As always I own nothing, make no money from this and bow before the genius that is Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, Steven Molaro, and all of the writers, actors and crew that bring the TBBT to life. Thank you to all of the people who let me know Grandma Sweetie originated in 'The Alternate Beginning Juxtaposition' by becuzitswrong. If you have not read this do yourself a favor and check it out. Thank you for reading.
Truth or Consequences
Do you know what is really annoying when you are temporarily without the use of one leg? You cannot pace. I like to pace. It gets the blood flowing and while you are pacing most people instinctively leave you alone. I knew Sheldon getting fired was an annoyance, not a disaster. What it would require was someone to climb into the cage and work the whip and the chair till Sheldon saw the light and apologized. That is all that was required. Dr. Gablehauser knew the value of having a mind like Sheldon's associated with the University. The problem was that once Sheldon had announced to the whole department that he was not a worthy department head, Gablehauser knew he would have to put Sheldon down hard or chance the other prima donna's in the department launching their own coups. Several of the people in that room believed they should have been promoted to the spot and departments have been brought to a stand-still over smaller matters.
No, getting Dr. Gablehauser to accept the apology was easy, the question was who would work the whip and chair to convince Sheldon he needed to do this. I considered taking a stab at it, but if Sheldon dug his heels in, I would never be able to influence him in the future. So I called Mary Cooper and offered to fly her out to see if she could talk some sense into him.
Mary told me she would come out but that it needed to wait a few days till Sheldon realized that no cheering crowd was going to demand he be re-instated and for his genius to once again be appreciated. After a brief discussion it was decided that Mary would wait 5 days before flying her. I asked if Missy would be coming but Mary said that Missy would probably throw kerosine on the fire. One of her pet peeves had always been the way people let Sheldon get away with too much because he was "one of God's special little people". I was just about to head back into dinner when Penny joined me in the foyer. She walked over, then sat in my lap and gave me a long kiss. She thanked me for getting her the part time job in the stable (so much for subterfuge). I reminded her that all I got her was a chance, she was the reason the offer was made. Mrs. Latham would not keep her around if she was not good with the horses.
Penny then asked why I had left the dinner and I explained Sheldon's most recent social blunder. To my surprise she expressed concern for "poor" Sheldon. She then chastised me for not letting her know about the event.She let me know in no uncertain terms that history alone she have warned me that Sheldon was doomed to create a scene. I told her what I was going to do and suddenly I had a face full of Penny, giving me a hug that almost took my breath away. I asked why and she said the hug was for looking out for Sheldon. After another quick kiss and we went back to the dinner table. It was quite an enjoyable evening but it ended early due to jet lag for some and work schedules for others.
Penny was still pretty jazzed from her time with the horses and talked non-stop about them as she drove me home. She could not have been happier if she had just found out her favorite shoe store was having a bogo sale (her words, not mine). I heard about how many hands high the new mare, Tserena, was (I was informed that it was spelled with a Ts but was pronounced Serena). I heard that the stallion (nick named Spatz because all four of his socks were white) was favoring his right front hoof (probably a stone bruise), and the fact that Tersa (another mare) was already acting jealous of the new mare. Penny was once again in her comfort zone. The old routine of taking care of horses had a lot of good memories associated with it. I was informed that Mr. Rivera ran the stables. He was very knowledgeable about horses and was quite proud of the fact that his father, and three of his uncles, had worked on the Lippizaner horses at the training grounds in Spain. Penny was looking forward to working for him. Her job would be to feed the horses, rub them down, and halter them for training. She would be working 4 hours, 3 days a week. When I heard her work day would start at 5am I figured that would be a deal breaker. I was astounded that Penny never once mentioned 5 am as being in "the middle of the night". Once home she got me situated in the apartment, kissed me and headed for bed (early to bed, early to rise).
I have to be honest, I was glad Sheldon was already asleep when I returned. I was looking forward to a quiet night to recover from Penny's enthusiasm and prepare my self for the upcoming voyage of the rudderless SS Sheldon. I slid on my sweats and decided to sleep in the wheelchair. It had so many different adjustments it was a breeze getting comfortable. I set myself up by the picture window and was reviewing the day. I remember thinking as I was nodding off, that I should move away from the window. Hitchcock's Rear Window flashed through my mind briefly.
Then I was asleep.
Eggs and Fish and Panchos oh my
Since getting terminated Sheldon had worked on discovering the perfect scrambled egg. After a day and a half, he concluded they were as good as they were going to get. Next he worked on inserting DNA from luminous jellyfish into fish, the end result to be fish night lights. After limited success he lost interest in that and setup a loom. He was weaving sarapes. This is what he was doing when his Mother arrived. When she got a look at the loom she admitted 5 days may have been too long. After the initial explanation of events (in which Mary did not side with him, reminding him why the neighbor kids used to beat him up when he told them they were stupid), Sheldon threw a minor tantrum and then locked himself in his bedroom. Mary took this all in stride. I had invited the gang over to see her and she had decided to make a meal of all of Sheldon's favorite foods, in hopes of drawing him out of his room. I likened it to putting out a salt lick to attract deer (hey I may never have been a woodsman, but you cannot watch TV without picking up some information). When Amy arrived she explained to Mary all of the events leading up to Sheldon's termination. I had let her know my opinion that Dr. Gablehauser was a decent type and would probably hire Sheldon back if he apologized. Raj and Howard both agreed, but neither could imagine a situation in which Sheldon would apologize.
During our meal we saw Sheldon "sneaking" into the kitchen to grab some of the cobbler Mary had made. We avoided eye contact on the thought that we might spook him. I lost my temper and said a few harsh things about wasting his genius and that for someone who claimed to be so much smarter than everyone else, he was making stupid choices. He bolted back to his room. Mary just shook her head and made a comment about watching some one hunt was not like going hunting. I stood corrected.
After all that ho-ha the stalemate was broken the next day when Mary ordered Sheldon to get dressed, and then took him to see Dr. Gablehauser (I had made an appointment for her). Mary made him apologize (or as close as Sheldon was going to get) and Dr. Gablehauser took Mary and Sheldon to lunch in our cafeteria. By showing that Sheldon had apologized, and that his Mother had facilitated that event, Dr. Gablehauser was able to show that he had taken Sheldon back and that he would not brook a reoccurrence. Thus he regained the respect he needed to run the department and Sheldon was made aware of his fate if it reoccurred. Once again I realized there was more to Mary Cooper than meets the eye. She had a firm grasp on what button's to push to get Sheldon to toe the line and what pressures to apply to lessen the likelihood of the behavior returning. At the end it turned out that the tempest was more bluster than blow. Net result, Sheldon learned a lesson, Mary got a vacation (Penny, Bernadette, and Amy took her for a tour of Hollywood), Amy realized what dating Sheldon was truly going to require (and she stayed), and the rest of us got a few delicious home cooked meals. I also noticed that Penny only laughed now when Missy sent me a text message. I found out later that Mary and Penny had been discussing my relationship with Missy. Mary explained that Missy loved to flirt. Since she knew I would never pursue her because she was Sheldon's sister, Missy was fine tuning her flirting skills by using me as a practice dummy. Mary was amused. Penny was pleased. Missy kept right on flirting. As for me, I enjoyed the attention and made very sure never to tell anyone I did.