Monday, Sept 26, 2022- 37 weeks

"You don't have plans with the girls this evening, do you?" Sheldon inquires during dinner. I shake my head, but before I can ask why he's asking, he continues with a shocking request, "I would like to use the car for the evening if you don't need it."

This is something I never thought I'd hear Sheldon ask. Nodding to confirm his use of the car this evening, I'm curious, "Are you meeting up with the guys? It's not new comic book night. Or is there something going on at the train store?"

He avoids my questions, raising my suspicions of what he's up to tonight. "I should only be gone about an hour. I'll clean up dinner first. Do you need anything while I'm out? I can stop at the store before coming home."

"I don't think I need anything. Can I come with you?" I've been on maternity leave for just over a week and I'm going stir-crazy. Everything is ready for our son; we're just waiting for him to decide to join us. There are only so many times I can repack my birthing bag and reorganize the small stash of diapers and clean pajamas we're keeping in our room for right after he's born and is sleeping in our room. Every bottle and pacifier has been washed and sanitized multiple times. The freezer is well stocked with meals that will only need to be heated for the days neither Sheldon nor I feel like cooking or even ordering food.

"Uh," I sense Sheldon doesn't want me to join him for whatever errand he is about to embark on. "It's okay. You go. I'll be here when you get home."

Sheldon has rinsed the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher as I've been interrogating him about his plans. "I promise I won't be gone long." He quickly kisses my cheek before reaching for the keys hanging on the hook by the door. "Call me if you need me to come home."

Alone with our son and my thoughts, I relax on the couch, running my hand over my stomach. This is one of those times I'd have wandered across the hall if we still lived in the apartment to see what Penny was up to and read Ava her bedtime story. "We've only got about two weeks until you're here. I can't wait to meet you," I feel a small movement under my fingers. He definitely doesn't have as much room as he did even a few weeks ago. "Your daddy is the greatest guy I know. I hope you grow up to be just like him." I'm interrupted from my thoughts by the sound of the back door opening. "Guess your daddy is home," I whisper, giving my belly one more rub.

I'm struggling to get up to meet Sheldon when he emerges from the dining room with a small bag in his hand. "Don't get up," I'm instructed before the bag is held out toward me, "This is for you."

"Jewelry?" I recognize the logo on the side of the bag. Reaching inside, I extract a small box. The last time I was given a bag like this was when Sheldon gave me my tiara. I open the box to reveal a ring.

I'm examining it as Sheldon explains, "It's pink tourmaline. That's the birthstone for October. I wanted to get you something so you can always have him with you, even when he's not with you."

This is one of the sweetest things Sheldon has ever done for me. "It's beautiful. Thank you. Are you sure you want to give this to me now? The doctor said he wouldn't be surprised if I went into labor sooner rather than later. What if he's born before it's October?"

"I'll get the stone swapped to a sapphire if he's born in the next four days. New stones can also be added for our future children, so you'll be able to have all of them with you." Sheldon has now sat next to me on the couch. He takes the ring in his hand before reaching for mine to assist with putting the ring on. When it gets stuck at my second knuckle, he frowns, "It's the same size as your wedding rings. It should fit. I can take it back to the jeweler to have it resized tomorrow."

"It's okay. My hands are puffy from being pregnant. I'll wait until after he's born to try it again. If it's still too small after a few weeks, we can get it resized." I stare at the ring, resting in the middle of my finger, Sheldon's words replaying through my head. "You want to have more kids?"

"You don't?"

We haven't discussed this in depth since I told him I'm pregnant. "You've mentioned you don't want our son to be an only child I thought we would at least try again." Of course, I would love to have more children, but I'm not getting any younger and it was not easy for us to get to this point.

"I don't know anymore, Sheldon. You know how much I want to be a mother, but you also saw how difficult it was for us to get pregnant. We did two egg retrievals and I was miserable from all of the shots. I can't imagine feeling like that while also chasing after a toddler every day."

"We still have two embryos. I suppose we could donate them for research or something," Sheldon sounds disappointed.

I didn't mean to upset him. I reach for his hand before resting my head against his shoulder. "I would love to have a houseful of kids if it's meant to be, but I don't want to put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak. Can we simply enjoy time with our son without focusing on having another baby right away?"

Sheldon moves our joined hands to the top of my stomach. "Okay," he quickly agrees. "Do you think the doctor is right that he'll be born before your due date?"

"I don't know. I'd love for him to come on his due date, and as much as I've enjoyed getting to feel him grow inside me, I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore and to finally meet him."

Just a few chapters left. I'm tweaking the outline for my next story- I'm thinking I'll be able to start writing it this weekend. With the notification emails still not working, I'm seriously considering taking that story to another site. I've never posted anything anywhere else, but I go by the same username on other sites as well. I'll try to decide by the time I post the last chapter so anyone who's reading this can find my next story.