by D. L. Roan
“Grandnephew,” Chloe corrected her.
“A great-aunt, huh?” The doctor’s eyes widened with genuine surprise. “I would have never guessed.”
Aunt Bev giggled, her cheeks blushing. “I don’t believe you, but I appreciate the effort.”
The doctor laughed, pulling his stethoscope from around his neck. “It’s no effort at all,” he said with a flirty wink.
Pryce’s ears began to ring as his heartbeat raced. Great. While Chloe’s doctor swiped right on Aunt Bev, he was about to have a freaking heart attack.
“I guess I better get to the real star of this show,” the doctor said. “How are you feeling?” he asked Chloe as he adjusted the pillows behind her.
“Great, now that the morning sickness is finally gone.”
“Good. And dads? How are you feeling?”
“Great,” Jonah said with an anxious chuckle as he straightened in his seat.
“Oh man, you look really nervous.” Pryce glanced up to see the doctor was talking about him. “Here.” He grabbed a blue plastic bag from a dispenser on the wall, then handed it to Pryce. “You weren’t here for the first one of these, were you?”
Pryce glared at the doctor as he snatched the bag from his hand.
“Don’t worry.” The doctor chuckled. “This is the one to write home about,” he said, winking at Aunt Bev again. “That is, if there are any friends or family members who aren’t already here.”
Pryce clenched the bag in his fist until his knuckles turned white.
The doctor cleared his throat and turned to the monitor, punching a series of buttons. A hand landed on Pryce’s shoulder, and he jerked his head back to see Gabby standing behind him. She didn’t say a word, only smiled as she caressed soothing circles on his back.
When he turned back around, Chloe’s gown was pulled up, and the doctor was applying the clear gel to her belly. Chloe turned and looked at him. The sight nearly crushed him. Her skin glowed. Her eyes sparkled with uncontainable excitement. He wished he’d brought his camera, but doubted he’d be able to capture all the things making his heart hammer inside his chest.
This was it. He knew without a doubt this would be the day he’d look back on for the rest of his life and know that, at least for a moment, he’d had everything.
The doctor switched on the monitor, but Pryce kept his gaze on Chloe. He memorized every tick of her lips, the way her eyes widened or narrowed as she studied the screen. He counted her breaths and the tears that slipped from her eyes before she swiped them away.
“There you are,” the doctor said in a jovial tone, and Chloe’s face lit up.
“Wow.” Jonah sat forward. “It’s really grown since last time.”
Pryce continued to watch Chloe, reading her reactions, living for every smile.
“That’s what healthy babies do,” the doctor said.
“Oh look!” Dani squealed behind Jonah. “There’s a hand!”
“And a foot!” Gran and Breezy said in unison with watery voices.
“Let’s switch over to 4D and meet baby McLendon,” the doctor said.
Gabby tightened her grip on his shoulder.
The room fell silent.
Pryce held his breath, his heartbeat thundering in his ears.
The room suddenly echoed with a collective gasp as everyone stared at the screen. Everyone but him. The woman he loved had tears streaming down her cheeks, her lips quivering as she turned and met his gaze, then released a broken sob that betrayed her mile-wide smile. “Pryce, look,” she said, reaching for his hand. “Look at our beautiful baby.”
Pryce took his wife’s hand, his own clammy and trembling as she pulled him closer, and he forced his gaze from her face. The second he looked at the monitor, their baby turned, as if to look back at him. Its tiny, perfect lips turned up into a smile that looked just like Chloe’s.
“Oh, Pryce, honey, did you see that?” Aunt Bev asked in awe.
Time stopped as he stared at the miracle on the screen, moving and kicking, perfectly formed and infinitely more beautiful than anything he’d ever seen in his life.
“Heart, lungs, kidneys, ten fingers and ten toes,” the doctor counted off. “Everything is developing just as it should be.”
Awestruck, the world tipped back and forth, the ground shifting beneath Pryce’s feet as Jonah yanked him into his arms. “I told you everything would be fine,” he said, taking his face between his hands. Pryce tore his gaze away from the screen and looked up at Jonah. “I told you.”
The impact of relief broke him. The breath he’d held deep inside his lungs came rushing out in one long cry and he crumbled against Jonah’s chest. Months of fear and worry vanished, leaving a gaping hole in his chest that was instantly flooded with love.
The sudden weightlessness set his head spinning. He fisted his hands in Jonah’s shirt and held on for dear life as a laugh bubbled up from deep inside. “I love you,” he laughed against Jonah’s neck, the words feeling wholly inadequate. “I love you so damn much, man.”
“Um, hello?” Chloe said beside them, her watery giggle jolting them apart.
“Shit.” Pryce swiped at his eyes. “Sorry.” He cupped her face between his hands and pressed his forehead to hers. He stared into her teary eyes, wondering how he could possibly deserve her. “I love you,” he said in a breathless whisper, peppering her face with tender kisses. “I will love you and our baby for the rest of my life.”
“I hope so,” she said with a teary chuckle. “Because I can’t raise our daughter without you.”
Pryce stilled. He drew his head back and stared at his wife. “Daughter?”
She tipped her head at the screen, and Pryce looked over his shoulder to see the undeniable image on the monitor.
“Yes!” Dani exclaimed in a hushed whisper. “I knew it!”
“A girl?” Jonah leaned toward the screen, his jaw slack, his eyes wide as saucers when he finally looked back and locked gazes with Chloe. “We’re having a girl?”
Chloe nodded with excitement.
“We’re having a girl!” Jonah shouted, sending Pryce scrambling for purchase as he rushed to Chloe and crushed his mouth to hers. She laughed against his lips, then squealed as Jonah pulled Pryce into their kiss.
Pryce was left reeling when Jonah bolted away, rushing to his mom. “We’re gonna have a baby girl!” he shouted as he picked her up and twirled her around, then did the same with Dani.
“Put me down, you big dork!”
The hammering rhythm in Pryce’s ears subsided, replaced by a chorus of giggles and sniffles. He turned to see everyone in the room huddled together, swiping at their own tears, and Breezy gave him a watery smile. Gratefulness propelled him toward his half-sister. “Thank you,” he said as he tugged her into his arms. “Thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me.”
“I am so proud of you,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck.
He hugged her tighter, eager to impart some of the hope that now filled his heart to overflowing. He couldn’t wait for her to experience what he was feeling. If anyone deserved this much happiness, it was her. “You’ll get your miracle, too,” he whispered in her ear. “I promise.”
She was still trembling when he finally let her go. Gabby handed them both tissues, swiping at her own tears before she pulled Pryce into a hug, too. “Thank you,” she said, her voice holding a genuineness he’d never heard from his own mother. He stiffened in her arms, unsure of how to respond. “You have given this family the most precious gift anyone could give.”
Pryce’s brows furrowed as his secondary fear churned to life, threatening his newfound joy. He broke away and looked into Gabby’s eyes, seeing none of the judgement he’d feared he’d see. “You really mean it, don’t you?”
Gabby’s smile faded. “Of course, I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
Pryce considered letting it go, but he looked over at their baby on the monitor, then at Chloe and Jonah, and he knew he had to know the truth. Their d
aughter deserved the truth.
“You know I’m the biological father, right?” he told Gabby. “Not Jonah.”
Gabby tipped her head in confusion, her brows dipping further. “Yes,” she said hesitantly, glancing between him and Jonah.
“This baby will have the McLendon name, but that’s all.”
Gabby’s eyes widened as his point hit home. “Pryce, honey.” She laid her hand on his arm. “Do you think that I—that we—will love this child any differently because Jonah isn’t the biological father?”
Pryce looked down at her hand on his arm, then over to Jonah’s grandmother and Dani, searching for the truth in their eyes.
“Oh, you fool of a man.” Gabby yanked him into her arms, her hug so fierce he stumbled backward. “A name isn’t what makes a family.” She cupped his face between her hands, her kind, brown eyes glistening with tears. “Love, Pryce. Love is what makes a family. This child will have far more than the McLendon name. She will have our unconditional, never-ending love. All of it. Just like you.”
Equal measures of relief and utter disbelief raced through his veins as he gave her a jerky nod.
“We love you, honey,” she said and pulled him back into her arms.
This time Pryce hugged her back, catching Jonah’s gaze over her shoulder. The corners of Jonah’s mouth quirked up into a grin, the same grin he’d fallen in love with, the one that said everything was going to be okay. And for the first time in his life, he truly believed it.
Chapter Six
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 tha
t 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.”
