A/N: A big thank you to all who read this little story and to those who take time to write a review.

Thanks to soundsgood200 and bfm for pointing out some inconsistencies in chapter 9. It seems I have serious problems with numbers. I fixed it. ;-)

Here's chapter 10.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from The Big Bang Theory. I don't own any of the characters.

CHAPTER 10

Penny's eyes blinked rapidly. The man that walked out of the fog and now had stopped a few feet in front of the house looked like Leonard. How was that possible? Penny slowly walked into the hall, opened the front door and stepped out on the porch. She was sure she was dreaming, but the man who looked like Leonard was still there. Penny's mouth was slightly open and she breathed heavily. Leonard, who saw Penny coming out of the house, just stand there, unable to move. Neither of them was able to move. It was as if time would stand still.

They both looked at each other, surrounded by total silence in the gray twilight of a foggy morning in December, not able to do anything. It was, as if an invisible force was holding them back. A force that tried to persuade them that all this wasn't real. That all this wasn't happening. Minutes passed, that seemed like hours. Then suddenly Leonard began to smile. I was a smile, that touched her heart. She didn't understand what was going on. This was so surreal. But Leonard's smile was like a signal that unconsciously set Penny in motion. Slowly she began to walk towards the man, who stood in the yard like a Fata Morgana. One step at a time, she walked towards the stairs that led down from the porch to the yard. It was like she was floating, and all the while she looked directly into Leonard's sparkling eyes.

When Penny was just a breath away from Leonard she stopped and looked at him. He still had this smile on his face. This special smile only Leonard could bring forth. Touched by his smile and mesmerized by his wonderful sparkling brown eyes, she still wasn't able to say a word. He looked so real, but it couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming. Carefully, as if she would touch a bubble, Penny reached out her hand and touched Leonard's cheek. In the moment she touched him and felt his skin, she began to tremble. A feeling of warmth filled her entire body that was impossible to describe.

"Leonard?" she whispered in a voice that was scarcely audible.

"Yes, Penny." Leonard nodded with bleary eyes.

Penny barely noticed how tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her face. "Oh my god, Leonard!"

In the very next moment they had wrapped their arms around each other. They hold on to each other for dear life. Nobody wanted to let go, both fearing that in the moment they would break their embrace all this would burst like a bubble. Both were crying without restraint. All the emotions that had pent up over the last months were forging ahead.

"I always knew you were alive," Penny croaked out amid tears, sobbing into Leonard's shoulder. "I knew it."

Leonard and Penny were lost in their own world. Everything around them was completely forgotten and doesn't seem to exist anymore. After a while, neither of them knew how much time had passed, they looked each other deeply in the eyes. And in this moment they both understood what it meant, when someone was saying 'the eyes are the windows to the soul'. Both, Leonard and Penny was granted a direct look into the soul of the other and into the world of the deepest feelings they had for each other.

Only a few moments later their lips crashed, and a feeling of pure bliss immediately rushed through both of their bodies. With both hands Penny had cupped Leonard's face, while he had wrapped his arms around her waist. After all those long months of separation, this kiss summed up all the feelings hey had for each other. And if one had to describe this feelings with a single word, only one word could come into one's mind. Love.

Once their kissing came to a natural end, they both breathed laboredly. Looking at each other again, they both began to realize that this could be actually real.

"I love you, Leonard. Please never leave me again."

"I love you too, Penny. I promise, I will never leave you again."

It must have been the excitement of their reunion, but only in this moment Leonard noticed Penny's baby bump. He slowly crouched down and gently stroked her belly. He looked up at her, his mind filled with a million thoughts. "Penny?"

Penny nodded. "Yes, Leonard. You are going to be a daddy and we are going to be parents."

Leonard's eyes opened wide. "Oh my god!" He got up and engulfed Penny in a tight hug, before giving her a soft and tender kiss. "I can't believe it. I'm going to be a father!" Another flood of tears bursted out of his eyes.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Leonard exclaimed amid tears, his hands resting on Penny's pregnant belly. "I'm not just reunited with my love again, I'm going to be a father as well."

Penny just stood there, looking at the man she loved more than everything in the world, a stream of happy tears running down her face. "It's cold. Let's go inside."

Leonard wiped away the tears on his face. "Okay."

Penny took Leonard by the hand and both headed towards the house.

Leonard and Penny walked up to the porch and went through the front door, that was still open. Standing in the hall, it didn't take long and they were in a tender embrace again. And again, it was like time would stand still. It must have been many minutes, in which they both simply stood there and caressed each other, without speaking one word. They just wanted to feel the presence of the other, they had missed for such a long time.

"Can I have your coat please," Penny asked with a smile, when the broke their embrace.

"Oh, sure." Leonard took off his coat and handed it over to Penny who put it on a hanger, which she had taken out of the closet under the stairs that led to the upper floor.

After Penny had stored Leonard's coat away in the closet she pointed at the living room. "Make yourself at home. I'll get us something to drink."

While Leonard sat down on the couch in the living room, Penny went to the kitchen. She felt like she was in a trance. Leonard was back, he was alive and he was sitting in the living room. She wasn't dreaming. It was real. Dreams really can come true. Penny had to sit down for a moment and process what has happened in the last fifteen minutes. After a few minutes, she somewhat had composed herself. She took a deep breath, got up and walked over to the kitchen cupboard. With two glasses and a water bottle Penny went to the living room.

"Sorry for letting you wait so long. Is water okay?" she asked.

"Yes, of course," Leonard replied.

Penny put the glasses and the water bottle down on the coffee table. She sat down on the couch next to Leonard. They looked at each other for a few moments, both with a smile on their faces. Then she cupped his cheek, leaned forward and kissed Leonard softly on his lips. She had to feel him again, to make sure this wasn't an illusion.

"I still can't believe you're here," she said and shook her head. "This is all so unreal."

"I know," Leonard said and grasped Penny's hands. "It's the same for me. A few days ago, I was on a raft made of bamboo stems, drifting on the Pacific Ocean. And now I'm here, sitting next to the most beautiful girl in the world, who is expecting our baby."

Tears shot in Penny's eyes. She couldn't prevent it. "Oh my god, Leonard," she said with a breaking voice. "You always know what to say. And you always say such wonderful things that let my heart melt."

Leonard smiled and wiped away the tears on Penny's face with his hand. "I see you wear the heart locket I gave you in the car at the airport on the day I departed."

Penny nodded, smiling at Leonard. "Yes, I wear it every day. It gave me strength, hope and confidence during the time you couldn't be at my side." She lowered her head and looked at the locket with an entranced look on her face. "I love it so much." Then she looked at Leonard again. "But now tell me what happened to you during the last seven months."

Leonard took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll tell you."

In the next two hours, Leonard told Penny everything. From the moment he went aboard the plane from Los Angeles to Papeete in May until the moment he saw her again, when she came out of the house earlier this morning.

"And that's the whole story." With these words Leonard ended his narration.

Penny looked at her boyfriend, overwhelmed by his story. "It must have been so terrible, all alone on this island."

Leonard nodded. "It was. I was desperate. But you must have endured a terrible time too."

Penny sighed deeply. "Yes, it was a terrible time. You can't imagine how I felt, when Sheldon told me your plane was caught in a thunderstorm and disappeared from the radar. Or when they found the liferaft with all passengers, except you. Or when they aborted the search for you. I had horrible nightmares, every night. And everything reminded me of you. I couldn't bear it anymore. I had to leave Pasadena, to find my inner peace again. But I never lost hope. I never gave up on you. I always believed you would return to me. And here you are."

Leonard had tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, I did that to you."

Penny leaned forward and hugged Leonard. "No, please no. It wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault. It was destiny. Everything that counts is that you're here with me now."

Leonard smiled and blinked his tears away. For a few minutes they just sat on the couch in contented silence and hugged each other.

"Umm...Where are your parents?" Leonard asked, when they ended their embrace.

"My parents are in the stable and take care of the horses," Penny replied. "They must be back every minute. It's lunch time. Are you hungry?"

Leonard rubbed his stomach. "And how!"

"Good!" Penny smiled. "Let's go to the kitchen. Follow me."

"I wonder how your parents will react, when they see me," Leonard asked himself.

"Well, they are definitely in for a surprise," Penny chuckled.

The beep of the microwave oven signalled that the food was ready.

"I'm sorry, I can only offer you a warmed up meal," Penny apologized. "I would cook something for you. But you know my cooking skills."

Leonard chuckled. "It's okay. That'll do me fine."

Right in this moment Penny's parents entered the kitchen through the back door. Seeing Leonard sitting at the kitchen table, they were stopped dead in their tracks.

"Leonard?" Susan asked in disbelief. "Oh my god!" She walked over to him and engulfed him in a hug.

Wyatt followed closely behind, and hugged Leonard as well. "You are alive, son. And you are here."

"Oh, Penny, you must be over the moon," Susan said, jumping up and down. "Leonard, you must tell us everything."

In the next fifty minutes Leonard told Penny's parents the short version of his story and why he was in Nebraska.

Wyatt and Susan were deeply impressed by Leonard's story and his will to survive. "I admire you son," Wyatt exclaimed, after Leonard was finished. "But first and foremost we are incredibly happy you are still with us, so you can be there for Penny and your baby."

"Me too, sir." Leonard looked over to Penny, who had a beaming smile on her face, which he answered with an equally radiant smile.

"Where do you sleep? And how long can you stay?" Susan wanted to know, after they had continued to talk for a while.

"I have a room in a hotel near the airport," Leonard answered. "But I hoped I could stay here on the farm with you all for a while."

"Please, daddy," Penny begged. "Can he stay here with me?"

Wyatt smiled. "Are you kidding me? Of course he will stay here with us. He's your boyfriend and the father of your baby and our grandchild."

"Do you have any luggage?" Susan asked.

Leonard shook his head. "No, just the clothes that I'm wearing, a shoulder bag with personal stuff and a coat that's in the closet under the stairs."

"Let's drive to the city and buy some things for you, okay?" Penny proposed.

Before Leonard could answer, Penny took his hand and dragged him into the hall. Fifteen minutes later they were sitting in Leonard's rental car and drove off to downtown Omaha.

It was six o' clock in the evening, when Leonard and Penny returned from their shopping tour. While they were in the city, Leonard had checked out from the hotel, since he was staying with Penny, and returned the rental car. Without a set of wheels to return to the farm, Penny had to call her parents to bring them home. It was Wyatt who eventually fetched Leonard and Penny and brought them back to the farm.

After a nice dinner, Penny showed Leonard the nursery. Leonard was impressed by all the stuffed animals and the things Wyatt had built, like the crib or the diaper-changing table.

Seeing the room, that was a baby paradise, Leonard had to ask Penny something. "So, you don't want to come back to Pasadena?"

Penny shrugged. "To be honest, I pictured my future and that of our baby here in Nebraska. But you're right. You have your work at Caltech. Staying here is no option."

Leonard looked around. "This is such a wonderful nursery. It would be a shame, if it wouldn't be used."

Penny nodded. "Yeah, that's true. And my dad put so much work into it."

"We can't raise a child in the apartment building in Pasadena anyway. Both apartment 4A and 4B are too small." Leonard paused for a moment. "No, wait. We could raise a child in 4A. It has two bedrooms. But in that case Sheldon would have to move out. And I think that's very unlikely."

"Yeah, he doesn't like change," Penny agreed. "We would have to find another place."

Leonard contemplated. "Or we still raise our child here. At least for a year or so. I could take a sabbatical."

"Is this possible?" Penny asked.

"I will talk with Gablehauser and Siebert tomorrow," Leonard answered.

Penny looked at Leonard. "Oh, by the way. What about our friends in Pasadena? We should talk to them too. They should know, that you're back and here with me."

Leonard nodded. "Of course. Can you arrange a Skype session?"

Penny smiled. "Sure. They will be thrilled to bits, when they see you."

Leonard made a suggestion for the time of the session. "Tomorrow evening at 7 p.m., which is 9 p.m. here, would be a good time."

"I'll text Sheldon, Amy, Bernadette, Howard and Raj and set up a session."

"Great." Leonard walked over to the pile of stuffed animals and picked up the teddy bear that was named after him. "This teddy bear wears the same glasses like me. Just a little bit smaller," he chuckled.

"And because of that, I named him Leonard," Penny grinned.

"Teddy Leonard?" he laughed.

"Exactly! And you two have almost the same color," she chuckled. "You're quite tanned."

Leonard looked at his hands. "Well, I was exposed to a lot of sunlight during the last seven months."

Then his eyes fell on the music box with the sleeping baby on a white flower, that stood on the dresser next to the crib. He walked over to the dresser and took it into his hand. "That's a really nice music box."

Penny came up to Leonard and nestled up to him, putting an arm around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. "That's the music box I had in my room when I was a little child. It fell off my nightstand one day and broke. I was so sad. I thought it was thrown away, as I never saw it again since that day. But obviously that wasn't the case, and my father had fixed it. My parents gave it two me as a symbol of hope, that there was chance you would come back one day."

"Wow, your parents are amazing," Leonard said. "They never gave up on me too?"

Penny gave Leonard a soft kiss on his cheek. "Nobody in my family gave up on you. We all firmly believed that you would return one day. And here you are."

Ten minutes later Leonard and Penny sat next to each other on the bed in Penny's room and made out passionately.

"I missed that so much," Leonard smiled.

"Yeah, me too. It's fun making out with you," Penny grinned and gave him a smooch. Suddenly she looked down at her pregnant belly.

"Is everything okay?" Leonard asked concerned.

"Yes, honey. Everything's okay." Penny grasped Leonard's right hand and put it on her baby bump. "The baby kicks. Can you feel it?"

Leonard nodded and his eyes went wide. "Yes, I can feel it." A smile formed on his face, followed by rush of happiness, that shot through his body. It was amazing. "Wow, that's great. How does it feel for you?"

"It's hard to describe," Penny replied. "It feels like bubbles that are popping inside my tummy."

Leonard savored the feeling of the kicking baby. When he looked up at Penny, he could see tears rolling down her cheek.

"Penny, why do you cry?"

"Don't worry, honey. These are happy tears. I was so sad, you couldn't be here when the baby kicked for the first time, but now you can feel it. And that makes me happy."

Penny looked at the window, which was decorated with a big paper snowflake for Christmas. "Hmm...do you remember when Sheldon hugged me at Christmas five years ago, because I gave him this napkin with Leonard Nimoy's signature? You called it a saturnalia miracle."

Leonard chuckled. "Yes, I remember."

Penny smiled. "Well, but this year we have a real miracle. You're here with me right now. And just in time for Christmas. That's a real Christmas miralcle. Don't you think?"

Leonard nodded and smiled back at Penny. "Yeah, you can't imagine how happy I am. Sitting here with you and feeling our baby kicking." He gently stroked her belly. "I love you."

Penny beamed. "I love you, too."

Leonard leaned forward and kissed Penny. The soft and tender kiss quickly escalated into a full-blown make out session. When both had to gasp for breath, Leonard could see that Penny's eyes were almost completely black from arousal. And he felt a burning desire too.

"Is it safe to have sex?" Leonard asked.

"It is," Penny replied. "But I guess it could be difficult to maneuver."

"Well, if our favorite positions are too difficult, we could consider some new ones," Leonard grinned.

"That's the spirit," Penny giggled and began to undress herself.

The love making after such a long time of separation was a wonderful experience for Leonard and Penny. And as it turned out, they could perform all of their favorite positions plus some new ones. Penny's parents certainly have heard their love making, as they weren't exactly quiet. But they didn't care.

Two hours later they lay in bed, snuggled under the covers, spooning. Penny lay on her side, with Leonard behind her. He had put an arm around her upper body. Their fingers were intertwinded and rested on Penny's baby bump. For the first time since their last night together before Leonard's departure both had fallen in a contented and restful sleep.

To be continued...