Chapter 56 - Aftermath - Changes
It was just about three weeks till Sheldon and Amy's wedding, and the both of them were sitting on the couch watching some of the National Geographic shows they had recorded. Sheldon was in his spot, with Amy tucked in against his side, a comfortable position they both enjoyed, especially Sheldon, Amy against him seeming so natural now, it was like breathing to him. The months they had been together, since he came back, had been the best of his life and now he could never see his life without Amy anymore. It also allowed them to become very intimate, so intimate that Sheldon knew that on their wedding night he would be ready, not just ready he was excited about it. That knowing, that coitus was something he now desired with Amy, also had made him think about something else, for the last couple weeks, their ages and the risk of having a child.
Sheldon turned his head to kiss Amy on the top of her head, he could feel her smile without even seeing her face. "Amy?"
Amy turned her head up to look at him, the smile still on her face, "Yes, Sheldon."
"Ummm." Sheldon couldn't think of the right words to begin, he didn't want to make a mistake about what he was going to ask.
Amy now sat up a little straighter, a curious expression on her face now, "Is something wrong, Sheldon?"
"No, nothing is wrong, everything is just perfect, but I want to ask you something." he quickly responded.
His response that 'everything is perfect', made Amy smile and she leaned up to catch his lips and give him a quick kiss. Sheldon took advantage of the kiss and made it longer, to give himself time to try and think, however when he kissed Amy, he always found it hard to think about anything but her. It was almost a whole minute later when they finally broke lip contact, Amy looking at him, her face a little flushed. "Sheldon, did you say you wanted to ask me something?" she whispered to him.
Sheldon decided on logic, Amy was very smart, surely she would agree with logic. "Amy we are both in our 30's and above the mean age for people starting a family."
Amy stared at him, wondering where he was going with this conversation and afraid that maybe she didn't really want to know. Amy wanted a family with Sheldon and him saying they were above the age for starting a family scared her. "Sheldon people have families at our age all the time."
"Yes but the older you get the risk of problems gets greater for the child and the mother." Sheldon reminded her.
Amy stared at him blankly, hoping he wasn't suggesting what she was thinking. She had some dreams in life, finding someone as wonderful as Sheldon and having a family with him, being on the top of her wishes. "Sheldon what are you saying, what do you mean?" Amy was about to cry.
Sheldon swallowed, thinking 'well here it goes', "Amy I was thinking with our ages and such that it would make sense that we don't do anything to prevent having a child, immediately. I was wondering if you would consider going off birth control pills, so by our honeymoon we could try to have a family."
Amy almost fell off the couch. "Really Sheldon? You want me to get pregnant." said her voice trembling.
Sheldon shyly nodded, hoping he didn't upset her. "Yes, it is logical, don't you think?"
"Oh Sheldon." Amy launched herself at Sheldon, immediately kissing him hard.
Sheldon returned her kiss, suddenly very pleased with himself thinking 'that went well'. He realized he should have not worried, Amy had the most logical mind he had ever met, so he should have know she would seen the logic of his proposal. That was his last thoughts as he soon got distracted by his warm soft fiancée, now in his lap, with her soft moist lips crushing against his.
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In another part of town, Penny was comfortable, her head was on a pillow located on Leonard's lap while she laid on the couch, watching a chick flick. Leonard was rubbing Penny's lower back, making her relax and helping the back ache she seemed to have there by the end of each day, her large belly now seeming to get bigger each day with the twins in it. This was the way it was between them now, the bigger she got the more Leonard pampered her, to the point now he would make her rest when she got home from work, while he made dinner for her then cleaned up while she had desert, usually ice cream with whatever her craving was for the day. She was getting ridiculously spoiled and was jokingly thinking of pregnancy as a career, if Leonard was always going to be like this all the time.
Penny would have stayed there forever, except for only one problem, "Leonard I have to pee."
"Okay." Leonard then helped her up so she could walk to the bathroom, just recently her walk starting to become more of a waddle as she kept getting bigger. It made her feel huge and unattractive, telling Amy and Bernadette she now looked like the Goodyear Blimp.
It was only a few minutes later she returned, as Leonard helped her get comfortable again, his hand going back to rub her lower back. "God Leonard, I feel like beached whale." she moaned, then looked back up at him, "You are really the perfect man for me, you know that, don't you."
Leonard chuckled, "Because I rub your back and let you lay on me?" he teased.
"Yeah, plus I never want anyone else. I sometimes wonder how you put up with me, you could have had anyone you wanted, girls much better than me." Penny was staring into his eyes now.
"No I don't think so, because you are the perfect woman for me." he responded.
"Your such a liar, but believe me your big fat pregnant wife appreciates a little lie now and then." she giggled.
"You're not fat, you're just pregnant." Leonard corrected her.
"Big difference." Penny sighed, turning her head again.
Leonard looked down at her, turning her face up to look at him, again. "Listen to me, you are beautifully pregnant, not fat. Pregnant women are extremely sexy."
Penny stared at him, "Because of our fat asses, big bellies or engorged breasts." she sarcastically responded.
"First, those are our babies in that belly, so yeah you have two babies in you and that makes you seem extremely fertile and sexy. Second, what guy do you know that seriously doesn't like big breasts?" Penny thought for a second then nodded, making Leonard chuckle. "Finally I like your ass." Leonard slipped his hand down the back of her sweat pants and panties to squeeze her bare ass cheek.
Leonard's hand on her ass, sent a shiver down Penny, making her look at him with more dilated eyes. He had been so good to her tonight, she was really crushing on him right then. "Now you did it Hofstadter, you've woken the tiger."
Leonard chuckled, "Really, I thought we were talking about whales a minute ago."
"Whales, tigers, who cares….bed…now….Hofstadter." Penny then got up with Leonard's help, quickly pulling him to the bedroom, lust now the only thing in her mind.
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Leonard barely got her to calm down enough to sleep the night before so when he woke up the next morning with Penny's side of the bed empty, he was both surprised and worried, because lately Penny never got up before him. Most of the time, now in the morning, she tried to keep him in bed longer to cuddle her or to do even more intimate things with her, and after the workout they both got last night he didn't expect her up so early. Consequently her not being there with him didn't make sense, making him quickly get up to look for her, and it wasn't long before he found her in the kitchen, sitting quietly and drinking some decaf tea. "Penny is something wrong."
Leonard's question was answered when his wife looked up from her cup, her eyes red from crying. "Leonard she is gone."
Leonard became more worried, instantly thinking it had something to do with the babies. "Who's gone, Honey?"
"My other self, I don't feel her memories anymore, I woke up to use the bathroom and there was this feeling of emptiness, she was gone." Tears now dripped down Penny's cheeks.
Leonard took her into his arms, holding her tight to him as he felt her cling to him just as tightly. "Honey, we knew this might happen, but you still haven't lost her, you still remember her, it is just not with her memories, they are now your memories."
"I know Sweetie, but before she was a part of me, now she just seems like someone I knew, like she is dead now." Penny then squeezed herself tighter to him.
Leonard didn't know what to tell her or how it felt to her, she had years of different memories from her other self, so loosing them now must have been really hard. "Penny we'll never forget her, she will remain alive in all of us."
Penny then quickly rose off Leonard's shoulder to look at him with wide eyes. "Her baby Leonard. We have to make sure her baby is okay." Leonard just nodded, sharing her concern, and making an appointment for her as soon as the doctor's office opened.
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Maturity doctors are sympathetic to the fears of worried mothers, especially new ones with twins, so they fit Penny in that day. Leonard and Penny both took off work, so it was just after lunch when Penny was in the exam room again undergoing another sonogram. The Technician was the same one as before and as she scanned Penny they heard a little 'hmmm', escape her mouth, putting them both on edge, fear immediately taking over again concerning the fate of the second baby.
"What's wrong." Leonard quickly demanded for both of them.
The woman looked at him confused then shook her head, "Nothing. How much do you want to know about your babies."
Leonard and Penny were in no mood for surprises anymore, so again Leonard answered for both of them, "Everything."
The Technician nodded then smiled. "Well your babies are not identical twins but fraternal twins and it is easy to tell, do you want to know why?"
"Yes please." Penny quickly responded, she did not like all this guessing.
"One is a boy and the other is a girl." the technician said with a big smile.
Leonard and Penny looked at each other in surprise. then both had guarded smiles, the babies were fine and they both hoped everything would be fine from now on. It also made them both come to the same conclusion as they both thought they now knew for certain, the second baby was the other Penny's. Leonard especially remembering his talk with Sheldon, about how different DNA could have caused the second baby to occur, and it made him smile, a boy had different DNA from a girl.
The drive home was one of happiness, Penny and Leonard talking about the babies and the other Penny and how happy she would have been to know her baby would be born. Penny also questioned Leonard about all the remaining memories he had about her other self, Penny trying to fill her current memories with every detail Leonard could tell her, she didn't remember now and he did. Penny wanted to know everything because she thought maybe in the future she would tell her kids about her other self, and let them know who their second mother was. It was weird she thought, how do you explain to them that one of their mothers was physically the same person, but had different memories, making her a different person, it was a difficult thing to understand, even though she lived it. Penny still felt the loss of those memories and silently said a small quiet prayer for her other self, hoping she would be able to explain it to the two children in her, when the time came.