A/N: So this is pretty exciting for me. I started thinking and developing the idea for this story in my mind over a year and a half ago. About half a year ago I wrote the first 6 (and a half) chapters (out of 10 planned), when I had a few less intense real life weeks. I knew I won't have time to write until at least March and didn't want a big gap. I thought about waiting a few more weeks but just couldn't. So here we go :)
This is a future story that includes the whole gang. Chapetrs are written from different characters' POVs, meaning there is differing focus on the different characters/couples/families. It is written as spoken language, as if the character is telling the whole thing at the end of the day (that is why some things are written in present tense - a caharacter who was 3 when the events took place, for example, would still be 3 at the time of "narration"). The different characters' POVs also make for different levels of vocabulary and focus. Some will explain and describe things others do not, some will expand on things others do not, according to their characteristics (age, cognitive skills, socioemotional skills, interests, etc.). The name of the POV character will appear at the beginning of each chpater, besides the first one.
The story has a subtitle since my original plan was for this to be a "substory", an exposition for a longer story that goes through the years. I don't know if I'll get to write the other one but I'm keeping the option.
Very special thanks to joyteach who is beta reading for me! I am not a native English speaker. Joyce is, but she is English, so I apologize if there is "non-American" language or any mistakes that escaped both of us.
On a side note, one of the characters has the same name as a character in two (related) stories by thebigbangtheoryfan2007. This is a coincidence. I've named that character about a year and a half ago. The stories are in no way related and nothing that happened there (besides things that had happened on the show, of course), happened in this story.
Oh yeah, and The Big Bang Theory belongs to Lorre and Prady and all that...I only own the (7) OCs and to some extent Halley and Michael, as they are not exactly characters on TBBT.
Long longggg A/N, but here we go! Hope you enjoy the story. Reviews are very welcome, I apologize if I don't get to thank every reviewer in private, as my RL is intense.
Chapter 1: That is what I want
May, 2029.
"Tiptoe! Tiptoe!" I heard my sister whisper, followed by several soft stepping sounds, then a stomp. "Maxi!" another frustrated whisper.
"I'm sorry! I'm not good at balancing myself!" Baby Bro whispered back, not good at controlling his volume either.
"It's okay Chubby, you are doing your best," my Mom comforted. "Come on guys, just a few more steps."
"I am not chubby," I heard Maxi murmur and smiled, imagining the adorable pouty face he makes every time he says that. Maxi stopped being chubby more than a year ago but my mom and daddy still call him that.
As I heard the door open I quickly wiped off my smile, turned to lie on my side with my back towards the door and pretended to be asleep, not wanting to ruin it for them. It was hard not to giggle as I felt the four of them nearing my bed.
I felt the bed sink a little behind me and Mom's hand running softly over my body, tender, warm and soothing as always.
"Good morning Cub," came Daddy's soft voice, along with his hand caressing my head, as in every morning.
I turned around trying to fake waking but I could tell from Mom and Daddy's smiles and the look they shared that it only worked on my siblings. But they played along.
"Birthday kiss attack!" they all shouted and started showering me with kisses before I had the chance to slip away, as was the tradition in our family. I squealed and laughed. With Daddy going to my other side, Maxi climbing all over me and Sophie sitting on my feet and holding my legs, I had no way out. And they were sure to put in some tickling too. In this family we take such operations seriously and make sure to consider every loophole we can think of, just like Daddy says you should do when doing research. And Daddy knows best about research. And almost everything else.
"Okay okay I think that's enough, we have exhausted our target," Daddy said a bit later. We all took a second to calm our breathing, still smiling, Maxi settling next to me with his legs under his knees, Sophie and Daddy standing next to Mom again.
"Happy birthday Riley!" Maxi shouted excitedly, jumping in his place.
"Thank you baby bro!" I sat up and gave him a bear hug.
With his tiny little voice, his shiny brown eyes and his freckle-covered face my little brother is the cutest three-year-old ever. Okay maybe next to Sophie when she was three. Although that is a subjective statement, which means it doesn't describe a fact but someone's opinion, and people's opinions differ.
"You were an excellent trooper in this kiss operation!" I ruffled his hair.
"I can't believe my big little baby angel is 10 years old!" Looking at me, Mom shook her head as her voice became squeaky and her eyes got watery. Daddy smiled and rubbed her shoulder. "It feels like yesterday you were inside me." She cupped my face with both her hands, "Makes me want to get you back in there so you'd never leave my side!".
The three of us were creeped out. Daddy shook his head smiling. Mom is cool and collected about lots of things. Loving us kids is not one of them.
"Luckily we have the whole day to spend together, including a shopping trip and a party, so we'd better hurry up and eat our breakfast," Daddy said.
"Ooh Daddy did you make French toast?" I was getting excited, I love Daddy's French toast.
"Why don't you head downstairs and see?" he smiled.
I ran downstairs, the rest of my family following behind. A big grin spread over my face as I smelled my favorite dish. Coming to the kitchen table I saw a big plate with perfectly cut French toast cubes.
"I helped!" Sophie chirped.
Of course she did, only Sophie is capable of cutting such symmetrical pieces.
"Yeah, you helped a lot, Princess!" Daddy smiled and caressed her cheek with his thumb.
This may also explain why they woke me up so late. Not that I had a problem with that. Mom says one of the first things she and Daddy learned about me was that, just like her, I am not a morning person.
"That's wonderful, thank you sissy!" I hugged her.
Mom brought the big grape juice bottle from the fridge. Between her, Sophie, Maxi and me we finished a bottle almost every day. Every now and then Aunt Amy asks Mom if she can take an fMRI scan of our brains when presented with pictures and scents of grape juice and compare them to those of children whose mothers did not "hog the grape juice bottle more than smoking monkeys hog their camels". Whatever that means. Mom always shuts her down with a glare. No one dares to challenge Mom's glares.
"So Cub, do you have an idea of what your birthday purchase is gonna be?" Mom asked.
"Birthday purchase" is another tradition of ours. Like everyone else we do most of our shopping, except for clothes, online. But on birthdays we go to the big shopping center and the birthday girl or boy gets to choose one item, up to 50 dollars, as their gift.
"No, if I did it would be less exciting." I love going through all the different things at the book store and the "All for Kids!" store. Seeing all those things I could buy gives me a tingling sensation.
"I wish you were this excited about clothes shopping," she said.
I rolled my eyes. I'm so grateful to have a sister who is into that stuff, Mom would probably nag me even more about dressing up if it weren't for Sophie. I do like another kind of dressing up - dressing up like fiction characters, but Mom is much less enthusiastic about that.
After finishing breakfast we all washed the sticky syrup covered dishes and changed our clothes. I wore my light blue t-shirt with the periodic table that says "I wear this periodically" (how cool is that?) and my white hoodie with buttons - I promised Mom I would wear something dressy. We then headed to the shopping center using the on-call transportation lines. The transport lines in California are very efficient, a trail usually gets to you 10 minutes after calling and they reach almost everywhere. When we visited Nana and Papa last Christmas we could only get from the airport to the central station in Omaha by lines. To get to the farm Daddy had to drive us in a car like we used to have when I was little.
As we entered the center Mom bent down to look me in the eyes. I knew it meant that she wanted me to listen carefully because she had to bend a lot for that. "Okay Cub, we are going to buy decorations for the party at "All for Kids!". We trust you enough to go to the book store alone if you want to, since it's across from it, but you have to tell us if you do and keep your phone on," she said.
"I will Mommy, thank you," I smiled. "But please don't get any big, flashy decorations. Just a few balloons will be good." Mom tends to "go overboard" when throwing us parties.
"We'll see," she replied, smiling and cupping my face.
We all went into the store where Mom, Daddy and Maxi went to the party section and Sophie and I went to the Comic-book, Fantasy and Sci-Fi section.
Just like every other time we went there I was overwhelmed with excitement. Hundreds of comic-books, hundreds of videogames, of movies, of props, of action figures. All appropriate for kids, which means we are free to look at them all. I stood there, looking at everything with awe for a minute.
When I turned my head I saw Sophie with a face that was probably just like mine, her eyes almost popping out of her glasses. She turned to look at me. We both nodded to each other silently and then ran over to our usual starting point: "The Powerpuff Girls" section.
Grinning widely, eyebrows at the ceiling, we went through all the different products. As usual Sophie searched for Bubbles. She was her favorite. Every time we dress up as the Powerpuff girls or play their videogames Sophie is Bubbles. She also looks a lot like her, blond hair, big eyes. Only she has glasses and her eyes are green like Mom's and mine. I am usually Buttercup. She has big green eyes but her hair is black while mine is brown like Daddy's and Maxi's and also longer.
When our friend Dakota joins us she chooses Bliss, even though she is four years younger than me and a year younger than Sophie while Bliss is older than the other girls. She says Bliss has darker skin like her, but not exactly because Bliss is "dark chocolate" and she is "melt-in-your-mouth caramel".
That leaves Blossom for Michael, Randi, Mia (also our friends) or Daddy, but if it's cosplay Daddy plays the professor or the mayor. Michael sometimes has more choices, like when we play with only Sophie or just the two of us, which happens a lot because he's my best friend. He then chooses Bliss, which fits because he is older than us (he is eleven), and also much taller. He always makes this squeaky high voice when he plays, which is hilarious. His mom doesn't think so because she has this kind of voice, but Michael says she should be honored to be an inspiration of one of his impressions.
Mom says she's more of an honorary Powerpuff. She is usually the narrator, both when we cosplay and when we play the videogames. The narrator only participates at the beginning and the end but Mom says there are no small parts.
Our friend Tivo (whose real name is Stephen but I never call him that) never plays Powerpuff girls. He is convinced that as his Dad says "they are not real superheroes and therefore should not be honored with crime fighting videogames and cosplay." I do plan on playing my Powerpuff videogame today so we will probably hear a lot of protest, along with the usual jabs from Michael's sister Halley.
After going over lots of products of many franchises, including "Star Wars", "Star Trek", "Justice League" and "The Avengers" I made mental notes of possible birthday purchases and decided to check the book store.
Sophie and I went to our parents and Maxi, who was reading the instructions for a giant electronic banner. He is still relatively new to reading and writing and excited about it so he asks to read or write whenever it is needed. I noticed some people looked at him stunned.
"Umm..Excuse me, may I ask how old your son is?" an old lady asked our parents.
"He is three and three months," Daddy answered simply.
"Anything wrong?" Mom asked, seeing the still stunned look on the woman's face.
"I'm sorry, it's just that seeing a three-year-old read is quite an extraordinary sight." The woman smiled.
"Oh. Well..Yeah, it is," Mom answered, caressing Maxi's face and smiling at him warmly, while Sophie and I came near them. "I guess we sometimes forget that. It's just that all three of our children read at that age. Dominant genius genes." She smiled at Daddy, "I had a book on developmental norms that I put away when Riley here was three months. I haven't looked at it ever since," she rested her hand on my head.
"And on top of that they are all so beautiful! You are truly blessed. May God bless you all," the woman said.
Ugh. I hate it when people say I'm beautiful. I hate it I hate it I hate it. It is usually followed by "If you clean up a little you would be just stunning!", "You must be a real boy-magnet!" or "And you are really into all that science stuff? How could this be?". And when they're not saying it, it is usually pretty obvious they're thinking it. At least this woman did not say anything more. She just left after Mom and Daddy thanked her. Meanwhile I was counting to ten silently, trying to calm my anger, that boiling, tensing feeling that spread all over my body. Daddy says most people like being told they are beautiful so when someone says that they think they are complimenting me, and while my reservations have merit it is better for both sides to discuss them calmly when possible.
I hugged Daddy from the side and he wrapped his arm around me and moved his hand up and down my arm. We usually do that after we separate for some time. I was about to tell my parents I was going to the book store when we heard a man's voice call "Professor Hofstadter!". We looked up and saw it was Doctor Rodkins from the Biology department. "Mrs. Hofstadter, Riley, Sophie, and I suppose Max" he greeted.
Sophie and I know many of the people who work at Caltech because we go there with Daddy every time we get a chance. We love touring the Physics department with him, watching all the different things the physicists do. Sometimes we get to see some other departments too, like Neurobiology where Aunt Amy works or Engineering where Uncle Howard works. We like it the most when we get to see Daddy teach or do experiments but that doesn't happen a lot because he is the head of the Physics department. When you're the head of the department you're busy with budgets, funds, grants, planning and human resources issues. Human resources issues are things that concern the department employees which include, unfortunately according to Daddy, Uncle Sheldon's vacations and assigned work. But Daddy manages to find time to do some research and teaching.
"Hi Greg! Always nice to see you. And as I always ask you - please call me Leonard," Daddy shook his hand.
"Hello Doctor Rodkins" Sophie and I added.
"Hello sir Greg" Maxi said simultaneously. He didn't know Doctor Rodkins.
"Hi Greg, how are you?" Mom said.
"I am great, shopping for a surprise gift for my son who won the science fair at his school." he answered with a smile. He then turned to Daddy "So I hear you're doing well recently - one of the top candidates for vice president, that is very impressive!" Doctor Rodkins said.
"Yeah…but I have very good competitors, Professor Wu and Professor Diamant are very well suited for the job. I am honored to be even considered along with them," Daddy answered.
"I won't interrupt your family time for too long but I just wanted to show my support. I believe you will be an outstanding vice president, and later president," Doctor Rodkins winked and then said goodbye to us and walked away.
Daddy told us about the tough competition but I think Doctor Rodkins was right. Daddy is so awesome the people at the university will be making a big mistake if they don't give him the position. That even being an option makes me feel…befuddled.
Now that Doctor Rodkins left I turned to my parents. "I want to go check the book store. My phone is on and not silent nor on vibrate." It's a good thing we're not in Nebraska, whenever I say things like "nor" Aunt Lisa (who is my biological aunt) says I should stop the "genius talk" and start "talkin' like a real kid" if I don't want to get beaten up. Then Mommy gets really mad at her.
"Very good Cub, you can go ahead. If you decide you want to buy your birthday purchase there call us or wave if we happen to look your way. I think we are almost finished here," Daddy said and looked at Mom, who nodded, "so we will wait for your decision. If you decide you want to buy here just come back, if not we'll pay and join you."
"Okay." I said, and went to the book store.
As always there were few people in the book store. Daddy says book stores used to be much more popular but nowadays most people read electronic books and those who read old-style books mostly buy them online like he does sometimes. I like reading old-style books because every book has its own cover, smell, and weight, like elementary school books.
I went straight to the science section, looking for something new to read at school. I know everything they teach at school, I already finished studying the fourth grade curriculum three years ago. When I started first grade I got bored in classes very quickly. Nothing was new to me. It wasn't different from preschool in that sense but in preschool I was allowed to build and draw models, solve math problems or watch TED lectures when the others learned what I knew well. Daddy told me I might get bored at school and asked me to let him know how I felt every day for the first two months, so we could gather data to guide us on what to do, like good researchers. After we got our unambiguous results Mom and Daddy talked to the principal. They said that I could skip a grade, probably more than one, but that might make it difficult for me to relate to my classmates and learn how to socialize, which means getting along with people. They thought it'd be better if I could read more advanced material in class and take older kids tests, and the principal was open to that. So now I study eighth and ninth grade materials I get from the middle school that is part of my school's chain. But I'm also allowed to read my own educational choices for two classes every week. Sadly, comic books don't count as literature, I checked.
Sophie does the same and so does Tivo, but his dad, Uncle Sheldon, is not happy about it. He thinks Tivo should be home schooled until he reaches college level. On the other hand, his Mom, Aunt Amy, wants Tivo to interact with kids his age. Once I heard her yell "He already needs special assistance to communicate with other children and you want to isolate him further?!". "Stephen's is the kind of mind that comes once or twice in a generation," Uncle Sheldon yelled back, "He should be nurtured with the highest quality material available, not distracted by a bunch of mediocre second graders who claim his brilliant backpack organization system is "stupid"." I think Uncle Sheldon is mostly worried about Tivo getting hurt. Every time he walks us to school and says goodbye to Tivo his voice gets quiet and his breathing gets faster.
"Hello darling, may I offer you some help? This section is for grownups, I can show you some books that are appropriate for you. Second grade? First?" the clerk, an older woman, asked with a smile.
"Actually I'm in fourth grade," I answered with a smile, trying not to make her uncomfortable about her mistake. Most people think I'm seven or eight when they first see me. "But I read at college level."
The clerk froze for a second, confused.
"I'm quite smart," I answered, still smiling.
If Mom were here she'd say "Quite a whooole lot!". I guess she'd be right, I am considered genius as defined by intelligence tests. That means there are relatively few kids in the world who are equally smart or smarter than I am. But when Uncle Sheldon talks about him being smarter than anyone but Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest scientists ever, I think it makes everybody feel bad. Some get hurt, some get mad. So I don't want to say things like that. Besides, Daddy says being intelligence tests kind of smart is awesome but there are other skills that are equally or even more important. One time I heard Mom say Uncle Sheldon needs to work on his "getting head out of ass" skills, but I don't think I was supposed to hear that.
"Do you have introductory Sociology books?" I asked the clerk. I mostly read physics and engineering books and papers and sometimes neuroscience, biology and chemistry, but I try to read different things every now and then to expand my horizons.
"Ah..Sure, sure." The clerk nodded slowly and pulled out two books for me. I thanked her and skimmed through the contents.
Opening the second book, I took a quick glance at my family, who seemed to go through the contents of their cart. Suddenly I noticed something from the corner of my eye. Inside the book store, to my right, was a display of picnic kits. There were boards with pictures of couples, kids and families having picnics and reading books together on the stand. I returned the books to their places and walked to the stand. I looked at the kit and saw it included six picnic blankets, a picnic basket and a book - a different one for each one of the three different kits. The kids' one included a "Harry Potter" book I hadn't read yet. These were multiple items but I figured since it was a kit they could be considered as one. And its price was under fifty dollars. I looked back at the sociology shelves, then at the "All for Kids!" store. I called my parents.
A few minutes later my family got to the store, carrying the decorations they bought. Maxi carried a bag almost as big as he is which he probably insisted on carrying. Sophie was grasping the bag she had tightly, careful not to have it touch anything.
"Do we have a choice Cub?" Mom asked, smiling at me.
"Yes. I want this picnic kit. I know it has multiple items but it is one kit," I said with a pleading look.
Mom and Daddy looked at me, and then at each other, surprised. Sophie and Maxi were happy.
Mom turned to me, bent down to look me in the eyes and put her hand on my shoulder. "That is usually something parents buy sweetie, are you sure you want that to be your birthday purchase? You girls spent a lot of time at the Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Comic books section and I saw you looking at some books in here. We can buy this kit, it looks very nice."
"It's just that ever since Uncle Sheldon threw our picnic blanket at that pigeon that he thought was staring at him, and then that cat tore it down, we have been using chairs when eating in the backyard. We still sit close and it is fun but I liked it better when we were all sitting together on our blanket. It just feels more..together. Like our little family bubble. I don't blame Uncle Sheldon, he got scared, and so did the cat. But I want us to sit on a blanket again. This kit has six blankets and a picnic basket, maybe having it will make us have more picnics home or elsewhere. It also has a "Harry Potter" book, you, Daddy, Sophie and I can read it together and Maxi can join us when he's old enough," I explained.
Mommy's eyes glimmered, her eyebrows were arched and her mouth slightly open. This was her "touched" face. I know it well. She had the same face, sometimes with tears, when the guests made speeches on her fortieth birthday party, and when Maxi first told her he loved her, and on Mother's Day when Sophie, Maxi and I made a list of evidence supporting our hypothesis that she is a magnificent mother. I don't know why she had it this time, all I did was explain why I wanted the picnic kit.
"Cub, we will buy it ourselves. You can pick whatever you want," Daddy said as he caressed my hair. He looked touched too.
Sophie and Maxi were looking at the box excitedly, baby bro reading everything there is to read on it.
"But my birthday purchase should be something that I want. I want this kit. With this we could have fun in our little family bubble. And when the gang comes over, or we all go outside together, maybe we could join four blankets and make us a big bubble. That is what I want."