A/N Hey all, I was back to writing the first draft this week (I finished two chapters, 47 and 48, along with half of 49). When I published chapter 35, I took a break from writing the first draft. At that time, I had 46 chapters written. For, for the last six weeks, I've obviously been doing the second and third drafts and copy editing, as I've been publishing every week.
I spent the first draft writing time working on a couple of other writing projects, getting deeper into Red Dead Redemption 2 (almost finished with chapter 3 of that), and practicing my drum rudiments, and learning to read drum notation. I'm looking to get an e drum set (I won't be playing in any band, this is just for my satisfaction).
One fun thing is seeing comments, in the reviews, about what some of the readers think is going to happen. Since I'm eight chapters ahead, I know what going to happen, and it's just fun comparing.
One other thing, I realize this A/N is rather long. Do you mind notes like this, that explains my writing process, or would you prefer I just jump into the story? Please drop me a PM, if not in a review, so I know, thanks. Anyway, enjoy.
Chapter 41
Monday, 17 February 7:00 PM
Amy heard Sheldon's ring tone, and picked up her iPad, before accepting the FaceTime call.
"Hello, Sheldon," said Amy
"Hello, Amy," said Sheldon.
"I miss you," said Amy.
"I miss you, too," said Sheldon.
"How was your day and how was the lecture?"
"The lecture went fine, but I felt their theoretical group didn't fully understand it," said Sheldon, looking unhappy. "I actually had better luck with Campbell and Pemberton's replacements and their experimental team. At least they did some calculations, so they could try to figure out some experiments to do, to look for the new particles. It's a sad day when experimental physicists understand things better than the theoretical people, well, except for me of course."
"I'm sure there are people there who will understand it just fine," said Amy. "Don't you have meetings with their theoretical group over the next few days?"
"Yes, I do, but I don't know," said Sheldon derisively.
"Well, Sheldon, what you should do, is go in with an open mind," said Amy. "Those people don't fully understand super-asymmetry like you do, because they have never worked on it. It's up to you to instruct them on the equations and underlying concepts. So, be nice to them, and just explain it to them."
"I supposed you're right," said Sheldon. "But, I tell you, Amy, I don't think some of the theoretical people here are up to speed."
Before Amy could say anything, she saw Sheldon yawn.
"Are you tired, Sheldon?"
"Yes, I am," said Sheldon. "I should hang up, as I have to get ready for bed, and you know that takes me twenty minutes. As it's 9:10, I should get ready."
"Really?" said Amy, "We're not going to talk about my day, and me getting my new lab? Okay, we'll keep this about you."
"Thank you, Amy," said Sheldon. "I love you, and goodnight."
"Goodnight to you, too," said Amy rolling her eyes. "I love you. How about you call at 8:45 tomorrow, so I can tell you about my day."
"Now, is that 8:45 AM or 8:45 PM?" asked Sheldon.
"PM," said Amy, through gritted teeth.
"I will do that then, goodbye," said Sheldon.
"Goodbye," said Amy. Amy saw Sheldon disappear, then disconnected herself, and went out her door, over to have dinner with Penny and Leonard.
Monday, 17 February 8:40 PM
Amy was leaving, and Penny was saying goodbye to her at the door. After closing it, she locked the door. Leonard was sitting by on the couch, watching her.
"What?" said Penny, smiling.
Leonard smiled back and said, "Why don't you come here and sit down, and we can talk about whether we want to know the sex of our babies, and whatever that other thing was, that you said you would tell me later."
"Give me a second," said Penny, walking to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. She then walked back to the couch, sat down next to Leonard, and kissed him.
"Do you want to do a pro or con list?" asked Penny. "Or do you just want to go by how we feel?"
"I'm not sure," said Leonard. "Why don't we each go by how we feel, and then if we can't decide, we do a pro and con list, and see if that works?"
Penny nodded, "I want to know."
Leonard grinned, "And, I would like to wait. I guess I'm old school, that way. Do you have reasons as to why you want to know?"
"Several, actually," said Penny.
"Okay, why?" said Leonard.
"Because I can't think of a reason why we shouldn't," said Penny.
"That's not really a reason, is it?"
"Can you think of a reason why we shouldn't, other than it's, as you say, old school, or it's the way it's been done before?"
Leonard thought for a bit and finally shook his head, "Not really. You're right, there really isn't a reason why we shouldn't find out what their sexes are."
"Now, as for why we should," said Penny. "To be honest, all the reasons I can think of, these days, aren't really something we need to do. I'll assume we're not going to only dress girls in pink and boys only in blue. Or, paint the room depending on the sex of the babies."
"No, you're right, the colors won't matter, clothes won't matter," said Leonard. "Well, the names will matter."
Penny said, "Even the names wouldn't matter. We could pick names for both boys and girls, and wait until they are born, but if we know we only have to worry about one sex's names. So, we can't think of a reason for not knowing. And, there are slight reasons for knowing. But, I want to know." Penny leaned over and hugged Leonard.
Leonard turned and kissed Penny's head, smiled and while rubbing her belly said, "Okay, since you're doing all the work, I'll go with your feelings."
Penny hugged Leonard tightly, and said, "Thank you."
They stayed that way for a few minutes, and then Leonard said, "So, what's the other thing you want to talk about."
Penny sat up, looking a little sad, and scared. Leonard wondered what this could be, but he held her hand, and said, "Go, ahead."
Penny nodded, "Before I start, I want you to know that I've read about this, and talked to Bernadette and it happened with her, and Dr Samuels hinted that it was normal, so please don't overreact."
Leonard squeezed her hands.
Penny smiled weekly, and nodded, "You heard about the dreams I've been having, the ones with the little animals."
Leonard nodded.
Penny continued, "And, Bernie had one where she kept dropping the baby. I haven't had that one yet, but, I have been having dreams about having sex with other people besides you. Remember that afternoon I woke up yelling for you?"
Leonard looked thoughtful, "Yeah, I remember that, you just said you had a bad dream." He continued looking at Penny, and finally, with a slight grin said, "Who?"
Penny took a deep breath, and said, "Kurt once, Zack a couple of time, Howard once…"
Leonard started laughing, "Howard? Kurt and Zack, I could see, but Howard?"
Penny smiled, glad he was taking it so well, "From what I've read, who doesn't matter, it's just something your brain goes through." Penny thought for a minute, then said, "You have to keep the next thing secret."
Leonard smiled and said, "Okay, sure. Just remember, I'm not the one that has problems keeping secrets."
Penny rolled her eyes, "Bernadette had a dream about Sheldon."
Leonard again started laughing. "That would be interesting, with his height and how short she is." Suddenly Leonard leered, "Although I guess she's at the right height for his crotch."
Penny shook her head, "She would just punch him there."
Leonard gave Penny a strange look, and she continued, "Never mind, a story she once told me, but the height difference would be interesting. Almost like Amy and that guy we saw her out with."
"Yeah, that would have been interesting too."
Penny became quiet, wondering if she should tell him about the last one, "There was one other, that afternoon I yelled for you, I had a dream about Bernadette."
"Really?" said Leonard, "Bernadette?"
"Does that bother you?" asked Penny.
"Well, not really," said Leonard, who then smirked, "What were you doing?"
"I'd rather not say," said Penny. "Think of it as light petting. Is that okay?"
Leonard grinned, "To be honest, I wouldn't really mind if you want to bring her over and we can start a ménage a…"
"LEONARD," yelled Penny, as she started to hit him with a pillow.
Leonard was laughing and trying to fend off the pillow that was hitting him, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding…"
Penny chuckled, and though Leonard waited for Penny to ask about his conversation with Dr Samuels today, Penny simply forgot about it, and he didn't say anything. Leonard reached over and grabbed Penny's hand, then he stood up and said, "Come on, let go to the bedroom, and make our own memories, instead of your dreams."
Penny smiled, stood up, and before going to the bedroom, they both turned off the lights in the living area and the kitchen.
Tuesday, 18 February 9:20 PM
Howard and Bernadette had gotten the kids in bed, kissed each of them, and said goodnight, before turning off the lights, and closing the door. They walked down the stairs and went to the kitchen. Howard poured some chips into a bowl and got two bottles of water, then asked Bernadette to sit down. She looked puzzled but did sit, as Howard did.
"I talked to the Engineering chair today," said Howard. "We talked about my idea some more, talked about what classes I would have to take, and what work I would have to do. He believes I would be a good candidate for a PhD." He smiled.
Bernadette smiled back, "When would you start?"
"Basically, I've already started," said Howard. "The work I'm doing for NASA would be part of my project. I would start taking classes in a couple of months, in the spring term. I only really have to take four or five classes. I would wait until winter term, next year to file the paperwork. Dr Petrucci thinks I should wait as long as possible to file, because I only have five years, to finish."
"I'm proud of you, Howie," said Bernadette, smiling.
"Well, it's going to be good not to get told, I'm not a doctor."
Remembering the previous night they had talked about this, Bernadette stood up, and grabbed Howard's hand, "Come on Doctor, I want a replay of the other night."
"Come on, let's go," said Howard, following her out of the kitchen.
Wednesday, 19 February 8:30 PM
The group, minus Sheldon, had just finished cleaning up, after having dinner. They were running a bit late tonight, because they had to wait for Amy to say goodnight to Sheldon, in Chicago, before coming over for dinner. Howard looked around and cleared his throat, causing all the others to look at him.
"I have an announcement," said Howard. "I will be starting classes, next term, for my PhD."
There was a chorus of "Really?" "That is great." "I'm happy for you buddy,"
"Do you have something in mind for your project?" asked Leonard.
"Funny you should be the one to ask that," said Howard.
"Why?" asked Leonard.
Howard looked at him, "Remember last week, when you said something about finding out why the grip on the ISS broke, and why my fix worked?"
Leonard nodded.
"Well, that's what my project is going to be," said Howard. "Why it broke, and/or why my fixed worked. Although, I'll continue looking into and possibly finding something else that works even better. It's like a perfect subject because even if I don't find a better fix, that's new knowledge also."
"That's really great Howard," said Leonard.
For the next thirty minutes, Howard's announcement was what everyone was talking about. At 9 PM, Howard and Bernadette said they needed to start getting ready to leave. While Penny went to help Howard with the kids, Leonard pulled Bernadette over to the kitchen and whispered to her. She nodded and whispered back, and Leonard handed her something and nodded. Bernadette smiled and started gathering their bags.
Penny helped carry a couple of the bags down to the car, while Leonard cleaned up everything. By the time Penny got back, everything in the apartment was put away, and Leonard was watching TV. Penny sat down and cuddled up next to him. They spent the next couple of hours flipping through different channels, not really finding something to watch, but enjoying just sitting next to each other.
Around 10 PM, Penny said she was going to bed, and they both got up, Penny locked the door, Leonard turned off the lights, and they went to the bathroom to prepare for bed.
After getting in bed, Leonard said, "Isn't it a bit early?"
"I have to leave early," said Penny. "Bernadette is having her car picked up for its maintenance work, so I have to pick her up."
"Oh, okay," said Leonard. He kissed her and rolled over to turn off the light, "I love you."
"I love you too, night," said Penny.
Turning off the light, Leonard smiled.
Thursday, 21 February 7:30 AM
Leonard and Penny came out of the elevator, at their apartment, and walked out to Penny's car. She put her briefcase in the car, then turned and kissed Leonard goodbye. She was still wondering why he was leaving early with her, but he had said he could get some work done before the rest of his team came in.
Penny got in and started her car, leaving the parking space and driving by Leonard's car. Leonard waved as she went by, She waved back as she saw him open his door to put his messenger bag in. Then she turned the corner, heading to the Wolowitz house.
Thursday, 21 February 10:30 AM
Penny was in her office, but she really didn't have anything to do. She was supposed to go over some new marketing programs with Dan today, but he had called, saying some meetings had come up, so she was simply looking through the management book.
Her phone rang and she picked it up, "LA District Sales Manager, Ms Hofstadter."
"Hi, honey,"
"Leonard, what's going on? You never call."
"I have to go to City of Industry, to pick up a few things from our storage area. It's near enough to you, so I thought I'd have lunch with you. You free?"
"Yes, I am," said Penny. "Can you be here at 11:30? I've got nothing to do, and we could have an hour and a half if you can."
"Sure, I can," said Leonard. "So, see you in an hour?"
"I'll be waiting, I love you," said Penny.
"Love you." After he disconnected Leonard looked around the apartment and smiled.
Thursday, 20 February 11:30 AM
Leonard pulled into the parking lot across the street from the Zangen building, found a place to park, and then texted Penny. Less than five minutes later, Penny came out and got into Leonard's car. He pulled out of the parking lot, and Penny asked, "Where are we going?"
"You know that place in Azuza, where we used to go?"
"Oh yeah, that little luncheon place, we'd go there on weekends, now and then."
Leonard said, "Yeah, and since it's been a while and we're doing lunch, I thought we'd go there."
"Good idea," said Penny.
It was a short ride to the restaurant, and they were soon there. They ate their lunch, taking their time, and they finally left around quarter to one. They got in the car and Leonard started driving. Penny was checking her mail and messages and wasn't paying attention to where Leonard was driving. After about a half-hour, Penny realized that they should have gotten back to her office by now. She looked up and noticed that they were passing Warner Brothers Studio.
Sounding confused, she said, "Leonard, where are we going?"
"What do you mean?" said Leonard, trying to sound innocent.
"We're going by Warner Brothers, and going west, that's not going to back my office."
Leonard grinned at her.