A/N: I don't own HIMYM, I don't own these characters, I'm not making any money off this. Forgive the typos.

[Future Ted]: And that, kids, is how I met your mother.

[Penny]: That's it?

[Future Ted]: That's it.

[Penny]: No, I don't buy it. That is not the reason you made us listen to this.

[Future Ted]: Oh really. Then what's the reason?

[Penny]: Let's look at the facts here. You made us sit down and listen to this story about how you met mom, yet mom is hardly in the story. No, this is a story about how you're totally in love with Aunt Robin. And I think you have a bit more of the story to tell. . .

Chapter 1: The Confession (October 2024)

"Knock, knock," Robin muttered, poking her head through the partially open hospital room door.

Tracey was lying in a slightly raised hospital bed. Her once bright complexion looked yellow, sickly. Nevertheless, she mustered up the courage to fake a smile and waived her in. "Hi, thanks for coming."

Robin answered nervously. "Sure, um . . . I was surprised to get your call. We've never been close."

Tracey nodded her head in acknowledgement. "I know. But I just wanted to thank you."

"What for?" Robin replied, with a slightly puzzled expression.

Tracey smiled. "This past summer. You gave my kids their summer back. While I was too sick to move, and Ted was too wrapped in caring for me, you were there. Taking my kids to the beach, to the aquarium, to Six Flags."

Robin mimicked Tracey's awkward smile, and grasped her hand. "It was my pleasure."

Tracey slyly grinned. "I mean, I could have done without you taking a 9 year-old and a 6 year-old to a shooting range. Or to the NRA convention. And, when you said you were taking them backstage at Guns & Roses, I really thought you meant the band."

Robin laughed defensively. "Well, there were guns there. And roses."

Tracey snapped back, though her voice was weak, strained. "You took my kids to the Firearms & Flowers Extravaganza in the Poconos. . . . And then there was that march about protecting the right to carry an Unborn Child . . . It actually came as a relief to me that an 'Unborn Child' was the brand-name of an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle with a dangerously high rate of fire. But, still, thank you."

A few seconds of awkward silence filled the room. Robin eventually broke it. "You could have thanked me through Ted. What's the real reason you wanted me here?"

Tracey scrutinized the 44-year old woman sitting across from her. Although she actively repressed her feelings, Tracey had always been a little bit intimidated by Robin. Robin was taller, objectively prettier, more accomplished . . . and had a far longer history with her husband than even she did. To be sure, Tracey trusted her husband. And she knew that her husband was always faithful to her. Yet she knew - from Ted's own words – that her husband's relationship with Robin dissolved only due to their differences about marriage and children. Even then, their emotional bond kept them close right up to when Ted first met her. How could any wife not be intimidated by that?

Tracey's eyes narrowed as her lips open. "How long have you been in love with my husband?"

Robin's eyes expanded in surprise. She could feel her body involuntarily spring backwards a half-centimeter. "Tracey, I'm not in love with . . ."

Tracey interrupted. "Save it. Can you please be honest with a dying woman?"

Robin took a large breath and closed her eyes. Opening her eyes as she exhaled slowly, she pondered Tracey's query. "I don't know exactly. I suppose I always have. Even if I didn't quite realize it at the time."

Tracey glared at Robin. "Go on."

Robin inhaled then exhaled a slightly smaller breath, and continued her confession. "When I met Ted, I didn't really know what love was. I thought it was the whole butterflies-in-the-stomach thing. By the time I got together with Barney, I didn't feel that for Ted. But now I know there's another kind of love. A deeper kind. The kind where there's one person in the whole world whom you want to speak to the most, confide in, share your life with."

Robin paused but, seeing Tracey hanging on every word, mustered up the courage to continue. "Tracey, can you keep a secret?"

Tracey crossed her heart. "I'll take it to my grave."

Robin gasped, and Tracey tried to stifle a laugh before composing herself. "Come on, can't a dying woman crack a joke? I'll keep your secret. I'm deadly serious." Tracey's composure fell apart, and she began laughing. "Sorry, I couldn't help it . . . But I'll keep your secret"

[Future Ted]: Your mother didn't keep that promise, but I'll get to that.

Robin inhaled and exhaled once more. She felt a weight lifted from her shoulders as she unburdened herself. "Ted is the reason my marriage failed."

Tracey's laughter ceased, and her expression turned sharp, serious, almost angry. "Come again?"

Robin realized that she'd been misinterpreted. "Not the way you're thinking. I didn't do anything with Ted. Not then. Not since. I mean, I tried once . . . but he shot me down. He was so happy with you. What I meant is that it's more like Ted was the reason my relationship with Barney ever worked in the first place."

"Now I'm just confused," Tracey answered.

Robin pressed on. "Barney was fun. Exciting. But do you know what happens when every night is legendary? It's . . . exhausting. And some nights, you just want to curl up with someone over warm coco and talk about your day. Barney and I only worked, while dating, because Ted was always there. Caring for me . . . supporting me. Barney banged me. But Ted was the most important person in my heart. I just didn't grasp it at the time."

Tracey interjected. "Something changed?"

Robin nodded, and answered. "It started once we got back from the honeymoon. Ted had just started dating you. And I had ruined enough of Ted's relationships to know that I needed to keep my distance. I think I saw him just three times during the first nine months of my marriage. So it was just me and Barney. And, once butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling faded . . . Barney couldn't give me what I needed, no matter how much he tried. We'd bang, but we wouldn't talk. At least not about anything deep. I was so lonely. Maybe more lonely than I ever had been. If the happiest years of my life were the ones I spent living with your husband, the toughest time I ever experienced was going through Ted-withdrawal those nine months. It was probably then that I realized how much I loved him. How much I had always loved him. So I threw myself into work, taking on foreign assignment after foreign assignment. That helped me, at least for a little while. But it only made Barney more miserable. . . you know the rest."

Robin felt tears swell up. Tracey extended a tissue box from her nightstand, and Robin accepted. Robin cried, as she spoke. "I feel so petty siting here, whining about my love life . . . while you."

Tracey interrupted, and finished Robin's sentence "are laying here, dying?"

Robin nodded. "Yeah."

Tracey swallowed hard, her raspy voice trying to summon the physical and emotional strength to speak. "Don't be. I had a great run, with a wonderful man. I wouldn't change a thing. And with what's to come? I've made my peace. I don't harbor any illusions of an afterlife. I won't be waiting for Ted anywhere. I'll be worm food, and I'm ok with it. That's why I wanted to speak to you."

Robin reacted with shock. "I don't understand."

Tracey began tearing up. "I don't want him to be alone. And, as much as he loves me, and as much as it kills me to admit it, I know there's a part of him . . . buried deep inside . . . that still cares for you."

Robin sat there stunned.

Tracey paused for a moment to let Robin soak it in, then continued. "Robin, don't believe the fables. You can love more than one person at a time. I never stopped loving Max, but it didn't diminish my love for Ted. And Ted is a special man. He has a lot of love to give. I see it when he looks at you . . . no matter how happy I made him . . . no matter how devoted he is to me."

Tracey thought through her next words carefully. "Robin, he's going to need you. Even more than my kids needed you this past summer. Promise me that you'll always be there for him."

Robin nodded, and she grasped Tracey's hand. "I will."

[Future Ted] Your Aunt Robin also didn't keep that promise. But I'll get to that.

Tracey acknowledged Robin's nod, by nodding back. "Good. And if things develop, I wanted to let you know that you have my blessing. When he's ready, if you still feel the way you feel . . . don't let him be alone."

Robin nodded "ok."

An almost gleeful smirk then grew on Tracey's face. "Oh, and one more thing Robin . . . please bang my husband for me. Preferably at the funeral. On my coffin."

Robin looked aghast.

Tracey began laughing hysterically. "Kidding, kidding. Can't a dying woman have just a little fun?"

A/N: Do you like it? Should I continue? Please review. Planning four or five scenes, some short . . . some long.