Thank you everyone for the kind reviews! I really appreciate you reading and following along. I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't mind that because this is a series of one shots, I am going back and forth in time. Perhaps I'll write another story in the same universe later on, but for now enjoy these one shots.
I obviously own nothing but would love for them to consult me for the next spinoff lol.
Leonard paced around the living room with a screaming 8 month old in his arms. She'd been crying like this for the last hour and he couldn't get her to calm down. "I know baby, I know it hurts." he said, as he kissed her cheek, knowing she was crying because of her new teeth that were growing in. She had been a lovely, quiet baby for so long and on Penny's big return to girl's night at Bernadette's, her teeth had decided to make an appearance. Penny rushed out of the bedroom in a sweater and jeans, which was the fanciest outfit she'd worn in months, she didn't ever have to wear more than sweats between living through a global pandemic and having a baby.
"She's still crying?" Penny asked, rubbing Lily's back while Leonard bounced her.
"Oh good, you hear it too." He joked, as Penny grabbed the girl out of his arms. She started to pull at Penny's hair and pout.
"Hey, just because you're in pain, doesn't mean I have to be." she told her daughter, kissing her cheek and walking over to the kitchen, "maybe we should give her some Tylenol, I don't like to see her like this."
"Did you ask the doctor?" Leonard asked her.
"I asked Google, it's perfectly safe." Penny said, digging through their cabinet to look for the baby Tylenol.
"What if she has a reaction or something? She is my kid too." Leonard asked, as he walked over to them, anxious.
"Then we'll take her to the hospital, Leonard she's in so much pain. I can't watch her suffer." Penny said, as she rubbed her daughter's head.
"I know it's hard, but you go to Bernadette's, I've got her. And I don't want to get her hooked on over the counter drugs so early. She'll learn the craft when she's old enough." Leonard tried to joke, Penny didn't laugh.
"Oh you think I'm gonna leave my baby when she's in pain?" Penny asked.
"Yeah, you deserve a night with the girls. And all the guys are coming here, I'll have back up." Leonard said, grabbing his daughter from Penny.
"I don't know, she might be too much for the four of you." Penny said, suddenly Lily stopped crying.
"If we need you, I will call you, please go have fun." Leonard said, wrapping his free arm around her and kissing her head.
"The second you need me, you call." Penny said and she meant it. There was a knock at the door and Penny went to open it. Sheldon and Amy stood eagerly in the doorway.
"Ready for girl's night?" Amy asked, pulling a bottle of wine out of her tote bag, "you can drive."
"Oh I have been listening to a baby scream all day, I am not driving." Penny said, as Sheldon walked in and approached Leonard, which made Lily start screaming again.
"What's wrong with your baby, Leonard?" Sheldon asked, with an annoyed look on his face.
"She's teething," Leonard said, he knew that Lily wasn't going to be the biggest nuisance tonight.
"Well can you make her stop crying? It's really very unpleasant." Sheldon said, as he walked over to his spot.
"Go! Save yourselves, it's too late for me!" Leonard said, escorting Penny and Amy out. They left and Sheldon continued to question why the baby wouldn't stop crying and why she had to be at boy's night. Leonard explained that Penny needed to get out of the house and it was easier to keep her on her normal schedule. Once Sheldon heard the word schedule, he immediately understood.
Penny and Amy took the elevator down and headed into Amy's car to drive to Bernadette's. The car ride was short, but Penny tried to talk about all things Amy and nothing baby related, she really was looking forward to unwinding, it just couldn't come at a worse time. She asked Amy about her work and started dozing off, thinking about how stressed Leonard was with Sheldon and the baby.
"Am I a bad mom for leaving Lily while she's teething?" Penny asked, interrupting Amy's long and detailed explanation of the human brain.
"No, Leonard is with her." Amy said, matter of factly.
"Yeah, but I'm her mom, I'm supposed to be there." Penny said.
"Well Leonard is her dad and he's there, and you're only going to be gone for a couple of hours to drink wine with your friends." Amy said, as they pulled into Howard and Bernadette's driveway. Howard's car was gone which meant him and Raj were already on their way to 4A to play Halo with Leonard and Sheldon.
"You're right, I deserve a glass of wine." She said, getting out of the car and walking into Bernadette's living room. She sat on the couch with a three year old Michael who was up past his very strict 7:30 bedtime.
"Your sister is already asleep, buddy, there's nobody to play with." Bernadette said to him as he sat on the couch and pouted.
"I don't wanna sleep!" he said, crossing his arms.
"Hey Bernie." Penny said, holding up the bottle of wine, "hey Michael."
"Auntie Amy! Auntie Penny!" Michael said, giving her a hug, "where's Lily?"
"She's at home, sleeping." Penny said, crouching down to his level, "if you go to sleep now, I'll bring her over here in the morning. How does that sound?" He looked back at his mom who gave him a thumbs up.
"Can we go to the park?" Michael asked, he had just learned how to negotiate.
"If the weather is good, absolutely." Penny said, winking at Bernadette, knowing tomorrow was supposed to be a very rainy day.
"Mommy?" Michael looked back at her.
"You heard her, you have to go to sleep right now." Bernadette said, grabbing the boy's hand and guiding him up the stairs, "I'll be right back, don't do anything crazy." She shouted as she walked up the stairs.
"Doesn't seeing us make you so glad you don't have kids?" Penny asked Amy as she poured them both wine.
"No, not really." Amy said, with a bit of sadness.
"Oh." Penny said, taking a big sip, feeling a little guilty.
"I mean, I'm not looking forward to all the crying and stuff, but I just wish I was better at trying to get pregnant," Amy said, "I have had sex more in the last 2 months than in my whole life, and nothing!"
"It takes time, it'll happen, don't worry." Penny said, "and for now, you don't have to deal with a screaming baby every second of the day," she said, really trying to help. Bernadette rushed down the stairs.
"What did I miss?" she asked, pouring a heavy glass of wine without missing a beat.
"The pending Shamy baby," Penny said, giggling.
"I just don't understand why it's taking so long. We're doing everything right." Amy said.
"It takes time." Bernadette said.
"It didn't for either of you!" Amy said.
"To be fair, our kids were all accidents." Penny said, to which Bernadette replied with a nod and a clinking cheers of her glass.
"Accidents who we love dearly and wouldn't trade for the world," Bernadette added, "but Amy, it will happen when it's supposed to happen. You've only been trying for two months, it took this one woman I work with three years."
"Leonard, if I wanted to hear a baby crying all night while I played video games, I would've done it from the comfort of my own home." Howard yelled as he focused his eyes on the tv playing Halo.
"We're trying to let her self soothe," Leonard said, too heartbroken by his daughter's screams to pay much attention to the game, much to Sheldon's dismay as his teammate. Leonard dropped his controller and got up and walked into Lily's nursery. He looked over the crib where she laid in her sleep sack, wiggling around as though she was trying to reach for him. "Oh sweet girl, daddy so wishes he could take the pain away." He picked her up and went over to the chair in her room, looking at all the toys and books that lined her shelf. They had tried to read to her most nights and had amassed a large collection of baby books about science. Leonard grabbed the first one he saw and started to read it to her. She stopped crying and just stared up at him. "Look, you're okay Lily." he said as she started to squirm a little, "and if you don't stop crying soon we're going to give you and Uncle Sheldon tylenol and I mean the drowsy kind." She started to close her eyes and fall asleep on his chest. He didn't want to move her and cause her to cry again so he just sat there and held her.
"Do you think Leonard is ok?" Raj asked, focusing on Halo.
"Hey, I don't hear a baby crying, don't question it." Howard said, moving his fingers quickly on the controller, putting his whole body into it.
"Did you know that babies cry in their native accent? Studies have shown that babies can pick up on the sounds and rhythms of their parents' speech while still in the womb, and this can influence the way they cry. So, a baby from France might have a different crying pattern than a baby from Japan." Sheldon said he needed to fill the room with his voice because he was currently losing at Halo without his partner.
"That's funny because Howard's kids' cries sound exactly like his mother." Raj said, giggling to himself.
"Just Halley and she is growing out of it, thank god." Howard said, "why do you know that Sheldon?"
"Why do you ask him questions?" Raj said, annoyed as Sheldon began to open his mouth.
"I've been reading up on babies these days." He answered.
"Why? Are you and Amy getting frisky?" Howard said, raising his eyebrows.
"For your information, yes." Sheldon said, "but it hasn't been something we've particularly excelled at. I know, it shocked me too."
"You're really ready to have a kid?" Howard asked, earnestly.
"Yes, I think so. Of course, we'll have to move, which I am not ready for, but I can't raise a child in Penny's old apartment. I don't think it's sanitary." Sheldon said.
"You're having a kid and buying a house?" Howard asked, "Raj, catch up, catch up."
"There is no kid nor a house, but it is the next step." Sheldon said.
"Wow, Sheldon. I can't believe it." Howard said, dropping his controller.
"Why? You had two children and you are much less impressive than Amy and I." He said.
"Oooh, burn!" Raj said, putting his hand up to high five Sheldon.
"Yeah, but Sheldon, having kids is a really big step. You have to think about someone other than yourself most of the time." Howard said.
"I think about Amy all the time." Sheldon said.
"And all the crying?" Howard asked.
"I have noise canceling headphones and I plan to use traditional sleeping training methods." He responded.
"You've really thought this through, huh?" Howard asked.
"I think everything through, I have a Nobel prize." Sheldon responded.
"Should we check on Leonard?" Raj asked, checking the time on his phone.
"She's eight months old, it's not like she could kill him." Howard said, sighing.
"Well, she's Penny's kid too." Raj said.
"Oh that is a very good point, he might not be safe." Sheldon said.
"Relax, let's just play another round, I'm sure he's just settling her down." Howard said. He picked up his controller and started another round, completely focusing on the game and forgetting about crying and babies and Sheldon's impending fatherhood. Then, Penny and Amy walked through the door.
"What are you guys still doing here?" Penny asked, as the boys looked at her like deer in headlights.
"We're playing Halo, what does it look like we're doing?" Sheldon asked, Penny noticed Leonard was missing.
"Where's my husband?" She said, freaking out. They all shrugged, "you don't know?"
"He went to put Lily down a few…" Howard checked his watch, "hours ago."
"Oh all of you go home!" Penny said, as she walked past them and into the nursery. They all got up and left in a single file line. Penny stopped at the open doorway and saw Leonard fast asleep in the rocking chair with Lily sleeping on his chest. It warmed her heart and she took her phone out to take a picture. She was relieved to see her husband was still home and her daughter wasn't screaming, not that she didn't trust him. She walked over and ran her fingers through Leonard's hair, which woke him up.
"Penny?" he said groggily, taking off his glasses that he had fallen asleep in and wiping his eyes with his hand.
"You fell asleep, the guys just left." she said, grabbing Lily off of his chest and carefully placing her in her crib.
"Oh shit," he said, "well I guess she stopped crying."
"It was that bad?" Penny asked, feeling a little guilty for leaving.
"It wasn't good," Leonard said, "but she's sleeping now, which means we should probably take advantage of that."
"Leonard, I love you sweetie, but we are not having sex when she could wake up screaming at any second." Penny said, helping him out of the chair.
"No, no, I mean we should sleep." Leonard said, "how was girls' night?"
"It was fine, got drunk, talked about Shamy sex a little too much for comfort."
"Ah, the usual." he said, looking over the crib at his daughter, "she's so cute when she's quiet."
"Hey, she's cute all the time!" Penny said, slapping him.
"Yeah, but a lot cuter when she's quiet." Leonard said.
"I never want to see her in pain like that again." Penny said, not taking her eyes off of the sleeping baby.
"Me neither, babe, but that's life." Leonard said, running his hand down Penny's back.
"Still, I wish I could take away all of her pain," Penny said.
"Well, you can't and it's how she'll grow and we should really sleep because she's gonna start crying again." Leonard said, guiding her out of the nursery.
"I can't believe you slept through your Halo night." Penny said.
"Well, once she closed her eyes I couldn't move and I didn't have my phone on me to entertain me. It was literally my only option." he said, half joking. They walked into their room and started to get ready for bed. They each got on their respective sides and Penny laid her head on Leonard's chest and he wrapped his arms around her.
"I feel bad for Amy." Penny said.
"She picked Sheldon, you can't feel bad it was totally her decision." Leonard said into Penny's hair which caused her to laugh.
"No, I feel bad that it's been so hard for them to get pregnant. It was literally so easy for us, too easy." Penny said, "we weren't even trying."
"Well, we also weren't trying not to," Leonard said, "you went off the pill after the whole donor situation and we decided to be a little less careful, it wasn't like a total freak accident."
"Yeah, but still. She really wants a baby." Penny said.
"And she'll have one when it's the right time. I think maybe the universe is saying Sheldon isn't ready." Leonard said, "I don't think he could handle having a kid yet, but he's getting there. I don't think I could handle him having a kid."
"You're right, I'm not ready for grandchildren." Penny joked, "I think Amy is ready though and she's always been good at whipping Sheldon into shape."
"Let's go to sleep," Leonard said, kissing her head. Just then, screaming echoed from the nursery.
"I'll get her, you go to sleep." Penny said, walking into the nursery and picking up Lily who started to calm down as soon as she was in Penny's arms. "I am never going to do this again because I can't have you in our bed all the time, but I think you should sleep with mommy and daddy tonight so we can hold you through the pain." She brought a quieter but still crying baby into her bed and laid Lily between her and Leonard.
"Really?" Leonard asked.
"Just for tonight, I think she just wants to be held." Penny said.
"She's going to think she can always sleep in our bed, that's what Sheldon thought after the first time we let him crawl into bed with us when he had a nightmare." Leonard said, sitting up and putting his glasses on.
"Please Leonard." Penny said, holding up the baby who was staring at her father with a quivering lip.
"Fine, but just tonight. This is a really bad habit." Leonard said, making sure the area between them was cleared for Lily and cuddling his daughter and his wife close.
"See, this is nice." Penny said, closing her eyes.
"Until she's screaming in our ear instead of through the baby monitor." Leonard said.
"Shhh. Just go to sleep." Penny said, and then three of them fell asleep, at least for a few hours until Lily started crying again.