AN: Sorry for the wait, I won't make excuses, so let's just carry on! There's a little nod to last night's episode in this fic, so look out for that! Also, pregnancy-wise Robin is about 6 months gone!

Robin had never been the biggest fan of winter; it brought back too many harsh memories: Learning she could supposedly not have children, letting Barney dump Nora whilst she didn't keep her promise... But the memory of Barney's proposal conquered all those horrible ones. She was married, and madly in love, with a baby on the way; it was all she ever wanted, though she may not have always known it.

It was Christmas Eve. Barney had been out buying last minute presents for his family members since the early morning, whilst Robin had been swapping pregnancy stories with Lily. He had planned out the perfect presents for Robin weeks go. Robin had assured him that she didn't care about presents, and had deemed them 'stupid', but he knew that she meant the opposite.

He remembered her telling him months ago about some locket that she'd buried in Central Park, and how it had gotten lost. Not only had he bought a locket for her, but also he had engraved it with the date of their wedding on the back. To make it even better, he had placed a tiny picture of their baby boy in the last sonogram in the locket. Robin would surely cry, but it was worth it.

Barney had just bought some perfume for his mom when his phone began to ring.
"Go for Barney." he answered.
"Hey, it's me." Robin. Every time he heard her voice it was like falling in love with her all over again.
"Robin, I swear, I'm almost done..."
"It's fine, take your time. I was actually calling about something else..."
"Oh my god, is Mini Stinson on his way? I'm not prepared, we have so much left to do, painting the nursery, buying clothes, a crib..." his voice was high-pitched and panicked.
"Slow your roll there, Barney, it's not that either, calm down!" she chuckled. He made her laugh without ever realizing.
"So, then, what is it?"

"I was talking to Lily about baby names, and I think I have the best one yet..."
For weeks now, Robin and Barney had been struggling over baby names, with Robin suggesting common names like Thomas, and Barney exclaiming, "Our child will have a legendary name, Robin, and Thomas is too ordinary!" Barney was sceptical about this name being 'the best', but nevertheless, he continued to listen.

"Okay, so you know how you like the unique names and how I don't want out child to be bullied?"
He chuckled. "Yes."
"Well, what do you think of Joshua for a first name, but then we take one of your more original suggestions for a middle name and call him Joshua Isaac Stinson? Josh for short."
Barney's face lit up as Robin continued. "See, Isaac is original, but not so unique that he gets beat up in the playground. And I didn't want to name him after our dads or anyone we know, because I know you wouldn't find that 'original' enough." she mocked.
"I think it's great. Ted's gonna be pretty bummed that we didn't name him Theodore though."
"Eh, he'll live. So, I'll see you at home?"
"See you at home, gorgeous."

-Swarkles-

It was 11:58. Barney and Robin were trying to make it to midnight, like children waiting for Santa. They lay on the couch, Barney stroking his wife's hair tenderly as she watched the tv with sleepy eyes. Barney felt bad for making her stay up; she was usually in bed at nine thirty these days, her bump making daily activities more exhausting than usual. He glanced at the clock. 11:59.

"Okay, Robin, it is nearly Christmas Day, and I'd like you to open my present at midnight, then you can sleep, baby, okay?"
Robin responded with a positive-sounding mumble, and sat upright as Barney emerged from his room with a box.
"Now, this is only the first present, but it's the best one, so in about 30 seconds, you can open this."
"Wait, you need to open something too!" she leaned over and picked up a present from under the tree. "You get this one."

As the handle of the clock inched closer to 12, Barney and Robin counted down, like a pair of loved-up idiots.
"5, 4, 3, 2,1!" Barney made sure that Robin opened her present a fraction of a second before he did, just to be able to see her reaction before he opened his.
The moment her eyes opened wide as she glanced at the locket was a moment Barney was sure he would never forget. It was a look of confusion, understanding, then utter joy.
"Barney, I... How did you remember... I don't..."
"It's not the actual locket, but I saw this replica of it and I knew you had to have it. Turn it over."

Turn it over... Robin thought about how he'd said those exact words to her a year ago on the roof of World Wide News and all of a sudden, she began to weep as she saw the engraving. She accidentally clicked the locket open, and when she saw their beautiful baby boy, she leaped towards Barney and enveloped him in a hug. Smiling, Barney held her tighter, kissing her forehead.
"Merry Christmas." he whispered.
"I love you." she replied. Wiping away a tear, she added, "Wait, you didn't get a chance to open yours yet! Not that it's at all as amazing and wonderful as this beautiful locket."

Ripping the wrapping paper, Barney chuckled as he saw the gift his wife had bought him: A Vancouver Canucks shirt.
"I thought, seeing as our kid is going to be a total Canucks fan, you should embrace the Hoser inside of you!" she giggled.
"You are... just perfect." said Barney. He pulled the shirt on over his head and made a 'ta-da!' gesture with his hands. "Ugh, just by wearing this I feel the Canadian inside of me trying to burst out. I feel more polite and well-mannered." they both chuckled. "Thank you for this, Robin, I will treasure it."

"You'd better. Spoiler alert, I also got you a Canadian flag mug, just to remind you of your heritage."

-Swarkles-

That morning, Barney realized something. This would be their last Christmas with just the two of them. A year from now, they'd have little Josh around to get excited about presents, that'd be new. He'd be Santa next year, which would be new too. But it didn't bother him as he thought of his favourite rule: New is always better.

AN: Thanks for reading, please review etc. See you next time!