I cannot thank you all enough for the lovely reviews on the last chapter. This story has now become my most reviewed and favourited piece of work, I am so incredibly grateful. I never once thought so many people would read this, let alone would take the time to review and become so invested in my stories. It really means the world and is totally the boost I need to keep writing. Thank you so much!

Here is chapter 12! I really hope you all enjoy!

"He kissed you!?" Penny gasped, her mouth open as Amy revealed the details from the night before. Amy nodded her head, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she thought back on the previous night. Without realising, the kiss had been every thing she had wanted and needed in that moment, she had forgotten what it was like to kiss him, what it was like to kiss anyone. She had really missed feeling that close to someone. A kiss was all it had been, both of them being a little too nervous to take it any further. "And then what happened?" Penny asked needing and wanting to know all of the details.

"I kissed him back" Amy admitted, she could feel the blush rising up her face as she rose her mug of coffee to her lips in a bid to conceal her crimson cheeks. Penny squealed with delight, clapping her hands together like a giddy school girl.

"Amy" Penny was in shock, in all the time that she had known them she never had Sheldon or Amy down as the type of people to just spontaneously kiss each other and move on. Even when it came to each other, they simply weren't like that. It took them four years to have sex after all.

"It just happened" Amy defended, holding her hands up, she really couldn't explain it, she had never acted like that before and she was sure Sheldon hadn't either. It was purely in the moment. Maybe that was the best way to be.

"So what happens now?" Penny asked, sinking down into the bar stool at her kitchen island. This was the question Amy had been dreading, it was either going to come from Penny or Sheldon and no matter who was the first person to ask her, she really didn't know how to respond.

"That's the problem" she admitted. "Does it have to mean something?" she asked, despite being in a relationship with Sheldon for five years, dating and actually how to behave in a relationship was still something that was very new to her, there were social protocols that they were both still learning.

"Well, you don't just kiss anyone" Penny stated. "Of all people I should know" she laughed. "Have you really thought about what you want?"

"Not really" Amy didn't like being put on the spot, even after all this time, she still didn't know what she wanted. "I've just been trying to focus on becoming a mum" she explained. It was true, Sheldon only took over her thoughts occasionally, he didn't totally consume them. She remembered back to the early days of their relationship when he was her last thought before she went to bed and her first thought when she woke up in the morning. It wasn't like that anymore.

"With your tongue down his throat" Penny teased as Amy blushed.

"I did not have my tongue down his throat" Amy protested, feeling as if her cheeks were on fire. "It wasn't like that" sure the kiss was intense and passionate, but it was also sweet and romantic, butterflies swarmed her stomach at the mere thought of it. Surely that meant something?

"Whatever you say" Penny laughed, she didn't quite know whether to believe Amy or not, on the surface both Amy and Sheldon seemed so innocent and inexperienced but she knew better than anyone the things they did to each other. "Look, you've just got ask yourself one question" she placed her elbows upon the breakfast bar and rested her chin on her hands looking at Amy all wide eyed.

"What's that?" Amy was intrigued by where Penny was going with this.

"Do you love him?" the question almost made Amy's heart stop and her daughter began to wiggle around inside of her. She had never been forced to answer that question before. If anyone was going to get straight to the point with her it would be Penny.

"I don't know" Amy shrugged. "I guess, maybe. I think I love him, I think I'll always love him, I just don't know if I'm in love with him anymore" Sheldon had shown over these past few months how sweet and caring he could be, since discovering he was about to become a father he had been so attentive and gentle, Amy really had loved seeing that side to him. Alongside all of that, she also knew how difficult he could be, how at times his schedules and aversions made her want to scream, how his inability to see anyone else's view point aside his own drove her absolutely insane and thats all before you throw a new born baby into the mix.

"Oh" Penny pouted, feeling her heart sink, no one championed the couple more than she did.

"Is that not the answer you wanted?" Strangely enough, there was a part of Amy that felt guilty for letting Penny down.

"I can't tell you what to do" she shrugged. "I just know he's been trying so hard both with you and trying to wrap his around being a dad. I think he really thought something might happen between you two. It's sad that it never will" Penny didn't want to push Sheldon on to her best friend but living with him gave her first hand experience of his behaviour, he really was trying to change and adapt for the better. All for Amy.

"I didn't say that something wouldn't happen" now that Penny had taken away that choice, had almost written their relationship off it left Amy scrambling for any ounce of hope. People often doubted Penny's intelligence but right now she smiled to herself as she watched Amy's mind work overtime, her little plan seemed to be working, when it came to relationships Penny was the brightest of the them all.

—

There was a part of Amy that wanted to turn on her heels and walk away as she found herself standing outside apartment 4B. She didn't quite know why she had found herself agreeing to spend Valentine's Day with Sheldon, the last thing she wanted to do was to lead him on and allow him to think that this was anything more than what it actually was.

She figured they were on the same page, he had sold it to her as simply friends having dinner, the day didn't matter however, Amy was still a little nervous, a little apprehensive. With Penny and Leonard out celebrating at their favourite Italian restaurant, they had the place to themselves, they were alone together for the first time since they kissed. Amy didn't know whether she wanted to kiss Sheldon again, but she did know whenever she thought about it she found herself smiling like a twelve year old whose crush had finally noticed her.

She raised her fist and gently knocked on the door, hearing Sheldon calling for her to come in. The sight that greeted Amy was a little unusual, Sheldon stood in the small kitchen, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows and a tea towel draped over his shoulder. Ingredients were laid out on the kitchen surface and Amy was sure there was something boiling on the stove.

"What's going on?" she asked, after a few moments of allowing the sight to sink. Domesticated Sheldon was quite a turn on and she found her heart all a flutter.

"I'm cooking" he answered, he thought his current position in the kitchen was obvious enough to provide an answer to that statement. "I thought it would be nice to cook something, plus given that it's Valentine's Day I thought we would probably have to wait awhile for take out and I figured you'd be hungry" he explained.

"That's very sweet Sheldon" Amy smiled as she took off her coat and handbag. With the absence of her coat, Sheldon's eyes were immediately drawn to her stomach, it had only been a few days since they had seen one another, but he was more than sure her bump had visibly grown. "What can I help with?" she asked walking towards him.

"Absolutely nothing. You're resting" Sheldon handed her a glass of juice and nodded in the direction of the sofa.

"Sheldon, I'm more than capable of cooking a meal" she defended, she appreciated his gesture but she really didn't need to be treated any differently. Sheldon pointed to the sofa, summoning her over there with his eyes as he returned to cutting a pepper. "Fine, fine" Amy huffed, she wasn't in the mood to argue with him.

When she eventually sat down on the couch, she was grateful for Sheldon being so insistent. It was only now she realised how much her back was aching and how restless their daughter was, her movement and kicks were crazy tonight. Now at 23 weeks, it was already starting to feel like things were getting pretty cramped in there.

"Are you okay?" Sheldon asked, nothing how she was crinkling her face, her hand upon her stomach.

"Yeah" Amy nodded. "She won't stay still" it really did feel like her stomach was doing flips constantly, accompanied frequently by a hard knock to her left side. Amy watched as Sheldon smiled, he wasn't looking at her, focusing solely on the task at hand. She loved their baby so much already, upon discovering that she was pregnant she had almost prepared herself to feel an overwhelming amount of love. What she hadn't given that much consideration to was how much she would love watching Sheldon fall in love with their baby girl and she wasn't even here yet. "What are we having?" Amy asked.

"Pasta Pomodora" Sheldon replied looking rather proud of himself, this had been Amy's favourite dish, something she would always order whenever they ventured out to the Cheesecake Factory. She loved the fact he remembered, he remembered everything but all the same it made her smile.

For the next few minutes the conversation flowed between them in a way that could have them mistaken for a married couple. They spoke about their day, about work, about their baby, it was natural and easy and Amy was suddenly rather pleased with herself for agreeing to this. After all, who wants to be alone on Valentines Day.

—

"Amy! Oh god! Amy!" she suddenly heard her name being frantically called by Sheldon. She had only momentarily left him to go to the bathroom for the third time that evening after only being at the apartment for half an hour. Knowing Sheldon to be a little dramatic and considering that just two minutes ago everything was absolutely fine, Amy didn't see the point in rushing to his aid.

She felt swarmed with guilt when she rounded the corner to see Sheldon standing there, his right index finger clasped tightly in his left hand. He was as white as a sheet. Amy saw the blood pouring from his finger and without a moments hesitation she rushed to his side, clutching paper towels on her way.

"What the hell did you do?" Amy asked gently.

"I cut my finger" he whimpered, his bottom lip pouty and his blue eyes sad and hurt. "Amy, there's so much blood. I don't feel right."

"Okay, okay" Amy was so soft and calm as she placed her hand on his shoulder and led him over to one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "Sit down" Sheldon lowered himself onto one of the stools, his hand still clasped around his bleeding finger. "Let me take a look" he removed his hand so that Amy could inspect the damage, blood was pouring from what she could only assume was a pretty deep wound, she just couldn't quite see it yet. "Don't look at it, don't look" Amy warned gently. Sheldon closed his eyes tightly and turned his head away as Amy used the paper towels she had gathered and wrapped it around his finger, applying a firm pressure to hopefully stem the bleed.

"Ow, ow" Sheldon whimpered.

"Sorry, I need to apply pressure to it" she explained. "I think you've cut it pretty deep" she told him as she found herself changing the paper towels, the blood soaking through the material within seconds. "Don't look" Amy warned again as he moved his head. "I don't want you passing out" she was joking, but he was growing paler by the second. "Keep your arm raised too" she told him, helping him raise his arm in the air.

"Will I need to go to hospital?" his voice was quiet and sorrowful, like a little child who had just fallen and grazed their knee.

"I'm not sure" she needed to inspect it closely to check if they needed to go the emergency room. The bleeding was gradually beginning slow and Amy had started to dampen the paper towels in the hope of cleaning the wound, with each gentle dab to his finger, Sheldon would dramatically hiss in pain as his bottom lip stuck out. "I think you may need stitches" she knew for a fact he did, the cut was far too deep to heal on its own, but the last thing she wanted to do was freak him out and panic him further.

"I don't want stitches" he shook his head from side to side. "What about dinner? We haven't even eaten"

"I don't think dinner is going to taste that great if you're bleeding everywhere" she smiled, hoping that Sheldon would see she really didn't mind missing out on dinner. She just wanted to make sure he was okay. "Right, let me just change this and then we'll get going" she spoke referring to the paper towel that was quickly becoming covered in blood.

"All this blood is making me woozy" he commented as he rose to his feet with a fresh paper towel wrapped around his finger. As they descended down the stairs Amy made sure he kept his movements slow and steady, he was still pretty pale and looked a little wobbly.

"You're okay" she told him gently placing her hand on his back.

—

"I'm sorry, I know this probably wasn't how you wanted to spend your Valentine's Day" Sheldon apologised as they sat in the waiting room, it was supposed to be the most romantic day of the year and even if she didn't have any other plans he could only assume the last place she wanted to be was in the emergency room with him.

"It's okay. It'll be a good little story to tell her won't it" she smiled resting her hand upon her bump, a yawn escaping her lips, it was getting late and she was starting to feel exhausted.

"You don't have to stay. If you want to go home, I don't mind" she knew he was just saying this because he thought it was the right thing to say, she knew Sheldon too well. He really would hate to be left on his own.

"Sheldon, I'm not going to leave you" on the practical side of things, if she was to leave he would have no way of getting home, she didn't like the idea of him hailing a cab with a minor injury, but more than anything she was actually quite enjoying spending time with him.

"Thank you" he smiled.

"Feel" Amy urged gently, gesturing to her bump. "She's kicking loads" Sheldon placed his uninjured hand upon Amy's bump. In that moment, it didn't matter that his finger was still bleeding a little or that they were in a packed waiting room on Valentine's Day, feeling his little girl under his palm made all of that seem completely irrelevant.

"Oh wow! She really is kicking isn't she" he was amazed at how much stronger the kicks felt compared to the last time, another sign that she was growing and healthy. Nothing mattered more to him than that.

"Isn't it strange to think that hopefully the next time we're here, we'll be leaving with a baby" Amy hadn't really given it much thought until now but with just 17 weeks to go, it really was no time at all.

—

It was a few hours later when Sheldon was seen by a junior doctor, something he initially had a problem with but a glare from Amy seemed to stop him rambling on about his level of expertise.

"Dr Cooper, the numbing agent should have taken affect now" he explained. "Once I begin the stitches, you shouldn't feel any pain however you may feel a little tugging."

Sheldon whipped his head round to face Amy, she had never been overcome with an urge to look after someone as much as she did right now. Sure, Sheldon could be smart, smug and incredibly annoying but right now he just looked scared and in needed of being looked after. "It'll all be over soon, okay. Squeeze my hand" her tone was so soothing and peaceful, Sheldon was sure if it wasn't for the situation he found himself in, she would have been able to lull him to sleep.

"I can feel the tugging" Sheldon commented, his eyes tightly closed for dramatic affect.

"That's normal, the doctor said you would. You're not in any pain are you?" she asked, to which Sheldon shook his head. He wasn't squeezing her hand as such but Amy's thumb was stroking the back of his hand in a soft movement that really seemed to relax him. "We can stop for food on the way home, are you hungry?" she asked, trying to think of anything to take his mind off what was happening.

"Not really" with that conversation shut down pretty quickly, Amy wracked her brains to think of something to talk about but before any ideas came to mind the doctor was finished.

After briefing Sheldon on how to take care of the stitches and when to return to the hospital to have them removed. Both he and Amy returned home.

—

They made a quick stop at a fast food place so Amy could grab a cheeseburger and milkshake, she was absolutely starving or more that her daughter was, she had started to blame any bad food choices on the baby. Sheldon didn't eat anything, insisting he wasn't feeling hungry, she knew he was feeling a little guilty about ruining their evening, not that she minded at all.

"Where did you two get to?" Penny asked once they had stepped into the apartment. She was dressed in a red satin night gown that skimmed her mid thigh and barely covered her bottom, obviously a Valentine's treat for Leonard who Amy could only assume was waiting for her in the bedroom.

"The emergency room. Sheldon cut his finger and had to get stitches" Amy explained. Sheldon raised his finger to show Penny.

"Oh god, are you okay?" she asked taking a long sip from the bottle of water she had pulled from the fridge.

"I am now" he nodded. "I'm not sure what I would have done if Amy wasn't here" he looked towards her and flashed her a smile.

"The blood was making him a little woozy, at one point I thought we were going to lose him" she laughed giving him a little nudge.

"Oh Sheldon" Penny laughed. "If you can't handle a little bit of blood, how are you going to cope in the delivery room" the question was rhetorical but it was all Sheldon needed to hear to send his mind into a complete panic, how was he going to cope? Amy would need him ways he hadn't even considered, the last thing she would need was him passing out or panicking? What if he couldn't do it?

"I should probably get going" Amy's voice was tired as she spoke, her eyes heavy and almost begging for sleep. She had pulled Sheldon from whatever mad thoughts he was having about being in the delivery room, he had been so lost in them he hadn't noticed that Penny had happily skipped away after blowing them a kiss good night.

"You don't have to go" Sheldon told her. "It's late, you could just spend the night here" she looked exhausted, he didn't like the thought of her driving home when she was this tired. "I'll take the couch" he was already moving around the room, ready to grab the blankets and pillows he would need from the cupboard.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch" she really didn't know what she was insinuating, just a few weeks ago she was telling Penny she didn't know what she wanted and now here she was offering to share a bed with him. Despite, sharing a bed together many times before and clearly doing much more, since the break up this was a huge step for them.

"Don't be silly, my mother would kill me if she ever found out I made a pregnant woman sleep on a sofa" Sheldon shook his head, his arms wrapped around the large duvet he had found, a few pillows balancing on top.

"Okay, if you're sure" Amy smiled at his naivety, how her subtle suggestion at sharing a bed together had gone completely over his head, as he laid out what would be his bed for the evening, she was sure the thought had never even occurred to him.

"I am" he nodded. "Everything you need should be in my room" he gave her a smile as he tucked himself in.

"Night Sheldon" Amy smiled as she lowered her head and placed a gentle kiss to his forehead, realising that it wouldn't be much longer until she would be unable to bend over before her bump got in the way.

Amy turned to walk away, her body was so tired, the promise of a comfy, warm bed was the only thing keeping her moving. She stepped up the tiny step that led to the hallway, she was just about to turn off the light and send the living room into darkness when she heard Sheldon call her name.

"Mhmm" she turned around to face him, he looked adorable all tucked up, his eyes bluer than ever. He sat up a little straighter.

"I knew this already but after today, I really do think you'll be the most wonderful mother" the way she had taken care of him today, how she had swooped in with an utter calmness, that settled any anxieties he had, the patience, gentleness and love she had demonstrated were all qualities that he knew would just make her incredible.

It could have been hormones, it could have been because she was feeling incredibly over tired but she felt tears suddenly sting at her eyes. No one had ever said that to her, no one had given her the reassurance that she had no idea she was so desperate to hear. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Thank you, Sheldon"

Thank you so much for reading! As always reviews are always welcome and so appreciated. I still love hearing all your thoughts on what you want to see happening next so please let me know.

Stay safe. Lots of love. x