Penny's phone buzzed on the table, and she picked it up and started tapping the screen.

As she read the message she had just received, she murmured a small 'Huh' sound, her fingers still tapping away. Leonard closed the fridge and placed the milk carton down as he leant over his wife's shoulder to observe.

"Who are you texting?"

"Amy" penny replied as Leonard began pouring the milk into his bowl of cereal, "she said 'is Leonard there? I want to come over and talk to you about something, it's important'. Weird right?"

"Seems pretty normal behaviour for someone who married Sheldon"

Penny rolled her eyes, "I'll tell her to come over now so we can find out what it is"

"But I'm here, and I'm Leonard" he answered with a slightly puzzled expression, before returning his attention to his cheerios.

"Oh don't worry sweetie, I noticed you" she retorted sarcastically. "Just go eat your breakfast in the bedroom while she's here"

penny stated as if the answer was obvious, before they heard the door of apartment 4B open.

Leonard quickly picked up his bowl and hurried into the bedroom, shutting the door just in time for Amy's arrival.

"Morning" penny smiled at her friend as she sat down at the counter next to her, then changed her mind and stood up. It didn't take much to tell she was clearly anxious about something.

"Penny can I tell you something that you cannot under any circumstances tell to ANYONE else unless I tell you otherwise?" Amy said seriously, shifting her feet nervously.

"Of course" penny replied, feeling slightly guilty that her husband was definitely listening in through the door, but she'd just have to trust him to keep his mouth shut, whatever it was.

Amy took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant"

Penny audibly gasped and ran to hug her best friend.

As they embraced, a crash and the sound of something breaking could be heard coming from the bedroom. Followed by Leonard emerging, calling out "you're pregnant?" and looking very shocked. Amy let go of penny and turned to face them both.

"Why is Leonard here?"

"Yeah Leonard why are you here?" Penny span around to her husband accusingly.

"Don't look at me, penny told me to hide!"

He threw his hands up as if he was being arrested and pointed at penny. Amy looked mad, but it faded away and she slumped down on a stool.

"Actually Leonard might be useful. You guys have both known Sheldon for way longer than I have, so I need help with how to tell him"

Penny and Leonard exchanged glances, given as Sheldon was a man who saw preparation and order as a necessity, a surprise baby probably wasn't going to be easy on him. But he did love Amy, and he'd changed a lot in the past 12 years. Maybe they should give him a bit of credit, penny thought.

"On the bright side, you said you wanted our babies to be besties, and now they can be!" Penny pointed out, patting her 7 months pregnant baby bump.

"I guess" Amy started to smile a little.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell anyone else? Bernadette and Howard have kids and Raj has a dog that he treats like one, so they can probably give you some advice"

"Not just yet. I'm still trying to get round the idea myself honestly."

"Raj and Howard'll be disappointed our theory was wrong though." Leonard chimed in, earning confused looks from both girls.

"What theory?" Amy asked.

"That Sheldon would reproduce through mitosis triggered by eating too much Thai food."

"Look, we're happy to help you do this, I mean even for me, telling Leonard I was pregnant was scary. And he really wanted kids!"

His wife changed the subject, dismissing whatever strange conversation was emerging and returning to the matter at hand.

"Well it's not that Sheldon doesn't want children. In fact, he told me he wanted 15, so you'd think one would be a good start ."

"Yeah after the first trimester with that one you probably won't feel like repeating that 14 times." She laughed and began walking away "Just going to the bathroom, baby's been practising karate on me all morning" she continued to the bathroom.

"Do you think you can talk to Sheldon, and try warm him up to the idea of having a baby?" Amy turned to Leonard, who nodded.

"I mean this is Sheldon we're talking about here, but I'll try my best".

The pair sat in awkward silence, even though they both shared one very high maintainable person in common, they were never really able to find anything to talk about. So the only thing to do was sit there and silently pray penny would be quick in the bathroom. But considering she was 7 months pregnant that wasn't likely.

"Congratulations by the way" Leonard suddenly remembered to say.

"Thanks" Amy replied, not aiding the awkwardness. Finally penny came back, and both people breathed a sigh of relief.

"What did I miss? Any juicy gossip?" She joked, to the blank faces of Amy and Leonard.

"Wow, tough crowd." She muttered, taking a sip of her decaf coffee. Leonard said there was no difference but she could definitely taste the lack of caffeine. So far, being pregnant sucked.

Raj sat down with his tray at the familiar table in the cafeteria, on the usual uncomfortable plastic chair, whilst eating the usual bland food, with a side of peas he forced himself to eat no matter how disgusting and overcooked they were.

"Why am I the only one whose life hasn't changed!" He exclaimed dramatically, catching the attention of his friends who until that moment were seemingly zoned out, eating in silence.

"What do you mean?" Howard asked, looking at Raj and away from his plate.

"In the past 12 years, you got married and had 2 kids AND went to space, Leonard married a woman who is way out of his league, no offence Leonard" as he added this last part he turned to him apologetically. Leonard just shrugged, and said"He's right" before continuing to eat.

"And even Sheldon; Sheldon got married and won a Nobel prize with his wife. How did Sheldon cooper get married before me? In what universe is that even POSSIBLE?"

"Well, clearly this one. And probably many others" Sheldon stated.

"I mean, you're gonna find someone eventually." Howard pointed out, gesturing a fork at his friend.

"But I want a girlfriend nowwww" Raj moaned like a fussy toddler, drumming his fists on the table in annoyance.

In an attempt to help, Howard said "Have you tried social media? Online girlfriends are all the rage right now".

"I mean, I have an instagram account.. but it's for cinnamon, she just reached 500 followers" he grinned, if he couldn't be successful at least his dog could.

"Why don't you make one for yourself and start posting, penny has one and she gets tons of DMs from guys." Leonard added.

"Do you get tons of DMs from girls?"

"Once I got one from this online store asking me if I wanted free stuff.. it was a scam, but the lady said her name was Linda. And she was definitely coming on to me."
The guys looked at him skeptically.

"She called me cutie!"

"I guess I can try it" said Raj as he decidedly picked up his phone.

"And who knows, maybe you'll find your Linda" Howard joked.

They continued their meals quietly, before Leonard remembered the task Amy had given him earlier.

"Oh yeah Howard, didn't you say you had some leftover baby stuff from Hallie and Michael for me and Penny?" Smooth, he thought to himself. Now he had to segue into asking Sheldon if he wanted kids right now. Not exactly light lunch conversation.

"Right, yeah. Michael's still using some of it but there's a car seat and some other stuff in the garage so I'll look later."

"Great. Thanks" This was harder than he thought, but he told Amy he would.

"Hey Sheldon, when are you planning to knock Amy up and join our gang?" Howard asked bluntly, to Leonard's surprise, but it was helpful.

"Well, we haven't even been married for 2 years yet so certainly no children in the near future" was the man's reply, straightforward as always.

"Yeah but like, do you want kids?" Leonard slipped in the question as nonchalantly as he could but he was intrigued to hear the response.

"I'm not opposed to the idea. Given me and Amy's intelligence our offspring would possess great potential to be one of the greatest geniuses of our time. But it would mean engaging in coitus frequently so, it has its pros and cons." After his answer he returned to his food. Well that could have gone worse, thought Leonard. But before he could continue on the subject Raj intervened.

"Hey, single lonely guy here. All this family talk is bumming me out"

Howard said "Right. Sorry". Which ended the topic.

Raj then picked up his phone and took a picture of his dish, which he had arranged for a photo.

"What are you doing there, Raj?" Howard questioned.

"I'm posting about how bad the food is here. I'm captioning it "Caltech, more like Cal-BLECH, with a thumbs down emoji"

"That'll reel the ladies in" Leonard commented.

"It is humorous wordplay" Sheldon added, before chuckling briefly in his usual manner.

"You know, if this goes viral and I get internet famous, you guys will so not be invited to all the pool parties I'll be throwing in my mega mansion." He pouted and walked away, carrying his tray. When he'd left, Leonard spoke to the other guys.

"Poor guy, I kind of feel bad. I mean, he's right. We all got married and kind of left him."

"It's not our fault he's undesirable" Sheldon replied matter-of-factly.

"Sheldon, come on" Leonard reprimanded, albeit not very sternly. He would have to get better at that when he became a father. As he saw other people leaving the cafeteria, he checked the time. His lunch break was over, which meant he got to continue melting stuff with his new laser.

"My job is so fun" he muttered to himself, smiling as he got up and headed to his lab. The leftover men at the table gave him a strange look, missing out on the context which resulted in confusion.

As soon as she heard the rattle of keys in the door across the hall, Amy opened hers and was able to catch Leonard just as he entered the apartment.

"Hey Leonard, how did it go today with Sheldon?" She asked nervously. For some reason she was still opening a life changing surprise might ellicit a positive response in her husband, but she knew better. Obviously it would take him a while to come round to the idea but maybe once he did he'd see it as a good thing?

Leonard replied "Well, Raj was having a mid life crisis so I didn't have much opportunity but I did ask him if he wanted kids. Well, it wasn't me actually. It was Howard, but-"

"Leonard what did he say?" She interrupted impatiently, usually she didn't mind his long responses but right now she just had to know. Leonard stared at her, then finally spoke

"He said not right now but he isn't opposed to the idea in the future"

"Well, that's not too bad". Amy was quite relieved, since knowing her husband that could have been a lot worse of an answer.

"So, when are you gonna tell him?"

"I guess tonight, over a meal of spaghetti with little hotdogs cut up in it and strawberry quik."

"Smart, get him in a good mood."

"Yeah, hopefully he won't take it to badly, I know it's big news so-"

"What's big news?"

Before Amy could finish her sentence, she spun round and saw Sheldon standing at the top of the stairs, eyeing the pair of them suspiciously. She looked at Leonard for help.
"Oh, uh.. uh it's just, biology news. Some new.. cell was just discovered" from the look on his face she could tell even he knew that was never going to work on Sheldon.

"Oh I don't believe that. You're not telling me something and I don't like that" he frowned. Amy gave Leonard a glance to say 'thanks for trying' then walked into their apartment, followed by Sheldon.

She sat down on the couch, indicating for him to join her, which he did.

"Look, I know you're not going to be happy about this, but I just need you to try and come to terms with it and see the good in it, ok?"
He paused before answering, considering his response.

"Alright"

"I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby"

The silence in the apartment could even be heard across the hall, where Leonard and penny pressing their ears against the door.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Leonard whispered, straining to hear.

"Yeah. Nothing" his wife replied. "Now shush"

But there was nothing else, except the door opening and shutting and someone going down the stairs. As fast as he could, Leonard chased after Sheldon.
"Hey, Sheldon, wait. Come back" he called as he slid his hand along the railing in an attempt to catch up.

On the next floor his friend stopped, and Leonard faced him.

"I'm sorry Leonard, please tell Amy I'll be back but I just need to think"

Leonard nodded in agreement, and stood still as Sheldon left. He felt bad for Amy already, but he understood the toll it would take on Sheldon to have such a big change in his life, let alone one that wasn't expected. He was sure the outcome wasn't a surprise to Amy either.

Penny wasn't at the door anymore, but he could hear talking coming from inside Sheldon and Amy's apartment so he went back inside alone. When he picked up his phone from the couch, he had a text from raj on their group chat, still unnamed because Sheldon insisted on calling it "cooper and co.", which obviously everyone else rejected, and they couldn't think of another name that everyone (meaning Sheldon) would accept.

It read "guys SOS! My dms are empty" with a crying emoji on the end. Both Howard and Sheldon hadn't responded, so Leonard gave in and said "okay, come over I'll help".

"Can Bernadette come too?" Responded raj

"Why would Bernadette come?"

"I need a girls advice too and she's the only one who would help"

"Sure then"

Bernadette and raj. Not the pair he would usually hang out with but his friends all the same. He couldn't help but wonder what everyone else was doing though. Little did raj know, but his problem was the least significant right now.

With his helpers gathered in the apartment, Raj was prepared to start brainstorming ideas.

"So-"

"Hey Bernadette, how comes Howard's not with you?"

"Oh, Sheldon came over and said he had to speak to him. It was really weird actually"

"Ah. I think I know what that's about.."

Raj and Bernadette looked at him, expecting an explanation, which luckily he picked up on.

"I don't know if she wants me to tell you this but, Amy's pregnant and-"

"Amy's pregnant? And she didn't tell me? But she told you?" Shouted Bernadette, before opening the door and bolting across the hallway.

Bernadette huffed as she knocked on the door of the apartment. She was so hurt that Amy hadn't told her. Of course she always knew her and Penny were better friends and a lot of the time she felt like the odd one out, but how did Leonard know and not her? The door opened to show the two women both tearful. Reading the room, Bernadette chose to move past the anger and try and help solve the problem.

"What going on here?" She spoke softly and sat down on the couch next to Amy.

"You know too now?"

"Yeah, Leonard told me. How are you doing?"

"As good as I can be" Amy sniffed, Bernadette put an arm around her comfortingly.

"Did Sheldon say anything to Leonard?" Chipped in Penny, offering Bernadette a glass of wine

"Nobody else can drink it" she commented sarcastically, warranting a small forced smile from Amy.

"No, I came over here as soon as I found out. I'm guessing Sheldon didn't react well then?"

"You guessed right" penny replied before heading to the door.

"I'm going to get Leonard, I'll be back"

"Well, that's one down" commented Raj, disappointed that nobody wanted to help him in his time of need.

"Looks like it's just you and me Leon-"

Then for what must have been the 10th time that day, someone barged into the apartment again. It was Penny, beckoning Leonard over. He was hesitant to leave, but finally got up.

"Sorry buddy" he muttered as he left.

Now Raj was just alone in an apartment that wasn't even his. How pathetic was he? It was 10pm, and the only person missing him was his dog. Of course it had only been a day, but he'd posted 42 times and still only gained 6 followers! And no gorgeous women had dmed him. He opened the app again, to surprisingly a comment. On a photo of him in his lab (that he'd made Howard take) from a Paige Swanson, saying "your research looks very interesting!". She was definitely flirting with him, otherwise why would she have added the exclamation mark? He clicked on her profile, which didn't have any photos, and decided to shoot his shot. What did he have to lose right?

After he'd said "Hi, are you an astrophysicist too?" He looked around the empty room and made the smart decision to go back home to Cinnamon. But as he crept out he could hear talking on the other side of the door, so he silently stepped closer.

It sounded like Leonard was explaining how he caught up to Sheldon but he left, and everyone was giving Amy advice. Yet nobody could spare a minute to help him get a girl! Then on cue, his phone beeped and he picked it up excitedly, but dropped it, loudly. The apartment went quiet and someone came over.

"Raj, if you're there.. GO AWAY, WE'RE HAVING A PRIVATE CONVERSATION!" Yelled Bernadette through the door.

"But I messaged a girl and she actually replied, don't you want to see what she said?"

"NO."

"..ok then" he answered before walking off. Howard still hadn't replied to his spam texts, but maybe his phone was just dead. The best idea was probably to go there and hope he'd be able to help, seeing as he was too scared to open the message on his own.

Halley and Michael were settling down to sleep in their cribs, and Howard was watching proudly, not that they were doing anything particularly impressive. He was just grateful that his life had turned out the way it did, especially after Raj's outburst earlier. After giving it another minute, he was satisfied with the silence of the room and crept out, shutting the door quietly behind him. He kept glancing back as he snuck down the stairs but fortunately nobody woke up. As he sat down on the couch and picked up the remote, someone knocked on the door. Rhythmically. Repeating his name 3 times in a row.

"Sheldon, it's late what are you doing here?" Were the first words he complained as he opened the door; attracting the attention of his wife who was in the other room.

"I need to talk to Howard about something, it's very urgent" there was desperation in his voice and frantic eyes, searching the room he was yet to be allowed into.

He looked from Bernadette to Sheldon, wondering what to do. He didn't really want to talk to Sheldon, it was too late to be bothered with that, but he was his friend and he couldn't help but be concerned. Fortunately, Bernadette chose for him.

"It's fine Sheldon, I'm going out anyway." She waved goodbye and left, squeezing past Sheldon who was in the doorway.

"Come in."

They both sat down. This was an unusual occasion. Sheldon never came to him for advice, so even though he would never admit it, Howard was happy he was there.

"It appears i am going to become a father. And I need some advice. Is that alright?"

Howard was surprised, but a broad smile spread across his face. "Oh, wow Sheldon that's great, but how come you came to me instead of Leonard?"

"Well, you and I both had our fathers missing for a lot of our lives so our fears are likely similar, and you're a wonderful parent to both your children. Plus, Leonard already knew and didn't tell me so I'm quite angry at him right now"

Even if the last line put a bit of a damper on the message, Howard still couldn't help but keep his happy expression. Had it been a different situation maybe he would have made a comment about how Sheldon needed answers from an him of all people, but that didn't seem fitting.

Sheldon continued to explain what had happened earlier that night, and Howard listened patiently and thoughtfully.

"Well, look. When Bernie told me she was pregnant, I was happy but I was so scared. I didn't have anyone to turn to and it was this big, scary thing I had to face alone. But, then I realised I wasn't. I talked it through with her and I realised she felt the same, so we were doing it together. I love Bernadette, and you love Amy, right?"

"More than anyone"

"Ok then. You're going to be fine."

"But what if I'm not a good dad. I understand that I'm pretty a loveable person, but what if my child doesn't agree?"

"That's what I thought too. And it's hard at first, hell, it's ALWAYS hard, but at the end of the day it's all for this little person who becomes the centre of your world."
The pair of them sat and reflected on the couch for a moment, bonding through the quiet.

"Thank you Howard. That's very sound advice coming from an engineer"

"You're welcome" he replied, brushing over the insult.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I don't think I can face Amy after I walked out on her like that"

"Yeah sure, the guest room's all made up when you're ready"

They continued to talk, Howard told him everything he wanted to know. And Sheldon was inquisitive about his children, which was weird considering he'd never showed interest in them before. He even offered to babysit so he could practise. Howard couldn't help that think, no matter how weird or arrogant Sheldon could be, it was clear he was going to try and be the best dad he could be.

Raj checked the time on his phone. 10:49pm, Howard would still be awake right? As he approached the house he noticed the lights were on in the living room, and there was someone else's car parked in the drive. It looked like Amy's car, but that couldn't be right. Then he remembered that Bernadette had said Sheldon was round. And given the circumstances he could infer his presence wouldn't be appreciated. In his best attempt to not look like a stalker, Raj peered through the window, where he could see Sheldon and Howard having what looked like a deep conversation.

"Probably not a good time" he murmured, before getting back in his car and driving back to his apartment.

With cinnamon in the armchair next to him, Raj prepared his phone, laying it down on the coffee table so they could both see.

"Ok cinnamon, this is the moment of truth. Are you ready?"

All his dog did was look at him with a blank expression, and lick her nose.

"I'll count that as a yes.

He opened the app. There on the screen, below his text, was the dreaded reply.

"Yeah. I'm studying dark matter. But what you're working on is impressive. Do you think you would be up to discuss it some time?"

"Oh my GOD, cinnamon she asked me out! Ok, be cool, be cool."

After erasing around 10 different variations of his response, he finally chose "of course. Maybe over coffee, I'm free most of next week"

Then the 3 nerve wracking dots appeared.

"Sounds good, I'll check my schedule"

It was getting increasingly hard to not scream. Even though he'd never seen her in real life, Raj was already in love with the mysterious Paige Swanson. And she asked him out! It was a shame everyone else in his life was too preoccupied to celebrate with him, so he picked up cinnamon and danced around the room with her.
"Are you excited to meet your new mommy? Yes you are, yes you are" he cooed.

"Oh great, not this again" groaned Professor Proton, appearing beside Sheldon as he slept.

"Professor proton, what are you doing here?"

"Honestly, I-I don't even care. What do you need me to explain to you Sheldon?"

"Well, I assume you're visiting me because I've just found out Amy's pregnant and I'm not sure what to do"

"You're starting a family with your wife who you love and won a Nobel prize with? What a dilemma."

"I don't appreciate that sarcasm. It was very unexpected and quite frankly I'm scared" he confessed, sitting up straight in his bed.

"If I were you I'd be telling that to Amy instead of me."

Considering this, Sheldon replied "See, that's what Wolowitz said too, maybe you're right."

"Who cares if I'm right. I'm your unconscious mind, you already know what you need to do"

"Huh. I guess I have the answer to my own problem after all"

"Yeah whatever. Can I please leave now?"

It was 4am, and Sheldon was driving to his apartment. He left a neatly written note pinned to his bedroom door, saying he had gone to see Amy but thanks for helping him. And that was true, Howard really had been useful. As he drove past Walmart, he noted the bright blue sign that partly blinded him in the darkness and had an idea.

It was the middle of the night, but Amy was restless. Not only was she nauseous from morning sickness, but she was worried about Sheldon. Bernadette had called Howard who said he was staying there, but that didn't put her at ease. Bernadette and penny had offered to accompany her, but truthfully she only wanted to be with Sheldon. But he wasn't there. Then suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Amy?"

Another knock.

"Amy."

Another.

"Amy.."

Sniffing, she walked to the door and opened it.

"Sheldon?" She spoke groggily, her eyes were puffy from crying and her throat was dry.

Before either of them could said anything else he embraced her with a kiss, and suddenly everything felt a little better. When they broke apart, he grabbed her hand and spoke.

"Amy, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left like that, it wasn't fair. I was just scared and I didn't want you to see me like that."

"Sheldon, I'm scared too. But we have to be in this together, ok? You can't just run away, I really needed you."

"I know, I talked to Wolowitz and it helped. I also bought this"

Out of his satchel he presented a bag, and pulled out a tiny baby onesie, that said 'little genius' in black letters on the front. Amy smiled broadly as she saw it.

"Oh, Sheldon that's so sweet"

"It's not entirely accurate seeing as the size says 0-3 months and it's almost impossible to be able to tell if our child will be a genius from that age, although it is likely"
She laughed and kissed him again, pulling him back into the apartment and shutting the door.

The next day, everyone was gathered in Leonard and Penny's apartment. After the events of the previous night, everyone was looking at each other, wondering if anyone was going to mention the elephant in the room. Amy picked up on this.

"Now, I know that everyone already knows but we'd like to officially announce some news" she glanced up and Sheldon and put her hand in his.

"We're going to have a baby" he added. Everyone yelled congratulations, and tried to act surprised.

"Do you have any name ideas for baby Cooper?" Asked Leonard grinning, happy for his friend.

"Not yet-" started Amy

"Oh yes." Answered Sheldon. She frowned.

"What names?" Clearly she didn't think she'd agree with any of them.

"Well, if it's a girl.. Marie Constance Cooper, after Marie Curie, the award winning scientist and my meemaw.

"I actually like that." Amy answered after thinking it over.

"Yeah it's cute!" Piped up Bernadette.

"And if it's a boy.. Anasterian Nimoy Hawking Feynman Cooper"

"Veto" she replied instantly, not giving it a second thought.

"Oh come on, you didn't even think about it!"

"Ok let me think. Hmm.." she paused for a mere few seconds "vetoed"

"Awh." Sheldon pouted, crossing his arms.

"What about you guys, do you have any names picked out?" Howard turned to Leonard and penny, the latter who shrugged.

"Not me"

"Me neither" Leonard said, shrugging also.

"Does that mean that you have two perfect names you don't want them to steal?" Penny whispered to him knowingly.

"Amy's already eyeing up Elliott, I need to protect the rest!"

Feeling left out in the conversation, Raj sighed, loudly and dramatically.

"What is it Raj?" Asked Howard, and everyone turned their attention to him.

"I'm just thinking about what I'm going to wear to MY DATE NEXT WEEK"

At this, everybody cheered.

"Seriously? Who is she?" Interrogated penny.

"Yeah where'd you meet her?" Added Leonard

"Her names Paige, she's an astrophysicist like me. She works at MIT but she's doing some research at Caltech for a few months."

Leonard thought about this information. "That's weird, you'd think we'd have seen her around"

"I think she's only just arrived, she said she starts next week and she was scoping out the area on Instagram when she came across me"

"Oh cool, maybe you'll get to work with her then."

"Yeah, hopefully."

"Although it's probably better you minimise your time with her so she can tolerate you for as long as possible" Howard joked, to Raj's annoyance.

"Well when she turns out to be gorgeous and sexy and still like me I'll show you"

Quizzically, Amy said "Wait, you don't even know what this woman looks like?"

"No but, it doesn't matter. I'm not Shallow Hal. Well, not at the start of the movie at least. Maybe at the end.. look what I'm trying to say is looks don't matter to me!"

"Cuz you're just that desperate huh?" Leonard laughed at the statement his friend just made.

"No.. but, yes"

When all their friends had left, Sheldon opened his laptop and began some research he needed to do. Amy began rifling through a box that he couldn't identify the contents of.

"What are you doing?"

Without replying, she brought over a handful of old tapes and placed them on the floor next to the tv. Then, she plugged in their old tape machine and slid one in.

"Look, I know you lost your dad young and that means you have doubts about how to be one yourself, but I remembered your mom gave me these old tapes from when you were a baby, watch"

They sat together on the couch, and Sheldon folded down his laptop. On the screen, was his dad, looking young and less fat than he remembered him as, smiling as he fed his son. She then skipped it to a different part, where he was tucking him into bed, smiling softly as he left the room. Sheldon didn't remember any of this, and even when it got to bits he did remember, seeing them in his brain didn't compare to seeing them on the screen.

"See, you and your dad were so different, but he still loved you anyway. You may not remember him being the best but he tried."

He smiled at the image of his father.

"Thank you Amy. And I don't think I mentioned it, but I am happy to become a father"

"Good, I'm glad. I'm happy too" she leaned onto his shoulder and closed her eyes. Never in a million years would Sheldon have imagined his life would be like this one day. He always wrote off love, focused solely on his career. And yet here he was, having a baby with the woman he loved, and also the one whom he shared a Nobel prize win with. He was happy, very happy.