I've been suffering from lethargy these past few weeks, so it's been hard to do anything, much less update, but as I have a primary document analysis due tomorrow that I haven't started, of course the motivation is channeled into updating fic, because my brain is just that messed up. I've been writing this chapter bit by bit – literally over the past week with a few hundred words each time – and I can say that it will be the second to last. All that is left, really, is the wedding, and it's not going to be big, so there won't be much planning. But I hope it will be memorable! I will miss writing in this universe.
Oh, and the whole business about me not owning anything, that's still a thing.
"I'm so glad everything's okay now," Penny said locking the door behind her and Leonard and tossing her purse to the couch.
"Me too," Leonard said. He brushed some hair behind her ear. "Finally. Now we just have to worry about this business of getting married."
"Yeah," she said, smiling at him. After a moment, she put her arms around him and tucked her chin into the crook of his neck. "I know Savannah and Ada are glad they're able to spend the evening with Shamy. Well, Savannah anyway. Ada's like the honey badger on that."
"We have such a chill little baby," Leonard said, laughing.
"We really do," Penny said. "We've got the incredibly energetic Savannah, and the relaxed, chilled out Nevada."
"I'd say they'll still end up best friends, but I'm not sure we can tear Savannah away from Iris long enough for that to happen," Leonard joked.
"Hmmm," Penny said in response.
"Have you thought about if you're going to take my last name?" Leonard asked. "Or hyphenate?"
"I thought about it," Penny said. "Easiest decision of my life. I want to be Penny Hofstadter."
"Oh yeah?" Leonard asked, smiling.
She leaned back and looked at him, then gave a small smile and leaned back in, putting her mouth on his and closing her eyes blissfully. "Yeah."
"That's…that's wonderful," he said, sliding one of his hands over her own.
"It's going to be a good day. I already have my vows written." Penny smiled. "So I was thinking…wanna go in our room and not worry about the offspring walking in on us?"
"I was thinking maybe we shouldn't do it again until the wedding night."
Penny raised her eyebrows. "Really?" She shifted her weight, unbuttoning her shirt to halfway down and tugging it off of one shoulder.
"But then I figured there's no real reason to be doing that because we're not getting any younger and I love you and you're really hot."
Penny grinned and jumped up, grabbing Leonard's hand. Inside the bedroom, not bothering to shut the door, Leonard mashed his mouth to hers, pushing her down on the bed and tugging at her shorts as she pulled at his jacket, wanting it gone so she could see his arms. Leonard shrugged off the jacket and let it fall to the floor, then bent over her and put his hands on the side of her face, kissing her roughly. They'd fallen into this pattern since returning to sexual activity following Ada's birth – if it was night time, they went slowly, used any foreplay that was comfortable for Penny, and did their best to make it a truly intimate experience. When they had sex during the day, however, or before they'd committed to the bed for the night, it was like this, less slowly intimate, and more with the implication that they could get caught, even though no one else was in the apartment.
Penny hooked her legs around his waist, like she had the first time she visited his lab, drawing him closer, kissing him on the mouth and reaching between them to tug at his zipper. Leonard backed off a half a step to tug off his pants and boxers as Penny removed her necessary clothing and fell back onto the bed, and, still standing, Leonard leaned over her, putting his mouth back on hers, using one hand to steady her hips, and reaching with the other one to find one of her hands and lace their fingers as their bodies moved together. Leonard closed his eyes; after a minute or two he pushed Penny further up onto the bed so he wouldn't have to stand.
Her head was thrown back, her eyes closed, and while he knew that was good, he felt the need to see her face. Leonard lowered his upper body enough to kiss her, and when they broke apart, he locked his eyes onto hers. She put her hands on his shoulders and held the eye contact. "I love you," she whispered fiercely.
She didn't break his gaze. "I love you too."
"I still can't believe you guys are getting married in a week!" Missy said. "Are you going to be ready by then? I mean, there's so much to do…"
"Not that much," Penny said. "No one in this group's had a large wedding. It's just going to be us and our families and all of you."
"So both of Leonard's parents are coming?" Amy asked.
"We're not sure on his father," Penny said, sighing. "Bev is. You know how upset she's been, what with not being able to visit much like she promised back when Savannah was born."
"She's a busy lady," Bernadette said. "What with all the books she writes about Leonard's childhood."
"Well, even Beverly Hofstadter gets embarrassed when her son's old roommate's mother has seen Savannah and Ada more than Beverly has!" Penny said.
"Oh my gosh," Raj said. "Mrs. Cooper has seen them more than Leonard's mother!" He shook his head. "She is closer, I suppose. And less busy."
"And has two of her children here," Missy pointed out.
Raj pointed at her. "That too."
"What are you going to wear?" Amy asked.
"Oh, it'll be white," she said. "But we can't afford to drop thousands of dollars on a wedding dress."
"Saving that for the kids' education?" Bernadette said.
"Or shoes. You know, it's a toss up."
"Where are you going to have it?" Missy asked. "City Hall? The roof?"
"I'm thinking roof," Penny said. "Leonard likes that idea, too. But Savannah's scared to go up there, so we might do it in the park."
"Do it in the park," Raj said, nodding.
"Raj!" Bernadette scolded.
He looked perplexed. "What? If the ceremony is in the park, the dogs can come." His face changed. "You have a dirty mind, Bernadette Maryann Rostenkowski Wolowitz!"
"Here," Amy said, handing Bernadette a wine glass. "Clean it up."
"So which of us is maid of honor?" Raj asked. They looked at him. "Which of you, he corrected."
"I haven't gotten that far," Penny said. "But as everything's going to happen quickly, and with a small ceremony, it won't be a position with much responsibility. Pretty much the biggest thing will be if Ada's fussy that day, you get to hold her so she won't spit up on my dress."
"Well, I was maid of Honor at Bernadette's," Amy said. "And while Sheldon and my wedding wasn't a traditional ceremony, you did fulfill some maid of honor duties, so I think it's Bernadette's turn."
"Damn right it's my turn," Bernadette said fiercely. "And it's going to be the best rooftop wedding this group has ever had apart from mine and Howie's."
"It'll be the only rooftop wedding this group has ever had apart from yours," Raj pointed out.
"I know what I said."
"Hey, kiddo," Penny said, smiling from the kitchen as Savannah walked through the door. "Did you have a good day at school?"
"It was okay."
"Just okay?" Penny asked. "Was Gilda late picking you up again?" Savannah hated having to wait after school.
"No. She was the first one there."
"You sure you're okay, baby girl?" Penny asked.
"Yes," Savannah said. "Can I bring my Legos out here?"
"Maybe after dinner," Penny said. "We'll be eating early tonight because Mommy has to work on wedding stuff. Bernadette's gonna be my maid of honor, so she's going to be talking to you about your job for the day. Are you excited?"
"Mommy?"
Penny looked up from dishing out the macaroni and cheese she'd made for dinner. The girl's tone had gotten more serious. "Savvy?"
"An accident is bad, right?"
Penny cocked her head. "A car accident is bad. People can be hurt. Spilling your milk on accident…"
"By accident," Leonard corrected, looking up from feeding Ada.
"Spilling your milk by accident is bad because it gets all over the table," Penny said. "But some good things can be accidents." She noticed an overcooked chunk of mac and cheese and removed it from the pot. "Our mailman used to accidentally give Daddy my mail, which meant that I got to talk to him when he delivered it to me."
Leonard shifted uncomfortably.
"But if it's an accident, you didn't want it, right?" Savannah said.
"That's right," Penny said. "Were you guys talking about accidents in school?"
"Nelson was talking about them. At the drawing table."
"Oh, you drew today?" Penny said. "That's very exciting. What did you draw?"
"Cinnamon," Savannah said. "We get to do the play dough tomorrow."
"Ooooh, the play dough," Penny said. "Your favorite."
"Mommy?" Savannah asked again after dinner, looking up from her Lego's.
"Yeah, honey?" Penny asked. She put the dish in the sink and turned, drying off her hands with a towel.
"Was I an accident?"
Penny and Leonard both turned their full attention to their oldest daughter. "What do you mean?" Penny asked.
Savannah grabbed both her feet in her hands, her knees sticking out to her sides. "Nelson said his parents weren't married when he got born because he was an accident." Her face pouted. "Mommy, Daddy…"
"Savannah," Penny said, rushing toward the little girl, "sweetie, don't cry."
"Did you not want me?" Savannah said, looking from her mother to her father, her eyes welling up.
Penny's face contorted, showing her hurt. This is what she'd feared since the first time Savannah had asked her why don't you have Daddy's last name? She had finally managed to convince herself that Savannah didn't feel unwanted and didn't need her parents to reaffirm their love for her, and now this Nelson kid had stirred up insecurities that probably weren't even there in the first place. It broke Penny's heart.
"Savannah," Leonard said, falling to the floor next to his daughter. "We wanted you. You have no idea how much we wanted you. Baby girl…" he touched her face. "Do you doubt that we love you?"
"No," Savannah said. "You love me now. But you can't love an accident."
"No," Penny said forcefully, trying not to cry. She reached out with her hands and cradled the girl's face. "Sweetheart…" her voice choked up and she looked at Leonard, needing support, knowing he needed it too. "Baby, we aren't married because we wanted you so badly. If we had gotten married before having a baby, it would have been longer before we could have you. So we had you first. We didn't want to delay it. We knew you'd make us the happiest Mommy and Daddy in the whole wide world and we didn't want to spend another minute without you. So you came before the wedding. Mommy and Daddy are selfish, is all."
"We spent years trying to bring you into our lives," Leonard said. "Years!"
"Years of being sad that we didn't have you yet," Penny said. "We both cried many times because we wanted you so badly, but it wasn't time yet. And when we found out you were coming..." she shook her head. "It remains the greatest day of our lives."
Leonard scooted closer to her and pulled Savannah into his lap, cuddling her close. "We both love you so much. So much." Penny heard his voice crack as he held Savannah as close as he could.
Penny scooted so she was sitting next to them instead of adjacent, and she reached out to stroke her daughter's hair. "You are no accident, Savvy."
"You and your sister are the most on purpose things either of us have ever done."