A/N Thank you so much for your reviews. They do mean everything to me. I still own nothing.

It soon became apparent that returning to their apartments in Pasadena was not going to work.

Reporters and Paparazzi were everywhere. The apartment's security system was not up to the task of providing any protection. After a few days of being confined to their room, they decided they needed to move.

They hated to leave their friends behind, but hoped it would only be for a short time. As a temporary fix, they decided to go to Penny's apartment in New York.

Hiring security, they were transported to a private landing field where they boarded a leased private plane for the flight.

When they got to New York, they were able to get into the apartment via the underground parking lot.

Penny's agent had been trying to contact her and Penny finally decided to return her calls. She put it on speaker so Leonard could be in on it.

"Hey, Sally, this is Penny."

"Penny! Why haven't you returned my calls?"

"In case you haven't heard, I was getting married."

"And you wasted a chance for a lot of publicity. I had several lucrative offers for just a few candid shots at the wedding and a quick interview afterwards."

"That's exactly why I DIDN'T call you."

"Listen, Penny, you don't seem to realize how hot you are right now, but it won't last forever. You need to cash in while you can."

"Do you know any agents that could use a new client?"

Silence, then sighing, "Okay, okay, I get it."

She went on, "But I have gotten about twenty scripts, some of them from the best producers and directors in the industry. Can I at least send them out to you?"

"All right. We are in my apartment in New York."

"Thanks, Penny, I appreciate it."

She paused again, "Don't get mad, but would you be willing to appear on one of the talk shows? It might be a good way to satisfy everyone's curiosity."

Penny looked at Leonard, who smiled and shrugged. "All right. If you can make it Bill Willers. He is usually straight up and is in New York."

"I'll let him know right away and get back to you. Hey, do you think your husband would be willing to go on with you?"

Both Leonard and Penny were shocked but then Penny wondered if it might be a good idea. She knew Bill and felt he would play it straight.

She told Sally she was going to put her on mute and turned to Leonard. "What do you think? I know this guy and I think he would go easy on us. We are going to have to deal with this at some time."

Leonard was doubtful but was quickly learning his life would never be the same again. "If you think it will be okay, I am willing to try."

Penny smiled and gave him a quick kiss, "Thanks, Leonard."

She got Sally back and told her to go ahead.

By four o'clock in the afternoon, the scripts had arrived and Sally had called back to tell them they were scheduled for Thursday which was the day after tomorrow.

That night they took a chance and with Penny assuming her other persona, they were able to sneak out and have supper at a restaurant where the owner was a friend of hers and they were given a private room. They returned to the room and made love.

The next day they had a Skype session with everyone in Pasadena and managed to get out and go for a walk.

Later in the afternoon, Penny decided she should at least start on the scripts. She was not working too hard at it when she was stunned by one of them. It was a part that actors dream of. Soon she was deeply absorbed in it. Leonard noticed and smiled at her concentration.

When she finished, she looked up and saw Leonard. She realized they had a major decision to make.

The next day they waited backstage. Leonard was understandably nervous but wanted to be there for Penny.

Bill had greeted them and tried to have them relax before he was notified it was air time.

"Today we have some special guests. To say they have created excitement would be a giant understatement. Everyone has been interested and affected by their story."

"I would like a nice round of applause for Oscar winning actress Penny Lawrence and her husband, Dr. Leonard Hofstadter."

Penny acknowledged the applause as they came out and sat on a couch across from Bill.

"Penny, Leonard, welcome to the show."

Penny answered, "Thanks Bill, thanks for having us."

"For those of you that have been cut off from civilization recently, Penny recently gave up a starring role in order to do everything she could to be reconciled with her ex-husband. It had a fairy tale ending when they remarried."

"To get started. Leonard, I am sure our audience would like to know a little about you. I understand you have a doctorate in Physics?"

"Leonard was afraid he was going to need his inhaler but Penny reached out and squeezed his hand.

He pulled himself together and said, "That's right, Bill."

"Can you tell us how you met Penny."

"She moved in across the hall from me and my roommate."

Bill turned back to Penny, "This was before you were famous, I assume."

"Yeah, I was a struggling actress who worked as a waitress."

"How about you Leonard, what do you do for a living?"

"I am an Experimental Physicist at Caltech."

"I am almost afraid to ask, but what does that entail?"

"Mainly, I work with Lasers."

"Actually, I did a little research, I was impressed by your record. It seems you are as talented in your field as Penny is in hers."

He paused and then went on, "You have to pardon me, but I would think that you two would even admit you would not be considered likely to be a couple. How did you get together?"

Penny spoke up, "There seemed to be something between us right from the beginning. We became friends and eventually fell in love."

He turned to Leonard, "For all of us envious guys out there, I have to ask, how did you ever manage to land such a beautiful woman?"

Penny felt angry, this was just the kind of question she had hoped would not come up. She looked a little nervously at Leonard but he replied, "Right from the time I first met her, I knew she was as beautiful inside as she was outside. There is no mystery, we were just two people who fell in love."

Penny smiled and stared at him, would he ever stop amazing her?

Bill smiled and went on, "But then you did get divorced?"

Penny spoke up, "Yes, we suffered a loss and it drove us apart. A large part of that was due to my handling of the situation." She went on, "But when we were thrown back together, I knew I still loved him and needed to do what I could to get us back together."

"How did you meet again?"

"We needed a science advisor for a picture I was making and the studio chose Leonard."

"So now you are back together. What are your plans for the future?"

Penny continued, "We have some decisions to make. But we know now that we will make them together and we will put our love and marriage first."

"I know I speak for our audience when I hope nothing but the best for your both of us. Thanks for sharing your story with us."

"Thank you, Bill."

Backstage, Leonard took a deep breath, "Thank goodness that is over."

Penny smiled, "I agree." Then she leaned over and kissed him, "You were great, I am so proud of you."

Leonard blushed and smiled back at her.

Then Bill came up to them, "I have to get back after the commercial but I just wanted to say again how much I appreciated you coming on the show. And I have to say, yours is a wonderful story. I hope it does all work out."

Penny smiled, "Thanks, Bill. We appreciate that."

When they made it back to the apartment, Leonard went to the kitchen to make some sandwiches while Penny sat on the couch. She looked over and saw the script she had read. She sighed, they needed to talk. They had some decisions to make.

After they had eaten, Penny took a deep breath and turned to Leonard, "We need to talk."

Leonard looked at her, "What is it?"

"You know that script I was reading."

"Yeah, you were really into it."

"It is the kind of script and role that an actor dreams of." She hesitated and looked into his eyes, "I want to do it."

"Then you should."

"But it is shot on location in Africa and I could be gone up to six months."

Leonard wanted to quickly say, 'It's okay, I'll be fine,' but he realized it did bother him. After all, they had just gotten back together and he didn't look forward to have her gone for such a long time. Also he had thought they would have time to figure out what they were going to do, to make plans.

Finally he got out, "When would you leave?"

"That's just it, I would have to leave in a week and I need to let them know immediately or they will need to find someone else."

"You have to take it. I'll be all right. With you gone, I am sure I can go back home."

Whatever Leonard was saying, Penny was pretty sure he was not happy with the situation. "Leonard, we always got in trouble before because we didn't let the other know how they felt. Talk to me."

"Okay, it does bother me. But we knew this situation would come up. It is just happening a little too fast. But I believe you when you say how important it is to you. But when you get back, we need to have that discussion about how we plan to go forward."

Penny suddenly asked, "Why don't you come with me?"

"As good as that sounds, I really don't see me out in the jungle. Besides, I have used up all my vacation time."

Penny knew she shouldn't say it but they might as well get it out there, "I know this is a sore spot, but we do have enough money that you could afford to take some time off."

Leonard was shocked she had brought that up. It was one thing they had discussed back during the Mystery Game. "I have responsibilities and am working on something important. I know it's not the 'role of the century' but it is important to me."

He regretted it as soon as he said it but there was no taking it back.

Penny felt herself getting angry but knew she needed to understand what Leonard was saying.

"Well, what do we do?"

Leonard moved over and gave her a kiss which she returned. "You go make your movie. I will miss you a lot but I'll be okay. Maybe I can spend the time finding us a place to live. We can keep in contact."

He looked into her eyes, "We can, right?"

Penny smiled, "I won't be in that primitive an area." She hesitated, "You're sure you're okay with this?"

"Yeah. But when you get back, don't plan on making another movie right away."

"I won't." She hesitated and then smiled, "In fact, I might just take a long time off. I was thinking we could think about having a baby."

She smiled at the surprise and happiness on Leonard's face. "Are you sure, Penny? I would love nothing more but I am happy just to be with you."

"I'm sure. I know we will be great parents." She smiled, "Maybe we should have two." They she smirked, "But not three."

Leonard smiled, "Not three."

Then he grabbed her and kissed her. "Maybe we should get in some practice before you leave."

Kissing him back, "That sounds like an excellent idea. I wonder how much practice we can get done in a week."

Taking her hand and heading for the bedroom, "We won't know until we try."

A/N I thought about having them be on a real talk show, but didn't have the guts to try to portray someone. I also thought that was a no no?