New chapter! All one scene. Takes place later in the day, after the ending of the previous chapter.
Leonard set the final box of take – out on the table and then looked at the group. "Did you see that?"
"I did," Bernadette said, nodding.
"It's pretty incredible," Howard agreed, taking his box and starting to open it. Raj nodded.
They sat in silence for another moment before Leonard snapped out of it. "Well, I'm going to go and get Penny."
"Make sure you tell her!" Howard said as Leonard exited the apartment.
He crossed the hall. Penny's door was open and he could see her in the kitchen area, so he walked right in. "Penny we managed to unpack all of the food without hearing Sheldon ask if I got the order right because he and Amy are not there and…" he trailed off as Penny turned around. "What's going on?"
She sighed, holding a box of dishes. "I'm just…you know."
Leonard cocked his head, confused. Not only did she look like something was bothering her, her tone and diction further convinced him that something was wrong. "Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah," she said dismissively, giving him a careless wave with one hand. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm good." She put the box on the counter. "Just, you know, packing."
"Packing for what?"
She put her hands down on the table. "I'm going to Nebraska."
Leonard frowned. "Um…" He looked down at the floor, and then back at Penny. "I have a question."
"You have a question? Yeah, buddy, I have a lot of questions. None of them have answers that make me any less upset. So I'm going to Nebraska, I'm not coming back, and not one of you can stop me!"
"Whoa," Leonard said, moving toward her. "You're randomly moving back to Nebraska?"
"Oh it's not random, Leonard," she said, moving away from him and toward her room. "I have my reasons, and damn good ones, too."
"What about Amy? And Sheldon?"
"Oh believe me, Amy and Sheldon were in my head a lot when I made this decision." She took an armful of clothes out of her dresser and tossed them into an open suitcase.
"Do you really think that's fair?" Leonard asked. "You're taking their baby hours and hours away from them."
"Fair?" Penny said. "You don't know the first thing about fair, Leonard Leaky Hofstadter! You aren't carrying something that has parents calling it the two point oh, upgraded version of themselves, like it's the next great piece of software. You weren't lied to and tricked into being the vessel harboring this software and you're certianly not the one that is attached to it to the point of trying to escape from it's creators because you want to shield it from whatever controlled, monitored life it's destined to live even though you know it's impossible."
She paused for a breath, her face red, and Leonard looked down at his shoes. "Shamy took advantage of you, huh?"
"Oh, Penny."
Penny leaned over to look behind Leonard, who turned around to find Howard, Bernadette, and Raj standing there, looking awkward. The microbiologist moved forward and wrapped her arms around her friend, and Penny burst into tears.
Bernadette looked over Penny's shoulder at Leonard and made a small motion toward Penny's bed. Leonard moved over to sit on it, and Bernadette backed Penny up a step so the waitress could lower herself onto it next to Leonard. She slumped to the side slightly, putting her head on Leonard's shoulder as Bernadette sat next to her and took her hand.
Howard and Raj looked awkwardly at each other, and then Howard sat on the corner of the bed next to Bernadette while Raj crawled on behind Leonard and Penny and added an arm to the three that were already across the women's shoulders.
"Don't go to Nebraska, Penny," Bernadette said.
"I can't stay here, Bernadette," she said. "I can't see them right now."
"If you don't want to see them," Howard said. "Just avoid them. You did a decent job of that when you didn't want to run into Ramona…and now that I think about it, I think you spent several months doing a decent job of it with me."
Penny managed a smile. "Those were good times." Howard looked as if he was deciding whether to laugh or act hurt, and Bernadette smirked. Behind them, Raj managed to keep his snicker quiet.
Leonard took possession of Penny's other hand. "Stay here."
Penny sighed. "Give me one good reason. Shamy's here."
"There you go," Raj said, then realized he had spoken and assumed a look of panic.
"Actually," Howard said, glancing at Raj and then leaned slightly forward again to see Penny. "He has a point."
"That's not a good reason," Penny said.
"Um…" Leonard looked over the girls' heads at Howard. "It…kinda is. You've got their child."
"Their experiment baby," Penny said, saying the words with disgust.
"But you care for it, don't you?" Bernadette asked gently.
Penny sat up. "You're too damn intuitive." She let out a small laugh. "Oh!"
The exact same instant, Bernadette and Leonard looked down at where their hands were entwined with Penny's. "Was that the baby?" Bernadette asked, looking excited.
Penny nodded. "Started a few hours ago."
"Wait, we're kicking?" Howard said, jumping up. "Let me feel!"
"The one time in your life I consent to that demand," Penny said, laughing as she readjusted her position on the bed so the three guys and Bernadette could get hands on her stomach. She grinned when she felt the kicks match up with their changing facial expressions.
When the newness factor wore off, they slowly fell silent and looked up from Penny's midsection to her face. It was Howard that spoke first. "Don't go."
Penny sighed. "Howard…"
"Seriously. It's been us five for…well…" he looked at Leonard. "Years! And yeah, Bernadette and Amy are with us almost all the time but…" he shrugged. "I understand you're mad at Sheldon. That's pretty much routine. But the thought of us being…four?"
"I never thought of it that way," Leonard said, glancing at Raj, who nodded in agreement.
Penny looked at all of them for a long moment. "Okay."
"You're staying?" Bernadette asked.
"Yeah," she said, sighing again. "I will. But I can't deal with Sheldon and Amy right now. I can't eat with you guys if they're going to be there. I can't hang out, and I can't drive you places. I can't do it if they're there." She scooted backward on the bed and pulled her knees up as far as they'd go. "I can't."
They were all silent for several minutes, and then Penny slid off the bed. "I think I'm going to shower and go to bed."
"We'll leave you alone," Bernadette said, getting up and hugging her again. The guys wished her good-night and exited the bedroom behind the microbiologist.
"I'm glad she isn't going," Bernadette said, stating the obvious thought that everyone had on their minds.
"She…she said that…" Leonard closed the door to her apartment as Raj stepped out into the hall behind the rest of the group. "She said not one of us could make her stay. I thought she was out of here."
"Well, not one of us could make her stay," Bernadette said. "But the four of us? She didn't really want to leave; she loves us too much. She just needed to be reminded how much we love her, too."
They stood in yet another silence before Howard spoke. "Penny's right," he said, looking at Bernadette. "You are too damn intuitive."
Raj leaned over and whispered in Howard's ear. "Yeah, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the emotion too, Raj," he said under his breath. "So," he said, clapping his hands together once. "Thai food?"
No, no Sheldon in this chapter. Or Amy – sorry Joni and Amber! :) They'll be back.