IX. –Epilogue.

"I'm telling you, Penny, this is it," His voice was frantic, and he tried so hard to keep it together, but his eyes were giving him away.

She shook her head as she breathed in deeply, "No," she exhaled, "It's too early. This isn't it," she was determined to keep the baby in for as long as she could. It was too early for the baby to be born, and she wouldn't let anything happen to it.

He had to fold his hands together, to stop from pulling his hair out, "Your contractions are ten minutes apart, the books say five to seven, this is it Penny! The baby is full-term, it's only two weeks early and that's perfectly normal," he tried his best to reassure her. He held her arm, "Come, I'll drive us to the hospital now."

She growled at him, ripping her arms out of his hold, "No! I said no! We aren't going anywhere. It's not ready! This is not it!"

He stepped back exasperated. He had no idea why she was refusing to go to the hospital, and thankfully reinforcements came in when there was a knock on the door and in walked their mutual friend, Bernadette. She smiled apologetically at him, she knew the stress he was going through, she was currently pregnant now too. Three months. Howard had been hovering over her ever since, one night she felt a sharp pain and he immediately sprang into action alerting everyone she was in labour. She had to grab his hand and remind him she was only two months pregnant at the time.

"Go to the store and get her ice cream, or take a ride around town, maybe it will settle both of your nerves," Bernadette suggested.

He sighed deeply and looked back at his girlfriend who sat on the couch doing breathing exercises. He knew this was it, their child was going to be born today. She looked at him and immediately glared at him, he didn't feel bad about it, he knew she was going through a lot right now and lately her mood swings were ridiculous. One minute she loved him, the next she wanted to knock his head off his shoulders for absolutely no reason. One night last week he woke up to her hitting him with a pillow, turns out he moved the arm she was using as a pillow and that didn't work for her.

He looked back at Bernadette, "You call me immediately when her contractions hit seven minutes."

Bernadette nodded.

"Penny…" Bernadette caressed her friends' hair softly. She was tiny, so her stomach was a lot more prominent than most women at this stage, so it was awkward with Penny's head in her lap, and her large stomach protruding, but the women made it work. She felt Penny tense as a contraction passed through her, she just sighed and held her friend as comfortingly as she could.

The crying blonde sniffled and sat up straight once the pain passed, "I'm scared Bernie."

They spent the last thirty minutes watching mindless television, avoiding the topic of Penny's emotions, but she couldn't hold it anymore. She wiped at her red and swollen eyes, "What if I'm not good enough? What if I'm not a good mother? This wasn't my plan…" she buried her face into her hands.

Bernadette just rubbed her friends back, "Oh Penny, you'll do great. You had all this time to work it out, and I noticed when you moved in here with Sheldon, when you were only four months, you and he got super serious about all of this. You're going to do great. You have all of our help, and when my baby is born, we'll be in this together," she reassured her friend.

Penny just frowned, "This wasn't the plan though, Bernie. I was never meant to be a mother right now, if it wasn't for Sheldon and for…Amy, then this baby wouldn't even be inside of me. Sheldon and I wouldn't be dating because we wouldn't have been forced to confront our feelings. What if none of this was meant to happen?" She cried.

The shorter blonde shook her head furiously, "Don't say that. You know it's not true. You and Sheldon always had something special between the two of you, you know Amy once told Leonard that she was jealous of your relationship with Sheldon? That it got her mad he was so much more comfortable with you than her?"

She felt bad thinking about it, but she couldn't help but feel slightly better at that.

"But the baby…I'm so dysfunctional."

"Not in my eyes. You stopped partying, stopped drinking for this baby. You're so smart, Penny, you can absolutely do this, I don't know why you're so scared," she said softly.

About to reply Penny seized up again, another contraction passing through her. Sheldon came walking through the door, immediately dropping the shopping bag once he saw Penny's face, he quickly kneeled in front of her looking at Bernadette, "How long has it been?"

Bernadette stumbled over her words as she registered the intensity of Sheldon's voice.

"How long Bernadette?!" His voice raised.

"Uh," she looked at the stop watch on the table, "Uh…two…two minutes," she winced at the loud exclaim coming from Sheldon's mouth.

"Two minutes?! I told you to call me at seven!" He ran a hand through his hair and immediately ran to get the hospital bag he packed a month ago.

Bernadette stood and went to the door, "Let's go, I'll drive you guys!"

Sheldon rolled his eyes and sighed, "That's the least you can do," he grumbled as he helped Penny up.

"Let's go, Kitten, it's time to have the baby."

Penny felt the tears welling up in her eyes as they helped her down the stairs, "I'm not…I can't…"

Sheldon shook his head, "You can, and you will."

"I can't…" she cried.

"Penny don't be afraid. The pain is minimal, and if you get the epidural, you'll barely feel anything. You'll be ok," he reassured her as he got into the backseat of Bernadette's car, alongside Penny.

Penny looked at Sheldon, "But what if you don't want me?"

Sheldon was shocked at what she said, but before he could speak Penny was going through another contraction and the pain knocked her unconscious.

When Penny woke up, she was in a hospital gown, and hooked up to multiple machines. She recognized the room she was in; it was in the labour and delivery wing of the hospital. She frowned when she noticed all her friends standing in her room.

"Hey, sleepy-head," Howard teased.

Penny smiled slightly, "Hey guys," her voice cracked, "Did I give birth already?"

Raj chuckled, "No. They need you awake for that. You've only been out for about twenty minutes, Bernadette and Sheldon had you changed, and we just got in here and you woke up. The doctors say you'll be ready to push in five minutes or so," he informed his friend.

Penny felt her nerves flare up again, and her friends noticed quickly.

Howard stepped forward, "Penny," he took Penny's hand hesitantly, "If anyone from here would know, I would, you are so damn strong," he chuckled, "You can do this. I don't know any other female who could kick ass like you can, this will be a breeze for you. You can hogtie a grown man in under thirty seconds, child birth will be a walk in the park."

Penny smiled at him teary-eyed, "Thank you, Howard," she choked.

"We all agree with him," Bernadette added sweetly.

She sighed deeply, "Thanks guys, do you mind if I just speak to Sheldon for a minute before the doctors come in?"

They all nodded and exited her room.

The couple looked at each other, Sheldon with a question on his mind while Penny avoided his eyes.

"So, what did you mean when you said, 'What if you don't want me anymore?'?"

She finally looked at him, and saw he had moved to her bedside, hands in his pockets. She glanced away from him, feeling a lot more vulnerable than she was comfortable with, "I just…our relationship wasn't really traditional you know? It started out of…convenience if anything. I'm pregnant with your child, what if I was giving off these pheromones or something and that's why you were attracted to me this entire time? What if after I give birth you don't want me anymore?" She cried.

He frowned deeply, "Penny," he grabbed her hands, "I told you, I wanted you the moment I first laid eyes on you. That won't change if you're not pregnant anymore. You're my everything, that will never change. After you give me my first child, my feelings for you would be intensified if anything."

Penny looked into his eyes, all her emotions laid bare for him to see, "You'll still love me?"

"With everything I own."

She felt more tears fall from her eyes and she wiped at them, "I'm so pathetic," she chuckled, "How am I supposed to set an example for our daughter to be a strong independent woman if her father makes me cry of happiness with everything he says?"

There was silence.

"Sheldon?"

She looked at him and saw his face frozen, "Sheldon?"

"Daughter…"

She gasped, "Oh my goodness, I'm sorry," she frowned, "I know you wanted it to be a surprise, but I couldn't handle it. I asked the doctor to tell me two months ago, I'm sorry, are you mad?" She touched his arm.

He only smiled at her, "A daughter…We're going to have a daughter."

She smiled back, "Yes. We're going to have a daughter."

Sheldon was right. An hour later, a baby was born. Their baby. Their daughter.

Melody Selena Cooper.

Penny was right too.

Parenting was hard. There were accidents of spilled food, and dirty diapers, and sometimes they had to play rock paper scissors to see who would get up at three in the morning. But they loved it all. They learned, and they taught each other, and they made it work.

Penny's biggest fear was a distant thought, because Sheldon showed her every day and every night how much she still meant to him. A flower here, a back massage there, dinner here, and sex there. Sheldon's biggest fear was null and void because when he produced a marriage contract for Penny to sign, she had thrown it at his head and a one-year old Melody giggled and clapped as her daddy ducked the bundle of papers.

Melody was the perfect balance between them both. A head filled with thick brown curly hair, and the largest most vibrant green eyes Sheldon had ever seen, the only person that beat her was her mother.

She was extremely smart, but also an extreme social butterfly. Both sets of grandparents loved her. Penny's parents flew in from Nebraska to see her and they loved her instantly. Soon followed by Mary and MeeMaw, MeeMaw loved her instantly while Mary was upset that the baby was born out of wedlock but after Sheldon stood up for his new family, Mary had given in and fallen in love with little Melody as well. She was also the star of her parent's garden wedding.

Skipping down the aisle, bare foot (because nobody put Melody in shoes and got away with it), throwing flower petals haphazardly until she reached her mommy and daddy and reached up to be picked up. Sheldon always complied, picking her up whenever she asked. She was a spoiled three-year-old.

And as she watched her parents promise themselves to each other forever, she smiled broadly and clapped her hands. She reached down and touched her mother's round belly, "Family."

Her parents kissed and she made a face.

The crowd laughed.