The Generation Hypothesis: Chapter Two:
"Do you know where Michael is?" Howard asked his wife. He had been dumbstruck in Mike's room for about five minutes and then had raced around the house.
"Looks like he just took another Uber," Bernadette informed him. "Did you two have a fight?"
"No," Howard lied, rather badly. Bernadette raised her eyebrows at him, and he sighed. "Fine. We had a fight, he left. I may have called him a girl. But—it wasn't my fault, okay? I'm just—tired of waiting for him to have a girlfriend."
"Howie, you can't judge Michael for not being in a relationship. It took you long enough," Bernadette told him.
"Yes, but girls are actually interested in him. If girls were interested in me in high school, I would have dated them," Howard said.
"Well, Howie, you shouldn't put pressure on him," Bernadette said. "It's just going to make him resent you."
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As Sheldon, Amy, Stephen, and Arty drove home, Stephen began talking about his upcoming science fair project. He said a bunch of complicated science crap that Arty didn't understand a word of, and then Sheldon took over.
"I always did love science fairs," he mused. "I always won, of course. There weren't many intelligent minds in Texas." Seeing a lack of conversation, Sheldon continued, "By the way, Arthur, you're going to do Science Club at your school."
"What?" Arty exploded. "I hate science, Dad!"
"You've shown little to no interest in science whatsoever, and it's concerning me," Sheldon said honestly, quickly looking at Amy.
"This is—" Arty racked his mind for a swear word Sheldon would understand. Bullshit? No. Wait! "—malarkey!"
Sheldon and Amy both gasped. "Don't you curse like that!"
"What? Malarkey? Malarkey, malarkey, mal—"
Sheldon suddenly turned on the radio at full volume. He tuned into a station that was playing a Stephen Hawking lecture—to which Stephen Cooper smiled (Stephen was named after Stephen Hawking)—and Arty sighed.
"Do we have to listen to that guy? He's really boring," Arty complained.
"That's enough of your mouth, young man," Sheldon said pointedly. "You'll be in for a spanking when we get home."
Arty sighed. No matter how much the country advanced, nobody could get the idea of spanking as a punishment out of Dr. Sheldon Cooper's head.
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Leonard and Penny had absolutely no idea how to bring up the idea of therapy to their son. He was alone in his room, and Penny had nominated Leonard to tell him.
Leonard gently rapped on Aden's door. "Aden?"
There was no response. Leonard opened the door to find Aden lying face down on his bed. He was awake, but it seemed that he had generally no interest in answering Leonard.
"Hey, buddy, we need to talk," Leonard said gently as he sat down on Aden's twin-sized bed.
"Is it about how you need to take the stick out of your ass?"
"I don't have a stick up my ass," Leonard said, genuinely offended. "What makes you think I have a stick up my ass?"
Aden buried his face in his pillow. "I have no idea what it means. One of the boys at school said it to me."
Leonard was at a loss. He'd been given that insult many times in school, but Aden seemed to be legitimately upset. "You know, people said that to me in high school—"
"Yes, I know, Leonard Hofstadter and his awful problems," Aden said bitterly.
"What was his name?"
"What are you going to do? Scare him? You couldn't scare his two-year-old sister."
Leonard was beginning to be upset by Aden's insults, but he just sucked in a breath. "What was his name, Aden?"
"Noah Hudson."
"Aden, you need to tell the principal about this—"
"Yeah, I knew you'd do that. Tattle. From what I've heard, that's all you can do, huh?"
"You know, I'm getting sick of your smart mouth," Leonard said, irritated. "I'm just trying to help you—"
"And I don't need your help!" Aden blurted out. "So what the fuck did you want to tell me?"
Instead of the thing he desperately needed to tell his son, he just meekly mumbled, "Dinner's ready."
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Mike exited the Uber at Zach's house. He rang the doorbell, and Zach opened the door.
"My dad's pissed at me for not having a girlfriend," Mike said in lieu of a greeting.
"And why don't you have a girlfriend?" Zach smirked playfully.
Mike sighed. "Zach, please…"
"No, don't worry," Zach said. "I know you're gay, Mike."
Mike hesitated. "Is it that obvious?"
"I mean, my gaydar is pretty spectacular," Zach said.
Mike's heart soared. "Does that—does that mean you're gay, too?"
Zach laughed. "Did it take you this long to figure it out?"
"Um. Yes."
"Well, this is sort of awkward, but I like you. A lot, Mike." Zach took a deep breath.
"I like you, too," Mike grinned.
Zach hugged Mike fiercely, then pulled back. "Do you, like, want to be. Um. Dating?" Zach asked cautiously.
I'm not out. And I don't want to force you out, either. "I'm not out yet."
"Well, I know that. Neither am I."
"But…wouldn't we have to be out?" Mike asked.
"How about, like, we come out in a week?" Zach suggested.
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course."
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Science Club was a nightmare.
From the moment he'd walked in—actually, from the moment he heard its name—he knew he'd be miserable. The faculty advisor, Mr. Davis, started out the club by asking everyone their names and subject/thing to do. There were five other kids. There was Ryan, who liked biology, Eden, who liked making model rockets, Caleb, who liked chemistry, Katie, who liked physics, and Sam, who liked biology as well.
"I'm Arty Cooper, and I love drawing," Arty said, far from confident. As soon as he said drawing, everyone gasped.
"Drawing? Like, sketching equations?" Eden asked hopefully.
"I like art," Arty said honestly.
"I know this guy's dad," Katie said. "Dr. Sheldon Cooper. He won the Nobel Prize in physics a few years ago."
"Then why does he like art?" Ryan asked, horrified.
Arty shrugged and grabbed his sketchbook.
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Mike arrived home around six. Bernadette was in the kitchen, washing the dishes, and Howard was outside with Halley.
"Where were you?" Bernadette gasped.
"Zach's," Mike answered casually.
"Michael…" Bernadette trailed off, looking at her feet. Mike was taller than both her and Howard, and he had to look down on her.
"Mom, I'm gay," Mike blurted out.
Bernadette dropped the plate she was holding into the sink. She turned, wide-eyed, and looked at Mike. "You're…gay?"
"Don't tell Dad," Mike quickly added.
Bernadette was silent for a few moments, then she hugged her son. "Your dad would be okay with it," she told him.
"Would he, though?" Mike asked doubtfully.
"I don't know," Bernadette said. "But you can tell him whenever you want to, honey. I'm ok with it if you want to wait a bit."
"Thank you," Mike said.
A/N: I know there's a bit of time-jumping, but thanks for bearing with me.