Chapter 41- Christmas Dreams

A/N: Merry Christmas to all the readers out there! I hope that you had a great holiday!

"Mornin' babe."

"Mmmm," she mumbles while she stretches herself out on the bed.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Thanks. Merry Christmas to you too," she says groggily, leaning up to kiss him.

"Are you ready for presents?"

"Barney, I just woke up. I'm not ready at all," she groans, still not quite ready to be up. "Plus, I'm really hungry. I'd rather Eat breakfast first. What is for breakfast by the way?"

"Come on Scherbatsky. It's Christmas. Would we have anything else other than pancakes and maple syrup?"

"No," she replies, grinning like a three year old. "You're the best. Are they ready?"

"Of course."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go get me some."

"I can't wait to give you your present," Barney declares excitedly as they finish their breakfast in bed.

"Oooh! It better not be anything big," she chastises.

"Um, of course not," he responds slowly, rolling his eyes as he pulls out a small jewelry box.

"Barney!" she moans. "I thought we said no extravagant presents this year. Jewelry counts as an extravagant present."

"Nah-ah-ah," he mutters. "This is something I wanted you to have and would have bought you anyway. It just happens that Christmas was a good time to give it to you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see," he says with a wink. "Open it, open it, open it!"

"Ok, Calm down," she says. She opens the box slowly to reveal a platinum necklace. It's a simple chain with diamond, ruby, and amethyst pendant. the small diamonds form a heart which contain the larger amethyst and even larger ruby.

"Oh my god," she mutters.

"Do you like it?"

"Barney...is it..." she stammers. "It's our birthstones isn't it?"

"It is. Yours, the ruby, is bigger, and hers, the amethyst, is smaller. But they're both beautiful, like mother like daughter."

"But she's not even born yet. How do you know she's beautiful?"

"Because she's your daughter," he answers. "And come on, she's my daughter too," he scoffs. "Like we could make anything but a beautiful baby. "

"Good point, but you forgot something."

"What's that?"

"What if she's early? It's pretty likely that I'm not going to make it all the way to my due date."

"Then we get it switched," he says with a shrug. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure," he answers before she jumps on him to give him a hug. "Ooooo!" he exclaims excitedly, remembering the best part. "Turn it over!" Robin flips over the pendent, and reads the minuscule writing the back of the heart. She can't help but let one of tears that had been threatening to spill over leak out of her eye, because right in front of her is Brianna.

"You got it engraved," she smiles through her tears. "This is amazing."

"Just don't let anyone see if you want to keep her name a secret."

"I know," she admits. "I'm going to feel bad not showing Lily and Tracy though."

"Yes, but you know Lily and her secrets."

Robin chuckles at the thought. "Yeah, you're right. And you are right, I love it. Sorry your gifts aren't going to compare."

"That's ok Scherbatsky, this," he says rubbing her bump, "is the best gift in the world."

A couple of ties, some baby clothes and other various gifts later, they finish with a sigh of relief and stare at the tree. It is Robin that breaks them out of their Christmas wonderment.

"Barney?"

"Yeah?"

"What's that one back there?" she questions.

"What one?"

"That present," she says, pointing to the tree.

"What present?"

"The one setting behind the tree."

"There is one behind the tree?" Barney asks confused.

"Don't play stupid with me, Barney," she scolds.

"What?" he whines. "I'm not playing stupid. I promise. You unwrapped all of my gifts."

"Really? You unwrapped all of mine too."

"And there is still a present back there?" he asks.

"Yes," she groans. "Now can you go get it?"

He gets up off the bed and saunters over to the tree. He looks around and finds the hidden gift, almost hidden underneath the tree skirt.

"What is it?" Barney asks.

"I don't know," she replies. "Do you know?"

"No. I really have no idea where it came from," he answers. "Who is it to?"

"Me," Robin answers, looking over the package thoroughly. "That's strange. No tag either."

"So open it," Barney suggests.

"Ok." She slowly opens the elegantly wrapped gift, taking time not to tear the paper, or rip the ribbon bow. Once she's through the elegantly wrapped paper, she finds a caramel colored teddy bear with a pink ribbon around the neck, and a pink cashmere blanket. She also finds a small hand-written note. She reads it quickly, and the tears start to fall.

"What is it?" he asks, curious of what moved her so much.

"It's from my dad," she sobs.

Barney is shocked to say the least. Robin Sr., the man who raised the incredible woman who is his wife as a boy, just gave her a teddy bear and pink blanket for his granddaughter. He's accepting his granddaughter. As a girl. Not as the lesser sex to a boy, but as an actual girl.

"What does it say?" he asks.

She reads, all while choking up, "Robin, congratulations on your baby girl. I hope you can love her no matter what, unlike I did. I can't wait to meet her. Sincerely, Your father."

"I can't believe it," Barney mutters, pulling her into a hug. "How do you feel?"

"I don't know," she murmurs. "I don't know whether I should be sad for myself, or happy for her."

"I think you should be happy for the both of you. Yes, your childhood sucked, but it made you who you are, the woman I love, and we wouldn't be here without that. And she," he says, putting his hand on the bump once again while still keeping the other arm around her, "is going to have her grandfather in her life."

"How do you always know what I need to hear?"

"Because it's part of a thing I used to call feelings sickness."

She laughs at that, shaking her head about his old ways. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"So, this is our last Christmas just the two of us," she ponders.

"Yeah. It is. Can you imagine that next year, not only will she be here, but she will probably be crawling all over the place, and taking the ornaments off of the tree and trying to chew on them," he chuckles.

"God we are going to have our hands full aren't we?" she laughs.

"Depends on how much of me she has in her," he boasts proudly.

"Good point. The more of you, the more likely she is to be trouble."

"Hey!" he whines, offended by the implication. "Even so, it's going to be really different."

"Yeah, it is. Really different."

12/26/14

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of the readers and viewers of World Wide News! I hope you all had a great holiday season!

My husband and I had the joy of celebrating our last Christmas alone together yesterday. It was a very sweet day, and even though we spent the day just the two of us, with our friends being off with their own extended families, I wouldn't change a thing.

There was a tie this year for my favorite gift. My first favorite gift of the year was a necklace from my husband. It is a heart, with both mine and the baby's birthstone in the center. My other favorite gift was a teddy bear and a pink blanket from my dad. I know that he was really disappointed that she wouldn't be a grandson, but the gift shows that he has really changed, and that means more to me than you could possibly imagine.

Again, Merry Christmas to all of my readers! I hope you had a wonderful holiday!