Another Daddy!Barney story because I just love them so much! It's really going to focus around him and his daughters relationship, but I haven't really figured everything out.
I was asked if this could be a Robin/Ted story. I'm not really sure if I can do that, but I'm not ruling it out. No promises though.
I own nothing. Please review!
"Tell me you're joking, Barney," Ted shook his head, "Tell me you're not really this stupid."
My eyes closed at the onslaught of my friends words. Disappointed Ted. Well, if wasn't really a 'Barney screw up' if I didn't have to deal with a disappointed Ted. Is it sad that having him react like this made everything realer in my mind?
Having Marshall and Lily be supportive and flirting with Robin helped bring me into my mind again. Right now though having Ted's eyes staring into mind as if he was my Father and not my best friend really drove everything home.
There was a reason I called Ted my best friend. Yeah, because he needs to learn to let loose and have fun, but also because he is the only person that can ground me. That can make me actually think.
Honestly, some days I had no idea how I felt about that. I liked being childish and just having fun. At the same time I knew that I was an adult and I had to act like one. Outside of work.
I needed someone to mellow me out. Someone that made me think because even I had to admit not all of my plans were awesome. Case and point. Jumping into the Hudson Rive. Extremely stupid and dangerous.
Ted was the person I turned to when I wasn't completely sure I should be doing what I was doing. He'd pull me back. He was the only one that had ever been able to do that.
Part of me wondered if he knew that. If he knew how much I cared about our friendship. He understood a lot after the whole run over by a bus thing, but it was hard to see sometimes. Not that I was any better.
Ted was my best friend, my brother. I couldn't actually think of anything that would change that. Not after everything he and I had been through over the years. I hoped our friendship was strong.
That didn't mean I wasn't afraid to lose his friendship. That was actually one of the only true fears I held. I couldn't handle not being his friend again. Not without going insane.
Of course I'd hate to lose any of their friendship. I cared about all of them. Things were different for Ted and I though and I really had no idea why that was, but I wasn't going to fight it.
I hadn't really thought about any of this before. It was just a fact. The man was my best friend. I'd be lost without him. What more did I truly need to know about our friendship?
Still, I hated knowing I was the one that made him look like that. Well I hated making anyone look like that, but again it was Ted and that just made everything all that much worse.
Then there was the fact that he was giving me the look because I had just informed him of my daughter. This situation just kept getting better and better for me, didn't it?
Zoë was in her new bedroom decided where everything should be. At least that's what she said. This wasn't just an adjustment for me. It was one for her as well and hers was that much worse.
I was gaining someone. I was getting a daughter. She had lost and gained someone in the span of two days. And those people being her parents was just icing on the cake in my mind.
I couldn't really fault her if she needed some time by herself. Though I had double checked that nothing in the room could hurt her while I was talking to Ted. First day of being a parent I didn't want her hurt already or ever. Ever worked.
Right now wasn't the time though. Not for Ted to be having a freak out. If it was just him and I everything would be fine, but there was Zoë to think about. Hopefully he'd remember before he was too far into telling me off.
"How can you be this stupid, man?" Ted asked his hands on his hips, "Did you actually think…"
Looks like he was. Time to sit back and listen to how stupid I was. And I had nothing to say back. This was the stupidest thing that I had ever done and I wasn't going to walk away. I wouldn't do that.
I could stand here and let him talk though. That's what he needed right now. It's hwat he needed to try to figure out the whole situations. If letting him tell me off helped him I'd stand here all day.
It was surprisingly easy to talk to Marshall and Lily. Robin was a little harder, but once she knew everything it was find. For the most part this whole thing just seemed to fall into place for the four of us.
Then there's Ted. Now, staring at him pace my living room raging about this situation, I honestly wasn't afraid to tell my Mother or James. Not anymore. There was no way their reacting would be as bad as this.
"Can I…" a small voice started before fading away.
Turning to the hallway I saw Zoë standing there with her new stuffed animal, a pid named Sparkles, in her arms. Her blue eyes darted between Ted and myself as her arms tightened around Sparkles.
"Zoë," I smiled, "This is Ted. He's my best friend. Ted, this is my daughter Zoë."
I watched as Zoë shyly watched Ted. Her arms clasped around her pig. Her body gently turned so she was almost swaying. There was a shy Stinson. Not something I'd ever thought I'd see, but if I remember correctly her Mother had been quite shy.
Then I looked at Ted. He had this smile on his lips. Very sot and sweet. If that was anything to go by he liked my daughter. Which was confirmed when he kneeled in front of her.
My daughter took a step backwards before closing her eyes. When they opened again she shuffled slightly forward and gave Ted a half smile, her pig coming up to cover part of her face.
"Hello, Zoë," Ted spoke softly, "Who's this?"
"Sparkles," Zoë whispered.
"Sparkles. That's a nice name. I used to have a stuffed animal named Bruce. I miss him. He gave the best hugs."
I watched as Ted and Zoë interacted and saw why Ted wanted to have kids so badly. He was amazing with them. Now I couldn't wait to see him with his little boy and girl. He'll be an amazing Father.
Why couldn't this have happened to him? Ted wanted to be a Father. He was going to be an amazing one. I wasn't. it wasn't fair to him that this was happening to me. It wasn't fair to anyone.
"You hungry, Zoë?" I asked interrupting her conversation with Ted when I heard her stomach growl.
"Yeah," Zoë nodded her head quickly.
"How does some pot stickers sound? With some carrots?"
"No onion?"
"No onion."
"Ted stay?"
"You'll have to ask him."
As Zoë turned to ask Ted to stay for dinner I grabbed the food out. Hearing the two of them in the background I felt myself smile. Maybe I could see why he wanted kids as badly as he did.
"Maybe I was wrong," Ted said helping me bring the food to the table, "Reacted a little too quickly. I wasn't thinking."
In the back of my mind I knew that it took a lot for Ted to admit that he was wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to believe him. He was just voicing what was in my own mind.
"You always think," I shook my head with a slight smile, "And you were right. I'm stupid."
"She's already a great kid, Barney."
"And I'll be a horrible Father, Ted. We both know that. Don't pretend that's not what we're both thinking."
I expected the man to drop it after that, but instead he took the plate out of my hands and had me look at him. I really wasn't ready for another stare down from him. I didn't look away though.
To my surprise I saw no judgment in his eyes like before. He wasn't calling me stupid or being disappointed. He was just looking at me. Almost like he hadn't been seeing me before.
That was just a little weird. He had been my best friend for a number of years. How was it possible that he was seeing me for the first time? I hadn't changed all that much, had I?
No, the situation was a little weird, but I was still me. There was no doubt about that in my mind. I was just a me that had another living breathing little human being to take care of.
Alright, so I had changed quite a bit. I had a daughter for one day and I had changed. this was going to be a fun experience for not only myself, but my friends and family as well.
If I was changing this much who knows who I was going to become now. Who knows what little parts of me that I do very good at hiding will come to the surface now that I had a kid.
I did everything I could to hide parts of me from everyone. It would do no good for them to see me like that. Now I had a reason to show them. I had a reason for a lot of things and that was terrifying to think.
"Give yourself some credit, Bro," Ted smiled patting my back, "You'll be a great Dad. Now. Let's eat."