This is a long one, and I'll start working on some updates on the other stories this weekend, so it might be a while until I update this again. Enjoy, and I would love to hear what you guys think :)

Spain

His breaking point came when Ellie was four months old. He had been huddled up in the apartment for what felt like an eternity and was slowly but surely losing his mind.

He barely had any contact to adults anymore, and Ellie wasn't that exciting yet either. She had just started to really grab stuff and hold it up, and she had managed to roll from her stomach to her back, but that was about it.

He really couldn't wait for her to get older so he could have conversations with her, and teach her some magic tricks.

So he started to call people once Ellie was asleep, just to have a real conversation. Lily and Marshall were busy with their three kids, and even Ted and Tracy barely took the time to talk to him. It sucked.

That's why he ended up dialing Robin's number one Friday night, he had run out of options and was in desperate need of a normal conversation.

She answered right before the call would have gone to voicemail.

"Barney, what's up?" she sounded tired and he realized that he had probably woken her up.

"It's nighttime for you, isn't it? I am so sorry, I wasn't thinking. Are you still in Melbourne?"

"Nope, Barcelona. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course it is. I didn't mean to scare you by calling this late. I am sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Why did you call then?" she asked confused.

"I don't know. I just wanted to talk to someone, and you were my last hope of having a real conversation tonight."

"What?"

"It's the baby, it gets lonely sometimes."

"What about the others?"

"They are too busy with their own kids."

"That sucks." Robin yawned.

"I should let you get back to sleep."

"Dude you have already woken me up, don't chicken out now."

"Chicken out of what?" he asked laughing.

"Whatever it was you wanted to talk about. How is Ellie doing?"

"She's awesome. Hold on, I will send you a picture I took today." He searched through his phone, "I mean, only if you want?"

"Course I do."

"You don't really, do you? I've heard you complain about all the baby pics Ted and Lily are spamming you with."

"It's fine Barney, just send me the pic so we can talk about it." She insisted.

He bit his lip, wondering whether these pictures were reminding her of the fact that she could never have what they had.

"Just send it." He whispered.

"Okay, give me a sec….oh, that's cute Barney. Although I don't get how biting the ear of a fuzzy Teddy bear is worth such a grin, I mean she must have gotten a whole mouth full of fuzzy stuff, right?"

"Apparently kids take everything into their mouth to gain a better understanding of the texture and stuff."

"Huh."

"I've licked worst." He grinned.

It made her laugh, "yeah, you are right, me too."

They were silent for a second before Robin asked, "so what's the deal with this talking-to-someone-call?"

"Being a single parent gets super lonely sometimes, I mean, I am stuck inside with Ellie all day long, and she doesn't talk yet. And even when I take her places, people are always just interested in her and are cooing over her. I miss having real conversations."

"Why don't you come to Barcelona and visit me?"

"What?" Barney asked surprised.

It took Robin a second to answer, which made him think that she had been just as surprised by her offer than he was.

"I mean, it might be a nice change of scenery for you guys, and the suite I've got has a guestroom."

"Are you serious right now?" Barney asked.

"I'd be working Barney, it's not like I would be around much."

"Are you serious or not?"

"Yes."

"Guess I need to get a passport for Ellie! And flights, man that's a long flight with a baby, but she's still not that much into moving around so it's probably going to be better to do something like that now rather than later when she's crawling."

"I am here for another two months, so no rush, you can come whenever you want and stay as long as you like."

"Are you absolutely sure about this Robin? I mean Ellie isn't a cry-baby per se, but she does cry. Loud. It'll probably wake you up even if she's in another room with me."

"It'll be fine Barney. Stop overthinking this, you will just Ted out if you do that."

"Speaking of which…I probably shouldn't tell the others where we are going, huh? It'll just lead to a whole bunch of life-lectures, and questions."

"Hell no, I do not need Lily calling me to ask me about my feelings towards you and Ellie. I'm just offering a friend, who happens to be my ex-husband, a place to crash and a break from his boring life."

"My life is pretty depressing, isn't it?" he asked.

"Well, most people think mine is too, so who cares." She replied.

"It's about to become a whole lot more awesome." He grinned, already thinking about all the adventures they could have together.

The flight from New York to Barcelona was a nightmare, and Barney swore he would just stay in Barcelona until Ellie was five or six so he wouldn't have to go through this again.

Robin had an interview to attend and couldn't pick them up, but she had arranged a car that brought them to the hotel.

"Oh wow, what happened to you?" Robin asked when he entered the room.

"What are you doing here?" he asked dazzled.

"The interview got pushed out, I just got back myself." She slipped out of her shoes, and came over to tip the bellboy.

"Hey Ellie." She stopped right in front of him, "so what happened?"

He shoved Ellie into her arms, knowing that she would probably refuse to hold her if he didn't force her.

Robin was clearly taken off-guard, and looked uncomfortable with the baby. Ellie on the other hand didn't mind being held by her at all and immediately went for her necklace.

"Ellie spit up three times."

"I can see that." Robin pointed at his suit.

"She cried a lot too, I am surprised the other passengers didn't throw us out."

He kneeled down and opened the suitcase to get a change of clothes for Ellie.

"Well you made it." Robin said, Barney nodded and got up, Robin was trying to stop Ellie from pulling on her necklace, but it was clear that she wasn't comfortable enough to really do something about it.

Barney came over and opened Ellie's hand so she would release the necklace, before getting her from Robin.

"I will give her a quick bath, you are still going to be here in ten, right?"

Robin nodded and showed him the bathroom.

"You can stay if you want." He suggested.

She smiled and leaned against the doorframe, "sorry you had such a bad flight."

"Well, as you said, the important thing is that we made it." Barney was undressing Ellie while simultaneously checking the temperature of the water.

"Yeah, and I am sure you are going to enjoy Barcelona. You should take her to the beach."

Barney nodded and placed Ellie in the tub, she immediately started jumping, "she loves water."

"I can see that." Robin grinned.

Ellie had finally calmed down and Barney was able to sit her down, holding her steady with one arm, "she can't quite sit by herself yet."

"She's grown a lot since I've last seen her though."

"You think so?" he asked while reached up to get a cup off the counter.

"Yeah, it's a huge difference. She still looks just like you though."

"That's what everyone says." He smiled.

Robin just watched him for a few minutes until Barney had put a diaper on Ellie and wrapped her up in a towel.

"How about I take her off your hands for a few minutes so you can get a shower?" Robin asked and stepped closer.

"Really? That'd be great." Barney handed her the new outfit, and then got up to hand Ellie over to her.

"Just make it quick, okay?" she didn't seem as much into the idea to be alone with the baby than she was a few seconds ago, and Barney couldn't help but grin.

"I'll be super fast, I promise."

Robin nodded and left the bathroom.

Barney kept his word, he didn't want Robin to feel overwhelmed with the baby, it was such a huge gesture to do this at all, especially since he knew how much babies scared her.

"Was that quick or what?" He asked when he exited the bathroom with only a towel around his waist.

"Very quick." Robin commented, she had put Ellie on the bed, and was sitting next to her.

"Okay now that I am not covered in spit-up, come here and let me greet you properly."

Robin hesitated, and Barney ensured her, "she won't move."

Robin nodded and got up to hug him.

"Thanks so much for letting us stay here." He whispered.

"No problem." Robin replied, before pushing him off her, "you smell good."

He grinned, he had purposefully bought the shower gel Robin used to love when they were married.

"Sorry… I don't know why I said that." She blushed a little, and pointed to Ellie's clothes on the bed,

"I think it's better if you dress her." Robin admitted and Barney got on the bed.

He nodded, part of him wanted to encourage her to do it, but he knew that she had already put herself out there by offering to watch Ellie while he took a shower and he didn't want to push her too much.

So he did it, but decided that he would teach her how to do it one of these days.

"Do you have to go back to work today?" he asked.

She nodded, "yeah, they just pushed the interview back a few hours."

"Don't worry about us, we will take a stroll and explore the neighborhood before ordering some room service and snuggling up in bed."

Robin grinned, "did you really bring a stroller?"

"Actually, I don't even own one. I just put her in the baby björn whenever I take her outside, maneuvering the stroller around in New York just seems like too much of a hassle."

Robin nodded, "I still have a hard time wrapping my head around you being a single dad."

"Me too, believe me." He replied.

They both smiled before Robin said, "I should get ready. You okay by yourself?"

"Yeah, good luck on that interview."

"Hey Barney?"

Dammit, Ellie must have woken Robin up. That was exactly what he didn't want to happen.

"Yeah?" he asked over his daughters cries, he glanced at the radio clock by his bedside, 3:24.

"Can I do something?"

"No, I am sorry she woke you up. I am trying to walk her back to sleep but she's just fuzzy. I think it might be the jetlag that is messing her up." He couldn't see her but he could tell that Robin had walked into the room.

"How about I walk her for a little while? You must be exhausted." She suggested.

Barney swallowed, her offer melted his heart a little. Things had been so screwed up between them, but Robin was really trying here.

"Would you?" he asked, knowing that he had to meet her half way if they were going to work on their friendship.

"I just have to hold her and walk right?" Robin asked.

"Maybe bounce her a little and hum something, but yeah pretty much."

"I can do that." Robin had reached him and her hands were slowing feeling around for his arms.

He handed the baby over, "you got her?"

"Yep."

Ellie's cries grew louder, she had definitively noticed that she wasn't in her fathers arms anymore.

"Just start walking, she will calm down." He instructed her. At least he really hoped so for Robin's sake.

He sat back down on the bed and listened to Robin whispering to Ellie. Eventually she started to softly sing "Sandcastles in the Sand" to her, and Ellie's cries died down.

Barney fell asleep quickly listening to her singing his favorite song.

"Robin?" he asked.

She didn't answer. Great, he had handed the baby over and totally bailed on her.

He found her in her own bedroom, sitting on the couch, with Ellie fast asleep in her arms.

"Hey." He whispered before sitting down next to her.

"Hey."

"I am so sorry I fell asleep, you should have woken me up."

"Why? The whole point of me taking her was so that you could get some sleep." She replied, still whispering.

He leaned back, "thank you, this is the first time since she's born that someone gave me a break like that…I mean she has stayed at my moms twice, but I never had someone there to help out at night."

"Barney?"

"Yeah?"

"I only did it because I know you had a rough flight, and could use a little break. That's why I invited you to come here too. I'm not trying to play family or pretend we are something we clearly aren't."

He nodded, but couldn't resist asking, "but you like spending time with Ellie, right?"

"You know I'm not a kids person Barney, and she's still your daughter. It's kinda weird."

"What I meant was, you are going to be a part of her life, right? She needs a female role model to look up to, and you are by far the best one she could wish for."

She didn't reply right away, "I'm not even a part of the gang anymore, you can't really expect me to play an active part in your daughters life."

"I don't expect anything Robin."

They were silent again. There was so much they hadn't talked about, their recent one-night-stand, whether seeing Ellie reminded her of her own infertility, and most importantly, their divorce. But he knew that this wasn't the time to sort all that out.

"Do you want me to take her? I can probably get her back to bed without waking her up." Barney suggested.

"It's fine, I tried putting her down a while ago and she immediately started crying again. I don't mind sitting here with her."

Barney nodded and scooted closer so that their shoulders were touching and he was able to gently stroke Ellie's leg.

"How did your interview go?"

"Good." Robin replied.

She clearly didn't want to talk about it, which was most likely due to his lack of interest in her job when they were married.

They just sat there for a long time before Robin finally broke the silence, "I don't want you to think that I don't care about you or Ellie…it's just not my world Barney."

"I know, I get it."

"I just want to make sure that you didn't come here with the hopes of making me Ellie's stepmother."

"Would that be so bad?" he asked.

"We are divorced for a reason." She replied.

"Yeah, no I know. I'm just wondering…I mean, you didn't even call or write a mail when Ellie was born, and I've always wondered whether that was because your ex-husband became a dad, or because your ex-husband became a dad."

"Where is the difference?" she asked.

"Well, does it bother you that I have a kid while you can't?" He could feel his heart in his throat, part of him couldn't even believe he actually asked.

"I choose my career over my marriage Barney, I am clearly not out to have a family of my own."

"Sometimes people make mistakes. And your infertility has always had a large toll on you." He whispered.

Robin didn't reply right away and he was imagining her to plot out scenarios in her head on how she could get out of this conversation.

"As I said, I could have gone the family route in Argentina, but I didn't."

"Do you ever regret that decision?" he asked softly.

"Do you?" she replied.

He nodded, "yeah sometimes, letting you go was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life."

"It was for the better though, we both got what we truly wanted."

"I meant what I said Robin, I was okay with not having kids."

"Yeah, but seeing you now with Ellie makes me realize that you could have never been this happy with me, and that the divorce was for the best."

"Not just for my sake so, right? I mean you are truly happy with how your career is going now too." Barney asked.

"Yeah, I'm where I always wanted to be."

Barney nodded and leaned back, ready to drift back to sleep right then and there.

He didn't see Robin until the next night, when she came home while he was in the middle of feeding Ellie.

"Hey there." Robin greeted them.

"Hey," Barney replied.

"How was your day?" she asked as she dropped her purse and slipped out of her shoes.

"Great, Ellie and I went to the beach." Barney pulled his phone out, pulled a picture up and handed it to her.

"Oh, that's really cute. Looks like she had a good time, huh?"

"Yeah, she wasn't sure about the sand at first but then she enjoyed it."

"I'm glad you had a good day."

"How was your day?" Barney asked.

"Stressful."

Barney hesitated for a second before asking, "how about we go out and grab something to eat?"

"Sure, that sounds good, just let me change into something more comfortable."

Barney nodded and watched her disappear into her bedroom. He turned back to Ellie and grinned, "let's show Aunt Robin a good time, what do you think?"

"Do you mind if we stop at a boutique for a second? I want to see if they have a dress I can wear to the gala on Sunday." Robin asked as they strolled through the city.

"Not at all, it'll be Ellie's very first dress shopping." Barney kissed his daughters hair and grinned at Robin while whispering, "now pay attention baby, this will come in handy later in life."

"Like when she picks out dresses to go clubbing?" Robin asked amused.

"No. She won't do that. Maybe a prom dress, given she takes me as her date."

Robin laughed and leaned down to Ellie, "don't worry Ellie, just come to me when he gets overprotective or crazy about the boys you like, and I will talk to him."

Barney grinned, "see, she really does need you in her life."

"Sounds like it." Robin grinned.

"What do you think?" Robin asked while holding a dress up.

He shrugged, "isn't that a little short?"

"Barney Stinson is complaining about a girl wearing a dress that's too short?"

"I'm just saying, it's not very professional to wear something like that to a work event."

"I'm working in television Barney." She replied.

He shrugged, "the color matches your eyes."

"I'll try it on, okay?"

He nodded and watched her hurry towards the fitting rooms. He followed a little slower with Ellie, who was surprisingly happy being carried around.

"What do you think?" she asked moments later.

"It's hot." It was the first thing that came to his mind.

"Perfect!" Robin grinned and swirled around one more time, the light fabric flowing around her.

Barney had to force himself to look at Ellie, this was turning him on way more than his ex-wife trying on a dress should.

"I will take it." Robin said before disappearing into the fitting room.

"You know there is a specialty store for European made suits right around the corner." Robin said when they exited the boutique.

"That's all right."

"What? Did you listen what I just said? There is a specialty store for suits right there." Robin asked surprised.

"Yeah, but Ellie and expensive suits don't match well."

"Well, how about I take her from you for an hour then?"

"Seriously?" Barney asked surprised. He hadn't gone suit shopping since Ellie was born.

"I mean, only if you trust me alone with her?"

Barney immediately handed Ellie over, "don't be silly, I'd make you her godmother right away if you'd let me."

Robin rearranged Ellie on her arm and took the diaper bag from him, "let's start with this shopping trip, meet you here in an hour?"

Barney nodded and kissed Ellie on the head, "be good baby girl, don't scare Robin off."

"Just go Barney." Robin said, Barney grinned and kissed her on the cheek, "thanks Robin."

"Go."

Barney nodded and headed in the direction Robin was pointing at.

Barney sat down on the bench, the bag with the new suit carefully draped over it. He made sure to be a little early, but Robin and Ellie weren't in sight yet.

He wondered if Robin had regretted her decision to take Ellie for an hour yet, and whether or not his little girl had a meltdown.

"You found one, huh?" Robin had sneaked up on him.

"Yeah…oh wow, looks like you guys were successful too."

Barney jumped up and grabbed some of the bags from her.

"I figured I'd take her to the department store to check out the toys, but then we had to go through the kids clothing floor…and well." Robin shrugged.

Barney peeked into one of the bags and pulled one of the very cute dresses out, "dang Robin, how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing stupid."

"No seriously Robin, you must have spend a fortune on stuff for her." Barney looked back up and caught Robin kissing Ellie's hair.

"I'm a correspondent for a major network without any big expenses, I can afford buying some baby clothes as a gift Barney."

"But this is too much."

"I had a really good time Barney, I mean when do I ever have the chance to buy baby stuff?"

Barney realized that she was referring to her infertility and it stung a little.

"Has she been good?" he asked to change the topic.

"Great. She helped pick things out." Robin looked down at Ellie who had nested her head against her shoulder.

"Well, thank you for watching her, and for taking her on her first shopping spree."

"You are welcome, both of you."

She was about to hand Ellie back to him, but Barney just grabbed the bags, "I think she wants to stay with you."

Robin grinned and lead the way to a nice restaurant by the water where they ate together.

He had just gotten Ellie to sleep when he decided to see if Robin was still up. Watching her swirl in that dress, gently kissing Ellie, and having fun at dinner together, left him wanting more.

And they had just recently hooked up anyways, where was the harm in one more backslide?

"Robin? Can I come in?" her door was ajar, but she didn't answer and he contemplated whether he should just walk in or go back to his own room.

He decided to step into her room, "Robin?"

She wasn't there, but light was coming from her bathroom.

He hesitated for a second before going forward, gently knocking on her door, "Robin? Can I come in?"

"Ähh…sure." Came the answer.

He pushed the door open; Robin was lying in the bathtub, smoking a cigarette.

"What's up?" She asked while exhaling the smoke.

His jar dropped, "I…do you want a honest answer or a made-up one?"

"Honest."

"I'm horny and was hoping that I could charm you into fooling around a little."

It made her laugh, "wow, that's bold."

He came closer and knelled down next to the tub, taking the cigarette from her to take a drag himself, "so?"

She splashed him.

He took it as an invitation to play around and since he was only wearing a plain t-shirt and his pajama bottoms he didn't really mind to get wet either.

After putting the cigarette out he reached out and cupped her head with his hand, pulling her into a kiss.

Robin giggled against his lips and wrapped her hands around his upper arms, pulling him into the tub.

He let it happen and landed on top of her.

Feeling around under water he found the ceramic and pushed himself up, not breaking the kiss just yet.

Her hands had moved into his hair, and pulled him closer.

Ellie's muffled cries made them stop.

"You've got to be kidding." Barney mumbled while looking into Robin's eyes.

"Maybe she'll go back to sleep alone?" Robin asked.

But Barney could tell that her cries had reached the level where she wasn't going to simply go back to sleep.

"Shit." He pushed himself up and got out of the tub, pulling his soaked t-shirt over his head.

"I'll wait up." Robin said right before he left the bathroom.

Ellie calmed down as soon as she was in her dad's arms, and Barney started to walk her back to sleep. It took forever and Barney figured that Robin had long gone to bed.

The lights were still on in her bedroom and he started grinning, maybe she hadn't after all.

He pushed the door open and found her lying in bed, propped on one arm, grinning at him.

"That took forever." She commented.

He nodded and quickly closed the distance between them. Robin held the sheets up and he slipped under them, immediately closing his arms around her.

"I wasn't sure you'd still be up for it."

Robin grinned, "me neither."

Their lips met and Barney pulled her closer while Robin pulled the sheets over them.

It wasn't at all like their last one-night-stand, instead of rough and raw it was romantic and sensual. They kissed for most of it, and were holding each other afterwards.

He got up after Robin fell asleep and checked on Ellie, who was asleep. He decided to take her to the other room with him instead of leaving her here by herself and scooped her up.

He build a little barrier with pillows so she wouldn't roll out of bed and then climbed in-between her and Robin.

Ellie's soft cues woke Robin up first, but her turning did the same for Barney.

"Is that Ellie? Is she in bed with us again?" Robin asked dazzled.

"Yeah, I got her earlier." Barney scooped Ellie into his arms, "I can probably get her back to sleep."

"Why didn't you just go back to your room?" Robin asked.

It felt as if he had been sucker punched.

"What?" he asked, barely audible.

"I mean, why bring the baby over here? Wouldn't it have been easier to just go back to your room?" she clarified.

"It didn't seem right to leave." He replied.

"All there is between our rooms is the living room, it's not like you would have flown back to New York."

"Yeah, right." Barney sat up, "I just thought…never mind." He climbed out of bed.

"Are you mad?"

"No. No, I get it. It's nothing."

"Barney I thought it was clear what this was. I mean, you said it yourself, you were horny…that's all, right?" Robin reached and got hold of his elbow.

He wanted to tell her that it was all this was, but he couldn't.

"Robin we didn't just fuck, you know that."

She didn't say anything, but let go of his arm.

Ellie was still in his arms, squirming around, clearly getting frustrated that he wasn't moving.

"Are you going to say something?" he finally asked.

"If you tell me how I will get her bottle while you lay back down."

He hesitated, not sure whether he should accept her peace offer or leave.

"You are avoiding my question." He finally said.

"It's three-forty in the morning and your daughter is hungry, I don't think this is the right time to discuss this Barney."

"It never is." He got up with Ellie and left her behind.

Robin didn't follow him into the kitchen as he had hoped she would and that made him even angrier.

She was long gone when he got up the next morning, not even bothering to leave him a note like she'd always done when they were married and fighting.

He put Ellie on her blanket and slopped down on the couch, taking in his surroundings.

They really needed to talk about the divorce, he felt like that was the core issue between them.

Maybe it was just him, but he had really enjoyed all three of them spending time together, and part of him hoped for a reunion. He could totally see her being Ellie's stepmother, and them having what they never thought they could: a real family.

But he wasn't sure whether that was something Robin had thought about or not. She was great with Ellie, much better than she'd ever been with Marvin. And it seemed as if she was enjoying being around her. Especially considering the divorce, how many women would be this affectionate towards the love child of their ex-husband.

But there were too many issues stemming from the divorce between them to really go forward and they needed to start talking about it.

Robin clearly avoided him for the next two days, leaving early and coming home late at night.

He waited up for her on the third night, determined to talk to her about things.

It was 1:14am when Robin finally opened the door to the suite.

"Oh hey." She was clearly surprised that he was still up.

"Hey."

"What are you doing up so late?" she asked.

"I waited for you."

She nodded, "work's been crazy these last couple of days…"

"Can we talk for a second?" he asked.

She hesitated but finally sat down.

"I don't want things to be awkward between us Robin. I mean, I've really enjoyed spending time with you again."

"It's awkward Barney, and that's completely normal, I mean we are divorced for god's sake, we have so much history together, we can't just go back to being friends like this whole marriage thing never happened."

"I know, but we can start fresh."

Robin shook her head, "no, we can't. It's not just us anymore Barney, you have a child now, and it's not fair to drag her into our dysfunctional relationship."

"So what? You just want to disappear again? Pretend like you never lived in New York? That you never had friends there? That you were never married?" he was angry and his tone clearly depicted that.

"Barney people evolve."

"You are just running away Robin. But where to? Where do you hope to end up one day?"

She turned away, "that's not important Barney."

He looked at her, really looked at her, and realized what the divorce had done to her.

"You are scared to love again, aren't you?"

"What? Barney we slept together, that's it."

"Except it wasn't. But you are too scared to admit it to yourself, so your tactic is to run again."

"Whatever Barney."

They just sat there for a minute, and he contemplated how he should proceed from here on out. Keep arguing? Or try to salvage whatever was left of their friendship.

"I want us to be friends Robin."

"We can never just be friends."

"Yes, we can. Let me prove it to you, okay? Let's pretend the other night never happened and Ellie and I just got here."

She shrugged.

"We can do this." He said once more before leaning over and kissing her cheek, "good night Robin."

He had already reached the bedroom door when she started talking.

"I don't want to be anyone's mother Barney. If we give this friends thing another try then you need to get that fantasy out of your head. I get that you want her to have a mom, and a happy family. I really do. But I'm not the right person for that role. Ellie is great, I don't want you to think that this is about her, or the way she came into this world. It's not. It's about me, and how this whole concept is just not for me."

He turned around and they locked eyes, "okay," he finally said before turning back towards the bedroom and leaving her alone.

"I know you have the gala tonight, but you are off tomorrow, right? I thought maybe we could do something together?" Barney asked over breakfast.

Robin nodded, "sure, what did you have in mind?"

"Nothing big, just hang out together? I'd like to take one of those sightseeing buses around the city."

"That's a bit too touristy for me." Robin replied.

Barney grinned, "of course, what would you like to do then?"

Robin shrugged, "no clue. I'd like to take a boat over to Mallorca and check it out, but that'd be a long day for Ellie."

"She can just sleep in the baby björn, she does it all the time." Barney replied.

Robin shrugged, "yeah but still, we should probably do something baby friendly, right? Maybe the beach? You said she enjoyed that, right?"

"Yeah she did, but seriously Robin, whatever you want to do is fine."

"I haven't done a real beach day yet, it'll be fun." She ensured him while getting up and putting her bowl into the sink.

"Perfect."

"I'll see you guys later."

They lucked out with the weather, it was extremely hot but Robin knew of a beach that was a little deserted.

Barney left Ellie with her to get something to drink and when he came back Robin had taken her clothes off and was only wearing a bikini, sitting in the shallow water with Ellie who was excitingly splashing the water.

"This is perfect." Barney commented as he handed her the water.

"I know, I can't believe it got this warm."

Barney nodded and sat down behind Robin, placing his legs to either side of her body and pulling himself closer by wrapping his arms around her waist.

"What are you doing?" she giggled.

"Trying to tickle Ellie, what else would I be doing?" he asked innocently while tracing her arms down to her hands and Ellie's upper body.

Robin leaned back against his chest and closed her eyes, "this is nice."

"No kidding." he had a clear view down her bikini top from this angle.

"Barney?"

"Hmm?"

"We are overstepping the friends line again."

Ellie was still splashing the water she was sitting in.

"We are just sitting here, playing with Ellie."

"You are half-hard already."

He laughed and contemplated whether he should move back, but opted to move forward instead, pressing himself closer to her back.

"I've got a great view." He mumbled while kissing her shoulder and letting his hands fall from Ellie back to her body.

"Your daughter is literally two inches away from us." Robin replied.

"She doesn't know." He replied while letting his hand slip into her bikini bottom.

Robin got up, pulling Ellie with her and into her arms.

"You aren't really good at convincing me that we can be just friends." She said while standing over him.

"You are wearing a very hot bikini, besides, you are enjoying this just as much as I am."

"Not when Ellie is nearby."

"She doesn't know what's going on." He defended himself while taking his daughter from her.

"How about you show her how to build a sandcastle."

He couldn't help it and laughed out loud.

"Oh jeez, really Barney?" she asked.

"I think you should teach her all about sandcastles in the sand." He snickered.

"Last night." He declared as he came back into the living room after putting Ellie down for the night.

Robin nodded, "time flew, huh?"

Barney sat down next to her, "sure did. I had a great time, thanks so much for letting Ellie and me stay here."

"Anytime, I had fun."

Barney nodded, "me too."

"And hey, we only hooked up once this entire time, that's pretty good all things considered."

"Time's not over." He winked at her.

It made her laugh, "I think we are better off if we don't complicate this whole thing further, don't you?"

Barney shrugged and pulled her against himself, kissing her temple, "thanks again Robin."

She put her arms around his stomach and asked, "how about we watch some TV?"

He nodded and grabbed the remote.

And so he spend his last night in Barcelona watching a documentary on BBC while cuddling with his ex-wife, feeling sad that she'd be out of his life again come the next day.