Penny widened her eyes so hard she had to (subtly) touch her eyes to make sure they were still in their sockets. "What?" She whispered frantically, but before Sheldon could answer, they were drawn back to conversation with the others.

During the entire dinner, Penny couldn't help thinking about Sheldon. He wants a baby! She imagined being clad in a maternity dress with a big tummy, asking Sheldon to buy her food in the middle of the night. He would be wrapped around her little finger-following her every command. He will dote on the baby when it comes-a girl; she's always wanted a girl-and he will probably name it after a science person or something. Like hell she'll let him.

Oh, but before a baby can be made, there must first be... sex. She giggled-apparently not as quietly as she thought.

"Did Penny just... giggle?" Howard asked. Penny's eyes widened. Of course they all heard her. "Ummm..."

Bernadette cocked her head to the side and looked at her with concern. "Alright. Howie, go clean up. Amy, come with me and Penny. You boys... Just find something to do." She took Penny and Amy back to the living room and sat on the couch. "What's going on, Penny?"

"N-nothing," she stammered. "Just... remembered something funny."

Amy stared at her. "Bestie, you're a good actress, but not a very good liar. What's up?"

Penny sighed. "Fine. So Bernadette's having a baby, right? Well, Sheldon told me before dinner that he wanted a baby." Bernadette and Amy squealed so loud that the boys looked at them. Penny gestured at them to look away before speaking. "Keep it down!"

"Penny, that is huge news!" Bernadette exclaimed.

Amy scoffed. "Well, duh? When I was his girlfriend, he couldn't even hold my hand. Now he's contemplating having a baby? Like... by having sex?"

"I don't know!" Penny replied. "Does that mean we're... permanent? Oh holy crap on a cracker..." She covered her face with her hands.

So that's why Sheldon came to me. He wants to have a family with her, Amy thought. Way to go, Sheldon!

Bernadette crossed her arms. "Oh no, Penny. You are not gonna chicken out of this relationship."

"But..." Penny muttered. "I just got out of a divorce! And I've never even held a baby before; how am I supposed to raise it? And Sheldon... He's... He's probably going to hate her if she doesn't live up to his expectations."

Amy smiled. "Don't worry. With your IQ and Sheldon's, the kid's going to have average intelligence." Bernadette glared at her. "Wrong thing to say, Amy."

Bernadette held Penny's hand. "Okay, look. When the baby comes, you'll learn to hold it and raise it along the way. Every first time mother is inexperienced, you know." Penny smiled a little. "Second, Sheldon's gonna love the baby. He's going to adore it and love it, probably much more than he loves the mother," Penny chuckled, and Bernadette and Amy chimed in. "Expectations be damned. He loves you, and he's going to love the family you're going to create."

Penny felt her heart swell for the two ladies who have been such good friends to her over the years. "Aww, now I feel inadequate. I'm the one who's supposed to tell you that. You're the pregnant one!"

"Don't worry about it." Bernadette smiled. "Just remember: when the wedding comes, I will be the maid of honor."

Amy piped up. "No, I will!"

Penny laughed. "Looks like I'm going to have two maid of honors on my wedding!"

Penny stopped in front of Sheldon's apartment, then cut off the engine. "I gotta go home to my apartment, sweetie. Rent is high in LA." She paused. "We gonna talk about the baby thing?"

Sheldon smiled. "What do you want to know, Penny? I have a working understanding of everything, including babies."

"Babies are human beings, Sheldon. Do you even know how to care for another human being aside from yourself?" Penny joked.

Sheldon twisted in his seat to look at her. "Well I care about you, Penny, so I believe I know how to care for another human being aside from myself."

Holy crap he's serious. "Huh. Cool." She replied.

He knew that something was not right. "Is something the matter, Penny?"

She sighed. He saw right through her. "It's just... I'm scared that I'll be a crappy mom, you know? And I'm scared that the baby's gonna be... like me." Sheldon remained silent, urging her to go on. "I'm scared that I'm going to screw up and you'll hate me for it. I'm scared that someday you'll realize that you shouldn't have been with me. I'm scared that one day you'll just... leave me and the baby and I don't know how the hell I'm going to get through that."

Sheldon nodded. "Okay. I'm going to answer all your concerns." Penny unbuckled her seat belt and twisted to look at him. "First of all, you won't be a 'crappy' mom. You'll be a good mom. You've always been a good person, why stop with our baby? Second of all, the baby will not be like you, because I'll help you raise him or her. But if he or she does become like you, then I will be proud of him or her because even though he or she has done many stupid things in her life that he or she regret, he or she still found a way to reach his or her dream and be happy."

Penny smiled and relaxed. She didn't know that she was so tense, waiting for what he had to say. "Third of all, if you do screw up, I love you too much to hate you. Fourth... I believe the answer is similar to my previous statement. Fifth... Sixth... Again, similar to the previous sentence."

"Oh." She fell silent. Sheldon smiled softly, and touched her chin to get her to look at him. "Stay with me, Penny. Your apartment's too far away, and I know you're tired and in need of REM sleep. Go home tomorrow."

Penny nodded. "Very well." He lightly kissed her on the lips. "Park the car, Penny. Let's go."

Sheldon tucked her into his bed after she took a shower. She was dressed in her underwear and one of Sheldon's shirts, and Sheldon tried so hard not to gape at her. He climbed into the bed next to her and pulled the blanket over them. "Good night, Penny."

"Good night, Sheldon." Penny drifted off to sleep and dreamed about babies.

AN: Sheldon proclaiming his love to Penny is just the cutest, sweetest thing ever. 3

TBBT's not mine! :-) Leave reviews, you guys! Thanks a lot :-)