Leonard picked up his ringing phone from where it lay on the table in his lab, glancing at the caller ID, he answered, "Hey, Penny. What's up?"

"I need you to come home. I think I'm in labor," she sounded slightly panicked. "I called my doctor and she said to go to the hospital."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Do you think you'll be okay until then?" Leonard was scrambling to collect his belongings and close his lab before hurrying down the hallway.

Nodding to herself, Penny agreed, "Yeah. Be careful. You don't need to drive like a madman."

"I'll be careful. I'm going to ask the guys to give Sheldon a ride home tonight, then I'm on my way." Continuing his trip down the hall, he found himself outside Raj's office. Letting himself in, he discovered Howard was there was well, "It's time. I'm going to pick Penny up and we're headed to the hospital. I'll text Sheldon, but can one of you give him a ride home?"

Squealing as Leonard explained what was going on, Raj questioned, "You'll let us know when the baby is born, right?" Seeing Leonard nod, Raj also asked, "If the baby isn't born by the end of the day, can you ask Penny if we can come to the hospital until the baby is born?"

"I'll ask her, but you know she doesn't want to make a big thing out of this. Don't get your hopes up too much. She might want to wait until after the baby's born to have any visitors."

Several hours later, Penny was in a hospital bed, hooked up to a variety of monitors as Leonard lounged on the couch under the window. "Raj asked if they could come to visit. I told him you might not be up to visitors until after the baby is born."

"It's gonna happen anytime soon. I'd be okay with them coming for a little while," Penny quickly agreed to Leonard's surprise. "They're almost done at work, aren't they? They can stop on their way home if they want."

"Really? I thought for sure you wouldn't want anyone extra here. You've been saying for weeks you don't want this to be a big thing."

Shrugging her shoulders as she winced through another contraction, Penny explained, "I know, but now that it's happening, it wouldn't be so bad to have a few friends here, waiting to meet my daughter as soon as she's born. Besides, they'll liven it up cuz you're more interested in whatever this is you're watching."

"It's a documentary about shipwrecks on the Great Lakes."

"Leonard!" Penny snapped his attention away from the television. "Call them. Tell them to stop on their way home. Maybe they can bring you something for dinner so you're not stuck with hospital food all day."

"Hey," Howard opened the door of Penny's hospital room with Raj trailing behind him, "We heard you need us to get Leonard to turn off the history channel."

Smiling, Penny welcomed the pair into her room, "Hi, guys. Where's Sheldon?"

"He's outside, refusing to come in. He doesn't like hospitals, but he didn't want to take the bus home, either." Raj leaned over to whisper in his friend's ear, "Raj wants to know how you're doing?"

"The last time they checked me, the doctor said it could be still a few hours. I'm hoping it's not too much longer, though. Leonard, go check on Sheldon. Let him know I'm okay and he can come in."

Leonard excused himself and found his roommate pacing the front of the building, "Hey, buddy. What are you doing out here?"

"I hate hospitals. Nothing good has ever happened for me in a hospital," Sheldon stopped in front of the shorter man.

"It'd mean a lot to Penny if you came in for even just a few minutes," he tried to persuade Sheldon to join them. "She's here to have a baby, nothing is going to happen. This is a happy reason to be in a hospital."

Shaking his head, Sheldon continued to refuse, "The United States has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. You don't know that nothing bad is going to happen."

Leonard sat on one of the benches next to the main hospital door. "Fine. I'll hang out with you here for a little while then. It's not like Penny needs me in there, anyway. The doctor said it could be a few hours still before she's close to having the baby. She'll be fine with Howard and Raj until it gets closer."

"Seriously? You're trying to guilt-trip me into going in there, aren't you? I can't believe you'd trust those two to help Penny during what is the hardest thing she's ever had to do. If I go in there, can one of them take me home?"

"Sure," Leonard nodded. "Let's go, then I'll have them take you home."

The men made their way upstairs to Penny's room to find a flurry of activity taking place. Raj quickly spotted them and rushed over, "I don't know what happened, but it happened fast and the doctor said the baby's coming. You gotta get in there. Penny's going to be a mom."

"Okay, Penny," The doctor looked up at her, "Just a few more big pushes, and your baby will be here."

Leonard pressed his hand against Penny's back as she curled her chin into her chest, "Aaagh," she screamed before falling back into the pillow before the doctor placed the newborn on her chest.

"You did it. Congratulations, Penny," Leonard brushed the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail from her forehead as he watched the first moments between mother and child.

Stepping back, he continued to watch as Penny whispered to the infant. "You want to cut the cord, dad?" the doctor asked in Leonard's direction.

"I'm not the dad," he shook his head. "I'm just a friend."

Penny looked away from her daughter for the first time and made eye contact with the man who'd become her best friend over the past year, "It's okay. You can cut it if you want. Look at her, Leonard. She's beautiful, isn't she?"

Approaching the hospital bed again, Leonard returned Penny's smile. "Maybe it's better if the doctor cuts the cord. But she is beautiful. Have you decided on a name yet?"

"Yes, but I want to call my parents and tell them first. Do you mind letting the guys know she's here and I'll text you when you can come back in?"

"Is the baby here? Is Penny okay?" Sheldon was the first to notice his roommate approaching the group in the waiting room.

Smiling and nodding, Leonard confirmed, "The baby's here and she's beautiful. Penny's calling her parents now. She'll let us know when she's ready for us to come in."

"Ooh," Raj squealed as everyone's phones chimed at the same time about an hour later. "Penny sent a group text. She's said we can come in."

Leonard led the group back down the hallway to the room he had left not long before. Opening the door partway, he made their presence known, "Hey, you ready to introduce us to your daughter?"

Waving them in, Penny smiled tiredly as she adjusted the bundle of blankets in her arms. Shifting for the guys to see, she said, "This is Chloe."

"Raj says congratulations and she's beautiful, just like her mom," Howard stated after his friend whispered in his ear. "And I have to agree."

Sheldon leaned over to get a better view of the newborn, "I hate being in hospitals ever since my dad died, but I'm glad I stayed to meet Chloe."

"You've had a long day and it's getting late. We'll let you get some rest. I'm sure we'll all stop after work," Leonard began to herd his friends from the room. "Do you need us to bring you anything before we head to work in the morning?"

Penny shook her head, "No. I think we'll be fine." The guys exited the room and Penny turned her attention to her daughter, realizing it was the first time the two had been alone without one of her friends or a doctor or nurse in the room. "Hi, sweetie. I'm your mom. We've only just met and I love you so much. I want to give you a head's up that I might not be the best mom and things won't always be easy, but I'm going to do the best I can. We'll get through whatever comes our way, as long as we stick together, okay?"