CHAPTER 44

April. Nearly six weeks after the wedding of Leonard and Penny; Amy, Sheldon and little Nicholas continued their lives and routines in their usual way.

Sheldon spent the days in his office, trying to reveal the hidden mysteries of Particle Physics. In the last months his work had achieved considerable progress; his mind, brighter than ever, was flowing freely like a river. And he was happy, really happy.

Meanwhile, Amy at the lab, was immersed in the depths of the Nervous System's Anatomy. She'd returned to her full-time job at the lab when Nicholas was six months old; although she often missed her baby, she knew he was in good hands with Mrs. Fowler, his grandma.

Nicholas was undoubtedly the joy in their parents' lives. Now, that he was sixteen month old, his smile, his excitement with every new discover he made, with every step, with every word he learned; was Amy's and Sheldon's reason to start a new day.

Sheldon was working on his board, calculating the atomic distribution of a few elements, before lunch. He didn't have much of an appetite that day. To be honest, he was feeling a little sick since a week ago.

Leonard, Howard and Raj were already eating their lunch. Leonard was still living his Honeymoon phase with Penny. He smiled with just thinking of her.

Howard, Raj and Leonard greeted Sheldon when he approached his friend's table, carrying his lunch on a tray.

"Hi Sheldon! Is Nicky still obsessed with that monkey costume we gave him?" Leonard grinned as he asked his friend.

"Yeah, he is. Nicholas wants to wear that costume all the time. He cries when we change his clothes. It was cute at first, but now I'm afraid he's going to start eating bananas exclusively." Sheldon shook his head. "I blame Amy, she's always calling him: little monkey".

"I'm sure it's just a phase", Leonard added.

"Yes, it's a phase, just like Isabella is in her: Let's bite daddy! Phase" Howard joked.

All of a sudden Sheldon couldn't hide his discomfort when he sensed a pungent smell. "Eww! Leonard what are you eating? That smells terrible!" Sheldon said, while looking with disgust at Leonard's lunch.

"It's just a burger! And it's really good, by the way. Don't you think so?" Leonard asked Howard and Raj.

Sheldon's face showed a grimace of revulsion. "In that case, I guess I need a brain scan because I'm having olfactory hallucinations and a terrible nausea." Sheldon was genuinely concerned. "I only hope it's not a brain tumor."

"Aw! I think Sheldon has a serious case of pre-wedding nerves!" Raj exclaimed.

"This isn't funny!" Sheldon hissed sternly.

Amy was about to drive back home after she'd picked Nicky up, from his grandmother's house. As usual he spent the day with Mrs. Fowler. Upon seeing her, Nicholas ran to Amy and held her. "Mommy!" he giggled happily.

"Aw, my little monkey I've missed you too. Let's go home Nicky!", Amy affectionately said goodbye to her mother. She put Nicholas on his car seat and headed to their home.

Amy didn't have a good day at work. She was very tired; she had a strong headache and was feeling light-headed. She couldn't have lunch that day, she'd completely lost her appetite… but she had another unusual symptoms.

That day at her job, while she was examining specimens of spinal cord and cerebellum; the smell of formaldehyde, caused Amy, an intense feeling of nausea that ended up when she emptied her stomach contents for several occasions. The last time something like that happened to Amy was when… Nicholas happened.

"No! No way Amy! That can't be true!" she told herself as she looked at Nicholas smiling cheerfully from the rearview mirror. "Proxima centauri nearest star…" Nicholas started singing a song his father taught him.

"The celestial bodies that follow are…" Amy sang along with her son. "Nicholas… momma needs something from the drugstore". Amy parked her car in front of the first pharmacy she could find. "Oh God, I need to know!".

Sheldon came home a little later than usual. It was Wednesday, and it was new comic book day; so he went with Leonard and the guys to Stuart's store. Leonard drove Sheldon to their building and then, the experimental physicist headed to Penny's job.

Sheldon opened his mailbox and picked up the mail; he gave a quick glance at the envelopes as he climbed the stairs to the fourth floor.

"Bills to pay, credit cards, subscriptions to my journals, subscriptions to Amy's journals, Royal Swe… Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ... Hold on!" Sheldon swallowed hard. "Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences!" Sheldon was about to faint when he saw his name on that envelope. Trembling with emotion he put the mail in his messenger bag. He smiled from ear to ear as he went up the stairs.

The minute Sheldon opened the door of his apartment; Amy rushed to him and hugged him strongly. She squeezed him tightly in her arms as if she'd been missing him so badly, even though they haven't been apart from each other for more than nine hours.

"DADDY!" Nicholas greeted Sheldon with his lovely little voice.

"Hey Nicholas! I see you're still wearing your monkey costume, uh!" Sheldon shook his head. "I have a gift for you, but you have to change your clothes first."

Sheldon walked towards Nicholas. The baby was playing on the carpet with his little trains. Sheldon tickled Nicky's belly and then carried him in his arms. Nicholas giggled; he was happy to be with his father.

"Sheldon, I have something to tell you" said Amy, giving Sheldon a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Oh, no don't worry Amy; I just bought him a coloring book. I won't give him comic books until he can understand and appreciate them" Sheldon added.

"No, Sheldon… it's something else!" Amy looked concerned. Sheldon was starting to feel uneasy.

"Well, I have something to tell you, too." Sheldon stated. "But, you go first!"

Amy was awfully quiet for a second; then she looked at Sheldon and Nicholas, trying to encourage herself and finally said: "Sheldon, I know that our son is still very young, he's not even a year and a half old, but ..." Amy sighed very deeply.

"What's wrong Amy? I'm getting worried" Sheldon asked her, very concerned.

"I think Nicholas might not be our only child any longer. I'm not sure, but maybe… Nicky is going to be a big brother in a few months" Amy blushed as she confessed her doubts to Sheldon.

"What? ... You and I are going to have another baby? You're pregnant?" Sheldon asked dumbfounded.

"Well, before you write a letter of complaint to the pharmaceutical company because, apparently the pill has little effect among us; I have to admit I just took a pregnancy test." Amy announced him, with feigned calm.

"And ... what is the result?" Sheldon gulped. His face was utterly pale as he sat in his spot with Nicholas on his lap.

"That's the thing! I couldn't see the result. I… I don't know! I'm scared. Nicky's still a baby and this is a great responsibility, plus we'll need a bigger apartment. Maybe a house… we can't afford a house... we're are planning a wedding" Amy was so nervous. She breathed heavily, she was about to cry at any moment. This situation was unexpectedly familiar to her.

"Do you want me to see the result?" Sheldon questioned Amy as he put his arms around her, trying to comfort her.

Amy nodded, and dried her tears with a tissue. "One line means negative and two lines means positive" Amy held Nicholas in her arms and he played with her hair.

Sheldon headed to the bathroom, and every few steps he looked back at Amy and Nicholas, he inhaled deeply and opened the door.

Before his eyes he had seven white sticks placed on the bathroom countertop, neatly aligned. One next to the other, he had seven pregnancy tests, and every test showed the same result. Sheldon sighed deeply and left the bathroom.

Amy looked at him questioningly, her eyes full of anguish. "And now… what's the result?" She inquired.

Sheldon looked down at the ground, as if he'd been defeated by someone or something. "Oh… They're all negative. Every single one… the seven tests are negative" Sheldon mumbled under his breath.

"Sheldon are you sure? They're all negative? A single line in every test? I mean, it is better this way! Isn't it? We are not ready for another baby. But ... I thought I was…" Amy felt disappointed.

Amy realized that the idea of having a new baby wasn't as frightening as she considered before. She sat on the couch, quite sad. Sheldon paced slowly in the living room. Two minutes later he sat on his spot next to Amy.

"BAZINGA! They're all positive. Two lines in every test… in your seven tests. Now you know how you really feel about this. I feel extremely happy. We're having another baby! Nicky, you're going to have a brother or a sister!" Sheldon kissed Amy tenderly. "I love you Amy."

"I love you too!" Amy told him. "But… what are we going to do now?" she couldn't recover yet from the shock.

Sheldon couldn't stop smiling. "Amy, although this is certainly unexpected, we have each other. We can do this! Just take a look at Nicholas! Do you think we're having a girl this time?"

"Yeah, maybe we're having a girl" Amy smiled tenderly as she touched her belly gently. "Yes, we can do this." Amy sighed deeply; she still had tears in her eyes. "I love you so much" she snuggled in Sheldon's arms.

After a few minutes, when Amy regained her composure, she recalled that Sheldon had something to share with her. "Sheldon, honey... you wanted to tell me something. What is it?" she inquired with great curiosity.

"Well ... what I have to say isn't as important as your news." Sheldon cleared his throat. "I just got this" he said with his casual tone as he handed an envelope to Amy.

"What's this?" Amy looked at Sheldon in astonishment.

"Open it!" Sheldon took Nicholas from his mother's arms and held him tightly.

Amy opened the envelope and began to read. "Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper [ ... ] We are pleased to announce you that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has considered you as a pre-candidate for the Nobel Prize of… Nobel Prize of Physics!" Amy jumped from her seat; her eyes were shining, full of love.

"Oh my God! You did it! You did it! I knew it!" Amy hugged him strongly. "Sheldon, I'm so proud of you. I love you!"

"I'm certainly thrilled… but it's just a pre-nomination. I don't want to raise much hope about this!" Sheldon said, trying to look calm, though his heart with its current rhythm could leave his chest at any minute.

"Of course you'll win this, I'm sure! You deserve it, more than anyone. This is the reward for a lifetime of hard work. This is what you've always wanted" Amy looked at him with sincere admiration.

Sheldon was still holding Nicholas in his arms and even when the little boy, couldn't really understand what was going on, he was laughing with his parents.

"Amy, I already have what I've always wanted. Here, next to me…" Sheldon smiled as he looked at Amy and Nicholas. "I have all I ever dreamed"

A. N: Thanks for reading this story from the beginning. Thanks for your comments, for your reviews and for every time you corrected a mistake. Seriously, I hope you enjoyed this fic. And ... that's it.

THE END