Chapter 39- Do We Need That?

A/N: This chapter came to be after a baby shower I went to a few weeks ago. It was an over indulgence of baby things, more than the mom is ever going to need or use. I ended up so emotionally charged over it, that it gave me an idea for how Barney and Robin might deal with the influx of useless stuff brought about just so retailers can make extra money. It ended up being a hard chapter for me to write. Please let me know what you think. And Tracy knitting is canon!

When Barney gets to work on Monday morning, he is exhausted. Even though he managed to surprise Robin last week with the Christmas decorations, she had still been moody. Not to mention that all the time she wakes up in the middle of the night wake him up too. He's ready for another stressful day at work, until he figures out that it's a national holiday in North Korea, and pretty much all of his trading for the day has been shut down. Sure, there are a couple of contracts to edit, but they might take him an hour at the most.

So he thinks of something he can do to help Robin feel less stressed. He remembers hearing her complain to Tracy and Lily about the baby registry on Thanksgiving, which is when he realizes, that he can go on and help complete them for her today. He doesn't even consider that it is something that she could potentially get upset about.

He searches the We-B-Babies website, adding all the cute clothing, and all of expensive gadgets he can find. Wipe warmers, check! Bottle sterilizer, check! City friendly stroller, check! Tons of cute clothes, check! He doesn't bother with one of those fancy baby monitors, as he is going to have one hard wired in, to match the rest of the cameras already in the apartment.

He does his research on all of it though. He adds the best stroller out there, the one he knows Robin's had her eye on for a while. But he gets why she's been overwhelmed. There is so much out there for babies. He never would have known, after all, she is going to be like 10 pounds. How much stuff does a baby really need? He can't wait to get home to share with her that he did it all for her. He can't wait to make her happy for once.

"So I think the registry is done!" Barney exclaims as he joins Robin in the bedroom later that afternoon.

"How would it be done? I didn't finish it," she replies.

"It was a slow day at work," he admits.

"Really," she bemoans sarcastically.

"Yeah, some Korean holiday. It was nice and quiet."

"Oh dear," she mutters under her breath. This can't be a good thing. He's gone and screwed it up.

"I can't wait to show you all the awesome stuff I added."

"Oh no," she mutters again. "How much did you add?"

"Not a lot," he smirks, and that means exactly the opposite. It means he added a lot. She already hated this stupid registry thing to start out with. Babies are tiny, shouldn't it be simple. A crib and a stroller is really all you should need. It seems like it is all just stuff, stuff, stuff. Buy this, buy that, your baby will be stupid if you don't buy our product. She doesn't buy into it. She doesn't buy into it one bit.

"On both of them?" she asks, cringing at the thought.

"Wait, there is more than one?" He questions. He had no idea there was more than one. Maybe he needs to pay a little more attention to these things.

"Yeah there are three. Which one were you on?" she groans. At least he only messed up one.

"We B Babies."

"Guuuuh," she moans. That wasn't what she wanted to hear. That's the biggest one. The others only have a few specialty items, but that one, that just isn't good.

"There was so much to add!" he exclaims, excited. "I hope you like everything!"

"Barney. I know this is one of those moments that you were trying to be helpful, but uhhh…" And here it goes, he thinks. He's screwed up again. It feels like he just keeps screwing up.

"But what?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I can't help but think that you screwed it up, and now I have to fix it."

"But the cool stuff!" He doesn't want to admit he's wrong, but he probably screwed up here.

"No Barney," she sighs, "you need to take me seriously here. You can't just go on and pick out stuff. We need to work as a team. Besides, you tend to go way overboard with these things." He gets what she is saying. He probably did go overboard, but she isn't letting him help. She isn't playing as a part of the team.

"I can't work as a team when you won't let me help," he retorts. She didn't even think about him not feeling included. She's just had so much time to work on getting stuff together for the baby, she didn't even consider that he might feel left out. "I get to have a part too, you know. She's my baby too. Why can't I pick out some things?"

"Damn it. I'm sorry. I just have so much time to work on it, I never even thought that you didn't feel included," she apologizes.

"It's ok. I shouldn't have gone on without you either," he reluctantly admits, "though I did learn a lot about strollers today."

"And?" she asks.

"You picked a good one."

"I know," she grumbles. "It's one of the most portable and durable ones around." He doesn't know how to respond, so he doesn't add anything to the conversation.

"Can we do something?" he asks.

"What?"

"Can we work on it together?" he suggests. "I have a free night tonight since work was slow."

"That doesn't seem like a bad idea," she considers. "Can you get the computer?"

"Yeah." He climbs from his position on the bed to get the computer from her side. It's in her reach, but he doesn't mind. He owes her.

They spend the next few hours combing through the registry, arguing over certain items and instantly agreeing over others.

"Ok. So like here. Do we really need a bottle drying rack that looks like grass?" she inquires.

"It's cute. Besides, we need something. Got any bright ideas?" he retorts.

"Why can't we just dry them on the counter?" she questions.

"Do you really want bottles all over the place?" he asks.

"We don't need that many bottles. I'm breast feeding," she replies. "We need maybe eight at most."

"God that is going to be hot!"

"Seriously? Seriously? She is going to be eating. You don't get to sexualize her eating."

"Come on!"

"No. NO! Feeding is not sexy. Feeding is dinner."

He stopped listening a few words ago, completely distracted and in awe with the item in front of him.

"Is this a high chair?"

"Yeah. Do you like it?"

He doesn't know what to say. Like it doesn't cover it. Love it doesn't cover it. He thought the crib was perfect. This is beyond perfect.

"Like it? It's like a pilot seat for a baby!"

Pilot seat is the perfect way to describe the perfect high chair. It has an oval seat, silver seat, with two shoulder straps, like a pilot seat would. It is raised off the ground by one pneumatic pole, and the tray sits in the front with a dark chrome tray. It almost exactly matches the pilot seat sitting in the living room.

"Oooo! Maybe sometime you should feed me in the pilot seat!" he exclaims.

"Or," she corrects, "maybe you can sit in the pilot seat, and feed Bri in her pilot seat."

"So that means we can get it?" he asks excitedly, jumping up and down on the bed like a child. Sometimes she wonders if she doesn't already have a child.

"Yes, Barney," she groans. "I wouldn't have showed it to you if I didn't like it."

"Yes!" he shouts.

A few hours later, they are both passed out, the computer still sitting on the bed beside them. They are curled up around each other, exhausted from staring at the screen and bantering about what Brianna really needs, and what they need for her. But all in all, it had been a great night, since they finally finished the registries.

12/11/14

Thirty weeks. I am at the thirty week mark. I still can't believe that in ten weeks or less, I will be a mom. It's a very scary thought. Even scarier is what we still need to be ready for her arrival. The furniture should be here within the week, although I am still waiting for my husband to get the room ready.

This week, we spent a lot of time working on the baby registry. I have been stressing out about it for a while, so my husband, trying to be sweet, took it upon himself to finish it without me. I was upset, because he added a bunch of things we didn't need, but I explained to him that this is something we should do together. Turns out, he was feeling left out of the process. So, we worked on it together, and I am so glad we did. Our baby will certainly have the most unique nursery in the city. Between the Star Wars ship mobile, the Canadian animal prints, the grey walls, and the pink and frilly accents, it will definitely not look like your average nursery. Then again, we aren't your average parents, and it is an expression of both of us.

The closer I get to my due date in February, the more anxious I become, because I am very likely to deliver early. And although I am ready to get out of this bed, I hope that she stays there as long as possible.