Baskets full of big fluffy thank yous to PaintedTeacherLady for Beta'ing

Previously...

Sheldon made his way to the couch, opened his box, and poked the food.

"So?" Leonard asked once his food was swallowed.

"It went very well."

"Very well?"

"Well in your words, 'It was freaking awesome!'," Sheldon said before unpausing the movie.

Two years later...

"Wipe?" Sheldon asked, holding out an individually-wrapped sanitation wipe for Penny. She reached for the wipe and smirked.

"Yes, thank you." She tore it open on one side, like he showed her to. "It is so once you've cleaned your hands, it could be placed in the packet again," he told her. She wiped her hands, taking care to move her rings around. She pushed her rings back into place, knowing that her fingers and rings where now clean, then folded the napkin and placed it back into the foil.

"I still can't believe they finally did it," Leonard said. Penny and Sheldon looked across the table and both genuinely smiled.

"Yeah... still don't understand why I'm not the best man. Who took him in when he pissed her off? Me. Who drove him around Orange County looking for the perfect birthday gift? Me. Who-"

"Okay, we get it Raj. You, you, you. But you're honorary best man, that's something," Leonard said, interrupting Raj. Penny smiled and looked at Sheldon. He took a sip of water; she knew he wasn't interested in the whole conversation.

"You know, I should be in an uproar," Penny whined. She saw Sheldon's head shoot up and look at her. He hated her in an uproar.

"Why? Why in an uproar?" he asked. She looked around the table and noted she had everyone's attention.

"Why? Because I introduced them! I should be the maid of honor. If it wasn't for me, there would be no Mister and Misses Howard Wolowitz," Penny stated.

Leonard grinned, "Well then, if we use that logic, I should be the best man. I asked you to set him up with one of your friends."

"Yep. We got cheated." Penny took a sip of her water. Sheldon reached under the table and rested his hand on her thigh. He gave her a gentle squeeze and moved his hand toward her seven month swollen belly, grazing little circles with his knuckles.

"Well, it's understandable that neither of you are up there. Leonard, you have a broken leg. You couldn't possibly handle the task of a best man while hobbling around on crutches." Sheldon turned his attention from Leonard to Penny. He continued to make little circles with his knuckles. "You Penny, have it very lucky. You didn't have to stand up by the bride during that horribly long service. You didn't have to run around like Mrs. Reilly's chicken, trying to keep everything in order. Most of all dear, you didn't have to wear that dress. Plus, I get you here." Sheldon hoped that would sooth Penny.

"There's nothing wrong with the dresses," Penny whined.

"No, there is nothing wrong with them, but do you really think it would be congruent with tradition?" Penny and the rest of the table looked at Sheldon puzzled. "Bride's maids are not to draw attention from the bride, hence the often ridiculous and horrid dresses." Sheldon chose his words carefully. His Meemaw warned him of a moment like this: the moment that his words could be the nails in his coffin. "Pen, with you up there, Bernadette would look like a troll."

Penny leaned over and kissed Sheldon on the cheek.

"Honey, that's sweet. Now I gotta use the ladies room."

"Well, yes, that and you would probably have to bail Leonard and myself out of jail. I've already had to warn Howard's uncle twice. He has one more strike," Sheldon added.

Penny laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes. This is the one of many things that Sheldon did not like about Penny's pregnancy. The bouncing from tears to laughs in a heartbeat.

Penny excused herself for the bathroom. The guys waited until she was out of range before turning to Sheldon.

"Where'd you come up with that load, dude?" Raj started. "Howard even said that she wasn't a bride's maid because she got so fat so fast." Leonard quickly smacked Raj's arm.

"God Raj!" Leonard hissed. "She's pregnant, that's what they do. Besides, she didn't gain that much weight."

"She has an unnatural craving for pasta and," Sheldon shivered for a moment, "half raw steak. She's ignores my warnings about eating meat that is not cooked to one hundred sixty degrees. Her obstetrician is completely inadequate, telling me to 'be happy that she's eating at all after the vomit-fest she had in the first trimester.'"

"Okie-dokie, back to the question: where did you come up with that little line to get her from tears to all happy smiles?" Raj asked before shoving half of his dinner roll in his mouth.

"Meemaw warned me. She told me that one day, Penny would be like this. She explained the whys and gave me the strictest direction on how to handle the situation."

"Your Meemaw has been gone for over a year, Sheldon." Leonard's heart jolted with worry. Penny didn't need Sheldon going crazy now. They all had been waiting for it, but now wasn't the best time.

"One year, four months and fourteen days to be exact. When we visited for the twins' baptismal, she told me. We were on the porch and it was Monday night, quarter past seven. She wore a shawl that Penny brought. It was chilly." Sheldon felt his chest tighten.

So many times in the past year he wished she was still around. He still couldn't understand how his Meemaw and mother tricked him and Penny into an impromptu wedding. There was a baptismal and wedding in the same week. Penny was flooded with endorphins, smiling from ear to ear while she sat around the kitchen table with his mother and Meemaw planning the dinner at the VFW.

He was mad with the trickery of the women of his family, but felt like at any moment he would wake up, and not be married to Penny. He for once in his life, he fought the urges to stomp his feet and throw a fit. He took a deep breath and 'rolled with it'.

"She just seemed to know that Penny and I would stay together, have a family and-" he stopped, unable to talk about it.

"Sheldon, don't you don't have to talk about it. We were just ribbing you, okay?" Leonard hoped that Sheldon would keep it together. He watched Sheldon meticulously adjust the place setting before him. Sheldon swallowed and smiled as he adjusted his knife for the last time. It was ok, he told himself. He was married to a cheesecake, vanilla scented goddess, and she was pregnant with his daughter.

Penny did inventory of her make-up while she washed her hands. Her eyes were slightly puffy, but she was always a little puffy. Wiping the smudges under her eyes, her breath caught in her throat. Shocked, that's what she was. So much had happened since the day Sheldon stood up and refused to accept her with Kurt.

Driving to work that day was surreal. Work was dreamy. She didn't care that the new girl bumped into her and dumped a whole tray on her. She didn't care that the group of college aged guys didn't leave a tip. She was stuck in a dreamy cloud, unable to believe that she and Sheldon Cooper were going to be a couple.

Walking up the stairs slowly, Penny told herself to roll with it. Just roll with it. Roll with the craziness of dating Dr. Wack-a-doodle; the craziness of making the group accept and handle the change; oh hell, the craziness of love. She really, really liked Leonard, but love wasn't a word that sounded right in her mind. When she said, "I love you Leonard" in her head, it never really felt right. It felt forced. Now? Now it felt very right. She didn't even need to work herself up to thinking it.

Penny looked at her door, key in hand. Should she go in? She looked behind her at the guys' door. Should she knock on his door? Just as she turned her attention back to her door, washing the stickiness of the food off, her door opened.

Sheldon smiled with gentle contentment. "Welcome home." Sheldon widened the door to let her in. He took her lucky purse from her, placing it on a chair. He waited for her to finish unbuttoning her coat, and then took it from her. Penny stood in her apartment slack-jawed. Not only did he clean, but he set up battery operated candles around the room. She inhaled and smelled Italian. Sheldon stood by the island that separated the living room and the kitchen, wine glass in hand. Penny walked over, feeling like she was floating. She grinned, wondering if Mr. I- Don't- Drink had one from himself. She took the glass, smiling when she saw him reach for a tall glass. She had no doubt that the glass was his virgin cuba libra.

"Sheldon, you better be careful. You start this now, I'll get spoiled."

"Get used to it."

She placed her glass down and stepped closer to him. He reached out and enveloped her in his arms. Warm and safe is what she felt.

Penny looked in the full length mirror and glowed. Little Miss Cooper was hyper in there, she thought as she focused on her belly. Penny left the bathroom and bee lined it to the table. Sheldon turned just as she rounded a neighboring table and grinned. She gave him wink. He stood to pull her chair out for her. She knew Momma Cooper and Meemaw taught him well. As he sat back down he kissed her hair line.

"Your little miss is kicking up a storm in there." Penny reached for her water. Raj, who was on his third chocolate martini piped in, "Oh, can I feel your belly?" Sheldon gave Raj an 'I'm not happy with you right now glare'. Penny bit her bottom lip and nodded.

Raj shot up and rounded the table. He stood behind her and reached down, resting his hand just in time. "Oh, babba je, She should play football when she gets out," he grinned. Raj kept his hand on her belly, even thought there was no more action. Sheldon cleared his throat.

Raj recoiled as if Penny's swollen belly burned him; he made his way back to his seat while Penny remarked on her daughter playing football: "Oh, right. No, not American football. Soccer. She'll be a forward." Raj sipped his drink again.

"Sure, why not just add Junior Rodeo while we're at it," Sheldon added. He might have sounded snotty and condescending to a stranger, but the group knew him better.

"Um, Sweetie, I don't think Pasadena has a JR team here."

Sheldon cocked his head to one side, thinking, "No, I think you're right; I don't think it does." He shrugged and moved so the waiter could place his plate on the table.

"So,-" Penny didn't finish her sentence, too grossed out and humiliated. She felt a little gush of warm fluid in between her legs.

"So what?" Leonard asked. Penny's face flushed. She leaned over to Sheldon, "Sweetie, I think I just pissed myself."

"How? Didn't you just go? There'll be nothing in your blad-" Sheldon froze. "Penny, have you been cramping, feeling any discomfort?" He tried to keep his voice calm.

"Not really. My back has been killing me though." That caught the attention of the table.

"What's up?" Raj and Leonard asked. Sheldon placed his napkin over his food and stood up.

"I believe Penny is in labor."