Thicker Than Blood

Chapter 6: Baby Hungry

One of the side effects of living in the Tower for the summer was the fact that Jan now had much easier access to K, so she was sure to pester K with all sorts of questions about what she wanted out of the wedding, what her style was when it came to the dress, that kind of thing.

It was innocent enough, but it was a little wearing on K, because she honestly didn't have much of a preference. As long as the boys were involved, that was what mattered to her.

But Jan was totally preoccupied with her new project, and she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Which was how Clint found himself watching his mom making faces over Jan's head as Jan measured her for the giggled as K managed to maintain a totally straight face when Jan would straighten up, and it continued like that until Clint was clutching his stomach from laughing so hard.

"What's so funny, little man?" Jan asked, straightening up to face him — though her expression said that she knew more or less what was going on and was just as entertained.

"I think you're more excited about this than Mom is," Clint said.

"No way," Jan said, shaking her head hard and grinning widely. "That's just not possible."

"He has a point," K said with a smirk Clint's way.

"Yeah, Mom says it doesn't matter what all the little stuff is like as long as she loves the person she's marrying," Clint said with a slow sort of nod.

"So you don't want matching purple-lined suits with Barney?" Jan shot back, raising an eyebrow at Clint.

He rolled his eyes. "That's not what I said!"

"That's what I heard!" Jan sang back to him, grinning even wider now. "I guess I'll just have to put you in tiger stripes so you match Logan..."

"I don't want tiger stripes!"

"We'll paint some on your face..."

"Mom!"

K was trying hard not to laugh at the genuinely alarmed look on Clint's face as she waved him over so he could attach to her side. "Like I'd let her put you two in anything but your favorite color," she said.

"Good."

"Yeah, but that means you do care about the little details," Jan pointed out. "At least a little bit."

Clint rolled his eyes and huffed out a breath. "Okay, fine," he said. "But I still think you're way too excited. You're not even getting married!"

"No, but I love designing things, just like you love shooting stuff," Jan explained, waving Clint over so he could see some of the sketches that she'd already made of different dresses and suits for the wedding. "It makes me happy when I can make something amazing, just like you love mastering a new trick shot or a new weapon."

"Just generally less exciting than new trick shots or weapons," K said in a stage whisper.

"To you, maybe," Jan said with a little sniff before she went back to her drawing and tapped one of the sketches with the eraser of her pencil. "This one... this one is my favorite," she said. "The shoulders are perfect, and the fit is great, and the waist starts high enough that if anything happens in the next few months..."

K was already shaking her head. "Stop. No. Just ... no. NO."

"Well I like to be prepared!" Jan replied. "It's not out of the realm of possibility, you know!"

K took a moment to fully face Jan, going so far as to square up with her. "You know what? You are tempting me to just cut him off entirely — and then point out that it's your fault. Let you deal with those consequences."