Chapter Seven: Share Everything


His right knee jiggled up and down uncontrollably. He knew that if he didn't stop chewing on his fingernail the quick would be red and sore for a while but he couldn't help it. He was nervous. He sat in the waiting room with a couple who were waiting to be called into one of the exam rooms. The woman, who looked like she would give birth at any second, calmly read a magazine about parenting while the man next to her gave him an empathetic smile. He seemed to communicate that things would get better as time progressed and then he shifted his toddler to his other knee. This made him feel a little better so he folded his arms across his chest and pretended not to notice when his other leg started jiggling.

Time seemed to drag on and Leonard reviewed his to-do list in his head as he waited for Amy to get done with her appointment.

He needed to research storage unit rentals for some of his belongings while he stayed at Amy's. He needed to contact a realtor to help them find a suitable place to live. He also needed to contact his current landlord and let him know that he was going to break the lease and pay the full penalty. Not to mention go to the grocery store and buy hotdogs for Mrs. Wolowitz' Labor Day barbecue. He couldn't remember if she asked him to get buns while he was at it. Leonard was just about to text Howard when Amy emerged from the exam rooms to join him in the waiting room.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked nervously.

"It went well," she gave him a timid but pleased smile. "We're definitely going to be parents."

Leonard felt his heart rate pick up. They were going to be parents. A goofy smile spread across his face as he placed his hand at the small of Amy's back. He gave a small wave to the man with the toddler before gently guiding his … girlfriend? ... out of the building.

"The doctor said that I'm due the twenty-seventh of April and that I'm pretty healthy. She doesn't anticipate any issues to come up during my pregnancy. Which reminds me, we should make a stop at the pharmacy to pick up vitamins." Leonard held open the passenger door as she slipped into her seat. By the time he buckled his seat belt, his mind caught up with what she said. He turned to look at her.

"I'm going to be a father in eight months." He shook his head in disbelief with a smile firmly on his face.

"That's not all," Amy reached into her purse and produced a small piece of paper. "This is our baby's first picture."

Leonard gently plucked the picture from her fingers. He stared down at the grayish-white blob with reverence and worked to keep the tears from falling even if his throat was unavoidably clogged with all kinds of emotion.

Our baby.

Before he knew what he was doing, his seatbelt unbuckled and he pulled Amy into a hug.

"Thank you for letting us be a family." He pulled back to see a misty-eyed Amy smirking at him.

"So you don't mind that I'll be your 'baby-momma'?"

"I won't if you don't mind me being your 'baby-daddy'." They stared at each other for a few seconds before they burst out laughing. The tension from the last few days seemed to evaporate.

They drove in silence for a few minutes.

"We have so much to do and so little time to do it in," sighed Amy.

"I know. We have to learn how to take care of a kid. We need to tell our parents. We need to figure out this new dynamic with our friends and we need to figure our living situation."

"I think we should take this a step at a time. When it comes to taking care of kids, we already have Bernadette as an immediate resource. I'm sure she can teach us how to deal with diapers and feedings." Leonard nodded in agreement.

"That's true," she said trying to hide her hesitation at asking Bernadette help with anything. "And Mrs. Wolowitz likes kids. She would probably volunteer tips on parenting. Not to mention that Raj would probably love to babysit. That alone will make this whole parenting thing less scary." Leonard tried to suppress a flinch at the mention of Raj. They weren't really on speaking terms at the moment.

"It does seem less scary when you put it that way. I'm still not looking forward to telling my mother," Amy continued as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Do you think that she'll take it badly?"

"Without a doubt. I would like to tell her last." Leonard blew air through his pursed lips. He needed to figure out ways of keeping Amy from being too stressed out. He would have preferred to tell her mother first so that he could get an idea of how bad dealing with her would be but he could definitely see the perk in telling her last. He figured he could break the news to Mrs. Wolowitz and ask the friends that were still on speaking terms with them to lend their support. Hopefully, he could rally the guys.

"If you feel better telling her last, that's what we'll do. For now, we should probably focus on organizing our belongings and finding a house with maybe a yard."

"Why a house with a yard?"

"I figure that we won't be able to move the first few years after the baby comes. It makes sense to me to find somewhere where there's space to move around and for the baby to play. At least until it's old enough for preschool or kindergarten. By then we would be able to ensure we're able to live in a really good school district."

"I hadn't thought of that. We should look up realtors that could help us find something we could rent for a reasonable price while we search for a house or maybe rent to own."

"I like that idea. I was actually thinking along the same lines," replied Leonard, smiling, as he pulled into the parking lot at Costco. Amy looked at him in amusement

"Costco?"

"Yeah, I need to pick up hot dogs and buns for the barbecue at Mrs. Wolowitz. They also have a pharmacy so we can load up on vitamins."

"That's efficient of you, Leonard." Leonard smiled at her. He had a feeling that somehow this was all going to work out okay.

"Come on, let's get going before the real crowd shows up."


Amy went down for a nap when they got back from Costco and had lunch. Leonard used the quiet as an opportunity to call his landlord back and give him his new forwarding address. He managed to get a PO Box the previous week since he figured he was going to be in limbo for a while. He spoke with the kindly old man while they were still at Costco. James took a liking to Leonard simply for being able to live with Sheldon for all these years and not commit murder on the premises. He was delighted to hear that he was starting a family even though he was sad to hear that he would be leaving the building. He told Leonard that he was a good tenant and was sorry to see him go.

Leonard practically preened at the compliment and promised to send all the necessary documentation by the end of the business day. He told Amy what the old man said and she smiled serenely at him. She threaded her arm through his when he said that he needed to send Sheldon an official notice he was leaving and a text message. It constantly surprised him how supportive she was.

That thought made his chest tighten in a pleasant way and he couldn't help but smile.

He let the memory fill him as he scrolled through his phone to pull up his father's number. His father's phone rang a few times and then went to voicemail. He opened his mouth to leave a message but decided that he would try again later. He knew that he shouldn't be such a coward about this but he wasn't ready. He face timed Bernadette instead.

"Hi, Leonard. We haven't heard from you in over a week, how are you doing? How's Amy?" Leonard could see Raj and Howard over her shoulder as she moved out of the living room and closed her bedroom door.

"I'm fine. Amy's doing great. She's in her room taking a nap," he paused awkwardly unsure of how to proceed with the conversation. "How are you, Howard and Raj doing?" Bernadette smiled kindly at him already sensing what the conversation was going to be about.

"We're all okay. We miss you guys. Are you still coming to the barbecue?"

"Yeah, we're both coming," he hesitated for a moment before deciding to just get it over with. "Listen, Bernadette, I need your help with something. Amy and I went to the doctor today and she confirmed that Amy is about four weeks pregnant. We've been talking a lot and we've decided that we're gonna keep the baby and raise it together…" he trailed off uncertainly. Bernadette jumped in.

"That's great! I'm so happy for you two. Let me know if you need anything." She let out a chuckle at the confused look on his face.

"Really?" He had so many questions but it all boiled down to one and he blurted it out before he could stop himself. "Why?"

Bernadette laughed. "Because we're friends, silly."

"Really? So you don't hate me?"

"Leonard, you and Amy were in a weird place and were under the influence of a lot of alcohol. Of course, I don't hate you. Yeah, it's sad that you two will have a tough time starting out but both of you are my friends. I plan to be there for you two if I can."

"Oh," Some of the tension he'd been carrying around the last week eased from his shoulders. It certainly didn't help that Raj and Howard had been a bit distant toward him because they were trying to honor 'The Bro Code'. "I thought that since Howard and Raj-"

Bernadette waved her hand dismissively as she cut him off. "They're idiots. Don't pay attention to that 'bro code' nonsense. Howard and Raj will get over it really soon."

"Wow! Thanks, Bernadette." He paused for a moment. "Why are you being so good about this? I mean, we've never been really close."

"Because you really accepted me into your group when Howie and I first got together. I know that you ran interference for me with Sheldon and Raj when they were less than accepting. I appreciate that. This is me just returning the favor."

"Wow! Thanks."

"Anytime. Hey, I gotta go but can you do me a favor and let Amy know that I'm not mad at her and to please answer my calls."

"I'll let her know. Later."

"Bye."

Leonard sat back in shock. He had no idea that Bernadette was such a good friend. He suddenly felt like a cad. He'd been hanging out with her for over two years and he barely knew her. She was just Howard's girlfriend, now wife. He knew things about her. She was a biologist. She was the oldest child and took care of her younger siblings and her dad was a retired cop. But he didn't really know her.

He'd always been too consumed with his work, Penny and keeping Sheldon happy to even bother to get to know her. Not only that but he'd done the same with Amy. Now she was carrying his child. Their child.

The thought of how self-absorbed he'd been made him a bit sick to his stomach. It made him wonder if he really knew Raj and Howard. If he knew anyone he was really close to. He'd spent a lot of his life obsessed with how messed up his life was and making it fit this pretty picture of what he wished would happen instead of what really was there. Now that he was to be a parent, was that the example that he was going to give his son or daughter? How was he going to fix that on top of everything else he had to take care of?

Leonard was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that over an hour had passed and that Amy was awake until she handed him a steaming mug of chamomile tea.

She sat cross-legged in her shorts and tee shirt on the couch next to him. She watched as he absently sipped his tea. Amy waited until he was a bit more engaged in drinking his tea before talking to him.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she slowly sipped her tea as she waited for a response.

"I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed at how so much is changing so quickly. I'm trying not to panic about all the changes I need to make before the baby comes," he took a quick sip before continuing. "I have so much to take care of, ya know?" Amy didn't know what to say.

"Yes, I know what you mean. While we were in the waiting room this morning I was wondering how I could manage to possibly be a good mother when I've been a lousy friend." Leonard quickly turned his head in her direction with a startled look on his face.

"How have you been a lousy friend?"

"You mean aside from the obvious?" she gave him a little self-deprecating smile and he smiled back wryly. "I've sort of just focused so hard on wrangling my ideal life in any way that I could get it that I've completely ignored developing deeper friendships with everyone in our group. That can't be healthy."

"I was just thinking the same. I feel like I need to become a better human to be a better father." Again, Amy didn't know what to say. It was odd to be on the same page with someone else. She usually felt like was being dragged along for the ride.

"Maybe the key for both of us to be less overwhelmed and have a shot at being better humans and parents is to work together—share everything."

They stared at each other for a few moments silently agreeing.


A/N: Thank you for reading.