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Chapter 30 :

Penelope's Gift

A week had passed, and things had started to calm back down. Millie wasn’t going to be completely recovered overnight, but she was improving day by day. She and Eli had bonded over Alice in a way no one had quite expected. It was practically a competition between them to see who could get ahold of her first, once Cassidy was done feeding her. Megan had to step in a couple of times to make them share, or just to let them put the poor girl in her crib to sleep.

Most everyone had met the new addition to the farm by now, but Penelope hadn’t been able to make the walk from the bunkhouse since that first day back from the hospital. She was getting a bit frustrated. There was a new baby on the farm, and she wasn’t helping to care for it. This was an issue for her. A big one.

Eventually she broke down and asked Cassidy and Megan to bring Alice to her, which is where they all were now. Penelope was sitting on the couch, cradling the little girl in her arms and feeling all the stress slip away. This is who she was. It’s all she wanted to be.

Clairibelle was sleeping back at the house. Eli was back to school now, though Wells had set them up with a police presence there now just to be safe. Muffin and Jasmine were there was well, but it was where they were most of the time.

Millie had come along. She was sitting next to the motherly woman, practically pressed up against her as she watched the little girl. She could hardly take her eyes off her, to the point that it was almost a fixation. Every time she made a noise, or fidgeted a little, Millie’s little bottom would start to wiggle uncontrollably. Most of the women here had never seen her do that before, and they all silently agreed that it was downright adorable.

“She’s so beautiful, Cassidy.” Penelope was smiling gently, rocking the little girl in her arms, “You’ve done a wonderful thing, dear. One day everyone will realize that.”

“Thanks.” Cassidy was sitting over by the kitchen, enjoying the smells coming from whatever it was Muffin was working on, “I don’t think I’m going to be going out much until they do though.”

Megan had to snort at that, “You don’t go out much anyway, but it’s probably for the best. At least not until the last of those stupid protesters go away.”

There weren’t many left. Just a few, still camped out across the street. Once the cameras all left, most of the protesters did to, and those that remained were running out of steam. What’s the point of protesting if no one is filming it, after all. It was time to move on to the next outrage.

Penelope wasn’t really in the mood to discuss them. She was far too content right now, but she could always be more so, “Would it be alright if I…”

“Go ahead.” Cassidy knew exactly what she meant, “CB said you’d probably ask. I don’t mind.”

“Oh, thank you.” She sounded almost relieved, reaching up gently to undo a couple buttons on her long dress. She freed her right breast from its prison, and just as quickly the little girl had started to feed. She sighed almost instantly, feeling a rush of warmth come over her at the joy of it. There wasn’t a baby on the farm that she hadn’t fed at one point or another, and she would have it no other way.

“Speaking of which…” Muffin piped in, looking up at Cassidy from her tasks, “You must be famished. I could make you something, if you like?”

Cassidy smiled back at her, and said something she thought she might never say again.

“No thanks.” The words sounded almost as relieved as the other woman’s had moments before. “I’m not hungry.”

Just as quickly the smile faded a bit, and after a few moments tears started to form.

“Oh, honey.” Megan rushed to her side, taking her up in a tight hug.

“I’m not hungry, mom…” She sniffled a little, “I thought it was never going end.”

“Thank goodness.” Jasmine looked up from her book now, “I’ve been more than a little concerned what was going to happen with that. I can only imagine the physical and emotional toll it has taken on you.”

“It’s been a nightmare just to watch.” Megan said, leaning a bit away just to leave one arm around her daughter’s waist, “Actually… Since we’ve got your attention, there is one more thing we’d like your advice on.”

“Of course.” Jasmine replied.

Megan led them over to stand in front of her, “Might as well just show her, Cassidy. It’ll be easier than trying to explain it.”

The girl nodded, reaching up one hand to lift her shirt up about halfway, the other one pulling down the waistband of her sweatpants to show them the scar from her surgery. The scabbing was all gone now, and her belly was still a bit lumpy and uneven, but even with the stitches still in it was clear that the skin had all but healed over.

Muffin had come around to look as well, and she smiled cheerily, “Oh, that’s healing up nicely!”

Jasmine was less amused, “A bit… Too nicely. Remember, dear, humans don’t heal like we do.”

“But that’s good, right?” Her love peered down at her curiously.

They all watched as Jasmine took a long moment to let the wheels turn. She was pretty sure she knew what was going on, but she liked to wait to reveal it sometimes in order to make it sound like she was working for an answer. She felt it made her look less arrogant.

Cassidy covered herself back up nervously, “Did something happen to me? Did all this make me, like… Part Changed or something?”

“No no… Remember the virus is already in humans, and always has been. It wouldn’t be that.” She paused a moment longer, then looked over to where Penelope was feeding the little baby quietly, “I would say this is her doing.”

“How do you mean?” Megan asked.

Jasmine sighed, then nodded dramatically, “She came out of that wound. Or more to the point, much of her amniotic fluid did as well. I read somewhere that a group of researchers are studying it for its potential medical use. Success has been limited, but there does seem to be some potential.”

She hadn’t read it somewhere. She knew exactly where. She could have listed off the name of the journal, date it was printed on and author of that particular article. She simply chose to downplay it.

Cassidy was a bit confused, “Then why did it work this time?”

“Well she’s only half Changed, for one.” Jasmine went on, “And she’s your daughter so you are genetically compatible.”

“What a sweet little girl.” Muffin giggled, sitting down on the arm of her lover’s chair, “She even closed the door behind her on the way out.”

“That’s not a bad analogy.” Jasmine smiled up at her, then turned back to her book, “I’ll talk to Doctor Batra about this. It would have been irresponsible of him to discard the placenta. There are a lot of people that I’m sure would want to study it further.”

“Well I hope we don’t need to save anything of mine.” Penelope suddenly chimed in, looking a bit surprised.

Millie pulled away a bit, scooting a couple feet away and looking down at the couch now. Soon enough her backside started going again, and she smiled brightly, “Your water just broke.”

“Oh, and I think I’ve ruined the couch.” She said, a little frustrated with herself, turning to hand off Alice to the little dog beside her, “Someone be a dear at get me some towels?”

“I’ll go let Henry know.” Jasmine stood, setting her book aside, “Looks like it’s time to start setting up the barn.”

Cassidy furrowed her brow, “You all give birth in the barn?”

“It’s the cleanest room on the farm!” Muffin bounced back behind the counter to start stirring something that needed it.

“No better place for it!”

Annabelle and Megan had left the farm that afternoon to make a delivery to the cheese makers in town. Henry was busy setting up the barn for the delivery, and it wasn't the first time Annabelle stepped into this role, so they loaded up the fifty four with tanks of milk and set out. It was all she could do not to speed in order to get them back before Penelope gave birth, but she somehow managed to reign in that impulse and obey the limit.

Which made it all the more surprising to them both when a car came up fast from behind, and its lights started flashing.

"Oh, hell..." Annabelle grumbled, "Not again."

Megan leaned forward to try and get a better look at the car in the side mirror, "Why is he... You aren't doing anything wrong."

"Driving while Changed, Megan." Came the snorted reply as, "Just because it ain't illegal doesn't mean everyone likes it, and they all know this truck."

Megan settled back and sighed, "Never seems to end, does it?"

"No. It never does."

By now she had slowed the truck and was pulling off onto the shoulder to stop. She shut off the engine, both hands on the wheel as she waited. Megan was struck by the way she did so. One would have almost thought she was a person of color being pulled over in Chicago, not a farm girl coming back from making a delivery. She had to wonder how many times she had been through this before.

All of that was relieved though, as the Sheriff knocked on the window.

"Open up, girl..." Wells called to her, "Just lookin' to talk."

Annabelle was almost startled at first, but then quickly began cranking the window down, "Jesus, Reg... Thought I was about to lose another tail light."

"I wouldn't worry about that. Eddie has been... Encouraged to seek employment in another district." He couldn't help but chuckle, "Doesn't solve the problem, but it does at least make it someone else's."

"Can't say I'm not relieved, just the same." Annabelle huffed, "What brings you out this way then, darlin'? You stopping by the farm?"

"Nope. Coming back from the detention center."

There was a serious silence that fell over them. The detention center didn't even have a proper name. It was north near the edge of the county, out in the middle of an open plain and surrounded on all sides by high fences, containing little more than tents and a few shacks for its occupants to live in. None of them convicted of a single crime...

All of them Changed.

They were the ones that didn't have families and homes to educate them. They were the ones that didn't know even the most basic laws in human society after they Changed, sent there without trial for anything from violent acts to stealing an apple, and just about everything in between. Locked up, and forgotten.

Annabelle broke the silence, "What business did you have up there?"

"It ain't right. Some of those folks... I don't even know if they can be released now. Being locked up has made them into the criminals we accused them of being." Wells folded his arms, letting his eyes drift off down the road a bit, "We're to blame for that. Hell, I know I arrested one or two of them myself, but if I had known what was going to be done with them..."

They let him have a moment to collect his thoughts, and then he went on.

"I'm working with a few. It ain't easy, and they're not quick to trust, as you might imagine." He turned back to look at the ladies, "But I think I can get them out of there. So long as I can prove that they're not a danger to anyone."

"That's nice, Reg." Megan smiled at him. They'd become a little more familiar with each other since Alice's birth, and she had to admit she kind of liked his unfiltered style of honesty, "How long have you been doing that for?"

"Not long enough." He shrugged one shoulder, "But I didn't stop you to talk about that. I was kind of hoping to pick your brains about something that's been picking at mine."

Annabelle leaned her elbow out the window, "I don't see why not."

He nodded slowly, still looking down the road away from them, "Well... It's just..."

He was clearly struggling with what he wanted to say, but Megan caught his drift easily enough.

"This is about Sophie, isn't it?" She had to chuckle at that, "The big bad Sheriff needs help picking up the ladies, does he?"

"The big bad Sheriff does fine, thank you very much. You can put a badge and a uniform on a scarecrow and it'll get laid within a week." Wells snorted back, "But I want to do something nice for her, and Sophie ain't the sort of woman you can get some flowers and jewelry for to make her knees weak, is she?"

"Why not?"

Annabelle practically severed his entire train of thought with those two words. He stared back at her in surprise. She gave him a grin, knowing she had him right where she wanted him.

"You know why Sophie doesn't wear jewelry, Reg?" She started the Fifty Four back up, knowing exactly how she intended to end this converstation...

"You ain't given her any yet." Annabelle gave him a wink, and put the old truck in gear, "See you around, sugar."

Wells hooked his thumbs in his belt as he watched them go, considering her parting words. It couldn't be just that easy, he thought. Sophie wasn't anything like any of the other women he'd been interested in in the past. She certainly wasn't like his ex-wife. He hadn't even considered that such a simple gesture might work just as well as it had with them.

Then again, it would be the last thing she would expect.

A slow smile crossed his face, and a plan was formed.

"They never stop surprising you, do they?" He said, looking off down the road after them, speaking to his old childhood friend that wasn't even there to hear it, "You always were better at this than me, Henry. Seems like a pretty good life."

"She's starting to crown. You're almost there."

The barn had been redressed for this, as it had been several times before. Sterilized and draped in cloth, now with a single bed in the pit full of straw at the center of the room that had the mother perched atop it and Henry at her feet. No human hospital would allow the Changed in their maternity ward, so every child of the Changed cattle had been brought into this world right here. Kicking and crying right into Henry's waiting hands.

Twelve had survived, counting Eli. One had not.

"Alright, when I count to three I want you to..." Henry started to say.

"I know how to have a baby, Henry." Penelope said. Her breathing was quite literally labored, and her normally good nature had been dulled by the pain, "I'll push when it's time."

Daisy was to her left, holding her hand tightly in her own, "He's just trying to help, Penelope. It's not his first time either."

"Right... Right..." Penelope nodded, taking several deep breaths before adding, "Sorry."

Henry smiled back up at her. It definitely wasn't his first delivery, any more than it was the first time he'd been chewed out by whichever woman was currently in her position. It didn't matter. He would never say it, but this was one of the most rewarding things he had ever done, and he was just happy to be a part of it, "Whenever you're ready then, but don't take too long. We're all excited to meet her."

It was a few long minutes of heavy breathing and contractions. No one spoke except Daisy, who whispered words of encouragement into her dear friend's ear, but before long, she knew it was time.

"Here it comes..." She said through the breaths, "Get ready, Henry."

He leaned forward again with a chuckle, "Just waiting on you."

Penelope felt the pressure as the life within her slowly shifted downward, her body trying to free it even without her assistance. She took a long, deep intake of breath to steel herself... And she pushed. She knew what to expect from this, but it still felt different this time. The twins had been a little on the small side at first on account of sharing the same place inside of her. Her other daughter, Bridget, was always called the littlest sister, and it wasn't just because she was the youngest of the eleven girls.

Eventually she had to relent to gasp a few more breaths, "She's big... Not like the other girls."

Daisy couldn't help but smile as pride swelled through her, squeezing her friend's hand tightly, "Of course she is. She's Eli's. What else would you expect?"

Penelope smiled back, even through the pain. She shifted a bit to dig her heels into the stirrups, and she went again.

This time there was no letting up. It was time to have this baby, and she wasn't taking no for an answer. An angry sounding growl came out of her unlike any noise anyone would expect the soft spoken mother figure to be capable of, and after a few long minutes of her will battling against the limits of her body she finally felt her child slowly escape into Henry's gentle hands.

He quickly took a clean towel and started rubbing the baby's chest. A gentle massage that eventually caused her to strain enough against the mucus in her mouth and throat to unplug her windpipe and let the cool air fill her lungs for the first time. She cried then, a strong and healthy cry that made them all smile with relief.

None more were more relieved than Henry. Despite his smiles and encouragement, he was always uneasy during a delivery. Right up until the moment he saw that first breath, the way one baby hadn't years before.

"Thank you, Henry." Penelope whispered, head back and eyes closed as she tried to recover.

"You always say that. You did all the hard work." Henry chuckled as he took up a sterile pair of scissors to cut the cord, "Well you were right about her being big. She's almost as..."

He froze.

All the color drained from his face. He just stared at the little baby in his arms in disbelief, unable to process for a moment what he was seeing.

"Henry..." Daisy rose up a bit, suddenly struck with fear at his reaction, "What's wrong?"

Even Penelope, weak as she was, raised her head to look at him, "Henry?"

His head came up to look at them, eyes wide at the shock of what he was about to say...

"It's... It’s a boy."

"What?" Daisy shot to her feet to come around to join him.

Penelope gasped, as much from exhaustion now as the surprise, "Henry... Are you sure? Please... Be absolutely sure… I can't..."

"No... He's right!" Daisy was smiling now, unable to look away from the life cradled in Henry's hands, "It's a boy... It's really a boy!"

"Penelope..." Henry looked back at her now, and they locked gazes, "You have a son."

Tears filled her eyes quickly as sobs of joy overtook her. A daughter would have been loved, and cared for, and perfect. It was what she expected, and she was excited to raise another little girl.

A son was a miracle.

"Give him to me." She held out her arms to Henry, weeping openly now, "I want to hold him."

He gently wrapped the infant up in another clean towel, little more than a light swaddle, then rose to come around the bed. He carefully held her boy out to place him in her arms, then leaned back again to shake his head, "I can't believe it. He did it. Eli really did it."

"Eli will save us." Daisy had come around to put her arm around Henry's waist now, "Our sons will save us all, Penelope."

"I have to go tell everyone." The shock had finally worn off. He was starting to get excited, "I'll... I'll be right back."

"Henry..." He got almost halfway to the door before Penelope called after him.

He stopped, turning back to look at her.

"Don't be rude." She said, smiling weakly, "Wash your hands first, dear."

He blinked a couple of times... Then started to chuckle.

"Yes, mom..."

Only a few of the farm's residents were gathered outside the barn, plus one who had shown up just for the event.

Eli was off a bit by himself, pacing nervously. Honestly he was kind of hoping it would be easier the second time, but that had not turned out to be the case. Muffin and Jasmine were near the door, with Clairibelle leaning on the building casually. Doctor Andrews had taken a particular interest in the people who lived here, and much to everyone's surprise he had little to no curiosity about the farm's big secret. He found Alice fascinating, but it wasn't just her that had drawn his attention...

"Exactly how sensitive do you mean though?" He was standing next to Clairibelle, regarding her with rapt attention, "Surely you must have some grasp of range and volume, yes?"

"It's more about attention than anything." Clairibelle had her arms folded, shrugging one shoulder in a way that showed how little interest she had in this conversation. "I can hear what I'm listening for. Everything else is muddy, unless something particularly interesting stands out."

He nodded, clearly fascinated, “A mutation like this is extremely uncommon. I… I hope I don’t ask too much, but would you be at all willing to let me take some samples of your DNA? Nothing too invasive, but I know several geneticists that would be more than interested in…”

“Absolutely not.” She cut him off derisively.

That caused him to pause in surprise. She was clearly adamant, even without letting him plead his case, “Why not? There is still so much to be learned from the Change. What you have is an evolutionary advantage that should be studied.”

“It has been studied. Jasmine and I spent the better part of a year trying to explain it.” Clairibelle sighed, trying to calm her reaction, “One mutation during the Change is extremely rare, despite how chaotic it all seems. There was a clear genetic blueprint in place, and our bodies either followed it or they died.”

He furrowed his brow, unsure what she was getting at.

“Two mutations is statistically impossible.” Jasmine had moved forward to finish for her, “Meaning that two expressions of that single mutation are far more likely. One being her ears, and the other…”

“This conversation is over.” CB said sternly.

Andrews nodded after a pause, deciding he had better drop it for now. Instead he turned to Jasmine, “This is not the first time you have surprised me with your knowledge of the Change. Where did you learn so much?”

“I keep up with a few medical journals. Mostly I just look for articles related to us.” Jasmine looked away, almost shyly so, “It’s all very boring, but I feel like it’s important.”

“Oh, shush.” Muffin giggled from beside her, “You just like seeing your own papers in those things.”

“Wait, you’ve been published?” The doctor all but gasped, “How on earth did you manage that? I would think you’d be rejected just for being Changed alone.”

Jasmine couldn’t help but smile, clearly more than a little proud as she turned to offer him a hand, “Doctor Anton G. Huber. Nice to meet you.”

He couldn’t help but start to laugh, reaching out to shake the offered hand vigorously, “Nice to meet you, Doctor. Color me impressed.”

“It’s all theoretical, anyway. I wouldn’t even know what to do in a lab.” She said, still feeling the need to play down the significance, “I study other people’s articles, looking for connections between them that they might not have made. I have a lot of respect for their work, but by the very nature of it they tend to be focused on very narrow sets of data. I try to have a more complete overview.”

He shook his head, still grinning, “It’s too bad, really. If someone like you only had the chance to get a degree…”

“It’s alright.” She shrugged slightly, “Colette… My daughter, that is… She’s going to college. I don’t know how yet, but that’s my only goal right now.”

“It is almost scary how smart she is.” Clairibelle finally decided to rejoin the conversation, “Mimi says she’s so far ahead of everyone else at school that she pretty much just helps teach the class now.”

Muffin moved a little closer to her love, slipping an arm around her waist, “Just like her mommy.”

“Oh, and like Candice isn’t currently working on dinner without you?” Jasmine leaned into the hug, “As much as I hate to admit it, our children seem to carry more than just our physical traits. It may just be societal factors in some cases, but I believe that is not always true.”

Andrews let that sink in for a moment, before it brought a thought to him. He turned to eye CB curiously, “Does that mean that your…”

“Shh… Here it goes.” Clairibelle was paying attention to something else now that the rest of them couldn’t hear, or she might have been far more concerned about the doctor’s current train of thinking, “Come on, Penny… You’ve got this.”

Everyone went quiet, waiting for her to reveal what was going on inside. It took a few minutes, but eventually she heard what she was waiting for, and it filled her with nearly the same relief as it had Henry. She heard a cry, loud and powerful to her sensitive ears.

“Ladies and gentlemen…” She leaned off the wall now, looking back and forth between them, “We have ourselves a baby.”

A little cheer went up among the few of them, though Eli mostly just sagged in relief. It stopped as CB turned her head sharply to listen again, her smile fading rapidly. At first nothing… Then her eyes went wide.

“Is everything alright?” Eli asked, becoming very concerned as he moved closer, “Miss Clairibelle?”

She turned to look at him now, almost as if she’d never seen him before in her life. Her grin almost always seemed wicked and sarcastic in some way, but not the one that came to her then. It was the most genuine smile he had ever seen on her, and it did nothing to help his confusion. She wasn’t about to spoil this though. Henry would never forgive her if she told him herself, so instead she just moved over to him, briefly put a hand on his arm and gave him a couple nods, then turned to walk back to the guest house.

“Well done, Eli.” She called back, “Well done.”

She left them there puzzled, but it only lasted a few moments before the door of the barn practically exploded open and Henry came skidding out, still holding the towel he had dried his hands somewhat poorly with. He met eyes with the big bull, with an expression on his face not unlike the one he had just seen on Clairibelle.

“Eli…” He said, the excitement still clear in his voice, “It’s a boy!”

There was a collective gasp, and Henry moved over to the young man to look up at him, “You did it. You really did it.”

“What?” Andrews gasped, “But I checked… Are you sure?”

Henry couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’m pretty sure I know the difference. I can hardly believe…”

He paused, turning back toward Eli in surprise to find he had one arm over his eyes. He was trying to hide the fact that he was crying, and he was not doing a very good job.

“Eli?” Henry moved over to put a hand on his arm, “You’re alright, son. What’s wrong?”

“I’ve… Spent my whole life…” He sniffled a couple times to try and hold any of it back that he could, but he was clearly struggling, “What if I had let everyone down? What if I disappointed everybody? What if…”

“Then that’s the way it would have been.” Henry moved in to do something he hadn’t shared with Eli in years. He wrapped him up in a tight hug, which the boy practically fell into, “We’re all proud of you, son. We always would have been, and we always will be. Don’t you ever doubt that for a second.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hoyt.” He practically sobbed back.

They stayed like that for a bit, before leaning back to give each other some more manly pats as if to temper the tenderness of the moment, then Henry turned back toward the barn, “I need to get back in there. Once Penelope gets herself cleaned up a bit, you can come in and see him.”

“Henry…” Andrews took a step forward, “Would you mind if I joined you? I’d like to be a doctor at least a little bit today, seeing as it cost me so much to become one.”

He nodded back, then motioned him into the building, “I suppose a check up wouldn’t be a bad idea. Everyone seems fine, but… No sense in risking it.”

Henry waited for the doctor to pass, then started to follow. He stopped just at the door though, looking once more over his shoulder at the boy. If he could even still call him that. Eli had a daughter now, and a son. He was a grown man, and Henry was being forced to realize exactly how true that was. All he could do is shake his head at how proud he was feeling in that moment, then turned to head back inside.

Up until this one moment, their entire species had been doomed to extinction. Not one male child had been born since the Change, save for the one that had been conceived before it began. Eli was their last hope… Their one last chance to survive…

It was a lot of pressure to put on one young man. Even now, it still would be. Even knowing that he could father bulls, it still put him in a position that made him uncomfortable… But all that seemed to pale in comparison to the only thing that mattered to him right now. He stood there, not even resisting as Muffin and Jasmine came over to comfort him. He still had tears in his eyes, and fear in his heart.

But they were nothing compared to how proud he felt right now.

“I have a son.”

“It really is a boy.” Andrews was standing next to Henry, who was holding the newborn so that the doctor could get a good look at him, “I owe you all an apology. I can’t believe I got it wrong.”

Henry chuckled a bit, “It actually kind of makes sense to me now, looking back. When Eli was born it was much the same. As in… It was, uh… Kind of small.”

“It’s not anymore.” Penelope said sleepily.

Daisy practically jumped in surprise, “Penelope!”

Her eyes came open to give her friend a smile, and soon the pair were wracked with fits of giggling.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind for future examinations, I suppose.” Andrews said, satisfied with the baby’s health. He then turned back to the woman still on the table, “Would you mind if I examine you as well? Just to make sure there is nothing that we need to worry about.”

She let her eyes close again, bringing her knees up a bit on the table. “I think that would be wise, actually. Please do.”

He moved around to start checking her out, while Henry carefully swaddled the boy back up again.

“What’s his name?” Henry said after a bit, handing him back to his mother once more.

“I have no idea.I thought I was having a girl.” Penelope laughed lightly, poking the little thing in the nose with one finger, “But you don’t look like an Isabelle, do you?”

“Just as well.” Henry chuckled back, “We’re pretty full up on ‘Belles’ already.”

“That was actually part of what I liked about it. Perhaps… The next one.” She smiled gently, letting her eyes close again, “You have very gentle hands, Doctor.”

There was something about the juxtaposition of those two statements that caught everyone in the room by surprise. Especially Daisy, “You just gave birth, like, ten minutes ago, and you’re already hitting on your doctor?”

“It’s been a good day.” She replied with a sleepy smile, “Might as well go for broke.”

Daisy rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but laugh, “You are just terrible.”

There was a silence then that the good Doctor was grateful for. He and Penelope had spent a little time chatting the last time he was here, and she was about one of the most charming women he had ever met. Had he not had his face about a foot and a half away from her vagina when she had started flirting with him, he might have been more inclined to return the sentiment. Instead he just tried to be professional, and went about the task of making sure she wasn’t damaged any more than she had earned.

“A little worse for wear, but nothing your ability to heal shouldn’t take care of rather quickly.” Andrews lowered the blanket back down over her legs, then caught himself, “Oh… Sorry. Beside manner wasn’t really something I had to worry about before the Change. I shouldn’t have said it like that.”

“It’s alright, Doctor.” She chuckled back, “Maybe I’ll let you look again sometime when everything is back in order.”

“Penelope! Oh my god…” Daisy almost lost it, trying not to bust out laughing.

“Forgive her.” Henry was smiling a little, but shaking his head, “Having babies always did make her a bit… Giddy.”

He stood, moving over to the sink to start washing up, though he was blushing brightly, “Right, well. Everything seems fine, so I should probably take my leave.”

Henry stepped aside as he passed, “You’re more than welcome to stay for dinner, of course.”

That made him smile, drying his hands now, “I was secretly hoping you would offer, but I didn’t want to invite myself. Your cook really is astounding.”

“Half the people that visit us here mostly just come for the food, I think.” Henry grinned, and joined the other man as they started to leave, “I’ll send Eli in. Try not to flirt too much with him, too? He’s a bit overwhelmed right now.”

The girls watched them go, sitting there in silence for a moment as they watched the little baby sleep. Eventually Penelope couldn’t help but start chuckling again.

“What now?” Daisy asked, looking at her skeptically.

She grinned up at her friend. The wicked sort of grin that had left Clairibelle’s face finding itself on her own.

“His fingers were inside me.” She whispered.

Daisy practically choked on a snort of a laugh, then rolled her eyes again, “Who are you, and what have you done with Penelope?”