Thanks for reviews and follows
Two days after the filming of Penny on the Craig Ferguson show, it was time for Sheldon and Amy's wedding reception. It was being held at the Langham Hall Spa Hotel that Sheldon had taken Amy to on for her birthday. They had booked one of the ballrooms and had booked rooms for their guests to stay in, courtesy of Sheldon who managed to arrange every detail before their wedding in Texas. He left no detail unturned and also managed to get special permission to have Daisy in the hotel and Daisy would be staying in Leonard's room after the party.
Sheldon had also requested that if anybody wanted to give them gifts to donate what they would of spent to the local Animal Charity for which he had given details of in the invitations he had sent out.
In the morning, Penny had texted Leonard asking him to come to her apartment to meet and talk before the party. He replied back that he would be there.
Leonard arrived at Penny's already dressed and ready to go. He had been pondering so many things about their friendship and relationship recently. He was hoping that whatever happened with the meeting with Penny, that both would leave the meeting on a positive note. He had seen a drastic change in Penny from the girl he met years ago. She was self-assured, accomplished and yet still had that same bubbly, loving personality that drew him to her in the first place. He liked the new version even more than the old one he fell in love with. He felt that he could easily fall in love with her all over again, not that he ever fell out of love with her. But now, he felt that they could really build a future together. Needless to say, he knocked on the door to her apartment with hope.
Penny opened the door happy and relaxed to see Leonard. She was wearing a cream dress and cream heels and had her hair up in a bun. While inside she was a bundle of jitters, her exterior did not betray her nerves. She appeared completely confident.
"Hi Leonard, I am glad you could come. Please come in." Penny directed him to a chair next to the sofa. "I really wanted to talk to you, but because of the topic of discussion, I felt it best we do so here so as to not intrude on Sheldon and Amy's moment."
"Sure, sure….I understand. So what was it you wanted to discuss?" Leonard tentatively asked. His nerves were getting the better of him. Penny always managed to have a way to put him in a flux.
Penny smiled at Leonard and offered him a drink. He refused, saying he was driving and felt it unwise to drink. Penny joined him on the sofa, opposite the chair he sat. Bracing herself, Penny took Leonard's hand into her and surprisingly for her he didn't pull away. She then looked him tenderly in the eyes and began, "Leonard I want you to know that I miss you and I love you and I am so sorry for hurting you. I realize I am to blame for causing you great pain and I would do anything if I could take that back. But I can't. Instead, I focused these past months on becoming someone you could trust. I focused on becoming a better person overall; a person with goals and aspirations who went out and sought them; a person who turned from being needy and using people, well men, to lean on and instead became independent. Leonard, I did this not only for myself, and yes it was for me mainly, but also so that you could see I was serious in my feelings for you. I wanted you to know that I am no longer the young needy girl that you met the day I moved into our building. I wanted you to see that I can exist on my own and I can have a full life with or without a man. But that does not mean that I have ever stopped loving you and I would do anything to have you back in my life and want to commit myself to you in every way. Leonard, I love you with all my heart. Can we possibly try again?"
"I know you are sorry, Penny. I can see that you have worked hard and achieved amazing things." Leonard said softly, swallowing back tears that came to his eyes. He had been so touched by her declaration. "Penny, I never stopped loving you, but I think I am even more in love with this version of Penny. You have achieved great things in such a short time. It isn't that I didn't love the previous Penny. You are still the same loving, sweet, vibrant girl I always loved. But you needed to love yourself as much as I loved you. I think you can do that now. I think you are happy with whom you are and you feel accomplished and that you don't have to feel inferior to us. See you used to think you were not good enough for me or the rest of the gang because of our educations. But you have always been good enough. You just knew different things than we knew. But Penny, you have always been special. However, now, I think you don't feel that way because you have come into your own. Do you understand what I am trying to say?"
"Um…I think so. So you are saying that because I went after some goals and achieved being successful at them that I no longer feel as needy?" Penny wanted clarification.
"Yes, that and well, you are more content with who you are. You are shining like a star now, Penny. You have managed to get acting roles, which was your dream, while at the same time pursued a second dream of yours which is to make a difference in the fashion world. You have become content that you have something to offer the world besides your beautiful looks. I am so proud of you, Penny." Leonard said with genuine love shining in his face.
"You are?" Penny blushed.
"Yes, and in case you haven't figured it out. I never stopped loving you, but now love you even more."
"Do you think we could get back together?" Penny asked tentatively, afraid she might be pushing him too quickly.
"I would like that Penny, but things will have to be different this time. We have both grown up a bit and changed since we dated last. We cannot allow things to go back the way they were. You are now very independent, one of the things I love about you, and I don't want to get in the way of that. So, I have a suggestion, and I feel that it's the best way forward" Leonard offered.
"Really? I am open to suggestions, what is do you propose?" Penny was intrigued, yet hopeful.
"I recommend we have a trial period of just going on dates; learning to trust each other again; and no pressure. I recommend we don't let our physical attraction get in the way of us getting to know each other again as the new versions of us" Leonard proposed.
"A trial period? That sounds doable. What kind of time frame were you thinking? Also, do we set some sort of criteria for success and progress?"
"I have been thinking about this for a while. I would suggest dating for 3 to 6 months avoiding sex. Let's just focus on getting to know each other again. Perhaps we can go on two dates a week and we both choose where we would like to go. You know, as crazy as Whackadoodle is, he and Amy seemed to handle their relationship well. They took things very slow and became deep friends before introducing anything physical."
"Hmmm…you are right about Sheldon and Amy. They really were a good set of role models for how to take things slow." Penny admitted. She looked off out the window for a few moments thinking about Leonard's proposal and then replied "Ok, I can live with sex off the table. It isn't like I haven't been doing that since before you left for the North Sea anyway. However, I do have one more question" Penny confirmed.
"Yes? Go ahead what is it?"
"While I agree that it makes sense for sex to be off the table, and for us to take things slowly so we can get to know each other again, but does that mean all forms of physical contact are off the table? In other words, are you saying that you won't kiss and cuddle with me or hug me?" Penny cringed at the mere thought, and closed her eyes afraid of the answer.
"Of course I want to kiss and cuddle with you. I just want to take things slowly and I think our relationship will benefit from that in the long run. Let's just start simple. We talk then possibly do that eye thing that Sheldon and Amy used to do. Then hold hands. You know, work up to kissing and hugging and cuddling."
Penny hadn't really seen Leonard take control of their relationship before. This was new ground for them. She knew how much it had taken for Leonard to forgive her for what she did. There was no way she was going to take for granted his graciousness. She wanted to be with Leonard again and to commit herself to him this time around fully and completely. She knew it would take time. Therefore she replied back to his plan, "Ok I agree with all of your terms. Do we shake on it?" she asked giggling unsure how to proceed.
"Sure" Leonard laughed. They shook hands and Penny looked down at his hand in hers and smiled.
Looking back up to Leonard and holding his eye contact, she boldly asked, how would you like to accompany me to Sheldon and Amy's wedding party as my official date?"
"I would be honoured!" Leonard replied. He looked at her briefly and was about to excuse himself when Penny interrupted his thoughts.
"Are you staying at the hotel tonight as well? Penny inquired.
"Yes it makes sense especially if we are all drinking. I saw Natasha earlier and she mentioned you are sharing a room?
"Yes it was just easier that way. We put out notification and posted at the store that we would be closed for tomorrow. It makes sense as Alex will be at the party tonight with the rest of us, and it's only fair that she can relax and have a good time without worrying about managing the store in a state of being hung over."
"Are you driving with Natasha to the hotel? Because I will be happy to escort you both" said Leonard.
"No she's going straight to the hotel as she is working today so we can meet her there" said Penny. Familiar repetitive knocking of Sheldon sounded from the door. Penny went to the door and answered to find Sheldon and Amy outside.
"Hey guys, I was just leaving" Leonard said. "See you in a little while?" he said turning back to Penny after he had just stepped outside the door.
"Yeah, looking forward to it" Penny blushed like a school girl. She waved goodbye to him as he walked away and then looked to her guests.
"Hey you two you both look gorgeous in your reception outfits" said Penny.
"Thanks Bestie, you look delightful as always" said Amy who was looking very much the radiant bride and from having two weeks off work, not to mention all the sex she was getting.
"Married life seems to be suiting you both. You look very happy together. By the way, when you Skyped your wedding to us, I managed to record it as well so I will be taking my laptop to the party and showing it on a screen there" said Penny.
"Penny that's fantastic!" Amy enthused.
"When I found out where you were holding the reception, I called the hotel and asked them to arrange the audio-visual equipment. They said it wasn't a problem. I figured this way all your work friends will be able to see the wedding as well" Penny shrugged.
"Thank you Penny that's very kind of you" said Sheldon. Looking at Sheldon stunned, Penny was surprised at the unexpected compliment.
"So Bestie, what's happening with you and Leonard" asked Amy, never one to beat around the bush as Sheldon went back to the apartment to talk to Leonard
"Well, Leonard and I have agreed to have a trial period of dating for 3-6 months. We will take things slowly and see how things go without too much pressure. It was his idea and I agree with it" smiled Penny causing Amy to squeal in delight for her best friend
"Ok the reason we came over and we haven't told Leonard yet is that we have arranged for a Limo to take us to the hotel and back again tomorrow and if you and Leonard would like to join us you are more than welcome" said Amy
"Oh sure, Leonard had agreed to be my date for the wedding but that sounds cool going in the Limo"
"Good we will see you at 4pm, Sheldon wants to get there early to check everything over" said Amy as she went back to the apartment
Later on at the hotel
The little group arrived at the hotel and checked in and took their bags to their rooms and Daisy was wearing the pink bow she wore for the wedding photos and was behaving impeccably, Sheldon and Amy went down to the function room to find everything under control with the room beautifully decorated and a top table set up for Sheldon and Amy and other individual tables with seating plans and Penny had already set up her laptop to show the wedding, the guests were due to start arriving at 6pm as the official celebrations were starting at 630pm and Sheldon wanted everybody to be there for he and Amy to make their official entrance as the newly married couple.
Sheldon and Amy were just leaving the function room and passing through reception to go back to their room when he heard a familiar voice calling him, turning back round he saw his Mom, Meemaw, Missy and George all walking into the hotel
"What are you all doing here? Asked Sheldon in surprise
"You think I was going to miss my Shelley's wedding after party? Asked Mary
"No but you did come to the actual wedding that's why I didn't think about asking you to come to this one, but I am happy you are all here" said Sheldon as he hugged everybody in delight
"Well when I found out from Penny where the party was, we booked the hotel and flights straight away and here we are" said Missy
"Ok well we are just going back to our room to finish getting ready and we will be ready soon" said Sheldon
By 630pm everybody had arrived and Leonard, Raj and Howard had been given the responsibility of escorting the guests to their tables and once everybody was ready Leonard called Sheldon to come down from his room.
"Sheldon I feel nervous for some reason, I think it's because they will all be seeing us for the first time since we got married" said Amy who was looking pale
"Amy its fine, you have me and in that room is our family, friends and work colleagues, don't worry yourself or you will make yourself ill, just enjoy tonight and we can have some fun time after" said Sheldon wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively
"The suggestion of fun time appears to have perked me up!" said Amy as she kissed her husband passionately before they got up and left the room with Daisy in tow in her pink bow
As they arrived at the door to the function room Leonard signalled to the DJ to play "The Way You Look Tonight" as agreed but before that he himself took to the stage and made an announcement
"Ladies and Gentleman can you please be upstanding for the bride and groom" said Leonard as the music started up and everybody who was in the room stood up and applauded them as Sheldon and Amy walked into the room beaming from ear to ear and they walked up to the stage and waited for the music to stop before addressing everybody
"I would just like to say thank you to everybody for coming today to celebrate the marriage of Amy and I, it was a surprise to her and all my family when I proposed to her and announced to her on December 23rd that we would be getting married, what nobody knew apart from my sister Missy was that I had arranged everything beforehand and I know it was a bit ego like to presume Amy would say yes but I had to take that risk and I know that we will be married forever" said Sheldon as took Amy in his arms and he kissed Amy in front of everybody causing whoops and wolf whistles to reverberate around the room
"Also Penny managed to record the wedding, as we skyped it to our friends back in Pasadena, so at some point tonight you will all be able to watch it on the big screen, in the meantime please enjoy tonight" said Sheldon as he shook Leonard and the DJ's hand and walked off to the top table that had his immediate friends and family seated. Amy's mother was also there along with her Aunt Flora and some other relatives who were at other tables
The dinner was served first and as dessert was served the wedding started to play on the big screen and there was absolute silence as everybody watched the wedding.
After the wedding showing, Sheldon and Amy took to the dance floor for the first dance which again was Bryan Adams, Everything I do I do it for you, about halfway through the song Penny took Leonard's hand and took him to the dance floor and was slow dancing with him which led to all the other couples joining them and Raj had asked Natasha and Alex to dance with him at various points of the songs that the DJ was playing
Much later on, Sheldon and Amy had gone to sit back down, when President Siebert and Dr Carter approached them both and sat down next to them
"Dr Cooper and Dr Fowler congratulations on your marriage and thank you for inviting us to the party, as you know the University will give a gift to anybody getting married, so please accept this cheque and I hope you have a long and happy marriage" said President Siebert as he handed over a cheque for $1000 and Dr Carter also did the same thing from her University, leaving Sheldon and Amy stunned into silence for a moment
"Thank you very much President Siebert and Dr Carter, we was not expecting this at all, it's very much appreciated" said Amy
"Well you have both worked very hard this year and it's also a token of our appreciation for you both" said Siebert as he and Dr Carter got up and went back to their own table
"Wow, Sheldon I think we can add that to our house fund"
"Yes I agree, I should think we could start looking after we get back from our European trip"
"I agree, now I would really like to have that fun time you mentioned, do you think it would be rude to just leave or do we need to make an announcement" asked Amy
"Well it is getting late and it wouldn't be rude at all" said Sheldon as he got up and walked with Amy to the stage
"Ladies and gentlemen, we would just like to say a big thank you to everybody for coming and for all the donations you have given, Amy and I are doing the traditional thing of leaving before everybody but please feel free to carry on and enjoy yourselves" said Sheldon and he picked Amy up and walked off the stage and out the door with her with everybody cheering them, with Amy remembering to throw the bouquet she had in her hands which both Penny and Missy caught together
As they walked into their room, Amy took her shoes off and started to walk to the bathroom when Sheldon followed her and pressed up against her as she leaned on the door and kissed her passionately, she could feel just how aroused Sheldon was when Sheldon picked her up and took her to the bed where he lay on top of her kissing her intensely and running his hands up her covered body
"Sheldon I am just going to change into something sexy for you" said Amy as she tried to get up
"You always look sexy to me Amy, you don't need to change" said Sheldon as he continued to kiss her, but then he realised being fully clothed wasn't ideal so he got up and they both changed very quickly out of their wedding outfits and Sheldon stayed fully aroused as he saw the familiar curve of Amy's body and her swinging breasts
Sheldon brought Amy back to bed kissing her and exploring each others bodies, they were both getting used to making love and Sheldon for the life of him could not understand why he had been so afraid of doing so before, but he was lucky that Amy was as inexperienced as him as they were both learning together and it had only been 2 weeks since they got married
Sheldon moved on top of Amy and took her breasts in his hands and started fondling them and sucking on her hard nipples, Amy manoeuvred herself so that she had wrapped her legs around Sheldon's and was rocking against him making little moans of desire which made Sheldon kiss Amy harder and they continued like that for some time, when Amy felt Sheldon's hand fondling her upper leg and guided his hand into her, Sheldon could feel how wet she was, he hadn't done that before and was fascinated and he continued to kiss her as he fingered her, causing little ripples of lust go through her body. Sheldon wanted to be inside Amy and she nodded her approval, he quickly got a condom on and he guided Amy on top of him and his erection into her and soon they were making love with Amy rocking on top of him and his hands around her waist for support, Amy felt herself coming to orgasm very quickly and tried to hold back but couldn't, causing her body to shudder and shiver on top of Sheldon and that made Sheldon orgasm shortly afterwards
They both lay sweating and panting on top of each other afterwards, feeling very satisfied
"Amy Farrah Cooper, I love you"
"I love you too Sheldon Cooper, that reminds me I have to change all my personal details, I've not done it yet" said Amy
"Amy if that is all I do for the rest of my life, I will die a very happy man" said Sheldon
"Well if you are ready we can always go again but I have another position we can go in" said Amy
"Well you are calling me intrigued, what other position would you like" asked Sheldon
"I will show you now" said Amy as she rolled over and got onto her hands and knees and guided Sheldon towards her.
Thanks for reading, I think people can use their imagination for the last bit!
Big thanks to INWHATUNIVERSE who helped with the Leonard and Penny discussion
Next chapter up in a few days