*tap tap tap*
Penny had just settled down after getting a glass of water and stared at the alarm clock.
"4.30 am? Oh hell no!" Penny cried angrily. She paced to her front door and was getting ready to go junior rodeo on Sheldons ass before she realised it wasn't his trademark knocking.
*tap tap tap*
This time she recognised it. It was the man to whom she would be married in just a few short hours. She pulled the door open.
"Leonard, you're not supposed to see me before the wedding!" she scolded playfully.
"I couldn't sleep. Do you realise we're hours away from being Mr and Mrs Hoftstadter?" Leonard beamed.
"Meh…if I turn up that is." Penny shrugged. She burst out laughing when all the colour drained from Leonards face.
"Of course I'm gonna turn up you doofus!" she laughed.
"That's not very funny Penny." Leonard muttered, trying not to look hurt.
"You realise if Sheldon catches you over here you're in big trouble? Have you forgotten the lecture about procedures?" Penny asked.
"Forgotten it? Sheldon made me recite it word for word from memory before he'd even let me go to bed!" Leonard cried. Penny smiled.
"Well you shouldn't be over here. It's bad luck." Penny informed him.
"It's bad luck over there too…Sheldon lives there." Leonard smirked. Penny fought the grin crossing her face and shook her head.
"Don't be mean Leonard. Otherwise I'll tell on you." She replied.
"So are you going to let me in or what?" Leonard asked.
"What for?" Penny asked.
"What do you think?" Leonard asked.
"Do you think of anything else?" Penny asked rolling her eyes.
"Of course I do. But Star Trek isn't what I'm thinking of right now." Leonard replied.
"You go take a cold show mister, we're not doing anything!" Penny told him.
"I am stunned." Came a sudden voice from across the hall.
"Oh crap." Leonard whispered before turning round to see Sheldon standing in the doorway of their apartment across the hall.
"I always thought it was Penny with the famously ravenous nether regions, but it appears you've been exposed to her for too long and gained such an affliction yourself." Sheldon elaborated.
"I was just…" Leonard started.
"I know exactly what you were doing Leonard." Sheldon scolded.
"Sorry Sheldon. I did tell him to go over to yours and respect your procedures." Penny said.
"You kiss ass!" Leonard cried, appalled.
"Leonard, that is no way to talk to your future wife!" Sheldon scolded.
"He's terrible, isn't he Sheldon?" Penny smirked.
"You're not entirely blameless in this either Penny, why are you answering the door at this time of night?" Sheldon asked.
"Yeah, why are you answering the door at this time of night?" Leonard grinned, pleased the blame was off him for a moment.
"Because you tapped on it genius!" Penny replied. Leonard grumbled and turned and headed back to 4A.
"I trust you two will remain separate until the ceremony?" Sheldon asked.
"Perhaps you should run over the procedures one more time with him Sheldon?" Penny suggested. Leonard turned and stared at her open mouthed.
"You know, it's not too late for me not to turn up at the church you know!" Leonard warned. Penny scoffed.
"Leonard, I'm surprised you're not already sitting at the church." Penny replied.
"She has a good point Leonard, we must be prepared. Get your wedding guide handbook, we'll reconvene in the living room in ten minutes." Sheldon replied.
"I'll never forgive you for this!" Leonard growled in Pennys direction who in turn smirked and poked her tongue out at him before closing the door. She turned and placed her back against the door.
"Penny Hoftstadter. Just a few hours away." She sighed happily before making her way back to bed.
"SHELDON!"
"Danger, danger!" Sheldon cried sitting up in bed.
"You're damn right it's danger, it's quarter past ten, the ceremony is at eleven!" Leonard cried from Sheldons bedroom door.
"Good lord! This is your fault Leonard, you kept us awake for too long, this is what happens when we don't get a decent REM sleep cycle.
"Spare me the lecture Sheldon, we have to leave in 15 minutes and nothing is ready!" Leonard panicked.
"Leonard, kindly have a little faith in me. I have everything prepared. Your suit is hanging on the back of your bedroom door and your shoes are on the living room table having been suitable polished by myself.
"You polished my shoes?" Leonard asked taken aback.
"Well you can't get married in dirty shoes. Whatever would the wedding photos look like?" Sheldon shrugged. Leonard smiled.
"Sheldon…I'm really happy you agreed to be best man." Leonard said. Sheldon scoffed.
"I didn't agree out of choice, I merely knew if anyone else took the role the wedding would end in disaster, Penny would be devastated and be comfort eating and you would be playing your tragic Emo music for weeks." Sheldon grumbled as he quickly paced across his room and grabbed his own suit off his door. Leonard gave him a hug.
"Leonard, this is an emotional day for you, so I'm going to let this slide just this once. But if you violate my personal space in such a fashion again I will have to punish you with a strike." Sheldon replied. Leonard pulled back and smiled. Twenty minutes passed.
"Have you got the keys?" Leonard asked racing through the living room.
"Why would I have the keys? I don't drive!" Sheldon replied.
"Well they're not in the bowl!" Leonard cried.
"I told you that you should have had a car to take you there." Sheldon replied.
"I told you, Howard and Raj put the wedding banners on my car and it was too late to take them off, we have to go in my car!" Leonard argued.
"I just hope Penny had the good sense to get a car. If she is relying on the car that company of hers gave her she may not arrive until a week on Thursday." Sheldon complained.
"I told you, they're going to give her an upgrade! Look, we don't have time for this, where are the keys?" Leonard pleaded.
"Wait a minute!" Sheldon said, pausing.
"What now?!" Leonard cried.
"I can hear Penny, Amy and Bernadette across the hall." Sheldon replied.
"What? Shouldn't they have left by now?" Leonard asked.
"I hardly think we're ones to comment on timekeeping given our current situation Leonard." Sheldon replied.
"Well why…oh no." Leonard groaned.
"What?" Sheldon asked.
"I didn't set the clocks back for daylight saving changes." Leonard replied.
"So it's actually 9.35 am and we don't have to leave for another 25 minutes?" Sheldon asked. Leonard nodded sadly.
"I know it's your wedding day Leonard…but this is unacceptable. You're getting that strike." Sheldon scolded.
"Well look on the bright side, we have time to find the keys!" Leonard replied.
"Are you sure you didn't leave them in Pennys garter so you had an excuse to put your hand up her dress under the pretence of "obtaining your keys"?" Sheldon asked.
"Sheldon, that's…genius!" Leonard grinned.
"Leonard, kindly keep your hormonal tendencies under control, we need to locate the keys to enable us to make good time and arrive at the church at the designated time." Sheldon replied. Fifteen minutes pass.
"I don't know what you were panicking for Sheldon, we've got plenty of time." Leonard boasted as he opened the apartment door.
"Leonard, if you make any more wisecrack jokes like that I may be forced to apologise for ending the life of her husband before the ceremony has even begun." Sheldon replied clearly unimpressed.
"ARGH!"
Leonard and Sheldon spun round.
"Turn away! Turn away!" Bernadette yelled.
"What's going on?" Leonard asked.
"Amy, keep her in there!" Bernadette cried but it was too late. Leonard took a single step forward.
"Wow…you look beautiful." He whispered.
"You're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding!" Bernadette yelled, ruining the moment.
"Bernadette, it's OK. I don't care. You look so handsome." Penny smiled.
"Thank you." Leonard smiled.
"Actually I was talking to Sheldon. He always scrubs up nice in a suit." Penny smiled.
"Ha ha!" Sheldon smirked.
"Shut up Sheldon!" Leonard snapped making his way down the stairs.
"Penny…I am not entirely comfortable with my grasp on the social conventions of weddings…but I think it is appropriate that I give you a kiss on the cheek." Sheldon informed her.
"Aww!" Penny blushed.
"However I don't want to get sick, so I'll stick with the trusty wave from a safe distance." Sheldon added. He quickly followed Leonard down the stairs.
"Well that kinda ruined the moment." Penny said rolling her eyes.
"We'd better wait a few minutes and let the guys get ahead." Amy suggested.
At precisely 11.00 am Leonard Hoftstadter found himself doing what he had dreamed of for eight years.
At the same 11.00 am Penny Hoftstadter found herself doing what she had dreamed of all her life. Getting ready for wedding champagne at the reception.
Oh and getting married. That too.
But mostly the champagne.
And so it was that Penny and Leonard were finally married. And it was less than a year later when Leonard junior and Penny junior came into the world, Leonard and Penny the proud parents to twins.
Somehow they knew life would never be the same again. And they were OK with that.