Chapter 71

"Oh my god Leonard! Look at him...he's so beautiful!" Penny said, crying happy tears after the nurse put her son on her chest, telling her that skin to skin contact between them is good.

"This is one handsome baby!" Leonard said, gently putting his hand over his son and kissing it's head. "Hey buddy..."

William felt his father's touch and flinched a little before going back to sleep on his mother's chest.

"Shhh...shhh...don't be afraid sweetheart...mommy's here for you…" Penny whispered, kissing her son while holding William close. "Mommy and daddy loves you so much." she added.

"You did good honey...really good job." said Leonard who can't wipe the smile off his face.

"Come here." said Penny, pulling on his lab gown to kiss his lips before looking at her son again. "He's so handsome...oh my god!" she said, unable to control her tears.

"He got your nose honey...and your cheek…" said Leonard, kissing his wife's forehead. "Great going honey." he said.

"You helped too...like five...maybe ten percent?" she said, smiling at him.

"I'll take that ten percent and run with it." said Leonard, making Penny laugh a little. "Get some rest honey...you've had a long journey…" he added, kissing her again.

"I love you so much." said Penny before closing her eyes.

"I love you too honey…I'm here...I'm not going anywhere." he said, letting his wife rest while watching over their son who felt at home on his mother's chest.

After a few minutes, a nurse came in with a bassinet telling the couple that their son needs to undergo his neonatal checkup just to be sure that he's in good health, telling Leonard to come with her while Penny will be brought into the recovery room to rest. After half an hour, Leonard came into the room with a nurse pushing William on a bassinet. Penny smiled when the nurse carefully lifted her son, putting him on her chest. William moved a little bit and went back to sleep on Penny's chest.

"Shhh…mommy's here...you just sleep all you want sweetheart." she said while gently rocking her son back to sleep.

"I'm gonna tell the guys that William's here…I'm sure Sarah's excited to see you now." he said, kissing his wife before leaving the room.

Leonard went directly to the waiting area where his daughter and their friends are waiting for the good news. Sarah immediately jumped off her seat when she saw her father.

"Dad!" she said, running up and hugging him.

"Come on, your mom and brother are waiting for you." he said. "Let's wash your hands first so we won't make your brother sick." he added, pulling his daughter to join her.

"Is mom alright?" Sarah asked as the rest of the guys followed them.

"She's tired, but she's gonna be alright honey." said Leonard, reassuring the young lady as they washed their hands with soap and water before going to where Penny and William are.

Sarah immediately went to sit beside her mother as they entered the room.

"Mom." she said as Penny pulled her close, kissing her cheek.

"Hey sweetie! Here...meet your baby brother!" Penny said, gently lifting the baby blanket to reveal the infant sleeping on her chest.

"Mom...he's so cute!" Sarah exclaimed, enamored by her baby brother. "Hi William...I'm your sister Sarah…" she said, gently touching his tiny hands. "...well, half-sister actually, but I'll explain it to you when you grow up…" she added, making the couple smile.

"Oh my god Penny...he's so adorable!" said Bernadette. "Look Howie!" she added.

"Good thing she took mostly from Penny." said Howard, giving Leonard a fist bump.

"She has your nose bestie...and your cheek." Amy said, looking at William.

"Well it's not surprising at all." Sheldon said as they all looked at him.

"Care to enlighten us with your invaluable wisdom Sheldon?" Leonard asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I'd be happy to." Sheldon said. "It's very normal for infants to inherit their parent's facial features...even birthmarks or hair color...it's not rocket science you know…" he said.

Sarah looked at Amy and Bernadette. "He might be a genius but he's still clueless sometimes huh?" said the young lady making them all laugh.

"I don't get it." said Sheldon.

Amy tapped Sheldon's shoulder. "Don't worry about it Sheldon." she said as they turn their attention back to Penny and the baby.

"When are we gonna go home dad?" asked Sarah.

"I don't know honey...maybe in a couple of days." said Leonard. "But for now we'll just have to take care of your mom and your brother, alright?" he said.

"Okay dad." said Sarah as she turned back to face her mother. "He's so cute isn't he?" she added when William suddenly screamed, crying his lungs out.

"I think this young man is hungry." said Penny, trying to calm her son down.

"Do you want me to call the nurse?" asked Leonard.

"Why?" asked Penny.

"Well...this would be the first time that you're gonna be breastfeeding...maybe you need a few pointers or something..." he said.

Penny laughed a bit and carefully shifted her son in her arms, getting ready to feed him. "Okay guys...let's give Penny some privacy." Bernadette said, lightly pushing them out of the room.

Penny carefully opened her hospital gown to feed her son. It took a few tries for William to latch on to his mother, feeding on her nourishing milk. "There you go sweetheart...you can eat all you want..." she whispered as William started to drink his fill.

"Good job honey...you did really good." Leonard said as they watch William bond with his mother.

William was done feeding after almost ten minutes. Leonard carefully took him from Penny so she could lie down and rest while he rested William on his chest, slowly rocking him to sleep. "Hey buddy...sleep all you want...daddy loves you so much." he said. "You wanna hold him?" he asked his daughter.

"I don't want to hurt him dad." said Sarah.

Leonard smiled at her. "Don't worry honey, I won't let him fall or anything. Just keep your arms steady and place your hand under his head...like this." he said, showing Sarah the correct position. "Ready?" he asked his daughter.

Sarah nodded. "Okay dad." she said as she moved forward while Leonard carefully placed William in her arms. William lightly flinched as his sister held him. "Shhh...don't be scared...I'm not gonna hurt you..." she whispered to William before kissing him on the cheek.

"Good job sweetheart." Penny said, smiling at her daughter.

Leonard pulled out his phone and quickly took a few pictures of his daughter while carrying the baby. "Smile honey...I'm gonna send this to your grandma and grandpa." said Leonard taking a few more closeup pictures of his children. He then went beside his wife, showing her the pictures.

"That looks nice...send that one...and that one." Penny said, giggling at how cute the pictures were.

"Uh...dad...can you, like maybe post that on Instagram later?" said Sarah, referring to the baby in her arms.

The couple smiled. "Sorry honey...I guess we got carried away." he said as he took the baby from his daughter, rocking him gently to sleep while Penny sent the pictures to her parents in Nebraska. She also sent the pictures to Beverly and Alfred, telling them that they'll be waiting for their visit to meet the young man.

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After a few hours, Leonard's phone rang, seeing a Skype call from Penny's parents.

"Hi guys! Let me focus the camera so you could see your grandson." he said as he went to Penny's bed where she is watching over her son while sleeping.

Su: "Oh my god! He's so handsome! Wyatt, look at William...he's so cute!"

W: "Wow! You guys sure crank out beautiful babies huh? He's as handsome as me!" said Wyatt, making them all laugh.

P: "Thanks mom...thanks dad."

Su: "How are you feeling sweetheart?"

P: "I'm okay mom...couldn't be better." she said as she looked at her son, sleeping peacefully beside her.

W: "Where's the young woman?"

Leonard moved his phone to focus on Sarah who was sleeping on the bench inside the room, tired from waiting all night.

Su: "I guess she was pretty excited to meet her brother huh?"

L: "Oh yeah...she was more excited than me actually."

W: "Well, I hope you guys already stocked-up on sleep because that young man will surely keep you guys up at night."

L: "I'm sure we can handle it...right honey?"

P: "Yeah...sure."

W: "You guys should definitely think of having more babies...I mean I wouldn't complain if all my grandchildren are that good looking...right?"

Su: "Wyatt come on...your grandson isn't even a week old and you're already pushing them to get pregnant again!?"

P: "Thanks mom...and for the record, I'm not gonna have another baby." said Penny, greatly surprising Leonard.

L: "Uh...honey?"

P: "You heard me Leonard...I'm not gonna get pregnant again...William is enough."

L: "Okay...I know you're a little caught up with giving birth and all so we'll just talk about this some other time."

P: "Okay...but I'm not gonna change my mind." she said as she gently touched her son's cheek. William felt his mother's touch and flinched a little, going right back to sleep.

W: "Well I guess we should be hanging up now. We'll come and visit as soon as we can."

Su: "Ugh...I can't wait to hold William...you guys take care okay?"

P: "Bye mom...bye dad...don't worry about us...we'll be fine here."

L: "Bye guys...we'll talk to you soon." he said before hanging up the call, putting the phone back in his pocket.

"Are we really gonna stop with William?" he asked his wife.

Penny sighed. "Leonard...can we please talk about this some other time...like four years from now?" she said.

"Okay fine." he said before sitting beside his wife to look over their son. "Good thing he sleeps like a log..." he said, touching his son's cheek.

After thirty minutes, Beverly called them on Skype, happy in seeing that Penny and William are doing okay.

"Hi mom...here's Penny and your grandson William." he said, focusing the phone on them.

B: "Wow...he looks just like you...he's so cute!"

P: "We're all surprised too Beverly...good thing Sarah was here to help out."

B: "Where is she anyway?"

Leonard moved his phone to focus on his daughter who was still sleeping on the couch. 'She's pretty knocked out after waiting all night for her brother to arrive." he said before returning the phone to focus on his wife and son.

B: "Awww...poor girl...well at least you guys have an extra pair of hands to help you out with this young man."

L: "Yeah...I don't think we need to worry about that...she's been doing nothing but read to William while he was still inside Penny's belly."

B: "Really? She's really something huh?"

L: "You can say that again."

B: "Well I think I should be going now. You did a really good job Penny...really great."

Penny was touched by Beverly's compliment. "Aww...thank you Beverly...that means a lot."

B: "No problem Penny...and tell Sarah that I'll clear my schedule and visit soon."

L: "I'm sure she'll be excited to see you again mom." he said before putting the phone down.

"Why don't you get some sleep honey...I'll watch over William for now." he said before kissing her lips.

"Thank you honey...I love you..." said Penny.

"I love you too...don't worry, before you know it, we'll be getting busy again. Let's just hope this young man doesn't disturb us too often." he said making Penny laugh.

"You just keep amusing yourself sailor." she said before closing her eyes to get her much needed rest.

The rest of their friends came back including Raj and Lucy who brought a basket of fruits for Penny and some baby stuff for William. By this time, Sarah was already awake after getting a few hours of sleep. The whole gang was amazed at how cute Leonard and Penny's son was, being the angel that he is while sleeping peacefully in Penny's arms. The couple looked at each other and can't contain their happiness as they venture into a new chapter of their lives, making a silent promise to always be with each other no matter what happens.