CHAPTER 14
Leonard got up in the morning with an awful hangover, even worse than the one that Sheldon had, it felt like having a woodpecker inside his head. The night before, Leonard had slept on the couch, all by himself.
The first thing that Leonard did was, looking for Penny throughout the department. He couldn't find her. It was Sunday and it was her day off so Penny should be home. At least, Leonard thought so.
Thirty minutes later, Leonard had taken a shower and got dressed; he heard the sound of keys, opening his apartment door. Penny was coming home with a few bags of groceries. She seemed distant, her face was unreadable, and she didn't look like the usual Penny, the affectionate and cheerful Penny.
Leonard felt tightness in his chest, there were so many things he wanted to tell her, for instance, he wanted to say to her that everything would be fine, that he loved her and he would wait until she was ready to have a baby, if it wasn't time yet. But ... for some reason ... he just couldn't say it.
"Penny! Let me help you with those bags!" Leonard said, running toward his wife at the moment she walked through the door. "I didn't know you went to the supermarket, I would have gone with you."
"We needed a few things and you were still sleeping, I didn't want to wake you up" Penny said as she placed a soy milk carton and some vegetables in the fridge. "So, I went to the store with Amy and Nicky. Sheldon couldn't go with her because he is feeling kind of… sick."
"Aw, poor Sheldon! I bet he has the worst hangover" Leonard stated, feeling his head spinning. He poured himself a cup of hot coffee.
"Yes ... and I guess you have a hangover too" Penny exclaimed. "By the way Leonard, why did you think that getting Sheldon drunk was a good idea? You know he's not used to drinking alcohol"- Penny scolded him harshly. "Poor Amy! You should think a little more about the things that you do. Amy is pregnant and she shouldn't deal with a drunken Sheldon and a toddler like Nicky. That's not fair! Seriously Leonard ... what were you thinking?"
"Penny, that wasn't my intention... I just wanted to clear my mind for a while, and I asked Sheldon to join me for a couple of beers. It's no big deal; I needed to talk to someone". Leonard felt guilty about the situation. "Is Amy mad at him? I'll go talk to her. This isn't Sheldon's fault."
"No, of course she's not angry. Amy is crazy about Sheldon. I doubt there's something he could do to make her really angry". Penny crossed her arms with an irritated attitude.
"Well... how lucky Sheldon is!" Leonard muttered. "At least Sheldon has someone who cares about him, or ... actually wants to talk to him." Leonard took of his glasses to clean them with a tissue and sighed deeply. His eyes looked downright sad.
"What did you say Leonard?" Penny angrily asked him.
"I just said that… if Amy is not angry, I don't see what the problem is" Leonard replied grumpily. "It's so good that, at least, Sheldon and Amy have each other."
Penny looked at him with a mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes, and without a word, she walked into the bedroom, slamming the door. Penny didn't know why it was so hard to open her heart and let Leonard know what was causing her so much pain; even though she tried to fight that feeling, the words were stuck in her throat, like a choking knot.
Immediately, Leonard headed to the bedroom door, following Penny. When he was about to open the door, he suddenly stopped himself and turned around. Leonard shook his head, took the keys and left the apartment.
"I'm already getting tired of being your consolation prize." Leonard whispered faintly as he closed the door.
Almost three weeks later, Nicholas was completely used to go with his father to work every morning. He had the best time when he was walking through the halls of Caltech or attending conferences. When Sheldon was too busy to take care of Nicky for a few hours, his uncles: Leonard, Howard and Raj were the best babysitters for him.
Perhaps the only thing that surpassed Nicky's happiness of spending all day with his dad was the thrill of seeing his mother every afternoon when he went back home. Needless to say, Nicholas was very sweet to Amy. He loved giving her lots of hugs and kisses; Nicky was definitely a mama's boy.
"Amy, it's time to go! If we don't hurry we're going to be late. Leonard is waiting for us in the car" Sheldon told Amy as she tightly hugged her beloved Nicholas.
"Love, just one more minute, please. You get to spend all day with him" Amy whispered, giving Nicholas a little kiss on the forehead. "Sheldon, Nicky's gums are sore; he's teething. I just saw two tiny teeth in his mouth, and they're new so he might be a little cranky and you should expect some drooling", Amy informed Sheldon, at the time that she placed Nicky in his arms.
Sheldon nodded. "Don't worry! I'll take good care of him. See you in the afternoon." Sheldon kissed Amy goodbye.
It seemed to be a regular Thursday at work. Sheldon gave a couple of lectures as he usually did in the morning. Nicholas accompanied his dad. The toddler was sitting in a chair and scribbling in a notebook. To Sheldon, Nicky's drawings looked like plans to build a robot.
Sheldon was increasingly used to the attention he draw, whenever he was with Nicky, so he didn't care anymore about those girls who approached him from time to time or the comments of his colleagues.
After lunch, Sheldon walked to his office, carrying Nicholas in his arms. As Amy had told him the child was a bit fussy because of his sore gums. Sheldon strongly regretted not bringing one of Nicky's teething toys. Luckily for Sheldon a popsicle was good enough to temporarily ease Nicky's teething pain.
When Sheldon was standing in front of his office, Dr. Siebert approached him.
"Good afternoon Dr. Cooper! I see you're in very good company", Dr. Siebert greeted Sheldon and Nicky with a smile. From the moment Siebert found out that Sheldon had been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics, his attitude towards him was increasingly friendly. "So, you still haven't found a person to watch your child in the morning?" Dr. Siebert asked. "If you are interested, I can recommend you an excellent day care."
"Thank you ... but that's not necessary" Sheldon answered emphatically. "Nicholas already has a person to take care of him. My son always stays with my mother in law, but she is temporarily out of town. She's coming back to Pasadena next week."
"Okay ... but that's not what I wanted to discuss with you. Dr. Cooper, as I told you some time ago, your nomination for the Nobel Prize of Physics is a priority for our institution", Dr. Siebert cleared his throat. "So, you can be sure that we'll make every effort to get you closer to that goal."
Nicholas started feeling cranky again, in part due to the discomfort that he felt in his gums, produced by his new teeth and, also, because he didn't like Dr. Siebert. Sheldon could notice that his son was about to cry.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Nicholas' little voice sounded tired.
"It's okay Nicholas. Everything is okay!" Sheldon tried to calm him down, by rocking him gently in his arms. "He's teething" Sheldon informed Dr. Siebert.
Dr. Siebert nodded sympathetically. "As I was saying, you are now the face of Caltech and we are willing to do everything in our power to help you achieve the Nobel Prize in Physics. I've taken the liberty of hiring a person to manage your public relations as well as your image. I need you to get in touch as soon as possible, so I'll see you in my office at three o'clock. "Siebert checked his watch. "Goodbye Dr. Cooper, I hope your baby feels better soon."
"Goodbye Dr. Siebert", Sheldon nodded politely. Sheldon was too busy trying to make Nicky feel better, so he wasn't in the mood to discuss with Dr. Siebert.
Sheldon didn't think it was necessary to hire a person to manage his PR, but he was willing to do everything possible to get the Nobel Prize.
"You're right Nicky, I don't like meeting new people, but Dr. Siebert says a public relations professional can help us to win that prize. So ... we need to focus on our goal."
Sheldon sat at the desk, with Nicholas on his lap, his mind was already drawing in great detail the beautiful home he dreamed for his family.
"Aw, I should've brought a teething toy for you, like Amy told me. Your gums are really sore, uh? But… don't worry little buddy; your mom's coming to pick us up and we're going to spend the evening together. We'll have a great time!" Sheldon talked reassuringly to Nicky. "Your mom wanted it to be a surprise for you, but ... we're going to the Lego Store!. Isn't it exciting? Shh! Please, don't tell her I told you. "
"Lego, Lego!" Nicholas repeated the word and laughed merrily.
"Yes ... Lego! And then we'll eat at Cheesecake Factory, where your aunt Penny works." When Sheldon thought about Penny, he felt rather distressed, recalling that the problems between her and Leonard seemed to be worsening with each passing day. Neither Penny nor Leonard had wanted to talk about it. Sheldon and Amy were getting increasingly worried about them.
Sheldon sighed and then continued talking to Nicholas: "Now ... would you like to stay with Uncle Raj for a moment? I'll go play along with Dr. Siebert."
Sheldon left Nicholas at Raj's office, making sure that his friend knew what to do if the baby's gums were sore. The tall physicist headed to Dr. Siebert's office as punctual as usual.
"Knock, knock, knock, Dr. Siebert. Knock, knock, knock, Dr. Siebert. Knock, knock, knock, Dr. Siebert", Sheldon knocked on the door, following his customary ritual.
"Come on in, Dr. Cooper!" Dr. Siebert answered.
Siebert was talking with another person in the office, in a very low voice so that Sheldon wouldn't hear him: "Soon you will see that I wasn't exaggerating when I said he's a bit… peculiar."
"Good afternoon!" Sheldon walked into the office and closed the door behind him.
Sheldon immediately noticed the completely unknown woman, standing in front of him. He'd never seen her at Caltech before; she definitely wasn't one of his colleagues and honestly she didn't look like one of them.
She was a tall, thin woman. Sheldon thought she must be about the same age as Amy. She had long flowing, blonde hair and an exaggerated amount of make-up. Her hair was so blonde that it was obvious she used some chemical product to achieve that tone.
That woman was showing the most artificial smile that Sheldon had ever seen; she looked like a toothpaste advertisement. She was dressing with a jacket and a skirt in the same hideous shade of fuchsia, with a low-cut white blouse, exposing her cleavage. Sheldon thought her outfit was too short for such a cold day and completely inappropriate for the occasion.
"Dr. Cooper, let me introduce you to Miss Thompson. She'll be in charge of your public relations and your image." Dr. Siebert informed him. "Miss Thompson... he is the famous Dr. Cooper that I spoke to you about."
"Nice to meet you ... You can call me Melissa" the young woman smiled, looking into Sheldon's eyes, and attempting to shake hands with him. Melissa couldn't help noticing Sheldon's colorful T-shirts; clearly, a future winner of the Nobel Prize shouldn't wear those clothes, she thought.
"... And you can call me Doctor Cooper. I'm not a hand-shaker." Sheldon simply nodded, crossing his arms and looking at Melissa Thompson with contempt. Melissa's eyes were green ... but they weren't like Amy's eyes. To Sheldon, Amy's eyes resembled bright jewels; Amy's eyes looked like emeralds set in a gold frame. The eyes of that woman were just boring, dull green eyes.
"Do you realize that we urgently need your help?" As he said those words, Dr. Siebert was staring at Melissa with pleading eyes, as if asking for a miracle.
"Yes ... you're right. You weren't lying at all Dr. Siebert" Melissa smiled uncomfortably. "It's going to be a really hard work."
Amy left her car at Caltech's parking lot, right next to a fancy red car. She unbuckled her safety belt, grabbed her purse and got out of the car.
At the same time the owner of the red car, approached her vehicle. She was a woman with a striking attitude. She didn't seem the kind of woman you'd expect to find at Caltech, Amy thought, at the risk of being prejudiced. The tone of her short fuchsia outfit, made her look like a plastic doll. "Well, it seems Barbie got lost and accidentally walked into Caltech!" Amy thought as she chuckled timidly.
When Melissa Thompson saw Amy, she thought her face looked familiar. Although she didn't know where, she was pretty sure that they'd met before. Her face, her hair and those glasses reminded Melissa of someone from her past. Unable to remember her name, Melissa gave up, shrugged and started the car. She left the parking lot quickly.
Amy headed to Sheldon's office, smiling and trying to hide that she was sad and concerned. She'd spent all morning waiting for a call from her mother. Mrs. Fowler was supposed to call Amy and confirm the day of her aunt's surgery.
Unfortunately, the breast nodule of Aunt Marion was indeed a malignant tumor, but with timely surgery and subsequent therapy, her prognosis was good.
Amy was planning to travel to San Diego to be with his aunt at the time of the operation; supporting her aunt was important to her. She hadn't talked about this with Sheldon yet, because she'd decided to wait until her mother confirmed the date of the procedure.
"Knock, knock, knock, Sheldon and Nicky. Knock, knock, knock, Sheldon and Nicky. Knock, knock, knock, Sheldon and Nicky". Sometimes Amy knocked in the same way that Sheldon used to do it, just because she considered it was funny and cute.
Sheldon quickly got up from his seat with Nicholas in his arms and opened the door. Sheldon greeted Amy with a kiss on the lips, and taking her hand, he led her into the office.
"Mommy," Nicholas stretched his arms, asking Amy to lift him up, and she did so; hugging him tightly.
"Aw, little monkey I've missed you so much!" Amy said sweetly.