Alright, I need to rant now.
Anonymous: Three things about your reviews 1) Sheldon has done numerous things that deserved a slap on the head (at least). He gets away with way too much. 2) Have you read the earlier chapters? I have long established that Chris is a genius child, even more so than Sheldon was. And in the TV show, Sheldon has written scientific papers at age five. And 3) If you want "proper" fanfiction (whatever that actually means), write your own.
But then, you don't actually seem to grasp what "fanfiction" means. Let me explain. A person who likes something (lets call that person a fan) writes something he thought about in his head about a topic that hasn't happened in real life (also known as fiction). Put that together, you get fanfiction.
What if someone writes Leonard as a cold-hearted assassin and Penny as a prostitute that feeds him information on his targets and occasionally offers him her services for free? Would you also complain that "Penny would never be a prostitute and Leonard is a physicist – watch the show!"
And just so you know, because of you, I might write a chapter where Leonard and Penny smother Sheldon to death with a pillow before they chop him to bits with an ax and eat his flesh raw. Muahahahaha *TotallyEvilLaugh* :D
Enough of my ranting, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
The present – 5 years and 8 months old:
"Hey Raj, come on in." Leonard invited his friend in, the Indian still walking like someone who barely kept his composure after being left by his girlfriend.
"Alright, what do you want from me?" Raj wanted to know, breathing an audible sigh as he sat down.
"How are you feeling?" Penny asked.
"Was that question rhetorical?" Raj whined. "Or am I not visibly distraught enough?"
"You look like a little kid who cries to get sympathy." Leonard chuckled. "Stop it, it's beneath you."
"No, it's actually on my level." Raj moped. "So, what did you want that you couldn't tell me over the phone?"
"No small talk before?" Leonard grinned.
"Leonard, I had to shower and get dressed to come here, so please." Raj sighed.
"Damn, that pity party you got going there almost makes me want to kick you out of our house to let you wallow in your self-pity." Penny commented. "But I made a promise and I tend to keep it. Remember my friend Cheryl?"
"No." Raj shook his head. "Should I?"
"Maybe." Leonard shrugged. "You slept with her once."
"I did?" Raj wondered.
"Yeah, remember the year Penny's moved in across from me and Sheldon? You met Cheryl at that Halloween party and you left with her."
"Here's a current picture of her." Penny handed him the picture hat Cheryl had given her.
"Oh right, I remember now." Raj nodded. "Damn, she's even hotter now than she was then. More well-rounded."
"If you say so." Leonard shrugged, not really remembering that women from back then to make a comparison.
"So, why are you showing me this?" Raj asked.
"Well, Cheryl is now back to being single and she thought about doing what I did and land herself a nerd." Penny grinned.
"Cheryl's words, not Penny's." Leonard clarified.
"Guys, I appreciate it but I'm not really the guy that can be just a rebound." Raj hesitated.
"Cheryl is not looking to be a rebound either." Penny told him. "She's actually looking for a nice guy who won't mooch off of her like her last guy."
"Huh, I can almost feel her body grinding against mine." Raj hummed, looking intently at the picture again.
"Gross." Penny blanched.
"If you go on a date with her, I would refrain from saying things like that." Leonard advised him. "I would also not tell her about how rich your dad is or that Cheryl would compete with your dog for your affection."
"Hey, I'm not that bad with Cinnamon." Raj complained.
"You so are." Leonard chuckled. "And we have seen the evidence of that in Howard's little game of Emily versus Cinnamon a few years ago."
"Then what do you suggest?" Raj directed to Penny.
"First, call her." she told him, handing him the phone number. "Talk to her a bit without mentioning that your father is loaded. You know, tell what your job is and what you do for fun, if she asks and for god's sake, do not act as if you're doing stupid stuff like mountain climbing or rafting or whatever because believe me, she will then want to do this stuff with you."
"Acknowledged." Raj nodded. "But don't you think that me being a nerd will hamper my chances with her?"
"Well, she did say she wanted to land herself a nerd." Leonard shrugged. "So I guess that by being one, you're actually one step ahead already."
"Ah well, I'll try." Raj sighed and stood up. "Thanks guys."
"Our pleasure." Penny grinned, hoping to create another couple, and led him to the door.
"An how will you spend the rest of this fine day?" Raj asked, just as the cry of a toddler came from upstairs.
"What do you think." Leonard laughed and walked up the stairs.
After seeing Raj out, Penny joined her husband upstairs, watching him as he changed the diaper of their first daughter, who again babbled incoherently, her need to cry sated with the removal of the filled diaper. She looked at her other daughter, who stared intently at the mobile gently spinning above her, her tiny right arm stretched out trying to touch it.
Even though their daughters were old enough already to not take everything into their mouths, they still had to be careful when it came to leaving stuff lying around. Especially their son, who was prone to leave his room in a sty when something scientific overcame him and caused him to spend hours in the basement with his whiteboards.
"All done." Leonard said and carried Diana back to her bed.
"Thank." Diana said, one of the words she was already able to say with some clarity even though adding the word you to finish the sentence was too hard for her yet.
"You're welcome." Leonard rubbed her back.
"Mommy, hungry." Selene said from her bed and turned her body to get on all fours.
"Then lets get dinner." Penny smiled and took her second daughter out of the bed. "You want to walk to the stairs.
"Yay!" Selene grinned and Penny put her down on her legs, holding on to her arms.
"Come on Diana, lets not get upstaged here." Leonard said to his girl and set her down too.
Penny and Leonard led their girls to the stairs, smiling wildly all the time. Penny was especially glad that their girls were walking only at their fifteenth month and not yet speaking in coherent sentences because it meant that they were normal girls without super intelligence that would make her feel left out. When they reached the stairs, both picked their girls up, not wanting to risk stairs yet.
"Chris, dinner!" Penny shouted towards the open basement door after they had carried their girls down the stairs and put them down again so they could walk.
"Coming, mom!" Chris' voice came from the basement before he himself appeared.
"Any progress?" Leonard asked his son.
"Actually, yeah." Chris nodded.
"Really?" Leonard asked surprised as he sat down Selene into one of the high chairs, Penny doing the same before taking the prepared dinners out of the fridge to warm them up.
"Yeah, I found a way to lower the power requirements by almost thirty percent." Chris smiled. "At least in theory."
"How?" Penny wanted to know.
"Well, they announced that they have continued research on YBCO and since that is a superconductor that can work at room temperature, it would lower the power requirements quite significantly." Chris told them.
"So, basically, your solution is as much a theory as is your generator currently." Leonard nodded. "But it's a start."
"Uh, the blond woman standing in the kitchen is lost." Penny waved at them. "YBCO?"
"Sorry, YBCO is short for yttrium barium copper oxide, which is a form of ceramic." Leonard explained. "A few years ago, German physicists at the Max Planck Institute managed to achieve superconductivity at room temperature for a fraction of a second."
"Coincidentally, plates made of this material allow the bonding of electrons into what's called Cooper pairs." Chris grinned. "Don't tell uncle Sheldon."
"And what do these Cooper pairs do?" Penny asked.
"They can tunnel between alternating layers." Leonard continued. "Like ghosts through walls."
"So, now you think you can use that?" Penny wondered.
"If they manage to repeat and especially prolong the effect." Chris nodded.
"Chris, when you're trying to design this generator, what structure are you using as a baseline?" Penny asked again.
"Huh?" Chris looked at her.
"Well, you said that the power requirements are too big for current generators. So, how much area are you trying to create artificial gravity in?"
"Um, so far I used the size of the International Space Station." Chris shrugged.
"What if you limited the field?" she suggested.
"I can't really limit the field." Chris thought about it. "You can't just extend it to four feet and leave the air above in zero gravity. It would feel as if you were walking while your upper body is submerged in water without the resistance."
"I don't mean it like that." Penny shook her head just as the microwave oven dinged. "I mean, separated by rooms. The people on the space station still need zero gravity for some of their experiments anyway, don't they?" she continued while placing the food on each member of her family, causing Leonard and Chris to look baffled at each other.
"Mom, you're a genius." Chris laughed. "Instead of one generator creating artificial gravity for the entire station, lets install one small generator separately for each room. And they could be turned on and off as they are needed."
"Which would help with both their zero gravity experiments and storage." Leonard smiled, running his hand through his son's hair.
"Why is zero gravity important for storage?" Penny asked while feeding Diana, with Leonard feeding Selene all the while they are their own food.
"Think about our own larder." Leonard winked. "Imagine it being half the size but you could put everything we buy in terms of groceries on the ceiling and it wouldn't fall off."
"Yeah, that would come in handy." she agreed.
"Huh, I just did a quick calculation in my head. Given the amount of power the space station can generate with its solar panels, one small generator could be used without putting too much of a strain on their power supply." Chris postulated.
"If these calculations hold up, it would be amazing." Leonard said, his eyes wide. "Chris, you might become famous."
"Oh, I hope he gets a Nobel prize before Sheldon, that would really drive your whacky ex-roommate crazy." Penny giggled, the sound causing her daughters to copy her. "Yeah, you two would love to see that too."
Smiling wildly, Leonard watched his wife interact with their girls. Her transformation from independent woman to mother had been smoother than he had ever expected and, to his unbridled glee, her rigorous training regimen with their neighbors had returned her body mostly to the one it had been before the pregnancies. Something he would never complain about.
The past – 6 years and 9 months ago:
"Seriously Sheldon, you need to let this go." Leonard sighed in exasperation.
"How can you say that?" Sheldon retorted. "This is a tremendous and shocking breach of hygienic protocol and an endangerment of my life."
"Jeez, exaggerating much?" Penny huffed. "Get over it, Sheldon."
"Get over it? Get over it?" Sheldon complained, getting louder. "You used my toothbrush!"
"And you're still healthy, so what's the big deal?" Leonard asked.
"How can you be sure that I'm still healthy? She could have given me some pathogen that even now lies dormant inside my body, just waiting for the right conditions to arrive to become active and ravage my organs." Sheldon rambled on.
"Sheldon, I used your toothbrush two years ago." Penny groaned, getting as exasperated as Leonard was. "And you never noticed a thing."
"It's the principle of the thing. It just as bad as if you had coitus on my bed." Sheldon continued, causing Leonard and Penny to giggle, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Sheldon. "YOU HAD COITUS ON MY BED?"
"Don't shout." Leonard grinned.
"When?" Sheldon ground out, almost hyperventilating.
"Remember when you left to ride a train across the country?" Penny smiled sweetly at him. "When Amy was gone, Leonard and I just had to celebrate."
"Then why didn't you have coitus in his bed? Or yours?"
"Oh, we did. First in mine, then in hers." Leonard still grinned.
"But we weren't really done, so we then took your bed as well."
"I can't believe this." Sheldon huffed and sat down in his spot.
"We also did it in your spot." Penny told him, causing Sheldon to jump up in shock.
"Oh my lord!" Sheldon whined and ran into the kitchen, scrubbing his hands and then putting them onto the kitchen island, laying his head on it as well as if to pray. "I'm gonna die."
"Oh, we also did it on the kitchen island." Penny added.
"This is a nightmare!" Sheldon screamed and ran into the bathroom to scrub his hands again.
"In the bathtub as well" Leonard called after him.
"Well, we clean that once a week." Sheldon said after returning. "But don't think you can get out of this without some form of punishment."
"Sheldon, why would I follow any form of punishment you want to dole out?" Leonard asked.
"Because the roommate agreement tells you to. And you are my roommate."
"Well, since I won't be for that much longer, I won't let you punish me in any way." Leonard shrugged, keeping his calm, albeit with some difficulties.
"If you want to keep living here, you will take it."
"Then it's a good thing that I don't want to keep living here." Leonard smiled at Sheldon.
"What... what do you mean?" Sheldon asked, suddenly very concerned.
"Do you think I will keep living here, now that me and Penny are engaged?" Leonard asked him. "I want to live with my future wife."
"You can do that..." Sheldon started.
"Without you." Leonard finished.
"Oh." Sheldon lowered his head. "No, this is unacceptable."
"This is me not caring." Leonard shrugged.
"But Penny lives next door, there's no need for you to move away." Sheldon tried again.
"True, but when you start doling out punishments or something like that, why would I want to stay here?"
"And what if I refrain from handing out punishments? And loosening some of the rules regarding her presence here?" Sheldon suggested.
"Then we might not yet move away." Penny nodded.
"Great." Sheldon grinned giddily. "I think we should celebrate this with a special visit to the comic book store."
"Go ahead." Leonard waved at him. "Wait next to my car, I'll be right down."
"Great." Sheldon said again and almost ran out of the apartment.
"See, like a charm." Penny grinned and gave him a kiss before they gave each other a high-five.
The present – 5 years and 9 months old:
"Hey girl, come on in." Penny invited Cheryl into her house.
"Hey Penny." Cheryl passed her, smiling wildly and even hugging Penny.
"Damn, you're chipper, what's going on?"
"I had that date with your friend last night." Cheryl told her.
"Oooh, tell me more." Penny prompted her.
"Where is your husband?"
"He's with Chris and the other guys at the comic book store." Penny replied.
"And your girls?"
"Over there." Penny pointed to the enclosure, where Diana and Selene were playing with stuffed bears.
"Isn't that your stuffed bear collection?" Cheryl asked, walking over to the enclosure where Diana stretched her arms out to her, wanting to be picked up.
"Unti." the little girl giggled after being taken off the ground.
"Unti?" Cheryl looked at Penny.
"It's her way of saying Auntie." Penny grinned and took Selene up, both women taking the girls to the couch. "But enough of this, tell me about the date that I arranged."
"It was almost surreal." Cheryl said. "Even the first phone call, when we made the date."
"Why?" Penny wanted to know, bursting with curiosity.
"Have you ever talked with a guy about how to name your children during the very first phone call?"
"I'm sorry... what?" Penny blinked several times, trying to comprehend what she just heard.
"Yeah, that's what my reaction was when I thought about it once he was asleep." Cheryl nodded. "He called me a few days ago to make the date and once we did that, we got to talking. First about this and that and suddenly I asked him if he envisioned himself to be a father some day."
"What brought that about?"
"Possibly meeting you and your kids. It made me aware that you and I are the same age and if I want to have a life after my kid or kids are out of the house, I should start soon."
"How did Raj take it?"
"I thought at first that he would hang up but he actually said yes. And then we talked about how many each would like, and what gender and what their names should be."
"Then what did you talk about on the actual date?" Penny chuckled.
"Well, our jobs and families." Cheryl shrugged. "Told me that his parents are separated and that he has five siblings. Is he really an astrophysicist?"
"Yeah." Penny nodded. "High intelligence too. Has discovered a few planets comets out there."
"Wow." Cheryl was impressed. "He didn't say anything about that during the date."
"Hey, back up a second." Penny just realized something her friend had said a few minutes ago. "You said before that you thought about that kids naming stuff once he fell asleep. Can I imply that you dragged him into bed after your date?"
"Well, yeah." Cheryl shrugged.
"So, how was it?" Penny grinned.
"Oh my god, now I know why you landed yourself a nerd." Cheryl gushed. "Damn, he really gave everything he had and I think he did some Indian Kama Sutra stuff too."
"What was it?" Penny really wanted to know.
"No idea but it left my like pudding. Never felt that before." Cheryl admitted but then paused. "Come to think of it, I experienced it once before, when I slept with him after your Halloween party. Though back then, he was simply a one-night-stand."
"Good for you girl." Penny giggled, Diana sitting on her lap doing the same.
"Gosh, they are so cute." Cheryl gushed, rocking Selene on her lap.
"Yeah." Penny smiled warmly, kissing the top of Diana's head.
"And your boy is a genius?"
"No, he's a frickin' genius." Penny sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I love him as much as my girls but he's scaring me sometimes."
"Why, Leonard is a genius too, isn't he?" Cheryl argued.
"He is, but not like Chris." Penny said. "Chris is... I don't know how to explain it, he just scares me a bit. I had a dream once where he discarded his body and existed as energy."
"Isn't that the story of some sci-fi show?" Cheryl grinned. "Let your nerd out again, didn't ya?"
"Shut up." Penny moped and stood up. "But seriously, come with me and you'll see why I get scared sometimes."
She led Cheryl to the basement door and opened it, turning on the lights to reveal the comparatively broad stairs down. Cheryl followed Penny into the room, both women still holding Penny's daughters, and gasped when she saw the numerous whiteboards adorning every wall.
"Holy sh... crap." Cheryl commented, remembering that there were toddlers present.
"Holy crap indeed." Penny chuckled.
"Your son, who's not yet six years old, wrote this?"
"Everything but the stuff on this side." Penny pointed to their left, behind the big screen TV and gaming consoles. "That's Leonard's."
"Damn, I would be scared too. Hopefully your girls are normal."
"So far, they don't show any sign of that kind of intelligence." Penny shrugged and kissed Diana several times. "Which means I can make them like shoes and clothes and take them shopping."
"Da da dadadada dada." Diana commented before laughing.
"When Chris was their age, he was talking like you and I." Penny continued.
"Well, then good luck." Cheryl chuckled. "Lets get out of here, I get the urge to sit down on that couch and play with that X-Box."
"Already getting your nerd on?" Penny poked out her tongue and followed her friend back upstairs.
"Well, if the next date and hopefully the ones after that go the way the first one did, I might let my nerd out a few times." Cheryl winked at her.
"Uh, when is the next date?"
"Next weekend. We both have jobs, so it's harder to do during the week."
"And if they go well?"
"Then you and I might start to have more interaction since I will be Rajesh's steady girlfriend and possible roommate."
"Oh, you got it bad." Penny grinned.
They took some of Penny's teddy bears and returned to the couch, Penny getting a glass of wine for her friend and taking one for herself. Normally, she wouldn't drink with her girls close by but Leonard would be back soon and if there was some form of emergency, he would drive to the hospital and one glass of wine also wouldn't impede Cheryl's ability to drive in any way.
And she hoped that the relationship between her friend and Raj would take off. Given her past. Cheryl could only profit from a guy like Raj, as long as the Indian could keep his strange habits in check.
Done here. Lets see if that particular reader complains again what I didn't write Penny as she "should be" ^^
Review please :)