Over the next few weeks, Bernadette's belly seemed to pop! It was still small but, so much more obvious and Howard could not keep his hands off of it. The couple was going into to work late, for they had set up an appointment earlier in the week for sonogram. Since Howard had missed every subsequent visit, he could not wait to see how their little baby was growing.
"How do I look? Do you think this dress too shot in the front?" Bernadette asked her husband, a she walked out of their closet.
Howard looked up from his comic and smiled, "You look pregnant, very pregnant."
"Howie!" Bernadette groaned at his attempt to be playful.
"It's not too short honey, and you look radiant," he giggled as he got off the bed and pulled her into a hug.
"Are you sure?" she sighed looking at herself in the full length mirror, smoothing the fabric over the bump.
"I'm not going to lie to you," he smiled, "Ask me anything!"
Bernadette stood with her hand wrapped around her belly, "Ok then, do you want to know if it's a boy or girl?"
"I actually do not!" Howard smiled triumphantly, he had clearly thought this question over several times prior to being asked, "I like the idea of having a little surprise on the day the baby's born."
"Really?' Bernadette giggled at her husband's answer, due to his severe lack of patience, "I like the idea of a cute little surprise too."
Soon Howard and Bernadette arrived at the doctor's office. The entire time Howard hung close to his wife, holding her hand, and talking to the baby. Bernadette couldn't believe how much she enjoyed being pregnant, she knew it was due to the support from her friends, husband, and family. Her excitement bubbled as she laid down on the table wait for the ultrasound technician to arrive. Bernadette turned to her husband who was clearly just as excited as she was, he was anxiously tapping his foot and never averted his eyes from the door. Within the hour they were viewing the tiny infant in her belly.
"Bernie, our baby is adorable," Howard looked at the screen in amazement.
"I know," Bernadette's hormones got the best of her and she began to tear up.
"Awe, Bernie, don't cry, cause then you'll make me cry, and you know that's not pretty," he chuckled, trying to make her smile.
The rest of the appointment went off without a hitch. The baby was a bit small, but the doctor didn't seem to be concerned, due to the height and size of both parents. After making a quick stop by the hospital gift shop, Howard dropped his wife off at work and continued to his own job with a significant worry taken off his shoulders. It was lunch time when he finally arrived at CalTech and he joined his friends at their usual lunch table.
"Hey, how'd the appointment go?" Leonard asked while taking a bite of his salad.
"Uhhh…Fantastic!" Howard replied pulling out his now framed ultrasound picture, taking off his jacket revealing his 'I'm the Daddy' t-shirt, and slipping on his first time dad baseball cap.
"Oh good, your child is going to come out knowing how embarrassing you are," Leonard laughed as Howard rolled his eyes.
"So a boy or a girl," Raj asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"A surprise, Bernie and I…" Howard began to respond before he was cut off by a violent shaking throughout the room.
"Earthquake!" Sheldon screamed before leading all of his friends in basic safety procedure. The shaking felt as if it lasted for hours. Panic washed across all of their faces as the aftershocks dropped tiles on to the floors and tables. Then the university lost power. When the shaking stopped they looked at the cafeteria and tried to assess the damage cause by the strength of the quake.
"That was a bad!" Leonard began, "I don't think I've ever experienced one like that before!"
Once they university was sure the violent shaking had stopped and that the power would not return, they allowed the staff to return home. Penny had sent out a mass text message to the guys, telling them to meet at Sheldon and Amy's apartment. They soon entered to find their wives and children huddled together, shaken by the day's events. Leonard grabbed Peter as he ran towards him full force, as the boy balled for his father. Sheldon, much like Peter, ran to Amy's arms and began to sob, he was terrified of earthquakes. Raj picked up both of his step-sons hugging them, as he kissed Layla's forehead. Howard looked at his phone, seeing if Bernie had sent him a message or tried to call him to pick her up.
"Howard!" Penny yelled, "Where is Bernadette? She was supposed to be with you!"
"Hey, it's all good! The doctor's appointment ended early, I dropped her off at work, she doesn't have her car today, I'm calling her now to see if she's allowed to leave work," Howard calmly explained to the blonde before venturing out into the hallway.
Although a majority of her concerned lied with the wellbeing of her terrified son, Penny couldn't help but be concerned for her friend. Bernadette probably felt trapped there by herself and without her car. She was most likely sitting in her office waiting for Howard to come get her, wondering what was taking him so long. Maybe, Bernadette had to fix things in the lab, after all the shaking could disturb some of the vials of chemicals they stored. Her friend was fine, she was an adult woman who had grown up around California earthquakes her entire life. If anything Bernadette probably led the procedures, she loved to take control of messy situations. Bernadette was fine, she did work in a lab after all, Penny thought, and they have to be safe with all the diseases that are locked up. However, Penny still didn't understand how Howard could react so calmly, or why she needed so much reassurance that Bernadette was safe. Just then Howard slowly crept back into the apartment.
"Are you going to get Bernadette?" Raj asked.
Howard looked up at his friends with the most lifeless expression on his face, he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I called her phone, it went straight to voicemail. So I figured that she turned it off to do work, so I called the main office. Guys, there's been an accident in Bernie's building, the ceiling came down and they are still trying to locate all of their employees. The lady I talked to, hasn't seen Bernie since she came in today."
"What…" Penny croaked, now extremely panicked. Shock and fear overcame the group of friends as they looked towards Howard, who seemed to just be staring blankly, chewing on his thumb nail, debating his next move. Penny wanted him so badly to yell 'Gotcha', and have her friend waltz through the front door unharmed, but she knew that wasn't going to be the case.
"I've…got to call Ma and the Rostenkowski's," Howard finally sighed, running his hands through his hair and stepping back out into the hallway.
"I can't believe this, "Amy slowly shook her head.
"Amy, is Bernadette dead?" Sheldon spoke quietly, asking the one question that loomed in everyone's mind.
"NO!" Penny yelled in response, the outburst causing the rest of the group to jump, "She's fine, she's at home waiting for Howard, everything is fine," Penny lied to herself, as a pathetic attempt to make them all feel better.
"Honey, no," Leonard spoke slowly, touching his wife's arm, "Bernadette is missing."
Penny tore her arm away, and shook her head in disbelief, trying to organize all of these jumbled thoughts. Everything was perfect and now it was all shitty and ruined, why do things have to get shitty, she thought to herself as she tried not to cry. Then through her pitiful attempt of trying not to sob, she heard her phone buzzing. Penny immediately picked it up, knowing it had to be her friend on the other line.
"Bernadette!" Penny shrieked, waiting to hear the soft voice on the other end.
No, it wasn't Bernadette. It was a nurse, he was calling to tell Penny that she was the third emergency contact on file for a person he was currently treating. The other two contacts had busy phone lines and the nurse seemed quite relieved that she had answered. Penny sighed with the slightest glimmer of hope.
"Please, just tell me her name is Bernadette and I will be there as soon as possible."
"Well, yes it is but…"
"Thanks, be there soon!" Penny cut the nurse off, "Bernadette's in the hospital let's go!" Penny demanded as she pushed the group out of the door. It didn't matter what had happened, how it happened, or why it happened, there was no longer this sense of impending doom, because she had found Bernadette.