disclaimer: I do not own HIMYM or anything related to it. This is my own what-if imagining only

Westchester, 2030

Barney pushed open the door to the Mosby living room. "You guys done in here? Tracy needs some help in the kitchen."

Penny turned pleading brown eyes in Barney's direction. "Uncle Barney, you have to save us."

"Dad's telling us how he met Mom. Again," Luke added.

Ted adjusted his spectacles. "It's a Mosby Thanksgiving tradition."

"Quit messing with the young padawans. You're getting them all confused. Penny's twirling her hair and Luke's mouth doing that twitching thing. Dude, you asked me to tell, you," he added as Luke's cheeks flushed red. "Chicks notice."

"I'm adding age-appropriate details."

Penny flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "He's making stuff up now, and none of it makes any sense."

"Yeah," Luke continued. "Dad said you and Aunt Robin got divorced in Argentina three years after you got married, then you knocked up some random girl and that's where Ellie comes from."

"Move over." Barney plopped himself onto the leather couch between Luke and Penny. "Really, Ted? Again? This was funny the first time, but now it's pathetic. You have to let this go."

Ted glared at Barney over the rims of his spectacles. "It's a morality tale. Luke and Penny have to learn that life doesn't always turn out the way we want it to. At any minute, the universe can rip everything good away from us without warning."

"Except," Barney added, "when it doesn't. Robin and I did have a huge fight in Argentina, and it's true that I did leave. For fifteen seconds. I walked out the door, turned around, walked back in and we talked about our issues like rational adults."

Penny shifted in her seat. "What did you guys talk about?"

"I will tell you when you're old enough to buy me a Scotch. We started seeing a therapist. I went back to work and started writing. Your Aunt Robin got her talk show. Ellie was a big surprise for both of us, but a good one, and here we all are now."

Ted wagged a finger at Barney. "But it could have all gone much, much worse."

"But it didn't. We're all together all the time. These kids have spent every July first of their lives making a run to the border to spend the weekend at Robin's mom's place. Ted, your story is full of holes. Nobody's going to believe that, not even kids. Life is good, and that's okay."

"I am trying to prepare them for what could happen. Death, divorce, unhappiness; life is full of that stuff, and it's my responsibility as a parent…"

Barney didn't let him finish. "To not bury your kids under a pile of depressing bullshit. If you go through life looking for all the weak spots, that's all you're going to find. Bad stuff is part of life, but so is friendship and love and marriage and fantastic jobs and great kids. We're all happy. We're all healthy. Tracy is in remission, and," he added, hauling himself to his feet, "she said she's only waiting dinner five more minutes. She is doing 'Circle of Life' with the turkey whether you're there to sing backup or not."

Ted heaved a dramatic sigh and pushed his chair back from the desk on squeaky wheels. "Fine, but we're reconvening after dessert."

"Does that mean we're done here?" Luke looked to Barney, not Ted.

"Not quite." Barney chanced a quick glance down the hallway. "Fifty bucks to whoever can refresh me on Marvin's girlfriend's name. Lesley? Lisa?"

"Leisl," they both replied at once.

Barney handed over two crisp bills. "You guys are lifesavers. So, this Leisl chick, is she cool?"

"Pretty cool," Penny answered with a shrug as they followed Ted out of the living room and down the hall. "But it's not like she's Marvin's The One or anything. He can do better."

The One, with that intonation. Barney tapped Ted on the shoulder and tilted his head toward Penny. The force is strong in this one. Time for a new story to begin.