I don't own the Big Valley and make no money from this.

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Nick locked the bathroom door with a grin. He'd beat Heath home by five minutes, enough time to get the tub first and not have to wait for the hot water. Striding over to the large porcelain tub, he opened the faucet and watched the hot water stream out before adding a little cold to make it perfect. That boiler sure made it easier than having to heat water like when he was younger and the bathtub was big enough for him to stretch out his six-foot frame and relax, not like the tin hipbath they had when he was a kid. Wasn't progress grand?

While he waited for the tub to fill, Nick took off his grimy clothes. It had been a hot dusty day cutting out and rounding up the steers they were going to drive to San Francisco in the morning. He stripped off his black gloves and set them on the waiting chair, took off his vest and laid it beside them, and then started on his shirt. He grimaced at the dirt ground in to the cuffs and hoped Silas had found someone to come in and help with the laundry. Their faithful houseman was like a member of the family and Nick hated making extra work for anyone. But dirt was inevitable on a working ranch, he reminded himself, and he decided he'd make sure to leave the bath room as clean as he could.

Belt and pants were next and Nick sat on the chair to pull off his socks. He wrinkled his nose and wondered if he should just toss the offending garments, but they likely wouldn't be any more trouble to wash than his filthy trousers. Standing up, the dark-haired man caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. A line of dirt marked where the collar of his shirt had been and his hair was plastered down with sweat. Damn, that bath was going to feel good.

He turned off the faucets and stepped into the steaming tub. The hot water felt heavenly on his tired muscles and his skin itched just thinking about how it was going to feel with the layers of grime gone. Nick carefully sniffed the soap before lathering up his hands. He sure didn't want to use any of his sister's fancy stuff and come out smelling like a ladies' afternoon tea.

Nick revelled in the feeling of his soapy hands sliding across his body. He'd never admit it to his sister or his fastidious older brother, but he really enjoyed taking a bath, the clean smell of soap and the freshness of his skin when he was done. Nick made sure to scrub himself all over and sighed in contentment when he was done.

He leaned back and let his head slide beneath the water for a moment, coming back up to scrub his hair before ducking under again. Then he just lay back, closed his eyes and relaxed.

A loud pounding on the door startled him awake. "Must've dosed off," Nick muttered as he heard, "Hey, Nick, stop hogging the bathroom!"

"Yeah, I'm coming," he called to his younger brother. Nick hauled his lean body out of the tub, pulled the plug to drain the water and quickly towelled off. He tossed his dirty clothes into the hamper, wrapped the towel securely around his waist and unlocked the door. "All yours," he told Heath with a grin. "I'm sure I was in there long enough for the water to get hot again."

"And that's the only reason I let you stay in there so long," Heath joked. "Wake me when supper's ready."

Nick chuckled as Heath closed the door behind him. Seemed like his brother enjoyed being clean, too.