Greetings everyone. With the new season a few months away I thought it would be fun to write my own version of season 9. This is in no way a prediction of what I think is going to happen, but rather how I would write it, given the information provided by the previous 8 seasons and my interpretation of the character dynamics. I won't give anything else away at this point.

So without further ado, enjoy!


Future Ted: Kid's remember when I said it's a bad idea to invite an ex to a wedding. Well I meant it. This lesson was never more prevalent than at your Aunt Robin and Uncle Barney's wedding. I've mentioned before that this is the story of the wedding that went horribly wrong.

Daughter: Dad can't we just skip ahead to the part where you met Mom?

Son: Yeah Dad it seems like it's been 8 years.

Future Ted: I'm getting to that, kids. We're only 48 hours away from meeting your mother.

Daughter: Do you mean the story takes place over 48 hours or it'll take 48 hours to tell.

Future Ted: Yes!

Son & Daughter grown.

Future: It all started out at arrival to Farhampton…


(Scene switches to Barney & Robin in the limo)

"I can't wait! The anticipation is killing me!" says Robin who's bouncing up and down in the limo like a hyper teenager.

"I know! Let's play a game as a distraction", suggests Barney as he gives her a seductive look.

Robin shakes her head.

"Not here. You know Ranjit has trouble with boundaries"

Just as she said that, the window separating the engaged couple and their driver lowered.

"I promise not to look at your pre-wedding lovemaking…much" says Ranjit, giving them a mischievous look.

"Ranjit!" yells Robin.

Ranjit then proceeds to raise the window, not that would stop him from easedropping.

"Fine. I know! Let's look out the window and see how many couples there are that are less hot than us!" suggest Barney.

"That's not much of a game. I mean come on! Look at us" says Robin.

"I know, but it's still fun. Other things that are fun: my suit is more foreign than that guy's suit, my bank just took over your bank, my hair is better than Ted's hair…in one third the time might I mention. Up top!", says Barney as he raises his hand for a high five.

Robin swiftly grabs his arm to put his hand down.

"I lived with Ted. That still means you spend hours on your hair. Not something to brag about if you're a guy", she responds.

"Babe, perfection like this doesn't just happen" brags Barney.

"You're so full of yourself", says Robin smiling and leaning into Barney.

"Yeah I am. Though I will admit that I am only the second hottest one in this limo", says Barney.

Barney's phone buzzes. He takes it out and reads the message.

"Ranjit texts thanks", reads Barney.

Ranjit then lowers the window again and turns around to look at Barney & Robin.

"It's the buttermilk lotion that my wife buys me that keeps me looking so young"

"Ranjit. Boundaries!" exclaims Robin.

Ranjit raises window again.

"You did mean me right?" asks Robin.


(Scene switches to Lily and Ted in the limo)

"So this is the last weekend we're going to have as the five of us for a while. You don't think that this will be the last time the five of us will be together, do you?" asks Lily.

"Lily, no, of course not. Sure you and Marshall are moving to Italy for a year, I'm moving to Chicago, and Barney & Robin are going to be married but that doesn't mean we won't hang out like always. You'll be back in New York before you know it and I'll only be a few hours away", reassures Ted.

"Ted, Marshall and I are going to be living in another country. You're going to another city. Robin and Barney are probably never leaving the bedroom. Our little family is going to get broken up" says an increasingly frantic Lily.

"Lily…" Ted begins but gets interrupted by Lily.

"What if you were right about us not being friends after we come back, except instead of you not passing the whole 'have you used it within the past year' it's us that fail? What if you make a new best friend who's taller than Marshall and that guy is married to someone more adorable than me?"

"That's ridiculous Lily. I wouldn't befriend someone taller than Marshall. I consider anything above 6'4" unnatural", answers Ted smiling, trying to comfort her.

"You know what I mean Ted"

"Lily I promise, we'll remain the best of friends", says Ted.

"How can you be so sure? Just last week you were freaking out?" asks Lily.

"Lily, why the sudden fear? Look no matter where life has taken us, we always end up back together as a group. I don't know what the future holds, but I have to believe that are friendship is too strong to let a little distance come between us. To be honest, it's the only thing I believe in at this point.", says Ted a bit more solemn by the end.

"Okay, I believe you" says Lily. She then notices that Ted's a bit more sad that a few moments ago.

"Are you going to be okay Ted?"

Ted simply smiled and nodded. Of course Lily saw through it and gave a quick glance to the small box in Ted's hands. She decided to drop the subject for now, but at the same time knew she would have to address it sooner rather than later.


(Scene changes to Marshall)

After saying goodbye to his brother, Marshall was walking through the airport frantically. He had finally landed his new dream job, but with his impending move to Italy with Lily, he wasn't sure how to tell her.

"Lily I know we're supposed to move to Italy, but I…no! Lily, it's a really bad time to move to Italy right now, you know with the economy…no! Lily, we can't leave while I still owe Barney two slaps. What if 6 months from now I have the sudden urge to slap him really, really hard? No!" exclaims an exacerbated Marshall.

"Excuse me sir, are you okay? You've been talking to yourself rather loudly", asked a concerned elderly woman.

"Yes maim. I'm okay. Just a little stressed. Kind of in a life altering situation right now", answers Marshall, trying to play it cool.

"Want to talk about it?" asked the elderly woman.

"Not really. It's something I have to figure out for myself", answers Marshall.

"Well okay I underst…", the woman begins.

"It all started when I was a young man and I decided hey I want to be an environmental lawyer so I can save the planet…", begins a rather long winded account of Marshall's journey to becoming a judge and his Italy dilemma.

(20 minutes later)

"So then the captain asks Lily to move to Italy for a year. At first she says no because she thinks I'm happy with my dream job, but all I've been doing is goofing off because there hasn't been work in months. I tell Lily this and she accepts the job, we decide to move to Italy, but then I get a call yesterday saying was accepted as a judge so I don't know what to do since that is what I really want to do and…I really need to take a breath", says Marshall, a bit winded.

"I see your problem. My advice is trust your heart and trust Lily. Together, you'll make the right decision", says the elderly woman.

"Thank you. I hope your right", answers Marshall who does feel better at this point.

"Now this Ted you mentioned seems like a very troubled young man. Does he really wear red cowboy boots?" asks the woman.

"Yeah and he thinks he pulls them off", says Marshall.

"Oh dear. Well if I don't head over to my terminal I'll miss my flight. Good luck with everything Marshall Erikson", says the woman. She then proceeded to move towards the other side of the airport.

"Hey wait how did you know my name", exclaimed Marshall, but to no avail. The woman was no longer in sight. "She was just there. I think I just had a conversation with a ghost"


Future Ted: You're Uncle Marshall wouldn't be the only person to feel that way that weekend kids. However, it wasn't it a supernatural way like Marshall still describes it as. No, but we all ran into our ghosts whether it be people from our past, unresolved issues, as well aspects of ourselves that we thought were gone. That weekend, kids, was one for the ages. Also, you probably figured out by now that I met your mother that weekend. But I'll get to that.


So there you have it. Reviews would be very much appreciated. I'd love to hear what you all think and as the story goes on I'd love to hear your predictions of where you think I'm going with this story.