A/N: Many thanks for the reviews thus far, your feedback is greatly appreciated!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Big Bang Theory.

The following morning Grace left early for her practice placement at the hospital, while Leonard offered to get Bobby ready for school and drop him off on the way into work, allowing Penny to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in bed.

"I certainly could get used to this." Penny remarked as Leonard handed her the tray of scrambled eggs on toast, complete with a rose that he had taken from the table centrepiece from the engagement party. "Don't forget sweetie we agreed to talk to the kids tonight." she reminded him.

"I promise I'll leave work on time tonight." Leonard answered, hurriedly turning to button his shirt and grabbing a tie from the selection that hung on the inside of the closet door. Watching him dress Penny was reminded of how much she missed seeing him going off to work in his hoodies and dawky t-shirts, a downside to his now senior position at Caltech that necessitated him wearing more formal attire.

"Ok, have fun today." Leonard said, bending over to kiss his wife currently munching on a mouthful of toast.

"Thanks. Bye sweetie." came Penny's muffled reply.

After finishing her breakfast Penny took a shower, dressed and headed downstairs to find Marlena watching what turned out to be an episode of her show while going about her chores. Entering into the kitchen and seeing her on screen husband in bed with his mistress Penny's heart sank, whilst the news of her departure had yet to be made public, she was painfully aware of how the current storyline surrounding her husband's affair was leading up to her character's eventual demise.

"I didn't know you watched my show Marlena." Penny remarked, helping herself to the carton of orange juice in the refrigerator and pouring it into a glass which she retrieved from the drainer beside the sink.

"Oh, I never miss an episode Mrs Hofstadter." Marlena stated proudly. "My husband, he's a big fan too."

Looking around the kitchen Penny noticed Albert hovering by the door that led out into the yard, sniffing at the door frame and growling every now and then.

"I don't know what's got into him today, he's been doing that all morning." Marlena said, shaking her head at the ordinarily good tempered dog. "I'll take him out for a walk when I'm done with the ironing."

In a hurry to leave the house and without giving any thought to the reason behind her dog's odd behaviour Penny downed her juice, telling Marlena that she was going out for the morning. Twenty minutes later she had joined Jake at Brookside Park beneath the shade of an oak tree, where for the next hour they did yoga and meditation together.

"Thank you Jake. That was just what I needed." Penny admitted as she rolled up her yoga mat at the end of their session, placing it inside her gym bag.

"My pleasure. Why don't I walk you back to your car?" Jake suggested.

The two friends set off, chatting as their made the short walk from the park to where Penny had parked her car in a nearby side street.

"Ok, well I guess I'll catch up with you soon." Penny said, hugging Jake as they each prepared to get into their respective cars and go their separate ways.

"Sure, see you soon Penny."

Waving goodbye, Jake turned to walk away only to be stopped dead in his tracks by the sound of tires screeching as a car made a sharp turn into the street, picking up speed as it neared the spot where Penny was about to step off the sidewalk.

"Hey Penny watch out!" he yelled, seizing her arm and pulling her to safety in between the line of parked cars a split second before the car sped passed.

"Oh my God that was close!" Penny panted breathlessly, her heart pounding beneath her hand that had come to rest on her chest. "Did you manage to get the license plate?" she asked, scanning the street from which the car had now disappeared.

Jake let out a regretful sigh. With the near accident over in a matter of seconds he hadn't managed to take note of the license plate or even the make of car.

"Are you sure you're ok Penny?" he asked for the second time as Penny unlocked her car, dumping her gym bag on the backseat.

"Seriously I'm fine." she assured him, flashing a confident smile.

"I think we should go to the police. That jack ass will end up hurting someone or worse if they carry on driving around like that." Jake asserted, clearly infuriated by the incident that had very nearly seen his friend mowed down in the street, the consequences of which were too horrific to contemplate. Shaking her head Penny declined Jake's suggestion, without a license plate number she doubted if there was anything that he police could do.

"Please don't mention this to Leonard." She requested after getting into her car and lowering the window to bid Jake a final goodbye. "You know how he worries about me, I'm pretty sure he'd wrap me up in cotton wool for the next six months if he could..." she laughed, casually dismissing the incident as being a one off.

After saying goodbye and watching Jake turn to return to his car, Penny was about to drive off when her cell phone beeped, indicating the receipt of a text message from Amy informing her that Sheldon wanted to go to the model train store that afternoon and had promised Bobby he could come along after school. With the realisation that she now had the rest of the afternoon to herself, Penny decided to drive to Rodeo Drive for lunch and a spot of retail therapy. By noon she was dining on the patio of her favourite restaurant, basking in the LA sunshine and indulging some of her newly acquired food cravings. After lunch, armed with her credit card she hit the stores and despite having promised herself not to venture into the baby boutique, her shopping trip resulted in a number of purchases, including a musical mobile to go above the crib that she and Leonard were yet to buy. Arriving back at the parking lot, Penny had just deposited her shopping bags in the trunk of her car when her cell phone began to ring. It was Amy.

"Hey Ames." Penny said, immediately hearing the unmistakable sound of Sheldon's voice in the background engaged in a heated debate with the store assistant. "Are you still at the model train store?"

"Yeah." Amy sighed. "Sheldon can't make up his mind about which gauge engine to buy or something, it feels like we've been here for hours.."

Unaware, that were mirroring each other with their actions, the two friends rolled their eyes.

"Is Bobby ok?" Penny asked, getting into her car and placing her purse on the vacant passenger seat.

"Yeah, he's having a terrific time. Sheldon wants us all to go to Big Boy's for dinner, but I said I needed to call you first to check that it was it ok."

"Actually Ames, I'd rather Bobby came home early tonight." Penny told her, biting down on her lower lip as she inspected her reflection in the rear view mirror. "Perhaps you could take him another time." she added.

There was a pause.

"You are ok aren't you bestie?" Amy said, lowering her voice so as not to be overheard by Bobby, who although currently captivated by the numerous model trains on display, was within earshot of the phone conversation.

"Sure, I'm fine!" Penny stated. "Honestly Ames, there's nothing to worry about."

"Ok, I'll try to hurry Sheldon along." Amy responded, peering over at her husband and the increasingly exasperated store assistant, no doubt dragging him away was going to prove to be a Herculean task..


Half an hour later after negotiating her way along the busy LA freeway Penny was pulling onto the driveway beside Leonard's car, as promised he had managed to leave work on time and was in the living room waiting for her. Much to her surprise Bobby was home too watching TV, unable to tear Sheldon away from the model train store, Amy had decided to drive Bobby home leaving her husband behind to continue his deliberations.

"Sad thing is I don't think he'll even notice that I'm gone..." she had told Leonard.

With Penny home Leonard called upstairs to Grace who was studying in her bedroom, asking her to come down for a family meeting.

"Mom, Dad what is it?" she asked, as she took a seat beside her brother on the couch, addressing her parents with a worried frown. The last time they had had a family meeting called at short notice was to break the news that Leonard's father had passed away.

"Am I in trouble?" Bobby cut in. "Are you gonna yell at me?"

"No Bobby, you're not in trouble." Penny said, gently. "Your Dad and I have something we need to tell you." She began, nodding at Leonard to take the cue.

"Are you getting a divorce?" Bobby piped up again.

"Oh sweetheart no... we're not getting divorced." a startled Penny responded. "Why would you think that?"

Penny was aware that there were a few children in Bobby's class at school whose parents were divorced, but it had never occurred to her that it was something which worried him as far as his own parents were concerned.

Bobby shrugged. "I hear you yelling sometimes." he admitted.

While it was true that as a married couple Leonard and Penny still had the occasional fight, after working through what had been a particularly rough patch in their marriage following Bobby's birth, they had promised each other that they would never to go to bed after a fight without resolving their differences. Their approach now was certainly a far cry from the early days of their relationship which would often see Penny giving Leonard the silent treatment for days after a fight. Happily, it had been an agreement that to date they had never once broken. Now their infrequent fights would end with them talking through their differences and making love. They had finally realised that life was too short for unresolved fights.

"Bobby, I know your Dad and I fight sometimes, but that doesn't we don't love each other very much." Penny told a relieved Bobby. "You don't have to worry about us getting divorced."

"So what is going on?" Grace demanded, after Bobby had eliminated what for him was the worst case scenario.

Hooking his arm around Penny's waist, Leonard pulled his wife close. "Well, the thing is kids your Mom and I are expecting a baby." he said, beaming proudly. "So in a few months from now you're gonna have a baby brother or sister." he added, looking directly at Bobby. There was a protracted silence, broken eventually by Penny.

"So, what do you think?" she asked tentatively, smiling as she looked at the bewildered expressions of her offspring. "Awesome isn't it?"

"Mom, is this some kind of joke?" Grace questioned flatly. "Because seriously it's not funny."

Penny's smile evaporated. "No, it's not a joke Grace. Your father and I are pregnant." she answered.

Hearing these words Leonard experienced a warm tingling sensation that radiated throughout his body, he adored the way in which she had just described them as both being pregnant, it encapsulated their closeness.

"But you're both so.."

"Old?" Penny cut in, preempting her daughter and completing her sentence for her. "It's true this wasn't exactly planned, but your Dad and I are really happy. We hope that you will be too."

"Will I have to move out my bedroom?" Bobby enquired; apparently his primary concern was being ousted from his train themed bedroom in order to make way for the new arrival to the Hofstadter family. Smiling again, Penny reassured her son of their plans to convert one of the guest rooms into a nursery.

"So that means you and Daddy had sex." he concluded.

"We prefer to call it love-making, but yes we did." Penny replied without the slightest hint of unease or hesitation. Leonard on the other hand averted his gaze toward the floor, when it came to discussing the birds and the bees Penny was always much better than he at handling Bobby's enquiring mind and the resulting questions.

"Ok, this conversation is getting way too gross now." Grace said, her face wrinkling in disgust at the mention of her parent's sex life.

Intent on steering the conversation away from sex as quickly as possible, Leonard suggested they all go out to dinner as a family to celebrate. Bobby cheered, while at first Grace declined the invitation, saying that she needed to continue studying.

"Oh come on honey, it will be fun." Penny gently encouraged, she couldn't recall the last time they had been out for a meal with just the four of them. "Please just for an hour..."

After successfully managing to convince Grace to join them, the Hofstadter family bundled into Leonard's car for the short drive to Big Mama's Pizzeria, parking the car in the restaurant's lot. Unable to contain his excitement, Bobby ran on ahead toward the restaurant entrance, leaving his parents and Grace behind. It was as he locked the car that Leonard noticed that they had parked in a space next to Amy's car.

"I thought you said Sheldon and Amy were going to Big Boy's tonight." he remarked, ordinarily he wouldn't have minded running into Sheldon and Amy, Sheldon was after all still his best friend, but that night he had rather hoped that it would just be him and his family.

"Look! Uncle Sheldon and Aunty Amy are here!" Bobby exclaimed, waving enthusiastically at his favourite couple who were seated at a table beside the window.

"So much for our family evening." Penny sighed.

By the time Leonard and Penny entered into the restaurant, Sheldon was instructing a waitress that he wanted to move to one of the larger booths that accommodated six persons, beckoning Bobby to come to sit next to him.

"I thought you guys were eating at Big Boys tonight." Penny commented as she clambered into the semi-circular booth to sit beside Amy.

"We were, but Sheldon managed to over react and get into a disagreement with the restaurant manager so they asked us to leave.." Amy answered as she studied the menu, her frustration evidenced by the irritated tone of her voice.

"Excuse me Amy, I didn't over react." Sheldon protested. "They really need to work on their customer service skills. I intend to send a strongly worded email to the CEO as soon as we get home." he informed his disinterested friends who had every sympathy for Amy who was always caught up in the middle of his public outbursts. Much to everyone's relief the waitress approached, introduced herself as Jenny and proceeded to hand out additional menus.

"And here's our children's menu for you Sir." She said beaming cheerfully at Bobby.

"We're celebrating because Mommy and Daddy are pregnant and I'm getting a brother or a sister." he stated excitedly, reciting the words Penny had used earlier that evening.

"Bobby!" Grace hissed at her brother, who simply stared back at his sister in bewilderment.

"Well, that's awesome! congratulations!" the waitress exclaimed.

It wasn't that Penny blamed Bobby for blurting out their news, but given the tenderness of the subject of parenthood and babies for Amy in particular, she found herself wishing for the ground to open up and swallow her. A moment later Bobby noticed a man dressed in a chilli pepper costume distributing helium balloons to the other children in the restaurant, prompting him to ask to leave the table.

"You're pregnant?" Amy whispered.

"Ames, I'm really sorry. I was gonna call you and Bernadette later to tell you both." Penny insisted, squeezing Amy's hand. "I only found out myself last week."

With tears stirred up by mixed emotions glistening in her eyes, Amy congratulated her friends."You guys have always been such great parents. You must be so happy." she acknowledged, secretly she had always been envious of Leonard and Penny's seemingly natural ability when it came to parenting.

"Thanks Amy. Yes we are." Leonard responded, smiling as he put his arm around Penny's shoulders. "Very happy indeed."

Just then Bobby came bounding back to the table, flashing his toothy smile while clutching tightly the string of his newly acquired helium balloon. Determined to change the conversation Sheldon began to explain in a very detailed fashion to Bobby why helium balloons float, failing to notice his wife leave the table to go to the restroom. Concerned for her friend who she could tell was upset, Penny got up to follow after her.

"Daddy, look Mommy's on TV!" Bobby yelled, pointing at the large plasma screen on the wall of the restaurant that was showing a 24-hour news channel. Turning his head to follow the direction of his son's finger, Leonard was greeted by a photograph of Penny loading her shopping bags into the trunk of her car in Rodeo Drive that day. The image had been enhanced to zoom in on the bags which displayed the name of a baby boutique, beneath the image was the caption 'Soap actress pregnant at 48?'

"Great." Leonard muttered under his breath, the almost constant media intrusion was a serious downside to Penny's celebrity and was an aspect of their lives that he disliked intensely. Sadly, he knew that it was going to be difficult keeping Penny's pregnancy private now that the Hollywood rumour mill had gone into overdrive. A short while later Amy and Penny returned from the restroom, the pizzas arrived and for the duration of the meal the conversation centred around Sheldon's trip to the model train store. With everyone finished, Leonard offered to pay for the meal, signalling to the waitress for the check before turning his attention to trying to locate his wallet.

"I must have left my wallet in my jacket in the car." he said, after spending a few seconds unsuccessfully fumbling inside his empty pants pocket.

Declining Penny's offer to pay,insisting that it was his treat, Leonard ventured outside to the parking lot. Unlocking the car he retrieved his jacket from the backseat and was just about to head back to the restaurant when he caught sight of something beneath the windshield wiper. Moving toward the hood he reached out and removed it. Holding it in his hand, he shrugged before discarding it on the ground where a swift gust of wind quickly blew it away.

Minutes later the family of four were emerging from the restaurant, laughing as they got into their car to make the journey home. And from across the street they were being watched...