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!

"Barney," Ted spoke trying to hide his laughter, "You need to calm down. It's just your family."

"I'm not scared about James meeting her," I responded calmly.

"Scared of your Mom meeting her then?"

I glared at the other man as he helped me move the couch. Ted and Marshall were over helping me set everything up for a dinner that I was having to introduce Zoë to James and my Mother.

It had been my daughters idea to have the dinner. Well, not so much her suggestion as her pointing out that she loved having tea parties. I thought it would be a good way for her to meet my side of the family.

Mom, James, and his family already promised to be there and to be dressed up. I already had the whole thing planned out. I just have to set it up. It was going to be a true tea party.

It also helped my mind that they all knew why they were coming. I had told them about Zoë over the phone when I invited them over. Which was good because their reactions were less then…Alright it was horrible.

I had never heard that much…I don't even know how to describe how my Mother sounded, but I hadn't heard her like that before. Honestly I didn't know anyone could even sound like that.

Then there was James. He spent almost a full twenty minutes going on and on about how irresponsible I was. It was eerily similar to the speech that Ted had given me the day before.

Luckily after all was said and done they just had needed to do the same thing as Ted. They needed to vent. I couldn't fault them for that and now they were both excited to meet my daughter.

And Zoë was excited too. Well, for the most part. It had only been two days since she moved in with me and we both were still trying to adjust to the new person in our lives.

For the most part though she and I got along well. There were points when I had no idea what she was used to and she would get upset because of that, but it was a learning process.

One that I felt I completely sucked at. Lily had already explained that most parents felt like that in the beginning. I guess being friends with a teacher really did pay off sometimes.

I couldn't be happier that I had the friends I had right now. Without them I have no idea what I would have done. They've been so amazing to both myself and Zoë since this started.

Which is how I found myself in my living room moving furniture with Ted while Marshall did the dishes. Both had agreed that they'd help me set up the tea party and had been at this with me for over two hours already.

While the boys and I worked on making the apartment presentable for the party Lily and Robin had taken Zoë, and my credit card, shopping. Part of me wondered if that was a good idea, but I wanted this to be perfect.

I knew I was going a little overboard with this whole thing, but I couldn't help myself. This was the first time my family was meeting my daughter. If anything went wrong…

"Barney," Ted called loudly, "Barney!"

My head shot up as my grip slipped from the couch. I barely had enough time to pull my feet away before they were smashed. I guess I had been a little too caught up in my thoughts.

Ted and Marshall seemed to agree because instead of going back to getting ready both of them were watching me worriedly. People seemed to be doing that to me a lot recently.

It wasn't something that I really liked. I was a strong person and I did everything I could to make sure people saw me as that. For people to see me vulnerable, especially my friends, wasn't good.

How was I supposed to prove to them that I could do this alone? That I was actually going to be able to raise my daughter when they saw me as someone who needed to be looked after?

Alright, so I figured out that I wasn't going to be doing this alone at all. My friends were going to be helping out a lot and I was perfectly okay with that, there were just some conversations I really never wanted to have.

Still if they were focused on worrying about me then they'd not be worrying about Zoë and she was the one that needed it. She was the one that had just lost one parent and gained another.

"Dude," Ted sighed, "You really do need to call down."

"I need to get things done," I argued.

"They'll get done. Look, go lay down and just rest for a bit. You already told Marshall and I what you wanted done and we can do it on our own."

"Ted…"

"Just go relax."

"I'm…"

"Seriously, Barney. You need…"

"I can take care of Zoë myself, okay?!"

Ted froze mid-sentence when I yelled his mouth hanging up and his eyes staring at me. I had no idea why I had just yelled that, but now that it was said I realized that's exactly what I'd been thinking.

Everyone kept saying that I could do this. That I was strong enough, but right now felt like the first time I was actually trying to do something for my daughter and I was messing that up.

Ted saw that. It was why he wanted me to leave. Not because I needed rest, but because I was acting like an idiot and that was going to ruin though whole thing before it even started.

I just wanted everything to be perfect. I needed to show everyone that I was capable of being an adult. Of taking care of another living being. Of being able…Of being able to love another person.

That's what I felt. Zoë was my daughter and I loved her. I had loved her the first time I laid my eyes on her. I don't know how and I don't know why, but that was the truth.

It was actually one of the most truthful things I had said in awhile. I loved my daughter more than anything in the world and I had only known her for a few days. How was that possible?

Then there was the idea that maybe that wasn't enough. No matter what anyone said to me I was never going to be good enough for her. I was never going to deserve to have a child. Let alone someone as amazing as Zoë.

And she was an amazing little girl. Maybe it was because she was my daughter that I thought that. I'll admit that I'm a little biased about this, but I was surprisingly okay with that.

"Is that what you think?" Ted questioned softly, "That I think that you can't take care of Zoë?"

"Obviously," I responded with a small shrug.

"That is complete and utter bull, Barney. And you know it. You're an amazing Father."

"It's been two days."

"So? In those two days you've introduced her to your friends, tonight you're introducing her to your family. You bought her new furniture for her room that you cleaned out and are decorating just for her. You changed your entire apartment for her.

Bro, you put your Storm Trooper in the closet in your room because you were afraid it would scare her. And now you're throwing a tea party for her. A tea party! That's not a bad Father. That's a wonderful Father."

"She deserves more."

"And that fact that you think that proves it. So you know what you're going to do, Barney?"

"What?"

"You're going to take a few calming breaths. Marshall and I going to grab us a quick snack at the place down the street while you call Lily and make sure everything is going great. Then we're going to fix this place up and make it look amazing. Because that's what you both deserve."

Ted motioned to Marshall who was now smiling at us over the sink. The taller man walked past me clapping a hand over my shoulder as if to show me that he agreed with Ted.

Of course he agreed with Ted. The man was usually right. Well, not about relationships. There he was usually wrong, but he was right about this. As much as I didn't want him to be I knew that he was. I did need to calm down.

Bringing my phone out of my pocket I quickly dialed Lily's number. She greeted me quickly before handing the phone off to Zoë. I listened to her talk quickly about all the pretty dresses she was trying on.

I couldn't suppress the smile that took over my face as I asked her to send me pictures. She refused and said that it was a surprise, but that it was between dark red dress and a bright blue dress.

In my mind I was already making sure my outfit was going to compliment hers. It was her night tonight, but I wanted her to know that I was there for her. Even if it was just our clothing that showed it.

"Tell Daddy you have to go, Zo," Lily spoke in the background.

"Okay," Zoë responded, "Bye Daddy. See you soon."