New chapter! This one is a bit longer, because I definitely won't be updating until at least Monday after this.
In addition, I have another poll on my profile page, please go and vote! We're trying to see if there's any interest, so your votes are appreciated!
Don't own anything but Savannah (and Iris I suppose, but she is only mentioned, so I'll save that full disclaimer for later.)
Still holding Savannah by the hand, Penny marched up the stairs, stopping, unexpectedly for the four year old, and not continuing up to the fifth floor as usual but banging on the door to 4A before barging in, pulling her daughter behind her. "Sheldon Lee Cooper, I am going to cut off your…" Penny trailed off, remembering that she also fell under the 'careful what you say around Savannah' rule. "How many times have I told you not to say certain words around my daughter?" She demanded of the physicist, who was sitting in his spot looking perplexed.
"Hey, Savvy!" Amy said, coming out of the bathroom and running playfully down the hall into the living area.
Savannah grinned and skipped – or tried to, she still hadn't quite gotten the hang of that particular skill – toward the neuro – biologist. "Auntie Ames!"
Amy scooped Savannah up and swayed side to side, the little girl's legs swinging out beyond where Amy swayed. "Inertia!" Amy said enthusiastically, and the little girl giggled.
"Penny," Sheldon said, looking away from Amy and their 'niece'. "If your daughter comes into the apartment unexpectedly and I am in the middle of a conversation with my wife, sometimes she overhears words before we realize she's there. Can you blame me for that?"
"No, I suppose not," Penny said. "Is that what happened with 'coitus'?"
"Shhh! Penny, she's right there!" Sheldon said, putting a finger to his lips.
"Oh shut up, Sheldon," Penny said. "She's not listening to me. But is that how she picked up that word? You didn't know she was there?"
"No," Sheldon said. "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page with my thing."
"Ugh!" Penny said, dropping her purse and curling her hands into fists.
"Mommy!" Savannah twisted out of Amy's arms and ran over to her mother. "Say no to violence!" she said, jumping up and grabbing Penny's wrists.
"Hey, hey!" Penny said sternly. "Stop jumping, if you knock me over the baby will be born with an oddly shaped head."
Savannah giggled. "Like an alien?" she asked. "Like E.T.? Or the…" she mimed playing clarinet and bobbed her head.
"Is she doing the cantina scene in Star Wars?" Sheldon asked.
"You're one to talk," Penny said to her daughter. "You're not the one that has to get her out of your tummy."
"Do I have to do coitus?" Savannah asked.
"Well," Sheldon started.
"Don't!" Penny warned, holding a finger up toward the theoretical physicist. She turned back to her daughter and slowly lowered herself to her knees. "Baby," she told the girl, "you never have to do coitus, you hear me? Never, ever, ever, ever, ever. Or, you know, even say that word. Ever."
"Ever ever ever!" She piped up, seeming to think that it was a game.
"I'm serious!" Penny snapped, and Savannah quieted down immediately, looking concerned. "Sorry," she said.
Savannah's lip trembled. "What did I do?"
"Nothing," Penny said, putting her hands on the girl's cheeks. "Nothing, sweetheart."
"Then why did you yell at me?"
"I'm sorry," Penny said, looking her daughter square in the eye. "Mommy must be a little irritable today because her…her back hurts."
"Backs often hurt during the later stages of pregnancy," Sheldon offered up, looking at the little girl, "because of the added weight in front." He pointed at Penny's middle as if he thought Savannah needed help picking out the visual aid.
"Oh," Savannah said, nodding. She looked over at Amy. "I don't like when backs hurt."
"Your back hasn't hurt you a day in your life, silly," Penny said.
Savannah wasn't listening. She turned to Amy. "Is that why you aren't a Mommy?"
"Okay!" Penny said loudly, messing up her daughter's hair. "You ready to go upstairs and have a snack?"
Savannah's attention redirected from the uncomfortable looking neurobiologist and back to her mother. "Cheese and crackers?"
"If that's what Savannah wants," Penny said, smiling. She held out her hand. "Come on, baby. I'd like to have you eat something before your little brother or sister gets here."
"My sister!" Savannah insisted.
"Maybe. Maybe it's a brother."
"It's a sister."
"We'll find out soon enough," Penny said, smiling and giving a little wave goodbye as they walked toward the door.
"Just one month!" Savannah said to Sheldon and Amy. "Like Christmas."
"Hey – ey," Leonard said in the same two syllable singsong that he always did, pushing the front door open and dropping his key in the bowl – a habit that he found inconvenient to change after moving out of 4A.
"Daddy!" Savannah said, jumping up from her picture book on the floor and running over to him. Leonard scooped his daughter up and cuddled her to his chest. "Hey, baby girl, how was school?"
"Great!" She said brightly. "They let me leave early. But I couldn't be line leader."
"You got to leave early?" Leonard asked, confused. He looked over to Penny, and she pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows slightly from the kitchen. "Why don't you go in your room and count how many stuffed animals are in the baby's crib?"
Savannah nodded eagerly, and Leonard let her down and watched her dash down the hall. "Hey, honey," he said, making his way over to her and giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "What's wrong?"
"Our daughter told her preschool class that mommies and daddies have to 'do the coitus' before they can have a baby."
Leonard's eyebrows shot up. "She did?"
Penny nodded. "Yep." She tapped her fingers on the counter. "And she took the ultrasound picture off the fridge and brought it as a visual aid."
"Show and tell day," Leonard said, the pieces finally clicking together in his head. "I thought she was bringing the lock of hair from the pony she rode?"
"Yeah, well, so did I," Penny said. "I found that in the bottom of her backpack along with a tampon that had Googly Eyes glued to it."
"Why would - "
"Mouse."
Leonard stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Are you serious? Does she even know what that's…supposed to be for?"
"Well, she doesn't know what coitus is, but she does know that we have to do that to give her a sibling."
"I hope she doesn't want more after this one," he said, "or she might be a bit embarrassing when she asks for one in public."
"What did we do, Leonard?" Penny said jokingly, shaking her head.
Leonard smiled. "And how are you today? Apart from having to run interference on the little informant?"
"Well, the Braxtons started up again," she said. "But you know, nothing I can't handle."
"Are you sure they're Braxtons?" Leonard said.
"I'm a month away from my due date," Penny reminded him, sliding her arms around his neck.
"This is a pretty big baby," Leonard said. "They said she'll be at least a pound more than Savannah. She might be early."
"Don't remind me," Penny said, putting a finger to his lips. "And yes, I'm sure. I know what a real contraction feels like."
"I know you do," Leonard said, kissing her forehead and then sliding one of his hands around to her neck, guiding her head to tuck under his chin as she shifted her position to accommodate their second child.
"Hey!" Savannah said, running back into the room. "I want the hug!"
"Well, then come here, you," Penny said, holding an arm out toward the girl. Savannah grinned, giggled, and ran over to her parents, scooting as close as she could.
"There's my baby girl," Leonard said, mussing up her hair.
Savannah frowned. "Mommy already did that!"
Penny and Leonard laughed. "You have such a rough life," Penny said, wiggling her fingers against Savannah's side.
The girl squealed and jumped away. "That tickles!"
Penny stuck her tongue out, and Savannah returned the gesture. "Hey!" Leonard chided. "That's rude to your mother."
"I provoked her," Penny said, waving her hand dismissively. "Savvy, go wash up for dinner."
The little girl ran toward the bathroom, and Penny shook her head. "She runs everywhere and I'm to the point where I don't even want to move." She turned back to the stove to check on the pasta.
Leonard kissed the back of her neck. "Just a few more weeks," he reminded her again.
"Uh-huh," she said. Then she turned to look at him. "Savannah asked Amy why she didn't have any kids," she blurted, wanting to also bring up Savannah's comment about why they weren't married, but hedging.
"Oh God," Leonard said. "What did she say?"
"I intervened and got her out of there."
"She's at that age, Penny," Leonard said. "And she has a new sibling on the way, she's going to ask why every childless couple doesn't have kids. I'm sure Amy understands that."
"I know she does," Penny said. "She knows Savvy's gonna start asking. But that doesn't make it less…what's the word?"
"I know what you mean," Leonard said. "But we can't dwell on Sheldon and Amy right now. That was months ago, and it was sad, and coming after the scares with your father and Iris it was almost overwhelming…I'm surprised we kept Savannah from the stress we were all under. But right now," he said, putting a hand on her stomach, "we need to focus on the baby. The good thing. This is something we know how to do, and know how to handle. We can't dwell on this stuff."
"But I'm going to need to know how to handle Savannah if she keeps asking questions," Penny said. "I understand what you're saying, I really do, but having something familiar doesn't change the fact that we're still learning how to handle our oldest." She bit her lip. "I want to shield her from everything, Leonard, and now…now that she's asking questions, we won't always be there to give her answers. She might find something out at school, from the older kids or the adults, and chances are she'll here some answers she's not ready to hear."
"A possibility that faces every single child in the world," Leonard said. "And you know, kids learn the most from their peers and parents, and I highly doubt she'll be around peers…and certainly not parents…that I had, so she won't be told things quite as…bluntly." He grinned. "And I turned out fun and adorable, so she'll be even better."
"She'll be even better because I'm her mother," Penny said. "Right?" She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Because, let's be serious, I'm part of why you're fun and adorable."
"Of course, dear," Leonard said quickly, and they grinned at each other, and then Penny leaned over to kiss him.
Savannah reentered the living area, practicing her skipping, and she stopped when she saw her parents with their lips locked. "Ewww!" she said, putting her hands on her hips.
They parted, looked at her, and then her father grinned. "Hey, Savvy," he said, leaning in and kissing her mother again, on the cheek, making a loud kissing sound.
The little girl shrieked again and put her hands over her eyes dramatically.
"Oh, quit it," Penny said, turning from Leonard and taking the pot off the stove, tipping the spaghetti into the strainer. "Come here if you want noodles."
Savannah looked at her parents suspiciously.
"Oh, come here," Leonard said. "I promise we won't kiss until you aren't looking."
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