6 weeks later - Mid December

Penny and Leonard had returned from their honeymoon in Nebraska and as Penny's store would have been open for one year at the end of November, she had celebrated by having a 25% of everything sale for a whole week. She and Raj had also found another rental store further down on Rodeo Drive, it was similar to their own store and they had planned to open once the store had been kitted out and had their staff trained, they had a potential opening date for the beginning of February. Penny had also done a presenting role for HSN.

Sheldon's family were due to arrive in Pasadena three days before Christmas and were due to leave on January 2nd, he had invited Penny, Leonard and Natasha for Christmas dinner as Penny's parents were unable to fly back for Christmas. Amy was now 7 months pregnant and had a very large belly, she was also suffering from backache at night time which meant she wasn't sleeping much and was cranky a lot, because of that Amy had also agreed with President Siebert that after the Christmas holidays were over she would work three days a week only.

The day before Sheldon's family arrived Sheldon had a suggestion for Amy, they were in the living room snuggled together on the sofa, they were supposed to be watching a star wars/trek movie but Amy kept distracting Sheldon by kissing him, in the end Sheldon abandoned the film, he realised Amy wanted his attention and responded to her kisses, he loved Amy more than anything and loved pleasing her. He also had a suggestion

"Amy I am mindful for how tired you are at the moment and I know you probably don't want a big fuss on December 24th, but I have hired the café where we first met just for a little afternoon tea and cakes and our friends and family have been invited"

"Sheldon that's a lovely thing to do and it's very sweet, but how did you manage to hire the café?"

"Well they were planning to be closed on that day but I offered them a lot of money and told them it was our celebration and they agreed"

"Well I am sure that it will be a nice celebration, I hope its not going to be a formal wear thing because I am not sure that anything would fit me at the moment, other than a pair of comfy pyjamas"

"Interesting" said Sheldon

"What is? Asked Amy clearly confused

"A pyjama party and its not like anybody but our friends and family will see" said Sheldon

"How are you going to get everybody agree to that? Asked Amy

"I have my ways, leave it to me" said Sheldon getting up from the sofa and going to his laptop and sending some emails

"What are you doing?

"Everybody that has been invited is going to get an email asking them to come in nightwear" said Sheldon as he came back to the sofa

"It will be interesting if everybody agrees to do that and also very funny, imagine some of the outfits" said Amy

"I am doing this for you Amy, come on its getting late and I need to pick up my family at 10am tomorrow"

Amy started to get up and found that she couldn't, Sheldon had to help her up instead, then gave her a little cuddle

"I think Marie is having a little party in there" said Amy clutching her belly and wincing

"Does it hurt? Asked Sheldon

"No it's just uncomfortable" replied Amy sitting down again

Shortly afterwards, Amy and Sheldon went upstairs to their room, got changed and into bed, Sheldon was still aroused from their earlier kissing and Amy could see that and they were kissing and exploring each others bodies in bed for some time, before Amy moved on top of Sheldon and started grinding against him, she was mindful of her swollen belly getting in the way but she wanted Sheldon very much and soon she guided his arousal into her, he was thrusting gently into her and he had his hands around her waist to get support, Amy bent down to kiss Sheldon and gave his nipples little kisses, which made Sheldon shudder and thrust harder into her, he came shortly afterwards and then Amy guided his hand into her and let him find her clit and soon he was fascinated by Amy's face as she had her own orgasm

"Oh Amy you are beautiful and all mine" said Sheldon kissing her again, they cuddled against each other and fell asleep

The next day Sheldon's family arrived and on hearing of the pyjama party at the café were very enthusiastic about it, Amy and Sheldon had decided not to get each other presents for their anniversary or Christmas, they had each other and that's all they wanted

Penny took Amy to Beverley Hills, she knew a designer maternity store there and wanted to give Amy a designer pair of pyjamas for her party, they returned with a pair of pink and white check bottoms and a white top

Sheldon had arranged that everybody go to the café for 3pm, he and Amy would be the last to arrive and when they did arrive, they were greeted with cheers from their friends all of whom wear in some sort of nightwear, Sheldon had also provided for everybody to have a complimentary glass of champagne, Sheldon decided to make an announcement

"I would just like to say thank you to everybody for coming today, you have all been a big part of Amy and my life for the past few years and we wanted to celebrate our first anniversary with our close friends and family" Sheldon then turned to Amy and kissed her. "I also want to say to Amy, I love you very much and I can't wait to start the next chapter of our lives together" said Sheldon patting her belly, Amy smiled in delight at Sheldon and turned to her friends beaming

"To Sheldon and Amy" shouted Penny raising her glass to them

A while later, Amy after walking around and talking to her friends, sat back down at her table and Penny joined her

"You ok Ames? Penny could see she was exhausted

"Yes, I'm just very tired, Mary and Missy are cooking dinner tomorrow for which I am glad about, I still have so much time to go" said Amy wearily

"Yes but you are going to get something so beautiful out of it" replied Penny

"Sure, I think I will go back now, I need to rest" said Amy getting up with help from Penny

"Do you want me to walk you home? Asked Penny

"Sure, I told Sheldon earlier that I might leave early and I would appreciate the company"

They arrived back at the house a few minutes later and Amy went straight to bed, Penny after making sure she was ok, went back downstairs and waited until Sheldon returned home, she was sitting on the sofa watching telly with Daisy sprawled across her when Sheldon arrived back with everybody but George

"Hi Sheldon, Amy is in bed, she's ok just tired"

"Thank you for staying, I see you have made a friend there" said Sheldon pointing to the sleeping Daisy who hadn't stirred even when Sheldon walked in

"Yes, she's very heavy though! Laughed Penny

"Yes indeed, by the way Leonard has stayed at the café and is playing cards with George and the guys, I suspect they may be some time"

"Shelley make sure you are ready for midnight mass, you can't get out of it" said Mary walking into the room

"Yes I know mom, it might only be me though, depends on how Amy is feeling"

"That's ok, my deal is with you and not Amy" replied Mary

Christmas and New Year passed by quickly with celebrations and fun and one day at the beginning of February, Penny woke up early one morning feeling sick, she and Leonard had been trying for a baby since they had got married and as she realised she had missed her last cycle, she rushed to the bathroom to vomit, Leonard heard her and went to help her, he knew what this might mean

"Penny could you be pregnant?

"I hope so, we have had plenty of practice and my monthly cycle has not happened"

"How late are you? Asked Leonard

"Two weeks I think, I'm not totally sure but I have some pregnancy tests in the bathroom cupboard, which I will take when I feel a little less sick" said Penny as she vomited in to the toilet bowl again

An hour later Penny was feeling slightly better and Leonard had delayed going into work to see the result of the test that Penny was taking, Penny brought the test out and set it on her dressing table, she had to wait for 3 minutes before anything came up, she and Leonard were sitting on the bed holding hands

"I hope we are pregnant Penny and even if we are not then we can keep trying" said Leonard

"I know and I want your babies, all of our friends children will be close in age and that will be wonderful" said Penny

Leonard nodded and they sat in silence until the three minutes was up, Penny then retrieved the test and looked at it

"We are pregnant Leonard!" said Penny hugging him in delight and kissing him

"That's brilliant, all we need to do now is find out just how far along you are, I suspect you are only a month or a bit more"

"Yes I agree, are we going to tell everybody or wait a while?

"I think we can tell people, I will take a half day and we can go to the doctors this morning"

"Ok"

Much later they returned from the doctors, who confirmed that Penny was pregnant and arranged for her to have a sonogram later in the week, the doctor suspected she was around 5-6 weeks but the sonogram would confirm that

Leonard went to work and as it was lunchtime, he went to the cafeteria, only Sheldon was in there though

"Penny and I found out this morning that we are having a baby" said Leonard smiling

"Oh Congratulations, how far along are you" asked Sheldon

"We think no more than 5 or 6 weeks, we will find out later in the week at the sonogram" replied Leonard

Meanwhile Penny had gone next door to see Amy, who had stopped work altogether to tell her the news, they were sitting in the kitchen drinking tea, Amy was delighted at the news

"Oohh just think our babies could turn out to be besties as well" said Amy excitedly

"I think that will be nice and they will have Rose as well" said Penny, she noticed Amy was constantly rubbing her belly and wincing "Are you ok? She asked

"Yes the baby is just moving a lot and there isn't a lot of space in there" said Amy

"Well you haven't got long now, only a month to go, maybe less" said Penny

"I know and yesterday I had some Braxton Hicks contractions, luckily I had been told about them and they stopped after a couple of hours"

"Have you got a birthing plan Amy?

"Yes well the plan is that I have a water birth, but that just depends if one is available at the hospital when I go into labour, if not then I will just go with the flow and hope it's a quick labour"

"I take it Sheldon is going to be there, are you having anybody else?

"Well the midwife said I could have two people with me, would you like to be there with me?

"Amy I would be delighted to" replied Penny

"Thank you, I would get up and hug you but I am stuck for the moment" said Amy

"Well it doesn't matter I can come to you instead" said Penny getting up from the chair and hugging Amy

"I am going for a sonogram on Friday to find out just how far along I am, so depending on that, there will be a baby Hofstadter by August or September" said Penny happily

"Have you thought of any names yet?

"No that's something we should do though, I have to go Amy I promised to go to the store today"

"Ok congratulations again and see you later" smiled Amy to her friend

On Friday, Penny had her sonogram and the doctor confirmed that she was 6 weeks pregnant and her likely due date would be early August, just as Penny had thought, they had another appointment for when they reached 12 weeks

The following weekend they decided to discuss names for the baby

"Leonard I really like Holly for a girl and if it's a boy Archie" said Penny

"I will agree with them names Penny, I would like either of them, also what about godparents?"

"Well Sheldon and Amy are making us godparents to Marie, so I would like to return the favour and also have Natasha"

"Ok by the way, Sheldon asked me if we can have Daisy when Amy goes into labour"

"Sure, but I forgot to tell you that Amy has asked me to be there at the birth, so it will just be you and Daisy"

"Your going to be at the labour? Wont that put you off?

"Leonard of course it wont, I will have to give birth myself and there will be no better experience than actually seeing my best friend do it"

"Have you got a date for your new store opening yet?

"Yes it was going to be for the last week of February but there has been some delays in getting stock so its now the end of March"

Two weeks later

It was 3am and Amy was wide awake and in pain, she thought she might be starting her contractions but her waters hadn't broken yet, Sheldon was sleeping and she didn't want to disturb him just yet, so after getting out of the bed she went to the family bathroom down the hall and ran herself a soothing bath, she was timing the pains which were coming every 10 minutes, it was while in the bath that she felt her waters go, climbing out and drying herself she went back to the bedroom to wake Sheldon

"Sheldon wake up" said Amy shaking him

"What's the matter? Asked Sheldon then he noticed Amy was doubled up and panting

"I think I'm in labour, can you call Penny, she will drive us to the hospital" said Amy

"But you still have a week to go, you can't be in labour now, she cant be coming just yet" said Sheldon panicking

"My waters have broken so I think I am very much ready to give birth" said Amy

Sheldon rang Penny and after taking Daisy next door to Leonard, helped Amy out to the car and Penny drove them to the hospital where they were shown to a private room, the midwife and doctor appeared shortly afterwards and checked to see how dilated Amy was

"You are 7cm's dilated so it could be here in the next couple of hours, we have gas and air ready for you when you need it" said the midwife

"I might need it right now" said Amy as another contraction hit her, she took several puffs of gas and then grabbed Sheldon's hand, Penny was wiping the sweat from her face with a cold flannel

An hour later Amy was almost ready to give birth, she was following the midwifes instructions to push at the right moment, Sheldon was still holding her hand and Penny was now at the foot of the bed fascinated by seeing the baby crown

"Amy you need to push now" said the midwife

Amy pushed and the baby's head appeared and after more encouragement from the midwife pushed again and baby Marie arrived

"Congratulations your baby is here, would you like to cut the cord? Asked the Midwife to Sheldon who was looking at the baby in shock and surprise, the baby suddenly started crying

"No no its ok" said Sheldon as the midwife quickly cut the cord and handed Marie to Amy who was in tears

"Sheldon she is beautiful, covered in goo but very beautiful" said Amy gazing down at her daughter and back at Sheldon

"Amy she really is, thank you very much" said Sheldon suddenly feeling overwhelmed

The midwife reappeared and took Marie to be washed and weighed, then returned with her and gave her back to Amy

"She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces, no wonder she couldn't wait to get out" laughed the midwife, she then left the room leaving Amy and Sheldon with baby Marie, Amy passed Sheldon the baby and Sheldon took her gently, he leant down and gave her a little kiss on the head and kissed Amy as well

"I am so proud of you, that looked very painful to do" said Sheldon

"It was very painful but I have forgotten the pain now" said Amy as Penny came back in the room

"Hey Ames, I have told Leonard and he's going to ring everybody else to let them know, including both your families"

"Thank you Penny" said Sheldon "Would you like to meet your goddaughter properly? Asked Sheldon

"Sure" said Penny taking the baby from him

"Just think Penny that will be you in a few months time" said Amy gazing at the baby

The midwife came back in and after checking that Amy was ok, offered tea to them all and said that if Amy was ok then they would let her go home later that afternoon, they were drinking there tea when Sheldon remembered that he needed to speak to his mom, he video called her

"Hi Mom, or should I say hi granny" said Sheldon as Mary appeared on the phone screen

"Shelley, how's Amy and the baby doing?"

"Amy is great as is Marie" said Sheldon turning his phone around and showing his mother the baby

"Oh isn't she just beautiful" said Mary

"Just like Amy" said Sheldon

"Well Missy and I are flying out the day after tomorrow to come and see you both, Meemaw has a cold so she is staying away and George cant get time off work so quickly" said Mary

"Ok I will see you then" said Sheldon

After a few hours rest and a shower, Amy was ready to leave the hospital, Penny was driving them back to the house

Leonard had let everybody into Sheldon and Amy's house and Amy walked in with the baby

"Hello everybody I would like you to meet Marie" said Amy smiling at everybody as they gathered round the baby.

Cheers for reading, if I get time before I go away on Wednesday, I will do more