A/N

I was going to skip straight to the twins as one-month-olds, but I couldn't stop myself from writing this chapter, so I thought there was no harm in putting it into the story. Oh well, you don't mind, right? Love you guys :)

Barney grinned as he watched Robin devour a plate of ribs from across the table. It had been five years, he had seen her at her best and at her worst. He'd seen her fall apart and so often break the façade she puts up for the rest of the world. He'd seen her sick, sobbing and sweating. Yet he was still more attracted to her than he had ever been to anyone. That's just love.

He shook himself out of his sappy thoughts. Ted must be getting to him. He should just be enjoying the moment with his wife. They had gotten Marshall and Lily to babysit Everly and Aurelia, who were now just ten days old, while they went out to dinner. It was a special occasion, their fifth wedding anniversary.

"I propose a toast." Barney said, holding his champagne glass up. It was filled with lemonade, not booze, because Robin's still nursing, and he didn't want to be teasing and drink in front of her. He hadn't all during her pregnancy, so why stop now?

"What to?" Robin questioned, copying his movement and holding her glass up.

"To the last five years, to the next five years, to everything we have that we never thought we'd want. To our bizarre but awesome relationship." Barney recited. Robin smiled. The two bumped glasses and took a sip.

Robin laughed. "God, five years. Who would've thought?"

"I know right! I can't believe we made it this far." Barney agreed. "Remember when we first kissed?"

Robin smiled, reminiscent of their twenties and early thirties. "It was on the couch in my apartment after Simon dumped me, while we were watching Sandcastles in The Sand. We reached a lot of firsts that night." They high fived without even looking.

"Remember that summer when we had a secret relationship?"

"I remember you locking me in a storm trooper for 382 minutes." Robin replied, somewhat bitterly, but mostly jokingly.

Barney laughed. "We've done some pretty legendary stuff, Scherbatsky." Robin went by Stinson now, but old habits die hard, and Barney occasionally still uses her maiden name for a nickname.

Robin smiled. "Yeah. Yeah we have."

The two picked at their meals for a few more minutes, until Barney looked up. "I'm tired and I miss the girls."

"Me too. Wanna go home?"

"I'll get the check." Barney bounded out of his seat quickly, delighted to be going home to their daughters. As much as he loves and craves alone time with Robin, he found himself constantly wondering and worrying about the twins. Were they alright? Were they behaving for Marshall and Lily?

"I hear cries. That's not a good sign." Robin stated as she and Barney neared their apartment door.

"Lily and Marshall were so sure they could handle them when we left." Barney snickered. He tightened his grip around Robin's waist as he opened the door handle.

The sight that greeted them was hilarious. Lily was bouncing and cooing desperately at a sobbing Evie in her arms. Marshall was holding Aurelia, who was also crying her little lungs out, to his shoulder with one hand and trying to simultaneously trying to fill a bottle with breast milk.

"MARSHALL, SHE NEEDS FOOD!" Lily yelled, neither seeming to notice Barney and Robin were standing in the doorway, giggling.

"I'M TRYING LILY!" He yelled back. "CAN'T YOU JUST FEED HER? YOU HAVE BOOBS!"

"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!"

Barney cleared his throat, drawing the squabbling couple's attention from the babies to him and Robin.

"Thank god you're here!" Lily cried, running forward and dumping Everly into her father's arms. He shifted her into one arm, and kept the other firmly around Robin's waist. "I don't know how you guys do this every day."

"You two are amazing parents, if you manage to take care of these two. And it's your first time too. We have three kids and we couldn't even do it for a night." Marshall added.

Robin shrugged. "We just do what we gotta do to keep our kids happy."

"Here." Marshall said, as he came out of the kitchen to put Aurelia into her mother's arms. She stopped crying almost immediately.

"She just wanted her mommy. And Eves isn't big on cuddles, so she probably just wanted to be on her own." Barney gently placed the baby onto her stomach on the couch to demonstrate, and her cries died down quickly.

Lily's ears sung with happiness when the sobs finally came to an end. "You two are doing a great job."

Robin grinned and high fived Barney. "Duh."

"We're the best at everything." Barney added.

Lily and Marshall sighed and rolled their eyes, but laughed. The two couples quickly said goodnight to each other, then Marshall and Lily left.

"Okay, who wants to be a good girl and go to sleep?" Barney asked, as soon as the door shut.

"Me!" Robin cried enthusiastically. Barney laughed as he scooped Evie up and headed into the nursery, Robin and Aurelia right behind him. They swaddled the twins and put them in their cribs. Luckily, the unsure murmurs coming from the babies stopped once the door was closed. Barney and Robin sighed in relief, and went to get changed and crawl into bed.

It was a couple of hours later, at 11:04pm, when Robin was startled awake by crying. It wasn't the usual crying. It was urgent and sharp. She looked to her side to see Barney also sitting up in curiosity. She put a hand out to push him back down into the bed. He'd been so great with letting her sleep while he took care of cries that weren't feeding, she needed to repay him.

"I've got her." Robin mumbled, kicking the covers off. "She's probably hungry, and unless you can magically start producing a milk-like substance, I think I gotta take this one."

"Thanks, baby." Barney whispered, snuggling back under the covers. It made Robin smile. She padded out of her room and opened the door to the nursery. Surprisingly, Everly hadn't woken Aurelia. She picked her crying baby up.

"What's wrong, Eves?" She cooed, rocking the newborn from side to side.

Robin tried everything. Literally everything, but she couldn't get her daughter to stop crying. So much for the boasting attitude she had had towards Lily and Marshall. She stood in the nursery, shushing and rocking Everly, but she wouldn't ease her sobs.

"Come on, I'm tired. Please go to sleep." Robin begged. She'd been trying to calm her for over an hour.

"Babe, you okay?" Barney asked from the doorway, clearly disorientated and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Robin sighed. "She won't go to sleep. Marshall and Lily caused problems, obviously. She didn't do this yesterday."

Barney laughed. "Here. Let me try. You can go back to bed."

"Thanks, baby." Robin said, kissing him and stalking back to the bedroom.

Robin woke at seven am, to the light streaming through the blinds, rather than a screaming baby. It surprised her. This was the latest she's slept in in ages. Even before the girls were born, she'd be woken up early by sharp kicks against her organs or restless babies that refused to settle down inside her womb. She turned to her side and realized Barney was up. He was such an amazing daddy and husband.

She climbed out of bed and put a robe on, then opened the door and paced down the hall into the nursery. Barney was sleeping on the rocking chair, Everly in his arms. He was snoring, so oblivious to the restless gurgles the baby in his arms was making. Robin quickly and gently pulled her daughter from his grasp so she didn't wake him. He continued snoring. She walked over to the other crib, where Aurelia was awake but quiet.

"Morning princess." Robin crooned as she picked Lia up, and took the babies out of the nursery, closing the door gently behind her. She hoped Barney could get a little more sleep. He must've been up for the better half of the night.

When Barney tiredly stumbled into the kitchen, he found his wife humming as she cooked - okay attempted to cook – pancakes. The girls were lying on their backs on the baby mats. He walked over to Robin and put his arms around her hips, which was something he'd seen people do in movies.

"Morning, babe." He whispered.

"Morning." Robin replied brightly. She'd slept well last night, receiving a whole six hours. "Now please remove your hands from my waist. This is way too cliché and Ted-like for us."

Barney laughed and obeyed. As she finished the pancakes, which to her credit were only a little burnt, he got out plates, cutlery and toppings. This included two tubs of maple syrup, because Barney refuses to eat the one Robin buys that's imported from Canada. He'll only eat it if it was made in America.

"Thanks for taking care of the girls last night. I got heaps of sleep." Robin said, as she turned the stove off and brought the plate of pancakes over.

"It's okay. I know you were tired. Thanks for letting me sleep in this morning and making breakfast."

Robin looked at him curiously. "How did you get Eve to sleep last night?"

"A magician never reveals his tricks." Barney replied with a wink.

Robin groaned, but also grinned. She married an idiot, but an idiot she loves to the moon and back.

A/N

That was the hardest chapter! I couldn't decide what I wanted, then it took me ages to figure out if the last part is a little OOC, which I think it is. Sorry. Please review :)