Notes: Omg sorry about the long wait on this one! I took some SERIOUS time off last month (it was much needed), but I'm getting back into the swing of things, I promise!

Chapter 8: Unexpected News

For the most part, the last month of Barney's stay in Westchester was filled up with his new big-brotherly duties.

Not that he was complaining. He was pretty much used to that by now, since he'd been looking after Clint for most of his life. But he was almost a teenager now, and he didn't want to spend all his time dealing with Clint and the toddler brigade.

He had tried to get into the dating scene, since he was old enough to at least put his toes in the water now, but he hadn't really had any luck with Kitty, though it wasn't for lack of trying. It was just blatantly clear that she thought he was too young for her — though considering she was crushing on a guy several years older….

Well, if he was honest, he was excited to get back to the circus. At least there he was sort of an only child. And there was someone interested.

But he would miss the big family here, especially since he really felt like Logan was starting to get used to having him around — and get used to the fact that he was crushing on Kitty.

Still, when the weekend came and it was time for him to pack his things and wait for Paul and Miranda to come get him, he knew he was going to be counting down until the next Westchester visit or the next time his family came to the circus. He'd like to see the girls' reaction to a good circus show.

He was almost set to go, so he figured he'd stop by the barn and say goodbye to K without the entourage if he could, but he was surprised to find she wasn't there.

"Huh." Barney frowned to himself — but he didn't think too much of it, instead spending a little time with the horses and spoiling them for attention behind K's back until he headed back up to the house, figuring K had just gone to be with Logan…

Until he spotted her.

K was curled up in a little ball on the couch in their suite, looking a little green and hugging a pillow as a movie played quietly in the background. The lights were down, and the curtains were drawn — and troublingly enough, she didn't immediately bust him out when he walked into the room.

Barney frowned, approaching K slowly. "K?" When she still looked miserable, he tried again. "Mom?"

When K gave him a tired and tight smile, that decided it for Barney, and he came to sit down next to her. He wasn't sure what he could do to help, but he'd seen Clint through, like, every flu season of the kid's life, so he could handle it, he was sure. "You want me to get Dr. Blue?" he asked.

K shook her head at that. "It'll pass."

Barney scrunched up his nose. "Seriously? You heal. What the heck?"

"Really, don't worry about it, sweetheart. I promise it's not contagious," K said, doing her best to make sure her smile was warm as she pushed herself to sit up straight. "You aren't doing your victory lap already, are you?" She lifted one arm and tried to wave him over. "I rate at least a hug before you go, don't I?"

"Yeah, obviously," Barney said, leaning over to wrap her in a hug, though he was still frowning. "I can stay if ... if there's something wrong…"

K let out a sigh as she gave him the warmest hug she could manage. "Nothing's wrong." When the hug was over, she let her shoulders drop. "It's just the natural order of things, so to speak."

Barney frowned as he thought it over. "So… are you…." He paused as a thought occurred to him, and his eyes widened. "Mom," he said, softer still, "are you getting too… I mean, I don't mean this in a mean way, but Clint says you're older than you look, and are you — if you're getting sick and not healing from it ... are you…" He looked around the room. "We need to do something, because I can't lose you — Clint can't lose you. Even if you are ancient…"

K looked like she couldn't believe that was the conclusion Barney had come to. "Sweetheart, no," she said at last, shaking her head with a little laugh and giving him another squeeze. "Nothing like that."

"Good," Barney breathed out, not even bothering to hide his relief. "I'd've stayed home from the circus if it was something like that," he added — before he'd even really thought about it. And judging by the look K gave him, she was just as surprised as he was that it had come out of his mouth.

She blinked a few times, then pulled him over to kiss his temple and wrap him up in a bear hug. "You don't even realize how wonderful you are. I'm sure of it."

Barney smirked and hugged her back. "Yeah, love you too, Mom."

K kissed him again, and didn't let go of him for a long moment, weighing out the best way to breach the subject. But … considering that Barney was leaving, he needed to know.…

She drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then blew it out in a woosh. "I'm not dying. Not any faster than I was before I met you two, anyhow," K said in a measured tone, though in spite of her best efforts, there was still a minute shake to her voice. "I … am going to have a baby. So ... I guess … you can say Logan made me sick. Strictly speaking."

Barney glanced up at K, his eyes somehow wider than they'd been when he thought she might have been dying. "Seriously?"

K nodded. "Seriously."

"Wow." Barney stared at her. "I mean… wow."

"Kind of a shock to us. I didn't want to say anything to anyone right away. We don't know … a lot. And it's a little early to tell everyone, if you want to know the truth." She pulled back enough to look him in the face and gently brush his hair out of his eyes. "But I didn't really want you to come home to me huge and not have reference for it." She took a moment to watch his reaction. "Is that … are you going to be okay with that? I know it's a big change."

Barney took an honest moment to think about it. He wasn't entirely sure he was okay, but on the other hand, he wasn't surprised, either. He knew that K and Logan kissed all the time — even more than they let Clint know about, though Barney was old enough to know better. "I'm fine," he decided at last, which was the truth. He wasn't excited, but he wasn't upset either. It was just… one of those things that life had decided to throw at them. "But Clint might freak out a little. The only family we ever liked before you sent us back after a month when the mom got pregnant."

K frowned at that. "Yeah, that's not even an option. I like him too much. You too, for that matter." She took a moment to weigh it out, rolling the words over in her head. "You two do know the difference between fostering and actually adopting, right? Because I said 'forever' to both of you. Not … until I get a baby I wasn't trying for."

Barney nodded quietly. "Yeah, I know," he promised. "And… I don't think you'd do that. You're not like that." He shrugged, looking very much like his brother when he'd get embarrassed. "But… just… do me a favor and please tell Clint like you just told me." He looked perfectly earnest, switching from nervous to the kind of expression that K had long ago come to identify as the Patented Protective Barton Boys Look. "He's gonna be scared, and he needs to hear you ain't gonna drop him, even if he knows you ain't gonna do it. And… and you should tell him fast, 'cause he's gonna freak out and you gotta help him." When he met K's gaze, there was no way she could do anything but promise to do exactly that, and once she had, he simply threw himself into a hug with K — and stayed there until Miranda and Paul arrived.

Clint, meanwhile, had already seen his brother off, and after that, he'd played a round of twenty questions with both of his new sisters as they more or less interrogated him on why Barney was going somewhere else for a while and when they were going to see him next and why he wasn't going to the circus too, all that kind of thing.

He was, if he was honest, glad for the chance to get out from underneath the girls when he saw his mom headed down the hall, so with an excuse that he needed to ask her for some help on some school stuff, he left the Bishop girls playing their own version of make-believe circus games to catch up to K.

She smiled when she saw him coming and ruffled his hair after he attached to her in a hug. "Sisters driving you crazy?" she teased.

Clint nodded. "They wanna play circus, but I don't wanna play circus," he said. "I wanna go shooting, but they're too little."

K looked over his shoulder, smirking when she saw that Hank had, of course, been pulled into the games by Susan — and that Rachel was hanging onto Hank's arm right alongside Katie. The two youngest girls had gotten closer and closer the last little while, and Rachel was just as likely to rush into fun with Katie as Katie was to go rushing after Clint. It was the same hero worship… Like a little chain of ducklings, though K knew Clint would hate the comparison.

"Let's go," K said, getting a huge grin out of Clint — especially because it had been so long since they'd had any real time just the two of them.

Clint stuck close to K the whole way out to where their targets were set up, almost tall enough now to put his arms around her shoulders — but not quite. And once they got their equipment out, it was clear how much Clint had missed this by the grin he couldn't control as they took turns challenging each other to make different shots.

"You know," K said as she lined up a shot. "I'll bet those girls could learn to shoot if they wanted to. Just … have to start them with something small. I'll bet you could teach them."

Clint drew himself up proudly. "I so could."

"Of course you could," K agreed easily before she finally took the shot. "You're kind of amazing."

Clint grinned. "Yeah," he said, blushing with pleasure.

"And you're an amazing big brother too … even if they are being bratty sometimes. I'm impressed."

"Well, it's just like playin' with Rachel, right?" Clint said, trying to play it off but still obviously tickled.

K turned his way with a little smirk. "You can play this 'aww shucks' routine with someone else. Just admit with me that you know you're excellent and better at this than anyone else."

Clint grinned somehow wider, but he also met her gaze and said, perfectly straightfaced, "Aww, shucks, Mom."

"Uh huh. That's what I thought," K laughed.

Clint grinned crookedly. "Well, yeah, it's — it's kinda fun, if you wanna know the truth," he said. "Even if sometimes I wish Katie would stop following me."

"I always want to know the truth from you. And you can just hang up that hope forever. Little siblings rarely stop following bigger siblings around," K said, then paused to amend her statement. "Usually only when something horrible happens to the little ones that the big one can't stop… then there's a drift, I think … but that might just be me."

Clint nodded. "I get it," he promised. "It's like how me an' Barney kinda ran away different."

K nodded at that, agreeing with him easily. "Right. You both did what you could, and you both had to take different paths to do it right. Not that you love each other any less." She peeked at him. "But … you really are good at it."

"Thanks, Mom," Clint said. "You really think I can teach 'em to be archers?"

"If they want to learn, yeah. I'll bet you can."

"Maybe I'll wait 'til Katie's bigger," Clint said, cocking his head to one side. "She still has to take naps and stuff, an' you gotta be really careful with bows…"

"Hey. I have to take naps sometimes. Does that mean I can't shoot?" She reached over and messed up his hair just to do it.

Clint made a face and tried to get his hair back to the way he liked it. "You know what I mean," he said. "I just mean she's little. Like how Scott says I can't be on the team 'til I'm as old as Barney."

K tipped her head. "Well, okay. When you put it like that. But … she'll be as good as you can teach her. Because she'll look up to you like no one else." She let out a breath, losing her teasing tone entirely. "It's an important job, and she's lucky to have you to help her, you know that? Even if neither one of you asked for it."

Clint seemed to pick up on the more serious direction the conversation was going, and he squared himself up importantly, nodding with his eyes wide. "I can do it, Mom," he promised. "I know I'm the littler brother with Barney, but I took care of some other foster kids sometimes, and I played with Rachel when she was born and everything. I promise, I'll be really good!"

"I know you will be, you already are, but …" K hedged for a moment and decided to just rip the bandage off. "Clint … Katie's not gonna be your only little sibling, you know." By the time she'd gotten it out, most of the smile was gone and she looked more than a little stressed.

Clint blinked at K for a long time, obviously shocked. "You… are you gonna — I thought you said you weren't gonna!"

"Wasn't planning on it," K said, shrugging up her shoulders. "And I absolutely didn't want to even consider it for a while, but ... I just don't want you to think that you're not my number one."

Clint still looked like he could have been knocked over with a feather. "Yeah, I…"

"You know I meant forever when I signed those papers with you, right? I'm going to stick by that no matter what. There is a big difference between foster and adopt. I never wanted to foster you. Only ever wanted to keep you if you wanted me to. That will not change."

Clint bit his lip and nodded before he darted forward to hug K. "I just ... I just really like our family," he muttered into her side.

"Me too," she promised. "But I promise … this wasn't the plan."

Clint nodded and hugged her tighter, though K could see the moment when he at least tried to play it off, because he straightened up slightly and shot her a smile. "Want me to hit Dad?"

"If you want to, I won't stop you," K said with a smirk. "But … don't use your bare hand.… I don't want you wrecking your perfect form for a little short-sighted justice. And broken bones would definitely slow you down."

"Yeah, that would make it hard to teach archery," Clint said, wiping his face with the back of his sleeve as he tried to recover.

K pulled him over to give him a kiss on the cheek and then a long bear hug. "I'm sorry we're getting rushed into this. But I didn't want you out of the loop."

Clint latched on tight. "Thanks," he muttered. "I'd've probably been mad if you turned into a big blimp and didn't tell me."

"I also promise not to turn into a Jean and go all … insane over onesies and drool. That's just not dignified." She let out a sound of pure displeasure. "Oh, God. can we just not tell the Summerses and Jan?" She looked down at Clint with an expression of pure misery. "Can we just … move? And not tell them where we're going?"

Clint broke into a delighted giggle. "We can't move, Mom! Miss Jean's gonna have another baby too, and I think I gotta help her like I'm gonna help you!"

"I think we can!" she said. "They're going to be horrible, and I'm gonna have to hide behind you being an amazing big brother."

Clint peeked up at her and then kissed her cheek. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll protect you from onesies," he teased.

"I love you. But that sounds like a hollow promise, my darling little duck fluff." She shook her head. "I can't help but think that I'm going to have to pay for the coffee cup attacks at the tower."

Clint shook his head stubbornly. "I may not be old enough to be an X-Man or nothing, but I can help, I promise!"

"I don't think you can stop Jan, sweetheart. I don't think anyone can stop Jan once she gets going."

"Probably not," Clint admitted, shrugging both shoulders up to his ears. "But… I mean… at least Jan has Jean to design for, right? So it's not just you gettin' Waspified?"

"Honey, she's been pushing to do this since before we got married. She's just waiting to attack."

"You want me to lay down the law on her?" Clint offered. "I think I can. I could tell her ... I could tell her Katie's scared of not being the littlest anymore and she needs to not!"

"I don't want to lie to anyone, and I don't want you getting started on a bad habit like that," K said. "I'll just … snarl at her, then start crying. That'd probably do it."

Clint nodded seriously. "Yeah, Jan doesn't like it if people cry," he agreed. "It makes her sad, too."

"Well," K said, tipping her chin up. "I don't really cry often. So it'd probably put a stop to everyone."

"I hope you're okay with lots of hugs, then, because I think if you cry, Susie and Katie will never stop hugging you ever, and I'll never see you again!" Clint said, throwing his hands up dramatically.

"Then I'll just have to do it when they're not around," K said, arching one eyebrow. "I can do it on cue if I need to." She leaned forward and tapped his nose. "Which, my darling, is why you can't trust when women just … cry. Randomly. It's a thing."

"Isn't that kind of like lying?" Clint asked, one eyebrow up.

"Yes. Yes it is." She kept her chin tipped up at that. "But … it's a great way for a tiny lady to take any guy entirely off-guard." She smirked at him. "If you don't believe me … I can show you. Pick your target."

Clint held up both hands quickly. "No, no!" he said. "I don't want you to cry! I'd be upset even if I knew it was pretend, because I don't like it when you cry!"

"Alright. I'm just saying," K said, pulling him over to hug him again. "Girls are sneaky. And with the life I've had to live … I'm sneakier than most of them."

"Well, I can be sneaky too," Clint defended.

"You sure can, but you even admitted a crying lady will stop you," K said before she kissed his cheek and switched to sign. Don't feel bad. It stops Logan dead.

"That's because Logan likes girls," Clint pointed out. "That's how come he brought home two."

"He's a sucker for them," K agreed.

"Are you gonna have one, then?" Clint asked.

"I really can't control that," K said. "And when you learn the sciencey side of it, you'll see that, either way, whatever we get is his fault."

"Well, now I gotta talk to Dr. Blue, 'cause I kinda want to know," Clint said. "I can't believe you made me want homework!"

"It's probably too early to let us find out anyhow," K said. "In fact, I know it's too early. I've just been sick and miserable, so … it'll be a while before you know what we're getting."

"But you'll tell me when, right?"

"Sweetheart, I want you to go with to find out," K said. "Unless you're freaked out by it, then … I'll tell you when I'm done."

"Okay," Clint said, then gave her another quick hug, since she did look honestly concerned. "I'll be okay, Mom, I promise. I'll be the best big brother ever. I'll take really good care of you, okay? Because I love you a lot."

"I love you too, sweetheart. And I don't ever want you thinking that I don't. Not even for a second."

Clint smiled at that and burrowed a little deeper into the hug. "Okay, Mom," he muttered, not about to let go until she was ready — and then they could get back to something a little lighter, like trying to out-shoot each other.