So…guess who took a nap for the first time in three years and now is not the least bit tired even though it's 12:30 in Michigan? If you guessed me, then congratulations! You are today's lucky winner. So I decided to write instead, obviously, and I have a new chapter for you!
Still only own the characters I've created, and I suspect that statement will hold true for the foreseeable future.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Savannah said, running – as usual – over and jumping up against Penny.
"Careful!" Penny said, turning to the side. She was wearing Ada in a sling. "I've got your sister here."
"Sorry. Guess what?"
"What?" Penny asked, waving to the teacher as she led her daughter toward the door.
Savannah tugged on her mother's hand, and when Penny looked down, she opened her mouth and used her tongue to move one of her upper front teeth back and forth.
"You have a loose tooth!" Penny said. "You're getting so old!"
Savannah grinned. "Iris has one too. It's like her fourth or fifth one."
"Something like that," Penny agreed, taking Savannah's hand and using the other one to support Ada's back. She knew the baby was secure in the sling, but she was protective. "My big girl's got her first loose tooth! What do you say we go to Daddy's work and celebrate?"
"Yay!" Savannah said, jumping up and down. Penny decided not to tell her that she'd brought Ada because they were going to see Leonard anyway, since Mark was picking up Iris to take her to the pediatrician. Savannah had her first loose tooth, and she could think they were going to Caltech to tell her father.
Penny loaded the girls into the car seats and got in the front, still wearing the sling. "Everybody ready? She asked, looking in the rearview mirror.
"I'm ready!" Savannah said. She squirmed in the seat until she could see her sister better. "Are you ready, Nevvy?"
"It's Ada," Penny said quickly, correcting her oldest. She'd never heard Savannah call Nevada "Nevvy" before, but it was not going to become a thing if she could help it. She backed the car out of the spot and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.
"Can we go over the speed bumps?" Savannah asked.
"That's not on our way," Penny said. "And it might upset Ada."
"But…"
"Maybe when we don't have your sister in the car, okay?"
"Okay," Savannah said, giving a dramatic sigh. Penny decided not to lecture the girl on her attitude. Today was what the doctors called 'a good day', and she didn't want to fight with her daughter lest it trigger more feelings of worthlessness.
Upon reaching Caltech, Penny wiggled Ada back into the sling and grabbed Savannah's hand. "Let's go surprise Daddy," she said. "Make sure you wiggle your tooth for him like you did for me."
"Of course!" Savannah said, skipping alongside her mother. "Mommy, walk faster!"
"Mommy is carrying your sister," Penny reminded her. "You need to slow down and walk next to me."
"Uncle Raj!" Savannah shouted, yanking her hand out of Penny's and sprinting down the hall. The astro-physicist was coming out of his office, and he gave the girl a big smile when he saw her. "Hey there, Savvy!" he said, bending down and scooping her up when she jumped into his arms. "Did you come here special to see me?"
"I have a loose tooth!" she said, smiling with her teeth and then opening her mouth just enough to work at the tooth with her tongue.
"Well look at that!" Raj said. "You beat me!"
Savannah looked oddly at him. "You still have your baby teeth?"
"Yes," Raj said, completely seriously.
Savannah craned her head around to look at Penny, and the girl's My – entire – life – is – a – lie look almost made her laugh. "He's pulling the wool over your eyes," she said.
Savannah furrowed her brow. "That means I'm lying to you," Raj told her. "Which is very bad. You never want to lie."
"Do you get time out now?" Savannah asked very seriously, almost sympathetically.
"Yes," Raj said just as seriously. "Now you go with your mommy and I'll go take a time out."
"Good luck," Savannah told him as he put her down.
"Good luck?" Penny asked her daughter as they continued down the hall and turned the corner.
"Time outs are worse than jail," Savannah said. Penny gave her an odd look. "What would you know about jail?"
"Well, in Winnie the Pooh, they were in jail but they just walked out the back."
"When were they in jail?" Penny said, struggling to remember.
"Cowboy Pooh! Mommy!" Savannah said, exasperated.
"Oh, right, Cowboy Pooh." Penny vaguely remembered that one. In her defense, she had been pregnant with Ada when they'd gone through the Winnie the Pooh phase and her back had been hurting too much to be able to truly focus on the plot.
They reached Leonard's door, and it was open. "Knock knock," Penny said, glad he wasn't in the lab. There was too much high techy techy stuff in there, and if she didn't always read the danger signs, she certainly didn't want Savannah in there.
Leonard had been staring at his computer monitor, and when he saw them his face lit up and he smiled. "Hey!" he said, standing up and coming around the desk.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," Savannah said, jumping in place.
"Hey there, Savvy," Leonard said, leaning over and ruffling her hair. She giggled and swatted at his hand.
"How you doing?" Leonard asked, putting a hand on Ada's back and giving Penny a quick kiss.
"Really well," she said. "It's a good day." She smiled at him. "Your daughter has some news."
"What's that?" Leonard asked, bending and putting his hands on his knees.
"I have a loose tooth!" she said happily.
"You do?" Leonard said. "Let's see! Which one?"
"Iss un," Savannah managed while wiggling her tooth at the same time.
"Wow, a front one!" Leonard said. "Just don't tie it to Raj's dog and have her run. It's from Arthur," Leonard said when he noticed the alarmed look on Penny's face. "Look at you, growing up," Leonard said. "It seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital."
"Can I spin your chair?" Savannah asked.
"Sure," Leonard said. "But don't try to spin yourself. Let me talk to Mommy for a sec, and then you can get in the chair and I'll spin you around if you promise to hang on good and tight, okay?"
"Okay," Savannah said, running around his desk, grabbing the chair by one of the arms, and whipping it around.
Leonard looked at Penny. "So what's up?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You know," he said, "this visit. You have Ada with you, so you didn't plan this impromptu when Savvy got her loose tooth."
"Well," Penny said, furrowing her brow for a moment before shrugging, "I didn't have anything I needed to tell you. I just figured we'd surprise you. And it worked out well that Savvy's tooth got loose today!"
"You sure?" Leonard asked. "How did counseling go today?"
"Good," she said. "Really good. She said I'm making a lot of progress. I told her I'm having more good days than bad."
"You are," Leonard said. "You're going to be okay."
She smiled. "I know. It's just still a little rough."
Leonard gave her a look that she could only describe as longing. "I know," he said. "But you're getting there. I'm proud of you, you know that, right?"
She gave him a small smile. "I do."
"And you're sure there wasn't another reason for you coming today?"
"Nothing's wrong," Penny said. "I promise you."
He smiled. "Good." He lowered his head to kiss the top of Ada's, then turned around. "Okay, who wants to spin around in the chair?"
"Me!" Savannah said, jumping onto it and squealing in delight when the momentum made it move a couple of inches.
Penny sat down on a stool near the door, cuddling Ada, watching Leonard and Savannah play. She felt like she did have a reason for coming to Leonard's office that day, only she didn't know what the reason was. She'd been truthful in telling him that there wasn't anything wrong, at least nothing that she was consciously thinking of. But at the same time, she really couldn't think of a concrete reason why she'd decided to bring their daughters to his office that day. She decided to attribute it to her counselor's advice that she not stick to a strict routine, even though deep down she wasn't completely satisfied with that reasoning.
Something is starting to change with Penny. Maybe you've figured out what it is, maybe not, but you'll find out in the next couple of chapters, as well as what will happen next on the Penny/Amy front.