Chapter Text
Epilogue:
Friday, 1 7 th of January, 2020:
Sheldon took a deep breath of the crisp, fresh winter air and felt the tension melt away from his shoulders. The house was getting way too stuffy with so many people inside.
Leonard seemed to agree with him because he, too, breathed a deep sigh of contentment. With big, round blue eyes he looked at Sheldon from out of his stroller.
Sheldon smiled down at his son, oddly in awe again of their resemblance. His hair was maybe a bit lighter, more like Amy's, but other than that Leonard really was his spitting image. As if to confirm this thought, Leonard mirrored his father's smile and made a gurgling noise in the back of his throat. It made Sheldon laugh.
Unlike him, Leonard was much calmer and quicker with a smile. Sheldon just knew that his son had Amy's kind soul within him. The best features of them both.
Last year had been a stressful one. So much so that they didn't even manage to visit Texas around Christmas like he had promised his mother. It had been Leonard's first Christmas and Amy wanted to celebrate in the quietness of their own new home. Just the three of them.
But they were here now. A random weekend get-together of the Cooper clan that, now with three children, had gotten even louder than last year. Hence why Sheldon and Leonard escaped. Amy wanted to come with them but ultimately decided that she was still too tired from the flight and would rather lie down for a while.
Leonard liked the quietness.
He preferred to stay in the safety of his mother's or father's arms and observe his surroundings from there. Taking everything in with his big blue eyes and seemingly drawing his own conclusions and assumptions of the world. Sheldon swore he could see that there was so much more going on behind this angelic, little forehead than one would think.
"You're just the sweetest, smartest little boy, aren't you, Leonard?" Sheldon told his baby as they were making their way along the streets of his old neighborhood. The response he got was an amused giggle, which further supported Sheldon's believe that Leonard could understand him word for word.
Just since last week his son was already four months old. Sheldon was amazed how quickly the time had passed.
He had been so scared that he wouldn't be able to be a good father, husband and scientist all at once, but in the end there was simply no time to panic. There was so much to do.
Thank goodness for their friends, who, of course, found out about Amy's surprising pregnancy at the New Year's Eve party just seconds before midnight. They had almost missed the ball drop because of the baby bombshell that dropped right in the middle of them. Sheldon couldn't count the times Leonard, Penny and all the others had talked them down from the ledge of total panic and helped them to be strong and be there for each other. Especially in the weeks after the announcement was made that Sheldon and Amy's discovery was in fact nominated for a Nobel Prize.
While being utterly satisfied and happy that their efforts had been recognized, Amy, in particular, had been afraid of the pressure of being a Nobel nominee and a first-time mother. She had been afraid that she would be forced to choose between those two paths… just as Sheldon suspected. But they had talked often about it and he had calmed her. He would never force her to choose. They were in this together and he would step up and support her whenever she couldn't and the other way round.
And there had been many instances where support was needed.
They had to deal with a myriad of interviews and had to learn how to handle the press. There were two insufferable scientists from Chicago who not only tried to kick Amy off the project, but tried to take their discovery away from them altogether. There was one time when Amy couldn't hold back her fierce anger about them and she verbally exploded loud and vigorously at a fairly public setting.
The backlash had hit them hard and Amy was indeed forced to take a step back after that. But the calm was exactly what their baby had needed and afterwards she felt much better. Once more, Sheldon had reassured her that winning the Nobel wasn't the single most important thing in his life anymore.
Their baby was.
By May – Amy was four months along and over the awful part of feeling sick all the time – life was finally giving them a break and their problems suddenly evaporated all on their own. Because of a dispute between the two Chicago scientists they got themselves disqualified from the Nobel application and Sheldon and Amy were once more the sole researchers associated with superasymmetry.
It was like a tremendous weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Now all they had to do was wait and hope that the Nobel committee didn't deem their research as too tainted by all these turbulences.
Finally, Sheldon and Amy could truly relax and make preparations for their little progeny. They went house hunting, decided for nursery themes and pondered over the perfect name. Suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place and the further the pregnancy went along, the happier and more excited they got. Sheldon did more and more of the interviews and publicity campaigns and he did it pretty well, if he'd dare to say so himself. Amy was a good coach.
But once it was time to focus on the birth of their first child, everything concerning the Nobel was pushed to the back of their minds again.
Leonard yawned and Sheldon blinked himself back to reality. Obviously, his son must have grown tired of staring into his blank face that was stuck in the past. Sheldon smiled. "We're almost there, I promise." he said to him and looked up as his feet led him through the gate of the church yard.
Sheldon hadn't even realized where they were headed until right in this moment. Oh, just as well, he thought, I did promise to visit.
He made his way through the stillness of the gravestones, looking down at Leonard. Sheldon had to smile again, remembering how his best friend in the world had sobbed and cried when he found out that Sheldon named his son after him. Well, initially he had Leonard Nimoy in mind, but Amy told him not to tell him that. Ever.
Leonard George Cooper was born a few days early, on the 9th of September, 2019.
Apart from that very first divergence, Leonard was an easy and quiet child that adhered to his sleeping and feeding schedule like clockwork. Amy found it amusing how much Leonard was already his father's child within the first few days of his birth.
It made the following months so much easier. Because Sheldon and Amy did win the Nobel Prize. The announcement was made one month after Leonard was born and Sheldon still couldn't remember much of that night. Emotions had run high and he only recollected the feeling of pure joy and happiness.
The ceremony in Stockholm took place in December and the new parents hadn't been sure if little Leonard was up for a transatlantic flight at his young age of only three months. Amy thought about staying home, but their little one remained so well-behaved that she took him with her in the end. He was feeding during takeoff and landing and otherwise slept the whole way. When they were on stage, receiving their medals, he was cuddled in the arms of his Auntie Penny and blinked up at his parents as if he understood the significance of this amazing, long-awaited moment.
Sheldon couldn't take his eyes off that perfect little human being he and Amy had created and he changed his acceptance speech at the very last moment, only to thank all the wonderful people around him for helping him to achieve this goal.
He did thank his dad.
Sheldon sat down on the bench not far away from George Cooper's grave and looked at Leonard who was watching him with curiosity. "I bet you wonder where we are, right, Leonard? Well... today we're visiting your Pop-Pop." Sheldon's eyes glistened as he used this beloved nickname. "He was a great man. A proud Texan. Not quite like me… but still a wise man."
Leonard studied his father's face with rapt attention. Patience and intelligence in his eyes.
"He taught me so much about life…" Sheldon continued. "I hope I will be able to pass his wisdom on to you, Leonard." He leaned closer, stroking his son's small, soft cheek with one of his fingers, making him laugh. "He taught me to always let you know how proud I am of you… and I am." Leonard giggled once more. "Yes, I am, baby boy. I'm so proud of you and nothing you ever do will change that fact."
Blue stared into blue and Sheldon knew that he understood.
Carefully, he unstrapped Leonard from his stroller and he gurgled and wiggled his arms and legs in excitement of being picked-up. Sheldon held his son close to his chest to shield him from the cold wind and then slowly made his way over to the dark marble gravestone.
"Hello, Dad." Sheldon said. "Sorry, it took so long. I had one hell of a year." Sheldon rocked his little boy in his arms and turned so Leonard could see. "Dad, I want to introduce you to someone..."