"For better or for worse,"

"I'm back," Leonard called as he walked into the apartment, dumping his bag by the door. "Penny?"

Penny came out of the bedroom, wrapped in her robe, still dressed in her pajamas, her hair still in the same ponytail from the morning. "Hey sweetie," She smiled, taking a bottle of water from the fridge and sitting down on the couch.

"You're still in your pajamas." Leonard pointed out.

"Yeah, I didn't feel too good when I got up this morning." Penny switched on the TV, lowering the volume as she put her feet up on the coffee table.

"I thought you were going to pick your car up from the garage?" He opened the fridge. "And buy some food for dinner?"

"I told you, I didn't feel well." Penny shrugged, sipping on her water.

"So, what, we're having out of date chicken and mouldy cheese for dinner?"

"That's not all there is in the fridge," Penny frowned.

"Shall we go out for dinner?" Leonard suggested. "I'm starving."

"I don't feel like going out."

"What, so you're just going to sit there like you have all day?" He was beginning to get pissed off; she'd had the whole day to rest if she wasn't feeling well, and they'd agreed to have a nice evening together since they hadn't seen each other much over the past couple of weeks. "I thought we were going to spend some time together tonight?"

"It's not my fault our work schedules don't match up. I need the money, I take whatever shifts I get. It's not like I have the money to take time off, like you do. I can't swap all my shifts just because they don't suit you this month. So sue me if I'm feeling sick, Leonard, I just want to relax, okay?"

"I'm not asking you to take time off, I'm asking you to at least make an effort for the time we do get to spend together!"

"I always make an effort! I told you like a million times, I don't feel well today! You wouldn't want to leave the apartment either if you had thrown up all morning, or had a headache and back pain this bad! Can't you just order some take-out or something?"

"We always have take-out Penny, that's why we were going to actually cook something for once. You could've at least texted me and I would have picked something up on my way home."

"I was trying to take a nap, sorry for not thinking about my phone all day." Penny shot at him sarcastically. "Just get some take-out, we can do something another day."

"Which is going to be when, next month?"

"I don't know, I don't have next months schedule, Leonard. Not everyone organizes everything as early as you do."

"Okay, whatever. I'll go to the grocery store and pick up some ready-meals or something."

"You do that." Penny turned the volume up on the TV.

"You want anything specific from there?"

Penny shrugged. "I don't care what we eat. Just get some pain killers or something."

Leonard rolled his eyes as he left. Penny sighed to herself as the door closed, she hated arguing with him. It was always over something stupid and it made her feel terrible. She took another sip of water, trying to drain out the anger. She resolved to apologize when he got back; he had been working all day and she'd just been a bitch to him. He was right, the least she could have done was text him to pick up a few things on the way back if she was too unwell to go herself.

It was almost an hour later that Leonard returned, laden with grocery bags. He looked much calmer that he had when he left, for which Penny felt relieved.

"I'm sorry for being such a bitch earlier," Penny said as soon as he had shut the door. "I don't want to be one of those women who nags her husband all the time. I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Leonard said, as he placed the bags down on the island counter in the kitchen, coming to sit next to her. "I'm sorry for getting mad at you, it was stupid."

"It's always stupid," Penny smiled. "Though I guess that's better than it being over something serious. How come you have so many bags?"

"Thought I'd stock up, since you're not feeling well." Leonard said, getting back up and unpacking the bags.

"Good idea," Penny smiled. "Thanks, Leonard."

"No problem. I got us Italian ready-meals, we just need to heat them up." He took them out and placed them on the counter, and continued putting the rest of the items away. When he was left with the last bag, he took it and sat back down next to Penny. "I went to the pharmacy and told the woman the symptoms which you told me so they could get what's best."

"Thanks sweetie," Penny smiled.

"So I have these pain killers, this stuff for the back pain, and these should help with the sickness." He placed them on the coffee table. "Now there was one more thing the woman suggested, and please don't get mad at me."

"What?" Penny asked warily.

"She said... well, she said your symptoms are similar to those of pregnancy." He paused as Penny glared at him. "So I bought you a pregnancy test. Please don't kill me."

"What? Leonard, for Gods sake, I'm not pregnant, I'm just sick!"

"I didn't say you were, but the pharmacy women suggested it, just in case. Let's not argue about this, okay?"

"Fine, I'll take the stupid test." She took the box out of the bag and walked off to the bathroom.

Leonard was glad she had agreed to take it. He hadn't thought about her symptoms being that way, but now they did make sense to him. Even if she wasn't pregnant, that was fine, but he wanted to be sure. If she was, well... well there was no need to consider that yet anyway.

Penny came back a few minutes later, holding the stick upside down. She sat down and placed it on the coffee table in front of them.

"Have to wait five minutes," She explained, checking the time on her phone.

"You're on the pill, right?" Leonard wondered out loud.

"Yeah," Penny nodded. "Though I've forgotten to take it more than a few times." She bit her lip. "And we're not exactly cautious about remembering to use protection. Oh God, maybe it was a good idea you got this, I hadn't even thought about it."

"It's okay, you could just have a fever or something, I don't know."

"Maybe." Penny looked at Leonard. "Would it really be so bad if it was... you know... positive?"

Leonard looked at her, smiling. "Maybe it wouldn't."

Penny reached out her hand, and Leonard held it gently. Though neither dared to admit it, both secretly hoped that it was positive. Penny used her free hand to check the time on her phone, beginning to get impatient, clicking the lock button every few seconds.

"There, it's been five minutes!" She announced, excited and nervous in equal measures. She turned to Leonard, her eyes wide. "This is it. Oh God, this is it..."

"It's okay, whatever happens, happens." He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Penny raised her brows at him. "You want it to be what I want it to be, right?"

Leonard hoped so. "Yes," He said, guessing what she wanted was the same as what he wanted.

"Shall we both look on three?" She asked, and he nodded. She put her hand on the stick. "One... two... three." She quickly flipped the stick over, squealing, and squeezed her eyes shut. "I can't look at it Leonard! What does it say?"

Leonard had squeezed his eyes shut too. "I don't know, I closed my eyes too!" He couldn't help but laugh.

Penny giggled. "Okay, we open them on three. No cheating."

"Okay, deal." He took a deep breath.

"Ready? One... two... three... open!"

Their eyes shot open, looking down at the stick. Penny's jaw dropped, and Leonard could have sworn that the earth stopped spinning just for a second.

"Positive," Penny got out. She looked at Leonard, and grinned. "Leonard, it says positive!" She hit his arm excitedly. "It says positive! We're having a baby!"

Leonard was grinning from ear to ear. Not only was Penny pregnant, but she was happy about it - no, she was ecstatic. "Oh my God!" He pulled her in for a tight hug, unable to wipe the grin off his face. "I can't believe it! This is fantastic!"

"I know!" Penny let go of him, happy tears in her eyes. "You wanted it to say positive too, right?" She double-checked. Leonard nodded, and at that she kissed him, realizing there were no words to describe how much love and happiness she felt at that moment. Perhaps a few years ago, this would have been the worst thing that could happen. But now, it was the best news she'd received in a long time, and the best moment she'd shared with Leonard since saying "I do."