Over the next week, Amy met up with Leonard twice. The first time, she asked him to meet her for coffee. When she walked into the coffee shop, Leonard was stunned at her transformation. She was extremely gratified by his reaction as he stammered and told her she looked beautiful. The time passed quickly, and she felt hopeful that things might work out between them. Leonard agreed to go out with her again, this time for dinner. She broke the news to him on that second date. He seemed shocked and said he needed time to think, ending their date early. Amy was now nervous and upset, fearing the worst. Penny did her best to reassure her, but knowing Leonard, she had her doubts.

Penny got a text from Leonard the following evening, asking if they could meet. At first, she wasn't sure it was a good idea. She hadn't seen him in months, since she had yelled at him and stormed out of his apartment. She couldn't get any clue to his emotional state via text. Ultimately, she decided to meet with him for Amy's sake. She left "her boys", Sheldon and Stephen, at home for some father-son bonding time. All she told Sheldon was that she was meeting a friend for coffee, and she wouldn't be out late. She hated deceiving him, but the drama between Leonard and Amy wasn't her secret to share. She couldn't wait for it all to be out in the open.

Fortunately, Leonard seemed relieved to see her, and she couldn't detect any sign that he was holding a grudge. They started out with some awkward small talk. The conversation flowed more smoothly as Penny shared some amusing stories about people who had called in to her show. Then in return, she listened patiently as he described the latest challenges he was having aligning lasers for his new project. After that, he fell silent, toying with his glass. Penny took pity on him and decided to put him out of his misery.

"Amy came by to see me a few days ago. She had something she needed to tell me."

Leonard's eyes widened. "She told you about… about us?" he asked.

Penny nodded. "And other things."

"You mean she told you about…?" He made a vague gesture near his abdomen.

"Yup. I know she's pregnant, and that the baby's yours."

Leonard immediately slumped over, elbows on the table and head cradled in both hands. "What am I going to do?" he moaned. "I need your help. I don't know what to do."

"Do you like her, or was it some meaningless fling?" she asked.

Leonard's head snapped up. "How can you even say that? It was her first time; it meant something to me. I'm not just some jerk who goes around... you know, taking advantage of women. I just don't think she's my type."

"Actually, she's much more your type than I ever was," Penny told him gently. "Except for me, all the women you dated were intelligent, professional women. There was Stephanie, Leslie, Dr. Plimpton, Priya, even Joyce Kim… and then there was me, the broke wanna-be actress who was always mooching off you and Sheldon for food and WiFi. Sure, you thought I was pretty, but Priya was pretty too."

"Priya also cheated on me," Leonard muttered.

"Something that Amy would never do. You know that; she's very loyal to her friends. She's a lot like Sheldon in that," Penny said, smiling softly as she mentioned her boyfriend's name.

Leonard didn't miss the dreamy look on her face. "You really do have feelings for him, don't you?" he asked. There was a tinge of sadness in his voice, but mostly he just sounded curious.

"Yeah, I do," she answered.

"I thought so. You never looked at me that way, not even after we… uh, I guess I shouldn't bring that up," he ended uncertainly.

"It's okay," Penny replied. "Actually, I feel like I owe you an apology. The last time I saw you, we didn't part on very good terms, and I'm partly responsible for that. As you can imagine, I was under a lot of stress, but the situation was hard for both of us. I'd had a lot more time to get used to the idea of Stephen and… everything else," she said quickly, not wanting to bring up her relationship with Sheldon. "And now I know you were dealing with these impossible expectations of a happy reunion while trying to suppress your guilt over Amy. Neither one of us was at our best."

He leaned back in his chair, and his face was slack with astonishment. "That's exactly what it was, except I could never put it into words. The way you can tell what I'm feeling is almost scary."

Penny met his gaze steadily. "My abilities are how I know that you and Amy could be really good together, if you gave it a chance. You see, Amy was always a little bit too much like Sheldon. That's one of the reasons why she was always so frustrated with him. On the other hand, you and Sheldon were roommates for over ten years. Your personalities meshed well, for the most part."

"Unless you count his insane obsession with the thermostat…"

"Which Amy doesn't have."

"Or his crazy schedule…"

"Again, not Amy."

He chuckled. "I guess I kind of see your point." He suddenly dropped his head into his hands. "But she's pregnant," he moaned. "How am I supposed to figure out how I feel about her when there's a baby on the way?"

He wasn't being exactly coherent, but Penny understood. "Having a baby does change everything," she said softly. "But you always wanted to be a dad. Even if things don't work out with you and Amy, you still need to be a part of your kid's life."

He nodded in agreement as he lifted his head to meet her gaze. "I don't want to be one of those dads that only sees their kid once or twice a week. It was like that with my dad, even when he lived with us. He was always too busy with his research to spend time with his kids."

Penny reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his. "You're going to be a better dad than that, I promise," she told him gently.

The pain of his loveless childhood clouded his eyes for a moment, then he sat up straighter. Determination gave a more mature look to his face. "You're right, and the best way to start is to try to work things out with my baby's mother." He squeezed Penny's hand gently and then let go. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk about Stephen. I think I'm starting to understand what you meant about putting him first. He needs his dad as much as he needs you. I'm glad you're trying to make things work with Sheldon."

Penny knew there was a lot more to her relationship with Sheldon than just trying to "make things work" for the sake of a child, but she wasn't about to antagonize Leonard. He had just started to come to terms with all these changes that life had thrown at him so abruptly. So instead, she just smiled and thanked him, and with a lighter heart, headed home to the two most important men in her life.

Sheldon came home the next evening looking a little wild-eyed. He paced back and forth across the living room several times while holding his son tightly in his arms. Every so often, he would peer at Stephen and mutter to himself. Penny watched him with trepidation. She was fairly certain that Leonard had decided to share the news about Amy's pregnancy, and Sheldon was clearly having trouble coping with it. Finally, he asked Penny to sit down so they could talk. She settled next to him on the couch.

"I think I know what's bothering you," she began. "Does this have something to do with Leonard?"

His head jerked upward in surprise. "It does." He resumed rubbing circles on Stephen's back, and Penny wasn't sure if the action was meant to comfort him or his son.

"And Amy too?" she asked gently.

He sucked in a deep breath. "Someone told you then?"

She glanced at him sympathetically and nodded. She picked up Stephen and set him down in his playard, already stocked with his favorite toys. Returning to her boyfriend, she wrapped her arms around him as if she could shield him from this unwelcome news. "Amy came to me for advice a couple of weeks ago. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I promised her I wouldn't tell until she could talk to Leonard, and he deserved to hear it from her, not from you blurting it out." She softened that comment by laying a hand on his arm. "I didn't want to put you in a position of trying to keep a secret from your friends. I know how stressful that would be for you."

He nodded. "Apology accepted. Under the circumstances, I believe you made the best possible decision. However, I was concerned that you might be hurt by Leonard's actions. Are you?" he asked, peering closely at her face.

She laughed a little at his earnest expression, combined with the way he still struggled to understand her emotions. It was best, she had found, to simply tell him how she was feeling. Trying to make him guess based on her facial cues was pointless. "No, of course not. I'm just a little surprised I didn't pick up on any weird vibes between them. Then again, I've barely seen either of them since the night we returned." She thought back to Leonard's offer to help her raise Stephen and his careless dismissal of his best friend. It was another thing she didn't want to tell Sheldon. He was so happy to be back in the good graces of his clique that Penny couldn't hurt him by revealing that none of them were the best of friends to him. Instead, she asked, "Are you okay, honey? I know that Amy meant a great deal to you. You were often possessive of her, even if you didn't want to be intimate with her."

"After he told me, I came close to punching him right there in the cafeteria," he growled. "The only thing which ameliorates the situation is that he is committed to being an involved parent, and he intends to support Amy in whatever way she will allow. Still, she deserved better than to be seduced by him. "

Penny bit her lip and was silent. In her mind, Amy had always been too focused on forcing Sheldon into a physical relationship that he wasn't ready for. Neither she nor Leonard had come clean about their affair until circumstances forced Amy's hand. Instead, both of them had tried to keep their significant others in the dark. "Amy was always so desperate for affection," she said quietly. "And Leonard's the exact same way. If they're lucky, maybe they can both be what the other needs. Plus, there's a baby on the way. You know, babies are sort of pre-programmed to love their parents unconditionally. It could work. I hope it does."

Stephen had started to squirm, and Sheldon set him gently down on the floor, watching him with an eagle eye to make sure he couldn't get into anything he shouldn't. "I would die for my son," Sheldon said quietly, "but children are a huge amount of work. I certainly hope they know what's in store for them."

Penny laughed again. "Well, they'd better not hear it from you. They have enough to deal with right now. If they're going to work things out, the last thing they need is you telling them everything that could go wrong in raising a baby."

"I am merely being realistic and anticipating potential dangers," he said haughtily.

Penny's grin widened. It wasn't often anymore that she caught Sheldon getting up on his high horse, but when he did, she had the perfect solution. She pulled him toward her by hooking a finger into the collar of his button-down shirt, and then she kissed him senseless. "Thinking about potential dangers right now?" she teased as she released him.

He glanced quickly at Stephen, who was sitting in the middle of the living room floor, playing with a set of plastic keys. Then he cast a wistful smile in the direction of their bedroom. "No, actually I was thinking about that red dress."