Thank you all again for all the kind reviews! I'm really having a good time writing this and am trying to update as frequently as possible. Also, while you're at it, I wrote a one shot in the same universe based on the YS finale last week — feel free to check it out! Please follow and review, your validation is extremely important to me lol! I own nothing obviously!
"Is she breathing?" Leonard asked as he very slowly pulled out of the hospital. Penny put her hand on the sleeping newborn's stomach and made sure she could feel her breath.
"Yep." Penny said, looking sadly at her daughter. She wasn't sad to have her, in fact she had never felt so much love and happiness. She was sad that they were leaving the hospital where only she and Leonard had met the baby and going home to their apartment where they would be stuck until the world became normal again. She was sad that her friends wouldn't be able to meet her in person for a while and that beyond all the normal worries she should have about her baby getting sick, interacting with anyone beyond their little family posed the risk of killing her baby. She was, however, grateful that she and Leonard would both be home all of the time for the foreseeable future to take care of and bond with their little girl.
"Are you excited that she's coming home?" Leonard asked, smiling at her in the rearview mirror. Penny was too distracted making sure her baby was breathing to answer him. Leonard watched her look at the baby through the mirror and got his answer — she was feeling exactly the same way he was, excited but guilty that they were bringing her into a world that was so dark. He thought that since they had a baby, even in a normal time, they'd be stuck at home with her for a few months, but knowing that she wouldn't interact with the outside world made him sad for her. The rest of the car ride was quiet until they reached their apartment building. Leonard helped his wife out of the car and then they both carefully took the baby out in her carseat, trying with all their mite not to wake her. She stayed quiet as they entered the building and her eyes began to open as the elevator arrived at the ground floor. She let out a little cry and Penny rushed to take her out of the carseat and into her arms while they were still in the elevator. When they got to the fourth floor, she was still crying.
"Lily, sweetie, don't cry. This is your home," Penny said, gently rocking her in front of 4A. Leonard put the empty carseat on the floor and reached into his pocket to get the keys, unlocking the door. Before the door could open, Sheldon came out of 4B with his laundry basket and a mask and gloves.
"Oh you're home!" Sheldon said. It was a Wednesday afternoon, not laundry night. Penny and Leonard both knew he was trying to sneak a peek of their newborn, who he loved despite his inability to admit that.
"Sheldon, it's not laundry night." Penny said, still trying to calm Lily down.
"Can't a man switch up his laundry schedule every once in a while?" Sheldon said, looking lovingly at the baby.
"A man can sure, but not you," Leonard said, "We want you and Amy to see her too, but it's just not safe yet. We'll facetime you as soon as we're settled in and you can virtually meet her." Sheldon looked sad at that alternative, but he understood better than anyone the threat of germs, especially to a newborn.
"Very well," he said, turning back into his apartment.
"That's your crazy Uncle Sheldon," Penny said, kissing Lily's head. Finally, Leonard opened the door and carried all of their things in as Penny walked the baby around the apartment. She looked at the place differently, it wasn't Sheldon and Leonard's apartment now, it was their family's home. Now, it had baby proofing and a pink nursery filled with clothes, toys, books, and ready to house a newborn baby.
"Welcome home, Lily." Leonard said, joining his wife and daughter. He put his arms around Penny and kissed her head.
"That's where me and Daddy had our first kiss," Penny said, pointing toward the couch. Lily seemed to be awake and aware of her parents' words, "I was wearing the cutest black cat costume and I was so skinny." She sat down on the couch with Lily in her arms, "And that's crazy Uncle Sheldon's spot, but maybe he'll let you sit in it."
"He won't." Leonard said, joining them on the couch.
"And right over there is where I proposed to your Daddy and he rejected me," Penny said, Lily cooed at that, "I know, I can't believe it either."
"Hey, eventually you wore me down." Leonard said, winking at Penny which caused her to laugh. Penny stood up from the couch and Leonard followed her, she headed toward the hallway and stopped in front of Lily's nursery. It was painted pink with floral wallpaper and a white crib. Penny had been so bored that she became obsessed with decorating it perfectly for her daughter. They hung wood letters that said "LILY" and placed a picture of the whole gang at the Nobel ceremony in a frame on her dresser. The closet was already full of enough clothes for her until she was two and there was a pile of gifts that had yet to be opened in the corner of the room. It was perfect.
"This is your room, sweetie." Penny said, showing her the nursery. She hadn't cried once since they entered the apartment, and Penny took that as a sign that Lily understood that this was her home and these were her parents. After spending a few minutes showing Lily around her room, she saw the baby begin to close her eyes. The three of them walked into Leonard and Penny's bedroom and Penny sat on the bed and Leonard joined her. The bed was still unmade from two nights before when Penny went into labor in the middle of the night, but they still got in it. Leonard took Lily and she instantly fell asleep, scrunched up on his chest.
"She's so perfect," Leonard said, staring at the sleeping baby.
"Yeah, she's pretty cool." Penny said, yawning and resting her head on Leonard's shoulder without taking her eyes off of the baby.
"You tired?" Leonard asked, running his hands through Penny's hair.
"A little." She replied, taking a breath.
"Hungry?" Leonard asked.
"Starving." She said, "But I don't think we have any food."
"Should I go pick something up?" Leonard asked.
"No, I can't be alone with her!" Penny said, seriously. She was now so stressed at the idea of being left alone with her own daughter and freaking out about how freaked out that thought made her.
"You're totally capable, but why don't we order something for delivery? What sounds good?" Leonard suggested, pulling out his phone and opening the UberEats app. That app had become their best friends throughout the pandemic and even before as Penny's early pregnancy cravings went crazy.
"Sushi." Penny said, as Leonard's phone displayed their favorite sushi restaurant.
"Perfect, you order," he said, handing her his phone. She added more sushi than anyone could eat to their cart and pressed order. The app told them it would arrive in 30 minutes.
"Do you want me to put her in the bassinet?" Penny asked, running her hand gently down her sleeping baby's back.
"No, I like her like this." Leonard said, smiling at Penny.
"You do look really hot with a baby." Penny said, kissing his lips.
"Hey, you're gonna wake her." Leonard said, earnestly. Penny rolled her eyes at her husband and went back to staring at their daughter. The two of them were totally entranced. They laid in their bed just watching the baby sleep until Leonard's phone went off alerting them that their sushi had arrived. Leonard stood up, carefully holding the sleeping baby on his chest and put her down in the bassinet that was next to their bed. Penny watched her squirm a bit and then sighed a big sigh of relief when she stayed asleep. She followed Leonard to the door where he grabbed the sushi from the delivery man and put it on their coffee table.
"Is she going to be okay in our room all by herself? She's never been alone in a room before." Penny said, slightly freaking out. Leonard pulled out his phone and opened the baby monitor app to show Penny that the baby was sound asleep in her bassinet.
"She's good, babe." Leonard said, opening up the huge bag of sushi and spreading out the different rolls on the table. Penny pulled out a pair of chopsticks and started digging in, barely taking a breath between each bite.
"Oh my god I missed this so much." Penny said, rolling her eyes back with her mouth full of sushi. She pulled out her phone and began to look at pictures of Lily in the hospital. She must have had 500 pictures from her day and a half of life. She rested her head on Leonard's shoulder and they looked through the pictures together. Most were of Lily, but some of them were of the three of them in complete bliss with their perfectly healthy baby.
"She's so perfect," Leonard said, kissing her head as Penny continued to scroll, "thank you."
"Thank you." Penny said, looking up at him with a bit of sadness in her eyes.
"Hey, you did all the work." Leonard said, taking a bite of his sushi.
"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without you." Penny said, "I can't believe I didn't want kids. I'm so sorry, Leonard." She began to cry, to truly weep.
"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry about." Leonard said, "You've wanted her since the second we found out you were pregnant, that's what matters."
"Still," Penny said, continuing to cry, "I feel like an awful mother, I have that horrible guilt."
"You're already the best mother in the entire world." Leonard said, rubbing his thumb over her shoulder and pulling her in close. She started to wipe her tears.
"Sweetie, that's not true and you don't have to say that." Penny said, as the tears stopped.
"Penny, you've raised all of us guys to be actual men. Look at Sheldon, he's married and somewhat well adjusted for an alien. Lily is going to be a piece of cake, you carried her for 9 months and she's healthy and happy and safe." He said.
"Thank you. But if she's anything like me, the teen years will be rough." Penny said, laughing.
"Yeah, but I plan on locking her up in a castle the second she starts thinking about boys. It's going to be impossible if we don't do that, she looks exactly like you." Leonard said.
"You really think so?" Penny asked.
"Identical to you, I mean did you see her eyes?" He asked, trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah, she's pretty cute." Penny said.
"Cute? Not a strong enough word. She's beautiful, she's perfect, just like her mommy." Leonard said, turning on his phone to check the time and seeing a brand new picture of the three of them in Penny's hospital bed as the screensaver. As if on cue, crying echoed from their bedroom and Penny got up in a split second.
"She probably needs to be fed," she said, almost running to their bedroom. Leonard followed, watching her in awe — she already was an amazing mother. She picked up the baby and began to rock her, which only heightened the crying, "are you hungry, sweet girl?" Penny sat down on the bed and began to feed her daughter. Leonard awkwardly stood and watched, she gestured with her free hand for him to sit next to her on their bed. He followed orders and began to tear up. "What?" Penny asked.
"I've just always dreamed of this, I'm so happy." Leonard said.
"Remember how you feel now, because I'm taking care of what goes into her and you're responsible for whatever comes out." Penny said, softly hitting her husband. Leonard rolled his eyes and took a picture of his two girls. "That picture goes nowhere online, enough people have seen my boobs at their best in Serial Apeist, I don't need a new picture for nerds to get off over."
"Penny, I would never do that." Leonard said, "Plus the king of nerds already has all the access he can get." She rolled her eyes at him.
"She's asleep, can you grab her and put her in her bassinet?" Penny asked, whispering. Leonard gladly obliged.
"Why don't we get a little sleep while we can?" Leonard said, laying back down in bed next to his wife.
"That sounds lovely," she said, kissing Leonard and turning over so she was facing the bassinet. Leonard wrapped his arms around her, spooning her like he did every night. He made sure he was at the perfect angle to stare at his sleeping daughter.
"You know, you have to close your eyes to sleep," he said, against her cheek.
"Leonard! How can you not just want to stare at her?" Penny asked.
"I do, but she needs us to sleep so we can take care of her when she's awake." He said, laying on his back and bringing Penny down with him. She laid her head on his chest and they sat quietly for a few minutes until she drifted off. He watched his wife and baby sleep and took it all in. A few hours later, Lily woke up crying, which woke her parents up immediately. They'd started to figure out what her cries meant and did everything they could to soothe her. Around 3 AM, she started to cry softly, and only Leonard woke up. He slid out of bed, careful not to wake his wife and grabbed the baby from the bassinet. He took her into her nursery and began to rock her back and forth. She didn't need to be changed and she didn't seem like she needed to be fed, according to their schedule, she just seemed to want to be held. So, Leonard held her. They walked over to the rocking chair in her room and he laid her on his chest.
"Hi sweet girl," Leonard said, she was no longer crying, but she seemed to be wide awake. Leonard didn't mind the one on one time he got with his daughter, and for now he was well rested enough that the 3 AM wake up time didn't bother him at all. He took their first few minutes of father-daughter time to tell her about himself, Penny, and their little group of friends. She just listened to him with big open eyes and he kept talking. He ran his hand down her back and when he was done with that, she grabbed his finger. He almost started crying tears of joy. Meanwhile, Penny woke up in their bed due to the emptiness, freaked out by the lack of husband and baby next to her. She put her robe on and got up, quietly. She walked down the hall and into Sheldon's old room, the nursery, where she stopped in the doorframe and watched Leonard talk to their baby. She let him go on for a few minutes, about how smart and beautiful Lily was, and then when he finally looked up, he asked "how long have you been up?"
"Few minutes," she replied, "Is she hungry?"
"I don't think so, I think I calmed her down." Leonard said, looking lovingly at the baby.
"Should we get back to bed?" Penny asked, as Leonard got up from the walking chair and walked arm and arm with his wife back to their room. They placed Lily in the bassinet and just stared at her for a bit.
"Thank you." Leonard said.
"Leonard, I didn't need it when we first slept together and I don't need you to thank me now, this is both of our doings and the thank yous are going to get really old really fast." She said, looking back at him.
"Then maybe throw away the card you're about to get in the mail." He said, as he kissed her cheek and got back into bed.