Chapter 7
It was almost eleven o'clock when Beverly and William returned from the playground as the couple were starting to prepare lunch in the kitchen.
"So? Did you have fun sweetie?" Penny asked hugging her son.
"I did mommy. Grandma was so cool! I told all the kids there that my grandma is a famous brain doctor, like mind reading and stuff. She talked to the other babysitters there and then one of them suddenly cried. It was so strange." said William.
"Why did she cry?" asked Leonard, already having an idea on the reason why.
"I don't know daddy. Grandma was just chatting with her and the next minute, she was crying like a child. We heard her say that her mommy wanted a son or something." said William.
Penny hung her head, putting her hand against her forehead. "Oh god!" she said.
"And then the stranger thing was after she cried, she hugged grandma tight, thanking her for helping." said the child. "Isn't grandma great daddy?" asked William.
"She is buddy. Now why don't you go to the bathroom and take a shower so we could eat lunch." said Leonard.
"Come on dear. I'll help you in the bathroom and we'll get you some fresh clothes to wear." said Beverly, taking William's hand.
"Are you gonna take a shower too grandma?" he asked. Beverly nodded.
"I'll shower after you're done, alright?" she said as they walk towards the bathroom.
"Okay." said the child.
Beverly stayed with the family for the rest of the week, spending most of her time with her grandson. Beverly was surprised at how perceptive William was with people's feelings and human behavior in general, a trait she knew that he surely got from his mother. It also astonished her at how quickly her grandson learns things from simple and trivial information to some advanced topic that they happen to casually talk about in her week-long stay with them. She slowly realized that all the parenting books she wrote was not really all-encompassing and that other parenting techniques such as what Leonard and Penny were doing was as effective as evidenced by how well they raised their child.
It was eight in the evening and Beverly was seated in the living room with the couple having a glass of wine while watching television. William on the other hand was already in his room, sleeping on his bed.
"Leonard, Penny, I want to congratulate the both of you." Beverly said.
The couple looked at each other, surprised and curious. "Uh about what mom?" asked Leonard.
"Of how well you are raising your son." said Beverly.
Penny was touched by Beverly's compliment. "Aww, thank you so much Beverly. That means a lot." said Penny.
"You both deserve it." she said. "I guess all the parenting techniques I wrote about in my book can be thrown out the window now huh?" Beverly said.
"Mom, don't talk like that. We never used any parenting book on William. We just raised him the way we wanted to raise him. We always tell him we love him. When never let him see us fight. We always find time for him, no matter what. That's basically it I guess. Penny and I just worked at it along the way since we're the first in our group of friends to have a kid." said Leonard.
"Well in any case, I want to tell you that I'm proud of you for raising that wonderful child. I mean, when you think you've done your best explaining things to him, he comes up with surprising questions that really got me thinking." said Beverly.
"That happens to us every day Beverly. Sometimes he'll say anything about some thing that he saw on TV and it will just catch me by surprise." said Penny.
"Yeah. Sometimes Penny would call me at work asking me about some obscure subject because William was asking her about it." Leonard said, laughing a little while looking at his wife.
"Well it's obvious he got his curiosity from you dear. I would not be surprised if he follows after your footsteps." said Beverly.
"He'll have plenty of time to decide what he wants to do when he grows up." said Leonard. "Thanks for spending time with him mom. It really means a lot to us." said Leonard.
"You don't have to thank me dear. I really enjoyed my stay here. It's been, what's the word, enlightening to say the least and if it's all the same to you, I'd like make my visits more frequent. I kinda promised him that I'll visit again soon." said Beverly.
"Mom, you're always welcome here." He said. "And you don't have to ask permission to visit your grandson." said Leonard.
"He's right Beverly. William always loves it when his grandparents come and visit us." Penny added.
"Thank you Penny." She said then stood up.
"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll turn in for tonight." said Beverly as she walked upstairs to the guest bedroom.
Leonard turned to Penny and gave her a hug. "I'm so proud of you honey." said Penny, kissing her husband.
"It feels really good to be complimented like that, especially coming from her." said Leonard.
Penny looked at him and bit her lower lip. "You must be feeling pretty confident right now huh?" she said teasing him.
"I am!" he said as he stood up.
"Now what do you say we go into the bedroom and do some stuff huh?" he said smiling at her.
"Oh! Look at my husband! Taking charge! I love it!" she playfully said. "I guess this is my lucky day!" she said as they walk up to their bedroom.
"You're gonna get it little miss!" he said as he slowly pulled Penny for a kiss while closing their bedroom door.
After a couple of days, the young family dropped Beverly off at the airport to wish her a safe trip. She knelt in front of William who was saddened to see his grandmother leave. "Don't be sad dear. I'll come and visit again soon." said Beverly while hugging the child.
"Promise?" asked William. Beverly smiled at her grandson.
"I promise dear." She said. "You know what?" she added.
"What?" said William.
"I've learned so many things this week when I was with you. You made me look at things differently." she said as Leonard and Penny looked on.
"Like what grandma?" William asked.
"Uh, it's kinda hard to explain really. How about this, when I visit again, I'll try my best to explain it to you alright?" she said.
William nodded and hugged his grandmother. "I love you grandma." He said.
"Ugh, I love you too dear. You just made me the happiest grandma in the world!" said Beverly while kissing his cheek. She stood up and without warning, slowly gave Leonard a hug, surprising Penny. "Thank you dear." Beverly said to her son.
"You're welcome mom." he said smiling at her. Beverly then turned to Penny and hugged her too.
"Thank you for having me Penny." she said.
"No problem Beverly. Have a safe trip alright." she said releasing the hug.
"Okay, I guess I should be going then." she said, taking her luggage and walking away from the young family, waving goodbye to them.
The three of them were looking on as Beverly walked towards the gate when they noticed a guy much like Beverly's age walk up and began talking to her. They saw them shake hands as they enter the airport while having a conversation.
"Honey look at that." Penny said pointing at Beverly.
"Yeah. Poor guy." said Leonard as they turned around, walking back to their car to go back home.