Chapter 31
One year has passed since Leonard came up with his Super-Fluid Vacuum Theory. His journey towards finishing his theory and calculations has progressed at a snail's pace due to complications and difficulties with the mathematics of the theory. He has made incremental progress with the techniques he employed in tackling his theory and also replaced his small whiteboard in his office with a bigger one.
His work in his contracting company has steadily grown as they got a couple more maintenance contracts for a few local office buildings in the area which only meant that they had to increase the number of their employees to more than a handful. His partnership with Larry has also developed into a close friendship as he and Penny has had a chance to meet his family for a few brunch and company gatherings with their employees.
He came home one afternoon, carrying a small bouquet of flowers for Penny and one of her favorite fruit shakes from a nearby store. He arrived at home and saw Penny sitting on the couch watching TV while Buster sat on her lap.
"Hi honey! I'm home!" he said walking directly to Penny, giving her his gifts. Buster immediately stood on the couch, barking and growling at him with the hairs on his back standing up. The couple were surprised as this was the first time the dog did this. Penny held the dog and rubbed it's back to calm him down.
"Buster stop it! Don't you see its just your daddy!?" said Penny holding the dog. Buster didn't stop and continued barking at Leonard.
"Buster stop it I say!" yelled Leonard making the dog sit back down and whimper at Penny's lap.
"What's gotten into you huh?" Penny said as she stroked the dog's fur. Buster just whimpered and gave Penny a sad look.
"I think our dog is broken." said Leonard as he sat beside Penny, giving her a kiss.
"Hmmm, flowers and my favorite fruit shake? Someone wants to get lucky tonight!?" she said teasing him.
"Believe me, I will!" he said placing his arm over her shoulder as Penny leaned on him. "I wonder what's gotten into this dog?" he asked as Buster gave him a muffled bark.
Penny continued stroking the dog's fur to calm him down. "I don't know. He's been very needy these past few days, always following me around, always sitting on my lap." Penny said smiling at the dog. Buster saw her and stood up, trying to lick her face. Penny held the dog down. "Buster stop it!" she said making the dog sit back down and rest his head on Penny's lap. Penny turned to Leonard. "How are things in the office?" she asked.
"Uh it's the same I guess but I had some progress with my theory!" he said smiling at her.
"Really!? That's great news honey!" she said kissing him. "I'm so proud of you." Said Penny.
"Thank you honey." He said. "So, do you think I can cash in on my luck now?" he said laughing while touching her face. Penny bit her lower lip and put the dog down.
"Come on while I still have my shields down." she said, pulling his hands to stand up. Leonard pulled her back and quickly lifted her up, carrying Penny to the bedroom.
"You keep talking about shields and lasers and we would be spending a long time in here." he said as he laid Penny on the bed and quickly shutting the door.
"Shut up and come here!" she said pulling him in for a kiss.
After getting intimate in the bedroom for an hour, they went to the kitchen to eat dinner while Leonard told her about his minor progress with his theory.
"So, you say that you're going to try a different approach with the math?" asked Penny.
"Yeah. I found this paper online using the same technique. Hopefully I can make it work." He said.
"Just tell me if you need help alright?" Penny said smiling at him.
Leonard laughed. "Don't worry honey, you'll be the first one I'll ask for help." he said squeezing her hand.
After cleaning up in the kitchen, Penny went directly to the bathroom to wash up and change to her nightshirt as Leonard did the same after his wife. The moment Leonard came out of the bathroom, Penny grabbed his hands and dragged him back to the bedroom. Leonard was surprised but chose to go along with his wife's urges.
"Wow, twice in one night? I am really lucky!" he said as Penny began yanking his clothes off.
"The first one was for the flowers. This one is for the fruit shake." she said while taking her clothes off. "Come here, you sexy scientist!" she said, pushing Leonard on the bed.
Penny rested on Leonard's shoulder breathing heavily.
"Good job honey." she whispered.
Leonard smiled at her. "Well, I didn't want to get punched again." he said laughing a little.
"Aww you remembered. Good boy!" said Penny, touching his face.
"How could I forget? It's practically imprinted in my brain." he said. "And, it's my job to make you happy." He added.
Penny looked up and kissed his lips. "I am happy." she said.
"Let's go to dinner tomorrow. I'll get off work early and we'll go to a nice restaurant. Then we'll go dancing and maybe drinking?" he said.
Penny hugged him tighter. "I'd love that honey." Penny said.
"Great! I'll reserve a table tomorrow." he said kissing her. "Let's get some sleep." he added.
Penny kissed her husband. "I love you so much!" she said as they slept in each other's arms.
The next day, Leonard came home early to prepare for their dinner date. He went to the back of the house and fed Buster his early dinner. He was about to go to the bathroom when Penny arrived, coming from her shift at the restaurant.
"Hi honey!" she said, kissing Leonard.
"Hey! I'm going to take a quick shower, wanna join me?" he teased her.
Penny threw her purse on the couch and ran towards him. "I see we're celebrating early huh?" she smiled.
Leonard pulled her into the bathroom. "We're gonna have dessert first." he said as he closed the bathroom door while starting to undress his wife.
"That was fun, right?" said Leonard as they came out of the bathroom to get dressed for their night out.
"Uh huh. Let's hurry, I'm getting hungry." Penny said as they started to get dressed.
They went out the house and walked along the beach, with the rays of the sun getting dimmer at the horizon while the coast slowly transformed into its night scene. They passed by a flower shop where Leonard picked up the flowers he paid for earlier.
"Awww honey, these are so pretty! I love it." said Penny, slightly blushing.
"I glad you liked it." said Leonard feeling proud of himself.
They arrived at the restaurant where they had their first date and was shown by the waiter to their table upstairs, overlooking the coast.
"The first time we went here, we were not even a couple. Now we're married!" said Leonard.
"I know right?" she said. "Can you believe how crazy things have been?" said Penny.
"Yeah. I remember fixing your laptop and then you fell hopelessly in love with me." he said teasing her.
Penny didn't laugh at his joke and gave him a stern expression. "Strike one Hofstadter." she said.
"Come on honey. I'm just joking." he said touching her hand. "We both know you threw yourself at me when I deep dived and gave you your pearls!" said Leonard smiling smugly at her.
"Strike two." she said. "One more and I promise you're gonna regret it." she warned him.
"Alright I'll stop now." he said raising his hands. "The truth was the moment I saw you, I couldn't stop thinking about you. That's why I offered to take you around the island, so I could spend more time with you." he said.
Penny eyed him. "You are one sneaky scientist Hofstadter." she said.
"I'm married to you so I'll take it as a compliment." he said as he moved to her side, kissing her on the lips. A waiter came and served them some red wine. They raised their glasses and took a sip but ss soon as the wine touched Penny's lips, she frowned and put down her glass, reaching for her glass of water to wash away the wine from her mouth.
"You don't like the wine?" he asked. "That's a first." Leonard said.
"It didn't taste funny to you?" asked Penny. Leonard took another sip and swirled the wine in his mouth.
"No. Its perfectly fine." he said. "Are you alright honey? You look a little flushed." he said looking at her.
"Don't worry honey. I'm fine." she said suddenly feeling something in her stomach. "Excuse me." she said as she quickly stood up and ran towards the restroom, closing the door behind her. Leonard quickly followed her, knocking lightly on the door.
"Honey are you alright in there?" he asked as he heard his wife throw up. A few minutes later, Penny came out, wiping her mouth with a tissue. "Are you okay?" he asked while touching her face.
"I'm gonna be fine. I'm just a little tired I guess." she said as they walked back to their table. Their food arrived but before they could eat, Penny felt sick and ran to the restroom again coming back a few minutes after to join him on their table. Penny looked at her food and frowned.
"What's wrong?" asked Leonard.
"My food smells funny." she said, forking up a portion, smelling it and quickly putting the fork back down, clearing the air in front of her. "Ugh, it smells weird." she said. Leonard took her plate, smelled it and tasted the food finding no fault in it.
"It seems okay honey. It's actually quite delicious." he said as he took another bite before putting the plate back in front of Penny. Penny waved to a waiter who quickly came to their table. "Could you please take this away?' she said pointing at her plate.
"I'm sorry ma'am but is there something wrong with it?" asked the waiter.
"It smells funny." She said.
"Okay. I'm sorry about that. Would you like me to get you another?" the waiter asked. Penny then grabbed the menu on the vacant table next to them to look for another meal.
"Can I get this one instead please?" she said pointing at the menu item.
The waiter nodded and wrote her order down. "Alright. We're really sorry about this, your new order will be out in ten minutes." he said as he took the plate away to get her new order prepared.
"Are you sure you're okay honey?" Leonard asked.
"I'm fine Leonard. Don't worry." she assured him. A few moments she felt sick again and ran back to the restroom.
"Alright, it's obvious you're not fine. We're gonna go home now and I'm taking you to the doctor tomorrow." he said as he called the waiter, telling him that they are leaving. He paid their bill and pulled Penny's hand to get out of the restaurant and head straight home.
Penny got sick again twice when they reached home as she was washing up in the bathroom. They retired in the bedroom to rest for the night with Leonard cuddling his wife in his arms.
It was almost four o'clock in the morning when Penny suddenly woke up, feeling sick in the stomach again. She jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom as Leonard slept soundly on the bed. She rinsed her mouth with some mouthwash after throwing up a couple of times in the toilet. She suddenly realized that her monthly period was already delayed for a few days now. She looked at the mirror and gasped, suddenly getting scared, thinking that she might be pregnant. She then remembered how Buster acted somewhat very protective of her, always wanting to sit on her lap and sometimes sniffing her. That would also explain why the dog was very agitated when he saw Leonard, barking and growling at him. It would also explain her inexplicable reaction to wine and food which she never felt before. She returned to the bedroom, sitting on the bed and looking at her husband sleeping quietly. Penny decided to wake him up, shaking his shoulders.
"Leonard, wake up." she said in a low voice. Leonard didn't move. Penny decided to shake him harder. "Leonard!" she said.
Leonard suddenly stirred and mumbled. "Hmm!?" he uttered without even lifting his head.
Penny pounded her fist on his shoulder. "Wake up!" she said.
Leonard suddenly turned and saw his wife sitting on the bed, looking sad at him. "Huh!? What happened?" he asked as he put his glasses on.
Penny cried and covered her face with her hands and cried. "Leonard!"
Leonard sat up and held Penny. "Oh my god, what is it? Why are you crying!?" he said visibly worried.
Penny took a deep breath and looked at him. "I think I'm pregnant." she said pushing her face on his shoulder while continuing to cry.
Leonard gasped and couldn't believe it. He smiled and hugged his wife tight, kissing her cheek. "Honey that's wonderful! I'm so happy!" he said laughing.
"Leonard I'm scared." she said wiping her tears.
"Don't be scared honey." he said trying to calm her down.
"Are we ready for this? I mean, are we gonna be good parents?" she asked.
"Of course! We'll be good parents! We're gonna be awesome parents!" he said laughing.
Penny hugged him tight, kissing him deep and hard. "Leonard, please don't leave me." she whispered.
"Penny, I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna be here with you all the way." he said as they hugged each other. "Wanna have sex?" he whispered.
Penny released him and punched his arm. "I'm freaking out and all you could think of is sex!?" she yelled at him.
"I'm only joking. I just want to make you laugh." he said smiling at her. "Don't worry, you're gonna be alright. This baby is a blessing to us!." he said hugging her again. Penny pushed her face against his neck and started to move her hands, feeling him. She then looked at Leonard and bit her lip.
"Let's have sex." she said as she kissed his lips, pushing him down on the bed and putting her whole body over him.