AN: Firstly, I must apologise to all of you that have favourited or followed any of my stories for leaving you hanging for so long. If you've seen the note in my profile, I hope that you will appreciate how hard it has been for me to put pen to paper to carry on writing, as it does bring up painful memories of the past eight months. This isn't how I envisioned ending this story as I was planning on having more interaction with Ritchie and Missy, but there might be a possible sequel down the line, but who knows? Anyway, I hope that this answers the questions that some of you raised after the last chapter, and hope to have further updates on my other WIP's out very soon. Thanks again for all of your understanding and words of support, Janey xx

Sheldon felt an immense feeling of disappointment when Amy's sickness turned out to be nothing more than a mild stomach bug, the pregnancy test was negative as was the second test he persuaded her to take the following week. Sheldon and Leonard walked into the apartment around five fifteen a week later to find Amy curled up around Sheldon's striped cushion staring sadly at the television screen, where an episode of her favourite series was silently, Amy having muted the volume.

'I've got this,' Sheldon murmured to Leonard, stepping around his roommate to enter their kitchen area where he quickly assembled a mug of hot chocolate and filled a small hot water bottle. Sheldon sat down next to Amy on the tan leather couch, tugging gently on her leg until she was curled up in his lap, the hot water bottle resting on her abdomen as his clever fingers gently massaged the ache that had settled in the small of her back.

'Hmm…Little House, warm chocolate and Sheldon; what more could a woman ask for?' Amy murmured tiredly into the crook of his neck, and Sheldon dropped a quick kiss to the crown of her head; but not before he saw the brief flicker of sadness dulling the brightness of her normally sparkling eyes.

'Aw, darlin'…it was negative this time…that just means that we get to practise again until we get it right,' Sheldon linked his arms loosely behind Amy's back and leant back a little so that he could see how his words affected her. Amy's lips curved upwards into a soft smile and she raised her finger to trace the matching curve on his own mouth.

'I'd love to have another baby with you, sweetheart…but are you sure that you'll be able to handle the mess? You didn't do so well with Leonard last week…' Amy heard their roommate groan softly, and glanced over to see Leonard rubbing his stomach slightly in remembrance. He'd picked up Amy's bug and Sheldon had been drafted in to play nurse to both Amy and Leonard, Penny being out of town on a course and so was unable to take care of her boyfriend. When it came to caring for his wife, Sheldon gave gentle touches and soothing caresses…when Leonard threw up in the car as they drove home from work and then again over his bed during the night, Sheldon was a little short on sympathy.

'I'm sure a baby wouldn't give me half as much trouble as Mr Picky over there,' Sheldon responded, raising his voice to imitate his roommate, 'Oh Sheldon, I prefer lemon-lime over lemon Kool-Aid…Oh, Sheldon these sheets are a little scratchy, can't I use a set of your bedding instead…need I go on?' Sheldon glanced over at Leonard, who gave him a half shrug in return.

'Your sheets were softer than mine, and the lemon Kool-Aid tasted too sour.'

'Don't complain to me when your share of the grocery bill is higher than expected,' Sheldon replied, his hands still gently rubbing circles against the soft skin of Amy's back. 'The brand of fabric softener I use has no harsh chemicals and is ecologically friendly, that's probably why it's a little more expensive to produce…I started using it when we were expecting Emily and don't intend to change brand now that I know how lovely my clothes can feel.' Leonard merely nodded in response, and wandered across to his desk, picking up his laptop and heading toward the hallway.

'I'm gonna Skype Penny and see how her course is going, how about we call for take-out this evening, my treat?' Leonard looked over his shoulder to see whether Sheldon and Amy were in agreement, only for Sheldon to shake his head.

'Amy needs comfort food tonight, I'm going to make Meemaw's mac and cheese, I'll use the Soy cheese so that you can eat it if you want in?'

'Is that the one with little pieces of bacon mixed through?' Leonard asked, and when Sheldon confirmed, the third in their trio nearly skipped the rest of the way into his room; thinking that ever since Amy moved into Los Robles he had never eaten so well in his life. As she had predicted, Leonard had lost a few pounds from restricting take outs to once or twice a week, eating sensibly for the remaining nights, Amy even going so far as preparing packed lunches for the three of them a few times a week so that they didn't always have to rely on the university cafeteria. Penny was thankful for Amy moving in too, Leonard losing a few pounds meant that his asthma attacks were more infrequent, and the added bonus of having a more toned looking Leonard in the bedroom…well, the thanks that she asked Leonard to pass onto Amy was kept firmly to himself…Leonard had no intention of Sheldon misinterpreting that particular method of thank you! Yup, things at Los Robles were finally looking up, and Leonard knew that it had everything to do with the small brunette that was curled up against her husband's side no doubt dreaming of the little geniuses that the two of them would create together one day in the not so distant future.