Day 348- March 1st

"You really don't have to go to work today?" Howard questioned Bernadette as they were getting Halley and Michael ready for the day.

Helping Halley get dressed, Bernadette answered her husband, "Nope. I told them it was Michael's birthday and I would be taking the day off so we could spend it as a family, like we did for Halley's birthday. I have one meeting this morning, but I can do that over Zoom from here."

Michael interrupted his parents, "Cupcakes at the computer again?"

Howard replied, "I don't think we'll be having cupcakes with everyone over the computer again." Noticing the change in Michael's demeanor, he quickly continued, "Everyone is coming over for cake in the backyard."

"Really?" exclaimed Halley. "Everyone is coming over? It's been forever since they were here. Can I play with Charlie? She was too little to play the last time they were here."

"She's bigger than the last time you saw her, but she's still pretty little," explained Bernadette. "I'll see what toys we have that you can play with her with. We're just having cake with everyone. They're coming after lunch, but will probably go home before dinner."

The family heard the front door open and knew Raj had arrived for the day. "Where's the birthday boy?" He called out as he made his way upstairs.

"I'm right here," a half-naked Michael yelled as he ran into the hallway and was scooped up by Raj who returned him to Howard to finish getting dressed

That afternoon, everyone gathered in the Wolowitz backyard. Bernadette was pushing Charlie in a swing on the swing set Howard and Raj built the kids for Christmas, while Halley and Michael took turns on the slide. "Michael, come here," Raj called across the yard. "There's someone who wants to talk to you," he said holding his phone out.

"Who is it?" The now three-year-old asked as he ran towards the adults.

"Becca heard it was your birthday and wants to wish you a happy birthday," explained Raj, passing the phone to the toddler.

Leonard watched as Michael took over the FaceTime call and wandered away from the adults at the table. "How's it going with Becca? You still haven't met in person, have you?"

"It's going really well. Wednesday marks two months since we first messaged each other," he started. "We're actually going to try to meet up this weekend finally. I'm thinking just pick up some coffee and go for a walk or something like that. Maybe wander the Walk of Fame. She mentioned she's never done that. She's still working from home and I've only been around everyone here, so we feel pretty safe meeting up. We're going to get tested before, just to be sure."

"I hope it works out the way you want," smiled Leonard as Michael returned Raj's phone before running back to the swing set.

"Me too. I really like her, Leonard."

"Dang, Penny. I think you drank the entire bottle," pointed out Bernadette as the group began to clean up the paper cups and plates from the table after everyone finished their cake.

Penny glanced at the empty wine bottle still sitting near her on the table as she began to slur her words. "So? I've barely drank since Charlie was born. I'm allowed to have a drink every so often. Leonard's here to take care of her and he's driving, so it's perfectly fine for me to have a little wine"

Grimacing, Bernadette apologized, "Sorry, I just haven't seen you drink that much in a very long time. Granted, it's hard to tell how much wine you've had during virtual girls' night, but still."

"I believe the last time Penny was this drunk was the day Amy and I won the Nobel when she and I went to The Cheesecake Factory. If I'm not mistaken, that was the night Charlie was conceived," Sheldon chimed in. Amy immediately whispered in Sheldon's ear before he continued, "Amy says that was inappropriate for me to say and that I need to apologize and that it's time for us to go home. Sorry for my comment, Penny. Amy and I will see you later."

Grinning, Penny accepted the apology, "It's true, so it's not completely inappropriate. Bye, Shamy."

"Great, she's at the point of being drunk that she's referring to us as Shamy again. Let's go home, Amy."

"Did you have a good birthday?" Bernadette asked her son as she was tucking him into bed.

Excitedly nodding his head, Michael answered, "I think it was the best day ever. We had cake and everyone came over to play with me. Can we do it again?"

Howard stopped tucking in Halley to answer, "It won't be your birthday again until next year, but I think we can talk about having everyone start coming over more often."

"Can they?" Interrupted Halley. "Charlie really liked the swing set, but she doesn't have one because she just lives in an apartment, not a house like we do."

"I can't promise anything, but I'll talk to Amy and Penny about it to see if they'd want to come back over."

"They'll come back over. You just have to call them, Mommy," insisted Michael.

Bernadette smiled as she and Howard swapped places to say goodnight to the opposite child, "I'll call them another day. Right now, it's bedtime. I love you. Both of you," she glanced between her children.

Howard closed the door as he and Bernadette left their children's room, being sure to leave the door open for the light from the hallway to enter their room. "How do we have a four-year-old and three-year-old, Bernie?"

"We could go to bed early, and I could show you how we ended up with two kids," suggested his wife, taking his hand and leading him towards the master bedroom.