A/N; I decided to finally give Penny a last name, and names to all her family.
The train pulled into Omaha station only about 10 minutes late. Penny and Sheldon alighted the train, Penny's mom agreed to meet them at the station and Penny saw her immediately.
Penny's mom was just a slightly chubbier, shorter and older version of Penny, her blonde hair and green eyes were passed down to her daughter.
Sheldon even without having seen her before knew that this lady coming up to hug him was Penny's mom.
"You must be Sheldon." She hugged him tightly, Sheldon let out an involuntary "eeek".
"Mom, mom" Penny could feel Sheldon's discomfort, "Sheldon doesn't like physical contact."
Penny's mom still hugging Sheldon looked at Penny with a surprised expression.
"Oh, well Sheldon my name is Pamela, I'm Penny's mom." she released her grip and held out her hand to shake his.
"of any kind." Penny concluded.
"Oh, well, well, nice to meet you Sheldon." she turned to Penny, "come here honey give your momma a hug, you still like hugs right?"
Penny threw her arms around her mother, "Especially from my mom."
Penny jumped in the front seat and Sheldon in the back one. He hadn't said a word since arriving at Omaha, Penny turned to look at her friend, he was still twitching, and he looked very uncomfortable indeed.
"So Sheldon, or can I call you Shelly?
"You can call me Sheldon." he didn't mean it to sound rude, but Shelly was not a name that he liked.
"OK." Pamela continued, "Penny tells me you are a scientist, a real clever one too."
"Mom, Sheldon is a physicist." Penny turned to and smiled at Sheldon, "and he is more than real clever mom, he has an IQ of 187, he is a genius."
"I am a theoretical Partical Physicist Mrs Collins, studying string theory at Caltech. I have two PHD's and a masters degree."
"A genius hey. Well whatever, you are welcome to our home." she turned into the driveway of the house, it was a white wooden double story house, with a large tree in the front yard and set a little off the road. The sun was just coming up, the drive to the house took less than 5 minutes.
"Christy is back in Omaha Penny." Pamela said.
"Christy, well we are no longer on speaking terms not after her visit to Pasadena." Penny turned to Sheldon. "You remember Christy don't you Sheldon."
"Of course, and your delightful regales of the Whore of Omaha."
"Yep, yep you remember her." Penny smiled at her mom who had turned to look at Sheldon.
Penny entered the house that she left all those years ago, it hadn't changed, it never changes.
"Your father is on a fishing trip with the boys, he is due back this afternoon. Meg is asleep I would say, and Dirk, well you know where Dirk is." Pamela opened the blinds to let light into the small living room. It was furnished with "country classic" style of furniture and above the fake fire was a stuffed fish, testimony to Wyatt's fishing skills.
Sheldon stood and looked about the room, it reminded him of his mother's house, just slightly smaller and not as tidy, magazines were not returned to the magazine holders but rather casually strew about the room. On the sofa were remote controls for the television and DVD rather than in a holder. There were several empty glasses on one of the tables, obviously from the night before. No wonder Penny's apartment is such a study in chaos.
Penny looked at Sheldon. "Well mom, I think I might show Sheldon his room."
"Ok, I'll put the kettle on, you want a cup of tea Sheldon?"
"Yes please, heated to 180 degrees."
"What?" Pamela walked into the kitchen, what has Penny got herself into, a man she can't touch, a so called genius, that wants his tea at a specific temperature. She going to have to have talk with her little girl, this man is not for her.
XXXXXXXXXX
"So Sheldon this will be your room, you will have to share the bathroom with everyone, please don't make it uncomfortable for me, you can sanitise to your hearts content before and after you use it, just don't tell everyone, don't even tell me." she pulled the blind up and opened the window to let some fresh air in.
Sheldon placed his bag on the bed, this was obviously the missing Dirk's old bedroom. Sheldon unfolded the sheets he brought with him and started to remake the bed.
Penny watched him for a moment then decided to leave him to his "craziness". "When you are finished mom is making a cup of tea you might want to come downstairs."
"Thank you Penny, I'll be right down, just after I cleaned all the surfaces in the room, he grabbed out of his bag a cloth and some liquid cleaner.
"Just don't tell my mom you re-cleaned her clean room, she won't understand."
Penny shut the door and lent against the frame, what was she thinking bringing Sheldon to Omaha.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Penny how did you get mixed up with this fella, with his no touching,and 180 degrees cups of tea?" Pamela asked as she poured the milk into the cups.
"He lives across the hall from me, and he is Leonard's room mate. He really is a nice guy even though a little eccentric."
"So you and him, are you?"
"No mum, we aren't"
"Doesn't he like girls either?" Pamela laughed.
"Mum, he's just a little different than the boys around here." Penny knew that bringing Sheldon here was wrong, and why did she feel a need to protect him from everyone.
Pamela laughed, "Yes just a little. So tell me why if you and he are not a couple did you invite him?"
"I didn't want to come alone, then I would be a total failure, no career, no boyfriend."
"Ok, so why do you think he came with you?"
Penny thought about it, surely it wasn't just to boast to her friends, really Sheldon didn't need validation from Penny's friends, and really it can't just be the chance to let her old friends to meet a possible Nobel Prize winner. So why did he really?
"Because he's my friend, and he got to go on the train, I don't know mum, how about I go upstairs and ask him."
"I don't think it's anything about travelling on a train, is it possible this boy has an eye for you."
Penny heard the stairs crick "ssshh, he's coming."
Pamela looked up to see Sheldon walk into the kitchen. "Here we go Sheldon, grab a seat and have a cup of tea, did you guys want anything to eat for breakfast?"
"Hey Sheldon want do you have for breakfast? " Penny asked
"Cereal, I eat cereal on Fridays, do you have 2% milk Mrs Collins?"
"Um, not to sure there Sheldon, but if there is some milk in the fridge, help yourself."
"It's ok Sheldon, we can go to the store and grab your milk for you." Penny could see that the offer of the milk that's in the fridge was not a viable answer for Sheldon.
"Mum just going to borrow your car and Sheldon you come with me."
Penny drove Sheldon to the local store that was just opening up for the day, she told him to stay in the car and she ran in and got his preferred milk, as well as the cereal he liked.
They returned to the house just in time for Meg, Penny's sister to walk into the kitchen in her pyjamas but what Sheldon would determine to be her underwear.
"Hey hun." Penny hugged her sister "Meg, this is Dr Sheldon Cooper, he is my next door neighbour and a very good friend, " she looked at her mother when she said that last bit, then she continued " Sheldon agreed to accompany me tomorrow night for the school reunion.
Meg looked up at the cute guy Penny brought with her from Pasadena, he didn't look at Meg, instead he was looking at Penny.
"Nice one Penny, and a doctor."
"He's a double doctor Meg." Pamela explained.
"So you're Dr Dr Sheldon." Meg asked with a smile.
"No just Dr Sheldon Cooper," he replied completely unaware of Meg's mockery. "and I have a master's too."
"He's cute too." Meg stood up and gave Sheldon a good once over look.
Sheldon looked at Penny, horrified to be proclaimed "cute".
"Meg shut up now." Penny yelled at her sister "Sorry Sheldon, my sister often talks without thinking."
"To talk without thinking is to shoot without aiming," Sheldon replied, but Penny just looked at him blankly.
"It's an English proverb," he continued, but she was still looking at him blankly "oh never mind."
"He's funny too Pen." Meg said sarcastically.
Meg walking around in her underwear was making Sheldon uncomfortable and Penny knew it.
"Hey Meg sweetie, perhaps you could go put on some clothes."
Meg looked down at her tank top and boy shorts and then at the good Doctor. He was looking everywhere but at her, but mostly at Penny.
"Don't think it's me making your Doctor uncomfortable Pen?"
"Meg, just go up and get into something that covers a little bit more." Pamela said.
Sheldon returned to his room after breakfast citing a need to just do a little work. Meg, Penny and Pamela sat outside on the back porch so they could talk.
"Pen, you and that Dr guy, you know doing it?" Meg asked.
"No Meg, we are not, he is just a friend."
Pamela looked at Penny and then Meg. "Apparently this Dr isn't that into girls Meg."
"That's not true mom, well he just really isn't into relationships, he's not a touching, feely person, he's a man of science."
Meg and Pamela looked at each other and smiled and then Pamela said " But tomorrow night, he is going to be introduced as your boyfriend to your old school friends, and he is happy with that?"
"Yes, he agreed to it. He's a good friend, just helping me out."
"I think he is in love with you Penny, you just can't see it" Meg stood up and walked back inside.
