OLDER TED: Kids, your Aunt Lily has always been
one of those people who loves their birthday. Loves it.
(BEEPING)
It's my birthday!
So it's a good thing she married Marshall.
(BEEPING)
It's still my birthday!
Because he loves planning birthdays.
Feliz Cumpleanos, baby.
The theme of today's birthday breakfast in bed is Spanish Interlude.
(SPANISH MUSIC PLAYING)
Yay!
It's, uh...
How on Earth did we end up in the lyrical rolling hills of Northern Spain?
Yay!
Baby, tonight is gonna be so much fun.
Just the five of us, black-tie dinner,
and Ted is picking up your favorite
cognac pumpkin cheesecake from Edgar's.
Yay!
Okay. I am off to run your super secret birthday errand.
Yay!
And I'm taking this guy with me,
because I don't like the way he's looking at you.
Yay.
A new camera.
Oh, thank you, Marshall! I love it!
(CLEARS THROAT) Well, a little bonus.
I took some naked pictures of myself
before I wrapped it, put a bow on it.
There wasn't a bow on it.
Wrong "it."
(GASPS)
Thank you, honey. I'm gonna get some great shots of our little group with this.
(BOTH GROAN)
OLDER TED: Now, kids, you've seen your Aunt Lily's photo albums:
leather bound, acid-free paper,
adorable handwritten captions.
And most importantly, the group shot.
Cute photo, right, kids?
But what you don't see is what happened 10 seconds before this picture was taken.
Okay, I wanna get the perfect group shot.
Marshall, sit between Robin and Barney.
Why?
Oh, you know, light, color balance, aperture.
You're just saying camera words. Wait.
You don't want Barney and me to look like a couple in this picture, do you?
Of course I don't! You two aren't gonna last. I'm going for timeless here.
How dare you!
That is so rude!
It's true. Totally true.
We're running on fumes here. But still rude.
(CAMERA CLICKS)
OLDER TED: We hated Lily's group shots.
Okay, maybe I get a little bossy,
but I just wanna remember those times.
Like tonight. I can't imagine a better birthday
than being here, with just my four best friends.
Yay! (KNOCKING ON DOOR)
And Ted's here now. Yay!
Happy birthday!
This is Amanda.
(SHAKILY) And Amanda. Yay.
Ted, you were supposed to bring a cheesecake,
but instead you brought two grocery bags
and a woman we've never seen before.
Hi, I'm Marshall. Welcome to our home.
Start talking.
Well, Amanda's gonna make Lily a cake. She's a chef.
We met when I was at a restaurant last week, and I sent some soup back.
Luckily she's got such pretty hair,
I didn't mind eating a little bit of it.
They call me The Shedder at work.
(CHUCKLING NERVOUSLY) I'm so glad you're making my birthday cake.
In honor of Lily's 32nd birthday,
I've got a lot of great games planned, starting with Lilial Pursuit.
Ah, clever.
Okay, who's got number one?
I do.
Of course you do. Okay, Amanda goes first.
Thirty-two seconds on the clock
to answer as many questions as possible.
And, go!
Question one, what is Lily's favorite color? (TICKING)
Well, she's wearing pink,
so I'm gonna say pink.
Yeah, that's Robin.
Oh. Uh...
Her favorite color is elbow. (MOUTHING) Yellow.
I believe Ted was mouthing the word "yellow."
Which also would've been wrong.
This game is called Gilding The Lily.
Nice. Thank you.
Okay, you've all written down your favorite things about the birthday girl,
and, Lily-pad, you guess who wrote what.
"Lily makes everyone in her life, from her friends to her students..."
(WHISPERING) Lily's a kindergarten teacher.
That's what he means by students.
"...feel loved. She makes the best oatmeal raisin cookies ever,
"can recite every line from Goonies..."
Lily saw Goonies in the theater right after her parents separated.
For a long time after that, she had real trouble trusting people.
Ted!
"...and she's the strongest person I've ever met.
"I can't imagine my life without her. I love you, Lily."
Aw! Robin.
Of course it was me.
Come on.
So sweet. Okay.
(ROBIN AND LILY EXCLAIMING)
Lily, you try to guess who wrote this.
(GULPING)
"You seem really nice."
Oh.
I'm gonna guess Amanda.
No, that was me.
And I meant every word.
Well, I should get back to that cake.
Okay, let me know if you need anything.
All right, quick, let's do the group photo.
Everybody gather around the fireplace.
Wait, hang on. I'll let Amanda know.
Oh, no, that's okay. She's busy in the kitchen.
Let's not bother her. Come on. (CLICKS TONGUE)
Wait, hang on a second.
You don't want Amanda in the photo, do you?
No, no. It's just, you know, auto focus, shutter speed, zoom.
Lily, what's going on?
Who wants a party hat?
Hey, look. Look, I'm a bird!
Let's all be birds!
Lily! Tell me the truth! No, of course not!
I'm not gonna let another one of your dumb skanks ruin my precious memories!
(CLICKS)
Lily, what are you talking about?
Ted, you always do this.
You bring girls that we barely know to all our big group events.
I do not! Oh, really?
Oh. Well, let's just take a little walk down Random Skank Lane.
Or we could just keep on strolling down Best Birthday Ever Avenue.
Do I get a vote? Skank Lane. Skank Lane!
Hey, hey, guys, I've composed a song for the evening.
Follow along. The chorus goes like this.
* Happy, Happy Lily Day Happy, Happy... *
Christmas morning, four years ago.
Our first Christmas together, just the five of us.
Oh, Ted, here's another fun little trivia game.
It's called Name That Bitch.
It's... It is... Sa... San...
Wrong. You're thinking of Santa, 'cause it was Christmas.
Fun fact, each year, my mother has Easter tea with her friend Bunny.
(CHUCKLING) Okay, not that fun.
Yeah, I remember her name. It's Sara.
Close. It's Lailanie. She just had to come to Christmas
because you said, "Guys, she might be the one."
And she's not the only "might be the one."
New Year's Eve, 2007.
Barney, Lily, Robin, Ted, Marshall, and "she's the one" Emily.
Robin's Uncle Cecil's funeral.
Marshall, Lily, Robin, Barney, Ted,
and "this-just-proves-you- find-the-one-when-you're- not-looking" Isabelle.
My appendix surgery.
Robin, Marshall, Barney, Lily, Ted, and...
Well, this one you admitted, you were just trying to bang.
Respect.
Oh, hey, remember this yoga instructor
you brought to my birthday last year?
ALL: * ...you
Thank you. Oh, my God.
You guys are not gonna believe who just came in.
Don't look, don't look! Why aren't you looking?
It's Slash from Guns N' Roses.
ALL: Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Okay, okay. Group shot. Group shot! Come on!
And we got it! We got a picture with Slash on my birthday.
Awesome, right? Right?
We were there. We know how this ends.
Wrong!
ROBIN: You know what's funny about this picture?
He was grabbing my ass.
LILY: Really? He was grabbing my ass, too.
How many hands does that guy have?
No wonder he's such a good guitarist.
Actually, sorry, dude. I thought that you were Lily.
Wait a second, look at these pictures again.
Barney has the same pose in each shot, and these are, like, years apart.
Ah, yes, about that. I never take a bad picture.
Never have. Never will.
(SCOFFS) Dude, there has to be a bad picture of you.
Nope! Not one.
What about from elementary school?
Everyone has bad pictures from school.
Not the Barnacle.
I always look drop-dead, stone-cold amazing.
Unlike Marshall, who just looks dead, stoned, and cold.
OLDER TED: He was right, kids.
Your Uncle Marshall does a lot of things well,
but he does not take a good picture.
They're not all bad, okay? Like, here.
Here, look at this one, my eyes are open.
Marshall, no! You did put a bow on it!
Chip and dip, Barney? Sure.
A-ha! (CLICKS)
Got it! A bad picture.
Is it, though?
No, wait. You were eating a chip!
Where's the chip?
It is physically impossible for me to take a bad picture.
I don't know why. Ask God.
Look, Lily, I'm sorry about Amanda, but I'm just gonna say it.
You are being a birthday brat.
(GASPS)
You're all bent out of shape just 'cause you think I ruined a couple of pictures?
(CHUCKLING) Oh, Ted, these girls have ruined so many events.
Or are you forgetting Paris?
What happened in Paris?
It was junior year, and I was studying abroad in Paris,
and hadn't seen Marshall for two months.
Two months!
And I had just started having sex.
I wasn't ready to stop for two months.
And Marshall was coming to visit over spring break.
And at the last minute, Ted decided to come with the girl
he had just gotten back together with, Karen.
Karen.
I am so excited you're here.
I'm so excited to go to Paris.
I'm so excited to have sex again.
LILY: But just before the plane took off...
Wait, I wanna tell you something.
Really? 'Cause I think I wanna tell you the same thing.
Is your thing, "I had sex with my philosophy professor last night"?
'Cause that's my thing.
LILY: And thus began the longest seven-and-a-half hours of Marshall's life.
(RAP MUSIC PLAYING)
(INAUDIBLE)
When I picked them up at the airport...
Ted broke up with me.
I need to sleep in your room this week.
Marshall can bunk with Ted.
(INAUDIBLE)
Two months! My balls were bleues! Bleues!
This will come as no shock, but the rest of the trip was terrible.
(RAP MUSIC PLAYING)
And all I wanted was a romantic kiss picture
in front of the Eiffel Tower, which I actually did get.
It just happened to be between Karen and Francois,
our waiter from the day before.
Wow, that's just awful. Just, just, just...
(CLATTERS)
Oh, whoopsie, hey, I dropped my phone. You mind picking it up for me?
Oh, sure. Smile, you son-of-a-bitch!
Got it!
Did you, though?
What? How do you do that? You weren't even standing up.
The camera loves me, Robin.
More than loves me. The camera lusts after me.
The camera wants to put on some nice lingerie, pop in an Al Green CD,
dim the lights, and do all the work,
while I just lie there with my eyes closed.
(CLICKS TONGUE)
Look, I'm sorry about Paris, and all the ruined group shots.
But when you're single,
you gotta hope that each next new girl is the one.
I mean, Erin. Emily.
Irene. Isabelle.
And Sara.
It's Lailanie. What is wrong with you?
At the time, yes.
I thought each of these girls could be the one.
But I gotta stay hopeful. I mean, what's the alternative?
Here's the alternative.
How about no more random skanks at my birthday?
Hey, sweetie.
Uh, do you guys have a cooling rack?
Oh, drawer under the oven.
Can't wait. You're just the best.
And, Ted, I'm sorry.
I'm gonna have to agree with Lily on this.
I mean, these kind of events are hard for a new person.
That's why I didn't bring Don tonight.
I mean, when I lived in Japan,
this guy, for our third date, brought me to his brother's wedding.
Now I, a total stranger, am in that Japanese couple's
wedding picture for all eternity.
(CLICKS)
(SPEAKING JAPANESE)
Yeah, Ted, I think you should listen to Robin.
Right. Right.
'Cause Robin's your best friend. Exactly.
Your best friend in the whole world. Absolutely.
(WHISPERING) Careful, Lily. It's a trap.
And before she was your best friend, what was she?
Oh, that's right, one of my random skanks.
Hey! Okay, yes, Ted.
This particular skank... Hey!
...happened to work out. But she's the skanky exception,
not the skanky rule.
Hey, I'm crying a little bit.
Okay. Hey, guys, that about wraps up this whole skank conversation.
Let's get back to the birthday song.
Okay, Barney, your part goes like this.
* She's cute
Lily, I bring girls to these events
because you guys are important to me.
You're my family.
And, hey, Robin. Hey, Robin. Robin. Your part goes like this.
(SINGING IN FALSETTO) * And nice
* And oh, so nice
Yes, we're a family.
So, why can't these events ever just be us?
Like the time we celebrated Marshall passing the bar exam.
Hey, guys. This is the disgusting, smelly hippie I'm dating.
ALL: Hey.
I did not say that.
Well, you might as well have.
Hey, guys. This is Strawberry.
Hey. Hey.
Um, should we order some more food?
Oh, no, Strawberry's not eating.
I'm a vegetarian.
Okay.
Well, let's all raise a glass.
For the last three years, Marshall has been working so hard,
and I am so proud of you.
Meat is murder!
(SCREAMING) Meat is murder!
Okay, I admit it. Strawberry was a mistake.
But how could I have known that going in?
ALL: Her name was Strawberry!
Look, if it's such a big deal, Amanda doesn't have to be in the group photo.
But I promise, she's not gonna ruin your birthday.
Just give her a chance. See, look, guys,
we're all friends again! Now let's work on those harmonies.
* Happy, Happy Lily Day
All done! I hope you like it.
"Happy 42nd birthday, Lori."
OLDER TED: Kids, you know how I've told you about Lily's you're-dead-to-me look?
That expression she gets just before she explodes in white-hot rage?
Well, this wasn't it.
(CHUCKLES)
But this was Marshall's.
Forty-second? Does this hot piece of ass look 42 to you?
Or does she look like her name is Lori?
Oh, Marshall, it's okay.
No, Lily, it's not okay!
Ted, get this stranger out of my house.
I am so sorry.
Out!
(DOOR CLOSES)
* Happy, Happy Lily Day Happy, Happy Lily Day *
Well, Amanda refused to come back. She thinks you guys hate her.
Marshall, you have to go apologize.
You ruined Lily's birthday, and you want me to apologize.
If anything, you should apologize to me.
What are you talking about?
Ted, you bring girls to these intimate events,
and it makes them think that things are really serious.
And then, when you break up with them,
you know who they turn to? Me.
I've been your girlfriend clean-up crew for years.
February, 2005. I had just come back from a marathon study session
at the law library.
Hey, hey, Natalie. Where's Ted?
We broke up. Again.
Uh-oh.
Won't you sit with me for a little while? Just sit.
Oh, man. You know what? I've been up for, like, 36 hours.
(SOBBING INCOHERENTLY) Yeah, but I don't have anyone else to talk to.
Just for a few minutes. Thanks.
(SIGHS)
(WEEPING)
And, at first, I was completely sympathetic.
But, damn it, Ted, over the years, you've made me cynical.
You know what? I'm gonna go get us some Rocky Road,
and we're just gonna sit here and talk it out until it makes sense.
I just thought we had something so special, you know?
Me, too. Yeah, but, you know, life goes on, sweetheart.
I don't know how I'm gonna put my life back together after this.
Oh, shut up.
Well, I'm sorry my search for true love
has been such an inconvenience to you guys.
You know what? Maybe your precious pictures
would look a lot better if I wasn't in them.
They'd look a lot better if Marshall weren't in them.
Cheap shot, cheap shot.
You know what these pictures are, Lily?
They're a big, fat lie.
They're posed. They're touched up.
They're what you want our life to be, not what it is.
That's not true. Oh, yeah?
Okay. Look at this one. Halloween, two years ago.
You and Marshall got in a huge fight
because you didn't wanna dress up as penguins.
No, no, no. It's not just that she didn't want to.
It's that she called penguins lame. Penguins.
And yet, here you are, smiling like nothing's wrong.
Completely phony.
Oh! Robin's birthday, three years ago.
Robin had a cold,
and you made her change out of her pajamas for the picture.
And then you pinched my cheeks really hard to get some color in them.
Yeah, but you looked pretty.
And then we all ate chocolate cake in my bed.
Actually, that was a really nice night.
Yeah, it was.
Yeah, I guess it was.
Hey, look at this one.
This is the first picture the three of us ever took together.
That's right. It was.
Hey, you remember how it happened?
Okay, ready?
Wait, wait, wait. What pose should we do?
Buddy cop picture?
Oh, no, no. What about an '80s sitcom about two roommates
who never agree on anything? Mmm-hmm.
Nice. Okay, one, two...
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
Hi, Marshall. Ready for the movie?
Um, yeah. Just a second, though, okay? We're about to make history.
We're about to take our first ever roommate picture.
Yeah. Hey, why don't you get in the picture, too?
Really? Yeah.
Wait. What are you doing, Ted?
What if we break up?
What if you don't?
Come on. Come on.
(CLICKS)
I forgot all about that.
Marshall and I had just been dating a few weeks,
and you invited me into the picture.
Well, I liked you.
We have to get Amanda back. Really?
Ted, you believed in me. It's my turn to believe in you.
For all I know, she's the one.
Thanks, Lil.
I think Lori's age has made her very wise.
They say your 40s are when you really get to know yourself.
Mmm.
OLDER TED: So, your Aunt Lily called Amanda.
All right, people, gather around.
Let's make a memory. Okay.
Okay, Marshall. No, Marshall, try this.
Keep your eyes closed until the last second,
and when I say so, open them. Okay? Okay, Ted.
Hey, Barney, is that a hole in your suit jacket?
What? Where?
Now, Marshall.
(CLICKS)
ROBIN: Damn it!
Ted, name that bitch.
Bertha... Bertha?
No. It was my birthday.
Your brain makes associations in a very obvious way.
All right, people, gather around.
Let's make a memory.
Hey, Robin, what's in this dip that you made?
It tastes like cilantro, and you know that cilantro makes me...
(SNEEZING) (CLICKS)
ROBIN: Yes!