Guys can be understanding too

Own nothing

The guys were sitting around playing Mario Kart. There were four players, but only three on the same lap. Sheldon was, as usual, behind. This was, after all, a driving game and he could not seem to master even the slightest twist or turn without some kind of result that had him going the wrong way.

Sheldon spoke with disgust. "I don't understand why they put these obstacles in the way, you certainly wouldn't have to dodge any of these if you were in the Los Angeles Freeway".

Howard answered, "Yeah… like the obstacles on THAT road are any less ominous".

Raj was clearly in the lead when he just stopped playing and put his controller down. Leonard was hot on his tail, so when Raj stopped, Leonard slammed right into him and the two of them went careening off to the side. Leonard was taken completely by surprise. "Raj…. Why did you do that?"

Howard was not that far behind. He avoided the crash but was so far off to the side of the road, he hit a tree. "What the FRACK?"

Sheldon had by this time caught up and due to his somewhat reduced speed, managed to pass the others and continued to play, deep in concentration.

Raj got up from his chair and went to the fridge for a bottle of water. "I can't play this tonight. I just can't concentrate on these trivial nonsensical matters".

Howard put his controller down. "Raj, what's going on? You haven't been yourself for a while".

Leonard also put his controller down. "Raj, does this have anything to do with what you were saying when we got here, something about LOVE?"

Raj slumped back down in his chair. "Actually… yes. As you know, Alex and I have been seeing each other for a while now and I think that I LOVE her. "

Howard looked surprised. "Raj… Buddy… that's pretty strong for someone you have only been seeing for a few months"

Leonard was also surprised. "Raj, this is something that you really need to be sure of. You can't just jump into these things".

Raj turned to Leonard. "That's some really WEAK TEA DUDE… considering you were sure you and Penny were going to have smart and beautiful babies after you met her for less than one day… and look how it turned out for you…"

Leonard looked back, "Fair point. But look at all the work we put into it and we almost screwed it up way more than once".

Howard added, "Raj, you just started talking to women…. Are you sure that this just isn't an infatuation?"

Raj got a little annoyed at the inference. "Look, I'm not an idiot, and neither is Alex. This is not just a High School Crush! We have sex…. And not just because that's what you do. She is someone that is very special….. and she might even be pregnant". The last few words were said with Raj looking down to the floor and the words became quiet and trailed off.

Leonard responded. "WHAT? Are you sure? Did you take a test?…. SHE take a test?

Raj couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Of course she took a test. She actually took two tests. I bought two different brands to make sure that there would be no question of the result".

Again Leonard responded. "AND?"

Raj looked up at his friends. "That's just it… there's a question….. The first test was Positive and the second was Negative. We really don't know if she is pregnant or not".

Howard asked, "You said you were going to talk to your parents….. How did that go?"

Leonard looked at Howard. "You knew about this? And didn't tell anyone?

Howard looked back at Leonard. "Hey… you don't need to know everything… Raj didn't want anyone to know. I can keep a secret. Not like your wife or that anal nutbag over there."

Leonard turned to Raj. "What did they say?"

Raj just looked ahead. "That was a total disaster. My mother commented that she was not Indian and my father questioned if I was going out with another "American Gold Digger".

Leonard responded. "That's a little harsh on their part… Don't ya think?"

Raj turned away. "It doesn't matter anyway. When I asked Alex after the second test if it would be such a bad thing if she was pregnant, she didn't say anything, at least, nothing positive".

Leonard put his hand on Raj's shoulder. "Wow, that must have been rough".

Raj looked up. "Yeah, I just left the apartment… I haven't seen her or talked to her since".

Howard looked over. "Well, It's pretty clear what you have to do".

Raj inquired. "How so?"

Leonard continued. "Raj…. You need to find out how she feels… where you stand… what you expect or what she expects if she IS pregnant. This is a big thing. Do you want to keep the baby? Does she?

Raj looked surprised at the question. "Of course I would want to keep the baby. How could I not? We never got to talk about how she felt. It doesn't matter anyway, she probably hates me. I just left when she didn't respond positively. It's probably over… whatever it was that we had."

Howard became more forceful. "Raj… You HAVE to talk to her. Let me ask you this… How do you feel about her? Try and not think of the baby. Try to think back to before the tests… how did you feel about Alex last week?"

Raj smiled just a little. "She is so beautiful, so sweet, so smart. We actually have more in common than you think. We're both Astrophysicists. We both love the stars. We both love to cook. She doesn't really get into all the nerdy stuff that we do, like the Comic Con stuff and the video games, although she is awesome at World od Warcraft. She seems to at least show some interest in what I like. She is so easy to talk to. We could talk all night. In fact, I think that is the thin that drew us together in the first place. She needed someone to talk to…. You know…. About stuff… at work… and the people there….." Raj was getting a little nervous. Alex needed some consoling about Penny and Leonard when they got back from Korea. "We stayed up talking in the cafeteria until they threw us out the first time we talked. Here I was able to talk to women… and all I wanted to do was listen to her talk. She could have whoever she wanted. Why would she want to stay with someone like me."

Howard spoke up. "Well… that tears it… You need to talk to her. It sounds like you got it bad… She needs to know that. She is probably feeling a bit alone right now. You need to call her."

Sheldon stood up quickly and threw both hands in the air as his car crossed the finish line. "I WON! Who's a poor driver now suckers?"