"Think they're done yet?" Lee yelled.
Thorn glanced up from the drafting table he was sketching at and Barney, leaning back in a chair, his feet resting a table in front of him, arms behind his head, napping, startled awake then closed his eyes again.
"Don't know." Thorn replied, returning to his sketching.
Caesar emerged from the kitchen, a sandwich in one hand and an iced tea in the other.
"You make me one?" Toll asked from the couch.
"Go make one yourself!" Caesar barked, then, at Toll's reproachful look, huffed and thrust the plate and glass at him and stormed back into the kitchen, muttering.
Although no one had come right out and said it, the team had informally gathered at the shop to wait for Gunner and Kenzie. Today was her 20 week ultrasound, and hopefully the baby's heartbeat could be heard for the first time. After announcing at their wedding reception that they were expecting a new little Jensen, the team has been positively buzzing with excitement. Lacy had been more private with her pregnancy, not being as close to the crew as Kenzie was, so this was the first real time most of the Expendables had experienced something like this.
"Kenz say when her appointment was?" Toll asked Thorn, his sandwich half gone already.
A few weeks after Kenzie had bought the tattoo shop from Tool, Thorn has approached her nervously. He'd always had an interest in tattoos and tattooing, but had never had the opportunity before to get into the business. The sketches he'd shown Kenzie had been good, and she'd agreed to take him on as her apprentice. "She didn't say." Thorn replied, leaning back and stretching, "but Gunner came and picked her up almost two hours ago, so they shouldn't be too much longer."
With a groan, Barney stood up and stretched, pulling a cigar out of his chest pocket. "They'll get here when they get here." He said with finality, moving to the big roll top door. Since Kenzie's announcement, Barney only smoked outside.
As if that was their cue, the man door opened and Gunner appeared, holding the door open for Kenzie to enter first. They seemed surprised at the sheer volume of people currently in the shop, Mars and Luna were sparring in the small workout area Kenzie had added to the back of the shop, and Doc was sharpening his knives a few feet away from Lee, who was alternating between tinkering and swearing at his Ducati. Smilee was up to his elbows greasy, taking apart a carburetor for the new old truck he'd just bought. Galgo was swearing heartily at a Spanish TV show only he was following. The only one not around was Tool, who had taken his lady friend out on motorcycle ride. They'd been together since before Gunner and Kenzie's wedding and it was looking pretty serious.
Kenzie stepping inside the shop, looked around in surprise, her eyes met Thorn's and he shrugged. Gunner moved in behind her and whistled. "The gang's all here." He brought his hands up and rested them on Kenzie's shoulders, causing the little metal beads in her hair to ring.
As he'd promised Kenzie on that dark flight back from Brazil; Gunner, as a honeymoon present, had taken Kenzie on a tour of all the Scottish castles. She'd always wanted to go, but had never found the time. They'd had a blast touring the countryside and mingling with the locals, sightseeing in a ridiculously tiny car, Gunner's knees up by his ears. Gunner's sheer size and modern day Viking appearance had made waves wherever they'd toured, and he'd gone with it. At one point Gunner had procured a plastic broadsword and a costume Viking helmet and then insisted on wearing them to the castles. After a while he'd become a quasi-celebrity, with people, mostly other tourists, clamouring for a picture with him. Kenzie had piles of pictures of Gunner if front of castles, either grinning toothily or roaring in mock attack, his sword raised. Many pictures were off kilter or slightly blurry because Kenzie had been laughing so hard. In one, a rather rotund Texan couple stand in the background, both with mouths hanging open. Lee had pointed them out, asked if they'd been that perturbed by Gunner and Kenzie had laughed, saying they'd looked like that the entire time. Near the end of their trip, Kenzie had gotten a piece of her hair plaited and two metal Celtic Love Knot beads threaded through the end, she hadn't removed them yet and they tinkled musically when touched.
"So?" Barney asked, pulling his unlit cigar from his mouth. "Did you hear the heartbeat?" Thorn and Toll had gotten up and were on their way over, Luna and Mars noticed as well and stopped sparring, began unwinding their hand wraps. Lee threw one last insult at his bike and stood, wiping his hands on a rag and Doc put down his knives. Smilee had already dropped his carb and was scrubbing the grease off his arms. Galgo reached over and turned off the TV. "You hear the bebe?" He yelled. Caesar poked his head out of the kitchen, his mouth full of sandwich.
Kenzie and Gunner traded a glance. They could have whole conversations just by looking at each other and not saying a word, and while endearing, it could also be irritating if you wanted an answer, like now.
With a grin, Gunner reached into his jeans pocket and produced a folded piece of paper. As he handed it to Barney he said. "Yeah, we heard 'em both."
Barney took the paper and had it half unfolded before what Gunner said had sunk it. "Both? Like twins?!"
"What? Twins?" The team asked almost as one, staring at the newlyweds.
Gunner leaned down and pressed a kiss to Kenzie's forehead, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "Yep."
In shock, Barney unfolded the paper, saw the double line of EKG heartbeats, labelled Twin A and Twin B.
"Holy shit...congratulations you two!" Barney threw his arms around Kenzie just as the team began to crush into them, squealing and shouting in celebration.
"You dog." Toll grinned, fist-bumping Gunner.
"Oh my god! Twins!" Luna cried, hugging Kenzie tightly.
Lee pulled his mammoth brother in law down into a headlock, laughing before releasing him and wrapping his arms around Kenzie. "That's awesome, Squeak."
"Wait a minute," Caesar said worriedly. "You mean there's going to be TWO more Gunners running around?!"
Gunner threw back his head and laughed. "You betcha."
"Maybe two little Kenzies." Kenzie said, smiling.
"We can only hope." Barney replied, shaking his head.
