A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews, I am so glad people are enjoying this. I wish I had been able to shorten time between updates, but life has kept me crazy busy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

As always, many thanks to my amazing beta, Delucababe!

Part Two Chapter Four

Mary Cooper's visit changed everything. She kept Penny far too busy to have time to dwell on her problems. Mary got her out of bed at six am every morning, even on the weekend, to make a huge breakfast from scratch-biscuits, pancakes, pastries, sausage balls, and more. They made way too much food for just the four of them, and Mary would have Penny drive her to a local battered women's and children's shelter to drop off the extra food after Sheldon and Leonard went to work. After that they would return home to work on the house. First they gave it a deep cleaning, which after a year of neglect it really needed. Then they went through each room one by one and redecorated. Well, every room but Sheldon's. They painted every room, then went out and bought new furniture. Mary also took Penny shopping for new clothes as she didn't own anything Mary felt was appropriate for church. And yes, all four of them attended the non-denominational church down the street all three Sundays of Mary's visit.

While Penny knew they would not continue to go to the church once Mary left, she quickly realized that wasn't the point. The first Sunday there, Mary dragged Penny over to meet one of the junior pastors once the service ended. Penny hadn't wanted to, but it was very hard to tell Mary 'no'. Peter Simmons and his wife Rachel led a group on Tuesday nights called, 'Celebrate Recovery'. It was specifically designed to help people trying to give up addictions. Penny wasn't sure she would go, but she took the pamphlets and gave them to Sheldon. He didn't say anything, just pocketed them with a quiet nod at his mother.

Penny did not stop drinking while Mary was there, but, as she was so busy, she didn't have time to drink except late at night and then she barely made it through a glass of wine before she was ready to pass out with exhaustion.

At first she did experience some withdrawal symptoms- headaches, sweating, shaking and a little nausea, but usually found them easy to ignore. When they became too bothersome, Mary would be there with a cup of tea and stories of raising kids in East Texas to distract Penny. The symptoms stopped entirely after the second week, though Penny still continued with one glass of wine in the evenings.

Two days before Mary's departure, she sat Penny down to talk over a cup of tea. The house was spotless, all of their redecorating was done, and they had even stocked the kitchen with enough groceries for the next two weeks.

"You need to find yourself a project, Penny. Something to keep you busy so you don't dwell on things you can't do anything about."

"Like what? We already re-did the whole house..." Penny pointed out.

Mary shrugged.

"What are your interests and hobbies?"

Penny sighed. "I don't know, I don't really have any. Other than drinking..." she trailed off and gave Mary a grin to show she was kidding. Mary shook her head, but gave Penny a small smile in return.

"I suppose I should redouble my efforts on job searching," Penny said, feeling a coil of dread in her gut at the thought. It made her want a drink.

"Penny, Leonard and Sheldon have made it clear that you do not need to bring home money right now. If I were you, I would take this as an opportunity to do projects you want to do. Shelly mentioned you were taking cooking classes together, maybe you could start that up again? You could learn a new language, maybe start a garden in the backyard. Churches and hospitals are always looking for volunteers. You can find something that doesn't take up a lot of time at first and then go from there."

Penny nodded, her mind already starting to consider some possibilities that she hadn't before.

"I want you to call me once a day to let me know what you're up too," Mary said firmly.

Penny arched a brow, thinking that was a bit excessive.

"Accountability, Penny. It will help you make the right choices daily if you know someone's gonna ask you about it later. And I need you to tell me the truth. It's okay if you mess up, as long as you know that messing up once doesn't mean it's okay to keep messing up. I will hop back on a plane and come back here if you need me."

Mary left and Penny did as instructed. She and Sheldon signed up for the next level of cooking classes, she continued to make meals a couple of times a week for the shelter, she even started making Penny Blossoms again and selling them on Etsy. She played around with the idea of starting a garden, but Penny wasn't a fan of dirt or bugs and wasn't sure she would stick with it. She did buy a tomato plant for the back porch, and was very proud the night she was able to make spaghetti sauce with tomatoes she had grown herself. She and Sheldon took a walk every morning and Penny was delighted to discover a nearby gym which had an indoor track they could use on rainy days. In the evenings, she would sit down with a glass of wine and call Mary to discuss the day. That was it though. She allowed herself that one glass, and if she didn't finish it before the call was over, she would dump the rest down the sink. At first, she savored each swallow, but a month after Mary's visit, Penny found that most nights she barely sipped at it.

After hanging up with Mary, Penny would sit up in bed and search through different hobby-type blogs. There were ones for exercising, crafts, writing, gardening, and even though Penny couldn't see herself doing a lot of these things, she still got enjoyment out of reading them. One lady who blogged about training dogs was an especially entertaining author. She had the most hilarious stories regarding the animals and things that can happen with them. One day the lady announced she was pregnant and that her blog would be changing slightly as she would be backing off the dog training and focusing more on the bundle of joy to come. Penny kept reading though, still enjoying the woman's witty humor.

If pressed, Penny would have to say it was the blog which gave her the idea originally. The idea that she could be a mother at first seemed a ridiculous notion, but it was still a notion she couldn't get out of her head. So she discussed it with Sheldon. He didn't act surprised when she brought it up.

"Well, you aren't working so now would be ideal to start a family if that's something you want," he said non-nonchalantly.

"Really? You don't think it's crazy that someone like me should take on that kind of responsibility?" She asked, voicing her insecurity.

"Don't be absurd, Penny. You are more than capable of raising a child. More so than a lot of people who have multiple children."

"And you would help me, right?"

There was a slight tic in Sheldon's jaw at that and he cleared his throat.

"I... Yes, of course, though I'm not sure how much help I would be. Leonard would help, and I'm sure my mother would lend a hand as well."

Penny smiled and nodded to herself. She had found her project.

Leonard smiled and gave her an enthusiastic hug.

"That's perfect, Penny! You are going to be an awesome mother," he said and there was a sparkle in his eyes Penny hadn't seen since they were married.

Penny was not surprised that Leonard was agreeable. He had talked about having children together since before they had even gotten engaged. Ever since Mary had left, Leonard had refused to be away from home longer than one week each month. It was that more than anything that made Penny realize just how far she had fallen, but now things were looking up.

They tried for five months, with no success, before seeing a fertility specialist. Penny had Sheldon help her research diets, exercises, and even sexual positions. Five months of healthy eating, no alcohol, and regular sex had Penny feeling better, physically, than she had in years.

Whenever she would start missing her parents, or feel that itch to pour a drink, she would head to the spare bedroom she was slowly turning into a nursery. She found a crib at a garage sale which she was repainting along with some mix-matched furniture that just needed a little work. Leonard told her she could go buy all new items, but Penny insisted she needed to do it herself.

The fertility doctor did complete physicals on both of them and then called them back to her office a few weeks later to deliver the bad news.

The problem was Leonard. Apparently, he was exposed to something during his studies in college that had left him 'shooting blanks'. He would never be able to father any children.

It hurt her to hear it, but Penny was unprepared for Leonard's devastated reaction. Within five minutes of receiving the news, he ended up sobbing helplessly in Penny's arms. Between sobs, he would apologize for failing her.

Later that night, Sheldon made them rehash it and studied Leonard's tests results. He proclaimed he had an idea, and that Penny shouldn't give up.

Penny spent the next week taking care of Leonard and doing everything she could to reassure him. It didn't change the desire she had for a child though. Maybe they could adopt?

"Adoption takes a very long time. With the amount of time I'm away from home, your failed alcohol and drug screening, and sporadic work history, I doubt we'd be approved anyway," Leonard summarized.

Penny left him alone at that point and poured herself a glass of wine. She sat at the kitchen table and stared at it for a few moments before calling Mary. An hour later, she dumped the still full glass down the sink.

Sheldon made dinner one night a week later and informed them he had found the solution once they had their plates.

Penny and Leonard exchanged a wary glance but nodded at him to continue.

Sheldon pulled out a few pieces of paper. Test results like Leonard's, but showing everything in normal ranges.

"I can do it. I can donate my sperm, so Penny can have a child."

A/N: One more chapter to go for Part Two. It will be up no later than two weeks. Thanks for reading!