The present

Penny thought back to how sweet Sheldon had been over the last few weeks. She had made him promise that he wouldn't say anything to Leonard until she had spoken to him first, so they were having to be careful around each other. It was far too soon to be buying baby stuff, but he was definitely making more of an effort with her. His research into pregnancy vitamins was getting a little obsessive, however, and she was pretty sure she was going to start rattling soon if he didn't stop plying her with pills.

The decision of when to tell Leonard had been pretty much taken out of her hands when she started running out of excuses as to why she couldn't drink. He was starting to get worried about her, particularly when he heard her turn down a night out dancing with the girls. Wary of his reaction, she had taken the cowards way out; telling him in the restaurant might hopefully avoid a huge scene. It was only as she sat opposite him that she realised she might have given him completely the wrong idea. Crap. Damn hormones were throwing her off her game.

And then there had been the pain, and the blood, and the loss. She had never realised how attached you could get to something you had never actually seen. It made no difference that it hadn't been planned; it was wanted. And it was missed.

It was the night after she had been released from the hospital. She had been told to rest, but had got bored of being in bed so had moved to the sofa wrapped in a blanket. Sheldon had came over before work and had held her awkwardly as she cried some more. Her hormones were still all over the place. He was being very quiet about it all. She hadn't really thought about what would happen next. She was trying not to.

There was a knock at the door and Leonard stuck his head round. "Hey, can I come in? I brought ice cream…"

She managed a smile. "Well in that case, how can I refuse?"

He grabbed some spoons and they sat and ate straight from the tub for a while. Leonard talked about work and the new experiment he was working on that he was sure would finally yield some positive results. She could tell he was thinking of something else though, and finally she decided to stop dancing about the topic.

"Leonard, I need to tell you something."

He suddenly looked as though he very much didn't want to hear it.

"Ok…I mean, if you're sure you want to? 'Cause, you don't have to…none of this is any of my business…"

She turned to face him. "Yes, sweetie. It kinda is. I'm really sorry if I ever led you on about the chances of us working out. I mean, I love you. I really do." His face flushed and he couldn't meet her eyes. "But…it's not the right kind of love, y'know?"

He shrugged. "I know, I guess. It's just…you're really great, and I really hoped for a while there…but I know it's not gonna happen. It's ok." He managed a small smile at her.

Ok, she thought. Half way there. Plough on, girl, let's get this over with.

"Ok, good. There's something else though. It might be a bit of a shock." He looked up at her inquisitively. She took a deep breath. "Sweetie…the baby. It was Sheldon's."

She found she could watch the emotions flit across his face as if on a projector. Confusion, then disbelief. She saw him start to smile and look for a webcam. Then he looked at her face and saw she was serious. There was a brief flash of anger, which was quickly replaced by…nothing. Blankness.

That probably wasn't good.

"Sweetie? Are you ok?"

He stood up abruptly. "I'm fine. I gotta go. Goodnight, Penny."

He stalked out of the room, letting the door slam behind him. She started crying again as she watched him leave. She hoped Sheldon could handle whatever was coming next.