The Matronae Triad

Three of the women have some special news on this special day. For the last time in this story, I own nothing thst can be leagally claimed by those assocuated with the Television production of The Big Bang Theory.

All eyes seemed to be on the door to the bedroom where Penny and Leonard were staying. Penny left with such a start, the easy Holiday conversation seemed to come to a screeching halt. When Leonard Followed Penny and entered the bedroom, it all but stopped.

The uncomfortable silence was broken by none other than Sheldon Lee Cooper himself. Starting with a short account on Saturnalia, He quickly altered his thoughts though to Yuletide. "Come to think of it, being that the geographic area we are inhabiting was chiefly settled by Germanic peoples, we should actually be discussing Yuletide, a celebration of the yule feast with toasts to Odin, the King and the Lord of the house. Now, considering that Wyatt is the patriarch of the family, if we are going to be accurate, we need some authentic Norse attire." Looking around the living room, his eyes fell on the bear rug in front of the fireplace. "Wonderful!, now all we need is a battle helmet, wood shield and a sward".

Wyatt frowned. "I'm not wearing that. Although we can certainly toast with eggnog". Denise and Frank raised their glasses. "HERE, HERE!"

Sheldon looked like he was deep in thought. He shrugged. "Well, an altogether acceptable alternative is Odin as a wanderer. In this case, your jeans flannel shirt and workman's boots will suffice nicely. Can I suggest an old hat of some kind to keep the weather off your neck and to protect you from the sun?"

Wyatt looked at the tall lanky friend of his daughter and son-in-law. "No..."

Sheldon shrugged once again. "Meh! ..." He raised his glass of pink milk-like liquid. "To Odin!"

Amy leaned over to Denise. "It was nice you found some Strawberry Quick for Sheldon".

Denise smiled. "It's really just Strawberry Liqueur and milk. He wouldn't shut up about not having proper Holiday drinks, SOOooo, I mixed that up. It seems to be doing the trick." Amy was absolutely shocked, but smiled just the same.

It wasn't long before Penny and Leonard came out into the living room. The look of pure confusion on the faces of family and friends brought the smile on Leonard's face just that much wider. Denise was the first to ask. "What the HELL are you wearing?"

Penny twirled in the Toga fashioned from a sheet wrapped around herself almost identically as Leonard was earlier. Penny looked down and then at her friends and family. "This old thing? It's just something that is worn during this Saturnalia-Yuletime-night thingy".

Leonard chuckled. "Yule-TIDE".

Sheldon waved his hands. "NO...no...no... That has nothing to do with Yule... Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of the god Saturn, held on December 17th of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to December 23rd. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere. Yuletide was and is a festival observed by the historical Germanic and Norse peoples which scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt and the god Odin. neither of which has anything to do with an ANGLO-SAXON festival dealing with the collective FEMALE of Modranicht."

Howard raised his hand. "Hold On, Penny is dressed in a toga, that's Roman."

Raj interjected. "Early Brittan's and Germanic tribes were well influenced by Romans. Obviously their taste in dress was well received. And also, very cool".

Sheldon shook his head. "Her dress not withstanding, Modranicht is a festival attended by three Matronae, not one."

Amy grabbed Penny's arm and pulled her back into the bedroom. "We'll be right back".

Penny looked confused as Amy closed the door. Amy smiled. "Sheldon doesn't know... I'm pregnant."

Penny's eyes went wide. "WHAT?!"

Amy frowned. "What could you not understand about that statement?"

Penny pulled her bestie in for a huge hug. "I am SO happy for you! This is so great!"

The look on the faces of Penny's family was of increasing confusion. Susan leaned over to her husband. "What is happening ?"

Wyatt poured her another eggnog. "Time for more celebrating I would expect".

Amy and Penny came back into the living room both dressed in Togas. Bernadette smiled. "Amy? What are you trying to say here?"

Leonard sighed. "Well it is a fertility celebration after all".

Sheldon was taken by complete surprise. "I'm sorry... but this is absurd. The Matronae have to be in a TRIAD."

Bernadette laughed. "Don't look at ME, I already have two kids."

Emily looked directly at the hopeful eyes of Raj. "NOooooo!"

Denise shyly stood. "Okay then, I guess someone should get me a bed sheet too then."

Penny practically leapt onto her sister and dragged her back into the bedroom.

Amy looked at the crowd and smiled as she gathered some pine boughs from the decorations in the room. "We'll be right back"!

Penny was very animated, holding her sister by both arms. "Deni... are you pregnant?"

Denise sighed "Yes."

Penny gasped. "Does Frank know?"

Denise looked down. "Not yet, but I think he's about to." Penny pulled Denise into a tight hug and squealed.

Amy rummaged through a drawer, holding out a sheet. "You better put this on, I think there are probably a few people that are going to want an explanation".

The three girls came out into the living room to a display of happiness and confusion.

Leonard was standing between Raj and Howard. The three of them were smiling while keeping one eye on Sheldon. Emily and Bernadette were easily as excited just waiting for the formal announcement so they could congratulate their friends. Wyatt and Susan cautiously stood off to the side watching and thinking about what they just watched. Sheldon and Frank stood together drawn by some unseen force as they watched their wives disappear into the bedroom. Frank was desperately trying to understand the conversation between Penny, Leonard and their friends. Sheldon was in stark denial of what seemed to be so obvious to the rest of the adults in his group of displaced Californians. Randall and Bennie just sat on the couch playing with their phones taking advantage of Leonard's hot spot after becoming disinterested in the conversation at hand.

Penny, Denise and Amy processed out of the bedroom dressed in their togas and with small pine boughs woven in their hair. Penny smiled. "Let's get the party started!"

Sheldon was staring at the three women, making a motion of doing some kind of calculation and then stood while a series of facial tics started to take control.

Howard giggled. "Sheldon looks like NOMAD from the old Star Trek series episode "The Changeling". Smoke is going to start coming out of his ears and second now".

Frank was almost completely silent as Denise came over to her husband. "Are you... does this mean... is this true?" Denise just smiled and nodded before Frank took her into an embrace and kissed her.

Susan put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my..."

Sheldon started to look from one person to the other. Penny, Leonard, Denise, Frank, Howard, Bernadette, Raj, Emily, Susan and Wyatt. They were all smiling, easily happy at what was being implied. He finally looked to Amy who had a worried look on her face that was mixed with hope. "But... but... how... Amy, what does this mean?" He then collapsed onto the floor.

Everyone looked on as Amy and Penny made their way over to Sheldon. Penny got there first. "Sweetie, are you okay"? Sheldon started to come around as Wyatt and Frank helped him off the floor and onto the couch.

Amy sat close by putting a moist towel on his head as Sheldon came around. He looked up at her. "Amy, is it true?"

Amy looked fearful. "Are you mad?"

Sheldon looked confused. "How could I ever be mad? There was always a predictable outcome to our endeavors, we excel at so many things". There was a collective eye roll throughout the room. Amy just grabbed tightly onto her husband.

Susan was the first to break the awkward conversation. "I am so happy for you all. Denise, you have been trying for so long."

Denise sighed. "Nice job rubbing it in there Mom".

Wyatt broke the cool atmosphere that could have started. "Never mind any of that. Leonard, you're gonna be a father, and I'm gonna have more grandchildren before I die."

Penny put her hands on her hips. "Hey!... HE isn't actually HAVING this baby..."

Both Denise and Penny then said. "And we DON'T live in houses with WHEELS!... EITHER OF US!" Penny and Denise did a fist bump and smiled, crossing their arms across their chests.

Leonard frowned at his wife. "You knew about that?"

Penny scoffed. "Please, he's been usin that line since we were in High School. Somehow he thought that would give us some kind of crazy goal to shoot for so we wouldn't jump in the sack with any dead end losers".

Wyatt waved his hand. "Not that it did any good anyway".

Frank, Denise and Penny gasped "HEY!"

Susan gathered her daughters into a hug. "Don't pay him any mind. We are ALL so happy for you!" She waved Amy over to join them. "ALL of you. This is the BEST holiday EVER!"

Penny looked at Amy and Denise. "Girls, lets get outa these 'clothes' and back into something more comfortable for us."

Raj objected. "But those look so freeing!"

Penny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, the moment is over. We're all preggers. Girls, back to the bedroom."

Susan went to work getting the desserts set out on the table with the help of Bernadette and Emily while Wyatt pulled Frank, Leonard and Sheldon along with Howard and Raj to the side. On the desk off to the side of the fireplace, there was a humidor. Wyatt took out six cigars and handed them out. "Boys... I know something like this is usually done after the babies are born, but I just think a proper celebration needs to be done right now." He brought the small group out to the screened porch after they donned their coats so they could light up.

Penny, Amy and Denise came back into the living room to see just the other women. "Where are the guys"?

Emily laughed and pointed to the closed doors to porch. All that could be seen was a grey cloud of smoke beyond the glass barrier. "They're having a Testosterone filled cigar smoking celebration of their virility."

Penny and Amy were taken by complete surprise. "They don't smoke!"

Bernadette giggled. "Yeah, we got that. Just listening to them will tell you that". A turn of their concentration to the porch revealed a combination of laughing and coughing. Penny could easily hear the distinctive hearty laugh of her Father and Denise heard an accomplice in the frivolity recognizing her husband's booming laugh.

Penny and Amy led the group to the porch and opened the door entering cautiously. What they saw left little to the wonder as to why Wyatt and Frank were so amused. Howard was attending to Raj who was leaning forward over a small waste basket experiencing the dry heaves. Sheldon seemed to be passed out on the couch and Wyatt had his arm around a very green looking Leonard.

As Penny, Amy, Bernadette and Emily tended to their men, Denise punched Frank square in the center of his chest as Susan took a firm hold of Wyatt's right ear and led him back into the cabin.

After tender loving care for the less experienced smokers, everyone settled down for a quiet evening of family chit chat that included stories of the Wolowitz family as well as the remarkable acceptance of Emily into the Koothrappali clan.

Penny remarked that all the differences in their experiences and chance meetings was like playing the game of LIFE. Denise squealed "We have that game in the closet!"

After setting up the game, everyone sat back and took their turns. Each partner taking turns to spin the wheel. Sheldon was ecstatic when he graduated from college as a Physicist so early in the game, much like he did in real life. They then landed on a space with a successful experiment letting Sheldon brag just a bit. Howard and Bernadette had two kids in their car, a boy and a girl and won the lottery. Frank and Denise landed on a space where they inherited a cattle ranch, looking up at Wyatt and Susan and smiling. Raj and Emily landed on every space that added kids, causing Raj to smile wider each time and Emily to look very nervous.

Penny and Leonard, landed on a space where they met their future spouse and bought a ring early in the game just like he did in real life saving it for that perfect moment when he would give it to her. When they got married, Penny looked for another square to see if they could actually do it again. And when they added a daughter, Penny threw her arms around Leonard's neck knocking him back onto the ground kissing him. After they spun a turn that gave them a new house, they turned to each other and both spoke. "It better be in a neighborhood with good schools!" They then laughed, much to the confusion of the other players. When When Leonard landed on the space winning the Peace prize, Penny asked. "Isn't that a Nobel?"

Howard grinned. "Why, yes Penny, it certainly is".

Sheldon exclaimed "Drat!". Everyone laughed and Amy gave her husband a consolation hug.

It was time for the Christmas tradition of watching A Wonderful Life. Everyone found a comfortable spot in the living room. Howard hooked up the flat screen TV to Leonard's lap top and the only other light in the room came from the slowly burning fire place. Wyatt made sure it was not putting out too much heat and gave a wonderful atmosphere to the room.

Randall and Bennie decided to go to the dinning room and were sparing with each other on a video-game on their phones.

Denise snuggled into the big arms of her husband. "Are you mad?"

Frank smiled with the wide eyes of surprise. "Mad? How could I be mad? Surprised for sure, but we've tried since Ben was in grade school. That's over ten years. I couldn't be happier." He then kissed her forehead and she got very comfortable leaning on his chest.

Amy sat beside her husband on the sofa trying to read his response to what had happened this day. Sheldon had been very quiet after the "reveal". Sheldon suddenly reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He had been processing what he had learned like some kind of super computer. Considering and calculating all the possibilities that this development would have on their lives. "Amy, I am so proud of you. This is truly a worthy endeavor. There have been so many people over the years that would now have to admit they were wrong. Wrong that Sheldon Lee Cooper would never be able to find someone to be with. They were wrong to think that I would never willingly submit to the baser urges of biology. You have changed me, Amy Farrah Fowler. Changed me for the better. Changed our future in a better more productive and exciting direction".

Amy smiled. "Amy Farrah Fowler-Copper. And I love you too Sheldon. I couldn't be happier."

Raj looked at Emily. "This has been quite the day. There is so much love here, so much life. It makes you think."

Emily looked directly into Raj's eyes. "I'll agree that there is a lot of love here, and it is okay for you to THINK about things, not that I could ever stop you, but just THINKING. You cannot act on any if this just because of the atmosphere. AND, I'll do some thinking too but you cant rush this."

Raj smiled. "Okay, but just so you know, I already have names picked out for the six kids we had in the LIFE game earlier tonight."

Bernadette leaned into Howard. "Now that everything is okay with Penny and Leonard, we need to get back to Halley and Michael".

Howard hugged his wife. "I miss them too. We can get an early flight out."

Penny snuggled close to Leonard. "So, how's THAT for a Christmas celebration?"

Leonard thought back over the last few days. Penny insisting on having the Holiday up here at the cabin, wanting Sheldon and Amy to be there too, going to play in the snow, the ordeal in the hunting shelter, the dream they both seemed to share, Penny telling him she was pregnant, and the game of LIFE that seemed to exactly mimic their real life. He then looked to the TV and considered what his life would be without Penny in it. How ALL their lives, all the people in the room, how their lives would be different without her. "It was the best Christmas Celebration EVER! I am so lucky to have you in my life."

Penny smiled and contentedly sighed. "Oh Sweetie, I thought I was going to lose you, I couldn't imagine how I could make it without you with me, especially now that we are going to have a baby. I'm so scared, but I promise that I will do my best to be the best Mom and Wife I can."

Leonard smiled. "You already are". He then pulled his wife in for a kiss.

Wyatt and Susan sat in the corner and gazed out at the pairs of couples, feeling the love each had for one another. Susan sighed. "This was the best Saturn thingy".

Wyatt chuckled. "I think Leonard said it was some kind of Yuletime."

Susan smiled. "Let's just go with... this was the best Christmas okay? All of our kids are here and safe, one has finally decided to listen to us and straighten himself out. He's even taken to looking after Bennie. We almost lost Penny, everyone coming here and helping find her and Leonard was so special. It was like some small Christmas miracle. And now both our daughters are going to have babies. I love our family so much".

Wyatt scanned the room. He was just as proud of his family and loved them just as much.

A/N: There you have it. A hopeful gathering, turned to a harrowing experience, culminating in a joyous celebration. Thank you for reading and commenting.