The New Sheldonian Development

It was the middle of the night, around two a.m. Amy was laying in bed, body slightly raised so that her head rested against the headboard, quietly browsing Facebook on her phone. Sheldon was next to her, dead to the world, his soft snores filling the dark room. The posts on Facebook were slightly boring, but Amy kept scrolling anyways, as she was unable to sleep since she had woken up over an hour ago and was tired of trying to.

She wasn't sure of the reasons behind her insomnia. Well, she kind of knew the general reason, but not the specifics. Was it the worry, or was it the rampaging hormones in her body, which usually made her tired, going astray? Was it something else entirely, not related to her current condition at all? She simply couldn't identify the cause. There has been so much confusion in her daily life for a while now, ever since it all started. She knew the scientific explanation behind every anomaly that occurred in her life nowadays, of course, but the general confusion that she experienced while dealing with these situations persisted, and that frustrated her very much.

Sheldon was astounding, of course. Ever since finding out, he has done everything possible to help her out. He has read, and was still reading, every single article, paper, or book online that could be of assistance, in his opinion. In her opinion, of course, much of what he had read was useless, some parts were even depressing and anxiety inducing, but he wasn't convinced at all. The information he had gathered both terrified him of what could happen, and reassured him that he could deal with a crisis should it arise. So he continued on reading, despite her protests. Not that she thought she could stop him, as his OCPD was much stronger than anything she could ever say.

Still, his research benefited him greatly, as he learned how to deal with various new constants in their lives, such as the mood swings and the nausea, and has also had prepared himself extensively for the 'final event' as he called it. As a result, she now found herself with a ridiculously sensitive Sheldon, who was fluttering around her all day long, asking how she was and if she needed anything literally every five minutes. The situation hasn't gotten out of hand yet, but it was beginning to. There was a brief discussion about handing all chores to Sheldon, even cooking, that she had cut short with a resounding no. She had argued that she was not an invalid and there was no need for her to live on takeaways permanently- Sheldon has never cooked his entire life, either eating takeaways, Leonard's or his mother's food.

She wasn't only worried about that stage though, she was worried about the next one, which probably included things like not going to work, not driving and maybe not going out of the house at all- Sheldon was that serious. But she supposed she could deal with it once and if it arises.

All these thoughts circled in her head while she proof read post after post. She was giggling quietly about a silly cat post Penny had shared, when she froze.

Something new has just happened.

Movement had occurred next to her, and while that wasn't particularly important to her, the arm that suddenly sneaked around her waist definitely was.

It was an established fact that Sheldon never held her while asleep. He never even held her while falling asleep. Sure he would hug and kiss her all the time while they are awake, and they would cuddle together in bed while having their pre-sleep little conversations, but once he has made the decision to fall asleep, he would give her a little squeeze and a good night kiss before letting her go and rolling over to face away from her, settling himself into his sleeping position. Even though he likes to move around during the night, shifting onto his back and sometimes turning completely to face her, he has never actively touched her or reached out to her at all. It was a fact that irked her a little, but she chose to ignore it as it meant her husband's comfort.

Now, however, as she turned her head to see her Sheldon's face snuggled into her shoulder, she felt simply elated. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her arm, and the heaviness of his arm on her abdomen, particularly on her little baby, the little one they had created together.

Sighing with absolute happiness at the new level of intimacy they have reached, a level she was sure Sheldon didn't even know about, she carefully slid a little so that her head rested comfortably on the pillow. She locked her phone and, with careful movement, placed it on the night stand before turning to stare gleefully at her husband. She watched quietly as his eyelids fluttered and his beautiful eyelashes shifted, wondering what he was dreaming about. "Probably something silly from his silly shows", she thought with a soft laugh. She moved her head the inch or two between them and placed a soft peck on his lips, knowing that she was risking waking him up and consequently him moving away from her, but unable to resist. Thankfully, he didn't, and she spent a while- she didn't know how long- watching her husband sleep and wondering if she was falling in love with him even more deeply than she already was- if that was even possible- or falling in love with him all over again from the beginning.

After a while, her eyelids finally began to feel heavy, and she felt tired enough to go back to sleep. Giving her husband one more kiss, she settled down next to him and closed her eyes, knowing that despite how small Sheldon's act was, and despite the fact that he may never know about it, he has made her life a bit more wonderful tonight.