Damn, Chapter 25 for this one too. Who would have thought that a dream sequence could turn into this ^^
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: They are not mine.
The present: 4 years and 4 months old:
Penny was trying to get comfortable in the big armchair in Sheldon's apartment, all the while wolfing down the food she had taken from the table. One piece of Mu-shu pork after another disappeared into her mouth, her loud chewing causing the others to look at her, wondering what happened to her besides the pregnancy.
"What?" she asked when she noticed the looks. "Never seen a pregnant woman eat before? Oh wait, you have." she added in a hiss.
"It's just..." Bernadette hesitated. "I thought you were a vegetarian."
"I am, why?" Penny asked, stealing two more pieces from Leonard's plate.
"I guess Bernadette asks because you are eating pork." Sheldon interjected.
"So? I got cravings and for some reason, these two inside me love the taste or pig meat. And why are you surprised, you saw me start eating pork at our last barbecue." Penny shrugged. "Sweetie, can you get me a juice?"
"Sure." Leonard nodded and got up to go to the fridge.
"So, how are the mood swings?" Howard asked.
"I don't have mood swings." Penny growled. "And if you talk more about that, I will ram my fork through your hand."
"Here you go." Leonard said and handed her a glass of juice.
"Thank you so much, sweetie." Penny gushed, almost in tears.
"Yeah, no mood swings at all." Howard huffed.
"Shut up, Howard!" Penny growled and waved her fork threateningly.
"It's not so bad." Leonard shrugged. "She's mostly very nice to me."
"Of course, you're my husband." Penny purred and rubbed her hand over his inner thigh, to both Leonard's and everyone else's surprise.
"Please refrain from starting coitus here and now." Sheldon objected.
"Sheldon, we won't." Leonard sighed. "And please bear in mind that my son is here so please refrain from talking about... you know."
"Coitus?" Chris asked from the floor, picking at his own food. "I already know what that is."
"You do?" Penny was surprised. "Since when?"
"Day before yesterday." Chris shrugged. "I wanted to come down to the kitchen to get ice cream and saw you and daddy doing your naked wrestling on the couch, so I decided to search on the internet. Though it was gross to see, I now know what it is and that this was how you made my sisters."
"Oh lord." Leonard groaned and buried his head into his hands.
"Doing it on the living room couch with your boy upstairs? Brave." Raj giggled.
"I can't help myself." Penny hissed.
"She really can't." Leonard confirmed. "She comes by the lab sometimes during the day."
"Ah, so that's why you have that stupid grin on you sometimes in the cafeteria." Howard realized.
"Daddy!" Chris wailed from the floor.
"What is it, son?" Leonard asked.
"Mommy stole my food." Chris pointed at Penny, who was chewing a mouth full of pork.
"Penny!" Leonard accused.
"He can't prove anything." Penny mumbled, her mouth full, swallowing bit by bit. "I need some kind of cake."
"Eww." Bernadette squealed. "Your mouth is full of pork."
"Get used to it." Leonard sighed. "Last week, she was dipping bacon strips into chocolate and strawberry jam."
"Hey, that tastes amazing." Penny gushed, while the others looked as if they might hurl.
"The last time she was pregnant, she couldn't stop eating meringues. I learned to make them myself." Leonard grinned.
"You can bake meringues." Bernadette asked surprised.
"Yep." Leonard nodded.
"Why can't you do sweet things like these." the little blond punched her husband in the arm.
"Because you're not pregnant." Howard defended himself.
"Also, it's because you're a jewish boy who is used to being pampered on." Raj giggled.
"What, do you think I wouldn't care for my pregnant wife?" Howard was indignant.
"Not the way Leonard does." Bernadette shook her head.
"Of course not, he's the king of husbands." Penny gushed, running her hand over Leonard's inner thigh again.
"Should we all leave the apartment?" Howard asked.
"No, there won't be any of those shenanigans here." Sheldon pointed out.
"Why won't you do any shenanigans with Amy?" Penny asked.
"Why would I do that?" Sheldon wanted to know.
"Because afterwards you feel great." Leonard grinned. "And it's good when you're stuck with something, makes you get epiphanies."
"I reject that conclusion."
"Really?" Penny grinned. "Remember that Arrow rerun where Ray Palmer and Felicity hooked up? Right after he solved his problem and managed to build his atom suit."
"I have never loved you more." Leonard chuckled, always glad to hear his wife talk about shows he loved.
"Huh." Sheldon considered. "There might be some truth to your claim. I should give the idea of coitus some thought."
"If Amy were here, she'd faint." Penny laughed and then stopped. "Leonard, they are kicking again."
Leonard put his right hand on Penny's stomach, where she held it tight on her stomach and both felt the soft bumps against her inner walls where the feet of their daughters were hitting it. Leonard couldn't stop smiling as he felt it, the new life he created with the love of his life proving it's strength.
"Man, they are strong." he grinned.
"Yeah. Especially when they play ping-pong with my bladder." Penny groaned and struggled to get up. "Need to pee again."
"Need some help?" Leonard offered.
"I may look like a cow but I'm not a disabled person." she scoffed. "But you know, we could..."
"Go!" Leonard ordered when Penny began drawing circles on his neck.
"Seriously, how lucky are you?" Howard asked.
"To have a wife like Penny? Very." Leonard smiled. "Mood swings and all."
"I mean more in the way of her overactive..."
"Be careful what you say next, Howard." Bernadette interrupted with a glare.
"... imagination." Howard finished, clearly afraid of his wife.
"Especially her overactive... imagination." Leonard grinned as Penny returned.
"Alright, bladder empty again, I'm set for the next thirty minutes." she huffed and flopped back into the armchair.
"Just wait until you can't get up from the toilet." Sheldon said. "You still have three months to go."
"Don't remind me." Penny groaned. "Why did I let myself get pregnant again?"
"Because you wanted me to have sisters, mommy." Chris replied from the floor.
"No, I wanted you to have a sister. Singular. But your daddy was too excited and went for the double feature."
"I don't do anything half-baked." Leonard chuckled.
"You wouldn't have, this is double-baked." she pointed to her stomach. "All the exercise with Alice and I look like a cow again."
"You'll get your figure back again, you're nothing if not tenacious." Bernadette smiled. "Too bad Howie doesn't want to train anymore."
"Hey, I do train with them and their neighbor once a week." Howard objected.
"It would help your progress if you would add more than ten pounds to the bar." Leonard shrugged.
"Hey, not everyone is genetically predisposed to add muscle mass. And stop lording your two hundred and fifty bench press over me." Howard grumbled.
"I never said anything about it." Leonard returned.
"You don't need to, you celebrating every time you do a press is enough."
"Interesting." Sheldon spoke up. "Howard perceives Leonard's physical achievement as a threat to his own manhood."
"I do not." Howard protested.
"And he is in denial about it." Penny rubbed salt in the wound. "Come on Howard, if you managed to bench two-fifty, you would do jumping jacks in joy."
"Hey, I'm plenty strong." Howard puffed himself on the chest.
"Can you lift your wife?" Penny asked.
"No, he can't." Bernadette shook her head.
"Bernie!" Howard whined.
"If you didn't always stop training every time you feel some strain, you might have made more progress now." Leonard shrugged.
"I almost threw up in my mouth." Howard said.
"I have seen guys in the gym throw up numerous times. That happens when you train very hard." Penny offered. "You might want to stop worrying how you look if you throw up."
"Hey, I don't worry." Howard complained. "I'm a witty, intelligent, masculine person."
"Hey, the first letters of these words spell wimp." Chris giggled, causing everyone except Howard and Sheldon to laugh.
"I'm beginning to not like you anymore." Howard hissed.
"Like uncle Sheldon since I fixed his Dark Matter equation?" Chris asked.
"Wait, you fixed that?" Raj interrupted. "Sheldon told me he had a late-night epiphany."
"Nope, Chris did it last month." Penny giggled. "Sheldon went for a tizzy."
"I don't go for tizzies." Sheldon moped. "I think you should all go home."
"Are you actually throwing us out?" Leonard asked.
"No. But I don't want to entertain anyone."
"Fine." Penny shrugged. "Bye Sheldon."
Everyone got up and packed their remaining dinner into bags. Leonard helped Penny from the armchair, the extra thirty-five pounds she had gained so far combined with the protruding stomach making it difficult for her to get up from a soft surface. As they put their light jackets on, Sheldon looked at them like a lost puppy.
"What are you doing?" the lanky physicist asked.
"We're leaving, since you don't want us here." Leonard replied.
"I didn't say that."
"Yes, you did." Penny nodded. "So, we're out."
"But I am the nucleus of this social group. What will you do without me?"
"Have fun? Wanna move this evening to our house?" Penny asked around. "Completely Sheldon-free."
"I'm in." Bernadette accepted and both Howard and Raj nodded as well.
"You are really going to leave me here?" Sheldon asked miffed.
"Yep." Penny nodded and closed the door behind her, blocking out anymore of his complaints.
"Wasn't that a bit harsh?" Bernadette wanted to know.
"No, it's all part of the plan." Penny giggled and took out her phone.
"Who are you texting?"
"Amy. Telling her that Sheldon is now alone and miffed and she should come home to comfort him." Penny grinned.
"Ah, you're sneaky." Bernadette grinned back and the entire group left for Leonard and Penny's house.
The past: 2 months ago:
"Well, I think we're done here." Leonard sighed, seeing the room in all its finished glory.
"Finally." Howard huffed, flopping down against the wall. "Putting furniture together for two people is a lot more work."
"Come on, stop whining." Frank's deep voice boomed. "I carried everything up here."
"Hey, I carried my tool bag." Howard defended.
"Yeah, because that was so heavy." Leonard winked. "Frank, we're very grateful. To all of you for helping. Except you, Sheldon."
"Hey, I have been helping." Leonard's former roommate complained.
"Pointing out that we're doing everything wrong and not putting up any science stuff is not helping."
"Disagree."
"Guys, are you done?" Penny's voice shouted from the backyard outside the window. "The first steaks are done."
"Be right down." Leonard called back out through the open window.
They all headed outside where the girls had sat down around a large table filled with food, everything ranging from various salads to condiments for the meat that Raj was busy with on the grill, giggling at the prospect of eating more beef. Penny smiled at her husband as he came out, washing his hands at the rain barrel, along with the others who worked in the room.
"Are you finished up there?" she asked.
"Yep, the room is ready for its two future occupants and my new home office is done as well." Leonard nodded.
"Thank you for relinquishing your room for them." Penny smiled, remembering how he didn't even argue.
"Of course, they are our children. Their needs are much more important than mine."
"And that's why you shouldn't have gotten that Nobel Prize." Sheldon moped. "You continue to put your private life ahead of your academic work."
"Do not even go there, moon pie." Penny growled, waving her fork menacingly.
"Sheldon, given the fact that I have a Nobel Prize, a huge research grant and your old parking space means that my priorities actually do help me with my work." Leonard pointed out.
"Alright, lets eat." Raj said and put the first batch of meat on the table. "And for Frank, I got this done." he added, putting a separate plate with the biggest steak Penny had ever seen on the table.
"Thank you, Rajesh." Frank smiled and grabbed the ketchup.
"That potato salad is to die for." Alice moaned after taking a bite. "Who made it?"
"Leonard did." Penny smiled. "Though is noodle salad is somewhat lacking in flavor."
"It does?" Leonard asked, taking a bite and finding nothing amiss.
"Dear lord, that tastes amazing." Bernadette squealed after eating a bit. "That pregnancy must have ruined your taste buds."
"Maybe." Penny shrugged. "I have trouble finding anything that satisfy my cravings. I tried sweets, any type of salad, nothing helps."
"You'll find what helps." Amy smiled encouragingly and dug into her own food.
"I need to pee." Penny huffed and stood up to go to the bathroom.
She relieved herself and sighed exasperated. When she had said that she had yet to find a meal she liked and satisfied her cravings, she wasn't lying. She had sent Leonard out to buy stuff she had never eaten before but thought it might help but even though he never complained, she could feel his own exasperation at her way to frequent behavior.
She walked back outside and saw Leonard taking a bite of his pork steak into his mouth and just because she wanted to, she pulled his head back and planted a kiss on his lips. That alone was nothing anyone but maybe Sheldon would even look at strangely but after a second of separation, her lips were back on his with a lot more force and her tongue roaming inside his mouth, much to even Leonard's surprise.
"Ahem, you have company." Bernadette's voice interrupted her, making her break the kiss and look at her. "What's gotten into you?"
Penny didn't answer but instead grabbed Leonard's steak with her hands and began to eat it. Although eating was not the right word since she was basically devouring it without much chewing. Once the meat was gone, she looked at the plate with the remaining meat and grabbed two more pork steaks, eating them more slowly but with equal gusto.
"I think we just found out what her body was craving for." Frank laughed, his deep voice shaking the table.
"I can't eat meat, I'm a vegetarian." Penny complained between bites.
"Just let go Penny. Eat what your body demands." Leonard nodded and handed her a bottle of ketchup.
She didn't have to be told twice and Leonard made a mental note to buy lots and lots of pork products.
The present: 4 years and 5 months old:
"God dammit, look at me, I'm a cow." Penny whined, standing sideways before the mirror and looking at her profile.
"Nonsense." Leonard placated her. "You're beautiful."
"What, if you really see me beautiful now, wasn't I before?" she growled, seeing her round stomach and her puffed face.
"You know that's not what I'm saying." he chuckled, being used to his wife's mood swings.
"Then make up your mind. Either I'm beautiful when I'm thin and gorgeous or when I'm fat like a cow."
"You're pregnant with my daughters, how can you not be beautiful."
"You such a sweet person." she cried happy tears.
"I love you." he smiled and walked behind her, putting his hands on her stomach.
"God, I hate you for making me pregnant with twins, ruining my figure so much." she growled again, and then turning her head to nip at his neck. "Get naked and ravish me."
"No." he shook his head.
"Why not?" she whined. "Am I not sexy enough anymore?"
"It's not that." he lifted his hands in surrender. "We just finished five minutes ago, so I can't really ravish you right now. We also need to leave, so we can make it to your doctor's appointment and then we have to pick up Chris from school."
"Weekly appointments. Whose dumb idea was that." she scoffed.
"It was your doctor's idea. You know it's for the best when it comes to twin pregnancies."
"Well, two and a half months and we'll have our girls with us." she said teary.
"Even less." he smiled at her. "In twin pregnancies, labor usually starts earlier."
"Isn't that dangerous?" she asked while getting dressed in comfortable maternity clothes.
"Only if they would come out now or in the next two weeks. After that, they should be okay, if not a little small."
"Well, lets go then." she finished dressing and walked downstairs, followed by him. "After we get Chris, we should do some grocery shopping."
"We can do that." he nodded and they left the house.
They got into her spacious car and he drove them to the doctor's office in town, parking the SUV on the lot before heading into the office. They passed another pregnant woman exiting the waiting room and gave their credentials at the reception desk before sitting down in the waiting room. Penny had to use the restroom again while they waited but finally they were called into the office.
"So Penny, how are you feeling today?" Doctor Green asked.
"Fat. Bloated. Ready to pop. Like a leaky faucet with all the peeing." she counted on her fingers.
"Well, the ready to pop should wait at least another six weeks." Doctor Green smiled. "Lets get down and we'll take a look at your daughters."
Penny took off her shirt and pants before getting into the examination chair, where Doctor Green proceeded to rub the gel onto her stomach to make the ultrasound. Leonard watched with a smile, also eyeing his wife's breasts and how they almost broke the bra with their bigger size. Forcing his eyes away and to the screen, he looked at the developing picture on it while Doctor Green finished moving the wand over Penny' stomach.
"And there they are." Doctor Green announced. "Looks good. No obstructions, no vying for position. No visible deformities. Perfect little angels, sitting across from each other, sharing the space."
"Of course, I gave them a stern talking to." Leonard joked, holding Penny's hand.
"And it seemed to help, I barely had morning sickness with these two." Penny added.
"Any problems, unwell feelings or worries?" Doctor Green asked.
"No, except for the peeing." Penny replied.
"That's quite normal. The added weight is pressing harder on your bladder. Just wait another month, you might be sitting on your toilet constantly."
"If that's the case, we should get some padding for the seat." Leonard shrugged.
"Hey, that's not funny." Penny pouted while Doctor Green handed her a towel.
"It's a bit funny." she winked. "Alright, same time next week?"
"Sure." Leonard nodded.
"Won't you getting problems with work if you take so much time off?" Penny asked as she cleaned herself.
"No, I took a sabbatical from the teaching part of my job while you are in the final stretch of your pregnancy and for the first six months of our daughters life. I only work from home."
"And they accepted just like that?"
"They have to. Looks bad for public relations when their star employee is denied time to care for his pregnant wife." Leonard smiled.
"You're really milking this, aren't you?" Penny grinned.
"You want me to go back to work?"
"No." she shook her head as she got dressed again. "I want you right there at home with me."
"Always keep her bag packed and call me immediately if she feels any pain." Doctor Green cautioned. "Twin pregnancies can become problematic quickly."
"Lets hope, it won't happen with us." Penny sighed. "We'll make the appointment with your secretary."
"Great. Have a nice day."
After making the new appointment for the following week, they drove to Chris' school and waited the fifteen minutes until his last period ended, during which Penny had to use the schools restroom again, much to her chagrin. Two minutes after the bell rang, the kids stormed out, being greeted by their parents and loaded into the cars or walked away.
"Daddy?" Chris got his father's attention from the backseat.
"Yeah, son?" Leonard asked.
"I finished the equations for the transuranic element. Could you give them a check-over?"
"You finished? That's amazing. Of course I look over them. If you want, I can ask your uncle Howard to program a simulation to see if it works." Leonard said, unable to take Chris' notebook and scrolling through the equations now since he was driving.
"That would be great. Don't want them to be false now." Chis hopped in joy.
"Sweetie, you're not even five years old. If you make a mistake here, nobody will hold it against you." Penny said.
"Still, I want it to work just so I can see uncle Sheldon's head explode." Chris grinned. "Not literally of course."
"But that might even happen." Leonard chuckled. "If you manage to do what Sheldon couldn't, his reaction about you fixing his equation last month will look like a joyful dance in comparison."
More conversation was stopped when they arrived at the mall. Leonard went to get a cart and sat Chris into it, who let himself be carted around like a sack of potatoes. Penny hauled herself with him, one hand linked with his as he pushed the cart and both placed the items they needed into the cart. Penny hoped she wouldn't run into some ex of hers, something that had almost become a comical repetition when they shopped for groceries.
"Penny?" someone called out for her but this time, the voice was female, making Penny turn.
"Cheryl!" Penny squealed, embracing her old friend as best as she could. "How have you been?"
"Great, I work in cosmetics now." Cheryl replied. "But enough of me, what is this?"
"Cheryl, you remember Leonard from my Halloween party and from his frequent visits at the Cheesecake Factory." she introduced her husband.
"Yes, we knew he was in love with you from the way he looked at you." Cheryl grinned. "Congratulations on getting her."
"Thanks." Leonard chuckled.
"But I was rather talking about this." Cheryl said, pointing at Penny's stomach before finally seeing Chris in the cart, who was half buried in groceries. "And who is this?"
"Cheryl, this is our son Chris." Penny made room. "And in here are our future daughters."
"Hey there, little man." Cheryl shook Chris's small hand. "Wait, daughters? As in plural?"
"Yep." Penny giggled. "Got two in the oven, almost done in fact."
"Congratulations." Cheryl hugged Penny again. "Listen, we should get together soon. I'd love to chat some more but I also need to get home now."
"No problem. Let me give you my phone number." Penny said and wrote it on a piece of paper.
"I'll text you and then we can make a date." Cheryl waved and moved off. "Have a nice day."
"You too." Penny called after her. "Damn, I haven't seen her in over ten years."
"I remember her. She was the one who slept with Raj after your party, right?"
"Yeah, you're right." she nodded and they continued shopping.
Penny sighed in content as they paid for their stuff, feeling her little ones kick again inside her. She held her hand over her stomach and spoke soothing words, hoping to any deity who listened not to bring them out too early. Just early enough that they were healthy and she could begin the work of bringing her body back into the pre-pregnancy shape so sex wouldn't be such a one-sided affair anymore, regarding the available position.
And of course, she wanted to look hot again for her man.
As for the appearance of Cheryl, remember, this story follows the canon and there was no blowout between them. Cheryl simply disappeared in the show ^^
Review please :)