Sheldon noted his roommate turned left leaving CalTech, rather than right in the direction of their apartment, and immediately questioned it, "Where are you going? It's Thai food night, not drive around Pasadena like a lunatic night."
"Bernadette and the baby came home from the hospital on Saturday and they invited everyone over for dinner and to see the baby," he told the man in the passenger seat.
"But we sat at the hospital all night and saw her there. I was right. This baby was only going to ruin our lives."
Glancing across the car, Leonard shared what he thought was new information with Sheldon, despite him knowing this for some time, "Amy will be there and she hasn't seen Halley yet. Penny picked her up from the airport this afternoon." Sheldon immediately averted his gaze out the passenger window upon mention of his girlfriend. "If her being there makes you uncomfortable, I can drop you off at home, but I'm going."
"Why does everyone make a big deal out of it whenever Amy is in town?" snapped Sheldon. "You were the same way when she was here for Bernadette's baby shower and when she was here in May. We've said multiple times that we're friends. We've proven that we can co-exist. Did you know we had dinner a few times when I was in Texas for the summer?" Sheldon was growing agitated with Leonard. "It's two hours. Amy and I will be fine, just as we have been several times over the past year and a half."
Leonard didn't say another word until he parked his car in Wolowitz's driveway. Sheldon was opening the door when Leonard stopped him, "Hey, I want to apologize if I upset you with the Amy talk. I won't bring it up again."
"Thank you."
The group spent dinner oohing and aahing over baby Halley. Sheldon returned to the living room, pausing behind Amy to look at the baby in her arms, "I don't like babies, but she's not so bad when she's not screaming."
Amy looked over her shoulder, noting the small smile on Sheldon's face, "Do you want to hold her? You haven't had a chance yet."
"That's okay. She looks comfortable with you, no need to upset her," Sheldon looked away from his girlfriend as he sat at the far end of the couch.
"It's okay, Sheldon. She just ate. She's gonna be out for a while, at least until she needs her diaper changed," chimed in Bernadette.
Amy stood from her seat while still cradling Halley in her arms, and crossed the room to where Sheldon sitting. She leaned down, holding Halley out for Sheldon to take. The pair locked eyes as Amy gently transitioned Halley into his arms. Amy stood over Sheldon for a minute, taking in the sight before her, before she said, "See, she loves her Uncle Sheldon."
"Okay," Penny announced, interrupting the moment between the secret couple. "We're gonna go have some girl talk in the kitchen. Howard's on baby duty the rest of the night."
"How am I supposed to play video games with a baby?" Howard called after the woman exiting the living room when Sheldon moved to pass Halley to her father.
Bernadette paused in the doorway, turning back to comment, "I carried her for nine months. You can figure out how to play video games while holding her."
Penny slipped into apartment 4A long after the lights were turned out and Leonard and Sheldon had gone to bed. She quietly made her way to the bedroom at the end of the hallway, finding the lamp on the nightstand illuminating the room and Leonard sitting up in bed with a comic book. "Hi," he greeted her, dropping the book in his lap. "You and Amy left before we did. Did the two of you have a good evening?"
"It's always good when she's back. Bernie still doesn't want to drink because she's breastfeeding, so we decided to let her have an early night while Howard was taking care of Halley. She's had a long week and I could tell she needed it. Amy and I came back here and have been hanging out across the hall."
Leonard tracked his wife as she moved around the bedroom getting ready for bed, "I'm glad she's back for a few weeks this time. I know she and I have never been very close, but I worry about her being alone in Texas."
"I do, too. But she's not as alone as she's been making us all think." Leonard cocked his head, silently questioning Penny's accusation. "She's seeing someone and she's made comments that makes me think that it's more serious than she's said."
"Good for her, but don't pester her about it. There's a reason she hasn't shared that with you."
Penny crawled into bed next to Leonard, rolling on her side to face him to whisper, "Did you notice the look she and Sheldon shared when he was holding Halley? I haven't seen him look at someone like that since before they broke up. What if Sheldon is Amy's secret boyfriend? Could you imagine? Everything would be right in our group again."
"You're overthinking things. Sheldon is not Amy's secret boyfriend. You know Amy can still get him to do things no one else will ever be able to do. Think about when he was refusing to teach that class this summer. Amy is the girl Sheldon will spend the rest of his life pining for. He will never not love her, but they're better suited as friends."
"I'm telling you," Penny snuggled into Leonard's embrace after he turned off the light next to the bed, "And I've told Amy and Bernadette, the two of them aren't over."
Groaning, Leonard mumbled, "Stop shipping your best friend with my best friend."