Okay, it's been a looong time, and I'm so sorry for that. I haven't abandoned this fic, and I'm still working on it. So here's the next chapter. Also I've skipped ahead in time.


Penny looked at her watch. Four in the afternoon. She should be at work now, for the evening shift. But she was just past her due date and her maternity leave had already started. So instead of serving cheesecake, she was sat on her sofa, almost completely wrapped around her large bump and looking at the baby paraphernalia that Leonard had insisted on buying for her and the bump. Their son. It was still an almost strange concept for her. Their son. It seemed to have happened so quickly, and yet…

"Ah," she sighed, feeling a very powerful kick under her ribs. She got up and almost waddled over to the crib which Leonard had assembled for her and the baby. It was already made up with baby boy blue sheets, and a teddy, just waiting for her to pop. Things with Leonard were going well though. He made her happy, and she felt like he was happy too.

Penny was starting to feel really uncomfortable, far too pregnant to do anything comfortably, even sleep. Leonard was more excited about the baby than she was! He was so eager, it slightly worried her. What if she wasn't any good at being a mother? Leonard was almost giddy with enthusiasm. But she was grateful that he hadn't mentioned moving in again, even though she knew he wanted to. Her apartment would be too crowded with three of them, and she knew it. If Leonard were being honest, he knew it too.

She gasped as she felt her entire stomach tightening and a dull pain at the base of her back. It faded as soon as she started to feel it and she waited for something else to happen. Nothing did. She felt the baby wriggling slightly and smiled at the reassuring presence of her child. After about ten minutes she shrugged and went back to sorting through the baby clothes. Then she felt it again. This time it was a bit more painful, and lasted a little longer. And she knew that the baby was on its way.

She grabbed her keys, her phone, and the bag she'd sorted out for the hospital and left her apartment. Then she opened the door to 4A, or tried to. It was locked. She used her key to open it but there was no one there.

With a sigh, she pressed the button for the newly fixed elevator and waited, thinking she'd call Leonard from the cab. Then the doors pinged open and Leonard emerged. "Hey."

"We have to go," she said, walking into the elevator as he followed.

"Why?" he asked, retracing his steps.

"I think the baby's coming," she said calmly.

His jaw dropped open. "Are you sure?!"

"I'm pretty sure," she said, pressing the button to the lobby.

"But, this is so sudden," he blabbered.

"Oh come on Leonard! You've had nine months, you knew it was coming!"

"Er, right," he said. "I just… wasn't expecting it today and…." he tailed off as the lights flickered off and the elevator stopped moving, grinding to a halt with a noise of electricity powering down.

"What the…?" he asked, looking at the small dim room.

"Oh shit!" she said. "It's broken?!" she shouted.

"Don't yell at me!" he said. "And yes, it looks that way," Leonard said, pushing random buttons on the elevators control panel. "Oh come on!" He became increasingly infuriated and punched it, at the same time as Penny felt a contraction go through her. She leaned against the wall, her arms around her stomach as she moaned softly.

"God, are you all right?" he asked, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Leonard, if you're like this now, what are you going to be like in a few hours time?" she asked. "It's only going to get worse!"

"I know," he said. "It's just not easy seeing you in pain you know?"

"Well, you can give birth to the next one then," she said, smiling at him.

"That's a deal," he said with a laugh. He kissed her temple and then got his phone out of his pocket. "We need to make some calls to get out of here though," he said.

"Yes please," she said. "I don't want to give birth in this elevator, but... ah!"

"Right." Leonard quickly dialled Sheldon who was bound to remember the engineer's number. Next on his list would be Howard, to try and fix the damn thing.


Thank you for the reviews so far, and thanks for sticking with it.