*I had originally intended for this to be a sequel, but it became an afterward instead.

Alfred had gone to the grocery store and come home to what appeared to be an empty house. He walked around looking for his wife and found her in their bedroom. She was asleep on their bed with Nori, now 2, and Paisley, now 1. Alfred had received the phone call the couple had been waiting for while he was out, but didn't have the heart to wake his wife. An hour later, Beverly and the girls reemerged from the bedroom.

"How long have you been home?" Beverly asked her husband.

"About an hour, but you all looked so peaceful. I got the call."

"Really?" Beverly's face lit up.

"Girls," Alfred turned to his granddaughters, "you have a new baby sister."

The girls were a bit too young to really understand what that meant or to even care. Alfred and Beverly loaded the girls up before heading to the hospital. Leonard met his parents outside of the room so that he could take the girls in first. A few minutes later he came out for his parents.

"What did you decide to name her?" Beverly asked as she held her newborn granddaughter.

"Lila Pearl Hofstadter," Leonard answered.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful baby," Alfred said, "my turn."

"I just got her," Beverly pouted.

"Fifteen minutes ago," Alfred added, "granddaughter hog."

"Oh, fine," Beverly stood and handed Lila to Alfred.

After an hour of visiting, Alfred and Beverly took Nori and Paisley home. The girls stayed with them until Leonard came home that night.

During the night Alfred heard the bathroom door hit the wall. He turned the lamp on and saw his wife missing from their bed before hearing her vomit. He rushed to the bathroom and took her hair in one hand while he rubbed her back with the other. Once she was done, Alfred sat against the wall and held his wife.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

"I've been tired all day, but this is the first time I've felt like this or even threw up."

"Why don't I take you to the doctor tomorrow?"

"Alfred, I held and kissed Lila earlier."

"I'll talk to Leonard tomorrow. In fact, I'll send him a text to see when he wakes up."

"I'll just feel awful if the girls get sick."

"More awful than you feel now?"

"A different kind of awful."

"You ready to go back to bed?"

"Yeah," Alfred stood and helped his wife slowly stand, "back in the day this would have warranted a late-night trip to the drug store for a pregnancy test." Alfred stopped and stared at his wife with panic written all over his face, "seriously?"

"No, I know that you can't be," Alfred tried to brush off his reaction, "it's just a reflex for men."

The next day, Alfred took Beverly to the doctor and found out she had the flu. Leonard called to tell Penny who told the nurse so that they could watch Lila. Beverly went straight to bed once she and Alfred got home. Alfred went to work making soup for his wife while she rested. Alfred took some ginger ale and saltine's into the bedroom and sat them on Beverly's nightstand.

"Alfred," Beverly groaned, "I'm cold."

"I'll get you a few extra blankets," Alfred went to the closet and found two blankets that he then put over top of his wife.

"Thank you," Beverly said.

"Do you need anything else?" he asked softly.

"No, thank you," Beverly smiled as best as she could.

Once the soup was done Alfred turned the oven off and covered the pot. He then went to sit in his room with his wife. Beverly threw up two more times before the day was over. During the night she got up to go to the bathroom. On her way back to bed she got dizzy and passed out.

Alfred woke up and realized his wife wasn't in bed. When he turned the light on, he found her on the floor. "Beverly!" he raced towards his wife just as the woman was coming to. He helped her up and got her settled in bed. "Honey are you alright?"

"I think so," she answered. "I had to go to the bathroom, but when I came back I got dizzy. Next thing I knew you were yelling my name."

"Why don't you wake me up from now on if you need to get out of bed or need something?"

"Okay," she whispered before falling asleep.

Beverly didn't throw up anymore, but she was tired as hell and light-headed. Alfred took care of his wife the entire time she was sick. Beverly felt better within a week and no one else got sick. Alfred had begun to feel symptoms but took Theraflu early enough that it stopped the virus. The girls were glad that their grandma was better because they missed being able to go over there whenever they wanted.

"Hi," Nori said as she walked into her grandparents' suite.

"Hi sweetheart," Beverly bent down and lifted Nori. "How's having Lila around?"

"She okay," Nori answered, "no do lot."

Beverly chuckled, "she won't do a lot for a while."

Later that night, it was just Alfred and Beverly, "you know we never really did have a honeymoon," Alfred said.

"Well, where would you like to go?"

"I thought we could each come up with a list of places we'd like to go to," he answered.

Alfred and Beverly went about making their lists. When they were done they looked at one another's lists and found that they had quite a few similarities.

"Well, that didn't help."

"I didn't think we'd come up with that many of the same destinations."

"Why don't we write our top five?"

The couple did that and were able to narrow their choices down to three, but they put the same place down as their number one choice. "We probably should have done this first," Alfred said.

"When would you like to go?"

"Let's look for a place we would like to stay and see when we can get a hotel and flight."

Beverly and Alfred found a nice hotel and a suite with a view of the Mediterranian Sea. The couple decided to go the following month.

A month later, Alfred and Beverly left for their honeymoon.

"This place is beautiful," Beverly said on their way to the hotel.

"We really picked the right spot."

"Here you are folks," the cab driver said, "hope you enjoy your stay here in Corfu."

Alfred and Beverly spent their honeymoon relaxing and enjoying each other's company. They really hadn't had a lot of alone time with the little ones around. Not that it bothered them when the girls were over.

"This was a fantastic choice," Beverly said on the last day.

"It really was," Alfred agreed.

"The Mediterranian is just so beautiful. I could live here if Leonard could get his family to move out here."

"We really can't be without them, can we?"

"No, we can't."

When Lila was six months old, Penny discovered that she was expecting again.

"This is the last one," she told Leonard.

"I'm getting a vasectomy, aren't I?"

"If you ever want to see me naked again, yeah."

"Can I at least wait until the baby is here? I mean you won't be able to have sex then either."

"Fine, you can wait until then."

Nori often wandered over to her grandparents. She loved spending time with them.

"Gwama," the little girl yelled when she entered.

Beverly came out of the bedroom when she heard her granddaughter, "hi, sweetheart," the little girl ran and hugged her grandmother.

"I play here?"

"Sure, let me get my phone and we can go to the living room together." Beverly winced when she sat on the floor with Nori.

"Gwama otay?"

"Yeah, I just got a boo boo and that made it hurt a little. I'm fine, sweetheart."

"Otay," the little girl went back to her toys. Eventually, she asked Beverly to play a few games and do a few puzzles. Penny came over to get Nori when it was nap time.

Alfred got back from the store and found his wife sitting on the floor of the living room.

"Honey, what are you doing sitting on the floor?"

"I sat down to play with Nori and my back didn't react well. I can't get back up."

Alfred walked over and helped his wife up and onto the couch. "When did your back start hurting?"

"That's the first time in a while. I mean it does hurt on occasion." Beverly started rubbing her neck.

"Does your neck hurt too?"

"A little," she answered.

"Will you humor me?"

"I don't know. Let's see what you want me to do first."

"Your neck and back were hurt back then and I think we should check if you have developed arthritis in either."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to have them checked."

"Do you want to just take it easy today?"

"Alfred, we're retired. Taking it easy is all we do."

A few days later, Beverly went to her doctor. The doctor had the woman get an XRAY and MRI. Beverly's back was really bothering her now. It turned out that she did have arthritis in her back. Her neck was fine and had probably just been stiff that day. Alfred offered to help his wife into the house, but she insisted that she was fine.

"When the pharmacy calls I'll go and pick up your medication."

"Thank you," Beverly started thinking.

"Honey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I want to lay down but I can't decide if I should out here or in the bedroom."

"I think the bed will be more comfortable."

"Yeah," Beverly had hoped that she would be able to take a nap on the couch but knew her husband was right. Beverly sighed in defeat, "I need help."

"Hey, that's one reason why I'm here. You can always ask me for help." Alfred took his wife by the arm and helped her to their bedroom. Once she was tucked in, he left the room to let her rest.

It took a few months for Beverly's arthritis medication to be at the right dose. She still had back pain, but it wasn't as bad as it had been. Thirteen months after Lila was born, Penny gave birth to a son named Phineas Lorenzo Hofstadter. Yes, after Phineas was born, Leonard got a vasectomy. The Hofstadter family was complete in many ways. Leonard and Penny had four beautiful children. Beverly and Alfred were a huge part of the family. They really had come a long way in three years. Beverly was especially different but in a good way. She did write another book, but it was about how hurtful her behavior had been to her son. She also wrote about how lucky she was to have his forgiveness and to live with him. She had Leonard read the book before sending it to her publisher. If he disapproved then she was going to do whatever he wanted with it. Even if it meant destroying him.

"Leonard, what's that?" Penny asked when her husband crawled into bed with his mother's book.

"My mom wrote a book and wanted my approval."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Leonard opened the book and read the dedication out loud, "'to my wonderful son, Leonard. You are an incredible husband, father, son, and scientist. In spite of the mistakes, I made while you were growing up. You have made me so proud to be your mother. I love you, Penny, Leonore, Paisley, Lila, and Phineas with all my heart. Yes, Alfred, I love you too.'"

"Okay, maybe it won't be so bad," Penny said. She saw her husband become emotional while reading the dedication.

Leonard went over to his parents a few days later, "hi, sweetheart," Beverly said as she greeted her son with a hug.

"I finished your book."

The smile fell from Beverly's face. "I'm really sorry."

"For what?"

"I just feel as if I have to be."

"I sent it to your publisher."

"What?" Beverly was shocked.

"It's a wonderful book and should be published. You admitted that while your previous books had proven scientific theories in regards to parenting, that didn't help your children. That all children require something different. You admitted your mistakes and gave advice on how to raise children in a reward-based environment while still showing them love."

"I wish I had done that while you were growing up."

"Mom, you don't have to feel bad about that anymore."

"It's going to take me some time."

"I know, but I love you and I'm very proud of you."

Beverly hugged her son and felt a few tears fall.

"Gwama," Beverly and Leonard started laughing when they heard Nori. "Daddy, what you do here?"

"I had to talk to grandma about something. What about you?"

"Playdate," she answered.

"Well, don't let me hold you up," Leonard left the two alone.

"Well, what would you like to do?" Beverly asked her granddaughter.

"Can we watch a movie and color?"

"Sure we can," Beverly answered.

There was nothing Beverly loved more than spending time with her grandchildren. She even loved that time more than anything scientific. They gave her life meaning and purpose. She felt needed and wanted with them around. Not that Leonard and Penny didn't make her feel that way, but it's different with her grandchildren. Beverly's book became a best seller. She had been asked to make appearances promoting the book, but she turned them down. She said that she didn't write the book to get media attention. She wrote the book to right a wrong and that's exactly what she had done.