Epilogue

I do not own the big bang theory.

"Wolowitz to Cooper." Howard's voice sounded incredibly clear from the silver and gold pin.

"Cooper here." On each end of the conversation both men's wives rolled their eyes.

"You ready yet, or is Penny still trying on a hundred different skirts? Bernadette can't seem to figure out what to wear either." Howard seemed almost proud of that, he had a wife and typical husband problems.

"I heard that Howard!" Bernadette chided him.

"Hurry up and meet us downstairs in ten minutes. Wolowitz out."

The guys really did love the communicators Penny gave them five months ago at her wedding. She never thought just how convenient it would be for her too, if she ever needed to talk to one of the girls the smart voice command would pick up on her requests as well and dial Bernadette without any effort. She thought maybe she should expand on the communicator network.

She really couldn't figure out what to wear. How does one dress for a goodbye party? She didn't want to look like a slob but she didn't want to look like she wasn't herself either. It was just too hard to say goodbye without adding in the problems related to proper attire. 'Why didn't I ask Sheldon to research this for me?'

"Penny, please. Either of the last two dresses you tried on would be fine." Sheldon was starting to lose patience. He didn't want to keep Howard or anyone else waiting. Ever since Howard's wedding the two married men became a little closer to one another, understanding the issues you can have with a wife.

"I don't want to just look fine! I want to look perfect. This is the last time they will all see me before I balloon up like cartoon character in the Thanksgiving Day parade." Penny kept checking her reflection side to side in her full length mirror.

"Penny, that's a bit of an exaggeration. You have only gained a few pounds since we got married." She glared at him; obviously he never got the memo on talking about your wife's weight. He ignored the look. "They are all going to expect it anyhow, once we tell them you are pregnant. Frankly, I still don't understand why we had to wait so long."

"I am only ten weeks along Sheldon! Most people wait until the end of the first trimester, but we'll be long gone by then." She was getting quite emotional lately, more so now with her hormones flocculating like crazy.

He hugged her, never more happy to have such problems. Who would have expected that when they decided to put off their move to Switzerland by a few more months that he would be leaving with a pregnant wife in tow. She was radiant; she had that pregnancy glow everyone always talked about. And, she was Penny.

"Come on, Penny. Bernadette should be downstairs with Howard any minute. Your current dress looks beautiful. I always did love you in dark blue."

She smiled, remembering the dress he bought her the night of his big presentation. It was months ago but could have seemed like years. She and Sheldon had naturally adapted to being married and living together, even building a new routine for themselves and their friends.

It helped that Leonard had asked to switch places with Penny. He took her apartment until last month when he moved into Leanne's. They had decided it would be silly for both to continue their leases here in Pasadena since both were coming to Switzerland anyhow. Penny had never been more delighted when the guys told them that Leanne got her funding, was moving in with Leonard and that Leonard and Sheldon got houses next to one another. They would still be neighbors and Penny would still be able to constantly talk to her new and closest friend.

"Bernadette to Penny." She was clear as bell, her voice popping off Sheldon's chest.

"Penny here." This time, the husbands gave proud smiles.

"Get your butt downstairs. We all know you are pregnant; you have been throwing up enough. Whatever you wear isn't going to hide it any longer. Oh, and congratulations."

Penny could feel her smile widen as they left for the party.

-T—B—B—T—

Raj and Amy decided to host the party in their new loft condo in downtown Pasadena. They had bought it just two months ago but thanks to some help from Sheldon, the move went so smoothly everything was completed in a very short time.

No one was really surprised when Raj proposed to Amy on a vacation to India. He had decided that she should meet his parents before he made the final decision. Surprisingly his father found her matter-of-fact nature comforting and his mother was just delighted she would have a shot at grandchildren herself someday. Priya hadn't held a steady boyfriend since Leonard.

When they came back from the trip and announced it to everyone, Sheldon congratulated them and praised them for sticking to the traditions of the garter and bouquet toss. Leanne and Penny hopped up and down in their excitement that yet another couple was getting married. Howard and Bernadette had had to listen for weeks to Raj second guess every part of his plan, trying to make it perfect. So in addition to being happy for their friend, they were glad the process was over.

Amy welcomed Sheldon, Penny, Bernadette and Howard in, pointing out that Leonard and Leanne would be there any second. The loft was decorated with many candles and lots of pictures of all the times the friends shared together. There were pictures of Raj and Leonard when they saw the Large Hadron Collider on Valentine 's Day. Another picture of Amy and Sheldon trying to capture Amy's smoking monkey while it ran off with Penny's purse. Some were of the days before even Penny had met them. Times when they began to visit conventions together and form their friendships.

Two pictures stuck out most to Penny though. The first was a picture of her when she first began dating Leonard. It was a happy memory now, part of the process of their growing friendship. But when compared to the picture of her and Sheldon on their wedding day she smiled with all her strength. Anyone following her life from the outside probably wouldn't have expected that she would end up loving Sheldon and actually happily married to him. But on some level all of her friends did and so did she. He was her rock, the father of her unborn child and the only man for which she could part with her family of friends.

Sheldon began to show some pictures of the house they bought in Switzerland to some of the other friends gathered at the party. Stuart was most interested in the architecture; he was an artist after all.

"This room is interesting, was it a nursery before you bought it?" He asked of Sheldon.

Everyone else was looking at the house plans now as well, curious as to what to expect when they came to visit. Penny and Sheldon were caught in a stare until finally she nodded permission; apparently everyone had figured it out anyway.

"No, I turned it into one when I visited last month. Penny is pregnant; I figured I would get a head start while I had a lessened work load."

Everyone was jumping up and down offering congratulations and hugs and offers of babysitting when they came back to Pasadena half the year. Penny was nearly overwhelmed by the love everyone already had for her unborn child as Bernadette and Leanne began talking into her belly. It was one of the happiest moments of her life, sharing good news with everyone she loved just as she was about to set off on her big adventure with her husband.

Sheldon couldn't have been more content with his life at the moment. He had a steady career that would allow him use of the Large Hadron collider for experiments. He had his best friend moving with him and the ability to help the others come as well. His wife was pregnant and his family was now rapidly expanding. His mother had already begun contemplating a retirement in Europe once she became a grandmother and even he could admit it would be nice to have her interfering in his life again. Right when he was about to tell everyone thank you for everything they have done for him he got a call and decided to step into the hall so he could hear.

"Dr. Cooper?" the mystery voiced asked.

After a few minutes Penny decided to go find Sheldon. It was unlike him to be on the phone longer than a few minutes unless something was wrong.

"Moonpie?" She asked, hoping to knock him out of his state. He was just standing there, staring at his phone, the call long since disconnected.

"Penny?" No emotion in the question whatsoever.

"What's wrong? Did something happen with meemaw?" Meemaw had been fairly sick lately, she hoped the worst hadn't happened.

"No. I was awarded the Nobel Prize."

She just looked at him. And he just looked at her. It was a long moment before anyone said anything.

Howard popped his head into the hall. "Guys, you can't just leave your own party. What's going on?"

Another moment passed with them just staring at one another. Penny broke first.

"He won! He won!" She started screaming as she ran back to the party. She was in the middle of the condo now where everyone could see her. "Sheldon finally got the Nobel Prize!"

He didn't know what to love more, her or the fact that she was so proud.

-FIN-

Thank you everyone once again for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did. I would love more reviews! Let me know what you might like to see in a sequel and I just might get to it.

:-D