A/N: I still don't really know how to feel about the finale, I guess. But I'm certain that Robin and Ted would never end up together, so this is how I'd have pictured it went. Oh, and I wrote this kind of quickly and didn't check it through, so sorry for any mistakes or OOC'ness :)

As soon as his dad leaves the house, nearly skipping in glee, Luke turns to face his sister.

"Penny...you don't think this is actually going to happen, right?"

His older sister scoffs. "Of course not! Get your head out your ass. Haven't you been listening to whatever he's been yakking on about in the last few hours? Trust me, Aunt Robin's going to reject dad faster than the time Uncle Marshall got hit by that bus."

"I think that was Uncle Barney, actually..." Luke mutters. He doesn't want to admit it, but he had actually found the whole story kind of entertaining.

"Oh, who cares? He's been telling us so many of those damn stories that I literally can't even remember any of them. Anyway, we only told dad to go after Aunt Robin because Uncle Marshall made us, remember? He really wants to win that $5."

"So...we won't be getting a new step-mom?" Although Luke did like Aunt Robin, nobody could have ever replaced his mom.

"Nope. Trust me, Luke. Dad will come home all rejected with his blue French horn, and we'll just have to cheer him up in the morning." Penny glances at the clock, and sighs.

"Anyway, I have to do my homework."

Before she leaves the room, Luke calls out her name. She stops, and glances at her little brother.

"What?"

"I...um, I miss mom. A lot."

Penny tilts her head, and sighs, and glances at the dusty yellow umbrella lying in the corner of the room, which had not been used since their mother's funeral.

"Me too, Luke."

And then she pats him on the back (and he protests a bit), and she leaves.

It's already kind of late at night when Ted finally comes home.

"Hey! Luke! Give your old man a high five!" He exclaims.

"What happened? Did Aunt Robin say yes?"

Ted's smile falters just a bit. "Not exactly-she kind of smiled and invited me to her room, and she gave me a little talk on how she was happy being independent. Then I invited her to dinner and she said she'd think about it, and then made me leave because she needed to take a shower or something. But, you know, it still could happen..."

Luke raises his eyebrows.

"Hey. What are you making that face for? Don't you have any confidence in your old man at all?"

Luke half-smiles, and shakes his head, and Ted finally lets out a sigh.

"Okay-I know it's not going to happen. But I don't know, it's been so lonely since your mother passed away, and your Aunt Robin was available...I should have just left her alone, huh? I feel like an idiot."

"Dad. You're not an idiot." Luke says.

Ted glances at his son, and smiles, and wraps on arms around him and smiles.

"Thanks, Luke Skywalker."

"Dad! I thought we agreed that you'd never call me that ever again! It's a really stupid childhood nickname..." (Luke doesn't mention that it was always his mom that called him that, and no one else was allowed.)

Ted sighs.

"Wow, you kids get old so fast, huh? Remember when you and your mother used to sing together back when you were younger? You have a good voice, you know."

"Thanks, dad. Hey, remember that time in fifth grade when I entered the talent show singing Let's Go to the Mall, and I came second place? Mom was so proud, remember?"

"I remember. I also remember that your Uncle Barney recorded the whole thing and sent it to your Aunt Robin."

Luke chuckles at that memory.

"And the time that we went to Disneyland, and you and mom both puked over Mickey Mouse?"

Ted grimaces.

"I'd like to forget that actually happened, actually."

They sit there for the next half hour, talking about all the things they did as a family, until Luke finally sighs.

"Penny used to be so nice to me, huh?"

"She still is, isn't she?"

"Not really. Not since mom died."

"Well, you know how close she was with your mother..."

"Yeah. I understand."

Ted doesn't say anything for a while, and they sit in silence until Luke speaks up again.

"This is going to make me sound like a sissy, but, um..."

"Hey. You'll never going to be as much as a sissy as I was, Luke. What is it?"

Luke takes a deep breath. "I miss mom, dad. I miss her so much."

Ted gives a small smile. "We all do."

Then, for some reason, Luke feels angry because it doesn't seem like Ted does. Anyway, if he missed her so much, why did he barely even talk about her until the last few minutes of the story?

"It doesn't really seem like it, though! This whole time you've been talking about nothing but goats and Uncle Barney sleeping with millions of women and a super long wedding and of course how much you love Aunt Robin! Why does it seem like you barely care about mom at all?"

He yells this all in a rush before he can stop himself. Ted looks a little wounded, but then glances at his son with slightly teary eyes and sighs.

"Luke. I love your mom so, so much, and I always will. That's a fact, okay? I might have told you and Penny countless of extremely interesting things, but the fact that I love your mother more than anything-besides you two kids, of course- is the one most important fact on this galaxy. I can't talk about her for more than five minutes at a time without breaking down, because I just miss her so much, Luke, and without her it feels like there's a part of me that's...gone. You want the truth? I don't want Aunt Robin back, at all. I was just feeling stupid and lonely, and I needed another woman to love in my life. But that was an idiotic plan, and anyway, I've got you and your sister, and that's more than enough."

This time, Luke can't help it and he starts to cry, tears rolling down his eyes and he feels so embarrassed but he can't stop. "It's just a little unfair, you know? I've only known mom for seven years, and both you and Penny had known her longer than that. I just want to know what she was like, and what she did, and what you two did...but now I'll never know and it's not fair, Marvin and the other two have both their parents and even Ellie's mom is probably alive...somewhere. I just want mom to come back..."

"Hey. It's okay. Come over here." Ted pats the side of the sofa, and Luke sits down next to him. He watches as Ted takes a deep breath, and gives his son a watery smile.

"I can't bring back your mother, Luke. Nobody can. But I can tell you more about her, if you want."

Luke doesn't say anything, but he nods.

"It was the summer of 2015, and your mother and I were buying a stroller for your sister Penny..."