"Oh my God! Jamie had her baby!" Penny yelled through a mouthful of food, her eyes going wide as she stared at her phone.
"Penny, seriously, I wanted more rice but I didn't want it from your mouth." Meryl frowned, picking a piece of rice off her plate.
"Sorry." Penny mumbled, quickly chewing and swallowing the food left in her mouth.
"Why are you so surprised? You knew she was gonna be having a baby."
"I know, but it's just like... she actually has a baby now. Like, Jamie McKenna actually has a little baby boy now. Good timing though, right after her finals. Imagine if she'd had it right in the middle of them! Guess her timing of getting pregnant wasn't good to begin with anyway." Penny waved her fork around as she spoke. "Can you believe that? Man, imagine just finishing school and then bam you have a baby to look after! It's just so dumb!"
Meryl and Wyatt glared up at Penny. "Yeah. So dumb." Meryl raised a brow.
Face going blank as she guiltily remembered that her mother had been in this exact situation, Penny bit her lip. "Sorry."
"Well sweetheart, as long as you keep thinking it's stupid and you don't run off having babies anytime soon then we can accept that apology." Wyatt said, nudging his wife. He quickly realized that this judgement meant his daughter was on the right track, not messing around and meeting the same messy fate that he and Meryl had at Penny's age. Despite the slight offence, it was better to encourage that opinion if it meant his daughter would continue in her more sensible lifestyle.
"Yes," Meryl said quickly, nodding in agreement, "it is dumb and irresponsible and - don't do it."
"I'm not going to. I got smart you know; I have a plan."
"You? Penny? My little Slugger - has a plan?" Wyatt looked as though Penny had just informed them she was building a rocketship in the garage.
"So what's the plan then?" Meryl asked.
"It's-" Penny blinked, realizing she'd said too much. Panicking, she shoved a forkful of rice from the bowl in the middle of the table and chewed on it slowly to bide herself some time. "Umm, it's not really a plan to be honest, just... not having a baby."
"O-kay." Meryl raised a brow, deciding not to push the subject any further despite seeing that clearly Penny was hiding something. "Did you want more food or shall I get started on washing the dishes?"
"No, I'm finished." Penny said, standing and scrunching up her napkin. "Thanks." She rushed out, walking quickly to her room.
Brows furrowed, Wyatt sighed. "She's been... odd recently."
"She's up to something." Meryl sighed.
What with her friends all going away on various summer vacations, Penny found herself with either a lot of time to herself or a lot of time to herself with Leonard. There was a small in-between where she was either working at the stables or spending time with Amy and Bernadette. It was in the middle of the week during a particularly long day at the stables that it suddenly occurred to Penny: she had the whole summer to do something worthwhile. Bridget and Kim had been telling her not to waste her final year of school, but what about the summer when she had nothing to worry about? Whilst mucking out later that day, she devised herself a plan of action - and then found herself laughing at how much she felt like Leonard with her bigger-picture-overthinking mind these days.
"I must seem like a whole different person sometimes, huh?" Penny asked the horse, brushing through his mane. "Obviously I'm not. I'm still Penny. I just think more about the serious stuff." The horse snorted at her and she frowned. "Yeah I know, that was kinda lame, wasn't it? I guess you don't really care as long as you get your food. But you can tell I'm not a different person, right?" The horse snorted again. "Ugh, okay you're right, this is dumb, you're a horse, what do you know?"
Sighing, Penny finished off and then made her way back to her mothers office at the stables to change her boots and head back home. After taking a long shower, she decided now was the best time to put her plan into action. It was nothing major, but in the long run it would help her out.
By the time it came to dinner, Penny had devised a mini study schedule so she could be prepared for her final year and not fall too far behind, as well as keep on top of things while she still had Leonard around so she wouldn't completely forget everything she had learnt. She had also applied to three restaurants for part-time work, thinking the experience would be great and it would give her some extra money, particularly for her move to New Jersey. Now it was time for the third and final part of her plan - the one she was most excited about.
As she began to eat with her parents, Penny cleared her throat. "Mom, Dad, can I ask you something?"
"If the question is 'can I have a baby' or 'can I drop out of school' or 'can you buy me some alcohol' then the answer is no." Wyatt said without looking up.
"Daddy, no! It's none of those things. Actually I think you'll like this question."
"Okay, then go ahead."
"Well... since I help out quite a bit at the stables and stuff, do you think I'd maybe be able to help out with instructing one-on-one students? Instead of just like, leading in the group ones... maybe getting to work with them individually?"
"Oh my God! Of course!" Meryl said excitedly; horse riding was a passion shared within the family and she was happy that Penny was also getting involved in it on a larger scale. "That would be wonderful! Especially with some of the younger or less experienced people since we have so many more people during the summer - yes, of course!"
Penny grinned, glad her mother approved. "Yay! Thank you! I just thought - well, I help out a lot, but it would be cool to be able to do something more than just running around or getting the saddles on the horses for everyone else."
"Absolutely. That is a wonderful idea." Meryl agreed.
"That's very smart thinking Penny, I'm impressed." Wyatt nodded proudly. "Of course the first few times you'll have to be under strict supervision but I'm happy to come and help out with that. After that you can help out with Mom and Nancy's private lessons."
"Sure, obviously I'm not just going to dive straight in on my own. But I think I've done this long enough with Mom to know what to do, so if she goes through it with me and stuff then I feel pretty confident."
"Well your riding ability is definitely more than satisfactory and you are very good with the new learners - surprisingly patient. We can definitely arrange that." Meryl smiled, feeling incredibly proud of her daughter. It was strange; she was growing up right in front of their eyes and there was a twinge of sadness at how fast this was all happening, but her sense of pride and confidence was enough to soften that sadness.
"Penny! What are you doing here?"
A slightly startled Penny stared back at Kim for a few seconds. "Oh. Umm..." Clearing her throat, she bit her lip. "I just... got offered a job here as a waitress."
"What? No way!" Kim gasped. "Are you serious?"
"Well, I guess so, I just signed the contract." Penny shrugged nervously. She had been hoping not to bump into Kim since she planned on telling her later that night via text so it was less of a big deal, but evidently the world didn't work that way.
"That's so cool! I didn't know you were looking for work! Why didn't you tell me?" Kim asked, leading Penny to the employees lounge even though it wasn't her break.
"I didn't really tell anybody actually, just in case I didn't get any of the jobs I applied for. I got another one but that one is way further out and at least over here I know you. And Sandy, I guess."
"Ooh, this'll be so exciting! I'll actually still get to see you!" Kim grinned. "We'll have to celebrate. What're you doing tonight?"
"Oh, I don't really wanna celebrate. It's just a little job."
"No, we should, I'll bring over some food tonight."
"Actually, I was gonna go to Leonard's-"
"Okay well Leonard can join us, I'll see if Sandy is free. We'll leave before it gets too late, I promise, you can celebrate with Leonard afterwards."
"You do realize that I actually need to tell Leonard first? And my parents?" Penny reminded her friend. "You need to calm down."
"I'm sorry," Kim sighed, "you get excited about stuff like this when you start working at this place full-time."
"It's better than 'oh man, I can't get rid of you!' so I'll take it." Penny giggled. "Alright, you guys can come over tonight. But no backsies on the not leaving late thing, I still wanna celebrate with Leonard."
"Of course you do." Kim winked, nudging Penny. "Look, I'll text you later, I don't want either of us to get in trouble for... you know, being sucky employees."
"Good idea." Penny nodded.
Deciding that she may as well have a slightly bigger gathering to celebrate, Penny also invited Bernadette and Amy, and subsequently Sheldon, Raj and Howard too. She had to laugh at how this had become the 'norm' these days for her - but she figured that with the guys leaving so soon (too soon for the liking of the girls) that at least everybody got the most of each others company while they still could.
"I've never been in this room." Sheldon stated when Penny brought him through to the room - he was the first person to arrive (with the exception of Leonard, who was already sitting on the couch) exactly on time, and was determined to find the best seat in the house. "I need to find the perfect place to sit."
"Umm... go ahead." Penny shrugged, flopping down next to Leonard.
The couple watched as Sheldon moved around various seating areas, umm-ing and ah-ing constantly as his mind weighed out the pros and cons of each one. He lastly reached the couch on which Penny and Leonard were sitting. "Could you get up so I could test the couch in its entirety?"
"Oh, I don't think you'd want to sit here Sheldon." Penny smirked, deciding to have some fun with him. No way was she giving up this couch space to him, and she knew the perfect way to claim it.
"Why not?"
"Sometimes when nobody else is home, Leonard and I like to have a little... fun in here. On this couch."
"As in playing video games? I knew it! It's the perfect angle to the television, isn't it?" Sheldon gasped. "Let me sit there."
"No, not video games." Penny shook her head slowly. Leonard raised his brows as he looked between Sheldon and Penny. She really wasn't going to back down; he thought maybe she would just give little hints but he could tell by the look on her face that he had been wrong about that. When Penny wanted something, there was so stopping her.
"Then what? If you and Leonard are going to insist on keeping that couch to yourselves, I deserve to at least know what I'm missing out on."
"You really don't get it?" Leonard asked, still slightly shy about these things and hoping Penny wouldn't have to outright say it.
"Her hints aren't exactly easy to follow." Sheldon folded his arms. "I need to find my spot in this room."
"Lets just say this couch is definitely not your spot." Leonard said.
"But why not?" Sheldon whined.
"Penny already told you."
"What fun could you possible have on that particular couch that would deem it unacceptable for me to sit there?"
"Sex, Sheldon!" Penny half-shouted, rolling her eyes.
"Oh!" Sheldon's eyes went wide, and he looked awkwardly around the room. "You're right, that couch isn't my spot." He nodded hastily, retreating to the larger four-seater couch. "This can be my spot. The view of the television is just a good from here I suppose."
"I'm so glad you think so." Penny said sarcastically.
"I don't see why you would defile a couch in such a way. Do your parents not sit there?" Sheldon eyed the offending couch suspiciously.
"That's what the blanket is for." Penny pointed out. "And they don't really use this room anyway."
"Well if there's a blanket over it then why can't I sit there?" Sheldon raised a brow.
"Because we are sitting here." Penny clarified. "Besides, do you really wanna sit here knowing what you do?"
"Well... no." Sheldon sighed.
"Exactly." Penny grinned. Normally she wouldn't mention these things, but she loved toying with Sheldon. It was her own way of getting back at him for... well, being Sheldon.
Every time a guest arrived, Sheldon hurriedly tried to dissuade anyone from sitting on the third cushion of the couch Leonard and Penny had claimed. By that point the couple were wishing they hadn't told him because it was getting embarrassing, but Kim had simply rolled her eyes before telling Penny to scoot over so she and Sandy could squish in. Sheldon was twitching for almost a half hour before Amy firmly told him to "get over it, there's a blanket and it's not as if you're sitting there".
Once everybody had arrived and settled in, Penny excitedly announced that she would be working part-time as a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory - and although Kim and Leonard both already knew, they still had the biggest congratulations to give her. They gossiped excitedly before deciding to get on with the evenings activities. It was another instance where Penny had to laugh to herself at how 'normal' this felt to her - not just spending her time gossiping away with people but actually doing something together, and that that doing something was playing video games. Leonard had brought over his X-Box and a few games so they all teamed up, having a mass competition in teams of three that changed every round.
"Kim! You're cheating!" Penny accused an hour into the game, on a team with Raj and Sandy. She had glanced across to see her friend distracting Sandy by running her hand up his thigh - on the screen, her character was hiding away safely.
"No I'm not!" Kim quickly retracted her hand.
"Yes you are!" Penny said, her character running around the screen so she could find Kim and shoot her.
"Cheating is not acceptable in this game." Sheldon admonished. "Kim, I suggest you play fairly otherwise you will be on a team on your own."
"Ah, but then your teams will be uneven."
"We'll split off into pairs or two teams of four." Sheldon shrugged.
"Damn." Kim grumbled, picking up her controller once more - but it was too late, as Penny had managed to find her and just at that moment, shoot her. "No! You're such a bitch!"
"Maybe, but I'm a winning bitch." Penny grinned as she ran away again to join the main section of the game.
"I would just like to point out that Leonard and Penny were also engaging in some cheating tactics earlier." Howard said smugly as he shot Raj, before frowning as he just missed him.
"So what you and Bernadette were doing - you don't count that as cheating?" Leonard countered.
"Oh shut up." Bernadette snapped, blushing.
Hitting the pause button, Sheldon frowned at the group. "This game is all a lie, isn't it? Everybody is cheating!" He turned to Amy. "Are you cheating this game somehow too? Am I the only one playing without extra help?"
"Well... I saw you enter a cheat code earlier. Clicking all those buttons in that specific a combination is a very obvious move." Amy said quietly, secretly loving having that against him.
Sheldon glared at her for a moment. "Well then. This game is back on." He resumed the game.
"And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Penny grinned, instantly shooting Sheldon and bursting into a cackle.
