Chapter 20

Penny woke up from her nap after an hour and a half. Leonard was still asleep and so is Sarah so she decided to go to the bathroom to wash up. She then went to the kitchen to drink a glass of water and sat herself on the chair in the living room looking over Sarah. Sarah's hands and legs were sprawled across the couch as she slept peacefully.

A few months ago, Penny would have never imagined herself in a place like this. Now she has a better job, a new man in her life and his daughter who looks up to her as a 'mother figure'. This mother role is something she never expected to happen to her. She would like to have her own children in the future, but this is all too sudden she thought. Something inside tells her to get out while there's still time but somehow she can't. She was happy and content, at peace and at ease. She and Leonard have already been intimate in their relationship and there's no denying that they definitely have a connection between them. They have only been on one 'proper date' when Cathy was in town. She would have wanted for the two of them to have more dates but given Leonard's situation, she understood and was fine with it. Penny tried to push away these thoughts aside and not dwell on them. She never expected to have a relationship in the first place but now here she was, spending time with the man she loves, his angel of a daughter and she definitely can't complain about her new career.

She stood up and went back to the kitchen to prepare for their fishing trip to the lake. She took several bottles of water, some snacks and a few pieces of plastic bags to put the fish in. Leonard woke up while Penny was preparing.

"Hi! I'm preparing things to bring to the lake. How're your legs? Still sore?" she smiled at him.

"It's getting better now….I'll go freshen up in the bathroom…" he said.

Leonard came out of the bathroom the same time as Sarah woke up.

"Hi sleepy head! Had a good nap?" Penny asked. Sarah went to her side as Penny rubbed her back. "Why don't you go to the bathroom and wash up okay? We're going fishing by the lake!" she said.

"Come here honey...I'll come with you in the bathroom…" Leonard said.

"I want Penny daddy…" Sarah said as she rubbed the sleep off her eyes.

Penny sighed. "Fine...I'll come with you...Leonard why don't you finish up here while I help your daughter…" she said as she took Sarah's hand.

Leonard didn't say anything but he can feel that something was bothering Penny.

Penny and Sarah came out of the bathroom after ten minutes and Penny helped her change her clothes. They went to the living room as Leonard just finished preparing their stuff for the lake.

"Ok! Everything is set...let's go fishing!" he smiled at Penny. Penny gave him a half smile.

They loaded their stuff in the car and drove to the lake. Luckily there were only a couple of people fishing on the lake. They unloaded their stuff and went to one of the wooden piers to get a good fishing spot. It was a nice afternoon and the sky was overcast so it wasn't as hot as they expected it to be. Leonard took one of the fishing poles and put bait in the hook. He gave it to Sarah and showed her how to cast the line and wait for the fish to bite. Penny also cast her line on the water as Leonard did the same. Sarah immediately got excited as her line was pulled by a fish. Leonard went to her to carefully lure it in and after a few seconds, the fish was dangling up in the air as Sarah was laughing and jumping at her catch.

"Nice going sweetie! We'll cook that one for dinner later." Penny said.

"I'm so proud of you honey!" Leonard said as she gave his daughter a high five.

They continued to fish and by almost sundown, they caught eight medium-sized fish and four large-sized ones. They decided to release all the small ones they caught since it won't be good for cooking. Amanda came to check up on them and was surprised they caught as much. Leonard gave her a few of their fish as they couldn't eat it all, seeing that this would be their last night at the ranch.

They began to load their stuff back in the car to drive back to the cabin. "Did you have fun honey?" he asked Sarah at the back seat.

"Yes daddy!...I want to do this again!" Sarah smiled.

"No problem honey...I'm glad you had fun." he said back. He turned to Penny. "Hey...are you alright? You seem quiet." he asked her.

"I'm fine….just tired I guess." Penny said as she looked out the window.

"Don't worry...I'll prepare dinner...you and Sarah can just sit back and relax." he said as he put his hand on her shoulder.

Penny smiled at him. "Thank you honey….I had fun too." she said.

They arrived at the cabin and Leonard told the two girls to rest while he unload their stuff and cook dinner. He cleaned the fish they caught and put a few of them in the fridge for tomorrow's breakfast. He chopped some vegetables and put the pot in the stove. In under twenty minutes he was almost done cooking and started to clean up some of the leftovers. He looked over the living room and saw Penny and Sarah playing a board game. He continued to cook and prepare dinner and was done after about ten more minutes.

"Alright...why don't you two wash up so we could eat….I'm starving." He announced as he was putting the plates on the table.

The two girls went to the bathroom to wash up ad returned to the kitchen after five minutes. They sat down and started to eat.

"It's delicious daddy!" Sarah said as she chewed her food.

"Yeah Leonard...this is really good…" Penny smiled at him.

"Thanks...it helped that the fish was fresh." he said back.

They continued eating and was done in twenty minutes. Penny decided to help Leonard clean up the kitchen while Sarah went back to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. They were done cleaning the plates and pots In about fifteen minutes.

Sarah went to the couch to continue playing while Leonard poured wine for Penny and himself.

"Ugh...thank you honey…" Penny said as she took the glass from Leonard and took a sip.

Leonard sat beside Penny as they look on to Sarah. He held her hand and brought it to this lips to kiss them. Penny smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Leonard saw his daughter yawn and decided to put her to bed. "Come on princess...it's time for bed….you've had a long day and you need to rest." he took his daughter's hand. He tucked his daughter to bed and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Get some sleep honey. Me and Penny will join you later okay?" Leonard told his daughter.

"Good night daddy." Sarah said.

"Good night honey." Leonard said as he closed the bedroom door. He returned to sit back on the couch. Penny was staring at the fireplace and did not say a word.

"Penny is everything alright...you seem quiet all afternoon." Leonard asked her as he took a sip of his wine.

"It's fine Leonard….I'm just tired…" Penny absently said.

"Do you wanna go to bed now?" he asked.

Penny nodded. "Okay." she leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Penny stood up and went to the bathroom to wash up. Leonard washed up after her and followed her to the bedroom. Sarah was already asleep in the middle of the bed so Penny took one side while Leonard took the other. Leonard leaned over and kissed her goodnight. Penny turned to face away from Leonard as they went to sleep.