Leonard sat on the floor of the nursery playing with his 7 month old daughter, she had been spoiled that morning with Valentine's Day toys she would probably never play with again — but practicality had been thrown out of the window the second that she was born and he looked into her big blue eyes. She scooted around on the floor as she grabbed a new stuffed animal, a pink bear with hearts all over it.

"Is that your new bear?" Leonard asked, and he swore she nodded yes to him, "yeah it is." He scooped her up and took her into his and Penny's bedroom to check on his wife, "should we go see if Mama is ready for our dinner reservations in 30 minutes?" he said loudly, hoping that Penny would hear, "Wanna take the over or the under Lily bear?"

"I heard that," Penny said from the bathroom, curling her hair. Leonard followed her voice with his daughter in tow, "I'm almost ready, plus Raj isn't even here and we can't leave her all alone, not until she's at least one." she joked, putting the curling iron down and reaching for her daughter. Leonard pulled her away.

"You don't get her until you're done getting ready, we can't be late or we'll lose our reservation." he said, bouncing the baby up and down. Penny leaned over and kissed the baby on the cheek and headed to their bedroom for the final touches on her outfit.

"Your Daddy is very mean, Lily bean." She tickled her daughter and started digging in her closet.

"Whatcha looking for?" Leonard asked, as he sat on the bed and checked his watch.

"Just a sweater, but I don't really like any of my options." She said, staring at the closet.

"Any sweater will be fine, it's just me." Leonard said, trying to rush her.

"Oh just you? And I was planning on picking up all the guys on dates tonight," she said, "Mommy needs to look her best, Lily, we have to keep Daddy on his toes." she joked, Lily giggled, "yeah, I'm funny." She grabbed a sweater and went to grab the baby. She picked her up and soaked in her freshly bathed baby scent and walked toward the living room.

"Are you excited to go to dinner?" Leonard asked, sitting on the couch next to his wife and baby.

"Yeah, but I hate leaving her," Penny admitted, with the pandemic, she hadn't really left her daughter and all of her work since she was born was work from home. Even a night out to dinner seemed like a long time to be away from her baby.

"It's just a few hours, plus it gives Raj something to do tonight." Leonard said.

"Remember when we watched Cinnamon for him that one Valentine's Day and almost killed her," Penny said, hitting Leonard, which caused Lily to laugh.

"Yeah, and now we have a baby that we're solely responsible for." Leonard joked.

"And if she gets into some chocolate, she'll probably be fine!" Penny said. There was a knock on the door. Penny got up to open it, "it must be your uncle Raj."

"Hello Leonard, Penny, hello my sweet little Valentine!" Raj said, grabbing Lily from Penny and handing her a gift bag.

"Oh you didn't have to get her anything, we're really grateful you agreed to watch her tonight." Leonard said.

"Oh of course, I had nothing better to do and I love to spoil my little niece," he said, as Lily cooed, "me, Lily, and a lot of rom coms and tears tonight." Penny looked at him sadly and then opened the gift, it was a little Dior onesie.

"Raj, this is way too generous!" Penny said, looking at the gift.

"Oh pish posh, I live to spoil!" he said, as he sat on the couch with the baby, "now, you two enjoy your dinner."

"Okay, she just ate and took a bath so she should be ready to go to sleep in the next hour. There's milk in the freezer if she wakes up and she's hungry. She probably won't for a few hours, but you know how to heat it up. And call us if you need anything, anything at all." Penny said, looking sadly and grabbing for her daughter.

"We'll be fine, right Lily?" Raj said, as she babbled.

"Lily, Mommy loves you and I'm not abandoning you, I'm just going to dinner with your dad," she held the baby close, "I know, I want to be with you too but it's Valentine's Day and we're married so it's weird if we don't." Leonard kissed the baby on the head and opened the door for him and Penny.

"If we don't leave now, we will never leave," he said, "thanks again, Raj, we'll be back in a few hours." With that, he closed the door and clicked the elevator button.

"Are you sure she's ok?" Penny asked, checking her phone.

"It's her bedtime, she is literally just going to sleep. She'll be fine, babe." Leonard said, putting his arm around her.

"I hate leaving her so much, how are you so calm?" Penny said.

"Because, I know she'll be fine and it's unhealthy to be so attached, we need to be okay to leave her." He said.

"Easy for you to say, she was attached to me for nine months." Penny said, as the elevator opened and she got in.

"And she became big and healthy and now we can leave her with our friend and have a nice romantic evening." Leonard said, as they reached the lobby.

"I forgot I married the romance ninja." she joked, grabbing his hand as they walked to the car. They both got in and he drove to a nice restaurant that was inside of a hotel in Pasadena. When they got to the maitre'd, he told them his name and they guided him right to their table. Waiting for them was a bottle of champagne and a bouquet of roses. Penny was shocked, "you did all this for me?" she asked.

"Of course, I did. You deserve it, look at how much you do for me and for Lily. I wanted to give you a nice Valentine's day." he said, pulling out her chair for her to sit down.

"Leonard," she said, almost coming to tears.

"Having a baby really softened you up." He joked, as he placed his napkin on his lap and poured two flutes of champagne.

"Shush," she said, grabbing hers, "to us, and to love, and to Lily."

"Here, here," he said, clinking his glass to hers.

"She really is so perfect, isn't she?" Penny said, looking at her screensaver, a picture of her, Leonard, and Lily at the beach.

"Just like you," Leonard said.

"You had a little something to do with it," she winked, shutting off her phone, "But tonight is about us, she's a bit of an attention whore that girl, isn't she?"

"Well, we're enablers." Leonard said, "and don't call my baby a whore!" Penny laughed, and started looking at the menu. The waiter came over and took their orders, Leonard getting a dairy free pasta and Penny ordering the steak.

"What are you thinking about?" Penny asked.

"Just all the Valentine's days we've had together." He said, grabbing her hand.

"I'm sorry for ruining half of them." Penny said, "except don't hold me accountable for getting sick before Switzerland, that was not my fault."

"You're forgiven. Maybe when Lily is a little older, we can have a redo on the Switzerland trip."

"Sweetie, I'm having trouble leaving her a few minutes away for a couple of hours, I don't think going across the world is in the cards anytime soon."

"Maybe when she goes off to college." Leonard winked.

"I don't even want to think about her going to kindergarten." Penny said, checking her phone to see if Raj said anything.

"Penny, she's fine." Leonard said.

"I know, I know." She said, turning off her phone again, "for the rest of the night, all my attention is on you."

"You can think about her, but it's not healthy to be so worried." He said, and he was right. Leonard had been the voice of reason in their little parenting journey, which shocked Penny because he was always the emotional one.

"It's funny, even last Valentine's Day when I was pregnant with her, I couldn't imagine loving someone so much." Penny said, "I mean someone who isn't you."

"No, I get it, she's taken over our whole lives."

"I can't believe I ever didn't want her." Penny said, feeling sad.

"Hey, you just didn't know how great it would be." Leonard said, comforting her.

"God, I drink a little champagne now and I'm a wreck," she said wiping a tear, "One thing that little girl ruined for me."

"See, she's not perfect!" Leonard joked, "no, who am I kidding, she's perfect."
"I can't believe we've become those parents who are obsessed with their kid." Penny said.

"Well, she's awesome, it would be weird if we weren't." Leonard responded.

"True," she said, raising a glass, "how's the new project coming along now that you can be in the lab?"

"It's good, I think once Sheldon is a little better about being in the same room as me without a hazmat suit on, we'll be a little further along on the project." Leonard said, laughing.

"What a freak." Penny said, "I wonder what he's up to tonight."

"According to him, they want to start trying for a baby tonight." Leonard said, in a gossipy way.

"Oh my god, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Penny asked, hitting him.

"Because if I told you sooner, half the building would know." Leonard said.

"I'm happy for them," Penny said, "Sheldon is going to be so annoying when he has a kid." She laughed.

"Eh, maybe it'll soften him." Leonard suggested. The waiter brought their food and they started eating.

"It is nice to be able to eat without a baby pulling on my hair," Penny admitted.

"See, there are perks to being a normal person." Leonard said, taking a bite of his pasta.

"You're right Hofstadter." Penny said.

"So, I have a surprise, but it's completely optional if it's not something you're totally comfortable with."

"Oh my god, did you go to the dirty store without me again?" Penny asked, her mouth wide.

"No, we're parents now, I don't go to the dirty store anymore." he said, setting his napkin down on the table.

"Oh I didn't know about that rule, I went to the dirty store online last week." Penny said, with a wink.

"Brave, I'm a little concerned about having my IP address tracked," he joked.

"So, what's my surprise?" She asked, eager.

"I have a room reserved at this hotel tonight, if you feel comfortable, Raj has agreed to stay the night with Lily and I told him we would be home by early tomorrow morning," he explained, "it would only be a few hours away and a whole night of uninterrupted sleep."

"I don't know Leonard, are we sure we can trust Raj?" Penny asked.

"Yes, but also Amy is across the hall and will be there for support in the morning."

"You've really thought this all out, huh?" She asked.

"Yes, but no pressure, we've never been away from her overnight and if you're not ready…"

"Let's do it." Penny said, "if we don't do it now, we never will and I love love love that baby more than anything in the world, but it would be nice to go back to some of our old habits tonight." She explained, sex had been a lot quieter and less exciting since they had to do it next to a baby monitor and a baby in the next room.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we deserve it. And you really pulled out all the stops." She said, rubbing her hand down his arm.

"I try my very best," he said, clearly pleased with himself.

"I love you, Leonard," she said, looking him in the eyes.

"I love you too." He said. The waiter came over and checked on them, seeing if they wanted any dessert. They shared a glance, "you know what, we're just going to order that to our room later" he said, with a wink. He paid the check and led Penny up to their suite. There, there was another bottle of champagne, a bed spewed with rose petals, and two gift boxes waiting. Penny opened up the first one, a canvas with Lily's hand print on it and a picture of the three of them glued on. She started to tear up.

"Leonard, this is all so thoughtful." Penny said, giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

"That's from Lily, now open the one from me, it's the fun one." Leonard said. He couldn't hide his excitement.

"I will, but before I open anything fun, let me please call Raj so I'm a little less anxious." He nodded his head and Penny went to check the baby monitor from her phone, Lily was in her crib fast asleep. Still, she wanted to call Raj. She dialed the phone, "Raj?"

"Hello, your baby is perfect!" Raj said, "she went down right away and she's only woken up once for a bottle."

"Yeah, we know she's perfect," she said, "we're going to stay here tonight, are you sure you'll be okay in the morning, we'll try to come back before she wakes up so she doesn't think we abandoned her."

"We are just fine, she'll be fine, enjoy your night together." Raj said.

"Thanks again for watching her." Penny said.

"I have literally nothing better to do, thanks for giving me a distraction." Penny looked at Leonard sadly.

"Ok well, goodnight. You can sleep in our bed if you want to." She hung up the phone, "Now, let's see what's in here." She opened the box from Victoria's Secret and saw that there was very tasteful lingerie in it. She looked at it sadly.

"Why do you look so sad, this has been a fool proof gift for years!" Leonard said, scratching her back.

"Well, my body is so different now, I can't possibly feel sexy."

"First of all, you're in amazing shape, like actually unbelievable shape. And you are sexy, I love the way your body has changed." Leonard said, sitting down with her on the bed.

"You just love how huge my boobs have gotten," she said.

"Well, yeah!" he said, "No, but you are very attractive to me and you always will be. I am the luckiest man in the world to have you and Lily."

"Yeah, yeah, but I still don't love that I don't look like I did when I met you."

"Well, to me you look better. You were a lost 22 year old when I met you, now you're an established person. You've got a great job and a baby and you're married to me."

"This is true," Penny said, kissing him. The kiss began to get heated when Leonard pulled away, "what?"

"Go put on the lingerie!" he said, handing her the box and sending her to the bathroom.

"Why? You're just going to take it off in a few minutes." She said, giggling.

"I spent a lot of money on it, I'd like to just get a few minutes of use." he said.

"Only because I love you," she said, leaning over to kiss his head, "this is maybe the best Valentine's day we've ever had."

"Wow, and we haven't even had sex yet!" Leonard said.

"One, you're forgetting about this morning post breakfast in bed," Penny said, "and two, it's the best one because I have two Valentine's. My heart is so full." she smiled, walking into the bathroom.

"Too full?" he yelled from the bedroom, "or maybe we whip up another baby?"

"As much as I want another baby, Lily is still so young, maybe we wait until she's at least a year and then we start trying. Plus, I'm on the pill so nothing will happen." Penny said, stepping out of the bathroom in her new gift.

"Ok, yeah, whatever you say," Leonard said, walking over to her and throwing her on the bed.

"I say take off your clothes!" she said, giggling. He obliged.

Penny woke up at 5 am, with Leonard's arms around her as they always were. For a second, she had forgotten that they spent the night in a hotel, but she slowly re-familiarized herself with her surroundings. She reached for her phone trying not to wake Leonard in the process and went straight for the baby monitor app. She saw her daughter fast asleep, knowing it would only be a few minutes until she woke up, until she woke up without her parents there. She turned to face Leonard and kissed him gently, "sweetie, wake up."

He slowly opened his eyes, "what time is it?" he asked, pulling her closer out of habit.

"Uh, just 5 am." She said, feeling a little guilty.

"And we're up, why?" He asked, as he started playing with her hair.

"Lily is going to wake up soon and I don't want her to think we abandoned her, let's go home Leonard." Penny said, sitting up.

"Penny, she's completely fine. Did you check the baby monitor?" He asked, now putting on his glasses.

"Yes."

"And?"

"She's asleep." Penny said, showing him the image on her phone.

"So, she's fine." Leonard said, putting his glasses on the table and laying back down.

"For now, but what happens when she wakes up?" Penny asked.

"She'll cry and then Raj will get her and she'll be happy as soon as she has a bottle and a clean diaper." Leonard said, "We need to learn how to be okay being away from her."

"You know it's funny, I always thought when we had kids, you'd be the one all anxious." Penny said, cuddling up to him, placing her head on his chest and rubbing her hand as she looked up at him.

"Well, I am anxious, I worry about her all the time. But, if I let it consume me, I won't get to enjoy all the fun of being a parent," he explained, "plus, I don't know why you're so shocked, you're exactly the same with Lily as you were with Sheldon."

"Am not!" She said, stopping her circular motions.

"Oh yeah? You were always convincing me to 'do the right thing' and go deal with whatever antics he put on and you were such a pushover, you still are."

"Well, he's fragile. I wasn't gonna let you let anyone break him." Penny defended herself.

"No, you spoiled him," Leonard said, "face it, he has you wrapped around his finger."

"Maybe a few years ago, but he's Amy's problem now." Penny said.

"Amen to that." Leonard said, kissing her head.

"So you wanna go home and see our baby?" Penny asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Or, we can order room service and watch a tv show without baby sharks?" he suggested.

"You crazy crazy man, I'm in, but as soon as we finish eating we're going home." She said, reaching for the room service menu on the bedside table, "oooh, french toast?"

"Anything you want," he said, kissing her head, "but I know what french toast means with you woman!"

"Let me order it and then we can participate in all the pre-french toast festivities." She said, winking at him and picking up the hotel room phone to call in the order.

Penny and Leonard returned to 4A, bags in hand and anxious to see their baby. Penny unlocked the door and found Raj sitting with her on the couch as she babbled at him and played with the 15 different toys that Raj had pulled out. Penny and Leonard sat in the doorway and watched as she commanded Raj's attention, a little hurt that she didn't notice them walk in the door. Then, she spotted them and pointed, "Dadadadada, mamamama" which the parents took as a cue to walk over and collect their daughter.

"How was she?" Leonard asked, as he scooped her up and kissed her face all over. She continued to babble at him.

"Perfect!" Raj said, she slept almost the whole night and we watched some rom coms.

"Well, thank you so much for taking care of her," Penny said, grabbing the baby from Leonard and squeezing her tight.

"My pleasure, also I had literally nothing better to do." He said, as he began to clean up the toys.

"Oh leave it, we'll clean it up." Leonard said, sitting down and grabbing a toy to hand to Lily.

"Did you guys have a fun night?" Raj asked, looking at the happy family with an overwhelming amount of jealousy, but also joy for his friends.

"Yes, except Penny was freaking out about the baby the whole time." Leonard said.

"Hey, don't rat me out!" Penny said, "Leonard planned a very thoughtful evening."

"I'm happy for you, but I have to go so I don't get so jealous that I start crying in front of you." Raj said, walking out the door and waving goodbye.

"Save those tears for the car, big guy." Leonard said, walking him out of their apartment. He shut the door and looked at Penny and Lily sitting on the couch for a minute, he couldn't believe that this was what his life was, "so, what do you want to do today?"

"I just want to be here with you guys." Penny said, as Leonard sat next to her and she kissed his cheek. Lily swatted her hand away, "hey little lady, he was mine first."

"Why don't we just stay home in bed the rest of the day and watch a family movie. We can show her Toy Story!" Leonard said, getting excited.

"Oh, do you think she's ready for that?" Penny asked, sarcastically.

"I think she's finally old enough. Come! Come!" Leonard said, grabbing Penny's arm and guiding his wife and daughter to their bedroom, "Oh my god, she's gonna love it!"

"Don't be weirded out when Daddy cries." Penny whispered to her daughter, "he's normal, he just loves the movie." She winked at Leonard.

"Oh, you're gonna tear up too." Leonard said, as he queued up the TV and turned on the movie. They cuddled up, Lily in between them and pressed play.

"Leonard?" Penny asked.

"Uh huh?" he responded.

"This was a perfect weekend, I love you so much." Penny said, earnestly looking in his eyes.

"Hey, it was well deserved and I love you more," Leonard said, "and to quote you and Toy Story, 'you've got a friend in me'"

"Oh my god, Lily, your dad is so lame." Penny said, as she leaned over and kissed him.