Hi guys, I know, it's been a while... Recently I'm suffering from a persistent sinusitis and combined with a defiant toddler and a spring that just doesn't want to come, this is really consuming my energy resources. But since writing also gives me so much joy and therefore energy, I wrote another chapter today! I hope you have fun reading!
"Is everyone dressed?"
"Well… almost… just come in, Penny!"
Cautiously, because she didn't want to eventually bump the door against Rosalind, who recently liked to crawl on the floor a lot, Penny opened the door to her former apartment and stuck in her head.
"Are you ready to paaaaarty, Ames? I brought you the make up you asked me for."
"Oh, thank you, I'll go directly to the bathroom to apply it, if you don't mind. Could you watch Rosy as long as Sheldon isn't home, yet? He should be there in a few minutes…"
„Sure!"
„Alright… God, I'm so exited for this party. It seems years since I've been out the last time."
"Ehm, you know we're just celebrating Stuart's birthday at Howard and Bernie's, right?"
"I know! But my whole life just has so few highlights right now, that this party is something I've been looking forward for weeks now!" Amy smiled excitedly at her bestie.
„Alright, just a moment please, I just want to put another reminder on my phone which tells me to take my birth control pills, just to be sure…"
"Don't say that! It's great to be a stay at home mom! Of course, I miss my work terribly and it's hard to have so few social contacts. But I have you and Leonard just across the floor, which really means a lot to me - "
"Oh, thank you, Sweetie!" Penny interrupted her and formed a heart with her fingers, that she held in front of her chest.
Amy frowned her brows. "What you're doing with your fingers? Anyway, it's just for a few more weeks until I start working again. In the first year a child grows so quickly, and I just don't want to miss all that progress that my little one makes. Just imagine, some days ago, the day after a shot, she suddenly said "Mommy" and "Daddy" as if she had practiced it all night long."
"Oh, that's really sweet! Finally, she's not only counting and reciting the alphabet anymore!"
"Exactly!" Amy ignored Penny's slight sarcasm. "You know, I'm so excited for her first step. She's almost a year now, I'm pretty sure it will happen soon. Isn't it worth staying at home for a whole year when you can see your own child doing its first step with your own eyes?"
Penny smiled at Amy in a conciliatory way. "Yeah, probably it is!"
In that moment, the door opened, and Sheldon came in.
"Oh my, it's getting late, I'll have to go to the bathroom to get ready!" Amy quickly disappeared in the bedroom.
"What is she doing?" Sheldon asked Penny.
"Getting ready for Stuart's Party. She has even borrowed make up from me… Oh, hi, Sweetie!"
Rosalind, who had been playing in another corner of the room, now came crawling to Penny, and smiled at her broadly.
"Do you want to show me your teddy bear? Wow, that's a really beautiful green teddy bear…"
"No, it's awful! She got it from Amy's Dad and he saved it from a very messy house. I wanted to put it away in the closet, but Rosy found it one day and now she loves it, she even cannot sleep without it…" Sheldon sat down next to Penny on the couch and looked at the teddy bear in disgust. "It's almost worse than the red arm chair, that once used to stand there," he said and pointed to the appropriate place.
Penny stared into space, lost in thought. "Time's passed so fast…" she mumbled, while Rosy lifted herself up at Penny's knees.
"No, don't put it into your mouth!" Sheldon suddenly yelled and tried to grab for the green teddy bear, that had approached the baby's lips dangerously close. But Rosy didn't want to give away her favorite toy and took a step forward, away from her father, before she clumsily fell down on the floor again.
"Penny, did you see that?! She made her first step! Oh, I have to tell Amy, she's waiting for this so long! AMY!" He got up and wanted to run to the bathroom. The teddy bear was forgotten for the moment.
Penny had awoken from her trance-like condition. "NO! Wait!" she hissed it him "Don't tell her!"
"Why? Why shouldn't I…"
"What's wrong?" they heard Amy's voice from the bedroom.
"Nothing!" Penny quickly yelled back.
"But Sheldon called for me!" Amy said, while she walked into the living room.
"Well, yes, he found this hairclip in my make up bag and he thought that it would be more appropriate for you for the big day!" Relieved, that she had found an excuse so quickly (well, she probably still was trained from the past), Penny held a pink, sparkling hairclip, that had been in her make up bag since her teenage years, into the air.
"Oh, that's really beautiful, thank you! And you chose that clip for me, Sheldon? I didn't know you care for my appearance that much…" With a huge smile on her face, Amy looked lovingly at her husband.
"Yes, he did!" Penny exclaimed quickly. "And now go and finish your hair and make up, Amy, we need to hurry up."
"You're right. Well, thank you for borrowing me this!"
"It's a gift!"
"Oh, I cannot accept that…"
"You can. And now, hush, hush!"
When Amy had gone back to the bathroom, Sheldon quickly took the teddy bear, that Rosy had left on the floor at Penny's feet before she had crawled back to her corner and put it on a high shelf. Then he turned to Penny with a confused and slightly angry face. "So, tell me, why for Heaven's sake didn't you want me to tell the mother of this child that she has done her first step? Amy has been waiting for this for so long."
"Exactly!"
"What does that mean? Please speak precisely, Penny, you don't want me to start my striking list again, do you?"
Penny rolled her eyes. "Alright, smartass. Amy just told me how much she's looking forward to see Rosy's first step. Apparently, it is an important event in a mother's life and Amy said, only to see this, it's even worth to stay at home for such a long time as she does."
"Aaand?"
"And now, just in one of the rare moments, when Amy doesn't look after her child on her own, Rosy is doing her first step… Which is of course pretty mean from her, but we'll have a talk about that when she's older..."
"Aaand?"
"Why do you have to rub it in her face, Sheldon? Why can't you let her believe that she's seen Rosy's first step, when in reality, she's seen her second one?"
"But that would be a lie. I don't want to lie to Amy, that wouldn't be right."
"A tiny lie, that would make her feel so much better. Look, how much Amy is sacrificing herself for your child. Let her feel some joy. Let herself have the feeling that staying at home all the time has been completely worth it."
"You know, how much I hate lying in general. You have no idea how much I hate lying to Amy in particular."
"Just do it for her."
"This is paradox."
"Whatever that means…"
"You sound like my mom…"
"Please, Sheldon."
"I'll think about it."
One hour later, the gang was gathered in Howard and Bernadette's living room and Stuart had just blown out the candles on the birthday cake that Amy had brought for him.
"Make a wish, Stuart!"
"What more can I wish for? Nobody forgot my birthday and I even got a self-made cake! Thank you by the way, Amy, for your efforts. I'm sure you don't have much time for baking right now!"
"That's the thing with this cake!" Amy said with a huge grin and swung her index finger through the air to emphasize the genius of the pastry. "You just mix 300 g of coconut oil with cocoa powder and some other ingredients, layer it in the backing pan with the cookies and then you put it in the fridge."
"Sorry, still not an expert of the metric system, how much is 300 g?" Penny asked, while chewing her cake with delight.
"Approximately half the amount of the whole cake," Sheldon explained and took another piece.
"I see…" Penny took another bite und chewed very slowly, now. "Mmh, wow, that's really filling… "Leonard, um, do you want to finish mine?" She stroked her belly with circular movements of her hand. "Yummy!" She said with a bright smile to Amy. Then she turned to Raj and whispered: "Way too much calories!"
Suddenly there was a little yell from Bernadette. "Halley! Don't move! Wait until Mommy returns with the wash cloth! Murmuring something like "Sticky, greasy chocolate cake, thank you very much, Amy…", Bernadette disappeared in the kitchen and returned soon after with a wash cloth showing a grim-looking Minion. "Giveaway from the drugstore" she explained with a shoulder shrug and then started to clean the mouths and hands of her children, who were fidgeting impatiently in their chairs.
Rosalind, who had been playing "Bumpety bump, rider" on her Daddy's knees (but of course without a big splash), had lost interest in the game and closely observed the other kids now, while she gripped herself on the coffee table.
Finally, Halley and Michael were clean, jumped out of their chairs and ran to the stairs. "Eh!" Rosy called, probably in absence of the ability to say „Wait!" and then she did a step forward to follow them.
Amy cheered up in delight. "Rosy! Has everybody seen it! Have you seen it? She's done her first step!"
„Really?" Bernadette, who just was cleaning Howard's face and hands with the Minion wash cloth, turned around in surprise. "But she's only 11 months, yet… My kids started with 14 and 15 months…"
"Yes, she's done a step!" Stuart confirmed, and Raj nodded enthusiastically.
„Oh…"Amy's face was gleaming with pride. "My baby has done her first step and we all have seen it. That's one of the best days of my life."
On her right side, Sheldon's eyebrows were twitching nervously, but Amy didn't notice. Penny, who was sitting next to Sheldon at the other side, winked at him conspiratorially and laid her hand on his arm in a reassuring manner. Sheldon frowned at her and drew his arm away. "Don't touch me, you know I don't like that!"
Then he laid his left arm around Amy's shoulders and kissed her temple. "Yeah, today we both have seen her doing her first step, that's really wonderful."
"You know what, I'll take another bite of that cake. Fuck the calories, I'm married after all." Penny shortly und unnoticed from everybody else patted Sheldon's right knee and then used it to push herself out of the couch. "Guys, I'm really getting old!" She winked at Sheldon again, and this time, after rolling his eyes, of course, Sheldon blinked back.
Like so many chapters in this fanfic, this particular issue is based on one of my own experiences as a mother, too. My daughter was quite difficult as a baby and she cried a lot. Looking after her 24/7 often felt like a big sacrifice for me, but I told myself that it was worth it, that I would be able to experience her whole growth in every detail and seeing her taking her first step just had a special meaning for me. But, unfortunately, she took her first step in the presence of my parents in law, when I was just in another room for some minutes. And of course, my mother in law had to rub it in my face, like "Oh, she's done her first step when she was with us!" I know it's kind of silly, but back then, when sleep deprivation and permanent stress just made me pretty thin-skinned, that really made me feel depressed and I wished she hadn't told me.