Haven't updated in a few days, (I think) but I'm on spring break now, so just posting this before I'm off to bed!
"Welcome home," Leonard said lamely, holding his arm out to present the apartment.
"Hmm," Penny said, smiling, turning to him and planting a kiss on his cheek. "Now give me Ada."
"Penny, they said…"
"They said not to carry the baby upstairs in case I feel faint." Penny held out her arms. "We're already up the stairs."
"Hmmm, okay," Leonard said, transferring Ada to Penny's arms. "Welcome home, baby girl," Penny said, turning in a circle. "I think she's tired," she told Leonard. "I'm going to put her down."
"She need to be fed?" Leonard asked, putting the key in the bowl.
"No," Penny said. "She's sleepy. I'll feed her when she gets up." Penny disappeared from sight, down the hall to the girls' room.
The girls' room. Leonard smiled as he grabbed two waters from the fridge and settled down on the couch. Every once in a while he thought about how he was glad that they'd kept the couch from Penny's apartment. Something about it just felt so homey to him…
Leonard's thoughts were interrupted by Penny coming back into the room. "She asleep already?"
"I've been in there nearly ten minutes," Penny told him, gesturing to the oven clock. "She was asleep by the time I got her to the crib, but I wanted to watch her for a few minutes," she said, taking the water he offered as she sat down next to him. Instead of opening the water, she leaned back against the couch and tipped her head back, closing her eyes.
"Hey," Leonard said, putting a hand over hers. "You okay?"
She nodded, with her eyes still closed. "I'm just exhausted. And glad to be home." She opened her eyes and tipped her head to the side and gave a small smile. "Rough week. You know. I guess I'm still just a little out of it. A hospital visit can do that to you, you know."
"Yeah," Leonard said, closing his fingers around her hand and squeezing it. "But it's okay now. Everything's okay now."
She smiled a bit more and blinked. "I know."
Penny sat straight up in the bed, her hands going out to brace herself, keep herself upright, but they lost traction on the sheets and she fell back against the pillow. She reacted, groaning in frustration, in desperation, and sitting back up again on pure adrenaline, gasping, suddenly feeling the chill from the sweat on her skin.
"Penny?" Leonard was sitting up too, reaching out a hand, and when he touched her on the back, she flinched slightly, then instantly felt guilty about it and tears sprang to her eyes.
"Penny!" Leonard said, scooting closer and putting a hand on each shoulder, rubbing them. "What's wrong?"
Penny stared at her knees, covered in the blanket, forcing her breathing to slow down. She could feel her heart beating in about a half dozen places throughout her body, her stitches hurt, and she still felt like she couldn't get enough air. Closing her eyes, remembering how she'd dealt with panic attacks related to her first pregnancy, she leaned back slightly, into Leonard's massage, and let out a long, low breath.
"Penny," he said again. "What's wrong?"
She stopped, thought, and then opened her eyes and looked over at him, shaking her head slightly. "I don't know."
"You weren't dreaming?"
Penny thought again. "I…I don't think so. I woke up…and…I just felt…" she shook her head. "Scared. And alone, and…" she bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know."
"You're not alone," Leonard said. "You're here. With me. There's no reason to be afraid."
She struggled to regulate her breathing, finally feeling herself come down from her panic stricken state and start to relax. "I know," she said, managing a smile. "I don't know what that was about. I'm fine now." She got up. "I'm going to check on the girls."
Penny shakily walked to the other bedroom and peered inside. Savannah wasn't in her bed, and for a second Penny's heart jumped into her throat, memories of Iris going missing rushing to the front of her memories. Then, she saw her oldest daughter, curled up with her blanket, at the foot of her little sister's crib, her arm wrapped around one of the legs as if to keep it close to her.
"Penny," Leonard said from behind her, sliding his arm around her shoulders. "Ada will probably wake up in an hour or so to be fed. Why don't we try to get some sleep before then? You still don't have all your strength back."
She nodded, looking at him. "Okay." She noticed him smiling at the sight of their children, and she smiled too. "They're little angels, aren't they?"
"They really are," he said. "We've got two smart and beautiful babies, Penny." He turned slightly so he could hug her. "And we still have you, too."
"Aww," Penny said, returning the hug. "Alright," she said when it ended, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go to bed."
"Okay," he said smiling and leading her back to the bed. They crawled in and he settled on his back. "Penny," Leonard said gently when she rolled on her side away from him. "What are you doing? Come sleep by me?"
Penny looked over her shoulder at Leonard for a moment, and then carefully rolled to her other side, keeping a hand on her stomach to reassure herself that the stitches were holding. Leonard slid his hands under the blankets to find her own, and they touched noses. She let out a shaky sigh. "I'm so sorry, Penny," Leonard said, letting go of one of her hands to run his own up her arm, and then found her hand again. "Whatever was bothering you, I promise it's going to be okay."
"I know," she said, nodding. "I don't know what happened. But it's okay now."
Penny hoped that she sounded convincing. She wasn't fine. She was terrified, and she had no idea why. She focused on Leonard's breathing, his hands curled around hers, and their knees touching, and finally managed to nod back off to sleep.
Less than five minutes before Ada's cries woke her up.
Sighing, she crawled out of bed, hoping Leonard wouldn't wake up. She didn't have to go back to work for a while, but Leonard did in the morning. Luckily, while he moved around a bit when she got out of bed, he didn't fully awaken.
Penny returned to the girl's room and found Savannah sitting up sleepily. "Go to your bed, sweetie," Penny said. "Your sister's just hungry."
"Okay," Savannah said, sleepily walking toward her bed. She didn't quite make it, laying down and pulling her blanket around her a few feet shy. Penny rolled her eyes in amusement and drew Ada out of the crib. "Shhh," Penny said. "Mommy's here. Don't wake Daddy and Big Sister."
Ada quieted down slightly with her mother's rocking, and Penny drew the chair over so she could sit down to nurse. With Ada feeding hungrily, Penny tried to think about what it was that had caused her to wake up. She couldn't think of anything, but as she cuddled her baby close, she hoped Ada was very hungry. She didn't want to fell asleep again and give herself to whatever was hiding in her subconscious.