Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took so long to write! I've had horrible writer's block. Anyways, read and enjoy!


As usual, by the time Raj woke up, Howard was out of bed. Rubbing his eyes, Raj sat up and looked around the room. His eyes roamed over the little signs that two people occupied the small room. Howard's comic books had been scattered on the floor from last night and some of his clothes were on the ground, mixed in with Raj's. Raj didn't mind the clutter; he loved it. It meant that there was someone there with him. Raj stood up and went into the bathroom. Taped to the mirror was a tiny calendar. The calendar had been Raj's idea. He'd gone through the nine months that would mark the duration of Howard's pregnancy and marked the important dates. Today being one of them. The date had already been marked off with a big red X by Howard. Today, Howard was going to get an ultrasound. And Raj was going with him.

Howard had been living with Raj for a little less than three weeks now. The move had been much easier on Raj than Howard. Howard still hadn't spoken to his mother since being kicked out of the house. And up until about a week and a half ago, Howard had been going out with the group regularly. It was around that time that Howard's progress seemed to halt. Raj sighed as he splashed water onto his face. The past week had been rough on both of them. About twelve days ago, Howard had noticed the slightest bump on his stomach. He hadn't taken it well and it had taken Raj almost two days of coaxing to get Howard to leave the house. Raj knew it would take a miracle to get the man out of the house today.

After brushing his teeth, Raj went back into his room. Howard was there, taking off his pajama shirt.

"Good morning," Raj said sweetly. He walked over to his lover and placed a gentle kiss on Howard's forehead. Howard forced a smile. "Morning," he mumbled. Raj went to his closet and took out a simple shirt and a dark purple sweater vest. Behind him, Howard was slipping on a red turtleneck, trying his hardest to ignore how tight it was becoming around his stomach. Raj had suggested that Howard go out and buy some clothes that weren't as tight, but Howard hadn't liked the idea.

"Fuck!"

Raj's head whipped around at the sound of Howard's voice. He didn't sound happy. Howard was sitting on the bed rubbing his forehead.

"Howard?"

Silence.

"Howard?"

"My pants don't fit." Howard said finally. He sighed and laid down on the bed. Raj finished dressing and walked over to the bed. He sat down next to Howard and grabbed his hand. They sat in silence for a little while. Raj let his thumb trace patterns on the back of Howard's hand.

"Did you try on your red ones? They were always a little looser," Raj suggested. Howard scowled.

"Raj?"

"What?"

"These are my red ones!"

"Oh."

Feeling stupid, Raj decided to try and fix the situation. Raj let go of Howard's hand and stood up. He went over to his closet and rummaged through all of his clothes before pulling out a pair of black pants. He threw them on the bed where they landed next to Howard's face.

"Wear these," he said. Without a word, Howard reached for the pants and stood up. He discarded the red ones that he'd been trying to close and slipped on the black ones. They were looser than anything he'd worn in a while and the baggy fabric felt strange. However, they zipped up perfectly around his waist.

"They look good on you," Raj offered.

"It's because I'm fat." scowled Howard.

"That's not your fault. There's no use being sad about it."

Raj was surprised to hear a small laugh escape from Howard's lips.

"What did I do?" Raj asked. Howard looked at him. There was a smile on his lips. It was small, and his eyes were still very sad, but at least it was a smile. It made Raj happy.

"You're supposed to tell me that I'm not fat. Thank God I'm not a girl, or you'd have been slapped."

"If you were a girl, this conversation wouldn't have happened."

"Very true."


The somewhat happy mood had faded by the time Raj got Howard into the car. Howard was practically shaking with nervousness. He hated going out in public. The engineer was convinced that everyone would know what was wrong with him if they saw the slight bump on his stomach. Thus, Howard was wearing a heavy sweatshirt and sweating from the heat and the nerves. The drive was easy enough, there was little traffic. Raj pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and Howard noticed that he parked in the same spot that Howard had parked his scooter in the last time he was there. The sight of the building made him nervous. The last time he had been here, his life had been changed forever.

Howard didn't even notice that Raj had exited the car until Raj was at the passenger side pulling open the door. He reached over Howard and unbuckled the seatbelt. Reaching out a hand, Raj took Howard's and helped him out of the car.

"Do I have to do this?" Howard asked stupidly. He knew the answer.

"Yes. Let's go,"

They walked into the building and quickly found Dr. Monroe's office. There was a different receptionist at the desk this time. It was a man in his thirties with short blonde hair. Howard approached the desk nervously.

"How-Howard Wolowitz to see Dr. Mon-mon- Dr. Monroe," he stuttered. The receptionist nodded pleasantly and told the two men to sit down. There was another person in the waiting room- a mother with an infant. The baby was asleep in a stroller. Howard couldn't look at it. Nervously, he began to tap his foot on the ground. Raj noticed and placed a hand on Howard's to calm him down. Howard leaned into Raj and rested his head on his shoulder. The woman next to them smiled.

"You make a cute couple," she said. Raj smiled and nodded, not able to say anything. A door opened and the receptionist walked into the waiting room.

"Mr. Wolowitz?" he called. Howard sat up and nodded. Both he and Raj followed the man into a smaller room. Dr. Monroe was already waiting inside of the room. He shook Howard's hand.

"I'm very glad to see that you made it here Howard. This is a big day for you." he said, a warm smile on his face. He turned to Raj.

"And you must be Rajesh? I believe we spoke on the phone?"

"Yes. It's nice to meet you." Raj said. He too, shook Dr. Monroe's hand. Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in Angela," Dr. Monroe said. Raj cursed under his breath as a woman stepped inside of the room.

"This is Angela," Dr. Monroe explaned, "She is our ultrasound technician. Not to worry Mr. Wolowitz, she is bound by law to keep this a secret and she will not tell anyone. Shall we get started?"

It did not take long for things to get started. Soon, Howard found himself lying on the examination table with his shirt lifted up. He could see his bump much more clearly now. Scared, he looked away and his eyes met Raj's. Raj smiled and ran a hand through Howard's hair.

"I'm right here," he whispered.

The technician squeezed a cool gel onto Howard's stomach and began to rub the substance around. Howard closed his eyes. There was silence for a while. All Howard could feel was the gel on his stomach and Raj's hand clasped around his own. He could feel his heart beating in his ears. The silence was broken by a gasp from Raj's lips. Howard kept his eyes closed. He felt Raj shift and then felt Raj's lips near his ear.

"Look Howard," he whispered.

Slowly, Howard opened his eyes and gazed at the tiny screen next to him. Howard had seen ultrasound pictures before, from family events and on tv, but never one like this. He knew the picture was probably almost identical to every other picture shown on the machine, yet nothing that Howard had seen in his life had ever felt so unique and special to him. He couldn't look away. Howard couldn't explain the sudden change of heart. He'd gone from never wanting to see the ultrasound to never wanting the image to go away. This was proof. It was supposed to terrify him, yet all it did was amaze him. Suddenly, Raj's lips were on his and he was pulled into a quick but loving kiss. For the first time in a very, very long time, Howard Wolowitz truly felt happy.


Howard straightened out his new turtleneck and t-shirt one more time before getting out of the car. In his hand he held the ultrasound picture that Dr. Monroe had given them. Raj was already on the curb, ready to help Howard out of the car. It had been a wonderful evening. Raj had taken Howard shopping for new clothes and now they were about to meet Sheldon and Leonard at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

"Rleax Raj. I can make it out of the car," Howard said, a huge smile on his face. Nothing felt real. Both men were still riding on the awe and excitement from earlier that morning. Howard got out of the car and slid his hand into Raj's. Together, they walked into the Cheesecake Factory. Sheldon and Leonard were already sitting at the table. Penny was at the table as well. As Howard approached the table, Penny pulled him into a huge hug.

"You don't know how long I've waited for a hug like that from you Penny," Howard said, raising his eyebrow. Penny scowled. Howard pulled away, laughing.

"Sorry Penny, I had to. Old habits die hard," Howard explained as he sat down.

"What's that?" Penny asked, pointing to the photo. Howard looked at Raj who nodded.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "I present to you… the baby's first picture!" With dramatic flair, Howard slid the photo onto the table, face up. Penny gasped. Leonard picked up the photo and looked at it for a while, not saying anything.

"It's… it's… wow" was all he could say. Raj nodded.

"Did you find out the gender?" Penny asked. Howard shook his head.

"Sadly, they weren't able to tell. I'm supposed to go back in about two months though. Just for a checkup. They said that if we'd like, they can do another ultrasound then to check the gender," Howard explained.

"That's too bad," Leonard added.

"I could figure out the gender of the baby myself, given the proper materials and a sufficient amount of time." Sheldon muttered.

"No." Howard said flatly. Sheldon rolled his eyes and turned to Penny.

"Aren't you going to take my order?" he snapped. It was Penny's turn to roll her eyes. The group ordered and Penny left. Out of the corner of his eye, Howard saw a flash of blonde.

"Shit guys! Bernadette is here! What do I do? I haven't talked to her since we broke up,"

"Well, you should think of something quick because she is coming this way!" Leonard whispered. Howard's mind went blank. As Bernadette got closer, Howard saw her eyes travel over to the photo.

"Hello Howard. How have you been?" she asked quietly. Nervously, Howard scooted his chair closer to the table in an attempt to hide his stomach. He wanted to grab the photo and hide it, but it was too late. She'd already seen it and it would just draw more attention to the photo if he took it.

"Good Bernadette. And you?" Howard said. She nodded. The next few minutes were filled with an awkward silence as everyone tried their hardest not to stare at the photo.

"Is Penny having a baby?" She asked, motioning towards the picture. No one answered. Howard's mouth was hanging open. Bernadette blinked, clearly confused.

"You see, Bernadette…" Howard began. His words fell short however.

"It's my cousin's baby!" Penny shouted as she rushed over to the table. She handed each of the men their drinks and managed to grab the photo and stuff it into her apron. The sigh of relief that fell from Howard's lips was heard at the next table over, it was so loud. Bernadette looked at Penny with a suspicious eye.

"Well it was nice seeing you Howard. Call me sometime," she said before going back to her tables. When she wasn't looking, Penny handed the photo back to Howard. She turned to leave but Howard called out to her.

"Penny wait."

"Howard, I'm busy. What is it?" she grumbled.

"Thanks,"

Penny was taken aback by the show of gratitude. A smile spread across her face as she said, "No problem! And I'll have your dinner out soon boys!" before turning and leaving.

Throughout the entire night, Raj could not take his eyes off of his boyfriend. For the first time in a very long time, he saw Howard laughing and smiling like he had before everything had happened. Things were getting better, Raj knew it.


Once again, I'm sorry this chapter took so long to write! Hope you enjoyed it!