Chapter 12

Barney and Robin finally had a routine which suited them. Barney was back at work; he would change and feed Arlo in the mornings before putting him back in bed with a barely awake Robin (who was still on maternity leave). Once Barney left, Robin would return Arlo to his cot while she went and got ready for the day and tried to get some housework done. The rest of the day, Robin and Arlo would do different activities, such as going to the park, baby groups, baby yoga, lunch with Barney and then a nap and playing. In the evening, Barney would spend time with Arlo, either Robin or Barney would cook or get takeaway, at least once a week Lily and Marshall would join them for dinner. The weekends were when they would spend time as a family.

It was on one of these days that an old friend decided to stop. Robin had been trying to get dinner prepared so all she had to do in the evening was turn the oven on. As Robin was cutting the carrots, she heard a faint knocking from the front door.

She was truly shocked to see Ted standing in front of her, "Ted?"

"Hey, Robin. Can I come in?"

Robin looked at the man in front of her moment, he looked like he always did with his hair mussed up as if he had just rolled out of bed when he had spent an hour perfecting it, his eyes widened to showcase his puppy dog eyes. She looked back, it wouldn't be long before Arlo woke up, but she had a feeling that Ted wouldn't be that easy to shake off. "Sure, come on in," she opened the wider letting Ted into the apartment.

They sat in the living room, and neither of them said a word for a while, clearly the silence was starting to get to Ted, he cleared his throat before asking, "How have you been?"

Robin stared at him, really is that the best you can do, she thought snidely, "I have been great."

"Um, that's great. Um did you get the gift I sent for the baby?"

"Yeah, it was nice of you to send it."

"Um, can I ask did you have a boy or a girl?"

"You don't know? I thought Lily or Marshall might have mentioned it."

"No, they seemed to avoid talking about you and Barney."

"Oh," Robin knew that Lily and Marshall struggled with the divide between their friends. She can only imagine how hard they must find it to juggle between them. "Um, we had a boy."

"Congrats," said Ted, he fell silent once again.

Robin was confused so she finally asked, "Why are you here, Ted?"

"Oh, me and Stella have been having some issues, so we decided to take a break. I am staying at Lily and Marshall's place," said Ted, showcasing his puppy dog eyes at her. "I came here because I wanted to talk about what happened."

"You want to talk about what happened? Ted, you freaked out after hearing that I was pregnant with Barney's baby" snapped Robin.

"What did you expect? How did you think I was going to react?" Ted snapped back, "I wanted this with you, I wanted you and I wanted to have children with you. Do you remember? And do you remember what you said to me back then? You said you wanted to travel, you didn't want kids, marriage to settle down."

Robin sighed, he was right she did want those things, she still did. But she also knew that she could have those things with Barney, he would support her no matter what. And in her heart, she knew that if she had said yes to Ted all those years ago, he would have supported her in the beginning, but it wouldn't have been long before he'd started to resent her.

"Ted, I did want those things. But what you don't understand is that I still want those things. I just didn't know I could have a relationship and kids while following my dreams. I am still planning on following my dreams, Ted, when I go back to work, I will be starting as a foreign correspondent."

"How? What about your baby?" Ted was confused.

"What do you mean, how? As for MY baby, Barney is going to be here to take care of OUR son."

Ted scoffed, "Do you really think Barney is mature enough to be taking care of a baby?"

Robin rolled her eyes; she knew that Ted would always see Barney as an immature playboy. He seems to have blinders on and to be very honest he wasn't around to see just how much Barney has changed since his mum's death and having a baby. "Of course, I trust Barney to care for our baby."

Ted was surprised to hear the confidence she had in Barney, but there was something that was bothering him more than her leaving the baby in Barney's care. "Do you really plan to leave your baby behind while you travel the world?"

His question showed Robin that he didn't know or understand her. "I am not leaving my baby behind!" Robin said sharply. "I am going back to work, just like thousands of mothers. The only thing that differs in my job is that I will have to travel to do my job. And to be very frank it's none of your business how Barney and I plan to raise OUR child." Robin raises her eyebrow, challenging Ted to say something.

The two of them sit there, and neither of them knows what to say. The silence is broken by crying coming through the baby monitor. Robin stands up and sweeps out of the room without saying a word. Ted sits where he is, through the monitor, he can hear Robin lightly murmuring to the baby, over the baby's wails. It doesn't take long for Robin to calm the baby down and he can hear her coming back. It takes a few minutes before Robin walks back into the room, this time she is holding the baby in her hand, he is covered by a gorgeous soft blue blanket, with his face planted in Robin's neck and in one hand she is holding a bottle. He watches as she sits down, she manoeuvres the baby until they are in a comfortable position before giving the baby the bottle of milk. Ted is truly surprised to see the soft smile that graces Robin's face, and he can't help but think this could have been them.

Robin keeps her gaze on Arlo as he drinks his milk, "What did you come here for Ted? To aggravate me and make me doubt Barney?"

"No no, that wasn't my intention. I just can't believe it, that's all."

Robin made sure to keep her eyes on Arlo, "Okay, I get that this is something that you have to see to believe. But can I ask you a question? Do you truly believe that we could have been happy? That you wouldn't have resented me leaving you and our kids. Because I think after a while you would have hated me and my ability to leave you and any kids that might have had."

Ted closed his eyes tightly, as he thought through Robin's words, "And you believe that Barney won't resent you or hate you," he stated, saying the words she had avoided saying.

"Yes," she said simply.

Ted nodded, he watched her for a few moments, he didn't understand the trust she had in Barney. But he also wanted to be a part of her life so he knew he couldn't keep stating his opinion. "I should go." He stood up without waiting for her reply. Just as he walked out of the room, he heard her say, "He will surprise you, Ted."

He looked back at her and said, "Maybe he will. I just wanted to say I am sorry for the way I reacted that day. I hope you can forgive me." He left after that, there was one stop he had to make.

/-/-/

Barney is in the middle of reading through a file that is long and frustrating, so when he looks up and sees Ted standing at the doorway, he is shocked.

"Ted?"

"Hey Barney, can we talk?" Ted asked sheepishly.

Barney closes the files that he was reading and gives Ted a single nod. Ted sits across Barney's desk. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Barney raises his eyebrow in reply to Ted's question. "It has," he said in a deadpan tone. "Why are you here, Ted?"

"Um, I know that Marshall told you that I might be staying with them for a while, and I wanted to talk to you about what happened."

"Why? You made your opinion clear that day."

"That's not fair. You guys sprung your news on me I just reacted, I know that my reaction was over the top. But I didn't have enough time to absorb the news," explained Ted, hoping that Barney understood just how unprepared he was for their news.

Barney nodded, after all, he and Robin had spoken in length about how Ted would react to their news back when they decided to tell the group about her pregnancy. They both had known that Ted would overreact.

Ted took Barney's silence to continue, "I went to see Robin today and I also apologized to her. that's why I am here, I need to apologize to you for what I said that said. I had no right to say what I said."

Barney sat there for a moment considering what Ted had just said. All he could bring himself to say was, "I understand why you reacted the way you did. Robin and I knew there was a chance that you guys could react like that. I also understand that you love Robin, and you will always love Robin, but you also know she isn't yours anymore and you hate that more than anything." Barney could see that he was right just from the look on Ted's face. "I don't know if I can forgive you for that, even if it was something I was expecting. But you are Marshall and Lily's best friend. That means that you will always be around. I think it's important that Robin and I find a way to move forward from what happened," said Barney reassuring Ted that one day they would go back to having the friendship they once had. "There is one thing you should remember, if you ever talk to Robin like that again I will ensure you end up in a ditch dead and unrecognisable."

Ted stared at Barney, that warning shook him, he had never thought of Barney as someone who should be feared. He looked at his friend and he nodded. The two men sit there in silence for a few moments, Ted doesn't know how to break the silence, so instead, he stands up and says, "I should go, I hope I see you guys soon." Ted stands just outside the door and says, "Thank you, Barney," before he walks away.

/-/-/

It took a couple of weeks for them to get used to the presence of Ted back in the group, the first time the whole group got together was in McLarens, Arlo had joined them for the evening as the only other people that they trusted to care for him were Lily and Marshall or Robin's mum. That first evening was spent in tense silence, Arlo spent some time hanging out in Lily's arms. Barney and Marshall were discussing something that had happened at work with Butterfield. Lily was telling Robin about how she caught one of her kids eating paper during an arts and crafts lesson.

Ted was sitting on the side of the table watching as his friends chatted with each other. He couldn't help but feel apart from them, Robin and Barney tended to keep to themselves around him. He felt like he had missed so much, there was a baby in the group now and if he was honest, he wasn't sure what the baby's name was, he would have to ask Marshall later on. On top of that things with Stella had gotten worse. He had gone down to her surgery so they could talk, but within minutes of being there, the two of them got into a massive argument. The two of them have been arguing since they got married, Ted had left his job and had struggled to find a job in New Jersey. Ted couldn't stop moaning about living in New Jersey, he found it hard to connect with Lucy and he truly hated the amount of time Tony spent with them. A part of him thought that Stella was still in love with Tony, which was why they spent so much time together, the three of them looked like a family with him standing on the sidelines. Before he had moved into Marshall and Lily's place, he and Stella had gotten into a massive argument which led to him accusing her of cheating on him with Tony.

Ted found himself wanting to tell the group what had happened, Marshall had asked one night while they were sat on the roof drinking, but Ted had refused to answer asking for some time. So, when Lily finally turned her attention to him and asked him, "So, how did your meeting with Stella go?"

Ted grimaced, Marshall and Barney turned to pay attention to them. Lily handed the baby back to Robin. "Not great. We got into a fight within minutes of me walking into her office."

"How could you get in a fight in minutes?"

"Tony was there," said Ted with a groan, "He is always around, I get that he is Lucy's dad. But come on me and Stella are newlyweds, we need some time to ourselves."

"I get that," agreed Marshall, with the rest of the group nodding in agreement.

"But that doesn't tell us why you into a fight with Stella."

"I may have asked her if she was sleeping with him- "

"Ted, man, are you serious?" groaned Marshall.

"You accused her of cheating?" Robin asked in surprise.

"No, it's just that I can't help but think that she is still in love with Tony, and I am the consolation prize. That's why she kicked me out, she thinks I don't trust her," Ted tried to explain.

"I agree with her, it doesn't sound like you trust her," said Barney quietly.

Ted snapped, "How can I trust her? I barely know her," Ted slumped back in his chair and said in a whisper, "Oh my god, I barely know her," Ted finally admitted it out loud. "How the hell could I get married to someone I don't know? How could let me marry her?" he asked turning to Marshall.

Marshall shook his head, he couldn't believe it, "Hey, you can't dump this on us. Lily and I both spoke to you before the wedding. YOU are the one who brushed it off."

Ted sat back, thinking back to what Marshall and Lily had said a couple of days before the wedding, in the very booth they were sitting in now. Neither Barney nor Robin had been around, Robin had been working in Japan and Barney and he were not talking. Marshall had told him that Barney had been in Japan the week of his wedding.

Robin and Barney stayed quiet, sharing a quick look. Neither of them wanted to say anything about Ted's decision to get married to the woman he dated for a couple of months. They were both thinking the same thing, Ted fell hard and fast, ignored the things that were right in front of him and married a woman he didn't know. They both knew that Marshall and Lily had the same concerns after Barney had returned from Japan, he had told her that Marshall had told him about the concerns he had about Ted's marriage.

Marshall and Lily had shared their own look, this had been exactly what they were afraid of happening. "Ted, you need to talk to her. This could be something else, you need to find out what is happening. Only then can you decide on what to do next" advised Lily, "Maybe you should think about going to a marriage counsellor." Ted nodded to Lily's advice it sounded sensible. He knew that he would need to give Stella some time to cool down before he suggested it to her.

Unable to take the awkward quietness that had once again settled between the group. Barney took note that Arlo had fallen asleep on Robin's shoulder and the uncomfortable look on Robin's face had nothing to do with the drool slowly falling onto her shoulder. Barney instead took Arlo from Robin carefully not wanting to disturb his son's slumber and said, "I think we are going to head home." Robin and Barney got Arlo ready without waking him up, there was a sense of satisfaction at seeing the look of amazement on Ted's face at seeing them with a baby and handling Arlo like a pro. Once they headed out, they released a sigh of relief, "That was so uncomfortable. Please tell me we don't have to do that again."

Barney called for a cab, "That was horrible, but you know that Lily is never going let us off the hook, she wants things to go back to the way they were." Robin groaned in utter disdain as she got in the cab, taking Arlo from Barney so he could get in, "404 Riverside Drive" giving the address to the cab driver. "What did you think of what Ted said? And do you think Stella cheated on Ted?"

"Ted is Ted, he can't help himself at times."

Barney hummed in agreement, "And Stella?"

"To be honest I hardly knew her to be able to say anything," Robin said with a shrug.

Barney agreed he barely had a chance to get to know Stella either. What he did know about her was that she wasn't Ted's type and that she was an overcorrection. Barney told Robin what he thought.

"You mean that she is so different from me," stated Robin.

"Well, you didn't want kids, marriage, to put down roots. Whereas Stella had a kid, a house, and a job, she wanted a relationship that could lead to marriage. That's what Ted fell for," Barney explained.

"And look at me now, in a relationship, a baby. I am putting down roots," Robins kisses Arlo's head and looks at Barney, "Neither of us were looking for this, it just fell into our laps."

"The greatest surprise ever" Barney squeezed Robin's thigh. "That's why Ted lashed out the way he did because you were having all this with me instead of him. He is always going to love you Robin, he might deny it now, but he does."

Robin shook her head, "If Ted had his way I would never be able to travel for work. I know what you are trying to say but I don't think of him that way. I love you, Barney, I love the life we are building." Robin squeezed the hand that was on her thigh. "I know that even with Arlo here now, I will be going back to work. We planned this life so it works for both of us, it won't always be perfect, but we will be happy. I know you support me enough to let me work and travel as I need to."

"Of course, I do. I love you, Robin," Barney whispered, kissing Robin's temple.

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