It's finally over! My summer schoolwork, of course, not this fic! This fic is…I don't want to say "far form over" but definitely not in the last couple chapters as of yet. Now I'll finally be able to update more regularly!
December twenty third. How Leonard had expected them to be able to successfully navigate an airport two days before Christmas with a five year old and ten month old, neither of which had ever flown before, was beyond Penny. But in her fiance's defense, she hadn't thought anything wrong with the travel plans until they'd arrived at the airport and her lovely youngest daughter, who despite having spent her entire life in L.A. was unaccustomed to crowds, started screaming.
"Shhhhh, honey, shhhh," Penny said, bouncing the girl up and down and reaching for the pacifier, which Ada had dropped and was now hanging by the ribbon that was sewed to the front of her sweater.
"I'm hungry," Savannah said, jerking on Leonard's hand.
"We ate before we came to the airport," Leonard told her.
"I want the food here!" Savannah said, pouting.
Penny was turning bright red as people looked toward the screeching sound that was coming from her arms. "Ada Ada Ada," she said in her best Mommy voice, trying to get the terrified girl to relax, "it's okay, you're okay, we're all right here. Us and many other people. This is LAX. It's a good place."
"She's not listening to you," Savannah said, looking up at her mother. "Daddy, I want food!"
"Hey, you listen to me," Leonard said, sitting down in one of the chairs by the self check in. Savannah tried to jerk her hand out of his, but he pulled her close to him. "Listen to me, Missy," he said sternly. Savannah stood quietly. "Savvy, what did we say about looking at the person talking to you?"
Penny supposed that by that logic she wasn't supposed to be watching Leonard talk to their oldest but look at the screaming baby in her arms. She continued to bounce Ada up and down, wondering if tickling would help or just stress the infant out even more.
"Savannah," Leonard was saying to the five year old, "I know your sister is being loud right now, crying and all, but that doesn't give you the excuse to throw a tantrum." Savannah jerked her hand out of Leonard's and folded her arms across her chest. Penny was momentarily floored at how much of herself she saw in that kid.
"You are Nevada's big sister," Leonard was saying. "You have to show her how to act. Right now she's making Mommy tired. Why don't you help make Mommy feel better by listening to what we tell you?"
Savannah cocked her head. "Am I in trouble?"
"Nope," Leonard said. "Not yet."
She looked up at her mother almost shyly. "Okay."
"That's my good girl," Penny said. She turned her full attentions back to Ada. "Sweetie, don't be scared, I know it's a lot of people, but look." She sat down next to Leonard and let the baby see her father and sister. "We're all here, baby baby girl." She cuddled the scared child to her and bent her head next to the girl's ear. "Baby mine, don't you cry," she sang softly. "Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine."
Savannah pulled herself up onto the chair next to Penny. "Little one, when you play," she sang in a very typical five year old voice, much louder than Penny had, "Don-cha mind what they say. Let those eyeses sparkle and shine, never a tear, baby of mine."
"From your head to your toes," Penny sang, and Leonard leaned over, put his chin on her shoulder, and a hand behind Ada's head. The girl was focusing on them, not the public address system, not the noise from the holiday crowds. "You're so sweet, goodness knows," they sang together. Savannah cuddled up on Penny's other side. "You are so precious to me, cute as can be, baby of mine."
"Mommy, she's not crying anymore," Savannah said in a stage whisper.
"Hopefully she'll go to sleep," Penny said, rocking Ada as the girl's eyes closed momentarily before opening them again and wiggling in her mother's arms.
"Hopefully she'll sleep on the flight," Leonard said. "We wouldn't want her throwing her toy and knocking a guy's drink into his lap."
"Well, we'd probably be more apologetic than Gilda and Mark were when Iris did that," Penny said. "Didn't they not even apologize?"
"Gilda said they tried, but were laughing too hard."
"Did you sing that song to me when I was a baby?" Savannah asked.
"What song?" Leonard asked, momentarily forgetting what they'd just been doing.
Savannah frowned. "Baby Mine!"
"We actually sang the one from Tarzan to you a lot," Penny said. "You know, the one Kala sang to Tarzan his first night with her?"
"Oh," Savannah said, smiling. "Mommy, is Ada not crying now because I'm not crying and I'm a mole model?"
"Role model," Penny said. "You're not a mammal."
"I was thinking mole as in the chemistry term," Leonard said, and then frowned. "Humans are mammals."
"Right," Penny said, shaking her head. "Yep, warm blooded, live young…" She looked down at her youngest, who was starting to look upset again. "And mammary glands, which I think need to get put to use before we get on this plane. Savannah, stay with your father."
Savannah moved across the now empty seat to sit next to Leonard. "Are you excited to see Grandma and Grampa?" Leonard asked her, sliding his arm around the girl.
She grabbed both of his hands. "Yes, Daddy." She looked out the window. "Does the plane go fast?"
"Yes," Leonard said. "But you won't be able to tell. It should be a smooth ride. We'll be in Omaha before you know it."
"Grampa!" Savannah shrieked, jumping away from Penny and running the short distance to jump into Wyatt's arms. The older man spun her around theatrically, and kissed her loudly on the cheek. "How's my big girl?" he asked her, holding her tightly.
"Dad, your heart," Penny said.
"If anything happens to my heart today, it's going to be overwhelmed at how happy I am to see you kids, not picking up my granddaughter," he said firmly, putting Savannah down and hugging his daughter. "Was the flight fairly uneventful?"
"Fairly," Penny said. "Surprisingly, it was a ten year old boy that caused the most disruption, not either of ours."
"That's not surprising. Boys are bad. Keep your girls away from them as long as possible," he said, only half joking. "Now, where is this new little one I haven't gotten to meet beyond Skype?"
"Here she is," Leonard said, turning Ada toward Wyatt. "Ada, this is Grampa."
To Penny's absolute delight, Ada, who had been nervous throughout the flight, broke into a big smile at the sight of her grandfather. Wyatt took her from Leonard and the baby settled right into his arms as if she knew exactly who he was.
"Well, isn't she the sweetest thing since Savvy," Wyatt said, sparing a hand momentarily to ruffle Savannah's hair. The girl grinned up at him. "And Leonard," he said. "It's good to see you again, son."
"It's good to see you too," Leonard said, smiling at him.
"How's your folks?" he asked.
"Not bad," Leonard said. "My father's in Africa for the year, and my mother's working with a couple of PhD students. How they're spending so much time with her is beyond me, but she's calling us to talk to Savannah almost every week."
"Good to hear, good to hear," Wyatt said, smiling. "Well, let's get you guys home. Grandma's making food."