Sheldon had barely stepped into a hallway when a nurse was jogging up to him.

" , I'm glad I caught you. Your wife is having the baby now. Penny is asking for you. "

"You okay there buddy?" Leonard asked while clapping him on the shoulder.

Sheldon stood up straight. His grogginess was suddenly gone. It took a moment but it all came back. It wasn't a dream per se but him recalling when he first got together with Penny. It has been an amazing three years since that fateful night of Penny's appendicitis attack.

It only took about a month after coming home from Monterey before she officially switched apartments with Leonard. Ever since the hospital, Penny and Sheldon shared the same room and since Monterey, they shared the same bed every night. At first she would steal one of Sheldon's shirts to sleep in. Every Saturday night more of her clothes would appear in Sheldon's basket. She really only went back to her place to change her clothes for the day or outfits for work.

The following year. Sheldon had his big breakthrough and was getting his Nobel prize for physics. They immediately planned for and had a December wedding in Monterey. Their honeymoon was held in Switzerland during the Nobel Prize Ceremony. Instead of coming back right away, they used part of the prize money to travel for six months. President Siebert requested that Sheldon gave one lecture a month while he was gone but otherwise was free to do as he pleased. A number of the lectures were in other counties and Penny was all the more excited to visit them.

Then last lecture was held in Germany. While Paris was a dream and Barcelona was wonderful, the German country side won Penny over. Sheldon even managed to find a castle for them stay at for their last night.

They had an entire wing for themselves with explicit instructions not to be disturbed unless a dire emergency arose. Sheldon made a delicious dinner that they ate on the terrace over looking the valley below. It was hard for Penny to eat dinner. The view was one of the most picturesque that she had ever seen and she felt like her life was a fairytale.

Following dinner, that had decided to explore the wing they were in. In the conservatory on the upper level, Penny lit the fireplace while Sheldon started playing a piano. When she was done, she joined him by sitting on top. He played a few "whimsical" scores followed by a few classical pieces. He played what Penny would later describe as a deeply haunted romantic song. When he was finished, she slid off the piano and grabbed Sheldon's hand while leading him over to the fur blanket by the fireplace.

It was not their first time as they have joined themselves together numerous times since their wedding night. But tonight, among the dancing flames of the fire, they explored each other as though they were finding one another for the first time. The years of denied and repressed passion between them burned intensely. They each gave and freely took. As the fire slowly died down, they simply grabbed each other with more feelings. When all was said and done, they fell asleep nestled together with the fur blanket over them. For that moment, nothing else mattered.

The morning sickness started a few weeks after getting home. This naturally prompted Sheldon to investigate the possibility of getting the elevator fixed. Unfortunately the "Leonard" incident destroyed things beyond an economically means of getting it repaired. It broke their hearts but they both knew that living on the forth floor would create tremendous difficulties later on. They could make it work, but figured perhaps it was time to start a new chapter in their lives.

A few months before Penny was due, they found a cute bungalow type place near Caltech. They packed their immediate personal belongings and left the rest to a moving company that took Sheldon two weeks to fully vet the most qualified company. Penny took Sheldon to the train store during the actual move to take his mind off things. Coincidence or not, Leonard also moved out as well to a condo not far from them. While Sheldon and Penny were out traveling, he met a grad student. Things were getting serious with them. Without Sheldon in the building, he really had no reason to stay at Los Robles. Him and the grad student had decided to move in together.

"Buddy, did you hear that! Your about to be a dad. Don't keep Penny waiting any longer." Leonard coaxed Sheldon down the hall to follow the nurse. Around the corner, Raj appeared along with Howard and Bernadette.

Bernadette was in tears "Sheldon, I'm so happy for you two!"

The nurse allowed Sheldon to enter the room while sending everyone to the nearby waiting room.

Penny had a frown on her face that quickly changed when she saw Sheldon come in.

"Dear, I'm glad the nurse found you. You were so tired last night I thought I let you sleep as long as you could. Everyone tells me the first baby always take forever. And then I got an infection over night and now the baby wants to come and..."

"Penny, Penny, Penny..."

When she gets nervous, Penny starts to babble. Sheldon caught her on it. Softly calling her name three times is usually enough to get her to stop her run-on. She smiled fondly back at Sheldon.

"What, What, What?"

"There, there, Sheldon is here."

Penny started to laugh but quickly stopped when a contraction hit. It wasn't long but soon a little Mini Cooper was brought in to the world.

Epilogue:

Penny had decided to be a stay-at-home mom and balance that with becoming a writer. Several of her stories were turned into screen plays. She never became a famous actress but felt she gained something far greater than she ever hoped to achieve.

Sheldon semi-retired. Leonard kept him on board as a guest lecturer and part-time Caltech ambassador.

"Dear, everyone is going to be here soon. Your whiteboards can wait." Penny took the whiteboard marker out of Sheldon's hands and took him to the front room.

Sheldon was having his 55th birthday party. Everyone one has come over and brought their families with them. After cake and ice cream, he opened presents. There were various sci-fi and train related gifts. Sheldon loved each one of them. Penny said she had one more gift for Sheldon in the guest room. It was a special surprise. Sheldon rolled his eyes but Penny assured him that he would love it. They all followed Penny to other room and let Sheldon open the door.

When the door opened, Sheldon froze. He couldn't believe his eyes. Penny scooted him into the room. "Go on silly"

He picked up the first package and turned it over to the back. On the bottom right hand corner were the tiny initials of SLC. He grabbed another and another. There were a few times when Sheldon cried and now was another one. Laid out before him was every single comic book that Sheldon sold years ago to pay for Penny's hospital bill.

He turned to Penny who had tears in her eyes as well. "Sheldon, you once said that you sold your comic books because I was worth every bit of it and more. You have been an amazing husband, father and best friend any girl could ever want. You gave me a life I could never dream of. It took me a long time to find all of these. I did it because you too are worth every bit of it and more."

Like that night many years ago in Germany, Sheldon took Penny in his arms and kissed her as though tomorrow will never come. The gang took that as their queue that the party was over. They quietly backed down the hallway. They quickly cleaned up the mess from the party and left. The Cooper kids took one last look around the room before quietly locking the front door on their way out.

No one could deny it. Despite being an unlikely couple, Sheldon and Penny created a relationship that defied reality. Like any other relationship, it had it ups and downs. Sheldon could be as stubborn as a rock. Penny would be toeing the line with him. No matter what the issue was, they always worked out as though nothing ever happened. Separately they were both imposing. Together they were unstoppable.

They both lived to a ripe old age. They were laying in bed together one afternoon.

"Sheldon dear, sing me soft kitty please. One last time."

Sheldon sang the song with tears in his eyes. When he was finished, she leaned over and kissed him. With a warm, fond smile on her face, she closed her eyes and took her last breath.

Sheldon kissed her forehead "I'll see you soon Penny." He looked around the room at the life he created with Penny. It had been a life truly blessed with love and joy. He picked up his phone from the night stand and sent a quick text. He gave Penny a tight squeeze and kissed her one last time. While closing his eyes, he thought back to all of the wonderful and most cherished memories they shared. He gently took one of her hand. A warm smile crossed his face and with his final dying breath, Sheldon whispered "Penny, Penny, Penny" and then joined her in the great beyond.