Hi lovely readers,
Thank you so much for all of the lovely reviews on the last chapter. It really does mean so much.
This prompt was requested by a guest. I'm not entirely sure if I've written something like this before (I didn't go back through all the prompts and check so apologies in advance if you feel this is similar to something else I've written). I actually loved writing this one and I think it's safe to say I got very carried away! Thank you so much for requesting.
Hope you all enjoy reading!
All throughout her pregnancy, Amy had been a strong advocate for the saying 'babies come when they're ready', she had said this to Sheldon numerous times. Especially after a check up at 36 weeks where their midwife had told them that baby's arrival could happen any day now. Since that very day, Sheldon had excitedly spoken to her stomach every day telling their unborn daughter that she should come now and they wouldn't mind.
However, now that Amy was a whole week past her due date, she was starting to backtrack. She no longer wanted the baby to come when she was ready, she wanted her to come now and she was determined to try anything to get things started.
"Okay let's go from here, to a table top position" Penny explained, demonstrating the pose with an effort and ease that Amy lacked. With Sheldon out at work, Amy had enlisted the help of Penny to come up with some ways to kick start labour. Yoga poses had been her go to answer, Amy hadn't been surprised knowing that she was an avid yoga fan and practised during her pregnancy with Lucas.
"I'm not even sure I can do that" Penny currently had Amy sitting in a cross legged position on the floor, something that was difficult enough for her to get into with her huge, beach ball of a stomach in the way.
"You can, just move on to all fours" Penny encouraged, again making her demonstration look incredibly effortless. Amy moved slower than she ever had in her life, moving her legs from underneath her and placing her arms out in front, she somehow managed to assume the table top position. "There you go," Penny smiled, keeping a close eye on her son who at two years old had grown bored of the toys Penny had brought for him to play with and was now toddling around Auntie Amy and Uncle Sheldon's apartment.
"I'm really not sure what this is achieving" Amy moaned, she appreciated Penny's efforts but all of this moving around required an energy and strength that right now, she definitely lacked.
"This is supposed to get baby in an optimal position for labour" she explained. "I don't know the science behind it, that's your job" she laughed. "But when you do go into labour this position is pretty useful, especially if you have back pain like I did" Penny had been the one that had made Amy nervous about going into labour, her birth with Lucas hadn't been as straightforward as they'd hoped and she hadn't held back on telling Amy all the details and just how much it hurt. "Are you ready to try something else?" Penny asked. "We could do this one, wide leg forward fold" Amy sat back on her heels, watching as Penny rose to her feet, stood with her legs wide apart and leaned forward touching the floor. Again, to poor Amy, this looked totally unachievable.
"You're going to have to help me stand up" there was absolutely no way that Amy could get herself off of the floor without support. In her current state, she could barely get herself off of the sofa without Sheldon giving her hand. She held her arms out to Penny who took hold of one of her hands.
"Lucas, do you want to come and help mumma. We need to help Auntie Amy off the floor" she very dramatically pretended to try and haul Amy up off the floor and once the little boy realised that his mother did actually need him, he came toddling along and took hold of Amy's free hand. Amy loved holding hands with Lucas, he was so little and everything about him was so small, already she had loved watching him grow and couldn't wait to do the same with her little one.
"Can you help me?" Amy asked as she looked into his dark eyes, "I'm a little stuck" together they both helped pull Amy to her feet and she tried her hardest to adopt Penny's previous position. "You're going to have to help me here" she laughed, "if I get down there's no way I'm coming back up."
Amy was in the middle of lowering herself to touch the floor or as close as she could manage, when the front door open to reveal Sheldon stood there looking a little perplexed as he took in the sight before him. Yoga mats splayed out on the floor beneath Amy and Penny, Penny in gym gear, Lucas toddling around the apartment and Amy way past her due date almost touching the floor.
"What on earth is going on here?" he asked surveying the scene before him and trying to at least make some sense of it.
"Shelly" Lucas squealed bounding over to the door and latching himself to Sheldon's leg, Sheldonsmiled and muttered a hello before ruffling the little boys blonde hair. Their relationship was incredibly sweet to watch, Sheldon had almost seen Lucas as a new little best friend and every single person in his life had seen a very different side to him since the little one had been born. Not to mention, Lucas loved nothing more than being in his company.
"Penny came over to teach me some labour inducing yoga positions" Amy explained, pulling herself up right with Penny's help.
"What happened to baby's coming when they are ready" he asked, knowingly raising his eyebrow at his wife.
Amy sighed, "well I'm fed up Sheldon, I'm ready for her to be here, I'm not sure how much longer I can actually be pregnant for" she threw her arms up in the air. Honestly, she had loved being pregnant so much, sure it wasn't without the odd ache and pain but she had genuinely loved every single thing about being pregnant. It was just now, after 41 weeks of it, she was ready for it all to be done.
"Well, I'm sure there are other things you could be doing. You really should be taking it easy and not doing things that stress me out" with Lucas now off of his leg, he made his way towards the kitchen where he placed down and started to empty the brown paper bag he had brought home. "I've got lunch" he smiled. Lunch together had become a common occurrence for them over the last three weeks. Sheldon insisted on leaving work, picking up lunch for them both and coming home for a period of time in the middle of the day. He had told Amy this was so they could spend some more quality time together before the baby arrived but Amy knew that this was his way of checking up on her, making sure she was okay, a phone call home simply wouldn't suffice, he needed to see her with his own eyes.
"What do you have to be stressed about?" Penny asked shooting the question back at Sheldon and not even giving him time to respond. "You're not the one that has something the size of a watermelon inside of you that very soon your going to have to push out of.."
"Okay Penny" Sheldon held his hands up in defeat, stopping Penny before she said anymore, he really didn't want to think about what Amy was going to have to go through, that thought alone made him want to cross his own legs. "I think we get the picture" he moved round the kitchen, grabbing plates and utensils that he used to serve the chicken salad.
"You're going to be hilarious in the delivery room" Penny laughed as she bent down to scoop Lucas up off of the floor, holding him on her hip.
"I just think there are others ways to bring on labour, ways that don't involve the possibility of my wife falling over and hurting herself" he explained. By this point Amy had slumped her body down on to the couch, she was grateful for the comfort and quite happy to sit there and let her best friend and husband have their disagreement.
"You do know sex is supposed to be one of the most effective ways to get things started" she smirked as she said the comment, she could see the deep crimson blush creep onto Sheldon's face from where he stood in the kitchen.
"It was that that got us into this mess in the first place" Amy flashed a smile at her best friend and rested her hand upon her bump.
"Are you staying for lunch?" Sheldon asked, ignoring Penny's crude comment. He really didn't expect anything less from her and yet he loved her for it all the same.
"No we'll head back home" she bounced Lucas up and down on her hip. "We don't want to interrupt your lunch date and besides this one will need a little nap soon" she kissed her son's cheek before turning her attention to Amy. "Next time I see you, you either need to be in labour or be holding your baby" she smiled.
Amy couldn't help but smile, she hoped to be so much. "Sure" she smiled.
—
"You know you really don't have to stay here with me. You can go back to work, I'll be okay" Amy told Sheldon from where she sat on the couch, feet up resting in his lap. Although he hadn't told her as such yet, she knew he wasn't planning on heading back. He had been even more attentive than normal and incredibly fussy over her, somewhat annoyingly so.
"No it's okay" he nodded. "I've already text Leonard to let him know I won't be back this afternoon" Amy was a little surprised that he had already made up his mind but then again, this was Sheldon.
"I'll be okay, honestly" after the workout Penny had put her through this morning she was quite looking forward to a chilled afternoon by herself however, Sheldon's raised eyebrows told her otherwise.
"Amy, what if all of the yoga stuff you've been doing suddenly starts to work" she could read him so easily and knew this was exactly why he had decided to stay.
"I really don't think it is" she really had no idea if it had worked at all, all she knew was that she didn't feel any different. "I think she's pretty cosy in there" she smiled placing her hands upon her bump.
"Well what if something happens and I'm not here"
"Then I'll call you" she said it so matter of fact because that's exactly what it was.
"And if I don't hear my phone"
"Sheldon, you know that these things take time. First deliveries are slow, believe me, it isn't like the movies when you're giving birth ten minutes after your waters break" she wasn't sure how quickly she wanted her birth to go, sure, she didn't want it to happen incredibly fast to the point where she didn't have Sheldon with her or be able to make it to a hospital but she also did quite like the idea of not being in horrendous amounts of pain for hours.
"Well" Sheldon tapped her knee, she wasn't going to win, not on this one. "I'm staying put"
—
It was the early afternoon when Sheldon suggested going out for a walk rather than being cooped up in the apartment. Desperate to stretch her legs and get out in the fresh air, Amy was grateful for the suggestion. She wasn't sure whether Sheldon knew that this was another good way to get labour started, she wanted to ask but then remembered how freaked out he was about her actually going into labour that she changed her mind.
It was nice, just the two of them. She loved it when it was just the two of them, it had been their little life together for so long that Amy couldn't really imagine it any other way. Amongst the hustle and bustle of their life, it had always been the two of them against the world and although, she loved their little life as a two she couldn't wait to build a little family to extent that love and become a real family. It was all she ever wanted.
"Are you okay? You're very quiet," Sheldon asked as they walked a few blocks away from their apartment. It was a beautiful day, the sun was a high in the sky, quite possibly the hottest it would be today. The rays beating down on them, warming their skin through their clothing.
"I'm good" she nodded a small smile on her lips. Sheldon loved her smile, it was one of his favourite things about her and he hoped that when their child smiled they looked just like Amy. "I'm just thinking"
"About?"
"Being a family. About how our whole world is going to change in a matter of days"
"When you put it like that, it terrifies me" he admitted and Amy gently reached for his hand, lacing her fingers through his and affectionately squeezing. Sheldon was never one for public displays of affection but right now he welcomed her touch.
"Terrifyingly exciting though, right?" she asked hopefully, she knew he was much more nervous about parenthood than she was but she didn't want him being terrified.
"Sure" he nodded.
They walked quietly hand in hand for a few more blocks before turning to head back. It was an unsaid thing between that neither of them wanted to venture very far in case anything happened. Amy felt a little shiver of excitement run through her body as she wondered whether this would be their last walk together just the two of them.
—
Back at the apartment, their evening had progressed in one of their favourite ways. Amy was curled up, as much as was physically possible, in the corner of the couch with a book whilst Sheldon watched a movie he had seen a hundred times over. The remains of their Mexican take out lay laden on the coffee table before them. Amy had somehow been able to convince him to order spicy food and ask for extra chillies in pretty much everything. Sheldon's mouth was on fire but he hoped this showed the lengths he would go to for his darling wife.
Amy closed her book with a loud snap, she couldn't quite reach the coffee table so just placed it next to her on the couch. Her fingers started to trace circles on her stomach, she thought about their little girl, the little girl that she had grown for so long, that was now a real little person ready to enter the world. She wondered if she would have Sheldon's beautiful blue eyes or whether she would have her nose or lips.
"You know" she spoke to her stomach quietly but it was enough to to gain Sheldon's attention. "You can come now, we're so ready for you" her fingers moved gently across the curve of her stomach. "I'm so ready to meet you and hold you" she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat as she thought about meeting her baby for the very first time. Laying her eyes upon that tiny little frame and loving her more than life itself. "I think daddy is too, your grandparents definitely are and all of your aunties and uncles. They're all going to love you so much" she smiled to herself thinking about how loved their baby would be. That was the ultimate aim in life wasn't it, to just be loved unconditionally and her baby girl would have that in abundance from so many people.
The end credits of the movie rolled and Sheldon turned his attention to Amy. With one ear tuned in to her, he had been listening to her talking to their daughter as the movie came to an end. He couldn't but smile, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would be the most amazing mother, she would be the one to teach him how to be a good father, he knew he could do this as long as he had her.
"I'm not sure that going to work. I've been telling her we're ready for weeks" he really wasn't ready, just super excited to meet her and maybe once she was here everything would fall into place and make sense, he just didn't want to worry about it all any longer. "You should go to bed" he told Amy once he saw her yawn. "I'll sort all this out" he gestured to the leftovers of their take out as he pushed himself off the couch.
"Hang on" Amy reached out for his wrist, pulling him back down. "There is one more thing we haven't tried" her voice was quiet and her eyes were suggestive.
"Which is?" It was late, he was tired, he really didn't know what else there was left to try.
"You know, Penny's suggestion" she waited for him to click on. Smiling to herself as she saw the cogs turning his brain.
"Sex?" he asked almost in a whisper. Even though they had been together for years, were married and had very obvious evidence growing inside of Amy that the two of them had engaged in such a thing, Sheldon was still very prudish about the matter of sex.
"Yes" she nodded her eyes lighting up at just the mention of it. "It's the only thing we haven't tried."
"Amy" he sighed. "You know how I feel about.. you know" he gestured to her stomach. Over the last month or so he had been reluctant to have sex, he had developed this irrational fear of hurting the baby or the baby somehow knowing what was going on and even though he knew it was ridiculous, he couldn't get the idea out of his head. It was definitely quite the mood killer.
"I know" she held his hand in hers, "but it is supposed to do the trick and..and…" she was going to appeal to the scientist in him, she knew she would get her way that way. "Don't you want to see if it actually works, it could be our little experiment" he watched as she shuffled uncomfortably on the sofa, her hand rubbing circles on her stomach.
He had felt helpless throughout her pregnancy, having to watch her throw up almost every morning during her first trimester, waking up numerous times in the middle of the night to pee, constantly crying, aching and feeling tired. He also knew that when she was finally in labour he would feel even more useless than ever but this, this he could go. He could actually do something to help her and he had to push whatever ridiculous fear he had to the back of his mind and just get on with it.
"Fine" he sighed, as he edged forward on the couch to kiss her.
Amy laughed, placing her hand upon his chest. "Oh you're so romantic"
Sheldon kissed her lips gently as she looped her arms around his neck. This had all been too long and very soon the desire deepened and the kiss turned hungry and urgent. Sheldon Cooper had a mission and when he did a job he did it properly and as he lowered Amy on to the couch, he saw this as being no different.
All of this was rather difficult with Amy's stomach in the way, he wasn't entirely sure she was comfortable but the soft moan that left her lips as he started kissing her neck told him she was just fine. They continued to kiss for a few moments longer as if they were two teenagers discovering each other for the very first time.
"Sheldon" he hadn't quite realised the urgency in her tone, he far too busy enjoying the task at hand. "Sheldon" she placed her hand on his chest, pushing him away from her. When he looked at her he saw the fear in her eyes and for a split second his heart sank, had he gone too far? Made her do something she didn't want to do?
"What is it?" he asked.
Amy struggled to find her breath, struggled to find the words to tell him. After all of their efforts today, after everything they had tried something had worked. Their baby girl was finally on her way.
"My water just broke"
A little inspiration from Friends for that last part at the end! Thank you all so much for reading, as always reviews are always welcome and so appreciated. I love hearing your thoughts.
I need to know your opinion on something. I received a prompt request/possible fic idea where Penny acts as a surrogate for Amy and Sheldon and to be honest I'm unsure whether to write it or not. I love the idea but not sure if that's the path I see for Amy and Sheldon and this little Shamy family I've made. Of course it would totally be an alternative to everything but I'm just intrigued to know your thoughts.
Stay safe
Lots of love