The Progeny Revelation

15 years after the end of Season 12. Leonard forever dreamt of being a father, but due to Penny's reluctance to have children, this dream never actually came true… or so he thinks.

"Hey Penny, looks like the results are finally in!"

Leonard and Penny have been impatiently waiting for their ancestral lineage results, and they couldn't have come in at a better time. It's the beginning of a new semester at CalTech, so Leonard has been bombarded with emails from undergraduate and graduate students begging to assist him in his lab research. Endless floods of brown-nosing have drowned him these past few weeks, and he just needed to get his mind off all these babies who honestly have no idea what they're talking about.

Well, except for one person.

Her name is Ophelia Barnett. She's only 21 and is already working on her PhD. Her grades are stellar, and she has already collaborated with some big name researchers at his alma mater, Princeton, as well as a few other big research labs. Surely, she'd be a great addition to team—one who even Sheldon could tolerate! Leonard just had a good feeling about this candidate.

Leonard gets to the apartment, where he's greeted by his beautiful wife, Penny. They give each other a quick peck on the lips, just as they usually do after their long days at work.

"So how was your day? Have those crazy college kids gotten off your back yet?" Penny asked.

"Ugh, no, they're still at it. But there is one who really stood out to us… even Sheldon thought she had potential. She's like a savant, and I think she is quite suited to help us out with our particular research area. I'm just about to reply to her email to schedule an interview and get to know her better."

"Dang, Sheldon likes her? She really must be something special, then! But hey, maybe after this, you won't be so overwhelmed and you can focus a little better."

"Yeah, I hope so too."

Leonard situates himself at his desk and begins to write back to this supposed once-in-a-generation genius mind. As he's working on his reply, his computer pings, and a notification pops up in the upper corner.

YOUR ANCESTRY RESULTS ARE READY.

"Hey Penny, looks like the results are finally in!"

"Wait, don't open it yet!" Penny runs quickly to their bedroom, grabs her tablet, comes back out to the living area. "Yay, I got mine too! Let's open our results together", she excitedly suggests.

"Great idea!", says Leonard. The two gather next to each other on the couch, anxiously waiting to see the mystery that lies inside their DNA.

"Hah, imagine if I were part Asian. That would be insane!" says Penny.

"Oh please, you only want that so you have a better excuse for having "soup" in Chinese tattooed on your back," Leonard teases.

"I swear to god the guy told me it meant "courage".

"And how drunk were you?" He says jokingly.

"Just shut up and open the email."

…

Well, there was nothing surprising at all about their ancestry. Leonard is 45% Polish, 20% Native American, 20% Italian, and 15% Irish. Nothing out of the norm for him. And Penny is indeed not Asian, but 55% Italian, 25% English, 15% German, 3% Ashkenazi Jewish, and 2% Sub-Saharan African. Okay, the last two were pretty shocking, but they haven't seen anything… yet.

"Ooh, hey, look, you can see if your share DNA with someone else" says Penny. "Oh wow, 8 possible 2nd cousins. Oh, wow, and it says 3 of them live in California, and 4 are in Nebraska."

"Wait, where is that? I know my sister did this test through this same site, so maybe she's in my list."

Penny points out the section in the drop-down menu. As he opens his list up, his sister's name does pop up under POSSIBLE SIBLINGS, but not without finding something else marked right above it:

POSSIBLE DESCENDANTS (1 NEW RESULT)

He was speechless. They're wrong. They must be wrong. There's no way he has a child. He would know already, wouldn't he? How could he not know that there is someone out there who shares half of his own genetic makeup?

"No. No, no, no, this has to be a mistake."

"What's wrong?" asked Penny.

"It says in my results that there is someone out there who might be my child." Leonard says, looking distraught.

Penny shifts closer. "Oh, Leonard, sweetie," she says as she begins to hug him. "I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now. I know how much being a father meant to you."

Leonard leans his head on her shoulder. "I don't even know how I'm supposed to react right now. I'm just so mixed with my emotions. What do I even do, or say, if I even should do or say something?"

"Do you have any idea who could possibly be their mother?" She asks.

"That's the worst part. I can't think of anyone who I've could've gotten pregnant."

"Well, I know this was so long ago, but didn't you and Sheldon go and donate to a sperm bank once? It's totally possible someone might have picked yours."

"We walked in, but we ended up not feeling super comfortable with the idea… well, by "we" I mean Sheldon. We left without even finishing the application."

"So, it could be any of your past girlfriends."

Leonard nods.

Silence fills the room along with slight tension from Penny. Priya, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Leslie, Joyce… maybe even someone she doesn't even have a clue about. Last thing she needs is to find out that her husband, her best friend, has been cheating on her or hiding this whole other life from her. It's hard for her to believe someone as loyal and sweet as Leonard would do that to her, but she starts to wonder if she really does know the man she has been married with for so long, or he is just a huge lie.

"Honey, are you okay? What's wrong?" asks Leonard.

Without a single word, she swiftly gets up, grabs her keys and phone.

"Where are you going?"

Still silent, she storms out of the apartment, and slams the door behind her. Leonard runs after her.

"Please Penny, don't leave. Why are you upset? Let's talk about this, please!" He exclaims as he chases after her.

She turns to him, fuming, with tears running down her face. "I've heard enough! Just leave me alone!" she yells at him. She continues to sob as she goes down to the lobby and barges out of the building.

Leonard sits on the stairs crying, scared that his "dream" of being a father has now become his biggest nightmare.