Author's note: This chapter goes back before Sarah's birth. Enjoy!
The Intelligence Quotient Manifestation (Part 2)
"You have got to be kidding me!?" Penny yelled at Leonard.
"I'm not honey." said Leonard.
"Then why do you want to do that to your own son!?" she said.
Leonard took a deep breath. "Okay honey, give me a minute to explain." he said.
Penny folded her arms and gave him a stern look. "Okay, you got two minutes!" she said.
"Fine. You know very well that our son is not like other children. Like you, I'm very proud and happy that he's turning out to be smarter than me when I was his age. What I'm suggesting is just to get a child psychologist to maybe talk to him and find out how smart he really is. I know this sounds scary but I promise you, I won't let anyone perform experiments on him like what my mom did to me." he said.
"Then why do you wanna ask her about it?" Penny said.
"Because she might know someone qualified to check William out." he said. "Honey please, I promise I won't let anyone performing experiments on him." he added.
"Why do you wanna know how smart our son is?" asked Penny.
Leonard sighed. "I wanted to know so we can better take care of him. He's our first child and to tell you honestly, I don't know if I can properly guide him with his intelligence." he said as he sat on the side of the bed.
Penny frowned and sat beside her husband, putting her arm on his shoulder. "Honey, we just have to be there for him, show him how much we love him, do you understand." she said.
"I know honey. I just don't want to screw it up with him. I want him to have a normal childhood, that's why I want to have him checked out by a child psychologist. But if you don't want to do it, then we won't do it." he said.
Penny thought for a while and somehow saw Leonard's point. "Promise me no one will treat him the way your mother did to you." she said.
Leonard held her hand. "I promise honey." he said.
Penny sighed. "Okay. Do you think he'll just see through that?" she said.
"I don't know. Maybe?" said Leonard.
"So how do we do it?" she asked.
"I'm gonna give my mom a call. I'm sure she knows someone from around here." Leonard said.
Penny nodded. "Okay. I guess I'll leave it up to you." she said.
Leonard hugged and kissed his wife. "Don't worry honey, for all we know, the doctor would just give him some puzzles and talk to him, like they are in a classroom or something." he said.
"Okay." she said kissing him back.
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The following week, the young family went to meet the child psychologist recommended by Beverly.
"Hi! Welcome to my office! Come In! I'm Dr. Brandt, you must be Leonard and Penny?" she said while shaking their hands.
"Hi doctor, this is our son William." said Leonard.
Dr. Brandt leaned over to shake William's hands. "Hi William! I'm Dr. Brandt, it's so nice to meet you" she said.
"Hello! Nice to meet you too." said the child.
"Come in and make yourselves at home." she added while letting them sit on the sofa while her assistant came in. "Can I get you guys anything? Coffee? Tea?" she offered. "William, do you want an apple juice?" she added as William nodded.
"Coffee would be nice." Penny said. "Honey?" she said looking at Leonard.
"Coffee for me too." he said.
Dr. Brandt's assistant nodded and turned around to get their refreshments.
"Mommy, what are we doing here?" asked William.
Penny sighed and smiled at her son. "Sweetie, Dr. Brandt here is a child psychologist." she said.
"So, she's gonna find out how smart I am?" William said, making them laugh with his quick wit. "Is she gonna give me some math tests and stuff?" he asked.
Dr. Brandt decided to speak. "William, I'm not gonna give you some math test, we're just gonna talk in that room over there." she said.
"We're just gonna talk?" asked William.
"Uh huh. We have some puzzles and toys in there." said the doctor. "Do you wanna find out?" she asked.
William nodded. "Okay." he said.
Penny kissed her son. "Don't worry sweetheart, your father and I will wait for you here alright?" she said.
"Yes mommy." said the child.
"Just don't think too much about it okay?" Leonard added.
"Okay daddy." William said as he followed Dr. Brandt into the playroom, closing the door behind them.
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After a few minutes, Dr. Brandt came out of the room. "He's just playing inside." she said. "If you guys would follow me." she added, motioning for the couple to follow her to the adjacent room. The couple were a little surprised to see a couple of video monitors on a desk, showing the room where their son is right now. "We record our therapy sessions so we could monitor their progress." said the doctor. "You guys just take a seat and I'll go back in there." Dr. Brandt said.
"No problem doctor." said Leonard as they take their seats to watch their son through the video monitors.
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Back in the playroom, Dr. Brandt sat on the rubber mat across William as he played with the toys in the room.
"Hi, your mom said that you're already going to school?" she said.
"Uh huh, mommy taught me how to read and write so when I got there, I already knew how to." he said as he played with some puzzle toys.
"Do you like going to school?" asked the doctor.
"I guess." he said.
"You don't seem very excited." she asked.
"It's boring sometimes." said William. "The teacher would just teach us things that I already know about, so sometimes I would just feel sleepy." he added.
"Really? It must be frustrating to be stuck in that situation huh?" she said.
"Sometimes. But I'm friends with some of my classmates and we get along very well." William said.
"Nice to know that you have many friends." said the doctor.
"Do you like being a brain doctor?" he asked, surprising the doctor.
"I do, and do you wanna know why?" she said.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because sometimes, kids like you say things that amazes even professionals like me. Sometimes kids' insight and view on things is what us adults need." she said.
"Really?" he said.
"Really William." she said smiling at him. "I see you already solved most of the puzzles here huh?" she added.
"They're pretty easy actually." said the child.
"Does your parents give you puzzles like these at home?" she asked.
"Yeah. My dad teaches me math sometimes. He's really smart." said William.
"Wow that's amazing. How about your mom? Did she teach you anything?" asked the doctor.
"My mommy taught me how to read and write, and she taught me how to add and subtract." he said.
"Your mom's pretty great huh?" said Dr. Brandt.
"Mommy's the greatest. She always tell us she loves us. She's even smarter than my dad." he said making the doctor smile.
"I'm sure she is." said the doctor.
Back in the monitor room, Penny cried happy tears after hearing her son.
"Why don't you try this one?" said Dr. Brandt, giving a Rubik's Cube to the child.
William took the puzzle and looked at it, carefully analyzing it's configuration and silently mumbling on how to solve it. He then started to turn the cube sections, trying to solve it only to fail at each turn. He put the cube on the table, grunting a little, frustrated that he wasn't able to solve it.
"Why don't we take a break for a while okay?" said Dr. Brandt.
"I thought you were here to find out how smart I am?" William asked.
"You're right William. So do you wanna continue?" she asked.
William nodded. "Okay." he said.
Dr. Brandt then pulled out a few pictures from a folder and gave one to the child. "Can you tell me anything about this picture?" she said as William took the photograph and carefully looked at it. The picture shows a young boy, the same age as William, sitting on the front porch of their house.
"Well, I guess he's the same age as I am. He seems kinda sad, probably because he misses his father. Maybe his dad is a policeman or a soldier." said the child.
"Why do you think his dad is a policeman or a soldier?" she asked.
William showed her the picture. "See that? They have an American flag in front of their house." he said.
"Why do you think it's his dad that's the policeman or the soldier. Maybe it's his mom? They have female soldiers now you know?" she said.
"No. It's his daddy alright." he said.
"Why do you think so?" asked the doctor.
"Well because if it's his mom, then he won't be well dressed like that. And look at his hair, it's well combed." he said. "If he was staying with his dad, his dad would just put any clothes on him and not bother to make him look nice and such." he said.
Dr. Brandt nodded, impressed by the child's reasoning skills. "I never thought of it that way. That was very insightful William." she said. "How about this one?" she added, giving another picture to the child.
William took the picture and saw a teenage girl crying on her mother's shoulder with her father shedding a tear, looking at his wife and daughter. "Hmm, why is she crying? She should be happy that she got admitted to college." he said, impressed at how quick he deduced the scene in the picture.
"Tell me." she said.
William turned the picture to show Dr. Brandt. "Look, her dog is there with them, so it can't be the dog. Her laptop is open which I think is on a Skype call with her grandparents, I think. And she still has her backpack on her shoulder which means she just came home from school, finding the mail when she entered the house." he said. "And she's holding her glasses in her hand so she could wipe her tears later." he added.
Dr. Brandt nodded and smiled at the young boy. "That is very impressive William." she said.
"Is this part of the test?" William asked.
"It is." said Dr. Brandt.
"It doesn't look like a test. All you did was talk to me and gave me some pictures to look at." said the young man.
Dr. Brandt smiled. "Well let me tell you something, there are different kinds of intelligence actually." she said.
"There are more than one?" he asked making her laugh a little.
"Yes. There's logical intelligence, like being good in math and science and then there's emotional intelligence." she said.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Well, emotional intelligence is how a person reacts to certain situations, like problems or challenges, or how people react when they are in a difficult and stressful situation. How a person deals with frustration tells a lot about their emotional intelligence." she said.
William nodded. "I understand. It's like how my dad gets an asthma attack when he does something to upset my mommy." he said laughing a little.
"Really?" she asked.
"Uh huh. I could always tell when my dad is nervous because he always twiddles his fingers and stutter when my mom asks him." he said laughing as Dr. Brandt joined in laughing with him.
Penny looked at her husband with a smug smile.
"Okay, I guess we're done here." she said. "Let's get you back to your mom and dad." she added as she opened the door.
William ran towards his mother who was waiting for him. "Hey sweetheart! How was it?" Penny said, kissing her son.
"It was okay I guess." said William as Leonard lightly ruffled his son's hair.
"Why are you sad?" asked Penny.
"I didn't solve the cube mom." William said.
"What cube?" Penny asked, feigning ignorance from what they saw.
"That puzzle cube mommy. I know I'm mixing up the steps that's why I can't solve it." he said to his mother.
"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out." said Leonard as he lightly tapped his son's shoulder.
"I'll see you guys next week alright?" said Dr. Brandt while shaking the couple's hands. "You keep doing good in school alright?" she said to the young man.
William nodded. "Yes Dr. Brandt." he said smiling at her.
"So, are you ready to go home?" Penny asked her son.
"Yes mommy." he said as he held his mother's hand with Leonard following them from behind.
All of a sudden, William turned around and ran back in the doctor's office, going back in the playroom, grabbing the Rubik's Cube and quickly turning the sections. Dr. Brandt and the couple looked at the young man as he manipulated the puzzle until he was able to solve it, bringing the same colors on each side.
"Mommy look! I solved it!" he said, happy for his accomplishment.
Penny cried happy tears while hugging her son. "I'm very proud of you sweetheart! You are so amazing!" she said kissing his cheek.
"Good going buddy!" said Leonard, giving his son a high five.
"That's amazing William! I'm glad you were able to solve it!" said Dr. Brandt.
"Okay, let's go home?" Penny asked William.
"Yes mommy." said William as Penny held his hand while Leonard followed closely as Dr. Brandt waved goodbye to them.
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After a couple of days, Leonard and Penny went to Dr. Brandt's office while William was at school.
"Come in you guys!" said Dr. Brandt. "Please have a seat."
"Thank you doctor." said Penny as they sat on the chairs in Dr. Brandt's office.
"I have here, a copy of my findings with William." she said while handing a piece of paper to the couple. "Your son is, how do I put this, really mature for his age. He has displayed exceptional analytical and problem solving skills that I haven't seen in a child his age. And his emotional insights were really remarkable." she said. "You should be very proud of him." she added.
Leonard and Penny couldn't believe what they were hearing. Penny felt happy and proud of her son.
"What do you think we should do now?" asked Leonard.
"Well, I'm gonna make a recommendation to bump your son up in school. He's too smart for his classes and he'll just be bored if he keeps attending the same lessons over and over again." said Dr. Brandt.
"Wow, I don't know what to say." said Penny.
Dr. Brandt smiled at them. "It's obvious that you two are doing right by him, giving your love and support to him." she said.
"Thank you Dr. Brandt." said Leonard.
"Thank you for letting me talk to him. I really learned a lot from him." said Dr. Brandt. "Just keep on doing what it is you're doing and I'm sure he'll grow up alright." she added.
"Thank you doctor." said Penny.
"Well, I think we're done here." she said as the couple shook her hand. "You say hello to William for me okay?"
"No problem doctor." said Penny as they leave the doctor's office to go home.
In the car, Penny hugged and kissed her husband. "Thank you honey." she said.
"For what?" he asked.
"For giving me William." she said. "I'm so proud of him!" she added.
Leonard smiled. "Me too. He's already smarter than I am when I was his age." he said.
"I'm glad you convinced me to take our son here." said Penny kissing him again.
"Hmm, I like where this is going!" he said, winking at her.
Penny bit her lip. "You know, I'm not supposed to pick up William for another couple of hours." she said.
Leonard quickly started the car and drove off the parking lot. "You little miss, are gonna get it!" he said, driving faster than usual.
"Honey slow down! We have plenty of time!" Penny yelled, amused by her husband's excitement.
They reached the house as Leonard parked the car in the driveway before dragging his wife up into the bedroom.
"Leonard stop it!" Penny yelled, trying hard not to scream as Leonard slammed the door shut and started to take her clothes off.
"Oh no, not this time!" he said as he won't stop kissing his wife while pushing her on the bed.
Penny gave in as she wrapped her arms around her husband while yanking his clothes off while Leonard pulled the sheets over them.
The excitement made Penny forget that she hasn't taken her birth control pills for the past couple of days.
Author's note: As you may have guessed, this chapter segues directly into the first episode of my other story – The Princess Nomenclature. Enjoy! :-)