Sheldon and Amy quietly got ready for bed the night before Amy was scheduled to return to work following her maternity leave. Amy set the baby monitor on her nightstand while Sheldon pulled the blankets back. "I was thinking," Sheldon started. "Maybe Katie shouldn't go to daycare tomorrow."
"I'm going back to work tomorrow. If you don't think she should go to daycare, what do you suggest we do with her while we're both at work all day?" questioned Amy, rolling on her side to face him.
"It's just she's never not been with one of us. Every day, for the past three and a half months, no one aside from the two of us have cared for her. What if something happens and we're not there?"
Amy rested her hand on Sheldon's chest. "Do you know I had the exact same thoughts when I went back to work after Max was born? I'm pretty sure every new parent feels this way. I know Penny did, and remember Howard picked Halley up from her first day at daycare before he even went to his office."
"I don't know, Amy. What if it's too soon for us to both be working? I only took a month off after Katie was born. I could request more time and stay home with her until after the holidays," Sheldon suggested. "She would be almost five months old by then. I think I'd be more comfortable with her not being with one of us by then."
"How about this," Amy shifted to sit up. "Katie goes to daycare tomorrow, like we've been planning for weeks, but we can check on her at lunchtime. I was planning on going down to the daycare to nurse her. They don't usually let parents visit during the day, but make an exception for nursing mothers. They can't stop me if you happen to be with me."
"I guess that would be alright. Can we plan to visit her every day during lunch?"
Nodding her head, Amy replied, "Sure."
Sheldon gave Amy a quick kiss on the cheek like he did every night. "Good night. I love you."
Katie was dropped off at daycare first thing the next morning by both Amy and Sheldon before they parted ways, with Amy heading for her lab and Sheldon meeting the guys in the cafeteria. "Morning, Sheldon," Raj greeted the physicist from across the cafeteria. "What's wrong?"
Slumping into an empty chair, Sheldon reminded the group, "Amy came back to work today. We just dropped Katie off at daycare. This is the first time that Katie isn't with Amy or me."
"And let me guess," Leonard had been watching his former roommate's body language, "You're completely freaked out by that."
"Yes. Did the two of you feel this way the first day your kids went to daycare?" he directed his question at Leonard and Howard.
Howard nodded, "Halley didn't last twenty minutes on her first day of daycare before I couldn't take it so Stuart and I took her out for the day instead. You won't always feel this way, I promise. You'll always worry about her when she's not with you or Amy, but it does get easier."
Amy rounded the corner and approached Sheldon's office. She could hear him talking to someone while still in the hallway, but couldn't tell whom he was speaking with. "Hi, Sheldon. I don't mean to interrupt you, but I was going to head down to the daycare to nurse Katie if you want to join me."
As he turned around, Amy saw who Sheldon was talking to. "Hello, Amy. Say hi to mommy, Katie Beth," Sheldon lifted the infant's arm to wave at Amy.
"Sheldon. How long did it take before you went back over there and brought her back here?" Amy reached to take her daughter from Sheldon's arms.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "A couple of hours. I was only planning on watching her through the window for a few minutes, next thing I knew, I was back in my office with her in my arms."
Amy sat in the chair next to Sheldon's desk with Katie. Getting her settled, she began to feed her while shaking her head at her husband. "While I appreciate being able to feed her here, rather than the hallway outside the daycare, you can't be doing this, Sheldon. She has to stay in the daycare all day. What did they say when you took her? I'm sure they're starting to get worried that you haven't brought her back yet."
"I said she'd be back after lunch, so they won't be looking for her for at least another forty-five minutes," Sheldon watched Amy as she fed Katie. No matter how many times he saw her nurse her, he was amazed she was able to provide everything their daughter needed. "Do you want to get lunch before we take her back to the daycare?"
"Sure, but she needs to stay in daycare for the entire day tomorrow. I can ask them to call me if you try to take her again when it's not the normal pick-up time. Katie is in the same group with Rory and Leonard isn't running down there multiple times a day, is he?"
Sheldon shook his head, "Not that I know of."
Noticing Katie appeared to be finished eating, Amy stood from her chair, "Let's go get lunch and take this girl back to daycare, where she will stay until we're done for the day."
I got a new job! To be honest, I wasn't expecting to get one as quickly as I did. I went from submitting my resume, to getting an email to interview, to actually interviewing, to getting an offer email all within 24 hours. It's doing wardrobe for A Christmas Carol and we start tech week (dress rehearsals) tomorrow. It will be long days for me, but I think I'll still be able to update on a regular basis. Thanks again for continuing to read!
