And one more for this story.
And I have to tell you, I really hate that chapter. Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word but I don't know why, I just don't like it. Currently, I suffer from a severe case of writer's block and I put a few sentences down every day and when proofreading it, it showed to me how much it's not flowing.
I don't know if I set my standards too high because maybe you readers are expecting it but when I can't write at least a whole section at once, I lose the flow of the story and I begin hating it. I hate the staccato-like appearance of paragraphs, like someone dumped a bunch of word salad on the floor and left me to sort them into a resemblance of meaning. If I had the time, I'd probably have deleted the chapter and written it again from scratch but I find that it's unfair to everyone who awaits the release.
So, despite my misgivings, I hope you still enjoy :)
Disclaimer: Again, not mine.
Disclaimer2: Taking some names again from TerribleWaitress' stories, thanks again for the permission :)
The present – 10 years old:
"Kim!" Penny squealed when she saw her friend arrive in the hotel hall, a man she didn't know at her side.
"Penny!" her friend and former waitress colleague smiled and hugged her. "This is my husband Sandy."
"Husband?" Penny gasped. "When did you get married and why weren't we invited?"
"We got married three years ago, in Europe." Kim shrugged. "Was kind of a spur of the moment decision."
"But, aren't you then married here as well?" Penny wondered.
"Sure, we got it legalized when we got back." Sandy nodded.
"So, any kids?" Penny giggled.
"Nah, we both decided on focusing on our careers." Kim told her.
"Your career as a waitress?"
"Funny." Kim deadpanned. "Just because I work a shift or two at his restaurant to help out doesn't mean I'm a waitress. You know what I do for a living and... what in the name of all that's holy?"
"What?" Penny asked and turned to look at what had caused that outburst, seeing her neighbor arrive with his wife and son, their boy already taller than his father. "Oh, hey Frank. Hey Alice. Hello Thomas."
"Hey Penny." Alice smiled at them.
"Kim, these are Frank and Alice Sobel, and their son Thomas. They're our next door neighbors." Penny introduced them.
"Uuuuuh..." was the only thing Kim could voice as she strained her neck to look at the huge man and his even taller son, though Thomas wasn't nearly as wide as Frank.
"Okay Alice, how tall is Thomas now?" Penny wanted to know.
"Seven feet, four inches." Alice sighed. "The doctors said he might keep growing another inch or two before he stops, now that he's eighteen."
"Damn, you two are very impressive." Sandy nodded, holding out his hand. "And since Penny forgot the second part of the introductions, I'm Sandy and the awing woman is my wife, Kim."
"Frank." Frank nodded and shook Sandy's hand, his huge paw completely covering the smaller man's hand.
"Oh hey, so good of your to come." Raj said as he approached them, Cheryl not far behind.
"Kim!" the bride-to-be squealed and hugged her friend. "So good to see you again."
"Uh... yeah." Kim finally snapped out of her trance and hugged Cheryl back.
"Ah, so you've met Penny's neighbor." Cheryl grinned. "Lets go, I need to get into my wedding dress and you into your bridesmaid dresses."
"Shouldn't we have gone to our rooms first?" Sandy wondered as the men watched the girls leave.
"Don't worry, I got enough rooms reserved for everyone." Raj told them. "Just go to the receptionist and she'll give you your cards."
"Well, we don't need a room." Alice shrugged. "It's ten miles to home and I don't intend to drink, so I can still drive."
"Then you may go to the wedding hall, or rather the room where we'll eat after the ceremony." Raj grinned as Sandy got his key card for their room.
"Damn, I've seen such tall people in person." Kim shook her head as the women entered the bridal suite.
"Yeah, what was my reaction too when I first saw him." Cheryl grinned and began undressing to her underwear, the other two women following suit.
"Jesus, Penny!" Kim gasped once Penny stood there in panties and bra.
"What?" Penny wondered, looking down at herself to see whatever had caused that reaction.
"You have three kids, right?" Kim asked.
"Yes." Penny looked at her friend, confused. "Why?"
"How the hell do you have a body like that?" Kim pointed at Penny's flat stomach, the washboard muscles even showing a bit.
"Oh, Frank's and his wife are training with her and Leonard." Cheryl told her. "I do it with them sometimes too and I must tell you, Alice is a hard taskmaster."
"More like a torturer sometimes." Penny giggled as she got into the bridesmaid dress, looking down at it after putting it on. "Seriously Cheryl, you couldn't find any dresses that were more ugly than these?"
"I agree." Kim nodded after she was done putting on hers. "We look like walking cupcakes."
"You know the rules." Cheryl shrugged. "The bridesmaid's dresses have to be ugly so the bride looks even more beautiful."
"It's not like you have to hide." Kim argued.
"I can't risk Penny dressing into some sexy dress, everyone would look at her." Cheryl accused.
"Hey!" Penny complained. "I wouldn't do that even if it were true that I'd steal the show."
"Kim, look at this and tell me that it wouldn't turn heads." Cheryl said and showed her friend a picture on her phone.
"Damn, looking good there Penny." Kim whistled. "When was this taken?"
"That's from two, two and a half years ago." Penny said, seeing herself in the cutoff jeans and barely there shirt which she had donned once to visit Leonard and Chris at the university. "Cheryl, where did you get that?"
"Raj showed it to me, it was on some fraternity facebook page, titled, and I quote 'Hofstadter's wife, the greatest MILF I've ever seen and that chick has three kids', end quote." Cheryl explained.
"You may wanna ask your soon-to-be husband why he's perusing facebook pages of fraternities." Penny winked at Cheryl. "Now get your dress on, you have half an hour and we need to finish your makeup."
"Yes, mom." Cheryl moped and began dressing with the help of the two others.
Half an hour later, Penny and Kim were waiting with Cheryl, her father and Penny's kids in the room where they would eat in later, the others already sitting on the chairs outside. Raj was standing at the alter, fidgeting with his bow tie while Leonard was calming him down, telling him that everything would be fine.
Raj had some reasons to be worried. His parents were there, his father sitting in the leftmost chair of the first row of the left side of the aisle while his mother chose the rightmost chair in the last row of the right aisle, essentially showing everyone their mutual hatred to each other by choosing the two chairs that were the farthest apart.
Out of his siblings, only Priya had shown up, his other sister and brothers unable to take time off from their jobs. She was sitting on the right side of the aisle like her mother, just that she had chosen the left chair of the first row to show her affection for both her parents. For a moment, Penny had felt apprehensive when she had seen Priya before seeing the Indian woman's wedding ring and feeling Leonard's hand in the small of her back.
"I still can't believe you have a body like that after having these three." Kim muttered, looking at Penny's kids.
Penny just smiled at her children, the girls smiling back and Chris looking somewhat bored. Diana and Selene would be the flower girls, ready to throw out the rose petals out of the small baskets they were carrying while Chris was the ring bearer, earning himself the nickname Frodo from several of the more nerdier guests, a nickname he embraced fully with his own nerdy side.
After a few more minutes of sorting some of the guests, Leonard and Sandy came back, each picking up his wife and the couples walked forward to their places, Sandy sitting down in the front row while Kim and Penny stood next to where Cheryl would be standing and Leonard went to the other side, next to Raj who kept fidgeting.
"Calm down." Leonard whispered.
"I'm gonna throw up." Raj whined.
"You won't." Leonard told him. "Just remember that she's going to marry you, so most of your work is already done. She's not running away."
Before Raj could say anything else, the wedding music began to play. First, Diana and Selene came out in identical dresses, walking slowly but steadily while they threw rose petals in front of them, both knowing not to dump all of them out at once but just enough so they could do it all the way down the isle. Next came Cheryl, smiling widely with her father leading her down the aisle while Chris walked slowly behind them, the cushion with the two rings securely in his hands.
"Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to..." the officiant started and Penny smiled, a memory surfacing of her own wedding.
It was sometimes hard to believe that she and Leonard were married for over ten years already. A few months back, they had celebrated their anniversary, Leonard going all out to honor the tradition of the number. She had woken up to a bouquet of daffodils, the flowers mostly associated with the tenth. In the kitchen, a ten-forked candelabra made of tin had stood on the table, making her smile but what has surprised her most where the ten small beautiful, green Tourmalines on the arms, where the candles usually were.
Despite Raj's misgivings, the ceremony went on without a hitch and soon enough, the couple kissed and hugged. The audience began clapping, Penny hugging her friend and thus officially welcoming her into the group. As she looked on, she smiled once again at the image. Eighteen years ago, these four men were all single nerds, in some cases desperate for female companionship, like Howard or unable to even talk to women, like Raj.
Now everyone was married and half of the couples had kids already. Though the guys still had their nerdy sides, it was much more subdued, due to their commitments to real life. She eyed Leonard and gave him a loving smile while the wedding officiant finished the ceremony by introducing them to the newlyweds.
"That was beautiful." she remarked when they had retreated into the building, where Raj had opened up the finger food buffet, though the only ones eating it were Frank and Thomas, both gulping down the small pieces as if they hadn't eaten all day. The guests placed themselves according to the seating arrangements, Raj's parents once again sitting as far apart as possible after congratulating their son and his new wife, welcoming her into the family.
Thirty minutes later, the cakes were waiting on the long table at the head of the room, Raj letting the guests dig in after the customary speeches had been given by the father of the bride, the groom and the best men. Penny got her kids several small pieces of cake, not wanting them to eat too much sugar, especially the wedding cake, which had three layers with each of them covered in what looked like an inch of frosting.
"You know what's sad about this?" Penny whispered to Leonard.
"What?" he asked.
"That Raj's parents couldn't even bring themselves to be near each other at their son's wedding."
"Yeah." he nodded. "It has hit Raj pretty hard. At least Priya doesn't appear to be fazed by it."
"Hey Leonard." the aforementioned woman approached their table.
"Hi Priya." Leonard nodded to her. "How have you been these last years?"
"Got married, had two kids." Priya smiled, looking at the three children around her. "I can see that you two were busy as well."
"You got pictures of yours?" Penny asked, deciding to stay cordial and clamping down on her jealousy at that woman because she dared to have sex with Leonard all those years ago.
"Sure, here." Priya nodded and showed her several pictures of two children.
"Aww, they're cute." Penny smiled. "How old are they?"
"The oldest is eight, the younger woman is five." Priya told her.
"To change the subject a bit, are your parents going to be a problem tonight?" Leonard asked.
"I hope not." Priya sighed. "Unfortunately, this stuff happens when two people were married for over twenty years followed by a divorce that was the opposite of amicable."
Priya excused herself and continued to make her rounds, while Penny and Leonard sat with their kids before deciding to dance a few songs while leaving Chris in charge of looking after his sisters. When Frank and Alice joined them on the dance floor, the entirety of the guests marveled at the giant man's grace as he twirled around the dance floor with his wife.
As Penny and Leonard rejoined their kids and the cooks began preparing the suckling pig for dinner, Penny wished Raj and Cheryl all the luck in the world, hoping that what happened to his parent won't happen to them too at some point. Though given Cheryl's straightforwardness and Raj's habit of doing whatever the woman wanted, she doubted that he'd ever do something that would maker her divorce him.
The present – 10 years and 1 month old:
"And this years Nobel Prize in Physics will be awarded to Chris Hofstadter for his work to successfully synthesize a new super-heavy element, which, when used in construction, can make various grand projects possible, like a space elevator or even new space stations and space ships." Penny read the announcement paper.
"I'm so proud of you." Leonard smiled widely at his son.
"I'm pretty sure he'll get more Nobel Prizes for the other things he discovered." Penny smiled as well. "Do you think Sheldon has read this too already?"
"Well, we didn't get a phone call from Amy yet, so my guess is no." Leonard shrugged. "Maybe he will have read it when we get there."
"The fact that Sheldon invited us to their apartment for this year's Thanksgiving dinner tells me that he might have expected to find his name on that list." Penny mused.
"I don't understand what for." Leonard sighed. "He has achieved nothing of import these last few years so why would he expect a Nobel?"
"Beats me." Penny shrugged. "Maybe his narcissism has become worse."
"That would be a strange development, given that he's been surpassed by a nine year old boy." Leonard chuckled.
"And by his bespectacled, former roommate." she grinned and gave him a kiss. "You got a Nobel too."
"True." he nodded with a smile. "Girls, you ready to go?"
"Yes, daddy." his daughters answered in unison again.
"We just finished our new painting." Diana smiled proudly.
"Oh, what is it this time?" Penny asked, not having seen it yet.
"Look." Selene pointed and turned around the easel.
"Oh my god!" Leonard gasped when he saw the motif.
"Jesus!" Penny joined in his awe.
The girls had painted a scene that Penny had also witnessed during their last gathering, at Raj and Cheryl's. It showed Bernadette holding Halley above her, the toddler giggling as Bernadette smiled widely and proudly. What set it apart was the incredible detail. Even the creases in both Bernadette's cardigan and the baby's diaper and onesie were visible and the girls did all that just after seeing the scene once. The painting was as detailed and amazing as the one they had drawn of Raj and Cheryl standing in front of the officiant, hands held and smiles on their faces.
"It's like they made a mental photograph and worked off of it." Leonard said after a minute of stunned silence.
"Yeah, kinda scary." Penny admitted. "I feel like they're going to leave me behind when they're older."
"Will you stop." Leonard sighed. "Nobody is leaving you behind. We all love you."
"Don't misunderstand me." she alleviated his concern. "I love them dearly and I am incredibly proud of their achievements but I spent all my adult life feeling inferiority to people around me. It's not something I can simply turn off."
"Come on, lets get to Sheldon." Leonard smiled at his wife and mentioned for his kids to move. "Girls, do you want to give the painting to aunt Bernadette? And the first to uncle Raj and aunt Cheryl?"
"Yes." both said in unison again.
"You know, sometimes Bernadette is right." Penny whispered to Leonard as they carefully took the painting and put it into a temporary frame to transport it. "When they do that shared brain thing, it really is creepy."
"I know." Leonard chuckled. "But I think that's how they can make these incredible paintings together."
"Are you saying that they're really sharing a mind, like telepathically linked?" Penny asked.
"No, of course not." Leonard shook his head. "But as twins, they're so much in tune that they can finish each other's sentences..."
"...or paint a masterpiece together." Penny finished his sentence, involuntarily showing how much she was in tune with her husband as well.
"Well, lets go." Leonard smiled and opened the front door.
"Did you bring the dumplings?" she asked.
"Oh, right!" he looked at her wide eyed and hurried into the kitchen, bringing out two large tupperware boxes filled with his homemade dumplings.
"Tell me, Thanksgiving at Sheldon's, will we be eating soup and other things we don't usually eat at Thanksgiving?" Penny wanted to know.
"Don't worry, Amy said she took care of something real Thanksgiving food, even though Sheldon complained about it." Leonard chuckled and put the painting and dumplings into the back area while Penny secured their kids in the backseat.
He drove them to their old block, the building still looking the same as it always did. As the parked their car and piled out of it, they saw two other cars arrive, each parking to the left and right of them and the two other couples exiting from them, Bernadette carrying Halley in a baby basket.
"Hey guys." Penny waved at them. "Good that we meet you already, we have something for you."
"Can't you give it to us upstairs?" Bernadette asked.
"Nah, saves us the hustle to carry it up." Penny shook her head.
"For whom is it?" Cheryl wanted to know.
"Both of you couples." Penny pointed at both.
"This is for you guys." Leonard said to Raj and handed him the first painting from their girls. "Diana and Selene painted it.
"Holy crap." Cheryl gasped when she saw it and looked at the two girls. "You painted that?"
"Yes." both girls replied in unison, nodding.
"The detail is astounding." Cheryl said. "Damn."
"Let me put that into the trunk." Raj said and placed the painting into the car, careful not to damage it. "That's very good work, girls. Thank you."
"You're welcome, uncle Raj." Diana smiled.
"And this is for you." Leonard said, handing the second painting to Bernadette. "Careful, it's not fully dry yet, the girls finished this today."
"Spank my ass and call me Ginger!" Bernadette exclaimed when she saw her gift.
"Ginger!" Selene giggled and gave Bernadette a soft slap on her butt with her small hand.
"Bernie, language!" Penny hissed.
"Sorry." Bernadette nodded, contrite. "Girls, this is amazing! I love it!"
"We're glad." Selene smiled.
"Lets get upstairs." Leonard proclaimed and led the group into the building after Raj had gotten three cardboard boxes out of his car.
"Wasn't the elevator broken already when you hosted that Halloween party during your first year?" Cheryl asked when she saw the signs.
"Yeah, the landlord doesn't really care." Leonard shrugged.
"I hate walking up stairs." Cheryl grumbled. "That's why we bought a house."
"We have stairs in there as well." Raj argued.
"But only twelve to the basement and seven upstairs." Cheryl retorted. "Not twenty per flight."
"Stop whining, we had to come up the four flights every day for years, sometimes more than once." Penny laughed.
The group arrived at the fourth floor and waited in front of the door as Leonard took out the key he still owned. After opening the door and walking in, the group saw Amy standing in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the Thanksgiving dinner but the stranger image was Sheldon, who stood at the pillar with the ornamental fuse box and was slowly banging his head against the wood.
"Uh, Amy?" Penny pointed to Sheldon.
"He read this year's Nobel laureate list." Amy replied to her friend's unspoken question.
"Ah." Penny nodded and grinned. "We brought to boxes of Leonard's homemade dumplings."
"Great, let me put them into water." Amy smiled at them and took the boxes, dumping the contents of one straight into a pot with simmering water.
"We have blueberry pies." Raj proclaimed, putting down the three boxes he had been carrying.
"Okay, can you put them into the fridge?" Amy asked. "Penny, can you put these on the table?"
"Sure." Penny nodded and grabbed several gravy boats, Cheryl taking other bowls with red cabbage and other vegetables.
"I like the setup." Penny mentioned, seeing the long table where the couch used to be. "How long did it take to convince Sheldon to let you do it?"
"Surprisingly little." Amy grinned. "Though he has been doing that for the last two hours."
"Sheldon?" Penny tried to get the lanky physicists reaction. "Are you okay?"
"I don't think he can hear you right now." Raj said, seeing Sheldon not reacting in the slightest.
"What exactly is going on with him?" Cheryl wanted to know, not knowing the background.
"He's despondent because my ten-year old son is getting a Nobel Prize before he did." Penny grinned.
"Didn't Leonard also get one?" Cheryl asked and that question caused a long keening coming from Sheldon before he continued to slowly bump his head into the pillar.
"He sure did." Penny giggled and sat down on one of the chairs, her daughters to her left and Chris to her right.
"What are you doing now?" Howard asked Chris.
"Right now, I'm working on two things." Chris replied. "One is a concept for an ion engine working in conjunction with dad's fusion technology and the other is strictly theoretical, a foundation theory for folding space to achieve faster than light travel."
"You mean, artificial wormholes?" Raj asked, his profession making him understand that concept easily.
"Yes." Chris nodded.
"That's amazing." Howard commented. "Mind if I took a look at the engine concept?"
"Sure." Chris nodded. "But it's in its infancy stages."
"Can't hurt to have an engineer look it over to see if its construction is even feasible, right?" Penny asked.
"You're right, mom." Chris nodded again. "Uncle Raj, if you want, you can take part in the wormhole theory."
"I'd be honored." Raj almost bounced in his chair. "Can't do anything than help me to be associated with you."
"That's so weird." Cheryl laughed. "My husband wants to ride the coattails of a ten-year old boy."
"A ten-year old boy with almost double the IQ than me." Raj chuckled. "I don't mind."
"Sheldon, you want some turkey?" Amy asked when she was at the table, Leonard standing up to carve it.
Wordlessly, Sheldon sat down on his chair next to Amy, looking at his plate. Leonard carved him a piece of breast and put it onto his plate, Amy adding a few dumplings and gravy. Without a word, Sheldon ate his food, the others joining in, though they were talking to and over each other all the time. The only ones not talking were the children, who knew not to do it.
"Sheldon, you can't stay silent all the time." Amy said after half an hour. "Say something."
"What's the point?" Sheldon said finally, in a monotone drone. "Nothing is normal anymore. A boy just ten years old is getting a Nobel Prize. Leonard already got a Nobel Prize. I don't have a Nobel Prize. The world is upside down."
"How can you say that?" Cheryl asked baffled. "Why can't you be proud of their achievements?"
"I spent my whole life planning my daily routine, never much deviating from it so I could have the optimal amount of time and concentration to do groundbreaking work in Physics, work that would change the world and get me a Nobel Prize." Sheldon said. "And what happens?"
"Leonard got one?" Raj asked.
"Leonard got one." Sheldon nodded. "Leonard, who never planned his days, who let life happen, who fell for a woman who's as far away from academia as the Hulk is from being chill. Leonard, who filled his head with fantasies about her instead of academic thoughts. And who made a discovery because she took her breasts out."
"Sheldon!" Penny hissed, blushing.
"Maybe you should accept the fact that planning your life meticulously doesn't help." Cheryl advised. "That luck and coincidence has as much to do with success than planning."
"Maybe I should." Sheldon stood up, holding out his hand. "Come on, Amy, lets go?"
"Lets go, where?" Amy asked.
"To go have some unscheduled coitus." Sheldon said and dragged her into the back area, the door slam audible to the rest of the group.
"Should we leave?" Bernadette asked as they looked into the direction.
"Nah, we should get dessert." Penny chuckled and got the pies out of the fridge, cutting them into pieces and handing them out to everyone.
"Whoopee!" they could hear Sheldon suddenly shout out from his room.
"And maybe we should turn on the TV." Penny grimaced and hit the button. "Loudly."
Well, I did the best I could with this one. I really feel I did a bad job with this one, especially since it's Chapter 50...
Be gentle ^^
Review please :)
