuckled as he pushed past Mason and slumped back down in the chair behind the desk. “You really think Grey’s in the best place to handle that kind of news right now?” He laughed again when Mason’s eyes widened with understanding. “Exactly. Grey’s already so far off the reservation about Dani leavin’. Somethin’ like this would send him right over the edge.”

Mason’s expression twisted with skepticism. “Wait a minute.” He pointed at the computer screen. “Why would Gabby be using Grey’s computer to look this stuff up? She’s got her own laptop. What if she told Grey, and he was reading that stuff?”

“Please.” Matt narrowed his eyes, challenging Mason to defend the ridiculous idea. No way could Grey keep a secret that big. Nor would Gabby tell him and not them.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Mason conceded with a shake of his head.

“She’s been in here all week on Grey’s computer working on weddin’ stuff,” Matt pointed out, nodding to the table against the opposite wall stacked high with books and boxes overflowing with lime green ribbon and other…frilly girly stuff. “She’s turned the whole office into weddin’ central.”

Mason’s weary gaze traveled around the room, taking in all the changes. He sucked in a long breath, then blew it out in a rush as he slowly sank down the wall onto his haunches. “A baby,” he said in a barely audible whisper, holding his head between his palms.

“Yeah.” Matt sighed.

Images of Gabby, her belly heavy with their child, along with memories of their other children’s births, even their first wife, Sarah, pregnant with Connor and Carson, all swirled in front of Matt like an intoxicating collage. His lips stretched into a wide smile. It had been a while since he’d thought about those days. Or the ones that began at infant-fucked-us-o’clock, with baby formula facials, and ended with someone, usually Gabby, passed out in the rocking chair beside the crib, or in front of the television. He’d lost count of how many times he or his brothers had to carry her to bed after Cory was born. That kid never slept. Changing diapers wasn’t so bad. He could handle that, but…

He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling, his thoughts all over the map. “Damn.”

“Yeah,” Mason sighed. “Damn.”

Neither of them said anything for what seemed like forever. Matt eventually looked over at his twin. “Damn,” they said in unison, this time with uncontainable grins.

The sound of booted footsteps bled through the closed office door, and Mason sprung to his feet.

“What are you doin’?” Matt asked as Mason rushed to click the website closed.

“We can’t let Grey know about this.”

“We have to tell him,” Matt argued in a hushed whisper.

“Are you crazy? We don’t even know if it’s true yet.” Hand shaking, Mason clicked back over to the supplier website and then stepped back as if he was studying whatever was on the screen. “That’s not the hitch lock I need. I’ll get it in town instead,” he said as if they’d been talking about the weather, or a hitch lock, when the door opened and a freshly showered Grey walked in.

Matt tried his best to school his expression, but Grey raised a brow as he made his way to the desk. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “They don’t have the seal kit?”

“No. I mean, yeah.” Matt clicked the button that finalized the order. “I’m orderin’ it now.”

Mason made his way to the door, sending Matt a sideways glance that demanded he follow.

Matt cleared his throat, glancing back at Grey.

Mason glared back at him. “Don’t,” he mouthed behind Grey.

Their older brother caught the silent exchange. “What are the two of you scheming about now?” Grey asked with a huff.

“Nothing,” Mason insisted.

Matt rose from behind the desk. They couldn’t keep this from Grey forever. “We were uh,” Matt pushed on, rolling his eyes when Mason snarled at him. “We were just talkin’ about the baby,” he said, scrutinizing Grey’s expression for any sign he knew something he wasn’t telling them. The only reaction he got, however, was from Mason, who tried to shove him from the room, but he twisted away.

“We need to start dinner,” Mason reminded him when he refused to budge.

“Did Gabby call you?” Grey asked, his brows pinched in concern.

Matt narrowed his eyes, wondering if Grey did know something. Why else would he ask about Gabby when he mentioned the baby?

“Is Chloe okay?” Grey continued, hovering above his chair. “Is it a boy or girl?”

“No. I mean yes, she’s fine I guess. Gabby didn’t call,” Mason interjected, clapping a hand on Matt’s shoulder, guiding him to the door, “but she’ll be home any minute, and we’d better have something on the stove.”

“I thought Mom was bringing dinner tonight,” Grey sank down into the seat behind his desk, his worried expression gone.

“She’s with Gabby and Chloe, but Dads are bringing the roast,” Mason clarified as he and Matt back-stepped through the office doorway. “We’re up for the sides.”

“We need to talk about this,” Matt insisted once he and his brother were in the kitchen and out of earshot of Grey’s open office door.

“Not with Grey,” Mason said, reaching into the pantry for a sack of potatoes. “Not yet, anyway.” Matt took the sack, dropping it on the counter. “Look…” He paused, bracing his hands on the edge of the island bar. “You were right. Grey’s already freaked out about Dani.”

“So are you,” Matt challenged.

Mason snapped his head up, narrowed his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t deny it. He still hadn’t so much as said Clay’s name since he found him and Dani half naked in the barn.

“I get that this thing with Dani and Clay snuck up on you, but if this is true, and Gabby is pregnant, we’ve got bigger problems than your wounded pride.”

“This isn’t about my pride.”

“You saw the headline on that ad, Mason. There are risks. We need to talk about this.”

“All I’m saying is, we should wait,” Mason insisted. “Feel this thing out before we go stirring up a hornet’s nest.”

“Feel what out?” Gabby asked from the kitchen doorway.