Chapter 48

"If you ask me, I would say that Oliver is not a proper name for this cutie." Dr. Bowen commented as he placed the baby on Amy's chest and covered her with a soft blanket.

The cry of the baby filled the delivery room, in the exact moment when the beams coming from the lamps collided on her forehead and the air entered her lungs for the first time.

Life… so unpredictable, so beautiful yet sometimes unfair, manifested itself, once more in front of Sheldon and Amy.

Sheldon and Amy looked at each other; they couldn't entirely believe what was in front of their eyes.

Dr. Bowen grinned happily, seeing the confused looks of the brand new parents of twins. "Amy, your little Oliver ... is actually a girl." Whispered the doctor, as if trying to prolong the mystery. "See for yourself."

Amy nodded and breathed deeply. She struggled to hold the tears that always came to her eyes, uninvited.

From the first ultrasound, Amy and Sheldon were told that they're expecting a couple of boys. To Amy it was a little hard to admit but, she secretly felt that it would be easier to raise two more boys, instead of a boy and a girl, because she already had some practice with Nicky. She didn't feel prepared to be the mother of a little girl.

Despite the initial surprise and fear, Amy couldn't wait a second to hold the baby in her arms. The little girl felt so fragile and delicate to hold, so unexpectedly Amy experienced the same feeling she had when she carried Nicky in her arms for the first time.

The baby girl, formerly called Oliver, was definitely smaller than Thomas, who looked like a giant next to his little sister. For a newborn, the difference of a few ounces in weight and a inch or so in length, is obvious indeed.

Although Sheldon had a lot to say and many questions to ask; the words refused to come out of his throat.

Even when the ultrasound had shown that they're expecting two boys (with 95% of accuracy); Sheldon still maintained that 5% of hope, and he wished that one of the boys were a girl; not because he had a particular preference for any gender but it was a question of balance in the family.

As in every aspect of his life, Sheldon was always seeking for balance. He didn't want Amy to be the only woman in the Cooper-Fowler family; he thought Amy might feel lonely, among four boys.

"I told you so!" Sheldon smiled proudly when he saw their baby girl. "I knew Oliver was a girl!" He let out his breathy laugh. "Now we have two boys and a girl. My mom and my Meemaw were right! They'll be so happy!"

Sheldon barely touched the head of the baby girl, covered with thin hair, in a shade of chestnut blonde, a bit lighter than Amy's hair.

Comparing with her twin, the girl had a little more hair. Thomas was almost as bald as Nicky when he was born.

"You know my love for you would be exactly the same if you were a boy and not a girl... but you're my first daughter". Sheldon whispered to the girl and gently stroked her cheeks that had a gorgeous pink tone that contrasted with the warm pallor of her skin. "Little lady, you're my first daughter and that's special".

"Aww! He's so sweet, but he's not thinking of having a second daughter? Is he?" Amy thought to herself. Amy took a deep breath and decided not to worry about that issue at the time.

Amy already knew by heart the PowerPoint presentation in which Sheldon explained her how convenient it would be to have two sons and two daughters. For now there was something else that made Amy anxious. She wouldn't confess it but, Amy was concerned that during her childhood, she very seldom played with dolls and almost didn't have a chance to do what was considered girl stuff, and now she was about to raise a daughter.

It would not be the same as raising a boy, that was for sure but… that sweet little girl who slowly began to open her eyes, was totally worth it.

After a few minutes, necessary for the doctors to examine the twins and their mother, to make sure that they were in perfect condition; Amy, Sheldon and the babies were finally left alone in the room, enjoying a moment together.

Emily, the kind nurse, placed Thomas in Sheldon's arms and said goodbye to them. She informed them that she would return in an hour or so to check if they needed some help.


"Emily! Look guys, she's Emily!" said Raj, very excited to see to that lovely nurse he met in San Diego. "I've told you about her. I've never thought I would find her again".

"Hello, I've never thought I would see you either." Emily replied, blushing. She looked at Raj, from head to toe. He was so elegant and handsome wearing his tuxedo. "You and your friends came from a Halloween party. Don't you? "Asked Emily.

Leonard, Howard and Bernadette greeted her; they're still wearing their costumes. Penny had already gone home with Nicky and Isabella.

"Yes, we had a Halloween party but Amy went into labor and I guess you already know the rest." Raj added.

"How's Amy? Are the babies born yet? "Leonard asked anxiously. It had been nearly three hours since they arrived at the hospital and they hadn't heard a word about them.

"Amy and the babies are in perfect health." Emily asserted. "We've left them alone for a moment, so they can get to know each other." Emily smiled sweetly, as she realized that the birth of the girl would be a surprise for them, so she decided it was better to let Amy and Sheldon inform their friends in person.

"I'll go see them in an hour and you can come with me and greet them, but it would be nice to let them have some rest for the night." Emily looked at her watch, it was almost 1:00 am.

Howard, Leonard and Bernadette nodded in unison, happy to know that Amy and the new members of the Cooper family were fine.

Emily said goodbye to Raj and the group and started walking towards a coffee machine. She'd had a very tiring day and she still had seven hours to finish her shift as a nurse in the maternity ward.

Raj, seeing that Emily walked away, decided to take a risk and followed her. He didn't want to look desperate or act like a stalker, but he needed an excuse to talk to her.

"Can… can I buy you a coffee?" Raj asked Emily, with a shaking voice.

"That's nice but it isn't really necessary. The cafeteria is closed already" Emily blushed helplessly. "I… I'll buy a cup of coffee from the vending machine."

"I insist," Raj said, offering his arm for Emily to take it.

"O... okay" agreed Emily. "I could take a short break." She couldn't resist the charm of a certain Indian astrophysicist.


"How do you feel?" Sheldon asked Amy.

"I feel like I just gave birth to two babies" Amy said with a smile. "That was a joke, love. I feel a little tired, but I'm so glad that everything is fine. Look at her! She's such a cute baby girl, I've never imagined that something like this would happen." Amy gently cradled the little girl in her arms, she couldn't describe with words what she felt at that moment.

"I feel extremely happy and lucky." Sheldon swallowed hard. He'd never expected that his life would be so full of love and joyful moments.

Before he met Amy, Sheldon would've sworn that he'd reach the end of his days in complete loneliness. In one way or another he would've found success by devoting his life to science, but if it wasn't for Amy, he'd have ended his life… alone.

"Thank you!" said Sheldon pressing his lips to Amy's in a soulful kiss.

"Thank you!" she replied, utterly lost in the depth of those blue eyes that said so many things, without talking.

"Holy moly! You're big and heavy!" Sheldon added with a grin, while holding Thomas in his arms. "He looks a lot like Nicholas, but he's way bigger than he was at this age. I can't clearly distinguish if his eyes are green or blue, but I'm sure his eyes have the same shape of yours, Amy." Sheldon said as he gently touched the tip of the nose of little Thomas.

Thomas' eyes were small and almond-shaped. They shined like vibrant turquoise fish, gleaming in the light.

Amy could not stop looking at her newborn baby girl, seeing her tiny face was almost hypnotic. From time to time, Amy felt tears moistening her cheeks, and just when a teardrop was about to fall over the forehead of her young daughter, she wiped it with her thumb.

"I've been calling you Oliver for so many months, and now that I have you in my arms, I don't know how to call you anymore" Amy said between sobs. "I'm sorry honey, all your clothes are boy clothes and almost everything is blue."

"Amy! Please, don't cry!" Sheldon exclaimed, concerned about his girlfriend. "Babies do not distinguish colors and they can see only in grayscale; and as for the name, we could call her Olive. That name sounds a lot like Oliver so we won't create a conflict in her developing brain." Sheldon said as he sat on the bed, next to Amy and the little girl. He took Amy's hand, trying to make her feel better.

"Or maybe ... we could call her Olivia, as Dr. Bowen suggested." Sheldon liked the sound of the name for her daughter. "Olivia Cooper". Sheldon lowered his head until his lips lovingly kissed the baby's head. "She does look like Olivia to me".

The moment she felt the kiss on her head, Olivia opened her eyes as if she was waking up to see her daddy for the first time. She batted her long eyelashes for a few seconds, adjusting to the light in the room and finally revealing her dazzling green eyes. That bright pair of emeralds that stared at Sheldon, were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. No discussion.

"Olivia ..." Amy sighed. "I like that name, it suits her" she said softly. Amy's eyes filled with tears of happiness. As if it were a sudden epiphany, Sheldon acknowledged that Olivia's eyes were identical to Amy's.

Sheldon extended his index finger to gently touch his young daughter's hand. Olivia firmly grasped Sheldon's finger with her tiny hand. Now, Sheldon was Olivia's captive and he didn't really mind.

Sheldon could spend an eternity looking at Olivia as her rosy lips pouted, forming a lovely gesture, which reminded Sheldon of a baby bird asking for food.

"I think Olivia is hungry," Sheldon said in low voice, so as not to wake Thomas, who had recently fallen asleep in his arms.

Amy looked at the little girl tenderly. She cradle her in her arms and started to breastfeed.

To Sheldon everything seemed to disappear around him. Every problem, every insecurity, every disappointment was finally left behind. If anyone had told him that he would have so much love in his life, he'd have never believed it. Now, all he needed was Nicholas with them and his happiness would be complete. They would be together when they return home and Sheldon could not wait to see Nicky's face when he meets his little siblings.

While Sheldon was immerse in his thoughts, Thomas started to wake up. The baby's lips puckered up in protest for all the attention that Olivia was receiving. His little hands curled into tight fists as he began to cry loudly.

"I think Thomas is getting jealous." Amy said, smiling as she looked at Sheldon and baby.

Sheldon tried to calm Thomas down, without succeeding. He shook his head in resignation and placed Thomas in Amy's arms. The baby boy stopped crying immediately when he felt the loving warmth of his mother's skin.

"Well, that's what you get when you call our son Thomas Sheldon. He'll never want to be away from you anymore, and believe me ... I know exactly how that feels." The theoretical physicist/ father of three children, said with a deep sigh.

Amy smiled while trying to accommodate Thomas and Olivia in her arms; that wasn't an easy task. Although she's had Nicky in her arms by countless occasions; attempting to hold two babies and also, breastfeeding at the same time was quite complicated.

With a little help from Sheldon, Amy managed to hold the two babies in her arms, but nursing at the same time was really difficult and she felt too tired to try it, for the moment. "Do you want to hold Olivia while I feed Thomas?" Asked Amy.

Sheldon nodded eagerly and quickly took Olivia in his arms. Sheldon was afraid to let his little daughter fall as her tiny body rested peacefully on his chest. Sheldon breathed in, inhaling her essence.

"I have to develop a system to take care of both babies at the same time." Amy added. "It might take a little practice, but we'll get there" she laughed.

Sheldon remained silent for a minute, lost in the angelic face of his first daughter. Without knowing why, the image of Amy when she was a baby came back to his memory.

Sheldon had seen a few old pictures at Aunt Marion's house and he had to admit that Olivia looked just like Amy when she was a newborn.

Amy continued feeding Thomas, somewhat worried that there wouldn't be enough milk for Olivia. Little Thomas kept suckling eagerly. "Hey, save some for your sister" she whispered.

"Amy, can I ask you a question?" Sheldon said abruptly.

"Yes, ask me anything" she said.

"Would you mind if I stop calling you princess?" Asked Sheldon.

Amy looked at him in surprise. "Uhmm… I don't know," she replied. "What's the reason?"

While Sheldon was not very fond of using pet names, he often used to call Amy princess, or sometimes Princess Corncob, especially when they were alone.

"Well ... she's the reason!" Commented Sheldon with a loving gaze and then he kissed her baby on the forehead. "Can I call her princess? Can I?"

"Of course you can!" Amy nodded, deeply touched by the innocent question of the father of her children. "You can call her, anyway you want".

Sheldon sighed with relief, knowing that Amy didn't bother if Olivia got her pet name from now on. Anyway, Amy wasn't his princess anymore; she had enough merits to be his queen.

"But if you should start calling her Princess ... you'll have to give her a tiara," Amy said, with fake seriousness.

Sheldon released his breathy giggle as he imagined Olivia wearing her first tiara. "Oh, I will!" he nodded. He knew he would do anything that her little ladies ask him.


Nearly two months later, Amy and Sheldon had successfully developed a system to take care of Nicholas, Thomas and Olivia, with none of them feeling like they've been left behind, especially Nicky.

At first Nicholas had felt a little jealous of all the attention his siblings received but Amy and Sheldon learned how to handle the situation with some help of their friends and particularly with Mary Cooper and Ms. Fowler's advice.

Although Sheldon appreciated the few moments of silence he still enjoyed, now that his family had expanded; he couldn't deny that the laughter, the occasional tears and the tender little voices of his children, filled their new home with life.

"Amy, I think it's a lot of work! I mean, throwing a party for all our friends, all by yourself, is unnecessarily complicated". Sheldon said as he helped Nicholas to hang a small golden bust of Sir Isaac Newton on the Christmas tree. "I still don't know how you convinced me to celebrate Saturnalia" Sheldon shook his head wearily. "Look at me hanging ornaments in a tree, like a pagan". He snorted.

"Sheldon, we've talked about this and we decided that our children could enjoy this celebration. This is the first Christmas of Thomas and Olivia and Nicky is really excited about it" Amy pressed her lips to Sheldon's in a sweet kiss.

"I know, but we have so much work with the babies already" Sheldon looked around, feeling his head spin as he contemplated the Winter Wonderland that Amy had created in their living room.

Sheldon didn't like Christmas and he had his reasons to feel that way, but seeing how happy Amy and Nicky were, could completely melt the tiny layer of ice that still remained inside his chest.

He had to admit that he was having fun helping Amy and Nicky with the Christmas decorations.

"It's not as much work as you think, and my mom and Aunt Marion are going to help with the food. Bernadette and Howard are bringing dessert and Raj has invited Emily. I'm sure you wouldn't let Penny, Leonard and Kaley spend their first Christmas all by themselves." Amy winked, knowing that her arguments were utterly convincing.

"Fine!" growled Sheldon, surrendering to his cute little lump of wool.