Chapter 9

Two and half months later

In the past two and half months so much had changed in their lives, that neither Barney nor Robin could believe. Robin had spent a month in Japan working as a foreign correspondent, she loved the job and the time she spent there. Barney had been very supportive and had come down for a week. After the month in Japan came to an end, Robin came back to find that Barney had sold his apartment and bought a gorgeous apartment in Strathmore, it had four bedrooms, an extensive office/ library, and a modern kitchen that made her want to cook, a beautiful living room with a view of central park. After seeing his new place, together they decided to live together, instead of her looking for a new place. That was not the only new thing in her life CBS News had offered a job as a foreign news reporter, she would be able to travel the world covering major news after her maternity leave ended. Until the start of her maternity leave, Robin was currently supporting the team in research.

That was not the only thing to change, Marshall and Lily had officially moved into their new apartment. However, the biggest change was that Ted had married Stella, and according to Lily, they had decided to take Stella's sister's wedding after her fiancé left her. Marshall quietly told Robin that Barney had planned his holiday to Japan that week so that he wouldn't have to deal with the fact that Ted had not invited him to the wedding. Ted had also moved to New Jersey and was living at Stella's house. He had moved out of New York before Robin had gotten back.

/-/-/

Now that she was 21 weeks, the baby was the size of a carrot, they were finally going to be able to find out the baby's gender. In their previous appointment, the baby had decided to moon them through the entire appointment. As they watched the doctor measured the length of the baby and checked the overall health of the baby.

"Hopefully, Barney Jr. will stop mooning us," whispered Barney, squeezing Robin's hand lightly.

"We are not naming the baby Barney Jr." said an exasperated Robin, Barney had been dropping hints about naming the baby after him.

Before a very familiar argument could erupt the doctor interrupted them, "Your baby is growing perfectly, you can see the baby's arms here" Just then the baby seemed to move its hand, almost like the baby was waving to them. The screen showing their baby had completely captured the attention, seeing this the doctor turned on the sound, letting the sound of the baby's heartbeat fill the room.

After a couple of minutes, the doctor asked them, "Now, would you like to know the gender of the baby?"

"YES!" "YES!" answered both the parents-to-be, in unison.

The doctor grinned, "Well, we are in luck the baby is not mooning us today. Congratulations you two, you are having a baby boy."

"Awesome" whispered Barney, in his mind, he couldn't believe that he was having a baby, let alone a baby boy.

While Robin was shocked, she couldn't believe she was going to have a baby boy. She didn't even realise tears were flowing from her eyes. The thought that ran through her mind was that, at least she would be able to teach her son, some of the things that her father once taught her.

While Robin was distracted, Barney answered the doctor about the number of ultrasound picture copies they needed. Once the doctor and Barney left to get the pictures, Robin quietly got ready to leave.

Later that night, both Barney and Robin were in bed. Barney turned to his side, watching Robin rub shea butter lotion on her bump in hopes of avoiding stretch marks.

"We need to find the perfect name for our son, a name that shows how awesome his parents are."

Robin hummed in response, "I was thinking we should both make a list of names that we both like and then we can choose the name we both like."

"Ok, deal," Barney was distracted by Robin's boobs, "but right now let me help you." One hand strayed to Robin's boobs slowly massaging them, he pinched her nipples lightly causing Robin to moan in pleasure. While his hand slowly slid down her pants to tease her clit, Robin instantly let her legs open up wider in response, she was instantly wet having become more sensitive in her pregnancy.

/-/-/

The next day

While Marshall had been working on a new proposal for the meeting, he and Barney were going to have with the JJP and Sons corporation. When he got a message from Bea, Barney's assistant that Barney wanted to see him.

The first thing that Marshall noticed when he walked into Barney's office was the massive whiteboard, that Barney was staring at. "Barney please tell me you are not planning more pranks against Butterfield" he huffed in exasperation.

Barney whirled around, startled, "Oh it's you. What? Pfft, that's not why I called you here."

"Oh, ok then. What's up?"

"Robin and I have decided to make a list of names for the baby, she is taking the girl's names. I have the boy's names. I have to find the most awesome name for my baby. So, I need your help."

"Of course, I will help."

The rest of the day was spent thinking of the perfect baby names for a baby boy. Barney had bought a few baby name books. Marshall was searching for baby names on the internet and the two of them were also thinking of names from their favourite movies.

/-/-/

While Barney and Marshall were spending their day trying to find the perfect name, Robin was trying to work up the courage to call her mum. Since finding out about her pregnancy, Robin had been on tenterhooks about how to break the news to her mum. Finally, she figured the best thing to do was to get it over with, no matter what happens in the end.

"Hello, darling. How are you?"

"Hi Mum, I am ok, how are you? How is Katie? I haven't spoken to her in the past couple of days."

"Oh darling, I am absolutely fantastic, and Katie has been great, she's on a camping trip from her school. She will be back in a couple of days."

"Oh, ok sounds good. Anyway, the reason that I called you mum was because there's something that I need to tell you."

"Of course, darling, is everything ok?"

"Yeah, Mum it's all good but I have some news. CBS News has offered me a job as a Foreign News Correspondent."

"That's great, darling. When do you start?"

"Oh um, I start next year- "

"Next year, why on earth do they have you starting from next year? What will you be doing until then?"

"Um, that's what I wanted to tell you. Mum, please don't freak out. I AM PREGNANT!" Robin shouted down the phone.

"What? Are you joking?"

"I wish this was a joke. No Mum, I really am pregnant."

"Right" came the faint reply, "Can I ask what your plan is? Who is the father?"

"It's Barney, he is the father. I know this wasn't something that was planned but it is something that has happened. Well, my plan is to have the baby."

"And then what? What happens after you have had the baby? Does Barney support you? Are you planning to get married?"

"I am keeping my baby mum. Yes, Barney does support me and NO we are not getting married. But we are planning to raise the baby together. Mum please, I need to know you are ok with this and that you are going to support us."

"Oh, my darling, of course, I support you. I can't say that this was what I was expecting you to say, but that doesn't mean that I won't support you. I love you, Robin. Now tell me, how far along are you? Do you know the gender? How will it work when you go back to work and need to travel?"

Robin sighed in relief, "I am 21 weeks along, we found out the gender yesterday. I am having a baby boy, Mum."

"Oh, my darling, my baby is having a baby boy," cried Genevieve.

Robin teared up listening to her mum but continued to answer her questions, "At the moment CBS have me doing research and supporting the reporters. I will be going on maternity leave, a couple of weeks before my due date. After my maternity leave, I will start my job as a foreign news correspondent. Barney and I were thinking of hiring a nanny and Barney will be able to work from home a couple of days a week. Before I forget I wanted to let you know that I have moved in with Barney, he's got a new place and at the moment it just makes sense to live together."

"Well, it sounds like you have everything figured out. Robin, when are you due?"

"Thanks, Mum. Oh, I am due at the beginning of March. Hey, mum can you not tell Katie, I want to tell her myself."

"Oh, she will be so surprised, but she will be so happy. You should expect a lot of parcels once you tell her," Genevieve laughed lightly. "Robin, do you plan to tell your father your news?"

"No, he won't care anyway." Genevieve could hear the resentment in Robin's voice.

"That's not true. Your father does love you in his own way. He just doesn't know how to show it. But I won't force you to tell him if you don't want to," Genevieve quietly reassured her oldest daughter.

Hearing the quiet you should tell your father, in her mum's voice made Robin groan, "I will think about telling him, okay?"

"There's my girl, I have to run darling. I will talk to you later."

"That's fine mum. I will send you a copy of the ultrasound. I love you too."

Robin had a small smile on her face after she put the phone down, there was a sense of relief filled her. Letting out a shaky breath that she had been holding in, she was so happy that her mum was so supportive. Not only that but she seemed to be excited about the idea of having a grandchild.

She thought about what her mum said about telling her father about the baby, in some way, she knew that her father would be happy, maybe because there was finally a boy that he could mould the way he once tried with her. But after everything that had happened, she couldn't bring herself to tell her father about her baby boy.

Later that evening, found the two couples, at Robin and Barney's new apartment. The four of them worked together to put the last finishing touches around the apartment, placing Robin's and Barney's personal touches in place. Barney had hired movers and decorators to set up the apartment so that there wasn't much to do other than a few small jobs around the apartment.

While tackling the main bedroom, Barney and Marshall moved around the furniture, Robin directed them while helping Lily put the clothes away. Robin told them about finally telling her mum about the baby.

"So, she is okay about you being pregnant?" asked Marshall, his voice strained from carrying around heavy furniture.

"Well, I wouldn't say she is okay about it, but she is being supportive," called out Robin from the depths of the walk-in wardrobe.

"So, you really don't plan to tell your dad about the pregnancy?" Marshall couldn't fathom the idea of not telling his father something so important.

"No" came loud and clear from the walk-in wardrobe.

Lily scoffed, she knew what he was thinking about, "I know what you are thinking Marshall, but it's different for us," pointing at the rest of them, "You've got a dad that cares about you and is someone that you are close to. You don't know what it's like to have a father who is never around or doesn't care about their kid. I wouldn't want my dad around in crisis or just generally part of my life. And you know this, Marshall."

Marshall looked at Barney who had kept silent in this conversation and then at his wife, he glanced at the walk-in wardrobe where Robin was. He knew that Robin and Lily didn't have a great relationship with their fathers, but Barney had never even known who his father was. Marshall couldn't help but think that Lily was right, he had no idea what he would do in this situation if he was in their shoes.

The rest of the night was spent talking, joking, and finally sitting down to eat once they finally finished setting up the apartment. Lily and Marshall tried to pry the gender of the baby from the parents-to-be, even though the two of them had already told them that they were keeping the gender a secret and only Robin's mum knew the gender of the baby.

Finally, Marshall and Lily left to head home, Robin and Barney sat on their brand-new sofa enjoying a glass of non-alcoholic wine. Robin took a large sip of the non-alcoholic wine, hoping it would give her some courage. She wanted to Barney a question that had been nagging her since the whole conversation about fathers. "Barney, can I ask you a question? You can tell if you think I am out of line."

Barney took in the serious look on her face and slowly nodded, before taking a sip of his drink, "Sure you can ask me."

"You know we were talking about fathers today," Barney nodded at her statement, "You were so quiet during that conversation. I couldn't help but wonder, have you thought about looking for your dad?"

Barney sat there in silence for a few minutes, he wasn't sure how to answer her question. If he was being honest with himself, looking for his father was something that had thought about after hearing his baby's heartbeat for the first time. "I- Um I did think about it after your first ultrasound and after we first heard the baby's heartbeat. But when I went down to my mum's grave the only thing that I could think about was that she was the person who had been both a mother and father to me. She was the only person I needed, and now when I need her, I just have to go to her grave and talk to her. You know she left me an envelope with my father's details, but I don't know if I want to know who he is. To be very honest I don't want to ruin my mum's memory by trying to find the man who left me before I was born."

"Oh Barney" Robin put down her wine, slid herself closer to him, and cuddled up to him. Barney sighed and wrapped his arm around Robin's shoulders. "Barney, just know this if you do decide to look for your father, I promise that you will never ruin your mother's memory. She wouldn't have left his details if she didn't want you to know."

Barney held her tighter to him and kissed the top of her head, "Thank you, Robin. Now enough of this depressing subject and let's talk about the idea that you had last night. I hope you have your list ready."

Robin got up and pulled out a piece of paper from her bag, while Barney got up and headed to the bedroom where he had left his suit jacket. Coming back to the living room holding a piece of paper, "I have an idea. For each name I say that you like you have to remove a piece of clothing and I will do the same for the names I like from your list."

Robin responded by taking off her right sock, and purred, "Agreed."