As usual, one chapter for this story after making one for my other one ;)
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: Characters created by Chuck Lorry are not mine. Those created by me are ^^
Disclaimer2: Using TerribleWaitress' inventions of Meryl and Phillip again.
The present - 5 years and 5 months old:
"How is it, living in a household with a genius?" one young woman asked Penny.
"Oh, it's tough sometimes but I manage." Chris replied for her, causing the audience, and his parents, to laugh.
"Basically what he said." Penny grinned, ruffling her son's hair. "Luckily I have two beautiful daughters who aren't cursed with high intelligence yet."
"Cursed?" Leonard chuckled.
"Do you really think high intelligence would be a curse?" the woman from the audience wanted to know.
"No, of course not." Penny shook hear head. "I'd love them all the same. But having four others in the house talking about stuff you don't understand and none to share your interests could get very boring."
"What did you do before you had your daughters and your husband and son talked about physics stuff?"
"Smile and nod." Penny giggled. "No, seriously, I most often zoned out. Though I still gave both of them every ounce of support."
When another audience member asked Leonard a question regarding his work, Penny looked at the circle of people that have stayed after the interview for a little question and answer session. She was genuinely surprised how many women were interested in how she was handling her family, given that Leonard has credited her with a lot of his success, like when he had said that it was her strength and love that made him work.
She was also very proud of her boy, the way he was handling himself in front of an audience. It would help him later if he became famous for what he already achieved and what he might be able to accomplish in the future. If his new project worked out, creating artificial gravity without using rotation, his name recognition and by extension that of the entire family, would skyrocket. And that didn't even include them being wealthy now.
It has been three months since they had learned about their newfound fortune. Penny's money guy really had come through and in the past weeks, Leonard and Penny had set up trust funds for each of their children and reinvested money back into the markets. They hadn't even told their friends yet, even though Raj was probably, by way of his father, still a lot richer than she and Leonard were.
"Misses Hofstadter?" a voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"I'm sorry, yes?" Penny returned to another young woman wanting to ask her a question.
"How old are your daughters currently?"
"Eleven months." Penny said proudly. "They will be one year old next month."
"How did you get your physique back so fast?"
"Oh, Yoga. And our neighbors torture us with a grueling fitness regime." Penny chuckled, thinking about how Alice liked to make her more and more sit ups.
Penny and Leonard answered a few more questions from the audience before they bid their goodbyes. They walked back to their car and let Chris climb into the car, buckling him securely in and then getting into the front seats. While Leonard drove them back, Chris spent his time like he always did, reviewing his work on his tablet, a newer version of the one he had before.
Penny grinned into her reflection in the side window when she thought about it. When she had moved to California, she had dreamed about buying expensive things with the money she made from acting but now she was buying expensive things with the money they had made investing the cash they had earned during that scavenger hunt half a decade ago.
To her shame, she had gone on a shopping spree a few days after receiving the money into their account. She had used their new credit card to replace some of her older clothes and buy some for Leonard and her children too, as well as getting several new appliances like the new and faster tablet for Chris, the new laptops for her and Leonard and two insanely big screen TVs, one for the living room and one for his gaming room in the basement. At the end of the month, Leonard had thrown their credit card balance onto her lap, showing her the several thousand dollars she spent, the two biggest items being the TVs.
She had expected Leonard to be mad but he had only chuckled and asked if some of her new clothes involved sexy underwear. When she had told him no, he had chuckled again and shaken his head before basically ordering her to acquire some. Which she had then done and proceeded to present him over several nights, glad that her girls were finally sleeping through the night. But she also had promised that she wouldn't do it again, at least not without asking him about it.
"Alright, we're home." Leonard interrupted her reverie, parking the car under their car port and exiting while Chris got out as well.
"Hey there, neighbors." Penny greeted Alice and Frank, the latter rocking Diana and Selene, the girls looking like miniature humans in his huge arms.
"Welcome back, how was the interview thingy?" Alice asked.
"It was fun." Penny had to admit. "Not that I had a lot to say when it came to the science questions."
"I think you did very well, especially in the question and answer session at the end." Leonard told her. "How did things here go?"
"Great, they're two little angels." Alice smiled at the girls on Frank's arms.
"They are, aren't they?" Penny giggled and hurried over to take Diana from Frank.
"I'm actually a little surprised that they don't fuss more." Leonard said and took Selene. "Thank you so much for babysitting, guys."
"Our pleasure." Alice nodded.
"By the way Leonard, do you watch Football?" Frank asked.
"Not really, why?" Leonard returned.
"Hello!" Frank huffed and pointed to the big screen TV. "I would really love to watch the next Super Bowl on that thing."
"Of course we will." Penny laughed. "I love to watch Football and you two are invited when the time comes. Thomas too of course, if he wants."
"I'm sure he will." Frank nodded. "Although he's currently more into Basketball but that's not surprising."
"Where is he, by the way?" Penny asked.
"Basketball training." Frank replied.
"Oh, what position is he playing? Center?"
"What else." Frank chuckled.
"How tall is he now, if I may ask." Leonard said.
"Six foot four."
"Oh my god, he's not even twelve yet." Penny gasped.
"Have the doctors given you some better estimates yet on how tall he might become?" Leonard asked.
"They've been narrowing it down." Alice nodded. "Right now, their estimates range from six foot ten to seven foot seven."
"What do you think about it?" Penny wanted to know.
"If I have to choose something in that range, I hope he ends at six foot ten." Alice sighed.
"Why?"
"Have you seen these insanely tall people? They develop bone problems and they rarely get old because their hearts are incapable of pumping the blood through their giant bodies when they get older." Alice argued. "Case in point, Jorge Gonzales."
"Who is that?" Penny was confused.
"He was a basketball player and later became a professional wrestler, though wrestler is probably too good a description, since he was horrible at it. But he was seven foot seven and he died from diabetes a few years ago. A disease he developed primarily due to his height."
"That sucks." Leonard said. "But don't get yourself into that mindset. You can't stop mother nature from doing what its doing to your boy. If he gets tall, he gets tall."
"Easy for you to say shorty." Alice poked out her tongue.
"Hey!" Leonard pouted.
"I'm kidding." Alice chuckled.
"You better are." Penny threatened mockingly. "Or no Super Bowl on our TV."
"I'm sorry." Alice huffed, pretending to almost break out in tears.
"Get out, you two." Leonard grinned.
"We're going." Alice winked. "Penny, we're still on for tomorrow?"
"Sure are." Penny confirmed. "But go easy on me, will you?"
"I so will not." Alice threatened and left with Frank behind them, his large frame completely hiding her.
"Another grueling workout tomorrow?" Leonard asked, rocking Selene on his arm.
"Yeah." Penny nodded, moving slowly towards him while rocking Diana. "I need to get a rock hard ass and body for my man again."
"Will I meet the guy someday?" Leonard asked grinning. "I want to see the man who demands of a mother of three to have the body of a twenty year old woman."
"Oh, you see him every day in the mirror." she winked.
"Honey, you know I love you no matter what you look like. In my eyes, you will never be ugly."
"But it's not only for you. I also want to look buff again for me." Penny said. "I want my stomach to be flat and toned, I want my breasts to be firm and I want my butt to be so tight that you can crack a walnut between my cheeks."
"That's nothing we have ever tried or will ever do." Leonard laughed.
"Dadi." Selene suddenly giggled, causing both to stop laughing and stare at her younger daughter."
"Oh my god." Penny squealed and ran over to Leonard. "She said her first word."
"And she said daddy, even if she pronounced it wrong." Leonard sniffed.
"First, she's not expected to start talking like a pro, second, why do they always say daddy first." Penny moped.
"What are you talking about, Chris' first word was 'Mama', remember?" he returned.
"Alright, but I expected my daughters to be a little more into me." she huffed, looking expectantly at the girl in her arms.
"Ma..." Diana started.
"Oh god." Penny gasped. "Keep going. Ma... ma. Mama. Mama."
"Ma... ma..." Diana stammered, looking at Penny, who stared back expectantly.
"Mama. Please say mama. Or mommy. Or even mom." Penny implored her.
"Ma... mo..."
"Come on girl." Leonard interjected, moving closer and putting his lips next to Diana's right ear. "Say mommy."
"Mom...my." Diana managed. "Mom... my."
"Again." Penny said in happy tears. "Please."
"Mommy."
"YES!" Penny whooped, startling both girls who began whimpering. "Oh my god, sorry."
"They said their first words and one said mommy." Leonard smiled at his wife.
"Whoooo." Penny whooped, dancing around with her little girl, pushing the giggling baby high up.
"Look at your mother." Leonard whispered to Selene, who also giggled at the display. "And to think that she balked at the thought of having kids at all."
The past – 6 years and 1 month ago:
"So Penny, how are you with setting a wedding date?" Bernadette asked as Penny was handing her a glass of wine.
"Nowhere." Penny shrugged. "When we got engaged, I suggested somewhere between twelve and eighteen months."
"Why?" Amy wanted to know.
"Because that's when my brother is supposed to get out of jail, depending on good behavior." Penny answered. "Also, I really enjoy being engaged. As soon as I'm married, I'm no longer the hot fiance."
"But you will be the hot wife then, what's the difference?" Amy wondered.
"None, I guess." Penny sighed. "I don't really know. It's not like I'm still on the market, I'm wearing a ring already." she added, holding up her engagement ring.
"Do you want other men to lust after you?" Bernadette asked.
"Well... yes and no. I mean, who doesn't like to be desired. But I don't want them to get ideas. It irks Leonard already that guys still hit on me when we're out, even now that I'm engaged. They're always like 'He can't be your fiance, he's a nerd'. God, I hate that." Penny grumbled, thinking back about the last movie date they went.
That evening had been excruciating. They had gone to the movies and a group of guys had been behind them in line, when one of them had begun to comment on Penny's butt before asking her out. Even after she had shown him the ring, the guy hadn't stopped, saying that her soon-to-be husband didn't need to know.
When Penny had pointed out Leonard as her soon-to-be husband, the guy had laughed and told her that she was nuts to marry a guy like him before pointing out every physical flaw in Leonard that he thought he saw. Leonard had tried not to be affected but Penny had seen the signs in his quietness and his eyes.
She had pulled him out of the movie theater and into the park, where they had strolled around a while without him getting his good mood back. When she had pulled him into the apple store and later the comic book store, proudly presenting her engagement ring while holding his hand, the silent adoration of the nerds around him had helped a bit.
But ultimately, the only thing that had broken the mood he was in had been the following night and morning, where she had proven him why she had finally accepted his proposal, even though she had been the one suggesting the marriage. A multi-hour love fest that had continued in the morning had sent him home grinning and made Sheldon mad because Leonard had been unable to take him to work.
"Have you thought about children?" Amy asked.
"Yeah." Penny nodded.
"And?" Bernadette continued.
"I don't think I'm mature enough to have kids." she admitted. "I'm really not ready."
"What makes you not mature enough?" Bernadette asked. "And I doubt any woman is ever ready to be a mother the first time around."
"Well, for example, I still like to prank people. Also, I can't imagine my body changing that much. I like being fit and thin. Just thinking about getting fat and never getting thin again makes me cringe inside."
What Penny didn't know when she said that was that Leonard had been coming into the apartment to ask her something, only to stop after opening the door a slit when he heard the girls talking. And if Penny had known he was there, she would have seen her fiance going back to his apartment with a dejected look on his face.
The present – 5 years and 6 months old:
"I'm so glad that you all could be here." Penny smiled at the assembled group.
"We're there in spirit." Wyatt said, his face and that of Meryl on the big screen TV, since they were in Omaha in front of their own TV that Leonard had told them how to hook a webcam onto.
She grinned into the camera and looked around at the assembled group. Every important person outside her family was here, Phillip, Bernadette, Amy, Howard, Raj, Frank, Alice, Thomas and even Sheldon, who looked at the events with disdain in his eyes. Thomas was playing with Chris, the strange friendship still blooming while Phillip rocked Diana on his knees, to which the little birthday girl giggled in delight.
"Oh please, it's not as if they will remember anything of this." Sheldon scoffed, eating some of the cake Penny had made.
"It's still an important occasion that will imprint on their brains." Amy scolded him.
She had baked two cakes, both low in sugar to help the women while still tasting great thanks to the icing she had found and both had a single candle stuck in the middle. They had even managed to get the girls to blow their respective candle out by showing them how and Penny had almost burst into happy tears at seeing her girls turn one year old.
One year. One year that had turned their fortunes around so much, it was almost frightening. Penny had, still without telling anyone but Leonard, given her notice at work and enrolled into CalTech so she could finish her psychology and social studies degree, doing most of the courses online and only driving there to hand in the work she had to do. Being Leonard's wife also helped grease it along with her professors who acknowledged her need to be home.
"Hey Penny." Phillip spoke up.
"Yeah?" she turned to her father-in-law.
"Have you ever thought of enrolling Chris into college?"
"He's just going to be in elementary school in a few months."
"And I don't want to miss out creating social bonds, grandpa." Chris came into the discussion.
"Given your intelligence, I'm pretty sure you could do both easily."
"That might be something to think about." Leonard added. "It could basically shave several years of your education. You could go into full-fledged research when you're fifteen."
"OOOH!" Sheldon groaned, putting down his cake.
"Something got you down there buddy?" Leonard asked.
"What shouldn't get me down?" Sheldon complained. "My life is quickly sliding downhill. My scientific achievements get overshadowed by a five year old boy who took a failed idea of mine and made it work. And now he might even finish college faster than me?"
"Sweetie, if you really want to drive him over the edge, finish your doctorate before you turn sixteen." Penny shout-whispered, causing everyone but Sheldon to laugh.
"Oh, grow up." Sheldon huffed and got up, quickly disappearing into the basement to mope.
"What a giant baby." Wyatt scoffed. "Hey listen slugger, I think we'll sign off now."
"Okay, love you guys." Penny smiled and held Selene into the camera, using her hand to wave the little girl's arm.
"Goodbye, my little angels." Meryl gushed at the family and a few seconds later, the TV was dark again.
Penny kept feeding cake to Selene while Phillip did the same for Diana until both girls didn't want any more. She knew that giving them cake, even one with as little sugar as possible, could mean they wouldn't fall asleep quickly but she had accepted that possibility when she had decided to make those things.
During the next two hours, Sheldon never returned and slight vibration from beneath their feet told them that her husband's former roommate was probably playing one of Leonard's games and using the sound system to its full advantage. Penny could only shake her head at his behavior since it was getting more childish with every little thing Chris did.
"I think it's time for us to head out as well." Frank proclaimed. "Also, I think it's bedtime for your little ones."
"Yeah, you're right." Penny nodded, Leonard taking the sleeping Diana from his dad.
They walked upstairs, Selene fussing tiredly, and put both on the large changing table. They pulled the onesies and diapers off of them and cleaned both, the action waking Diana again and making her whimper in protest of being woken. After cleaning, they put new diapers on them and dressed them both in their pajama onesies before settling them into their beds, tucking them in and watching them for a few minutes until they were fast asleep. Upon their return downstairs, they found the guests standing and preparing to leave, with Amy still sitting because Sheldon wasn't back from the basement yet.
"Thank you all for coming." Penny said to the group.
"Our pleasure." Phillip replied for the entire group, the others nodding and then they left, with Raj having agreed to drive Phillip to the airport since the latter had to catch a red-eye flight back to New York.
"Sheldon, get back up here, we're leaving." Amy called down into the basement through the intercom Leonard had installed a few days ago.
"I'm going to bed too, I'm tired." Chris mumbled and got up as Sheldon came into the room again.
"Sheldon, you didn't even ask our son how is new project is going." Penny grinned, twisting the knife.
"Fine." Sheldon huffed, his face starting to tick. "Chris, how is your project going?"
"I hit a little snag a few days ago."
"HA!" Sheldon whooped. "If you need help, you can include me in that project. All I ask for is complete control over the process and to be the lead author of the following paper."
"Very funny." Chris giggled. "No need for your help, uncle Sheldon. I asked daddy and he helped me out."
"Leonard helped you?" Sheldon asked incredulous. "How can he? He's a mediocre scientist."
"With a Nobel price." Leonard interjected.
"He didn't know how to help me at first." Chris admitted and walked up the first two stairs. "But then last Saturday, he and mommy went into their room for a nap after lunch and when he came back out he was all smiling and had an epiphany."
"Did he dream about the solution?" Sheldon asked, to which Leonard and Penny could only grin, their eyes meeting as Amy whispered something into his ear. "They did what?"
"Yes, we did, Sheldon." Penny nodded.
"And I have the best ideas after that." Leonard added while Chris disappeared.
"Huh." Sheldon hummed and looked at Amy. "Amy, we need to get home as fast as possible."
"Why?" Amy asked confused.
"If spontaneous coitus helps Leonard come up with solutions, then maybe it's time I tried that too."
"Wh... what?" Amy stammered.
"You heard me." Sheldon clapped his hands as he walked to the door. "Chop, chop. Home, bed, coitus."
"You go girl." Penny laughed, seeing Amy's flabbergasted face.
"Amy!" Sheldon shouted from the outside.
"I'm coming." Amy returned and headed to the door.
"Hopefully you will." Penny giggled and closed the door after them. "So, it seems we'll have two less virgins soon."
"You actually think they will go through with it?" Leonard asked while cleaning the living room table.
"I'd like to think so." she shrugged, helping him.
Leonard watched his wife move around the kitchen, looking at her body and how it has already gone back a lot to the one she had before giving birth to the girls. Penny was an animal when it came to personal fitness and having a couple of torturers as neighbors certainly helped in that regard.
"You know, I think I could use another epiphany again." he said when she bent forward to put away a pot.
"Oh?" she peeked at him, knowing full well where he was looking. "And what's the problem you're having?"
"I'll tell you when I know." he shrugged.
"Well, we can't have your mind blocked, can we?" she grinned, taking his hand and pulling him to their bedroom for a 'nap'.
Short and sweet. Hope you liked it.
Review please :)