A/N - This Fan Fiction takes us forward to 2017, 4 years after Leonard's triumphant return from the North Sea. Leonard's and Penny's lives have experienced some big changes. But some things didn't go as planned. The early chapters will include Leonard's recollections of important events over the past four years. To make it easier to distinguish past from present, I've put his recollections into italics. I've got a good start on chapters and plan to publish 2 chapters per week. I hope you find it a fun read.

Chapter 1: Another trip

The Virgin Atlantic Executive Lounge was fairly quiet at Heathrow. It was, after all, 4 PM Saturday afternoon and the business fliers usually try to get out on Friday. But this trip required his attendance, and a speech, at the International Experimental Physicists Conference in London Friday night, so he wasn't able to leave until Saturday.

Leonard was tired...and not just from this trip. These frequent business trips were really getting to him. Four years ago, before his career took off, international business travel seemed like a glamorous, exciting perk. Now it was just draining.

As he sipped the hazelnut coffee and sampled the pastries in the Lounge, he opened the Wall Street Journal - there was supposed to be an article on the Conference. Maybe there was even a reference to his speech on recent developments in String Theory. But his mind drifted away from the paper as he slouched in the chair and stared out the large plate glass window toward his waiting 767. Moments like these allowed Leonard the chance to think about all that had happened since he returned from Hawking's expedition in September 2013. Four years...it seemed so long ago and yet like yesterday.

Just as he started recalling that summer, his cell phone vibrated (oops, forgot to put it back on ring after last night's conference, he realized). His face brightened as he saw the caller's name - it was Christine, or Chrissy as he liked to call her.

"Hi, Sweetie, wow, you're calling early - what is it, like 7AM at home?", Leonard asked.

"Uh-huh, it's early here, Daddy" Chrissy replied. "When are you going to get home? I miss you, and so does Ruffy." It was so great to hear her voice, but it tugged at his heart strings, too. He'd been away too many times for his liking, and his 6 year old stepdaughter needed him home. Their dog, Ruffy, a God-knows-what mix that he and Chrissy adopted from an animal shelter last year, was good company for Chrissy, especially when Leonard was away.

"I am at the airport in London now and I will be home late this evening. I miss you so much - can't wait to see you" Leonard exclaimed. "And I won't be going away on another trip for a while, so we can spend lots of time together, I promise."

"OK, Daddy. Here's Annie" Chrissy said as she handed the phone to Ann Davidson, the older woman who usually stayed with Chrissy when Leonard was away.

"Everything OK there, Ann?" Leonard inquired.

"Hey, Leonard, yeah, all is well. Had to take Ruffy to the vet yesterday for some kind of infection, but he's on medication and he'll be fine. Chrissy has a play date at Howard and Bernadette's this afternoon - they are taking Chrissy and Howard, Jr. to a children's fair. After I drop her off, I'll come back to the house, straighten up and take care of some groceries so you are set for Sunday."

"Thanks, Ann. As always, I appreciate everything you do for me when I am gone. Don't know how I'd get along otherwise" Leonard offered.

"I'm glad I can do it, Leonard - and, you know, Chrissy is so great. She reminds me so much of Becky," Ann said as she filled the dishwasher and put away the milk. "We'll see you tonight, then. Have a good flight."

"Yep, see you tonight, Ann. Thanks," responded Leonard as he pressed the "End" button on his smartphone.

As he filled his cup with another infusion of hazelnut-flavored caffeine, his thoughts returned to all that had transpired over the past four years.

That North Sea trip turned out to be a turning point in Leonard's career. He had been instrumental in proving some key hypotheses that Dr. Hawking had proposed. Frankly, Leonard had wondered when he joined that research team if they'd really be able to support Hawking's theories, and the success was beyond Leonard's wildest dreams.

Then there was Leonard's triumphant return from the North Sea that September. He was so excited to see Penny again, and he couldn't wait to share his discoveries with his friends. It had been a busy and exciting 4 months on the research ship, but he had missed Penny and his friends and his system had never entirely adapted to the motion of the boat. He remembered how he felt when he stepped off the plane at LAX after his return from the North Sea, thinking about what lay ahead with his career, and, more importantly, what he hoped would be a future with the woman who lived across the hall, the woman he had known, and loved, for six years.

What he hadn't expected four years ago when he arrived at LAX after that summer on the research ship was exactly how his life was going to change, both for better and for worse.