«Sheldon! Are you ready?»
«Yes, Spaghetti-Squash!»
«Hurry up then! The cab is waiting outside!»
Amy's hand was resting on the door handle, her left foot tapping nervously on the moquette. Who knew what had been keeping his husband for so long? The last time they were late was at their wedding, and their excuse turned out to be a Nobel-prize-worth break-trough in physics...
Finally her husband rushed towards her, with the suitcase on one hand and some small and odd object on the other.
«What took you so long??»
«I'm sorry. I needed to find it, before leaving»
«What?»
«This» he opened his hand and there it was: a small silver bell, the kind people put on their christmas tree.
«What is it?»
«It's the bell my mother put over my crib when I was born. I thought it could be a good-luck gift to give to our daughter»
Amy's eyes filled with tears, but then another contraction hit her.
«Are you ok?» Asked Sheldon apprehensively.
«I AM NOT OK: a baby is trying to come out of my vagina right now!»
«Oh, right... Let's go»
The first time Sheldon saw her daughter's eyes intertwining with his, he felt like his whole world had just fallen apart. He had never imagined he could love someone more than himself, and, sometimes - definitely not when she tried to sexually harass him - Amy. But there she was, their daughter, completely covered in blood and whatever that white stuff was, but yet the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Despite his attempt to try and escape from that room of screams and her wife squeezing his hand so hard he thought it had to be amputated shortly after, he remained, without passing out. His dad-career was off to a great start.
When they finally came back to their hospital room, Amy fell asleep very quickly and so did the baby in the crib next to her. The silver bell shining over her head.
Sheldon silently walked out and reached the hallway. He took his phone out of his pocket and digited a number he knew by heart after all that time:
«Sheldon! It's three o'clock in the morning! What do you want this time?!» Replied a pretty angry voice on the other side.
«Leonard, would you be my daughter's godfather?»
«Sheldon, I would be honored, but couldn't you have called at a decent hour?» His voice was still sleepy but whining as usual.
«I'm sorry, I didn't realize that it must be night in Pasadena. How curious... I've been dad for only one hour and this baby is already making me descend into stupidity»
Leonard jumped off the bed: «Is she born??»
«Of course she is, why would I call you in the middle of the night otherwise?»
«Oh, I don't know... The last time was because apparently in Switzerland they don't have any comic book stores... Or ... or ... Another time it was because you had to describe to me, with every possible detail, the Swiss trainline...»
«They were all emergencies!»
«Oh yeah... Of course...»
«Stop you guys! Hand me that phone!!» Penny grabbed his husband's phone abruptly.
«Sheldon, how is Amy? Was everything ok? Were there any complications?»
«Hi Penny. Everything was fine, even though, if Marie had taken a few more minute to come out, my hand would have been cutted off for all the squeezing»
«I'm sorry Sheldon: I do believe your hand hurted much more than Amy's vagina, for sure» replied Penny sarcastically.
«Yes. I know: that is what I just said»
«After all this time you still haven't got a grip on sarcasm, haven't you?»
«Leonard, please: control your wife! The motherhood is making her more irritable than usual»
«Sheldon, shut up...» Replied Leonard's faint and annoyed voice in the background.
«When are you coming back to Pasadena?» Penny decided it was better to change the subject than telling Sheldon to go to hell: her daughter needed him.
«I believe as soon as Marie can fly. Apparently you can't put a newborn on a sealed tank that travels at 550 miles per hours through the sky»
«Then we must come to Switzerland, am I right Leonard?»
«Of course, first thing in the morning I will call Raj and Howard and I'll see what we can arrange»
«Perfect. We'll call you back in the morning, ok Sheldon?»
«Ok... Wait. Leonard?»
«Yes, Sheldon?»
«Do you think I will be able to take care of my daughter?» asked Sheldon reluctantly.
«Sheldon, I know it is scary. I am scared of being a father every day since my son was born. But I learned that the most important thing is to love them, then everything will come around. If I am doing it, you can as well»
«You're right, if Howard and you are managing to raise kids, I should be fine»
«Yeah...» sighed Leonard, hopelessly.
«Leonard?»
«Yes Sheldon?»
«Thank you. For everything. I mean it»
«Don't mention it. We love you, and everything will be just fine, don't worry. Talk to you soon»
«Ok, bye»
«You must tell him» said Penny firmly, sitting straight on the bed.
«I know, I know...» replied Leonard, laying his head back on the pillow with a soft sigh.
«The more you wait the worst it will be»
«I can't tell him on the phone»
«Leonard?»
«Yes?»
«Are you scared?»
«I'm sorry Penny, I really don't want to talk about it»
Penny kept watching him while he turned his back to her and went back to sleep. The pale light of the moon, entering from the slightly opened curtains, made the small tear on her cheek shine.
YOU ARE READING
After the Bang: the Babies Theory
FanfictionAfter winning the Nobel Prize, Amy and Sheldon were offered a two year research job for CERN, in Switzerland. The two years are now almost over and Amy and Sheldon's daughter is just born. Penny, Leonard, and their son Elliot came all the way to Gen...
