Ch.9

When Robin woke up the next morning, she had briefly forgotten that she had slept at Barney's. Once she remembered where she was and why she was there, she made her way into the living room. She was greeted by a surprisingly pleasant Barney and his daughter Ellie.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Barney asked Robin.

"Pretty good actually. I must have been really tired because I don't even remember going to bed last night."

"Well it was a long day yesterday. Do you want any breakfast? I'm making some pancakes for Ellie."

"No, that's okay. I need to try to get in touch with Ted to see when he can get me my keys."

"Well you should at least have some coffee. I know you never passed up on that before. And if you change your mind on the pancakes I'll make some extra."

"Okay, yeah coffee sounds good. Thank you." As Barney made Robin her cup of coffee, Robin called Ted to find out what time he would be in the city.

"Hey Ted. I was just wondering when you were going to be in the city. Maybe we can meet up somewhere for lunch or something and I can get my keys."

"Tracey's appointment is at 2:30 so if you want I can get the keys to you around 2:00, but I don't think lunch will work. Tracey wants to visit some old friends before her appointment."

"Okay, that sounds good. Meet me at my place at 2:00 I guess. Is that good?"

"Yeah, that works. Before you go though, were you able to find a place to stay last night?"

"Yeah I actually stayed at Barney's. He's really the only person I know that still lives in the city so he let me stay at his place."

"Oh okay, I wasn't expecting that. Barney hasn't been all to open lately."

"Well I think he may be getting a little better."

"Good to hear. Okay Robin I'll see you in a little bit."

"Bye Ted."

Robin made her way back into the kitchen where Barney was sitting with Ellie as she drowned her pancakes in syrup.

"Did you talk to Ted?" Barney asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to meet up with him at 2:00."

"Okay, then that still gives you a few hours." Barney handed Robin a cup of coffee.

"Yeah and I cant even do anything until then because I cant get into my apartment."

"Then just hang out with us. We're pretty cool. Tiny five." Barney put his hand out to Ellie who hit it as hard as she could.

"Why not, I have nothing else to do."

"That's the spirit Scherbatsky. Now, chow down on some pancakes and lets get a'crackin!"

"Do you have big plans that I don't know about or something?" Robin said with a smile as she grabbed some pancakes.

"I'm glad you asked, and why yes we do! Today we are going to the… AMERICAN GIRL DOLL STORE! Yay!" Barney and Ellie both cheered in excitement as Robin sat looking confused.

"American Girl Doll?"

"Yes Robin, AMERICAN Girl Doll. I understand you would be more into going if it was Canadian girl doll, but its not so buurrnn!"

"Why are we going there?"

"Well, when I told you that you could stay over I kind of forgot that I had promised Ellie we would go shopping for her American Girl Doll today. You don't have to come if you don't want to but it might be fun."

"Yeah that actually sounds nice. And like I said, I have nothing else to do so why not. As long as you have me back at my place by 2:00 then we have a deal."

"Okay then sounds good. I want to be out of here by 11:00 so if you have to shower and stuff do that soon. I'll get Ellie ready."

By 10:30, everybody was dressed and ready for the day. Ellie had her American Girl Doll in hand and they were off. Robin was still dressed in the same clothes as yesterday which bothered her a bit but no one but Barney knew, so it was no big deal. Getting to the American Girl Doll store consisted only of one subway ride and a short walk, and in that time Robin got to see firsthand how Barney and Ellie interacted. It was adorable. Barney was always holding her hand and making her laugh. She had never seen him so happy before.

"Okay here we are, are you ready baby girl." Barney picked up Ellie and put her on his shoulders as they walked into the store.

"Wow. Look at this place daddy."

"I know it's so big. You should be able to find everything you want for Mandy here." Mandy was the name given to Ellie's doll.

"Mandy needs new clothes."

"Okay then. Lets find her some clothes." Barney, Robin and Ellie spent about an hour and a half walking around the store picking out things for Elli's doll. For the most part Robin and Barney stayed back as Ellie ran forward to every section of the store.

"Hey, look at this." Barney went over to rack that displayed a little maple leaf shirt. "I guess they could be Canadian Girl Dolls if you wanted them to be."

"Yeah I guess so." At that moment Ellie came running back over to Barney and Robin complaining of hunger. Barney took that as the 'I've had enough of this place, its time to leave' queue that he knew all to well.

"Okay, lets go get some lunch." It was about 12:30 and the trio were walking the streets looking for a place to eat before the settled on a small American style grill.

"What are you going to get honey?"

"Chicken fingers!"

"Of course you are."

"So do you think Mandy will like all of the new things you got her today?" Robin asked Ellie.

"Yeah she's gonna love them. She likes all the same things I like."

"Oh yeah, and what kind of things do you like?"

"Um, I like to dance and play with my dolls. And I like ponies and painting and playing laser tag!"

"Laser tag is a lot of fun. Let me guess, your dad likes to take you there?"

"We go all the time. Daddy's the best. He said he was the all time best."

"He did, did he. Back when I first met your daddy we used to go laser tagging all the time, he was always really good."

"Is that how you met my daddy?"

"Actually no, we met somewhere else."

"Where?"

At this point Barney interrupted. "Uncle Ted introduced us. He was really good friends with Robin and then we all became friends." Robin guessed this was partially true, but she couldn't help but think back to how she really met Barney, when he introduced her to Ted.

"Oh, was that awhile ago?"

"Wow you have a lot of questions today Ellie. But yes it was. 19 years ago actually."

"You guys must be good friends."

Barney and Robin looked at each other, both thinking about how close they were, close enough to get married. What happened to them? Here they were, practically strangers in each others current lives but with so much history that they felt so comfortable.

"Yeah Ell, we are."