"We're home," Sheldon called out while holding the front door open for Amy to enter in front of him.
Larry Fowler quickly emerged and met the couple in the foyer. "Where's my new grandson?"
Smiling at her father, Amy answered, "He's right here. We'll get him out of the car seat in the living room. Where's mom and Katie?"
"Your mother is getting Katie dressed. I was cleaning up breakfast. Katie wanted pancakes and rather than heat up frozen ones, we decided to make chocolate chip pancakes. I thought it'd be okay since today's a special day."
The trio made their way into the living room, where Amy relaxed into the couch as Sheldon unbuckled Leo from his car seat. Sheldon maneuvered the newborn in his arms, passing Larry his grandson. "Larry, this is Leo."
Larry studied the infant's face for a few minutes before saying anything. "He looks like Amy did as a baby. A little like Max and Katie, but a lot like Amy," he turned back to Leo and enjoyed a few minutes of quiet with the newest family member before his wife and Katie entered the room.
Katie immediately spotted Amy on the couch and ran to her. Climbing next to her, she wrapped her arms around Amy's neck. "Oh, I missed you, baby girl. I guess I can't call you that anymore. You're a big sister. Leo's the baby of the family now."
"Baby Lee?" Katie asked, before looking around the room and noticing Larry was holding something. Pointing, she asked again, "Baby Lee?"
"Yep, that's baby Leo. Dad, can you bring him here so Katie can meet her little brother?" Amy asked, shifting Katie to be sitting next to her. Larry crossed the room and passed Leo back to his mother. "Katie, this is Leo. He's your little brother."
Standing on the couch next to Amy to get a better view of her three-day-old brother, Katie touched his face. "Hi, Lee. Play now?"
Smiling at her daughter, Amy pulled her close to her with the arm that wasn't holding Leo. "You can go play, but Leo is still too little to play with you. Should I call Penny to see if Rory can play with you later?"
"Yes!" Katie yelled before jumping off the couch.
Mrs. Fowler winced as the toddler ran to the toys across the room. "I hate when she jumps off the couch like that. You shouldn't let her do that."
"It's okay. She's not really jumping off the couch. She jumps up and lands on her butt before sliding off the couch," clarified Sheldon. "You're the only one who hasn't met Leo. I think it's your turn."
Amy was already moving to pass her mother the newborn. Mrs. Fowler sat next to her daughter, holding her grandson. "Hi, sweet boy. I'm your grandma. You know, you have some of the best parents ever. Your brother and sister are pretty great, too. They all love you so much; I know your grandpa and I do."
"Can I get you something to drink, mom?" Sheldon asked not long after Mary Cooper arrived from the airport.
Looking at her newest grandson in her arms, Mary shook her head, "I'm good. I can't get over how much this little boy looks like you when you were a baby. I'm not saying Katie didn't look like you, but Leo could be your clone."
"Mother, all babies look alike when they're as young as Leo," Sheldon rolled his eyes. "His features will continue to develop as he grows. Larry was insistent he looks just like Amy as a baby."
Mary opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and Max ran into the house. "You're home. I thought you weren't going to be home until later. Where's Leo?" he huffed, out of breath.
"He's right here," Mary spoke up. "Come meet your baby brother."
"Hi, mom," the almost-fourteen-year-old quickly said when he noticed Amy sitting on the opposite side of the couch from Mary.
As Max reached to take the newborn from his grandmother, Amy stopped him. "Hold up. Why are you all sweaty and out of breath? Did you actually run home from school?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I wasn't sure what time you were coming home from the hospital and I wanted to get home as fast as possible."
"I appreciate the thought, however, you're all sweaty and kind of smell. You need to go upstairs and take a shower before you can hold Leo. Once you're showered, you can hold Leo as much as you want," compromised Amy.
"Mom," whined the teenager.
Wanting to intervene, but not wanting to tell Sheldon and Amy how to parent their children, Mary motioned for Max to come closer to her. Quietly, she said to him, "Go shower. I won't let anyone take this baby away from me until you come back. The next person to hold him will be you. I've got to get as much time as I can with Leo as possible. I'm only here for a week before I have to go back to Texas."
Max leaned to see his brother's face. "Okay. I'll be quick."
After Max showered, he held his baby brother for a while, but eventually passed him back to Amy. Amy looked at the newborn lying in her arms, Leo was awake and looking around the room, trying to get used to his new surroundings. "Mary, can you take him for a minute? I need to use the restroom." Amy asked while starting to stand.
"Mommy, no," Katie insisted. "Stay."
"I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute. Why don't you show Grandma Mary your new baby doll?" suggested Amy as Katie began to follow her out of the room.
Amy returned to the room a few minutes later, with the almost-two-year-old on her hip. "I tried to get her to stay here, but she insisted on following you," explained Mary. "Georgie was the same way when George and I brought the twins home. He was almost five and rather independent, but the minute those babies came home, he was like Velcro to me. Thankfully that didn't last long. Within a few weeks, he was back to wanting to play outside with the neighborhood kids all the time and didn't seem to care if he wasn't right next to me."
Pulling Katie into her lap and wrapping her arms around the toddler, Amy smiled. "I know it's because she missed me. I've only been away from her for one night before. She wasn't even a year old then, so she doesn't remember it. I don't mind right now because you're here and Sheldon will be home from work the next month or so. It could become a problem, though, if it continues once I'm home alone with both of them after Sheldon goes back to work. We haven't decided for sure yet, but we're thinking Katie might go to daycare a day or two a week to give me a bit of a break and let Katie get out some of the energy that she usually runs off playing with the other kids."
Sheldon entered the room, interrupting the conversation between his wife and mother. "Leonard asked if he and Penny could pick up dinner for us. I said that was fine. How does pizza sound? I know it's not our usual pizza night, but it's quick. They won't be here long, which should allow us to attempt a bedtime routine with Leo."
"That's fine," nodded Amy. "Katie's been looking for someone to play with, so she'll be excited to see Rory."
An hour later, the Hofstadter's let themselves into the Cooper house. Katie immediately ran towards Rory, hugging her best friend before pulling him towards her toys. "Where's that baby?" Penny asked the room, seeing that Leo was back in Amy's arms.
Sheldon watched as Penny moved towards his wife and son before shouting at her, "No. You can't hold him."
"Sheldon." Mary scolded her son. "Penny can hold Leo. It's not like she's never held a baby before."
"I'm sorry, Penny. It's just, um," Sheldon stuttered while lifting Leo from Amy before turning to face Leonard, "Leo is named after Leonard. I want him to be the first of our friends to meet him. Besides, I know once you're holding him, no one else will get a chance the rest of the night."
Leonard brought his hand to his chest and fought back the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes as Sheldon shifted Leo into his arms. "Hi, Leo," he said, sitting in the chair across from the couch. "I'm your Uncle Leonard. I'm not really your uncle, but that's okay. Your parents picked a good name for you and they made an even better choice by deciding to call you Leo."
Max entered the room, interrupting the moment between Leonard and Leo that the others had been watching. "Why is the pizza just sitting on the counter? Why aren't we eating already? I thought for sure there wouldn't be any pepperoni left by the time I came downstairs, but looks like I got first dibs," he commented, holding up a plate of pizza and sitting on the floor next to the coffee table.
Thanks for continuing to read. I've got several more chapters ready to be posted (so many that I'm going to be posting every 3 days for the next few weeks instead of every 5), as well as a few that I can't decide if they should be included in this story, or in The Max Moments as a one-shot. Max Moments haven't included Katie or Leo yet, and I can't decide if I want to include them there or keep them only in this story. Let me know your thoughts of where you'd like to see them. Thanks again!
