CHAPTER 34

"Yes mom! Yes, she's taking her prenatal vitamins; I always make sure she does it. No, no. She isn't so nauseated now. Well, only in the mornings but not every day" Sheldon nodded intently as he answered his mother's questions during their phone call.

"Here you are! She wants to talk to you" Sheldon handed Amy the phone.

"Hello! How are you Mrs. Cooper?" Amy greeted Sheldon's mother very politely.

"I'm fine! Hello Amy! How's it going? How's my grandbaby?"Mary Cooper asked Amy with her proud grandmother tone

"The baby's fine, thanks for asking. It's getting bigger and bigger each day. The baby's grown a lot since the last time you saw us. I'm 23, almost 24 weeks pregnant now." Amy replied, smiling cheerfully.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Mary Cooper was eager to meet her grandchild.

"No, not yet! But… tomorrow we have a prenatal visit and if we're lucky enough, we'll know if it's a boy or a girl. As soon as we find out, I'll call you" Amy couldn't wait to see her baby on the ultrasound screen again.

"Aw, that's great! Even though I'll be equally happy whether it is a boy or a girl, I'd like to choose a color and start knitting as soon as possible". Sheldon's mother laughed happily. "Well, I think it's time to say goodnight; it is a little late and you two have to rest for at least eight hours. I send you and my grandbaby a big hug. Can I speak to Sheldon again? I'd like to say goodbye to him."

"Good night, and thanks for calling! Tomorrow I'll send you the pictures of the ultrasound." . Amy told her mother in law, with affection. She handed the phone to Sheldon.

"Yes mom, of course I'm going to take care of them. Yes, she is eating well. I love you too. Good night. Say hello to my Meemaw" Sheldon hung up the phone after a few minutes.

"Aahh!" Amy yawned as she continued working on her laptop; she had a research paper to finish.

"I think you've done enough work for today. It's time for us to go to bed. You look so tired" Sheldon noticed that Amy was struggling to stay awake.

"I know but I haven't finished yet. Five minutes more please! If you want you can go to bed and I'll join you later." Amy insisted.

"No ma'am! We'll go to bed now. You can finish it tomorrow" Sheldon used his fatherly tone.

"Okay, we must listen to Dad." Amy got up from the couch, slowly. Now, being almost 24 weeks pregnant, her belly had grown so much that her pregnancy was obvious. She was already wearing loose clothes and she had a few maternity dresses.

In the same way that her belly had grown, the pain Amy sometimes felt in her lower back, hips and legs had increased. Amy tried not to complain about it, she knew it was a temporary symptom and she didn't want Sheldon to worry about it. Also, the expectation of meeting her baby, made her soon forget about those hassles.

Amy and Sheldon sat down on the bed, ready to sleep through the night. Tomorrow would be a very important day for them, because, if all went well, they would finally know if their baby is a boy or a girl. They felt extremely excited about it.

Sheldon kissed Amy on the lips as he did every night before bed. "Good Night Princess!" he said.

"Good night, my love!" Amy replied, her cheeks flushed as she snuggled into his arms.

"My love? You've never called like that before" Sheldon smiled, surprised by Amy's words.

"Well, you usually call me princess, and sometimes I call you Cuddles; but, I've been thinking and I'd like to call you: My Love, for that is what you are to me. But if you don't like it, just tell me. It's kind of corny anyway." Amy answered truthfully.

"No, it's fine, I like it", Sheldon turned off the lights and tightly wrapped Amy with his arms.

Sometimes Sheldon caught himself thinking about how things had changed for him, how he had gone from being a man who didn't believe in the existence of what romance novels, poetry and ordinary people described as Love.

To him that word simply represented a confused state of mind, a type of cyclothymia induced by a discharge of neurotransmitters in the hypothalamus. Before he met Amy, Sheldon was convinced that since love is an altered mental state, this emotion could be prevented. But ... no, he couldn't prevent this feeling. He was wrong, and he had to admit it.

He hadn't been able to prevent what he was feeling; it was so real, so unique. The only name he could give to this sentiment was: Love. Yes, love! And oh boy, it existed! Sheldon was living it. There, next to him, he had all he needed and what he loved most. "Hmm" he sighed and closed his eyes about to fall asleep. Amy was already fast asleep.

An hour had passed, and Sheldon and Amy continued sleeping together, holding each other warmly. Out of the blue, and as if a silent mental alarm suddenly woke her up, Amy opened her eyes widely and a gasp came out of her mouth. Abruptly she sat straight up on the bed.

Feeling the sudden movement of his girlfriend, Sheldon woke up and turned on the bedside lamp. His face was awfully pale, as if his heart had stopped beating during those seconds. "Amy, what happens? Are you all right?" He exclaimed.

"I'm fine, I'm great indeed! Sheldon, the baby is moving! I'm feeling it. The baby is moving!" Amy burst into tears of happiness.

Although Amy knew that a woman can feel her fetus move from 20th week or even later; this was the first time that she'd perceived the movements of her baby.

Since she was pregnant for the first time, she was a little concerned because she hadn't feel those expected baby's kicks yet, even though everyone had assured her that some mothers take longer to feel their babies, she couldn't help but worry. Feeling her baby move was so exciting.

"Is it true Amy? Is the baby moving now?" Sheldon had a big smile upon his face; he'd waited so long for this moment.

"Well, the baby isn't moving now; but it moved a minute ago and I felt it. I was expecting some small kicks, but it felt more as if the baby was doing stretches inside me". Amy laughed kindly.

"Do you think our baby's going to move again soon?" Sheldon asked Amy, he was eager to feel the baby's kicks.

"Aww, I don't know, it took me by surprise. Let's wait for a moment". Amy put her hands on her belly, hoping her baby moves again. Sheldon looked at her with great anticipation. When, nothing happened after ten minutes, they decided it was best to go back to sleep.

"It's as if our baby has stage fright" Amy rested on the bed while Sheldon turned off the light.

"Yes, the baby will move again. Our little homo-novus must be as tired as we are" Sheldon yawned and hugged Amy, stroking her belly with his long hands.

When Amy was asleep again; the baby started to move, even stronger than before. Sheldon, who still had his hands on her belly, could feel his baby's tiny arms and legs moving for the first time. His heart pounded hard in his chest when he experienced that indescribable feeling.

"Oh my God! The baby is moving and I can feel it!" Sheldon eyes shut blissfully and he smiled.

"Yes, I told you! It feels as if the baby's swimming inside me. Freestyle!" Amy smiled. "The baby moves really fast, I didn't think it would be like this, so energetic."

"I'm feeling just a light twitch, the baby is still very tiny. Does it hurt?" Sheldon asked without removing the hand he had on her belly.

"It does hurt a little, but maybe it's because I wasn't expect this. I don't know how to describe it. This feels weird, but beautiful" Amy kept smiling. "Now it seems like the baby's sleeping. My love, can you please turn off the lamp? We should be sleeping too."

Sheldon nodded and turned off the light. He gave her another kiss. "Goodnight Amy. Good night little homo-novus!".

Nearly half an hour after the lights went off, and as if it were a joke that their little homo-novus was playing on them; the baby moved again, nonstop and for about three minutes. The tiny baby's kicks were strong enough to wake their inexperienced parents up.

"Sheldon!" Amy touched his arm and woke him up.

"What? ... Is there something wrong?" Sheldon asked her, half asleep, half awake.

"The baby's doing it again, it's still moving. Apparently our baby doesn't want to sleep." Amy sat on the bed, feeling quite tired, but unable to sleep.

Sheldon yawned and stretched his arms. "Why don't you let your mommy sleep? " Sheldon said as he rubbed his eyes, trying to stay awake. He couldn't believe that even before birth, their little son or daughter was showing that stubbornness so characteristic of… him. "You're definitely a Cooper", Sheldon thought.

"It's amazing, every time you turn off the light, and I fall asleep, the baby moves so much that it wakes me up. Don't get me wrong, I love it! I know it's a good sign, but I'm exhausted. If this continues throughout the night, I won't be able to function properly at work. It's already 1 a.m.!" Amy began to feel uneasy.

"Amy, please don't think our baby is doing it on purpose. He or she doesn't know that it's too late to play. It's logical!" Sheldon tried to be reasonable.

"Yes, you're right. I suppose the baby will get tired at some point and fall asleep too." Amy leaned back on her left, while Sheldon hugged her. They turned off the lights again. This time none of them could sleep. The minute Sheldon put his hands on Amy's belly; the baby started some kind of acrobatic dance.

"I'm starting to notice there's a pattern in our baby's behavior" Sheldon added thoughtfully, as if it were a theory to explain the existence of the Higgs Boson. "Do you think our baby's hungry" he asked.

"Umm, I don't know, I'm not hungry, but now that you mention it ... I want a cookie". Amy admitted, in fact she was more tired than hungry.

"Come on, let's go to the kitchen. I don't want to have crumbs all over the bed". Sheldon stood up and handed Amy her robe.

After eating two chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk, Sheldon and Amy went back to bed.

"It looks like you were hungry after all, now let's go to bed" Amy caressed her belly affectionately.

"Yes, we should be sleeping now" Sheldon turned off the light.

This time, not even a second had passed since Sheldon turned off the light and he or she resumed that intrauterine routine of exercises. "I think this will be a long night" Amy admitted resignedly. "It seems to me that all the sugar in the cookies recharged the baby's batteries. Can you feel that it's even faster now?" Amy laughed out loud.

Sheldon laughed too, with that adorable giggle that sounded like a sigh. "You know Amy, I have an idea. I guess I could tell our baby a bedtime story. What do we have to lose?" the theoretical physicist had a plan. Amy nodded, at this time she was willing to try anything just to get some sleep.

Sheldon knew by heart each and every one of Dr. Seuss's stories and rhymes. One of his favorites was undeniably: Oh, the Places you'll go! Wasting no time, he told it to his little child. "This isn't exactly a bed time story but I love it."

Oh, the Places you'll go!

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

You have brains in your head

You have feet in your shoes... […]

After ten or fifteen minutes, Amy and apparently the baby were sleeping peacefully. Sheldon's idea had worked like a charm. Turns out, the tiny baby needed a bedtime story and their father's voice had a magically soothing effect.


Amy left her car in Caltech's parking lot, she was ready to have lunch with her boyfriend, and then they would have a prenatal visit at three o'clock.

Amy was wearing a green floral print maternity dress, with her customary tights and a white cardigan. She looked lovely. Amy hadn't visited Sheldon in his office in a long time. In fact, the last time, Amy was at Caltech, she wasn't even pregnant yet.

Amy merrily walked through the halls of Caltech, until she reached Sheldon's office. When Amy knocked on the door, he was reading some papers written by grad students.

"Please come in, the door's open" Sheldon said. He grinned as he saw her; getting up quickly from his chair, he greeted her with a big kiss. "I've miss you."

Amy and Sheldon walked hand in hand to the cafeteria, where they caught the attention of everyone. And it was indeed an unusual sighting. How often do they get to see the eccentric Dr. Copper walking hand in hand with his pregnant girlfriend?

Leonard, Howard and Raj, were waiting for them at the cafeteria. Amy sat at the table with her friends, while Sheldon went to get their lunches.

"Sheldon and I have some news, last night we felt the baby move for the first time. It was very exciting." Amy couldn't wait a minute to share the good news with their friends.

"Yeah! Sheldon told us this morning. Congratulations Amy! The baby's growing so fast. I'm so happy for you". Leonard added gladly.

"Thanks Uncle Leonard" Amy gently stroked her belly.

"Are we going to find out if it's a boy or a girl today?" Howard asked Amy with curiosity.

"Yes, we'll finally know it today" Sheldon said as he approached the table with their lunches. "I'd wanted to give you something healthier for lunch, but this is all they're serving."

"Thank you Sheldon! It's fine" Since Amy was starving, the spaghetti looked delicious.

Sheldon had requested the afternoon off to go with Amy to their prenatal visit, and as soon as they finished their lunch they left the cafeteria. At the parking lot they casually met Kripke, who hadn't seen Amy since Sheldon's birthday party.

"Oh my God! You ag huge!" Barry Kripke shouted, he was shocked when he looked at a very pregnant Amy for the first time.

"Kripke, Amy is not huge. She's pregnant. We're having a baby!" Sheldon replied, looking angrily at his colleague.

"I see! How come you didn't tell me? You didn't lose youg time in Stockholm, didn't you?" Kripke stared at them with a mischievous look."You ag my hewo Coopeg. High five!"

A.N.: Thanks to Inwhatuniverse and Dina C for their reviews!