Evening!

So here's another chapter. Thank you so much for the reviews and the favs. Sorry I hadn't said that before. :)

I don't own the characters, but I own Alex.

Snoogans and Snoochie Boochies!

The walls had been painted a baby blue. It had taken Penny nearly a week to decide on the right shade, and she'd painted countless numbers of tests on the walls before deciding, then changing her mind, then deciding again, and then changing her mind once more.

"An acceptable shade." Sheldon had told her once she'd finished painting the entire room. Sure, she was only about twelve weeks, but she was so anxious for Alex to arrive. She wanted to get a leg up on everything. She wanted to make sure everything was ready.

Sheldon was rubbing off on her she figured.

"I saw these really cute stars and moon wall lights at Ikea that I'd love to put up on the wall over here." she told him. "And the crib will go there. The changing table here." she said, pointing to various spots in the room. "A little dresser there."

Penny picked back up her notepad and started writing. Sheldon came over and peered over her shoulder. She was making a list of everything they would need for little Alex. He made a mental note of everything she was writing down.

"It's nearly time for your appointment." he told her when she'd finished writing. "Perhaps afterwards we could go for dinner?"

Penny closed the notebook and looked over her shoulder at Sheldon. "Really?" She was a little thrown off. "But it's Friday. It's pizza and vintage video games night." She'd become accustomed to the schedule. Even before her and Sheldon started their family. It had become part of her routine if she wasn't going out with her girls. And some nights, she'd preferred to stay home and spend the evening with the four nerds than go out to a noisy, crowded club. She found she had more fun sitting in her sweats and a tank top watching them play whatever game they had dusted off that night.

"I just thought we could do something different." Sheldon said, glad that Penny had turned back to survey the room again, so she missed his eye and mouth twitching wildly.

She turned just as he'd gotten himself under control. She placed the back of her hand to his forehead. "You feeling alright?" she asked and smiled.

"I just thought that, perhaps, since we have missed 'Anything Can Happen Thursday' this month, we could make today 'Anything Can Happen Friday'." He gave her his best non creepy smile, and she smiled back, a bit leery, but willing to go with the break in routine if he was.

"Gentlemen, operation baby blue is a go." Sheldon said as he peeked his head in to 4B where Leonard, Raj, and Howard sat. The three men nodded, waited for Penny and Sheldon to disappear down the stairs, and then headed over to 4A.

Penny didn't think she'd ever get used to the goop that the doctor put on her stomach. It was cold and slimy and just felt plain weird on her skin.

"Ready mom and dad?" the doctor asked, and they both nodded. The doctor placed her instrument connected to the ultrasound machine on Penny's abdomen, moved it around slightly, and then stopped. "There we go." she smiled, and the sound that radiated through the room was music to Penny's ears.

"Sheldon." she smiled, a small tear rolling down her cheek. She looked to him, and watched as he silently counted the beats and timed them against his wrist watch. Penny grabbed for his hand, but it didn't sway his math, and soon he smiled, looking back at her.

"A strong heart beat." he told her. "Perfect for a fetus of twelve weeks." Sheldon told the doctor. The doctor would have been slightly put off if Penny hadn't warned her about Sheldon. She'd been prepared for this.

The drumming was intense, quick, and the most beautiful sound Penny had ever heard. Sheldon agreed. He'd noticed, lately, the primal urges springing within his body and mind. It had started with the sonogram photo of Alex. While that had scared him more than any bully ever had, it also awoke something within him. A need. A desire.

He remembered a story his mother had told him when he was younger. She and his father had had a dog. A great dane named Bear. Bear had been his mothers dog, and she'd loved him to pieces. Bear also loved his father, but it was obvious that Bear was his mothers dog.

When Mrs. Cooper had become pregnant with his other brother, everything started off fine, but when she started to show, the further along she had gotten in the pregnancy, the more protective Bear had gotten of her. By the time she was eight months, not one single male was allowed around her if Bear was present, and that included Sheldon's father.

One afternoon, his mother had been outside, and his father had come home from work. Just like they did every day he arrived home (before things headed south in their marriage), Sheldon's father approached his mother, and reached to her for a hug. Bear was opposed to this action, and escalated his protectiveness that day. He bit Sheldon's father. A few days later, they were giving Bear to a family they knew from church.

Sheldon felt the way Bear did. He wasn't sure if his father had felt the way he was feeling now, as his father had never discussed such things with him, so the only comparison he could make was to the story his mother had told him about Bear. He wanted to protect Penny and Alex. He wanted to make sure they were well provided for. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect for them, even if their perfect wasn't his perfect.

The pair was given another photo of their son and sent on their way with another follow up appointment in a month. This time, now that he'd had the time to get used to it, Sheldon had no trouble picking out he image of his tiny son in the photo.

Penny kissed his cheek as she watched the soft expression and warm smile he gave the picture. It was the same smiled he'd give her sometimes. The smile that let her know, that showed her how much he really did love her. It was those little moments, where he was very 'un-Sheldon' that made her fall in love with him even more, and feel more special than anyone on the planet, because she knew no one else was privy to this side of him.

"I'm starving. What's for dinner?" she smiled to him as they exited the doctors office.

"Pizza" he smiled.

They'd dined in at the pizza joint they normally got delivery from. Penny laughed at his attempt at breaking his routine. He's taking baby steps she told herself.

Afterwards, Sheldon asked if they could stop by the comic book shop so he could pick up something he'd forgotten the day before. He kept his face turned out the side window, trying furiously to hide his twitching. Penny thought it was strange that Sheldon had forgotten something from the comic book store of all things, but then remembered that time he'd forgotten his keys, so it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.

After that, he'd asked if they could go to Pottery Barn. Penny was about to protest when he reminded her that she'd wanted to get some more pillows for the bed. (He was actually hoping she would forget about that silly nonsense about the decorative pillows for their bed, as he found no real need for them, considering people were not allowed in their room and the only purpose they seemed to serve was the extra task of taking them off at night and putting them back on in the morning, but he needed her distracted for another hour per Leonard's text.)

"Fine." she told him. "But I'm exhausted. After this, we're going home." Sheldon agreed that was acceptable, and they entered the store.

'The eagle has landed.' was the text that Leonard got just as they finished putting the sheets on the crib. "They're here." he told Howard and Raj. Raj was practically jumping up and down clapping his hands. Howard and Leonard just watched as he righted himself.

Penny was all hands and lips the second they got in the door. Sheldon was doing everything he could to sway her sudden change in mood and her advances. He was beat red because he knew his three friends were just in the other room waiting for them.

Penny noticed that Sheldon's body was more awkward that usual. "What's wrong sweetie?" she asked.

Sheldon said the first thing that came to mind that he figured would succeed in getting her to go to the nursery. "I think perhaps we should revisit the choice in wall color for the nursery."

"What?" she said, eyebrow raising. "But I thought you liked that color." she told him. She thought about it a moment. "Damn, you're right. It's one shade to light. It's going to be over-stimulating." she said, and they both locked eyes at her comment and how she sounded just a bit like Sheldon.

But his plan worked, her plan to seduce him was forgotten and she walked right past him to the nursery.

"Surprise!" Leonard and Howard said in unison as soon as she opened the door, and Raj threw his arms up as they had done, but had said nothing, just smiled.

"Oh my God…" Penny whispered, instantly tearing up at the sight of the room. It was finished, and it was perfect.

There was a crib, changing table, dresser and rocking chair in the room. All four pieces of furniture matched, a solid oak with an elaborate swirl design carved throughout each piece. Penny first walked to the dresser where they had placed a picture of her and Sheldon. A picture she hadn't known existed. It was something that she knew you would see on any given night now-a-days. It was her and Sheldon on the couch, supposedly watching television, with Howard to her right, and Leonard to Sheldon's left in his chair, but Penny and Sheldon were looking at each other. Not blatantly, but she was sitting in her spot, right next him, leaning heavily on him, her arm through his, and her face tilted up slightly to catch a glimpse of him. Sheldon's face was still mostly directed at the television, but his eyes were diverted directly to her. He had that smile on his face that she loved so much. The soft, gentle, warm smile.

"Sheldon said you were getting an early start on the room… and we wanted to do something nice for you…" Leonard was saying, and Penny set down the photo and hugged him. Leonard hesitantly hugged her back, as Sheldon had discussed his protective tendency and the story about his mothers dog with him just the other day, and given all the changes in Sheldon's behavior and routine, he wasn't so sure anymore that Sheldon was above biting him if provoked.

Penny released Leonard and gave Howard a hug next. Howard, thankfully, didn't linger, as he had Bernadette now, and he only had eyes for her. Next was Raj, who gave a little squeak when she embraced him.

"Look in the crib." Howard said, and Penny headed over after releasing Raj. "My mom made those for you guys."

Penny peered in to the crib. The sheets were Back to the Future. She laughed through her tears which were now a steady stream down her cheeks. She admired the little Delorian's patterned across the sheets. "Where did you find the material?" she asked. She knew they didn't sell Back to the Future sheets. At least not since the 80's.

"They were mine. I had a set when I was a kid. My mom saved them." Howard said. Howard's mom saved everything of her son's, so it didn't surprise Penny.

"It's perfect in here guys. Thank you." she told them, heading over to the rocking chair to give it a test drive. On it sat the little blue elephant stuffed toy she'd picked up from Target a few weeks ago. She realized then that they'd become her family. All of them. It made sense that Alex referred to them as his uncles even though there was no blood relation. They really were a family to each other. Penny had never felt more loved then in that moment.