The next day, as Penny was still meandering around her apartment in a ratty old robe and pajamas, she heard a knock at her door. She pulled the door open without bothering to look through the peephole, which was a bad habit of hers. I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to learn to be more careful, she mused. Something perhaps that she could learn from Sheldon. But that thought was quickly driven out of her head at the sight of a young man holding a cellophane-wrapped vase of bright flowers.

"Delivery for Miss Penny, uh..."

"Yup, that's me," she interrupted, grabbing the bouquet. The blooms were gerbera daisies. She squealed when she saw them; they were her favorite. Eagerly, she rummaged through the plastic, looking for the card. Who had sent her flowers? Was it Leonard? She almost didn't care if he was trying to win her over again. The last time she'd gotten flowers was from her parents on the day she graduated high school. And then she plucked out the card and found it contained six words: Thank you. Sincerely, Sheldon Cooper, PhD. She giggled as she read it.

"Miss? I need you to sign here," the delivery boy said, thrusting a clipboard at her. Awkwardly, she juggled the flowers as she scrawled her name. Next to her printed name and address were the instructions, "DO NOT DISTURB BEFORE 11 AM." She laughed again as she returned the clipboard and went to find a vase to display her flowers.

Throughout the rest of the week, Penny spent practically every waking moment that she wasn't working at Sheldon's place. She even started setting her alarm clock to get up at eight and would stumble sleepily across the hall with her coffee. She usually walked in the door to be greeted by happy squeals from Caleb, who would come running over to give her a big hug around her knees. She had it admit, it was one of the nicest ways she could think of to start her day.

She was teaching Sheldon how to interact with Caleb. Before, she had blithely assumed that with time, he would figure it out on his own, but nurturing didn't come naturally to him at all. She had to show him how to really hug his son and hold him close instead of giving him an awkward pat on the back. Often, the toddler was sandwiched between them, sometimes happy and sometimes squirming, as she repositioned Sheldon's arms. Trying to teach him how to praise Caleb's good behavior was also an uphill battle. He actually took notes-Penny found it both funny and touching-and started wearing a rubber band on his arm to snap it whenever he said anything negative to the little boy. Often, Penny found herself reaching over the snap the rubber band, while Sheldon would give her that wide-eyed, what-did-I-do look of innocence, but he was making an effort. She knew that change wouldn't come quickly or easily, so she praised his every little success almost as lavishly as she did Caleb's.

It took close to two weeks for the medical records to arrive. Sheldon was greatly excited to see them, as it meant he could finally go back to work. Penny had mixed feelings about it. She was forced to admit that she had enjoyed this time more than she thought; seeing a huge grin on Caleb's face first thing in the morning, and Sheldon's eyes glowing happily at her had made her feel like a part of something. She was reluctant to give that up, even if she couldn't define exactly what it was she was losing.

"I guess you won't need me any more," she said quietly, watching Sheldon carefully look over the thick sheaf of papers.

"I'll still need you to babysit on Wednesday nights when the four of us go for new comic book night at Stuart's," he replied absently.

She winced. That had hurt. A babysitter- apparently, that was all she was to him, but there was no use getting upset about it. While Sheldon had made great strides in relating to his son, he was still light years away from figuring out how to be a good friend. "Okay. I'll see you Wednesday," she answered and slipped out.

She had just gotten comfy on her sofa with a glass of wine and cued up the latest reality show when Sheldon started knocking on her door. Rolling her eyes, she waited until he finished the last knock before pulling the door open. There stood Sheldon, with Caleb in one arm. The little boy grinned at her with a flash of pearly whites, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Why did you leave?" Sheldon asked.

She shrugged, unable to meet his gaze. He looked hurt and confused, and she wanted to tell him she felt the same way. "You said you didn't need me anymore. Guess it's about time I got back to reality."

He studied her silently, his face creasing into a frown. "Our dinner order was just delivered. In fact, it is now getting cold. Perhaps you misinterpreted what I meant. While technically I don't require your presence, I was expecting you to join us."

She sighed. "Is this just because you have an extra order of vegetarian pad thai that you don't know what to do with?"

"Partially," he replied, still looking confused. "But I also wanted your company."

As if on cue, Caleb leaned over toward her, arms outstretched. She caught him, and for a moment, she and Sheldon were pressed close together, juggling the toddler. Moments like these had happened with increasing regularity since she began teaching him how to hold his son. She'd had to touch Sheldon and lean in close to him. Now she started to recognize just the tiniest shift in her feelings for him. Was this behind her sulking and walking out on him? She gave herself a mental shake and quickly stepped back. Letting herself fall for Sheldon would be the world's biggest mistake. He was still watching her expectantly, and she realized she was trapped. She couldn't suddenly refuse to hang out with him without hurting both him and Caleb, and possibly undoing a lot of the hard work she'd put into helping Sheldon become a better father. She cuddled Caleb against her side.

"Alright, I'll come over. Just don't expect me to make a habit of it every night, okay? I've got my own life," she answered, although she wondered if that were true. During the week and a half she'd been in Texas, she'd only gotten a few texts from friends. Same for the past two weeks, as,she began spending all of her free time over at Sheldon's place. Even Leonard hadn't texted nearly as much as she expected. His eager attention was always nice, especially after a long waitressing shift of getting splattered with food and people leaving her bad tips. When he was living across the hall, it had seemed like a bad idea to get involved with him. Better to just keep him as a friend, she thought. But now that he had moved away, he seemed to have forgotten about her, and instead she was obsessing over his crazy best friend. The direction of her thoughts unnerved her. Maybe they both needed to put some distance between them.


Over the next few days, Sheldon developed a routine which he hoped would suit both him and Caleb. Leonard and Raj took turns picking them up. He had purchased a second car seat, one for each of their vehicles, so that was one less thing he had to lug around. Both his friends complained that child seats were the opposite of chick magnets. Unfortunately, they couldn't argue when he pointed out that their love lives would hardly be impacted since they hadn't been dating much before.

Sheldon didn't go back to the first daycare center. His perceived impression of the director's rudeness was enough to bump it down a few spots on his list. He found another one, almost as highly-rated, and even closer to the Caltech campus. After work, Leonard or Raj would drive him to pick up Caleb and drop them off at 2311 North Robles. The guys would occasionally join him, and after dinner, they would play cards, RPGs or video games, although Sheldon now insisted that they keep quiet, and the volume had to be turned down on the television set. He wasn't about to risk either damaging Caleb's hearing or disrupting his sleep schedule. On other nights, it was just him, Penny and Caleb. She would usually join them if she wasn't working, whether his friends were over or not. They agreed she would ask for every Wednesday night off so she could babysit while Sheldon went with the guys to Stuart's for new comic book night. It was his one night out without his son, and he looked forward to it eagerly.

There was one thing that worried him about Caleb: he wasn't speaking yet. It had first been brought to his attention by one of Caleb's daycare teachers, who asked him, "Don't you think he should be able to say at least a few words by now?" The slightly judgmental tone in which the question was delivered didn't help matters. The little boy could make a few letter sounds, but he was behind his peers in verbal communication. Sheldon had already had a consultation with his son's pediatrician, and the doctor assured him that there wasn't yet cause for alarm. Clearly, the doctor didn't know Sheldon very well, because his assurances fell on deaf ears.

He talked to Penny about it, and she said that it might be a response to all the recent changes in Caleb's life. It was not a very comforting thought, but at least Sheldon now knew he was doing his best to provide the boy with a stable home. Much as he hated to admit it, he was starting to see how important a role empathy played in parenting. If he wasn't yet very good at nurturing (and he knew he wasn't), he was grateful he had Penny to make up for his shortcomings.