AN: I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that's been kind enough to leave me a review so far. Just to clarify a few points:

This is definitely going to be a Shamy fic, although Sheldon has yet to make his reappearance; and of course he is the father! Amy has been under a lot of stress and has been in denial about what is happening to her body, some women don't get morning sickness and others do; it all depends on hormone levels…but we're going to deal with all of that in a little while

Bernadette cornered Doctor Jeffries as he stepped out of Amy's cubicle after giving her an examination; he was talking with the nurse about ordering up a full panel of tests and Bernadette drew him to one side to fill him in on her earlier hypothesis.

"Mmm…you say she hasn't had a cycle in four months? Some women don't show any obvious signs of pregnancy and there are some cases where they experience little or no nausea at all…In Ms. Fowler's case I am a little concerned that her sickness has developed after the first trimester – that's usually when the early symptoms of pregnancy start to wear off, not start up. We call prolonged morning sickness Hyperemesis Gravidarum, but I'm ordering a full chem. Panel just to be on the safe side. I'm also going to have her admitted onto the obstetrics ward overnight, just as a precaution; they'll move her up as soon as a bed becomes available."

"She's been under a fair amount of stress over the last few months; her boyfriend left the area and she's been working hard to finish up one of her trials over at CalTech…and you may want note on your records that it's Doctor Fowler and not Ms." Bernadette tapped the edge of Amy's chart and Doctor Jeffries made a quick notation of her status. "I'm just worried that she's losing weight rather than putting any on, she remarked earlier that she falls asleep almost as soon as she gets home; could you maybe get her iron levels tested at the same time as her hormone levels?"

"Sure, I can do that…Mrs…?" The doctor raised his eyebrows in question and smiled a little as Bernadette puffed her chest out a little.

"Doctor Rostenkowski-Wolowitz…I'm a biochemist, though not an MD. I'm just worried about Amy and how her stress levels could affect the baby…"

"I'm sure you are, she's lucky to have such loyal friends as you all seem to be. I'll send the nurse in to draw some bloods and set her up on a drip to control the nausea and to replace the lost fluids." Doctor Jeffries left the nurse to draw up the samples and Bernadette told Amy to keep looking at her all the time.

"Amy, honey?" Bernadette leant over the edge of the bed and brushed Amy's fine hair out of her eyes. "Do you need anything? Do you want me to call your Mother for you?" Bernadette's eyes filled with tears as Amy merely turned her head away and was struggling to hold back her tears. "Okay, we'll leave it for now. I don't want you to worry about a thing, do you hear me? We're all in this together, and we're going to take care of you and anyone else that happens to come along."

"How could I have been so stupid? I've ignored all of the signs, thinking it was just stress…I mean, until last year I was never particularly regular anyway; I just thought that it was my body reverting back to how it was before." Amy's hoarse whisper had Bernadette running around to the other side of the bed, her slight stature making it impossible to stretch over the width of the bed. "One time, Bernadette, that's all it took…and I still managed to get knocked up by Sheldon's super sperm…I'm such an idiot, I just kept pushing him into something he wasn't ready for…and now I'm paying the price. I guess Karma really is a bitch." Amy curled her legs up toward her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible on the narrow hospital bed. Bernadette climbed up onto the bed next to her and wrapped her arms around Amy's slender frame that was shaking with the combination of shock and terror.

"Honey, some women are just resistant to the pill…it seems like you're one of the unlucky ones. It was that weekend in Napa wasn't it? I knew something was different between you; Sheldon just seemed more relaxed and comfortable around you since then and I thought everything was going fine."

"Yeah, I guess we were both fooled by that one." Amy said miserably, feeling the hot sting of tears pricking behind her eyes. "I'm a little tired, I think I'm going to try and get a little rest now; you don't have to stay, I'll be fine on my own." Instead of leaving her, Bernadette just curled herself around Amy's back and stroked her hair gently.

"Don't cry, Amy. I have no intention of leaving your side; Penny and Leonard are waiting just outside and I've got Howie and Raj packing your things up from that lonely old apartment of yours as we speak. I told you, you're not going to be alone in this; we're all right here for you. Ssh, it's okay – you just let it all out if you have too…Bernie's gonna be right here."

"Don't forget me," came a soft voice from the curtain, and Penny peeped through as she saw her two best friends curled up around each other on the bed. She pulled a chair closer to the edge of the bed and reached over to take Amy's hand. "We're gonna be the best Auntie's in the whole universe. Sure, in an ideal world, it would be Doctor Whack-a-doodle holding your hand right now, but you don't ever have to think that you're gonna be a single Mom; cause as far as I see – this baby is gonna belong to all of us in a way. I love you, Amy and I'm there for you the whole way; heck, I'll even volunteer for dirty diaper duty, all you gotta do is call."

"I've got a better idea." Leonard stated quietly as he entered the cubicle area and gently rubbed Amy's foot to get her attention. "Amy, I want you to move into our place…if you don't want to have Sheldon's room then we'll swap over, but I really want us to be part of your life again. We'll keep Penny's apartment as well, and maybe every couple of weekends Bernie and Howard can
stay over; or Raj, or even Stuart…we want to be your family, Amy." Penny dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and blew her fiancé a kiss, who knew that one nerdy guy could have a heart as big as a mountain? Here they were, a newly engaged couple, and here he was opening up their home to his roommate's pregnant girlfriend.

"I love you, Leonard." Penny whispered and he looked over to see her crying into a tissue. "You've managed to say what everyone else was thinking…"

"Hey! Who thought of packing up Amy's things in the first place?" Bernadette frowned as she continued to rub Amy's back in comforting circles. "I mean, I didn't get as far as thinking where we were going to move her; I was thinking over with Debbie and Stuart to start with, but why don't we ask Amy what she wants to do, instead of planning her whole life for her?"

"I think that's gonna have to wait until later, the poor kid's out for the count." Leonard lowered his voice as they all realised that Amy had fallen into a light doze as they were discussing where and who she should live with. "Let's leave her in peace for a little while, I think I heard Raj and Howard out in the waiting area."

"Excuse me, but I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the cubicle area now." The nurse from earlier drew back the curtain a little to see the little group crowded around her patient's bed. "One of you can stay behind, but we're going to be moving Ms. Fowler up to the obstetrics ward for observation in a little while."

"Doctor Fowler." Bernadette, Leonard and Penny chanted in unison as they corrected the nurse.

"So, the tests showed that she is definitely carrying a mini Sheldon in there." Bernadette stated and the nurse looked up from the chart to see Bernadette reading the results over her shoulder. "And no anaemia, which is a good thing."

"Yes, we're going to keep her in overnight to build her fluids back up. The doctor will explain it all when he comes in shortly, but I really do need to get her ready for the transfer now." The nurse gently nudged them around the curtain and closed them shut with a little whoosh. Bernadette and Penny stared at each other in a silent battle of wills to see who would get to go up to the ward with Amy, and it was Penny that finally backed down.

"Fine! You can stay behind…but I get first cuddle privilege once the baby's here." Penny grumbled a little as they left the nurse preparing Amy for the transfer and stepped out into the waiting area where Raj and Howard were slumped in the hard, plastic chairs waiting for news.

"What's the verdict, doc? Do we have a Shamy baby on the way or what?" Howard rose up from the chair and looked over at Bernadette in query.

"We do have a baby in the making, but Amy's pretty sick at the moment so they're admitting her for the night while they try and get her nausea under control. They're going to be taking her up to the observation ward, and only one of us can stay with her."

"Ooh, me!" Raj waved his hand in the air and was shot down in flames when Bernie gave him a mocking little laugh.

"Hah! That's what you think, I'm staying with Amy tonight and I don't wanna hear another word about it. Howard, you and Raj need to drive over to Los Robles and start unpacking Amy's things; she's gonna be moving into Sheldon's apartment and we're all going to take turns either staying with her there or over at Penny's. We're going to be one big family and we need to give her all the support we can, whether it's financial or just acting as a shoulder to cry on..."

"I'm going to speak to Amy's building manager in the morning, she might have to forfeit a little in her deposit for leaving on short notice." Leonard announced and he shrugged. "I'm prepared to make up any shortfall so that she's not out of pocket. The money she saves on rent can go into a baby fund or something…maybe the kid will turn out to be a smartass just like his Dad and we'll have college and university fees to fund."

"I'm going online now to open up a new bank account for the baby!" Raj announced and started scrolling through his phone, looking for the best interest rates. "I know that Amy's mother will probably not take the news well, especially with Sheldon out of the picture…I'm going to transfer some money over straight away."

"Text me the details, and I'll do the same." Howard immediately stated as he flipped his phone open; he then looked over at Bernadette as he realised once again, he'd committed himself to spending money out of their joint account without checking with her first. It had taken nearly a month of grovelling to get his name back on the account after he had foolishly agreed to split the costs of a 3D printer with Raj; just so that he could make his own little action hero's. This time, however, Bernadette pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"That's fine, Howie. I was going to suggest that anyway, but you got there first." Penny nervously cleared her throat and felt a little uncomfortable with what she was about to say.

"Guys, you know that I don't have a lot of spare cash at the moment so I can't contribute anything financially. But I can drive Amy to any of her appointments and I'd love to be her labour coach, if she agrees that is. You know I love that girl as if she were my own sister." Penny felt a few tears escape to roll down her cheeks. "Look, we're even sharing the same damn hormones!" She sniffed as she tried to laugh off her tears and snuggled against Leonard's side as he hugged her close to him.

"I guess we're all feeling a little emotional right now, Amy especially." Leonard looked over at the closed curtain area and then back at the others. "Look, it's getting late and none of us have eaten. Why don't Penny and I follow you guys back to the apartment and we can start unloading. We'll stay over at Penny's and you and Raj can fight over who sleeps on Penny's couch and who gets my room. I think we can all agree that Sheldon's room and our couch are both off limits, at least until Amy has made her mind up over where she wants to sleep."

"Bernie, is that okay with you?" Howard looked over at his wife, who was nestled under his arm.

"Sure, Howie. Go ahead, I was either going to suggest that or your Mother's; I think she'd like to be told of the situation, especially if Stuart's going to be part of the group again. You know how much he thinks of Amy…" Bernadette looked over and saw Doctor Jeffries approaching Amy's cubicle. "You guys head home and leave me with Amy, I'll give someone a call in the morning as soon as I know anything. Sweet dreams, Howie." Bernadette kissed her husband quickly on the cheek and then disappeared behind the curtain after Doctor Jeffries.

"Wow, for someone who has made it clear that she doesn't want kids anytime soon; she's really getting involved with Amy's little package."

"Dude…that's good though, right? If she's showing an interest now and it doesn't freak her out entirely, then that shows that at least she hasn't ruled out the possibility of a horde of little Howard's running around in the near future." Raj patted Howard on the shoulder and started leading him down the corridor. "Not to change the subject completely but what do you think of the name 'Astrid' if it's a girl? Or maybe 'Andromeda'?"

"I was thinking something like Caroline, you know how much Amy loves Neil Diamond…" Howard replied as they headed out of the main entrance, still discussing baby names along the way. Leonard just looked at Penny, and she shrugged.

"Don't tell me you haven't been sitting there thinking about it, too…"

"Yeah, but at least I was thinking of something sensible…like Marie after Marie Curie, or Thomas after Thomas Edison…"

"Leonard…shut up. It's not even our baby, and it's a long way off yet. Let's at least get Amy moved in before we start talking baby names." Penny nudged Leonard to follow Howard and Raj out into the car park and they pulled out behind them, tail lights shining in the dark of the night.