I don't own The Big Bang Theory or their characters.
Sixteen year old Leonard Hofstadter was used to it. He was used to get to his house in New Jersey – the one he never called home – and find his drunk dad asleep on the couch. It was normal. It was also sad and a little depressing but he never said that to anyone. Not even to his brother or sister, who had been lucky enough to go live with their aunt. Leonard wasn't so lucky. Apparently their mother had written a letter saying that Michael and Samantha were going to live with their aunt Rita and Leonard was staying with Alfred. He was glad – at the time – to be the one to say with dad. But that changed when his dad started to drink. His wife's death took a toll on him and the only way for him to get over it was to drink.
Leonard thought he would eventually stop. But he never did. He was never violent but he still scared Leonard.
But it was even more scary not to find him past out on the couch when Leonard got to the house after school. Even scarier was the smell that came from the kitchen. It made Leonard remember when he was five and Beverly went to a conference. Usually Alfred would go with her and the kids would stay with Rita but since their aunt was sick, Alfred stayed and searched the books for recipes that seemed easy. When he finally found something that seemed easy enough he realized he didn't have the ingredients necessary for such dish. They went to the supermarket and ended up just eating a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs – those that are bought still frozen – and a bowl of cereals. They were with Alfred so they ate Ice Cream. That's when they discovered that Leonard and Samantha were lactose intolerant. Leonard still loved that day.
Leonard went to the kitchen only to find out there was nothing there. No spaghetti and meatballs, no Alfred or light. The absence of light was the usual – since Alfred had very sensible eyes due to the alcohol influence – but the rest was weird.
Leonard's stomach complained of the lack of food, so he opened the fridge and found pizza. He looked at it, and realizing there was no cheese on it he put it on the microwave. He then went in search of his dad, not finding him anywhere in the house. Hearing the microwave and the growls on his stomach he sat in front of the TV and ate the pizza. Usually to do that he had to sit on the chair but today – since his dad wasn't home – he could sit on the couch.
When he was finally done he washed his dish and just as he was leaving the house, the phone rang.
Leonard answered it but didn't recognize the voice.
"I'm sorry, who is this?"
"It doesn't matter who this is. All that it's important now is that I've been trying to contact Alfred Hofstadter all morning and he hasn't answered. So, who is this?"
"Why would I tell you? I'm not saying who I am until you say who you are?"
"You're his kid aren't you? Are you Michael or Leonard?"
"I'm one of those. Who are you?"
"Ok, Leonard. I'll call later."
"How do you know my name is Leonard?"
"I took a guess. You told me your name"
The call was over and after a couple of seconds of staring at the wall, Leonard stepped out of the house and went to see his friends like planned.
Leonard was with his friends at a park and they were all talking and laughing but Leonard kept thinking of the person he talked to.
'Who is he and how does he know me?' Leonard kept thinking
"Leonard? LEONARD?!" Someone yells
"What? What is it?"
"Want to go to the swings and share a couple of things?" Alex – one of Leonard's friends – asked holding a bottle of absinthe.
"Are we supposed to drink that?" After seeing her nodding "Think you can handle it?"
She smiled and nodded again. They both ran to the swing but seeing them with kids they looked at each other and ran to other place. It was a hidden-from-everyone spot, it was kind of theirs all the time. It had a bench, against the cold and rocky wall. They sat there and after a sip and an ugly face – from the burned sensation in their throat – they looked at each other and laughed.
They stood there, without drinking, for a while until Alex broke the silence
"What's on your mind Leo?"
"What are you talking about, Sandy?"
She smiled at the use of one of the many pet names he had given her over the years but still continued the conversation
"You seem distracted by something. Is everything ok?"
Leonard took a moment to answer, wondering if he wanted her to know or just how much he was going to tell her. Knowing what would happen if she found out about what was going on through other people, he decided to let her know.
"My dad has been acting weird lately. And today I got a call…"
"From who? Is he okay?" She asked, interrupting him
"From an unknown number and we had a weird conversation. He asked for my dad and he even knew my name." He said, pretending that he didn't hear her
"And you're wondering who he is?"
"Yes."
"Uh. Ok. Let's take your mind of the subject then, shall we?"
She then preceded to kiss him and he kissed her back, only stopping a minute later
"Mind off the subject, Lexie" She laughed and they went back to kissing.
Since no one was at Leonard's house they raced there and continued where they left. Between finishing that bottle and finding more to drink they made their way into Leonard's room where they ended up having coitus.
They acted like nothing happened at school but they both kept going to the house together for about a month. Alfred finally showed up, about a week later, to let Leonard know he was working somewhere else and leaving him. He could stay in the house all he wanted, Alfred wouldn't care.
One day, Alex showed up next to Leonard and gave him a letter.
Need to talk. Be at your house by 4.
Alex
When Leonard got home he wasn't ready to face Alex. Luckily he still had a couple of hours to think about what she wanted. He ate what he had in the fridge and wrote down what he needed to buy on the next trip to the supermarket. He took a shower and put his clothes to wash. When the bell rang his house was clean and the door was opened. He saw Alex holding something in her hand.
He looked at her and he knew.
"It's positive." She said between cries. Leonard hugged her and kissed her hair.
"It's okay, Lex. Everything will be okay. I'm right here."
"My dad is going to kill me, Leonard! How is everything going to be okay?!"
"I don't know." Leonard said. He wasn't someone who just didn't know what to say, but nothing in his life prepared him for that. All he wanted there was his mom, who would hug and make all the monsters disappear and everything would be okay. But she wasn't there, not for 2 years already and that made him feel even worse.
They went to the couch and stayed there without saying anything for hours. Finally she gets up and looks at Leonard.
"I'm going to tell my parents about the baby. I'm facing them. I'm their daughter. How bad can it be?"
Hours later, Leonard is in the kitchen putting the food in the right places when he hears a knock and the door opening. From there, a crying Alex comes out.
Letting everything falling on the floor, Leonard rushes to her and hugs her.
"What happened?"
"They threw me out. Said they want a disgrace of daughter in the house. I have nowhere to go Leonard!"
"That's not true. You can stay here. It's my fault to you know?"
"Leo.."
"Shh… You're staying here"
He led her in the house and made her food. They ate in a comfortable silence and went to bed, both wondering what was going to happen.
The next couple of months were tricky. They tried to hide it from everyone and the only money they had was the one Alfred was sending. By the time Alex was at the end of the second trimester of the pregnancy there was a knock at the door. Leonard opened it and a man was at the door.
"Leonard Hofstadter?"
"That's me." Leonard said, trying to think where he knew that voice from
"We talked a few months ago, remember?"
"Oh. Ok, who are you?"
"Is Alfred home?"
"No. I haven't seen him in a while. Is everything okay?"
"I'm his son. I'm your half-brother."
That came as a shock to Leonard 'Half-brother? Alfred had another kid?' Leonard thought
"I get this is weird but I found out about your mother's death so I came here to show my respect. Just wanted to say I'm really sorry." He was turned around to leave.
"Wait! What's your name?"
"I'm Andrew."
"Nice to meet you Andrew. Want to come in?"
They were getting along well, at least for the first couple of weeks but then he left. Leonard knew nothing about him, only that his mother got pregnant and left with him, never giving Alfred a chance to meet his son.
Alex showed up at the couch where Leonard was at. She was – by then – at the last moments of the pregnancy. Most people knew about the baby and a few of them talked to Alfred and her parents. Michael, Samantha and their aunt Rita came to the house to help out and even Alfred showed up – for a moment - until he left. No one knew where he was at or what he was doing but they knew one thing – he was still drinking
They smiled at each other and the baby kicked. Alex took Leonard's hand and put it in her belly. Leonard felt their son's kick and laughed
"He's going to be a football player. Or Jackie Chan" They both laughed a lot and Alex took the moment to 'steal' a kiss and a put her head on Leonard's shoulder. They sat there, feeling their son kicking, content about the world.
When Leonard got a call saying his girlfriend was in the hospital and was in labor he got into the car – since he finally had gotten his license – and drove to the hospital. He figured he would get a couple of tickets from passing a bunch of red lights but his priority was his girlfriend and son.
When he got there and was told where they were at, he didn't even bother to go by elevator. He ran the stair two-by-two and finally reached the floor. When he got to the room he only saw doctors and all his friends on the floor. Her parents were comforting each other and crying. All of their friends were in shock. His brother and sister were next to Aunt Rita, who was also at loss of words. When he saw everyone's faces his smile got smaller and smaller and got into a frown.
Samantha was the first to see him. She got closer to him and hugged him, crying for the first time.
Leonard didn't know what to do or what was happening so he let go of her and ran to the room. Trying to stop him from doing it, all Michael could think of was of himself trying to stop Leonard of seeing their mom lying on the hospital bed, with all the machines turned off. After so many months fighting she lost the war. Cancer took her away from them and the fourteen year old Leonard wasn't understanding what was happening. Just like when he saw his girlfriend lying on that hospital bed. She looked tiny in the white sheet bed and her tiny figure looked tired.
"Wha-What happened?"
"They died, Leonard" Michael said. He put his hand on Leonard's shoulder and it stayed there. Leonard kept staring at her until Michael pushed him and hugged him. They stayed there for a while and all Leonard could think of was that his girlfriend and son were dead and there was nothing he could do about it.
Leonard didn't cry. He locked himself in his room and stayed there until the funeral. They were only going to have one for Alex but it seemed only right to have one for the baby. He was unnamed and they didn't know if either of them had thought about it so when the day of the funeral arrived Aunt Rita sat Leonard and asked him if they discussed it.
"We talked about. We didn't get anywhere. Look can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Is my dad home?"
"No. Do you want me to call him?"
"No. Can I ask you something else"?
"What is it?"
"Did you know my dad had another son? Not talking about Michael…"
"Andrew?"
"Yes. You knew?"
"Yes, buddy. I knew. Your dad told me about him. He never met him but I did. A month ago. Why are you asking?"
"First, don't call me 'buddy'. And second, he came by asking for Alfred."
"It's ok, bu- sweetie. Forget him."
"What did he want?"
"Don't know. Don't care. Drop it."
Leonard looked at her puzzled.
"Just… Names?" Rita tried to make him forget about Andrew
"Andrew."
"No."
"Alexander?"
Rita thought. It would be a nice name for the child.
"I like that. Alexander Carpenter Hofstadter?"
"Yes." Leonard said, trying to picture his son alive and picking between football and karate. 'We would totally let him do both' Leonard thought with a smile on his face that didn't go unnoticed by his smiling aunt.
After the funeral – where most people from school showed up – Leonard was not alone. There was always someone with him. He finally got himself some time alone after two weeks and he sat on the cold kitchen floor where he had sat so many times before with Alex. Trying to forget about the moments he had spent with her he got up and opened the fridge. There it was a bottle of absinthe, something that got them to make the baby. Leonard smiled remembering the weird face she made the first time she drank that. Sitting on the floor again, the cold being comfortable, he opened it and just when he was putting his lips on the bottle he sees someone on the corner of his eye.
Looking he sees Alfred, who takes the bottle from his hands and drinks the liquid. Passing it back to Leonard he sits next to his son and looks at him. Leonard looks at the bottle and drinks a bit. He then hears his dad crying – for the first time in 3 years – and looks at him. Gives him a good look and realizes why his mom had wrote that he was supposed to say with dad.
He gives him a hug, and hears his dad cry harder and harder. They sat there for what felt hours but was really just 10 minutes.
"Your- your mom. I loved her you know?"
"I know"
"She loved you very much Leonard. She would want you to know that. She was proud of you. She said that when she saw you for the first time. She held you and made me take your brother to the cafeteria. She doesn't know that your aunt was the one who took Mike to eat. I stayed behind and I heard her. She smiled and talked to you. Kept saying she was never letting anyone or anything hurt you. She would protect you from everything and she loved you some much and she was so proud of you. She said that to a baby who was not even a day old." His dad laughed between the tears. "When you went to school the first time, you just left. Your brother and sister, the first day of school, they only left us when we promised to come back at lunch time. You? You just left without saying goodbye. Your mom didn't say it but I know she was both hurt and happy with you leaving like that. Happy that she had raised and independent boy but hurt you didn't even care enough to give her a kiss. But halfway you turned back and ran to her and gave her a kiss and you hugged her and you said you loved her and she shed a tear. She put you down and you ran to your class. When she got sick she wrote a letter for all of you. Your brother and sister got theirs all ready. I forgot to give yours. I'm sorry. For everything." He kissed his son's forehead – the same way his mom used to do – got up and left.
Leonard saw him leave and stood there for a long time, just looking at the letter.
He finally opened it and read its content
From: The proudest mom ever
To: One of the sweetest son of the whole world
Leonard, there are no words to describe how much I love you buddy. I know you are going to be sad when I leave but don't worry. Dad will be there to help you. Just remember what I told you. Pain makes you stronger. And you are so strong, my sweet child. You are strong and beautiful and sweet. And I love you so much. Just know that I will be looking after you from heaven. Whenever you have a bad dream, I'm there to protect you from the monsters. We will see each other some other day. I promise. Just making sure everything up here is safe for you. This letter is short but also sweet – just like you. But remember you are independent and you know what to do. You will be fine. Just use that big smile of yours and you'll have your way with everyone. You'll get all the girls you want and they will love you. But know this. No one will love you as much as I do
Love,
Mom
When Leonard ended the letter he realized that he had never told his dad how much he loved him. Getting up, he ran to the door, opened it and saw his dad sat on the stairs. Alfred looked up, to his seventeen year old son and smiled
"You read it? What does it say? That is if you want me t-"
"I love you dad." With that Leonard runs to his dad and hugs him.
"I love you too"
Alfred stopped drinking and started focusing on his son. Leonard made sure to tell his dad how much he loved him every day. And when Andrew showed up Alfred and he tried to make up for lost time. They had a second chance to be with each other. Because in the end, family is all that matters.
Read&Review
Yes, I wrote another story about Leonard's family. I like to use Leonard for my story and explore his life. There are so many possibilities!
Also, didn't mention who the mom was on purpose. At first I wanted to make this story about Beverly being a nice mom but at the end it didn't work in my head.
Don't talk about how much I could've have talked about Andrew. I know. I wanted to but decided against it. The story was about Leonard and Alfred - even though Alfred barely showed up. Ups!