Two Months Later
Location: Pasadena
California
United States Of America
2:34 PM

"Come on, Kenzie," Penny said, coaxing her daughter through the apartment as the little girl continued to make her first attempts at crawling. "Daddy's waiting for us."

The small girl paused and rolled over onto her back, staring at her mother with wide eyes.

"Do you want me to carry you?" She asked her, feigning a sharp tone for a moment but then quickly scooping her daughter up into her arms. "Okay, Kenzie, but you're going to have to learn to walk eventually."

"To be fair, she'll figure it out because bipedal mobility is tied directly to human evolutionary instinct," Leonard said, almost absent mindedly as he continued to trim the tree. "And since she's still less than a year old but older than three months, it makes sense that she's only just attempted to move on her own."

Penny gave him a funny look as she stepped into the room with their giggling daughter in her arms. "I thought we agreed no science talk with her until she's at least two."

"That's too long, and you know it," Leonard said with a faint smirk. "She's probably going to become a doctor, like her daddy."

Penny rolled her eyes. "Hey, I make good money at my job -"

"You actually make more than I do," Leonard added, and she laughed as she playfully swatted his arm. "So I wasn't being derisive or pedantic, I swear. Especially since you're my wife."

Penny smiled as she kissed his cheek. "Aww, I love it when you use big words."

"Is it alright if I hold her?" He asked her, and she nodded as she handed him their daughter. "Think you could finish?"

"Well, you know how much I love getting ready for the holidays," Penny said, grinning as she pulled a long strand of tinsel from one of the boxes. "Look at me," She declared dramatically, flipping the tinsel around her as if it was a scarf. "I'm ever so glamorous, I'm a star."

"You certainly are to me," Leonard said, smiling and shifting so that Kenzie could see her mother. "See, Kenzie? That's mommy being as gorgeous and funny as always."

"I see someone has turned to flattery," Penny teased. "I thought we were passed that."

"I don't write you thank you letters after we have sex anymore, so I think so," Leonard said, and Penny gasped, putting a hand over her mouth as she giggled. "What?"

"Really, Leonard?" She said in mock annoyance. "In front of our daughter?"

Leonard booped the little girl's nose. "You're too little to remember this, now aren't you?"

"...Not if she has an eidetic memory like I do, although I'll concede the odds of that are highly unlikely," Sheldon said through the doorway. "...Also," He said, beginning to knock. "...Leonard, Penny, Mackenzie. Leonard, Penny, Mackenzie. Leonard, Penny, Mackenzie."

Penny rolled her eyes as she dragged herself, still wrapped in tinsel, to the door and all but tore it open. "Do you know how much time you waste with the knocking?"

Sheldon's brow furrowed in confusion. "You know, you have been saying that quite literally for years and I still can't comprehend your point. Isn't having this discussion, as I've pointed out before -"

"Sheldon," Amy said, crossing her arms. "Don't antagonise our friends."

"Fine," He said, then turning back to Penny. "It's a waste of time to debate it because I'm right. Now, may we come in?"

"Yeah, yeah," She said, motioning them into the apartment and raising an eyebrow off of Amy's grin. "I'm scared for my life now."

"Oh, please," Amy said, laughing as she shut the door behind herself. "If I was going to hurt you, I would have done so a long time ago and, instead, a long time ago I tried to experiment into lesbianism with you."

Leonard grimaced at the thought. "Now that my mind is thoroughly removed of any comfort, what are you two -"

"That's wrong," Sheldon said, looking at the tinsel around Penny. "Tinsel goes around the tree and is properly wrapped around starting from the top of the tree downwards. By no means is it a fashion choice."

"Hey," Leonard said reproachfully as he tickled his daughter. "We have a rule about you not antagonising Penny."

"But she's antagonising me," Sheldon replied, then hanging his head shamefully off of Amy's look. "I'm sorry, I don't know what possessed me."

"I have a few guesses," Penny quipped.

Sheldon stared at her. "That was a figure of speech."

"Is it a figure of speech if it's true?" She countered, unwrapping herself and haphazardly tossing the tinsel onto the tree. "Ah, merry Christmas is right!"

"Saturnalia -" Sheldon started.

"Yes, Sheldon, I remember," Penny said with remarkable patience. "I also remember how many bath gifts you gave me, and I know that I still haven't used all of them yet."

"I'd be concerned by how much you were wasting if you had," He replied, then laughing. "Bazinga. Girls tend to use more bath product than males because of the desire to smell pretty."

"Yes, we do like to smell pretty," Amy said, looping an arm around his. "And you know it."

"Well, I did like your old perfume better…" Sheldon said a bit ruefully. "Although, the new one isn't terrible and is more fruity...hopefully you won't attract rabid bees in the summer or I'm afraid we won't be able to be near each other."

"Yes, I would ever allow that to happen," She said, rolling her eyes. "You're funny sometimes, Sheldon."

He sent her a confused glance. "I don't know what's so funny about that."

"I do," Penny said, giggling as her daughter reached for her nose. "Kenzie!"

"Babies really are a lot of work," Sheldon remarked.

"Yes," Leonard said. "I know because I had to live with one even before Kenzie was born."

Sheldon looked at him in irritation. "That, sir, is a grave misappropriation. I am nothing like a baby, even if I do smell like talcum powder."

"You'll have to share, soon enough," Amy said with a smile, and Sheldon groaned. "What is it now?"

"Stop scaring me," He said, looking away and crossing his arms once he'd wrenched out of hers. "I don't want to think about that right now."

"Think about what?" Penny asked, feigning cluelessness off of her interpretation of Amy's smile and wink to her.

"I -" Sheldon started.

"Sheldon's a bit...shocked with the reality of us having a child," Amy said, and Leonard's eyes went wide as he shared a look with Penny. "Although, of course, we both want to procreate."

"You're pregnant?" Leonard asked her after being silent out of surprise for a long moment. "For real this time?"

Amy nodded. "Yes, I am. I found out yesterday -"

"At home, at exactly 8:41 AM," Sheldon finished, then turning to her. "And I'm not quite sure anymore if I'm ready to -"

"Sheldon," Penny said, hesitantly stepping over to him and even more hesitantly placing a hand on his shoulder. "If Leonard and I can take care of a baby, hell, if Wolowitz with or without Bernadette can take care of two babies, then you can too."

Sheldon looked at her a bit awkwardly. "As much as I appreciate the sentiment, Penny, your hand is holding an uncomfortably firm grasp on my shoulder, and I need to ask that you release it because of the sheer amount bacterium you're exposed to on a daily basis because of that small human your homunculus is holding."

Penny sighed as she let go. "Sheldon, you'll be fine."

He hesitated. "I'm not so sure, and I don't like that because usually I'm sure about everything."

"Technically, nothing can be completely certain," Leonard reminded him, bouncing his daughter in his arms and causing her to giggle. "As uncertainty principle states in quantum mechanics, two or more factors cannot be definitively both traced at the same moment."

Sheldon considered that. "I suppose…"

"Or Schrodinger's cat," Amy interjected. "This could be both good or bad, but it's something we're going to go through together."

"And, if either of you have any questions, you can always ask me and Leonard," Penny said, then pausing for a moment. "Just to be clear, so long as they're not too personal or invasive."

Sheldon sighed. "Alright. Thank you two, and, Amy, I don't want this to be a negative experience for us."

"The only way to know is to open the box," Penny said quickly, then groaning when she realised the reference she had made. "To," She said, hesitating before she finished. "See if the cat's alive or dead."

"I lived with you for years," Leonard said, sending Sheldon a sharp look. "If I can take care of you and help you learn to take more care of yourself, I think you can do the same with your own child. In fact, I think it would build character in you."

Sheldon scowled. "The assumption being that I don't already have character?"

"No, the assumption being that you're a ninety year old child," Leonard quipped. "I'm only teasing, I promise."

Sheldon hesitated for a long moment, but then smiled. "Good, Leonard, good."