The boys were all in Barney's garage, slugging down some brews and resting from a long day. They had all just returned from South America where they were contracted to rescue some oil workers who had been kidnapped by guerrillas. Rather than pay the ransom, the billion dollar company preferred to pay Barney and his band of Expendables a handsome sum that was less than ten percent of what the hostage takers were demanding. It was money well spent, as Barney and his boys not only freed the hostages, but took any other prisoner that happened to be there and burned the guerrilla camp to the ground. With most of the guerrillas themselves six feet deep, it's going to take them at least a year to get their operation back up. When that happens, Barney and his team will do it all over again. Gotta love repeat customers.
It was another typical Friday night at the Ross garage. Troll and Lee were tossing knives at the dark board, Yin was harping about his imaginary family and Barney was just chilling and watching it all like a proud papa would watch his kids. This was his family and he'd do anything for them. Even when Gunner had his problems with drugs and turned against them at one point, Barney couldn't kill him and made the effort to get him into rehab and back on the team. Gunner might still have a chip the size of an iceberg on his shoulder, but he's been clean two years now and Ross couldn't have been more proud of him. For the first year, Barney took him to every meeting after he got out of rehab. They don't go as often due to work but Barney took the time to log a meeting into his blackberry to make sure Gunner attended at least one this month.
Everyone was have a great time that was until someone else walked into the garage. At first no one saw him, but that might be due to the fact that he was two feet shorter than everyone else. Barney was the first to spot him and he got up out of his chair. By the time he meet the young man halfway across the garage, by then everyone noticed the young boy was there and they all stopped what they were doing.
The small boy, who was no older than eight, cracked a small smile. "Hello." He said to everyone in the room.
"Hey there, sport." Lee called back to him. "Are you looking for someone?"
"My Dad." The little boy replied.
Suddenly the entire room went silent.
For most of the men in the room, this was their worst nightmare come to life. Someone's past was about to catch up with them.
Before Barney could reply, Toll was the first to speak. "I got fifty that says he's Gunner's!"
"Hey!" Gunner called back.
Hale was the next to get in on the action. "My money is on Lee." He said with a grin as he tossed the money onto the table. "Try explaining that one to Lacy."
Lee didn't reply but instead dug into his wallet. "Well we know he ain't Yin's."
"Well he ain't mine." Hale called back, and everyone laughed.
Finally Lee took out a few dollars. "I say Toll."
Tool got back to his feet and tossed a hundred onto the table. "Thanks for your money, ladies. This one belongs to Ross."
"What makes you so sure?" Lee asked.
Tool smiled. "He looks like his mother."
Barney thought it was rude to bet on the child's paternity and didn't bother. He walked over to the small kid and took on knee so he could look him in the eyes. "So let's have it kid. Who are you here to see?"
"Barney!" a voice outside the garage suddenly called out. "Where are you?"
When that name was called out, both Barney and the small boy turned their heads towards the door. At that moment, everyone had their answer. This kid belonged to Barney Ross. A few seconds later, a slender lady came walking into the garage and stopped immediately. The little boy had run ahead while she was locking up the car but she didn't realize so many people were going to be in the garage. Barney stood up when he recognized the lady. "Kate?"
"Hey Barney." Kate said as she walked into the garage. "I didn't realize you were doing something here."
"It's just the guys." Barney replied. "We just finished a big job this week and we're unwinding."
Tool was the first to speak up. "And I'll be taking that." He said with a smile as he took all the money off the table. No one protested. Never in their life had most of them been happy to lose a bet.
"We can talk in the loft." Barney offered as he was sure Kate wanted a little privacy to talk about little Barney.
"All right. Come on Barney" Kate said as she took the little boys hand and led him upstairs. The little boy waved to the rest of the guys as he walked upstairs.
Barney walked up behind them and stopped just after the first step. "Try to keep things down guys."
"Okay... Dad." Hale called back.
Barney rolled his eyes as the rest of the guys roared with laughter.
Barney walked up the stairs to the loft where his apartment was above the garage. Usually it was just him up there but sometimes Tool would hang out when he needed a place to crash. When he got to the top of the stairs, he walked over to the kitchen table and sat down.
The little Barney was already there and Kate had taken a snack out of her purse for him to eat, just some crackers and a few pieces of cheese. She looked back up at Barney. "Do you have any milk in the fridge?"
"I'll check." Barney said as he walked over to the fridge. There was a small carton of milk, but it had past its expiry date. He looked around. "I have some orange juice…"
"That will do." Kate replied.
Barney took a small class out of the cupboard and reminded himself to get some milk the next time he went out for brews and then returned to the table and placed the small glass by the kid's snack. Barney took a seat at the other side of the table. "Hey kid. My name is Barney Ross."
The kid looked back at him. "My name is Barney Ross too."
Barney looked back up at Kate. She had mentioned that she might change her name when she left town to avoid some unwanted attention, but it never dawned on him that she would take his name. "That's a nice name."
"I should hope so." The boy replied. "It's yours too."
Barney smirked at the kid's smart Alec response. He was a bright one. "Do you want to watch some TV while you eat that?"
"Sure." The kid replied.
After the little Barney and his snack were in front of the tube, Barney came back into the kitchen to speak with Kate. "That's a smart kid you got there."
"You mean we have a smart kid." Kate corrected.
"Oh, so now he's mine too?" Barney replied with a hint of sarcasm. "I think you're a little late breaking the news to me."
"I'm sorry Barney." Kate said as she took a seat at the table. "I wouldn't have bothered you at all if I wasn't desperate."
Barney walked back to the table and took a seat. "What's wrong Kate?"
Kate was on the verge of tears. "I have cancer."
Barney wasn't ready for two big surprises in one day, but he had no choice but to deal with it. "What kind?"
"Breast." Kate replied. "They think they caught it in time but I'm going to need surgery to remove it."
"But you'll be all right after that, right?" Barney asked, sincerely concerned. He felt a little bad now about snapping back at her earlier.
"I'll be fine, but I need to do a lot of Chemo." Kate took a tissue out of her purse and cleared the tears off her cheek. "That's why I need your help."
"If it's money, don't worry about it." Barney said without hesitation. "We just had a huge payday and I've even stashed my cut from last several jobs. We'll make sure it's all covered."
"Thank you." Kate replied as she reached out and took his hand. "But I'm more concerned about Barney. I need you to take him for the summer so he doesn't have to watch me go through it."
The thought of a child that young having to watch his mom's hair fall out, her skin turn a different colour and all the other horrors that come with Chemotherapy was enough for Barney to understand. Staying at his Dad's place for the summer was also the perfect cover, so the little guy would never suspect that his mother was sick or going through intense therapy. "Of course, Kate. I'll do whatever I can to help."
"Thank you." Kate said as she leaned over and gave Barney a hug. Things never worked out for them, but Barney took comfort knowing that when things got rough she trusted him most to help out.
"Barney." She called out and moments later the little boy was running back into the kitchen. "I want you to meet your father."
"Hi there." The little boy said.
"Barney." Kate said to the man sitting across from her. "I want you to meet your son, Barney Ross Junior."
"The third." A voice called out from the other side of the room.
"Excuse me?" Kate called back.
Tool was standing by the door frame. "Big Barney Ross is also named after his father… that makes him Junior." he strolled past the table towards the fridge to grab a brew. "That would make this little guy Barney Ross the third."
Kate turned back to face the older Barney Ross, her face a shade of red. "Is this true?" she asked.
Barney couldn't help buy smile. "I'm afraid so." He turned to Tool as he was leaving the room. "Thanks for tossing that in, Tool."
"No problem, bro." Tool said as he gave his old bud a friendly slap on his very muscular shoulder before heading back downstairs to hang with the guys. His work was done.