Oh, balls, this is going to be long. Try not to fall asleep while reading it, friends!

She hadn't really wanted to come. She'd felt nauseous all day, and her breasts were irritating her as they were incredibly sore. And she was bloating.

"How are we today?" Dr. Hartland asked.

"We're better. It's only been two months!" Bernadette told her.

The counselor smiled. "Why are you so surprised?"

"I thought it'd take much longer."

"I've had worse. I can't tell you too much, but I have had some God-awful problems."

"There's just one thing."

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"I can't face his mother. I can't even look her in the eye."

"Ah, that's common. Well, I can only give you this advice."

"What's that?"

"Grow a pair."

"It's easy for you to say, you don't have to face her."

"Seriously, you are going to have to face up to her. It's weighing on your mind, isn't it?"

Bernadette sighed. "Yeah. I just don't know what to do."

"Try and bring your husband up. That should get the ball rolling."

"OK."

"Where is Howard, anyway?"

"He's at a gaming marathon with his buddies."

"Men! They never grow up."

Bernadette smiled at the counselor's joke (at least she thought it was a joke) and began nibbling at her lip. She was terrified at the prospect of meeting her again.

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Beulah was just about to place her brisket in the oven, when the doorbell rang. She sighed and placed it on the side, wondering who it was.

"Oh, it's you."

"Hi." Bernadette glanced down. Oh, God, this was terrifying. She jumped as her mother-in-law's doughy hand touched her shoulder.

"Come in. I'll make you a sandwich."

Remembering what Dr. Hartland had told her, Bernadette loudly said, "I made Howie a sandwich this morning."

"Uh huh." Beulah responded, wondering why her daughter-in-law was telling her this. She brought out the bread and opened the cultlery drawer.

"He likes sandwiches." Bernadette added, wishing she'd said something else.

"He also likes cookies. What's your point?" Beulah stared at her for a moment and then seemed to understand. " Oh. I get it. You're here to tell me what you did to him."

"No! I'm not, I promise."

"Well, why are you here?"

"I want to apologise."

Beulah had located the bread knife and was tapping it against the side. Bernadette felt more nervous than ever. "Go for it. After all, apologies make everything better." She slammed the knife down, making Bernadette jump in fear. "After all, his father was full of 'em!"

"I'm not like him. I never...I never meant to hurt him. I'm sorry."

"I know. I know you love him nearly as much as I do, I'm just.. I never thought he'd get into a relationship like that."

"You hate me, don't you?"

"Don't be an idiot. I'm not happy, but I don't hate you." She got down a green plate and placed the sandwich on it. "Make sure to eat your crusts."

'Maybe we didn't make up in a day,' Bernadette thought to herself, 'but neither did Howie and me.'

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It was very loud in apartment 4A. It was during the spring Hindu holiday season and Leonard had brought Raj and Priya something with beef in it.

"We can't eat this, dude! We told you..."

Priya was trying to calm him down, Sheldon was hiding in his room with his soundproof earphones on and Howard and Penny were watching the commotion before them.

"Look at that, dinner and a show." Howard called over to Penny.

Leonard snapped. "Fine, we'll go and get something else!"

"Was that so hard?" Raj sniped, following Priya.

After Leonard shut the door, the remaining two heard him say, "Nothing ever pleases you, does it?"

"What does it feel like to be able to move your arm around without the cast?"

"It feels good. The best part is, every time I have a beer someone, usually Leonard, lectures me on the dangers of drinking and tells Bernadette to keep the car keys."

"I have no sympathy for you," Penny told him, severely, getting up to go to the fridge. "You scared the crap out of us. Again."

"I know."

"Also," she peeked her head over the door. "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit."

"Must be why you use it so much." Howard muttered.

Penny gave him a sadistic smile and returned with a beer.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

She shrugged and began drinking. When she'd finished, she started staring at him

"What?"

"Hey, did I ever...scare you?"

"What? No!"

"Just...remember I punched you?"

"You've punched Sheldon too." Howard pointed out.

"Everybody's punched Sheldon. Look, did I scare you?"

"No, you didn't. To be honest, I think you were more scared than I was. You really freaked out."

"I didn't think it would hurt you that much. And then there was a crack..."

"Yeah. I know. Were you scared?"

"No. Just I've had guys trying that before. It was on instinct, you know?"

"Not from personal experience, but sure, I know."

"I still shouldn't have sucker-punched you. Sorry."

"It's OK. It's in the past."

She gave him a little smile and continued eating her egg roll. Less than five seconds later, Sheldon came out. He looked very relived to find the arguing had stopped. Picking up his carton, he looked inside and sighed heavily.

"What is it?" Penny asked.

"It's shredded chicken. He got the wrong chicken."

There was a little knock on the door and Bernadette strode in. Planting a kiss on her husband's face, she almost ran to the bathroom, a little white plastic bag knocking against her legs.

"Bernie?" Howard called. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah!"

Hands shaking, she took out the little cardboard box. Whilst she was at Beulah's, she'd run to the bathroom twice to be sick and her mother-in-law had asked her if she could be pregnant. She'd not really thought about pregnancy considering the false one she'd had, but she was displaying more symptoms than she had with the false pregnancy. So she'd gone to the chemist to buy three tests and then to a grocer's to buy a 2L bottle of orange juice. She'd drunk the entire contents in the car to ensure she had enough to test.

After doing what was necessary, she called for Howard. He came in, looking puzzled.

"Honey, I'm all for sex in weird places, but I don't think they'd like it."

"I think we might be. For real."

"You mean..?" He caught sight of the little white sticks. "Oh, my God!"

"Shh! We don't want to attract their attention."

"Oh, right, sure. I bet Penny and Sheldon aren't wondering what's going on."

In the living room, Leonard returned, the Koothrappali siblings behind him, carrying their dinners.

"Hey. Where's Howard?"

"He's in the bathroom with Bernadette." Sheldon explained.

"What's he-"

"YES! OH, GOD, YES! YES!"

The other five people looked at the bathroom door in confusion. Sheldon quietly murmured, "I hope they're not engaging in intercourse."

His statement was answered by the married couple bursting out, waving the sticks in the air. They seemed in their own teeny tiny world. Bernadette pulled Howard down to her level and pushed her lips against his.

"I love you, Bernie!"

"I love you, too."

"Guys, what's going on?" Penny asked.

"Look," he showed her the sticks. "They're all positive. All of them. It's for real, we're having a baby!"

And, once again, the apartment became very, very loud. In the midst of the yelling, the cheering and the appeals to deities, Sheldon Skype-called Amy.

"Hello, Sheldon. Why is it so loud?"

"Bernadette is pregnant."

"That's wonderful." She gave him a little smile

"Yes. It would be nice if that was us, one day."

"You'd like to have a child with me one day?"

"I can think of no one I'd rather have a baby with than you."

At this, She smiled even happier up at him."Thank you, Sheldon."

He turned the laptop around at her request, so she could congratulate the parents to be.

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Later that night, Howard couldn't stop staring at his wife as she slept. She'd always seemed so beautiful to him, but now that she was carrying his child...she was perfect. And even though the baby was just a mass of cells at the moment, he seemed perfect too. It seemed to him, that no matter what happened to him in his life, he would always have these two perfect people. And that was fine with him.

The End

Wow. It's all finished. I've managed to include things for people and yet I've finished it the exact way I planned. Mislav, 5Mississipis, you've helped me with this story at times when I was ready to pack it all in. Thanks so much for the help, I'd be lost without you. Imadork121, nertooold54, fortunecookie99, SRAM, RiskKnight, Rachelshamyfan, hokie3457, zhalen565, Captain Quirky, GirlWednesday, shadyatem, and the Guests I've had review, thank you all so much for taking the time to do so.
Monkeyleaf, I don't know if you're still reading, but thank you for being my first reviewer!

There is a sequel coming up, that only a few people know what the plot is. Watch out for it, guys and guyettes! Can't wait to hear from you again!

Love from Shania. xx