Chapter Text
According to the rest of the Internet, I’m not the only one who was upset with the ending. This is how I always imagined it would play out. Hope you enjoy!
“And that, kids, is how I met your mother.” Ted smiled at Penny and Luke. “And that only took up a few hours, so who’s up for another story?”
“No!” they yelled in unison.
“Dad, you’ve kept us in here all day, can’t we leave?” Penny whined.
“Yeah, Dad, you’ve already told us most of that story. Can’t you come up with anything new?” Luke grumbled.
Ted sighed. “Hey, you just heard some pretty legendary stuff. Don’t take it lightly. Now, what have you learned?”
The kids rolled their eyes. “That we shouldn’t get a pet goat?” suggested Penny.
“That Uncle Barney has all the moves and you can’t flirt?” Luke asked.
“That it’s better to not ask where the pineapple came from?”
“That it’s okay to lose your umbrella?”
“That nothing good happens after 2 AM?”
“That—”
“Are you holding the children hostage again, Ted?” Tracy walked in, trying to contain her grin. “I thought we agreed on a one hour max of storytelling each day.”
Ted’s eyes softened as he looked at his wife. “I was telling the kids the story of I met you.”
Tracy rested her hands on the back of the old red couch, looking first at her husband, and then at her two wonderful children. “Let me think…it was raining, we were at a train station, and it was after your Uncle Barney and Aunt Robin got married. He tapped me on the shoulder and we talked for a while. And that’s how I met your father.”
Penny whirled back around to look at her dad. “You mean that’s all you had to tell us? We could have left ages ago!”
“Yeah, Dad, Marshall and Liam are in town, we were going to hang out all day, and now we only have a few hours.”
Tracy looked at the teenagers. “Go on, get out of here. Have fun. Live life.”
They bolted for the door, letting it swing shut behind them.
Ted sighed. “I thought they would like that story. I love the way we met, and I wanted them to understand that.”
Tracy walked over to Ted and sat on his lap, taking his hand. “I love the way we met, too. But they’re kids. Someday, they’ll appreciate all those stories. But for now, they need to make their own.”
“You’re right,” Ted said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her forehead. “What would I do without you?”
Tracy looked back into Ted’s eyes. “I don’t know. And I’m glad we’ll never have to find out.”
how i met your mother