Chapter 19

After filing the paperwork at the civil court, It didn't take long for the wedding to be annulled. Penny sighed with relief that it was finally over. Leonard then booked their flights to Nebraska and New York. Penny prepared their luggage and called ahead to her family to let them know they were coming. Penny was really excited to be coming home and showing off her fiancee to her whole family. Once their flight was ironed out, Leonard filed for a week-long leave from the university. President Siebert congratulated him on his engagement and told him he deserved this break as their expedition in the North Sea was a success.

The flight to Nebraska was uneventful. Penny snuggled up to Leonard's shoulder while clutching his arm and slept all the way. Leonard on the other hand just watched the in-flight movie in the plane as their flight to Nebraska won't take that long. Once landed, they gathered their luggage and made their way out of the airport where Penny's dad Wyatt was waiting for them. Penny saw her dad and immediately ran up to him and hugged him.

"Daddy!" Penny hugged her father "I missed you!"

"I missed you too slugger!" he said as he hugged her back. He then turned to Leonard and shook his hand. "Hello son! Nice of you to finally visit us." he patted Leonard on the back.

"Thank you sir…we needed to get your blessing first before we push through with the wedding." Leonard told him as they begin to put their luggage in the back of Wyatt's truck.

"Well, you're a good man Leonard and I can see that my daughter is really happy. You have my blessing." Wyatt shook Leonard's hand.

"Thank you!" was all Leonard could say as they finished loading their stuff in the truck.

The drive to Wyatt's home was as uneventful as their flight. Leonard rode up front while Penny sat in the back seat. Wyatt pulled up on the front of their house and they got out to unload their luggage. Penny's mother Susan came out and gave Penny and Leonard a hug. Susan welcomed the couple inside the house as Wyatt helped bring their luggage inside.

The couple settled in Penny's old room and went down to have dinner that Susan prepared. After dinner, Leonard and Penny decided to rest a little in the living room while having a glass of wine. Wyatt and Susan joined them after cleaning up in the kitchen. Penny showed her engagement ring to her parents.

"Oh honey! It's so beautiful!" Susan said as Penny showed her the ring. "Have you two have settled on a date yet?" Susan asked.

"Not yet mom….we only want a small ceremony...just with our family and friends…" Penny said while looking at Leonard.

"Yeah….we were actually thinking of having one of our friends handle the wedding preparations...he's kinda into those things...might actually save us some money…" Leonard said smiling at both Wyatt and Susan.

"Well...big or small...the important thing is both of you are happy…." Susan said as she squeezed Wyatt's hand.

"Well...I'm just thankful that our slugger here is not marrying some dumb skateboarding beefcake…" Wyatt said as he took a sip of his beer.

Leonard smiled as he looked over at Penny. Penny rolled her eyes and sighed "Ok dad...there's no need to rub it in…" she gave her father a stern look.

Leonard and Wyatt continued to talk about his recent expedition in the North Sea and explaining to him the purpose of their research. Wyatt was impressed. After about half an hour, Penny decided to turn in. Penny went to the bathroom to freshen up and change. Leonard followed her soon after. Penny was sitting in front of the dresser combing her hair when Leonard came in dressed in his robe.

"So...looks like you had fun with your new best buddy huh?" Penny said.

"Hey don't blame me...it's not my fault you dated idiots your whole life…" he moved closer to Penny and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

She stood up and put her arms around his neck. "Well he's not wrong...I'm marrying a sexy scientist!" she said playfully as she kissed him on the lips. Leonard returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hmmm...someone's getting excited…" Penny felt something underneath Leonard's robe. "We have to be quiet." She whispered as she turned off the lights and guided her fiancee to the bed. They slept snuggling with each other after making love with each other.

The next day, Susan decided to invite their relatives for lunch to celebrate Leonard and Penny's engagement. Almost all of Penny's aunts, uncles and cousins came to congratulate them and to get to know Leonard a little. Leonard felt like a fish out of water as Penny's family didn't really understand science since most of them are more interested in farming, football and living the simple life. Penny for her part would not stop showing off her engagement ring to her aunts and cousins as they congratulated her on landing a smart and sweet fiancee. After everyone has eaten and had their fill of wine, beer and stories, Penny's relatives began to leave one by one and gave the engaged couple big hugs and a 'welcome to the family' handshake to Leonard.

The next two days has Leonard accompanying Wyatt to the farm to offer whatever help he can. Wyatt told him not to worry as he understood that this type of work is not really up his alley. In the afternoon, Penny would take Leonard to meetup with her friends or go to her favorite places in town.

The third day found them packing up their luggage for their flight to New York to visit Leonard's father. Susan and Penny's sister Lisa gave the couple a big hug as Wyatt prepared to take them to the airport. Penny wiped off a tear on her cheek as she said goodbye to her mom and sister. The next time she will see them will be on her wedding day, she thought. They got in the truck and Wyatt drove away.

They arrived at the airport after an hour. Wyatt got out to help Leonard unload their luggage. Wyatt shook Leonard's hand.

"Well Leonard...I guess the next time I'll be seeing you is on the wedding day?" he said.

"Thank you sir...we'll let you know as soon as we have the time and place." Leonard said back.

"Come on son...call me Wyatt." he offered.

"Ok...Thank you Wyatt!" Leonard smiled.

Penny hugged her father tight. "I'm gonna miss you daddy!"

"I'll miss you too slugger." Wyatt said as he hugged his daughter. "You two should probably go inside now...wouldn't want to be late for your flight now don't you?" he looked at his daughter.

Penny and Leonard took their luggage and started to walk to the airport entrance as Wyatt waved goodbye at them.