Since we didn't actually see Barney and Robin's vows, I had a lot of latitude in writing their second wedding, but I still worried about how to best write the ceremony. I hope I've captured their relationship and their love accurately. There's more to come, and we'll also be seeing what's going on with Ted starting in the next chapter, but Barney and Robin's lasting marriage, and Ted getting over Robin for good and getting his own love and his own life, remain the main points of this story.
"There's nothing on the camera, Marshall," Barney assured his friend for the tenth time. Then he craned his neck, silently cursing his broken arm that left him unable to tie his own tie. He had wanted Robin to tie it for him, but Robin hadn't been there when he was getting dressed for this wedding; she was off with Lily, who had spirited her away as soon as Barney had been released from the hospital on a search for the perfect dress, leaving him and Marshall to go suit shopping and prepare the wedding site.
Marshall handed the camera back to Barney, untied his tie, and then retied it for him. "Better?" he asked.
"Sort of," Barney replied.
Marshall's phone binged with an incoming text message then. Marshall pulled the phone from his jacket pocket and consulted the screen. "They're pulling up," he announced, after which he and Barney immediately sprang into action.
Lily got out of the car first, then walked around and opened Robin's car door for her. "So, really, how do I look?" Robin asked as she alighted from the car holding a nosegay of red and white roses.
Lily, wearing a corsage that matched Robin's small bouquet of flowers pinned to her dress of cornflower blue, beamed at Robin. "Like a bride," Lily replied. Her phone binged with an incoming text message then. She removed the phone from the small clutch purse she carried and consulted the screen. "And your groom is waiting impatiently for you."
The sun was just setting, and the sound of the waves breaking on the shore was complimented a minute later by the song Barney had insisted to Marshall they had to play when Robin was walking the aisle. (A small table behind and to the left of Lily and Marshall held Barney's iPod and speakers.) Robin's eyes sought Barney and locked on him when she found him, standing at the head of a white runner flanked by two rows of lit tiki torches. He was wearing a white linen suit and a cornflower blue tie, a boutonniere of red and white roses matching her bouquet and Lily's corsage pinned to his lapel. She knew the instant he saw her: his eyes locked on hers, the tie making them look even bluer than usual, and his entire face was overtaken by a brilliant smile that put the sun to shame. Marshall, in a white linen jacket, black summer weight suit pants, and tie and boutonniere matching Barney's, had the video camera trained on Lily as she walked down the aisle to take her place with the men, and then Robin began her own walk down the aisle to Barney, walking as quickly as she could and realizing, much to her own surprise, that it wasn't "Sandcastles in the Sand" playing, but a song by her fellow Canadian: Chantal Kreviazuk's version of "Feels Like Home."
As Robin walked down the aisle to Barney, they only had eyes for each other, and the song washed over them both.
"Something in your eyes makes me want to lose myself
Makes me want to lose myself in your arms
There's something in your voice makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts the rest of my life"
"If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how long I've been so alone
And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you've done"
"It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from
It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong"
Robin was deeply touched that Barney had chosen this song to accompany her walk down the aisle. They weren't one of those "Oh, honey, they're playing our song" couples, but they always claimed "Sandcastles in the Sand" as their song; indeed, that was why Robin had walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of "Sandcastles" at the wedding Barney couldn't remember. But listening to "Feels Like Home," Robin realized that it said a lot about who she and Barney were and what they gave to each other that they had never found with anyone else and never would or could find with anyone else. They had each been alone and, deep down, lonely before finding in each other what neither of them believed they ever would: unconditional love and acceptance, and a true partner in every sense of the word.
When she reached Barney's side and they were standing in front of Lily, Marshall filming them all the while, the song played to its end, Barney's eyes roamed Robin from head to toe, taking in her upswept hair, minimal makeup, white sundress and strappy white sandals. "Holy crap, you're beautiful," he said reverently. Robin, recalling when he had said that to her years ago after learning she wasn't wearing any makeup, felt her own smile grow wider, and she handed her bouquet to Lily so that she could straighten Barney's tie for him.
"Great tie," she said softly. Barney caught hold of one of Robin's hands as she released his tie, now perfectly straight, and gently kissed the back of her hand, then kept holding her hand as they stared into each other's eyes and the song concluded.
"Well, if you knew how much this moment means to me
And how long I've waited for your touch
And if you knew how happy you are making me
I never thought that I'd love anyone so much"
"It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from
It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong"
Lily cleared her throat to get their attention and, remembering what they were there for, Barney and Robin remained holding hands as they turned their attention to Lily. "Dearly beloved," Lily began, "we are gathered here to celebrate the love and union of Robin Scherbatsky and Barney Stinson. Having known you both for such a long time, and having seen your entire relationship unfold, I can honestly say that the two of you are the ideal match for one another. You're a little unconventional, but that's just one of the many things that makes you perfect for each other." She beamed at them, consciously working to keep her rioting hormones from turning her into a weepy mess this early in the ceremony.
"We will now proceed to the vows," Lily continued. "Robin?"
Robin looked deep into Barney's eyes, his good hand clasped in hers, and said, "Barney, I love you. That hasn't always been easy for me to say, but the longer we're together, the easier it gets. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. You are my best friend and the love of my life, and for the longest time, I really didn't think I would ever have either of those. I didn't think anyone would ever look at me and see the real me and love that woman, because for most of my life, it seemed that no one ever did that. But then you came into my life, and even through all of the stumbles and missteps and mistakes and the stupid things we did and the times we didn't tell each other the truth and ended up hurting each other in the process, you always saw the real me. I trusted you enough to show you the real me and not be afraid that you'd run away screaming. I didn't have to try to be somebody I'm not for you. Just being me is enough, and that is such an incredible gift. So now I have the best friend and love of my life that I never thought I'd find, and I'm so happy and so thankful that it's you." Barney squeezed her hand here, and she squeezed his hand back.
"I vow to love you for the rest of our lives, to always be there for you, and to always tell you what I'm thinking and how I'm feeling and to never assume I know what you're thinking and feeling because we have learned the hard way that doing that puts distance between us that neither of us wants. I will do my very best to make you as happy as you make me." She paused, then added, "Oh, and I'll also do my very best to keep the sex hot, creative, and frequent for the rest of our lives." Since they weren't in a church, Robin didn't feel awkward mentioning her and Barney's sex life (which was amazing) in her vows.
Barney's eyes twinkled naughtily at Robin's sex-related vow, but he was determined to make his own vows to Robin seriously and earnestly, so he didn't smirk or remove his hand from hers to ask for a high-five. Lily and Marshall were trying not to laugh right out loud, but Marshall was slightly more successful, since he didn't want to be blamed for ruining the wedding video because his shoulders were shaking with laughter while he was filming and also because he didn't have pregnancy hormones coursing through his body. Lily coughed a couple of times, cleared her throat again, and said, "Barney?"
Barney took a quick deep breath and said, "I know you walked down the aisle to 'Sandcastles in the Sand' last time, but yes, I chose 'Feels Like Home,' and I did it for a reason. We're not the sappy types, Robin, but that song is us. All my life, I wanted somewhere to belong. I've never doubted that my mother and brother love me, and I'm building a relationship with my dad now, which you had something to do with happening. But...I don't know...I just never really felt like I belonged. I wanted someone that would love me completely and unconditionally and passionately for the rest of my life, someone that I would love back in that same way. And for the longest time, I didn't think that was in the cards for me. And then I met you, and you became my friend and my bro. And you're the best bro I've ever had. But somewhere along the way, I stopped thinking of you as a bro and I started falling in love with you. The one thing I didn't think would ever happen for me started happening, at least from my side." He smiled and blinked, trying to keep himself from completely breaking down. "The first thing I said when I saw you that first night at McLaren's was 'Oh yeah, you just know she likes it dirty.'" He figured if she could mention sex in their vows this time, so could he; like Robin, Barney wouldn't have felt right mentioning sex in their vows in church, but this time, at the beach and with only Lily and Marshall, it wasn't taboo.
Robin's eyes widened slightly in surprise at this revelation, and belatedly, Barney realized he had never told her his first reaction upon seeing her across the crowded McLaren's until this very moment. But, since it was Robin, her reaction was to silently chuckle and give him the "oh you naughty boy" look he always loved seeing in her eyes, as that look was always a prelude to banter and/or foreplay, two of his billion and one favorite things to do with Robin. "I turned out to be right about that, but there's so much more to you than just your sexiness. You are, without a doubt, the most incredible person I've ever met, and the most miraculous thing that ever happened to me is you loving me the way you do, taking me as I am and accepting me, faults and all. I felt broken for a long time, but I'm not broken anymore, and that's because of you, Robin, because of your love and your acceptance and your friendship. Being with you is the best thing I will ever do. And I don't mean that just sexually." Okay, he couldn't resist one comment toward Robin's sex-related vow.
Earnestly, gazing deeply into her eyes, Barney laid his soul and his intentions bare to Robin. "Robin Scherbatsky, I vow to love you the same way you love me, all in, holding nothing back, unconditionally, for the rest of our lives. I vow to always be honest with you, because we both know how important honesty and communication are in a relationship. I vow to be your home, your safe haven when the world gets you down, the way you are my home and my safe haven. And I vow to do everything in my power to keep that light in your eyes, because when you're happy, I'm happy. And of course I vow to keep the sex hot, creative, and frequent for the rest of our lives too."
Lily chuffed out a laugh at this and wiped at the tears that slipped from her eyes of their own accord. She swallowed hard to rid herself of the lump in her throat and said, "Robin, do you take Barney to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish, and forsaking all others, vow to keep yourself only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Robin said as she, in a sudden burst of inspiration, slipped Barney's wedding ring off his finger, quickly kissed it, and then slipped it back on his finger. As she put the ring back on his finger where it belonged, she remembered the words she had heard at her aunt's wedding when she was eleven and said them to Barney with her eyes full of love and wonder. "And with this ring, I thee wed. With my body, I thee worship. And with all my worldly goods, I thee endow."
"You're really making it hard on the pregnant woman here," Lily murmured, sniffling. Then, in her normal voice, she said, "Barney, do you take Robin to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish, and forsaking all others, vow to keep yourself only unto her for as long as you both shall live?"
"I really do," Barney said. He then copied Robin's actions of a moment earlier, slipping her wedding ring off her finger, quickly kissing her ring, and slipping it back on her finger where it belonged as he repeated, "With this ring, I thee wed. With my body, I thee worship. And with all my worldly goods, I thee endow."
"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife again," Lily said. "You may now-" Barney and Robin were too quick for her, though. She hadn't even finished pronouncing them husband and wife again before they were kissing. And this time, Robin dipped Barney when they kissed, as he had dipped her when they kissed at the wedding he couldn't remember.
Marshall filmed the whole thing, and this wedding, under the setting sun, surrounded by tiki torches and the two friends who had first made Robin and Barney believe that a happy, lasting marriage was possible and do-able, was one that nothing would ever make Barney, or Robin, or, for that matter, Marshall or Lily, forget.
The two couples dined at a super-romantic restaurant ("Seriously, that's in the description," Marshall said, pulling it up on his phone to prove it to the others) called Piccolo that was just steps from the beach and made the most delectable Italian food outside of Italy. In deference to Lily's pregnancy and Barney's painkillers, they didn't drink any alcohol, and Marshall and Lily both toasted Barney and Robin and their marriage.
After dinner, Lily wanted to go dancing, but Barney and Robin begged off, not surprising Lily and Marshall in the least, so they went dancing while Barney and Robin went back to the hotel and officially checked into the honeymoon suite, where they planned to stay for the next week, decompressing before they were due back home in New York.
Standing outside the door to the honeymoon suite, somewhat rumpled from their heated make-out session in the elevator, Barney said, "Have I mentioned how awesome it is that you sundressed up for our second wedding?"
"Once or twice," Robin replied coyly. "I thought you'd like it."
"I do," Barney said as he unlocked the door to the honeymoon suite, leaving the key dangling from the lock to toy with one of Robin's shoulder straps."And I'll like you even better out of it."
Robin grinned as she put her arms around Barney's neck. "My husband," she said. "Never one to let a come-on line pass him by."
"But the only woman I'm coming on to for the rest of my life is you," Barney said seriously. "My beautiful, amazing, awesome wife." He leaned in for another kiss, gently pushing her back against the door, and they began hungrily, passionately kissing again.
They were never certain exactly how long they stood against the door to the honeymoon suite, heatedly making out, but their reverie was broken when they heard Marshall and Lily chorus in unison, "Get a room!"
Breathing heavily, Robin mustered her best smirk, picked the still-panting Barney up in a fireman's carry, and opened the door to the honeymoon suite, carrying him inside, kicking the door shut behind them, and a few seconds later, her hand appeared, hanging the "Do Not Disturb" sign from the door before the door slammed shut and Marshall and Lily heard the lock click.
Marshall and Lily exchanged a look. "I'm beginning to think we shouldn't have gotten the room next door to theirs," Lily said.
"Well, at least now we'll find out if Ted was exaggerating about how loud they are in bed," Marshall mused, trying to look on the bright side.
It turned out Ted wasn't exaggerating at all. Barney and Robin could, and often did, get very loud when they were having sex.