Author's Note: This is it, my last story for Lenny Week 2014. I can't believe I managed to write something for every day.
The prompt for today is Holidays. I hope you've enjoyed reading these as much as I've enjoyed writing them.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Big Bang Theory or any of its characters. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.
Penny burst through the door into the small living room of apartment 4B.
"Oh my GOD! It is FREEZING out there," she exclaimed as she dropped her keys in the bowl and kicked to door closed. "Hey, sweetie," she smiled at her fiancé, who was lying on the couch, reading something on his Kindle. "Sorry I'm late," she continued as she strode across to the kitchen and set down the grocery bags she was carrying. "I stopped by the store on the way home. Tina at the theater said they're predicting we might actually get snow tonight."
She turned and began removing her leather gloves, which she dropped on the table next to the small television. She shrugged out of her jacket and unwound the thick scarf from around her neck.
"You might want to reconsider taking all that off."
Leonard sat up and set the Kindle on the sofa table. "It's pretty cold in here, too Honey. Apparently the heat in this Pasadena apartment building is not designed to handle and Alaskan cold snap."
He plucked at the front of his hoodie and Penny noticed he had it zipped up, and was wearing a t-shirt with a long-sleeve shirt underneath. She tossed her jacket over the chair by the door and dropped the scarf on top of it. Rubbing her arms as the chill in the room hit them, she turned and leaned over to quickly drop a kiss on her boyfriend's head. Before he could grab and hold on to her, she sprinted into the bedroom.
"You're right," she yelled back as she rummaged through her closet for a couple of sweatshirts to do her own layering. "It's pretty cold in here, too. Did you turn the heat up?"
"Nah! I figured I'd wait until we're both stiff as popsicles," came the answer.
She popped her head out the bedroom door as she worked the second sweatshirt over her head. "Sarcasm?" she asked.
Leonard turned and grinned. "Yep – and you didn't even need a sign!"
Penny motioned for Leonard to move over and plopped down on the sofa beside him. She picked up one of his arms and wrapped it around her shoulders, snuggling close beside him.
"Do you really think it might snow tonight?" she asked.
"It sure is cold enough," he replied, as he pulled her closer. "I watched the weather report and they said it's pretty much a sure thing. In fact…" He nuzzled her ear and whispered, "They've already closed CalTech tomorrow. Sooo… one of us doesn't have to go to work in the morning!"
"Really?" She scrunched her neck up as the ear nuzzling was beginning to tickle. Putting a hand up to cup his cheek, she turned his face to hers and kissed him in earnest.
After a few moments, the pair came up for air. "You know," Penny let her arms rest on his shoulders and smiled. "It just so happens that I don't work at all on Mondays."
Leonard smiled back, his hands gently stroking up and down her back, albeit through three layers of clothing. "Is that so?" he queried. "I think I remember you tell me that."
"Soooo…if you have the day off, and I have the day off, what in the world do you think we can do with ourselves all day, considering we won't be able to go out?"
Leonard took his arms back from around her waist and sat back in the sofa. He sighed heavily. "Don't get your hopes up too much, Sweetheart. Sheldon's been calling over here every hour with plans for marathon DVD watching and game playing. I didn't have the heart to blow him off. He still hasn't adjusted well to living in that apartment all by himself."
Penny slumped back in her seat. "I wish we could convince him to let Amy move in. It's not like they have to share a bedroom. I know neither one of them is really ready for that."
She sighed and, slapping her hands on her knees, rose and walked around the sofa table over to the kitchen area where she began unpacking the sacks of groceries. Leonard got up to help. He pulled salad greens and tomatoes out of the sack and transferred them into the refrigerator.
"You know," the physicist began, "We still have all night, and Sheldon still observes the 11 a.m. rule, so we can sleep in." He pulled canned soup and vegetables out of the sack and stepped over to begin storing them in the cabinets, pulling out the older cans and rotating the new ones to the back. As he placed each can in the cabinet, he meticulously turned the labels to face the front. It had been two months since he gave up using a ruler to measure the space between the cans.
Penny crossed over to the refrigerator with her own armful of groceries. As they passed, Leonard leaned over and gently kissed her shoulder.
"I just wish we could have one day just to ourselves, you know?" She began shoving soy milk and orange juice and yoghurt containers into the refrigerator. Closing the door, she suddenly brightened and pivoted on one foot. "I just got an idea."
She sprinted to the sofa and picked her bag off the floor, rummaging around until she pulled out her phone. Quickly stabbing two buttons, she held the phone to her ear.
"Ames? Yeah hi, listen, I need you to do me a big favor."
Penny walked back to the bedroom as she continued to talk over the phone. When she came back, Leonard was crumpling the empty sacks and stuffing them into the recycling bin.
"So what was that all about?" Leonard asked.
Penny tossed the phone back in her bag and jumped onto the sofa, patting the space next to her.
"I won't lie to you," she began, as Leonard sat down beside her and they resumed their cuddling posture. "There's a chance this could backfire, but sometimes you have to take risks, you know?"
The next morning, Leonard and Penny were enjoying a leisurely morning in bed when they heard three quick knocks. They waited for a moment. Nothing more came from the direction of the front door.
"Must be just Amy," Penny said. "I hope everything's ok."
She threw off the covers and quickly pulled on her robe, wrapping the belt securely. Leonard pulled on his socks and slipped on his own robe. Together, they went to open the door. Surprised, they greeted their visitors in unison.
"Amy?" said Penny.
"Sheldon?" said Leonard.
The two couples stood facing each other for a moment before Amy broke the awkward silence.
"Sheldon and I have been talking this morning," Amy began as she strode into the room.
"Amy," Sheldon interrupted, "Since we are guests in Leonard and Penny's home, perhaps we should allow them the opportunity to offer us a hot beverage."
"Sheldon," Amy turned to face her boyfriend and their friends. "While courtesy is never out of place, perhaps given our very close friendship with Leonard and Penny, we can dispense with formal hospitality on occasion." She sat down on the sofa and primly placed her hands on her knees. "Besides, you're just stalling. Now come inside and sit down so we can tell them our news."
Sheldon nodded and walked in, taking a place on the sofa next to his girlfriend.
"News?" Leonard looked at Penny who shrugged. Penny walked over to sit in the side chair while Leonard spun one of the bar chairs around to face the room and climbed up onto it. They waited expectantly for the pair sitting on the sofa to speak.
Sheldon took a deep breath. "As you know, I spent some time last summer ruminating over the many changes and disappointments in my life at that time. This may surprise you, but I have never adapted well to change."
Penny snorted, and Leonard lay a hand on her shoulder, patting gently.
Sheldon continued. "In the months since my return, I have become more flexible, more amenable to change."
Amy laid a hand on his knee and Sheldon stared down at it a moment before nodding and adding, "With Amy's help, of course."
"So, what's your big news?" Penny prodded.
Amy couldn't contain herself anymore. "I'm moving in!" she practically screamed.
"Oh my GOD!" Penny screamed, reaching up to squeeze the hand on her shoulder so hard that Leonard winced. "How did this happen?"
"Amy called me last night," Sheldon began, "and told me that her car broke down just after she dropped you off here. As any good boyfriend would do, I walked three blocks up the street, at nearly midnight when Pasadena is crawling with criminals and any manner of riffraff, to rescue her."
Sheldon paused and looked at Amy. "If I'm going to tell this whole story, a hot beverage would help."
"I'll get you some tea." Leonard offered, and got up to put the kettle on.
"Thank you, Leonard." Sheldon continued with his story. "We returned here, and although I strenuously suggested we engage your assistance to drive Amy home, she convinced me that as she was leaving earlier, you were planning coital activities that it would not do for us to interrupt. I therefore had little other choice but to allow her to stay overnight. She used your old room, Leonard. I had her sign the usual agreement."
"That's fine, Sheldon." Leonard poured hot water into teacups and placed them on a tray, which he brought over to the sofa table with a small selection of teabags. Amy nodded her thanks.
Sheldon began dunking a teabag in his cup, then picked up the cup and gently blew across the steaming liquid to cool it.
"This morning Amy and I had a long discussion. She convinced me that her presence in the apartment, even overnight, was not unpleasant. Further, she argued that despite the apparent unreliability of her vehicle, it would be a great convenience to me to have her available for errands, especially as Leonard is now preoccupied with you."
Sheldon paused to take a careful sip of his tea and glared at Penny.
"Shel – don!" Amy urged, nudging him with her knee.
"Oh very well," the tall physicist responded. "I also find it…most agreeable… to share my breakfast, and my mornings, with Amy."
Sheldon smiled fleetingly at Amy, then continued to sip his tea.
"So," Amy picked up the story, "we agreed that when my lease is up in April, I'll move into Leonard's old room. If that's all right with you, of course Leonard." Amy winked slyly at the other physicist in the room, who nodded.
"Of course, Amy. You're more than welcome." Leonard answered, beaming. "But we should stop calling it my old room. It's Amy's room now."
"Yay!" Penny clapped. "We'll be neighbors!" She got up and hugged Amy, then moved over to hug Sheldon, who stiffened slightly, but then absently patted her arm until she withdrew.
"So we came over this morning," Sheldon said, "to give you our news and to celebrate the holiday with you, especially since we're all forced into involuntary idleness due to the inability of the Pasadena Public Works department to deal with a paltry two inches of frozen precipitation. I fully intend to craft a strongly worded letter regarding the lack of plows or proper pre-snowfall preparation. The streets are a deathtrap and not only is the university closed, but Amy is trapped here until the ambient temperature rises high enough to melt the accumulated snow."
"Wait, wait, wait," Penny interrupted. "What holiday?"
"Oh," Leonard exclaimed, "I think he's talking about Groundhog Day. Sort of appropriate with the snow, since many places in the country see Groundhog Day – February second – as the unofficial notice that Winter is on it's way out."
"Leonard, Penny, I'm surprised at both of you." Sheldon shook his head and focused on each of them in turn with his best disappointed face. "While today is, indeed, Groundhog Day, that is a holiday more appropriately celebrated in Pennsylvania than here in Southern California. No, I'm speaking of Leonard's Day, of course." Sheldon stood and reached into a pocket to pull out an envelope and hand it over to his friend. "Here's your card, Leonard, Happy Leonard's Day."
Sheldon sat back down and took a sip of his tea. "For our Leonard's Day celebration, I originally planned an evening spent watching the new X-Men movie on Blu-ray. But as we now have the entire day at our disposal, we can do a full X-Men movie marathon. When I saw that the weather predictions were unusually accurate, I was concerned that we might not be able to order a suitable celebratory meal. However, as luck would have it, I have all the ingredients and let me tell you, Amy here makes a fine spaghetti with little hot dogs cut up in it!"
Penny groaned and Leonard sighed. "Sheldon," he said, "that sounds like a lot of fun, but Penny and I really need to get dressed first. So maybe you and Amy can go back over to your apartment and we'll join you in a little while."
Sheldon set his cup down on the table and rose. "Of course. Amy," he turned and gestured for her to follow him, "I believe that what Leonard means is that he and Penny wish to engage in coitus once more before the real holiday festivities begin. Don't be concerned, I have a spare pair of noise-cancelling headphones." He made his way to the door and opened it, allowing Amy to exit before him. Turning back, he remarked, "Leonard, Penny, we'll see you in ten or fifteen minutes."
"What, exactly, did you and Amy plan last night, Penny?" Leonard asked as they began getting dressed to join the other couple.
"Well, I did say it could backfire, but this isn't what I imagined either."
Penny laid several tops out on the bed, setting each in turn over the jeans she'd picked to wear.
"Amy agreed to play the break down ruse. We hoped that she would be able to convince Sheldon to let her stay overnight and then she would be able to keep him occupied for the rest of the day today. There was no plan for her to talk him into letting her move in."
"I'm pretty sure at this point, it didn't take a lot of convincing." Leonard said as he slipped on a pair of loose sweatpants. "Sheldon's been ready for this for awhile, he just needed a catalyst to make it happen. I guess one night with Amy as an overnight guest was all it took."
"What is it with you scientists and cats?" Penny laughed. Seeing that Leonard was about to explain catalyst, she held up a hand. "I know what catalyst means," she said. "I was just kidding."
Leonard laughed and shrugged. "So how did you think the plan might backfire?"
"We figured that, worst case scenario, Sheldon would flat out refuse to let Amy stay and insist that she come over here. In which case, because Sheldon is Sheldon and finds out everything we'd have to let her sleep on the couch which would not only not solve our privacy problem for today, but would mean that we wouldn't have had any privacy last night, either. But I figured it was worth the gamble, since the prize would have been an entire day alone with my fiancé."
Leonard nodded, working a third sweatshirt over his head. "Well, we may sacrifice one day, but in the long run, it may work out to our advantage."
"How's that?" Penny asked as she tossed the rejected tops back into a drawer and slipped into dark burgundy sweater.
"Well," Leonard said, "with Amy and Sheldon living together, she'll be keeping him occupied more on the weekends, and she can handle more of the errands." He walked up to his wife-to-be and encircled her waist, drawing her towards him and planting a kiss on her nose. "That means more weekend time for just us and more mornings that I can sleep in with you."
"Oooh! I like the sound of that!" cooed Penny, kissing him quickly on the lips. "Now let's get over there. It's Leonard's Day and I didn't even get you a card!"
"That's ok." Leonard winked. "You can give me a present later!"
Author's Note: I'm a big 'ol Shamy shipper. I've always liked Leonard and Penny – and I do ship them – just not hard like I do Shamy. I started hanging out more in the Leonard/Penny thread on FanForum recently, which is where I found out about Lenny Week. Between the forum, and writing all these little stories, I've started to get a better understanding and appreciation for their dynamic and the subtle loveliness of their relationship. So it's been a real blast and I thank everyone who's read my little opening gambits into the Leonard/Penny ship.
7-June-2014