O-kay, everyone, new chapter! :D Getting this up before I take my pre – Hunger Games power nap.

Anyone want to guess what I own? Nothing? YOU WIN! Your prize? This chapter. Enjoy!

"I can enjoy this a lot more now that we're not doing it to build a baby," Penny said that night, sighing and pulling a strand of hair away from her eyes. She took several deep breaths, rolling on her side to rest a hand on Leonard's chest. "Inhale, exhale," she said, teasingly.

"Oh yeah, like you've caught your breath already," he said pointedly.

She smiled, scooting closer to him. "I could get real used to you kissing my stomach like that," she said, placing his hand below her rib cage and resting her own upon it.

"Well, I want our baby to know that it's loved," Leonard said.

"And making it feel included when we have sex is an appropriate way to do that?" Penny asked.

"All of the books say the baby is not aware of anything we do! Especially not at this stage, it's just a little embryo."

"I know," she said, smiling. She looked up at the ceiling and let out a contented sigh. "It's just," she said, shaking her head and tugging the covers down so her stomach, completely flat, was visible. "Wow." She glanced at Leonard, and they smiled at each other. "I can't believe this finally happened," she said, shaking her head slowly. "We're going to be parents. We're going to be Mom and Dad."

"We already are, technically," Leonard pointed out.

"Wow," Penny said again in wonderment. She placed both hands flat against her skin. "I feel like I should look different already. Or feel different. It just seems so weird that on the outside I look the same and on the inside…"

"You don't look the same," Leonard said, rolling his head to the side to see her better.

Penny frowned. "If you're already calling me fat, then you're in for a hell of a rude awakening."

"No," Leonard shifted his weight and put on his glasses. "That's not what I meant at all. I meant…" he moved his finger from the left to the right in emphasis, "the exact opposite of that."

Penny cocked her head, her hair dropping to the other side. "So this is one of those 'I'm in love and she's pregnant so she just looks gorgeous to me' things? Because it's going to take me some time to figure out how I feel about that, you know, the whole debate over 'is it too cheesy' or 'is it adorably sweet'. Honestly, I'm leaning toward not cheesy because I don't want this to be one bit like those movies or shows, they overuse every already clichéd storyline in the book, and…"

Leonard laughed. "No. Don't," he warned when she put on a hurt look. "First, we're not scripted so I doubt any of that is going to happen. And what I mean is for the last year, even when we were happy, you always had that slight edge to you. You never quite relaxed, never quite looked completely happy, no matter if it was a good day or not. You always looked a little tired, a little drawn, and your eyes were just carrying this angst." He lazily ran his fingers through her hair. "Now you look like a huge weight's been lifted. You're completely relaxed. You look happy, and it doesn't look like you're just trying to be at all. You just are. And your eyes are happy. That weight is just…well, it's gone. "

"Yep," Penny said. "Went right off my shoulders and into my uterus!" She frowned. "God, that word sounds awful, doesn't it?" Leonard laughed. She repositioned so she could cuddle up against him. "Uterus." She said again, wrinkling her nose. "That is a terrible word. I like 'womb' better. I'm going to use 'womb'." She let out a breath and cuddled closer to Leonard again. Then she felt his chest shake, and she looked at him in alarm before she realized that he was laughing. "What?"

"Build – A – Baby," he said, snickering. "I'm sorry, that's just funny to me."

Penny giggled and curled back up next to him. "Night, Dad."


"So do you know what's wrong with Amy?" Bernadette asked, coming over to Penny's section of the restaurant and sitting down.

"No," Penny said. "I haven't seen her in two days. And shouldn't you be at work?"

The former restaurant employee ignored that question. "Apparently, well, according to Sheldon who told Leonard's mother who's conversation was overheard by Leonard who told Howard who told me, who is telling you…" Bernadette stopped for a breath. "Amy has holed herself up in her apartment and is doing research that is apparently unrelated to her field. She will not tell anyone what she is doing and it is bothering Sheldon immensely."

"Are you sure she just didn't get absorbed into you?" Penny asked. "With those long ass sentences of yours."

Bernadette smiled. "I'm just a little worried about her, it actually seems like something is bothering her and nothing ever bothers Amy. It reminds me of when she stressed out over you when we thought you could be sick."

"Well, I'm not sick now," Penny said. "But I guess that behavior is a little odd." She looked at the clock. "I'm off in ten, maybe I'll go over there and see what's going on."

"Sheldon said that she's not letting anyone in because it may distract her from whatever the hell she's doing," Bernadette said.

Penny raised an eyebrow. "Bernadette, it's me."

"Ah." Bernadette nodded. "Good point." She stopped and studied Penny for a moment. "This probably sounds odd, but you look really good today."

Penny smiled. She felt really good too, and how could she not. Leonard's child was with her. But she didn't tell the microbiologist that. It wasn't time. She simply smiled. "Thanks, Bernadette."


Penny slung her purse over her shoulder as she neared Amy's door. It was one of the first times that she'd ever come there unannounced; usually it was the other way around. But she was legitimately concerned; Amy was nothing if not social – as ironic as that statement sounded when talking about the kind of girl who was proud to be Dr. Sheldon Cooper's girlfriend – and this behavior was…well…different. Penny had been around horses long enough to know that a difference, whether seemingly positive or negative, was always a red flag worth checking in to simply because it was a break in routine. And while Amy was no horse (thank Cow, after her previous lesbian comments and comparison of Penny to Catherine the Great), both were subject to the same basic behavior patterns.

Penny let out a breath and rapped at the door. "Amy?"

"Penny?"

"Yes, can I come in?" Penny waited for a moment, then added, "please?"

"I'm quite busy."

"Bestie…" Penny whined. She knew that would work, and she only had to wait a moment before the door flew open to reveal a very concerned Amy Farrah Fowler. "Are you sad?"

"What?" Penny cocked her head.

"Are you still sad? Are you stressed? Just the other day you claimed to be happy, but I'm well aware that you tend to hide your true feelings."

"Well," Penny said, crossing her arms. "To be honest, I'm worried." She wondered for a moment or two why Amy hadn't commented on her looking happier, then she realized that her concern for the neurobiologist was probably clouding her face.

Amy's face fell, and she grabbed Penny's wrist and pulled her into the apartment. "What are you worried about now? Tell me, tell me the general topic of your concern and I'll get right on it!"

Penny cocked her head, genuinely confused. "What?"

"I've been emailing with everyone I know that works in a field even remotely related to fertility. They've sent me suggestions and I've cross – referenced them with all of your medical records. I've written sexual positions that are supposedly helpful for conception in this notebook – and some of them are pretty outrageous – and I've read six books on the subject." Amy looked down. "Bestie, I wish I could help you. I'm trying, but…"

Penny stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her friend. "Amy, you don't have to do this for me."

Sheldon would have leapt away as if she was radioactive, but Amy hugged her back. "You are my best friend. You are sad. Of course I have to do this." She sighed. "And there could still be something wrong with you that they just haven't found. And I'm determined to find it before it gets out of control."

"Amy," Penny said gently, "I love you for doing this, but I'm fine."

"No," Amy said. "I've watched you this past year. You've been a mess." She looked her friend in the eye. "And Leonard's a moderately intelligent young man, but I have the better connections when it comes to finding this problem, so then," she stopped to breathe, "then you can be happy again."

"No," Penny said. "You don't understand. I'm not sad. I'm happy." She pulled back and looked the neurobiologist in the eye. "I'm pregnant, Amy."

Amy cocked her head slowly to the side. "Really?" she said, looking as if she wanted to believe it but wasn't sure.

Penny nodded, holding her gaze. "We found out a few days ago. We didn't want to say anything in case something was wrong, but I swear to you, I'm pregnant, Amy. I am."

Amy stepped back and put her hands to her mouth. "Oh, Bestie, that's great news!" She moved forward again and threw her arms around the waitress. "I'm so genuinely happy for you."

Penny smiled. Whenever Amy said something to her, she knew it was one hundred percent genuine.

"Well, sorry I could not help you," Amy said, pulling back. "Maybe if I had put out this effort sooner, this would have happened before. But…" she looked sad for a moment, and then hopeful. "It's the thought that counts, right?"

Penny cocked her head. "Well…maybe you could do something for me."

"Anything."

Penny smiled shyly. "Okay, well…could I maybe take that notebook?"

Amy grinned mischievously. "I have the most popular ones highlighted."