A/N: I want to thank you once again for all the reviews. Special thanks to bfm for pointing out a plot hole in the last chapter, so I could fix it. :-)

Here is chapter nine of this story. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from The Big Bang Theory. I don't own any of the characters.

CHAPTER 9

The flight from Raivavae to Los Angeles wore on endlessly. If he didn't know it better, Leonard could swear the second hand of the animated clock on the display next to the entrance of the cockpit moved in slow motion. Something's wrong with the laws of physics in this cabin, he thought. At least Paul Davidson, the employee from the U.S. Consular Agency in Papeete, who was also on the plane for some necessary paperwork, was a welcome conversational partner as he was very interested in the adventures of Leonard Hofstadter. After the paperwork was done, talking with him about his time on the island, his work at Caltech and this and that somewhat helped to bridge the time. Except for serving food and drinks, the two stewardesses on board spent their time talking with each other about buff, muscular guys on the beaches of Tahiti, at least that's what Davidson told Leonard as he understood French. Giggling and chuckling the whole time, they weren't interested in a conversation with Leonard and Davidson.

After four hours the monotonous sound of the jet engines inside the cabin made both men very tired. Stretched out on the three-seater couch on the side of the cabin, Davidson had fallen asleep first. While Davidson immediately began to snore softly, Leonard looked out of the window. The vastness of the ocean he saw, made him clear again how lost and lonely he was on that tropical island in the middle of nowhere. And it made him clear how incredibly lucky he was, when he was near the island of Raivavae. The approaching thunderstorm could have killed him. In general, he had been lucky all the time during his ordeal. He survived an emergency water landing. He was washed ashore an island that had fresh water and food. He didn't get seriously sick. He wasn't seriously injured when he fell off that rock. And he survived a seven-day journey into the unknown on a raft made of bamboo stems on the Pacific Ocean. Davidson suggested Leonard to write a book about his experiences, when he told him his story. Leonard had to chuckle, when he hought about it. Maybe I become famous by writing an adventure and survival report and not because of a scientific breakthrough.

Leonard was really tired now. He was barely able to keep his eyes open. So he leaned back and closed his eyes. As he slowly drifted off to sleep, pictures of Penny appeared in front of his mind's eye. A smile formed on his lips, and seconds later he had dozed off.


At the same time, as Leonard fell asleep in the plane, Penny stood in the kitchen of her parent's farm and poured herself a glass of water. The calendar on the side of the fridge told her it were only five days left till Christmas. She rubbed her baby bump and sat down at the kitchen table. Penny was in her 31st week of pregnancy. Her due date in February was coming nearer and nearer.

By now she had started to have more trouble getting around as she got heavier and more short of breath, but it was still absolutely bearable. She wasn't complaining. At this point of pregnancy this were totally normal concomitants. She took it easy and just didn't push herself too much. In consultation with her doctors she got some exercise, but made sure to take breaks to rest as much as she needed to.

The days before she was also experiencing her first so-called Braxton Hicks contractions, which were quite discomforting. But drinking a lot of water and changing positions often helped to ease the discomfort. These measures also prevented that those "practice contractions" turned into preterm labor.

Penny also found herself a little bit winded on a normal walk up the stairs, because by now the baby was so big, that it was crowding her lungs. But this was also a thing she take with equanimity, like the difficulties she had with everyday things such as tying her shoes. A real challenge when your pregnant belly was getting in the way all the time.

What was really annoying however were the backaches. To ease them, she had started to visit a prenatal yoga class and at home she kept stretching most of the time.

But the most annoying thing was the trouble to sleep well at night. With a hurting back, belly contractions, hardly finding a comfortable sleeping position and the constant need to get up to pee it wasn't surprising that finding sleep was almost impossible.

From the place Penny was sitting, she could look out of the window. The landscape was covered with snow and the clouds looked as if more snow was on its way. And indeed, just a few moments later some snowflakes began to fall. The slowly falling snowflakes reminded her of Leonard's wonderful gift he gave her, when he returned from the North Pole. The thoughts of Leonard immediately brought tears to her eyes.

"I miss you so much, Leonard. I miss you so much," she whispered.

It didn't take long and she began to cry softly. Right in this moment her father came in through the back door. Penny quickly wiped away her tears. She didn't want her father to see her crying.

"Hi slugger," Wyatt greeted her daughter. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing," Penny answered. "Just drinking a glass of water."

Wyatt nodded and smiled at her. He took off his shoes and placed them next to the door. Then he walked over to the kitchen table and sat down opposite of Penny. "The weather forecast has predicted a few inches of snow the day after tomorrow. This means a lot of snow shoveling."

"Do you think we will have a white Christmas?" Penny asked her father, before taking a sip of water.

"Yeah, it looks like it," Wyatt replied. "But I remember there were years, when we had really a lot of snow just three or four days before Christmas and then a low pressure area south of us shoveled very mild air from the Gulf of Mexico up to here, which let the snow melt completely just in time for the holidays. But I think it's safe to say that something like that won't happen this year."

Penny nodded and looked past her father out of the window, where she absent-mindedly observed the falling snow. Wyatt noticed the slightly red eyes of his daughter. "Penny, is everything okay?"

Penny's gaze wandered from the window to her father. "Sure, why do you ask?"

Wyatt smiled and stroked Penny's hand. "You think of Leonard, right?"

"I just miss him so much, daddy," Penny sighed. "I wish he were here with us. I wish he would know he's becoming a father."

Wyatt nodded. "I know. I wish he were here too. He's a great guy."

"He is." Penny paused for a few moments. "You are really fond of him, aren't you?"

"Of course," Wyatt confirmed. "After all those buff airheads, skateboard idiots, white rappers and sweaty dumb-asses with backwards hats you used to drag along, Leonard was the first young man who was presentable and I thought finally you have met a keeper."

"I know, he was the first guy you have ever really approved of. But was it really that bad with those other guys?" Penny asked.

Wyatt raised a brow and looked sternly at his daughter.

Penny chuckled. "Sorry dad, silly question. You are right. It was that bad. And how! After meeting Leonard and falling in love with him, I could only be ashamed of those other guys. None of them was fit to hold a candle to Leonard. Not a single one. And no one will ever be. That's for sure!"

"You two are meant to be together. Although it took you a while until you realized that," Wyatt frowned.

"I know, dad." Penny sighed deeply. "I made some really really bad mistakes when it comes to Leonard. You even tried to push me back into Leonard's arms when you visited me in Pasadena almost three years ago. During that time when Leonard and I weren't togeher anymore."

"Did I?"

"C'mon dad." Penny replied. "Don't think I didn't see through you, when you said something to Leonard like 'get your sorry, lying ass out of my face and make sure I never see it again'."

Wyatt chuckled. "You recognized my intentions?"

"Of course. You tried reverse psychology," Penny grinned. She sighed and continued in a serious tone. "But even after your visit, I wasn't able to resume my relationship with Leonard at that time, because I wasn't able to recognize that Leonard was the one. The one I had always looked for. It's still hurting to think back at that time. I had screwed up big time. I had ended my relationship with Leonard, because I wasn't able to say that I love him, although I did love him. I was so stupid. And then I almost lost him to that Indian girl, Priya."

Penny eyes become moist. "And more mistakes followed until we could resume our relationship. But eventually Leonard asked me out again. You can't imagine how happy I was."

Wyatt smiled. "I was happy too, when I heard that you and Leonard were back together."

Penny nodded and blinked the tears away that had welled up in her eyes. "Yeah I know. We had some initial problems when were back together, but we overcame those problems." She looked out of the window with a wistful expression on her face. "I love him so much, daddy. And now that I can say that I love him, he's not here. And he won't be here to see his baby. You know that I won't ever give up on him, and that I won't ever let him go. But I also have to take into account that there's a possibility I won't see him ever again."

Wyatt clasped Penny's hand and squeezed it softly. "You will see him again."

Penny looked at her father with a sad smile on her face. "Thanks daddy. Yes, I will see Leonard again. And our baby will get to know his or her father."


A short, but quite fierce shaking woke Leonard up, which promptly brought back bad memories. Oh no, please, this can't be happening again. Full of panic he looked around in the cabin, but whatever had happened was over again. Davidson was still sleeping and the two stewardesses sat next to the entrance of the cockpit talking with each other.

One of the stewardesses saw Leonard's shocked facial expression and came up to Leonard. "There's no reason for concern, sir. This was just a harmless air turbulence."

Leonard quickly calmed down and looked out of the window. He must have slept quite long, because it was dark outside and he could see a sea of light. "Where are we?"

"We are approaching the airport of Burbank, California," the stewardess answered. "We have to fly a few circles, before we get the landing permission, but I think in just about 45 minutes we will have landed."

"Thanks for the information. Can I have a water please?" Leonard asked.

"Of course, sir."

The young woman turned on her heel and a few seconds later a small water bottle was standing in front of Leonard. He took a sip and looked out of the window. The sight of the countless millions of lights of the Greater Los Angeles Area was amazing. He was back in America. Almost seven months after he left his odyssey was nearing its end.

While Leonard looked out of the window, Davidson woke up and stretched himself with a loud yawn, which exposed his whole set of teeth. He looked at Leonard with an embarrassed look on his face. "Sorry Doctor Hofstadter. Where are my manners?"

Leonard had to chuckle. "Good evening, Mister Davidson. Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"I can't complain," Davidson answered, rubbing his eyes. "I see, it's dark outside. Do you know where we are?"

"We are approaching Burbank," Leonard replied. "We will land in 45 minutes."

Davidson looked at his watch. "Oh, who'd have thought that? I have slept quite long."

Leonard took another sip of his water. "Are you staying in Los Angeles?"

"Just for one night. Tomorrow I have to fly back to Tahiti," Davidson said and yawned again. This time holding his hand in front of his mouth.

Leonard nodded and turned towards the window again.

Davidson could see that Leonard was lost in reverie. "In a few hours you have arrived your destination. You must be very excited to see your girlfriend again, Doctor Hofstadter."

Leonard turned his head to Davidson. "You can't imagine how excited I am," he said with a bright smile.

He couldn't believe he would see Penny again soon. I hope she won't get a shock, when I suddenly appear out of the blue.


Penny was in her room and sat cross-legged on the bed, her pink laptop next to her. She surfed in the internet to look for a nice baby keepsake book to treasure the baby's first years. She had already collected a few things for the book, like her first sonogram. After browsing quite a few sites, Penny had shortlisted three books. To make her final decision she carefully checked out the selected books again. A little detail on one of the book covers eventually led to her choice. It were barely perceptible snowflakes. She had to think of Leonard, when she saw them. Leonard would love this book. Penny ordered the book and closed her laptop.

Putting away the laptop, her eyes fell on the framed picture of her and Leonard, that was placed on the nightstand. It was taken by Bernadete at the going-away party for Leonard. That was more than seven months ago now, but she remembered it like it was yesterday. She remembered how she and Leonard made love after the party. It was so wonderful. She wondered if this was the night she had conceived the baby. Looking down at her baby bump she sighed deeply. Will I ever feel Leonard again?

Penny got up from the bed and went to the nursery her father had arranged so beautifully. She switched on the light and entered the room. This is really a baby paradise. The walls were still white, as her father wanted to wait till they would know if Penny would give birth to a boy or a girl. Then Wyatt would paint the room in blue shades for a boy and pink shades for a girl.

Walking over to the pile of stuffed animals, she picked up a teddy bear, that wore black-rimmed glasses. Penny had to giggle. "Hi, teddy Leonard. How are you?"

Right in this moment her mother came into the room. "Who are you talking to?" she grinned.

Penny turned around and blushed a little. "This teddy bear reminds me of Leonard," she chuckled and put the bear back to the place where she took it from.

Susan chuckled too. "Because of the glasses, I guess."

Penny nodded, a sad smile forming on her face. "You know, seeing this wonderful nursery makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy, because our baby will have a really wonderful place. And sad, because Leonard can't see it." Sitting down on an ottoman next to the crib her father had built for the baby, she continued. "Last night I had a dream. It was shortly after the birth of the baby. By the way, the dream didn't reveal if it's a boy or a girl. Anyway, I walked into the nursery and what I saw were dad and Leonard dressed like painters, holding paint buckets, paint rollers and brushes in their hands. Both saying in unison, 'Let's get ready to paint'. Then I woke up."

Penny looked at the white walls. "I wished this dream would come true." A single tear rolled down her face. "Yes, mom. I really wished this dream would come true."

Susan walked over to her daughter and engulfed her in a hug. "Dreams can come true."


The layover to refuel the plane at the Burbank airport took a whole hour. After taking leave of Davidson, Leonard was the only passenger on the plane.

It was half past six in the evening, when the plane took off in the direction of Omaha. The pilots had calculated a flight duration of three and a half hours. The plane was scheduled to land in Omaha at midnight local time.

Thirty minutes after the take-off Leonard decided to take another nap. He closed his eyes and it didn't take long until he fell asleep.

The plane arrived the Eppley Airfield in Omaha a few minutes after midnight. After the usual formalities after a landing at an airport, it was nearly one o'clock in the morning. Since he couldn't appear at the farm in the middle of the night, Leonard decided to spent the night at a hotel. But first he rented a car and asked for a nearby hotel.

Twenty minutes later Leonard had parked his rental car on the parking lot of a nice hotel and checked in. Everything he had with him was his shoulder bag and the clothes the three brothers in Raivavae gave him. As soon as he entered his resting place for the night, he flopped down on the bed. Seven months after he had survived an emergency water landing, a sojourn on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific and an extremely dangerous voyage by raft on the open sea, he was in a hotel room in Omaha, Nebraska. And in a few hours he would see Penny again.


It was eight o'clock when Leonard woke up the next morning. He took a shower and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. He also bought a coat in a clothes shop near the hotel. Winter days in Nebraska could get very cold.

An hour and a half later he was sitting in his rental car and entered the address of Penny's parents' farm into the navigation device. He didn't know the address, but his mother found it out for him. Taking a deep breath, he started the car and drove off, following the instructions the female voice of the navigation device gave him.

Thirty minutes later Leonard arrived the entrance of the way that led to Penny's parents' farm. The way was partly barred by an old pickup, so he parked the car on the side of he road. It was a very foggy morning and he couldn't see the farm house, so he didn't know how far it was away. He slung the strap of his bag over his shoulder and started to walk into the dense fog.


Penny stood in living room and rearranged the decoration of the Christmas tree. She thought it was too much and wanted to make it look less cluttered. From the place where she was standing she could look out of the living room window that pointed in the direction of the way that led to the house. Once in a while she looked out of it, wondering about the dense fog outside. Suddenly a dark silhouette, walking towards the house came out of the fog. Penny first thought it was the mailman, but it wasn't the mailman.

To be continued...

A/N: I know. It's an evil Cliffhanger. But I promise you won't have to wait long for the next chapter. :-)