Because as much as it had tonight between her and Sheldon…
Penny didn't think she could handle change at the moment.
When they finally pulled into the car park at their apartment building, Sheldon and Penny sat in silence for a few minutes.
"What are we going to tell the others?" Penny eventually asked, and Sheldon rolled his eyes.
"I think that from previous experiences with my ability in lying it would be best if we told them the truth."
Penny nodded, but sighed.
"Sheldon why are we doing this? Why did you stop me from getting an abortion?"
He pulled out two folded up pieces of paper from his pocket, and handed them to Penny.
"That is a list I made on my twelfth birthday. Everything that I really want in my life is on that piece of paper. A goal setting exercise, if you will."
Penny let her eyes drift over the piece of paper, which was much more wrinkled than the other, showing its age.
Her eyes skimmed over the list, from 'Win a Nobel Prize' to 'Own a time machine' (which was crossed out).
Just under half way down the page, her breathe caught, and she stared at the paper.
Have a family.
"Sheldon… you want a family? You wanted this?"
"Hardly under these exact circumstances, but ultimately… yes."
"Since when?"
"I have always noted the merits of having a family. No matter how irritating Missy was, she always stood up for me at school. No matter how demanding my Mom was, she always made cobbler on a Friday night. And... And no matter how disappointed my father was that I didn't become a mechanic or farmer… he still supported me. Always."
"And you want that… with me?"
"Penny, I told you; I didn't plan this. But now that it has happened… I'm not going to just let this opportunity slip through my fingers. The odds of my ever having this chance again are, for all intents and purposes… nonexistent. My calculations prove it."
Penny looked at the second piece of paper in her hand, and had to hold back a smile.
It was chock full of numbers, and equations. She wasn't even going to ask how Sheldon had calculated his 'odds'.
"Penny." He said it so seriously that she immediately looked up to meet his eyes. "I want to make this work. Do you?"
Penny swallowed, and looked down at the paper in her hands. She thought back to the night that had started everything, and to the dreams she had woken from only that morning, though it seemed so long ago..
The little girl with brown curls and sky blue eyes…
His head in her lap as he smiled up at her...
Penny looked back at him, and nodded.
Sheldon's eyes brightened in a smile.
Leonard had been sitting on the stairs outside his apartment for just over ten minutes when he finally heard the sounds of Sheldon and Penny climbing up to their level. He strained to hear what it was they were saying, but only managed to catch a few words of Sheldon's as the two came around the corner 'I worry… reaction… good.'
Penny nudged Sheldon, and he looked up to see Leonard watching them.
"What on earth took you so long?" Leonard asked, and the two shared a look. Penny nodded, and when they turned back to face their friend they had very serious expressions on their faces.
"Leonard, can you please call Raj and Howard? Sheldon and I need to talk to you all about something." Penny asked, and Leonard couldn't explain the sinking feeling in his stomach as she unlocked her apartment and walked in.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking at Sheldon for an explanation.
"We need to talk to you" was all that Sheldon said before he followed Penny into her apartment.
Leonard sent Raj and Howard a text, hoping that they would turn up soon.
They arrived nearly fifteen minutes later and the three by now very curious men knocked on Penny's apartment door.
Sheldon opened it, and let them in. Penny was sitting on the couch, looking rather pale. She bit her lip as she stood, and Sheldon moved to stand beside her.
"What is all this about?" Howard asked.
Penny started off slowly.
"Ok... so you know that I am pregnant."
Three nods.
"Well… I've told the father. We're keeping the baby. We want to make it work."
Raj and Howard shared a grin and Leonard nodded again, having already come to this conclusion from this morning. He suspected that Sheldon had received a message from the father on Penny's behalf, and that was why they had rushed off this morning - to stop her from getting the abortion.
"So who's the father?" Howard asked excitedly, and Penny looked at Sheldon, biting her lip. Sheldon took the hint and stepped forward slightly.
"That would be me."
