Penny looked longingly down the alcohol aisle of the supermarket she was shopping at with Leonard. She moved past it with a shake of her head. She wasn't going to take a chance, she thought, just in case. She hoped Leonard didn't notice since she hadn't decided yet if she was going to tell him about the possibility that she was pregnant or wait until she knew for sure.
"Not getting any wine or anything this time?" Leonard asked with a bit of surprise.
Balls! Penny tried to deflect him by reverting to her old stand-by; defensiveness. "Is that a crack about my drinking habits, Hofstadter?"
"What? No!" Leonard replied, taken aback at the hint of anger in her tone. "It's just that you're getting together with Amy and Bernadette for a Girl's night this week so I thought you'd be picking something up."
"Oh, yeah," Penny said, realizing she may have been too defensive. "Sometimes we just have tea and eat lots of cake or ice cream."
As they were having this discussion the pair had continued to make their way along the rows of shelves, coming eventually to the dairy-substitute section.
"I think we're almost out of soy milk," Penny commented as she examined the cartons in front of them. "Look, they have different flavors. Wanna try one? I find the regular stuff kinda bland."
"You know I don't mind if you get regular milk for yourself," Leonard told her.
"No, it's okay. I'd rather we just get the one kind, in case our-" she stopped herself. "In case we get them mixed up. Don't want you, um, ripping one during an intimate moment." Right then, Penny's phone began to ring, saving her from having to make further explanations.
After completing his routine of knocking three times and calling out their names, not to mention listening with his ear to the door and employing his Vulcan hearing to determine that Leonard and Penny weren't simply pretending to not be home, Sheldon decided that they had gone out for the day and crossed the hall to apartment 4A. Their gratifying excitement and relief at his return could wait a little longer, he thought.
Sheldon entered his apartment and switched the light on, determining after a quick inspection that everything had remained as he had left it. Setting down his suitcase, Sheldon went over to the kitchen island and ran his finger along the polished surface. Somebody had dusted, he noted happily to himself. Certainly not Penny, considering her disinclination to keeping her own apartment tidy, he thought disdainfully. Probably Amy. Satisfied, he sank into his Spot with a contented sigh and closed his eyes.
Penny spoke into her phone while leaning on her shopping cart as she pushed it slowly down the cereal aisle. Holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, she dug around in her purse for a pen and proceeded to scribble on her hand, that being the only writing surface available. Leonard, who was trailing a few paces behind browsing through the boxes, caught up to Penny as she hung up.
"Something important?" Leonard asked as he took her hand and looked at the time and date she had jotted down on it.
"Doctor's appointment? Audition?"
"It was my agent about an audition," Penny replied without enthusiasm.
"Oh, it's not another schlocky horror thing is it?"
"Just a small part in a TV mini-series."
"But still, it's work, right? You can't skate by on a few commercials forever." Seeing the unimpressed look she gave him, Leonard quickly back-tracked before she could go off on him. He'd noticed that she'd been in a less than stellar mood all day. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just thought you'd be happier."
Penny sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I've had something on my mind, but it's no reason to take it out on you."
"That's okay," Leonard replied. "I thought maybe it was that time...I mean, I should know without having to consult Sheldon's chart..." He broke off before he could dig himself a deeper hole as Penny glared at him again. Leonard looked down at his shoes. Penny's expression softened as she saw how dejected he looked.
"C'mon," she said with a small smile, finally deciding her course of action. She led Leonard towards the checkout. "I think there's a pharmacy not too far from here. There's something we need to pick up."