Elliott Hofstadter's POV

I went downstairs to get a snack in the kitchen from reading my book. It was Richard Feynman and I believe his perspectives on physics is very informative and gripping.

I made it halfway down the steps and stopped when I heard my mother and father talking about me. I didn't want to interrupt their conversation because I was curious as to why I am the center of attention.

"Penny, we don't really need to." Father said.

"C'mon, Leonard," Mother pleaded with him. "I think it would be great for you two to bond. You don't really spend a lot of time with him."

"I spend time with my son just fine." He snapped defensively.

"Oh, really? Cause all I ever see him do is just read, do schoolwork, and play video games. With you and Wyatt, you take him out to comic book stories and watch your movies."

"Wyatt does work at the comic book store being Stuart's employee and I can get a discount."

I rolled my eyes and I can imagine Mother doing the same thing.

"Maddie and Becca are easy for you to get along with because they have you wrapped around their fingers."

"No they do not."

"You let Becca get away with so many things!" She accused him.

"Name one time."

"Any time either Maddie or Becca call you, 'Daddy', you let them off the hook. You let her stay up past her bedtime when I work late, she still sleeps with us-"

"Only when she has nightmares," He interrupted her. "And I said name one thing."

"You do great father and daughter things with both of our girls, but maybe you can still bond with Elliott."

"What do you and him do?" Father challenged.

"We both don't like superhero or sci-fi movies and we don't like comic books. He must get that from me," She said proudly. "And we do hang out with each other you just don't know that we do."

"Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." She said.

Hm. Maybe this was a bad time to come downstairs.

I do love my father. It's true we don't share any similar interests. Other than gaming and science. I didn't mind that we don't spend time with each other. I do enjoy other things like reading and writing fanfiction. That's a secret of mine no one else really knows.

I went downstairs anyway to the kitchen and ignore my parents' whispers to each other. I made out their words that my mother was trying to coax Father right now to do something with me.

"Hey, sweetie," Mother greeted to me.

I opened the snack cabinet and grabbed a candy bar to eat.

"Hello, Mother." I returned the greeting and was about to go upstairs to avoid to have any quality time with my father.

But I have been stopped from doing so.

"Why don't you and I do something with each other?" Father asked with a smile.

"Like what?" I shrugged.

"I don't know like..." He was at a loss for words and discreetly looked at Mother for help.

"It's lunch time. Why don't you two go out to eat?" She offered.

"Yeah." He agreed approvingly with a nod.

"If this is your attempt to have a bonding experience with me, you really don't have to put in any efforts-"

"C'mon, Ellie, it's my treat." He used my nickname that Mother would often call me.

"I prefer only Mother to call me that." I said and she put on a broad smile.

"Sorry," He apologized. "Where do you want to go? We can spend the whole day together."

"You want us to spend time together and you don't have anything planned? We're going out on a whim?" I asked confusedly.

"Yes."

"We can eat at the Cheesecake Factory," I felt myself smirking. "I can see how much Madison perspires and how she'll insist she's glistening." I chuckled.

"Don't make fun of your sister." He reproached.

"I thought this was supposed to be a fun day." I pouted.

Later, we arrived to the Cheesecake Factory. We sat at our table and Maddie was waiting on us. She works at the restaurant only part time. Due to her party girl lifestyle, our parents allowed her to only go to school, home, and work. Nowhere else and they forbidden her to do other things such as her phone was taken away from her for a month.

"Hey, my name is Maddie. I'll be your waitress for this afternoon." She doesn't sound very enthusiastic to cater us.

"I thought waitresses were supposed to be perky." I teased.

She glared at us. "There are other restaurants around here."

"Now, you sound like your mother when she used to work here." Father grinned.

"Kill me..." She groaned. "I already know what you two want to drink so I'll go get them."

"It would be proper for you to ask us first, wouldn't it?" I asked.

"It would also be proper for me to kick you, but I'd get fired for doing that to a customer." She said snidely.

"Stop it, you two." Father told us.

"Do you know what you want to eat?"

"I'll have the usual since you know everything already." I handed her the menu as she rolled her eyes.

"Same for me, sweetie." Father handed her the menu.

She gave him a look. "Don't call me that when we're in public, Dad! It's embarrassing!"

He only grinned. "Right. Sorry."

She knew that we mostly get the same thing except for Mother when she comes here. Very rarely does she want to eat here because it brings her back memories of when she was a waitress as well.

When Maddie accepted our orders, it was the two of us.

"So...uh...what do you want to talk about?" He asked me.

"You don't really have to fill in the silence with a conversation, Father."

"But I want to! And you don't always have to call me 'Father'. It sounds too formal." He gently corrected.

"Okay, Dad," I tested the name how it would sound, but I don't like it. "I think I'll stick with the formal."

"How's school going?"

"Fine just like any other day."

"Do you have any crushes on someone? Any girl problems I can help you with?"

"No, not really." I haven't found an attraction towards any girls yet.

"Oh," He nodded understandingly. "What's going on with your friends lives? Anything?"

"I can imagine a bunch of things," That's a question I can't give a simple answer to. How am I suppose to know? "However, I don't only converse with my friends. Grandma and I talk too."

"You do?" That surprised him.

"Yes. We use Video Chat. She does enjoy having them with me and is impressed that I'm the only one out of her grandchildren to reach out to her personally. She can't seem to get the same relationship with Wyatt, Madison, or Rebecca. She even gives me free copies of her books."

"You get free copies of her books?" He was shocked.

"Yes. That's what I said. Also, she noticed how you and Wyatt have the similar tendencies to end sentences with prepositions and to point out the obvious."

"Yeah, I know. I can't believe she would give you her free books," He was still stunned. "If I would want any of them, I'd have to buy them on Amazon!"

"She feels as her duty being the grandmother, she should spoil her grandchildren." I smiled.

"How nice of her." I can hear the hint of bitterness there.

"Again. Pointing out the obvious." I shook my head.

He sighed. "Did you read all of her books?"

"Not all of them."

"Please, tell me you haven't read The Problematic Child?" He groaned.

"I did, but not all of it. She got too graphic for me with her experiments on you. As your son, there are things I wish not to know about my father. For instance, your masturbation-"

He tried to shush me, wanting me to be quiet about that. He was obviously embarrassed by having this been known to the public.

"What? Don't be ashamed of masturbation. Most likely everyone in this restaurant has done it at least once," I comforted him. "She told me it would be common in my age group that I would start doing it, but I feel no need to."

He was getting redder and horrified by the minute. "That's good to know, son. Let's talk about something else, shall we?"

"Certainly," I respected. "My apologies for making this uncomfortable and embarrassing..."

"No, it's okay," I doubt it was for him. "When did you first started talking to her?"

I explained to him that I went for her guidance to talk about my school problems and that she gave me therapy with other things.

While we were talking, Maddie returned with our drinks and our food as well.

"Enjoy." Maddie said and was about to leave, but Father stopped her.

"What did you do about the video?" He asked. "Did you ever found out who posted it?"

"Yeah, and it was some jerk named Steve. My friends helped me out with the hunt. I forced him to take the video down or else."

"Or else what?" I asked not knowing the outcome of the threat.

"Well, I kicked him in the place where it don't shine." She was pretty pleased with that, and honestly, so am I.

"Maddie..." He chided. "Violence is not the answer. You could have handled it in a more different and mature way."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but I only do it to those who deserve it."

"If I remember correctly, didn't Mother once kicked a hacker in that same private area for you and your friends?" I recalled the story she told me.

"Yes," Father answered and he didn't sound too happy at the memory. Probably because she set a bad example for us and Maddie did the same thing.

"Really? Wow. Go, Mom." I had to agree with Maddie.

"But that still doesn't mean what you did was okay."

"I know, but the problem is solved anyway. I found the culprit and it's taken down. Too bad because my video almost got one million views. Enjoy your food." Maddie said and walked away to take care of another table.

The both of us were liking our food as we ate. You can't expect anything gourmet from The Cheesecake Factory, but it has nice and decent meals.

"Hey, I thought of what we can do together! I almost forgot about this." Father said as if a lightbulb went off in his head.

"What?" I was curious.

"I can sign us up for the Physics Bowl at my work. It's for fathers and their children. We only need four people on a team and I can sign you in and Wyatt and Maddie. What do you say?"

I thought about it at first. "Will there be a prize?"

"A trophy is fun to get."

"I'm in. I would like to know who our competition is."

"I don't know yet, but it'll be fun to play a game as a family and to brush up on our science."

"Yes. I'm eagerly looking forward to it."

Author's Note: I'm trying to make Elliott be more like Beverly, taking after Leonard's side of the family. Stay tuned for the next chapter because we're going to find out why the gang had split. Well, we're going to see one side of the story. Please review! :)