July 2014
Green
Lily watches Tracy and Barney sit beside each other and chat animatedly. Tracy's talking quickly and Barney's laughing, and then he jumps with inspiration and says something back, and they chortle together. He's sitting close but not touching her, and he's looking at her eyes earnestly, like what Tracy's saying is exciting.
He's never looked at Lily like that.
It makes her feel uncomfortable to watch them- mostly because he's not checking Tracy out and it seems like his focus is on what she's saying, rather than how low her dress is. It's weird, and so Lily scoops up her daughter, bustles over and uses the hail Mary pass.
"Can you hold Daisy for a sec, please?"
She thrusts the baby into Barney's arms and he takes her delightedly, abruptly stopping talking to Tracy to focus on Daisy.
"Hey, honey. You excited about everybody coming round for Independence Day? Your first Independence Day, Daisy; I bet you're glad you're back home. I sure am,"
He's utterly smitten by his niece, and Lily watches with a satisfied smile.
"I feel like I've been wrangling your children all evening. Marvin wants his Mommy,"
"Five more minutes and then I'll be with you, sweetie," she says, ruffling Marvin's hair.
"I'll give him to Ted," Barney decides, "My arms are starting to hurt,"
"No! You keep him. He loves you,"
"Ted! Take this rascal from me until Lily can,"
"Barney-" Lily protests.
"Why's it so important to you that I play with him?" Barney asks, growing suspicious, "Why have you been hurling your offspring at me all nigh- oh my God,"
"What?" she asks, attempting innocence but sounding irritated.
"You're jealous!"
"What?" she says again, scornfully.
"You're jealous of Tracy. You're using the kids to distract me from her, because you're jealous that I've got a new girl friend,"
Lily scoffs, "Are you kidding me?"
"Oh my gosh you are so jealous," he squeals, "Tracy's my life coach now!"
"I am not! If she has to deal with your crap, that's her loss and my gain,"
"Liar. Interfering in my life is your number one hobby, but you bailed from the game for a year, and now you're back you've found that I've got a new counsellor. Ha- you were so pleased that Ted found an awesome girl who you could borrow boots from, but you never realised that she'd steal the Barnacle away from you, puppet-master,"
"Get over yourself," Lily deadpans, avoiding his eyes, "Not everybody's as in love with you as you are,"
"Oh, you wanna deny it? You wanna deny that you're angry about being usurped in your thirteen-year role as my secondary Mom? Well, le jeu est sur, Lily. Le. Jeu. Est. Sur,"
The rest of the night leaves Ted and Robin confused as to why their other halves are completely focussed on each other and nobody else. Tracy talks to Barney patiently but enthusiastically, and he hangs off her every word. It makes Lily want to smash a TV.
Once, she hears Barney murmur, "I'm glad I can talk to you," and another time he glances nervously at the floor before asking Tracy, "So what d'you think I should do?"
Later, when she hears Tracy say patiently, "And how did that make you feel?" Lily aggressively shoves the tray of spring rolls in front of them before Barney can reply.
Then there's the moment when Tracy and Barney squeal together, "And that's the Puzzle!" and collapse into laughter and a high-five.
"Nobody's got that joke without me having to explain it before," Barney crows, beaming.
"They were puzzled," quips Tracy, and Barney gapes at her in adoration. He catches Lily's eye a split second later and shoots her an evil smirk.
A while later, when Lily returns from checking that Marvin's asleep, she finds the other five talking excitedly about something. She re-joins the group just as Barney proclaims, "You could almost say that Tracy's the reason me and Robin are together,"
"You, son of a bitch!"
Barney corners her by the piano when he, Ted, Robin and Tracy are preparing to leave.
"So. I proved it,"
"You've replaced me," Lily admits to herself aloud. It's humiliating and defeating- of course she's jealous. Barney's found a new confidant; a new mother figure to help him out. She's not his number-two girl anymore. He doesn't need her.
"You're similar to each other in the smallness, cuteness and big-eyed-ness stakes," Barney acknowledges, "But Tracy doesn't meddle. She doesn't force me into anything or push me to talk about stuff that makes me uncomfortable. She just lets me tell her about stuff that want to, if I want to. She doesn't try to make me into a better person, and no way would she go behind my back to interfere in my life. But Lily," he implores softly, "You'll always be more important to me than Tracy. You want to know why?"
Barney moves towards her so that his shoulders are brushing hers. He tilts Lily's chin up with first two fingers so she can't avoid meeting his eye. His growl is slow and emphasised.
"I'll never want her as much as I want you,"
Thanks for reading. Updates might be less regular now I'm back at university, so thanks for your feedback this Summer, and keep up the reviews!
