AN: Hello readers! Just to let you know, I don't plan on finishing this story after Robin gives birth, I have many ideas! I may be writing a Nick/Jess fic soon, so if you're interested, let me know! The Mother (Martha) is in this chapter, too, as a treat for you all! Enjoy!

It was the 30th of February 2014: the day of Robin's baby shower. She was over eight months pregnant by now, and was accustomed to back aches and exhaustion. Barney did his best to ease the pain, but Robin would sometimes become agitated and annoyed by him. He understood that it was the hormones, and dealt with her in a calm, loving manner. One thing Robin had learned was that Barney was amazing at giving neck and shoulder massages, which helped her to relax.

Her shower was starting at one, which meant Robin had two hours to prepare herself. She'd sent Barney out with Marshall and Ted for the morning to do something productive, so that he couldn't distract her. Lily would be arriving soon to help her, along with Martha, Ted's girlfriend. After meeting her in Robin and Barney's wedding, Ted had introduced Martha to the group fairly quickly, and ever since, she had fit into the gang naturally. Robin was just tidying the living room when both ladies arrived.

"Never fear, Team Baby Shower are here!" announced Lily as Martha chuckled. Robin drew both women in for a hug before stating, "Thank goodness! There's a lot to do, balloons, I have to hoover the carpet, and..."
"Robin," interrupted Martha. "This is your day. Lily and I have all the prep covered, you sit yourself down and relax; we'll do the rest."
Robin exhaled. "Thanks, you guys. I hope you decide to keep dating Ted for a while, you've become very useful these past few months!" she teased.
Martha laughed. "Sure, I'll try."

-Swarkles-

Surprisingly, Barney was eager to attend the baby shower, meaning, of course, that Ted and Marshall were also roped into it. The men arrived at 12:50, just as all the work had been finished.
"Hey, Barn! So, what did you guys get up to?" smiled Robin.
"Uh, not much, really..." Marshall began.
"We were at the bar all morning!" confessed Barney.
"Dude!" exclaimed Ted.
"Ted, I can't lie to her, she's my wife!"
Robin giggled, shaking her head. "Thanks for being truthful, Barney, that just earned you serious brownie points." she pecked him on the lips.
"Hmm, what do I get in exchange for all these points?" he whispered.
"We can talk prizes after the shower."

After exchanging pleasantries and greetings with Robin's parents and Carole (talk about awkward), Barney's mom, dad, step-mom and step-siblings, amongst many other guests, it was time for the gifts. Loretta decided to go first.
"It's not much, dear, but I hope you'll like it." she said. Barney sat on the arm of the couch, rubbing soft circles onto Robin's back subtly, wondering what on earth his mother could have gotten them. Robin peeled back the baby blue wrapping to reveal a dream catcher. It was beautiful, made of dark blue material with delicate beads hanging down.
"Mom, is that..." Barney's voice was hoarse.

"Yes, dear, it's yours." Loretta thought she should explain to the guests the significance of this gift. "You see, when Barney was little, he would get these horrible nightmares, usually about monsters and ghosts and whatnot. So, when he was about five or six years old, he'd woken up from the worst nightmare yet; he was sweating and shaking. Anyway, I told him that I had a solution to the problem. There was a dream catcher in the shop down the road, and I made it my mission to buy it for my little Barney if it was the last thing I did. I got to the shop, and there was a lady about to pick the last one from the shelf. Now, I'm not proud of what I did next..."

"Yeah, you are." laughed Barney, trying to hide the tears in his eyes.
"Well, maybe a little. So, what I did was scream, in my most terrified voice, 'Fire! There's a fire!'. Of course, the poor woman ran like the wind, along with a few other customers. I didn't shout loud enough for the shopkeeper to hear me, thank God, or I would've been in trouble. So, I took the dream catcher from the shelf, very pleased with myself. The first thing I did, after paying, of course, was run home to tell Barney, and put it on his wall. And I swear to God, he didn't have one nightmare after that day."
Several sounds of 'awwh' filled the room, as Robin looked up towards Barney, who was smiling.
"Well, thank you so much, Loretta, this is really sweet." Robin hugged her mother-in-law before giving the gift to Barney to cherish.

After unwrapping many more gifts: clothes, toys, etc, it was time for the gang's gifts.
"Ok," Lily began. "This one is from Marshall and I, be careful as you open it, by the way."
"We hope you like it." added Marshall.
Barney opened the gift slowly, and before Robin could see what it was, she noticed the amazed look on her husband's face. Then she looked at the gift.
"I-I, Lil, how did you..." Robin stammered.
"I know. You're welcome.""You got our baby a snow globe, but not only that, the scene inside is that of a guy in a suit, a girl holding a Canadian flag and a baby on a sled! How did you even... I can't..."
"I think she means thank you." added Barney.
"You're welcome." said Marshall, laughing at Robin's speechlessness.

Ted placed a gift into Robin's hands, Martha standing at his side. "I can't promise ours will be as good as Lily and Marshall's, but here's mine and Martha's gift for little Joshua."
The wrapping was exquisite, as Ted's wrapping only could be; gold and blue wrapping paper with a gorgeous golden ribbon wrapped around it. Robin grinned excitedly as she began to open it. Trying not to rip the beautiful paper, she pulled it back to reveal a book entitled 'Lullabies for Boys'. Confused, Robin looked towards Ted.
"It's a book of traditional lullabies and children's stories that have been changed into stories of adventure and all have cool stuff that boys would like: playing in the mud, superheroes, that kind of stuff." he explained.
"I initially thought it was kinda sexist, but it's really cute." added Martha with a smile.
"Thank you, you two, this is really sweet of you." said Robin.

-Swarkles-

That night, after all the guests had left, Robin and Barney retreated to their bedroom.
"So, quite a day, huh?" said Barney, wrapping an arm around his wife.
"Yeah, pretty emotional stuff with your mom. You okay?" asked Robin, stroking Barney's arm softly.
"Yeah, it just made me realize... I want to be as good of a parent to our kid as my mom was to me. She wasn't perfect, and neither are we, but I'm really excited about this."
"Me too," she pecked his lips. "I love you. I can't wait for us to be parents."
"Me either. Love you too."

Barney woke with a start in the middle of the night to discover his wife was no longer lying at his side.
"Robin...?" he called out, only to receive no reply. "Robin, baby, where are you?" He could hear a muffled noise coming from the bathroom, and knocked on the door. "Robin, you in there?"
A few seconds later, he heard a mumbled "Uh, yeah."
"Is everything okay?" he asked. He was pretty worried and confused.
"Uh, yeah, it's probably nothing."
"Robin, would you open the door?" A few moments later, he heard the click of the lock, and opened the bathroom door. Robin stood in her pyjamas, teary eyed. "W-what's wrong, what happened?" he stuttered.

She gulped. "I, uh, think the baby's coming."

"Now?"
"Now."
Barney had only one instinct at this point: to get his wife to hospital. He took her hand reassuringly and rushed out the door. This was going to be complicated.