And here's your next chapter! For those of you waiting on the Penny/Amy development, tentatively, that is planned to be continued in the next chapter. For now, have some Leonard/Penny, Penny/Gilda, and the daughters.

"God," Leonard said, "I missed this." He cuddled Penny closer and pushed his nose into her cheek.

"Hmmmm," she said, wiggling into a better position for snuggling and sliding her arm around him. "Me too."

"No more sleeping on the far side, okay?" Leonard said. "I don't want to go another night not holding you." He felt her nod, and he put his lips against her cheek. She was worn out, he could tell, and they hadn't attempted to do anything that wasn't standard. She was feeling better, physically and mentally, but she wasn't completely herself again just yet. That was okay for now, Leonard figured. She was getting there, and hopefully after tonight, all her doubts would be gone.

Penny sighed contentedly as he ran his hand along her side, and closed her eyes. "Leonard?" she said after a minute.

"Hmmm?"

"What's next?"

"What do you mean? "

"I mean for the future," Penny said. She sat up and smiled down at him. "We've been engaged since before Savannah was born."

Leonard pressed his lips together. "We've had a lot going on."

"But what do we have going on now?" Penny asked. "We've got two beautiful little girls, Leonard. And you were going to marry me before we had one, remember?"

"When we were afraid," Leonard said.

"You said you were gonna take me to Vegas," she said, leaning down and kissing him. He lifted his head when she removed her lips, trying to continue kissing her, but she put a hand over his mouth and pushed him back against the pillow. "You said that if I was dying, you'd want me to be Mrs. Penny Hofstadter when I did."

Leonard nodded. "I did."

"Well, I am dying, Leonard," she said frankly. "Every day we get closer. We don't know when it's gonna be. We could be hit by a train tomorrow, or we could slip away in our sleep in sixty years. But I don't want to just be Mrs. Penny Hofstadter at the end." She kissed him again. "I want that for as many days as possible."

"Don't think that I don't want that," Leonard said. "I just didn't want to rush into anything, and it always seemed like there was something going on…"

"I know," Penny said, putting a hand on his neck. "I know, sweetie. But there isn't anything right now. Please, it doesn't have to be a huge ceremony, I just…" she lowered herself and pushed their noses together. "I just want us to share a name, Leonard."

"Are you asking me to marry you?" Leonard asked playfully.

"Just following up on your original proposal," she said, kissing him again.

"I hope not the original - original one," he said.

"Well, we're in the right place for it, huh?" Penny joked. "In bed?"

"Different apartment."

"Potato, po-tah-to," she said, kissing him again. "God," she said when their lips separated. "We're getting married, Leonard."

He smiled. "I know." He tugged her down and kissed her again, curling his arms around her lower back. "Soon."

"As soon as possible," Penny said. "Doesn't have to be big and fancy. But we have to do it right."

"We'll just have one that looks nice," Leonard said. "But not too expensive."

Penny sleepily tapped his chest. "I can tell by the voice that you're quoting something, but I really have no idea what."

"That's okay," Leonard said. "I'm just so glad there's no more neutral zone."

"I don't like the neutral zone," Penny said. "We should stop that from being a thing."

Leonard held his hand up and let Penny smack it with her own. "Deal." He was glad that she was ready to sleep, he could tell by her silence and relaxed breathing. He wasn't sure how long he could talk to her without beginning to ramble on about how much he'd missed being able to hold her. But he didn't have to, she was curled up next to him, sleeping peacefully, a small smile on her face, and so he too, stayed silent, smiled, and held on.

In the morning, Leonard offered to go with Penny to pick up their daughters. "We should really tell them we're getting married when we're both together," he said.

"You have work," Penny said. "I won't say anything. Promise."

"Okay," Leonard said, teasingly sounding as if he didn't believe her. As she walked by him to go to the fridge, his arms snaked out and he caught her around the waist, pulling her against him and kissing her on the cheek. She squirmed into a position where she could kiss him back, then touched his nose before retrieving her water bottle. "Go get ready for work, Doctor Hofstadter," she said. "I'll pick up the kids. Savannah doesn't have school today."

"She doesn't?" Leonard asked, looking confused. "It's a Friday."

"Staff development day," Penny said. "Whatever that means."

"Okay," Leonard said. "I'm going to hop in the shower. Did Gilda say what time to pick them up?"

"I'm going to go in a few minutes," Penny said. She turned and gave him a smile. "Or else I'd hop in there with you."

Leonard looked at her and then toward the direction of the bathroom. "How many minutes do you have?"

"Just go," Penny said, making a shoo-ing motion with her hand and smiling.

Leonard stepped over to her, gave her a long kiss, and then headed for the shower. Penny watched him go and smiled. She already felt ten times better than she had two days ago.

Penny knocked twice at Gilda and Mark's door, and when someone finally answered, it was her daughter. "Hey Mommy," Savannah said when Penny came through the apartment door.

"Hi baby," Penny said, bending down and kissing both her cheeks. "Where's Aunt Gilda?"

"Iris spilled cereal on herself and…" Savannah was silenced by the aforementioned little girl running out of her bedroom in what Penny could only guess was her second outfit of the day.

"There's the little slob," Penny teased.

Iris gasped at Savannah. "You told! Teller!"

"I didn't tell," Savannah said. "She's a Mommy. Mommys know everything."

Penny decided that she and Leonard needed to have a little chat with their oldest about lying.

Iris, however, seemed satisfied with Savannah's answer. She looked up at Penny. "Hi, Aunt Penny. "

"Hi there, sweetie," Penny said.

"I has a question," Iris said, looking over at the kitchen and biting her lip. "Is your frigerator running?"

Penny raised an eyebrow. "Yes…yes, the refrigerator is running."

"Well then you'd better go catch it!" Savannah and Iris said at the same time, looking at each other and shrieking with laughter.

"Well aren't you guys just a stitch," Penny said, smiling down at them. "Where's your sissy, big girl?"

"Sissy is sleeping," Gilda said, coming out of the bedroom and smiling at Penny. "Hey girl." She said teasingly.

"He-ey," Penny said in the same tone, smiling.

"Oooh," Gilda said playfully. "I take it our master plan was a success?"

"Iris," Penny said. "Can you help Savannah get her things?"

"Yes, Aunt Penny," Iris said, grabbing Savannah's hand as the two girls skipped toward the bedroom.

"So…?" Gilda asked excitedly once the girls were gone. "What did you do?"

Penny gave a little laugh. "It'd been four months for both of us, so…not much." She adjusted her purse. "But there was a lo-o-ot of kissing."

Gilda was nodding knowingly. "That explains the shirt with the high collar."

Penny turned pink, but didn't respond directly to Gilda's observation. " And we did talk a lot last night, and we've decided to actively pursue finally getting married."

"Oh my gosh!" Gilda said with her typical enthusiasm. She threw her arms around Penny. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Penny said. "But we're not telling the girls until tonight, so…" she put a finger to her lips.

"Zip it, lock it," Gilda said, nodding understandingly.

"Put it in your pocket!" the two girls chorused, coming from the hallway with Savannah's stuff.

"Very good," Penny said.

"What are we zipping?" Iris asked.

"Nothing, Lovvy," Gilda said.

"No secrets, Aunt Gilda!" Savannah protested.

"It's not a secret," Gilda said. "It's a surprise."

"I like surprises," Iris said.

"We know," Gilda said, patting her on the head. Iris put her hands on top of her head. "I'm not a dog!" she protested.

"Mommy, you said I could get a puppy," Savannah said. Then her face lit up. "Is that the surprise?"

"No," Penny said. "I'm going to go get your sister."

Savannah and Iris frowned as Penny disappeared into the master bedroom. "It's a puppy," Iris told Savannah.

The younger girl nodded.