How much have these characters grown during this sitcom’s nine seasons? Howard (Simon Helberg) not only got a girlfriend, Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), and eventually married her, but now they’re expecting a child. I know, that’s the normal plot trajectory for sitcoms that last so many years on the air, but the four geeks at the center of The Big Bang Theory started out so stunted emotionally, it’s an especially impressive evolutionary achievement in this case. And they stay true to character, because in tonight’s episode, Howard tells the other guys he’s afraid he’s not ready to be a father. In fact, he’s terrified. Little does he know, he shares those feelings with just about every impending father in the history of the universe.