"Baby Steps", Part III
*
Sheldon tries to be brave for Penny, but the fact remains that he simply hates hospitals. Leonard feels somewhat proud of his best friend, seeing how he holds Penny’s hand continuously telling her his famous ‘there, there’. The feeling lasts until Sheldon tells the nurses to not ever touch him again after one brushes his arm. He excuses himself for a quick round of cleaning up.
The waiting is strenous. In the morning, Bernadette and Amy come to visit. Howard and Raj join them soon after. Leonard stays the whole time; whether he does it for Penny or Sheldon is unclear even to himself. After almost 11 hours, Sheldon tweets the joyous news of his daughter’s birth. Nameless for the time-being. Leonard, relived, hugs everyone in the waiting room.
*
“She needs a name.” Sheldon tells Penny after the baby has been cleaned. She is the ugliest thing he has ever seen. Yet he falls in love with her right away. He doesn’t see any resemblance to himself or Penny. But seeing the look on Penny’s face, he understands for once that he has to keep this fact to himself.
“Hmmm.” Penny is tired and Sheldon, out of some weird impulse, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I propose a strong name like-“
“Katherine.” Penny interjects.
“After whom?”
“Katharine The Great of course.”
“Why would we name our daughter after a Russian Empress with a questionable romantic past?”
“What? No, silly. Katharine, the Great. Katharine Hepburn.”
“Who?” Penny laughs.
"Just go tell them.”
*
Leonard can’t help but pat Sheldon’s back when he finally leaves the hospital room. He makes Leonard follow him to fill out the birth certificate, asking who Katharine Hepburn is. When they return to Penny’s room, they’re pushed aside. Leonard feels Sheldon tense up next to him. He puts a hand on his best friend’s back, who startles and runs into Penny’s room. Leonard sees a small pink bundle, but his attention is focused on Penny. And all the doctors working on her.
“What happened? What’s wrong with her?” Sheldon asks, demanding answers. Eventually all Leonard can hear is the voice of Sheldon mumbling nonsense to no one in particular. He thinks he hears numbers.
This, he thinks glumly, is how it all ends.
*
One step forwards and a million back. The Sheldon that comes home from the hospital is not a new one; it’s a very old one. The Sheldon he met so many years ago. All he does is mope around the apartment and it’s Leonard who has to remind him to take care of Katie.
“I need to find a way, Leonard.” Sheldon tells him day after day with blue rings under his eyes. This is worse than any work related problem Sheldon has ever encountered, because he has not the slightest idea how to fix this. How to fix Penny and get his life back. All those numbers, all this emptiness can’t help him.
“Why don’t you sing Soft Kitty to Katie?” Leonard suggests. The girl has been crying all night. Sheldon looks at his daughter. Her face is squished and red and she wriggles in his arms.
“She’s not sick.”
“Well, she misses her mother. I’d say that’s some kind of sick.”
Sheldon continues to stare at his daughter and just when Leonard is about to start singing himself, Sheldon softly sings next to her tiny ear. A moment later the infant calms visibly. Rocking her gently in a way Leonard has never seen Sheldon do, the girl falls asleep. Seeing the unlikely pairing of father and daughter, Leonard starts to believe in miracles.
*
Time passes too fast and too slow at the same time. Sheldon, as always, has a schedule. Visiting Penny, feeding Katie and never once missing his scheduled bowel movement. Most of the time when Leonard checks in, he finds Sheldon in front of his board with Katie somehow in his arms. It’s so unnaturally natural that it scares him. He calls Mrs. Cooper to come as quickly as possible. They need all the help they can get. Sheldon tells him what ‘nonsense’ this is. Eventually, when they watch Katie sleeping peacefully in her crib Sheldon actually apologizes.
*
Sheldon is meticulously noting every one of Katie’s movements. He wants Penny to read it when she wakes up again. The doctor says she should have woken up already. One night, Leonard finds Sheldon praying at Penny’s hospital bed. Then he sings Soft Kitty to her.
“Because this time you really are sick.”
Leonard quietly leaves.
*
Everyone has their own story when one day later, Penny wakes up. Their own little miracle. Penny doesn’t care; all she wants is to hold her daughter. Sheldon is next to Penny’s hospital bed, his hand on their daughter, giving Penny a commentary on her development. His hand wanders and finds its destiny on Penny’s shoulder. When she looks up at him, there is something new in Sheldon’s eyes. It’s so intimate and unknown to Leonard that he decides to no longer watch and analyze.
“I hope we can take you home soon. I really need to get to know the woman who made my moonpie settle down.” Sheldon’s Meemaw is as demanding as her grandson. Only that her expressions are even scarier. Mrs. Cooper thought it would do her son good to have his Meemaw around, so she brought her along. There are two women calling Sheldon moonpie and the world seems just the tiniest bit better.
“Just you wait until that little one starts talking.” Meemaw tells them all.
“Oh, I can’t wait.” Penny exclaims, stroking Katie’s soft blond hair.
“Shelly has not yet shown us the wedding pictures.” Meemaw looks around to see who she can blame.
Penny and Leonard share a look, then she stares at Sheldon who just shrugs.
“I told you so.” He finally whispers to Penny when his Meemaw is grilling their friends about the pictures.
“If I wasn’t holding your daughter, I’d so hit you.”
“Were. If you weren’t holding my daughter.”
Somehow, Penny manages to hit Sheldon after all. Even with Katie there, still unaware of their crazy parents.
Nothing will ever really change. No matter what.
*Epilogue*
“I do not care for this kind of cake.” Katie Cooper pushes the plate with the muddy chocolate cake away.
“Why not?” The saleswoman asks.
“For one,” the little girl starts, cleaning her fingers with a wet wipe. The eyebrows over her big blue eyes go up and she swishes her dark blond hair behind her head just like her mother has taught her.
“It’s too messy.” She points her finger at the brown mess on the plate. The saleswoman only stares.
“And also this chocolate is too rich. People will be too full to dance. They need to dance.” Katie nods to herself, obviously pleased. She goes to the counter to look at the various cakes there.
“She is very particular.” Penny tells the saleswoman, but she has to keep herself from grinning. Sometimes Katie enjoys annoying grownups with her behavior. She calls it ‘playing Daddy’, imitating Sheldon.
“I can see that.”
“We decided to let her pick the cake.”
“A wonderful idea.” The saleswoman says, but it’s obvious she doesn’t mean it. She watches Katie analyze the cakes.
“Mom, I want this one.” Katie points to a lemon cake.
“Can we please try this one?” The saleswoman nods and prepares a plate.
“Be nice.” Penny whispers into her daughter’s ear who just nods, watching the cake being cut closely.
“Thank you.” Katie politely says. She sits down at the table and takes a bite.
“We have a winner!” She exclaims happily. Her big grin reveals her first tooth gap. Even the saleswoman is pleased. Penny arranges everything before she and Katie leave. The little girl takes her mother’s hand and smiles up at her.
“It is a great cake.”
“Let’s just hope your dad approves of it, too.”
“He always kinda lets me have what I want.” Katie tells her mother secretively. Penny pretends not to know, but again it is hard not to smile and reveal herself.
“Huh, does he? I hope you’re right.”
“Mom, I’m always right.” Katie remarks and sounds just like her father. The man Penny would finally marry in a few short months. Even if she can’t quite believe it herself. Katie slips away from Penny.
“Dad!” The girl throws herself at Sheldon who catches her awkwardly. Five years have prepared him for impromptu displays of affection. From both Katie and Penny. Still, he always looks kind of lost and awkward.
“I picked the cake! A lemon cake!” Katie hangs from his neck and Sheldon tries to hold her up.
“Very well.” Sheldon stares at Penny, begging her to help him.
“Katie, come on, let your father breathe.” Katie reluctantly lets go.
“I made the saleswoman uncomfortable.” She tells her father proudly.
“I talked to her as if I was you.” Sheldon looks at Penny, who silently tells him ‘she’s your daughter’.
“It’s ‘were’, Katie. If I were you.” The girl rolls her eyes. ‘That’s your daughter’, Sheldon lets Penny know. She just grins and takes Sheldon’s hand. He squeezes back.
Who would have thought.
Sheldon tries to be brave for Penny, but the fact remains that he simply hates hospitals. Leonard feels somewhat proud of his best friend, seeing how he holds Penny’s hand continuously telling her his famous ‘there, there’. The feeling lasts until Sheldon tells the nurses to not ever touch him again after one brushes his arm. He excuses himself for a quick round of cleaning up.
The waiting is strenous. In the morning, Bernadette and Amy come to visit. Howard and Raj join them soon after. Leonard stays the whole time; whether he does it for Penny or Sheldon is unclear even to himself. After almost 11 hours, Sheldon tweets the joyous news of his daughter’s birth. Nameless for the time-being. Leonard, relived, hugs everyone in the waiting room.
*
“She needs a name.” Sheldon tells Penny after the baby has been cleaned. She is the ugliest thing he has ever seen. Yet he falls in love with her right away. He doesn’t see any resemblance to himself or Penny. But seeing the look on Penny’s face, he understands for once that he has to keep this fact to himself.
“Hmmm.” Penny is tired and Sheldon, out of some weird impulse, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I propose a strong name like-“
“Katherine.” Penny interjects.
“After whom?”
“Katharine The Great of course.”
“Why would we name our daughter after a Russian Empress with a questionable romantic past?”
“What? No, silly. Katharine, the Great. Katharine Hepburn.”
“Who?” Penny laughs.
"Just go tell them.”
*
Leonard can’t help but pat Sheldon’s back when he finally leaves the hospital room. He makes Leonard follow him to fill out the birth certificate, asking who Katharine Hepburn is. When they return to Penny’s room, they’re pushed aside. Leonard feels Sheldon tense up next to him. He puts a hand on his best friend’s back, who startles and runs into Penny’s room. Leonard sees a small pink bundle, but his attention is focused on Penny. And all the doctors working on her.
“What happened? What’s wrong with her?” Sheldon asks, demanding answers. Eventually all Leonard can hear is the voice of Sheldon mumbling nonsense to no one in particular. He thinks he hears numbers.
This, he thinks glumly, is how it all ends.
*
One step forwards and a million back. The Sheldon that comes home from the hospital is not a new one; it’s a very old one. The Sheldon he met so many years ago. All he does is mope around the apartment and it’s Leonard who has to remind him to take care of Katie.
“I need to find a way, Leonard.” Sheldon tells him day after day with blue rings under his eyes. This is worse than any work related problem Sheldon has ever encountered, because he has not the slightest idea how to fix this. How to fix Penny and get his life back. All those numbers, all this emptiness can’t help him.
“Why don’t you sing Soft Kitty to Katie?” Leonard suggests. The girl has been crying all night. Sheldon looks at his daughter. Her face is squished and red and she wriggles in his arms.
“She’s not sick.”
“Well, she misses her mother. I’d say that’s some kind of sick.”
Sheldon continues to stare at his daughter and just when Leonard is about to start singing himself, Sheldon softly sings next to her tiny ear. A moment later the infant calms visibly. Rocking her gently in a way Leonard has never seen Sheldon do, the girl falls asleep. Seeing the unlikely pairing of father and daughter, Leonard starts to believe in miracles.
*
Time passes too fast and too slow at the same time. Sheldon, as always, has a schedule. Visiting Penny, feeding Katie and never once missing his scheduled bowel movement. Most of the time when Leonard checks in, he finds Sheldon in front of his board with Katie somehow in his arms. It’s so unnaturally natural that it scares him. He calls Mrs. Cooper to come as quickly as possible. They need all the help they can get. Sheldon tells him what ‘nonsense’ this is. Eventually, when they watch Katie sleeping peacefully in her crib Sheldon actually apologizes.
*
Sheldon is meticulously noting every one of Katie’s movements. He wants Penny to read it when she wakes up again. The doctor says she should have woken up already. One night, Leonard finds Sheldon praying at Penny’s hospital bed. Then he sings Soft Kitty to her.
“Because this time you really are sick.”
Leonard quietly leaves.
*
Everyone has their own story when one day later, Penny wakes up. Their own little miracle. Penny doesn’t care; all she wants is to hold her daughter. Sheldon is next to Penny’s hospital bed, his hand on their daughter, giving Penny a commentary on her development. His hand wanders and finds its destiny on Penny’s shoulder. When she looks up at him, there is something new in Sheldon’s eyes. It’s so intimate and unknown to Leonard that he decides to no longer watch and analyze.
“I hope we can take you home soon. I really need to get to know the woman who made my moonpie settle down.” Sheldon’s Meemaw is as demanding as her grandson. Only that her expressions are even scarier. Mrs. Cooper thought it would do her son good to have his Meemaw around, so she brought her along. There are two women calling Sheldon moonpie and the world seems just the tiniest bit better.
“Just you wait until that little one starts talking.” Meemaw tells them all.
“Oh, I can’t wait.” Penny exclaims, stroking Katie’s soft blond hair.
“Shelly has not yet shown us the wedding pictures.” Meemaw looks around to see who she can blame.
Penny and Leonard share a look, then she stares at Sheldon who just shrugs.
“I told you so.” He finally whispers to Penny when his Meemaw is grilling their friends about the pictures.
“If I wasn’t holding your daughter, I’d so hit you.”
“Were. If you weren’t holding my daughter.”
Somehow, Penny manages to hit Sheldon after all. Even with Katie there, still unaware of their crazy parents.
Nothing will ever really change. No matter what.
*Epilogue*
“I do not care for this kind of cake.” Katie Cooper pushes the plate with the muddy chocolate cake away.
“Why not?” The saleswoman asks.
“For one,” the little girl starts, cleaning her fingers with a wet wipe. The eyebrows over her big blue eyes go up and she swishes her dark blond hair behind her head just like her mother has taught her.
“It’s too messy.” She points her finger at the brown mess on the plate. The saleswoman only stares.
“And also this chocolate is too rich. People will be too full to dance. They need to dance.” Katie nods to herself, obviously pleased. She goes to the counter to look at the various cakes there.
“She is very particular.” Penny tells the saleswoman, but she has to keep herself from grinning. Sometimes Katie enjoys annoying grownups with her behavior. She calls it ‘playing Daddy’, imitating Sheldon.
“I can see that.”
“We decided to let her pick the cake.”
“A wonderful idea.” The saleswoman says, but it’s obvious she doesn’t mean it. She watches Katie analyze the cakes.
“Mom, I want this one.” Katie points to a lemon cake.
“Can we please try this one?” The saleswoman nods and prepares a plate.
“Be nice.” Penny whispers into her daughter’s ear who just nods, watching the cake being cut closely.
“Thank you.” Katie politely says. She sits down at the table and takes a bite.
“We have a winner!” She exclaims happily. Her big grin reveals her first tooth gap. Even the saleswoman is pleased. Penny arranges everything before she and Katie leave. The little girl takes her mother’s hand and smiles up at her.
“It is a great cake.”
“Let’s just hope your dad approves of it, too.”
“He always kinda lets me have what I want.” Katie tells her mother secretively. Penny pretends not to know, but again it is hard not to smile and reveal herself.
“Huh, does he? I hope you’re right.”
“Mom, I’m always right.” Katie remarks and sounds just like her father. The man Penny would finally marry in a few short months. Even if she can’t quite believe it herself. Katie slips away from Penny.
“Dad!” The girl throws herself at Sheldon who catches her awkwardly. Five years have prepared him for impromptu displays of affection. From both Katie and Penny. Still, he always looks kind of lost and awkward.
“I picked the cake! A lemon cake!” Katie hangs from his neck and Sheldon tries to hold her up.
“Very well.” Sheldon stares at Penny, begging her to help him.
“Katie, come on, let your father breathe.” Katie reluctantly lets go.
“I made the saleswoman uncomfortable.” She tells her father proudly.
“I talked to her as if I was you.” Sheldon looks at Penny, who silently tells him ‘she’s your daughter’.
“It’s ‘were’, Katie. If I were you.” The girl rolls her eyes. ‘That’s your daughter’, Sheldon lets Penny know. She just grins and takes Sheldon’s hand. He squeezes back.
Who would have thought.