A/N Thank you for the reviews. Sorry I have slowed down. Will try to get back in rhythm. I still own nothing.

Priya sipped on her wine as she pondered where she stood. She was gratified that things seemed to be going smoothly at work. Although she presumed the Senior Partners had tried to keep it a secret, it had naturally gotten out. She smirked to herself, since everyone already knew she was ruthless and ambitious, they had taken it in stride. It even appeared she was kind of a hero to some junior lawyers.

Talking to her family had gone pretty much as she expected. They were even less bothered than she had thought they might be. They were so pleased about her and Sanjay that they had quickly shrugged off her cheating. As far as lying about Leonard cheating, they pointed out how quickly he had gotten with Penny.

So, only Leonard and Penny remained. Her parents had wondered why she felt necessary to talk to them but Priya still felt she needed to finish her plan. She also realized that after Raj had told her they had set a date, she wanted to congratulate them. She had been a little surprised that she had been pleased to know about them.

She was deciding exactly how to approach them when fate again stepped in.

She had been called into Patel's office once more.

He rose from his desk, "Good morning, Priya, have a seat."

As they both sat down, he continued, "First of all I want to say that you continue to impress us with your work."

A little nervous where this was going, "Thank you, Sir."

He sat back, "As you know, Rahul replaced you on the project." He hesitated, "I am afraid he has not been as proficient as you were. There is a real danger that the whole deal could be in jeopardy."

He leaned forward, "Both firms agree that we need to have someone step in, to get everything back on track." He paused, "Naturally we thought of you as the person to accomplish that."

Priya was stunned. She also felt a little angry that Rahul was threatening all the work she had done.

She finally said, "I would be glad to do all I can."

"There is not much time to lose." He sat back, "There is a meeting in a week in Los Angeles. I know it's not much time. You will have to leave immediately to meet with Rahul and other members of the team so they can bring you up to date." He looked in her eyes, "Whatever resources you need, don't hesitate to ask. A lot of money and reputations are riding on you."

Priya was struggling to absorb all that she was hearing. She knew she should probably be a little angry that they were laying all this on her after they had taken her off the project but she was excited by the challenge.

"When do I leave?"

"I know this is terrible short notice but we are sending you on the firm's jet. It will be ready to leave at 10:00 tonight."

Priya looked at her watch, 9:00, "I'll be ready, sir."

He smiled, "Good. I knew we could count on you. We will have a car pick you up at 9:30."

As they both stood up, he went on, "I know we are laying a lot on you, but we know you are the one that can pull this off."

"I will do my best, Sir. I look forward to the challenge."

He smiled, "As I said, if you need anything…"

"I'll remember."

"Good luck."

As she left the office, still a little shocked at what had just happened, she thought of all she needed to do before leaving. But then another thought struck her. She was going to the states. Suddenly she realized she would have a chance to talk with Penny and Leonard in person. She was surprised to realize how much she would like that. She realized she would really like to meet Penny.

Penny and Leonard were gratified to find almost everyone they had invited to the wedding had announced they were coming. The only big disappointment was that Leonard's father couldn't make it. He had an opportunity to go on a dig with one of his heroes.

That disappointment was offset when Perry and Millie announced they were coming and bringing Mercy.

At the same time, they were glad that the rest of his family had not changed their minds. They had been a little surprised when Beverly had also indicated she would be coming.

It was also true that the guest list had grown a little with some of the invitees bringing a plus one. They were gratified to see that Debbie had been one of them. The others were Bert Kibbler and Leslie Winkler.

They had been more than a little surprised when Leslie had informed them that Barry Kripke had actually seemed to be hurt that he was not invited. She told them, although she wasn't sure she could believe it, that he was sincere.

Deciding he was in a way involved with them at work, over Sheldon's objection, they decided to invite him. They wondered if they had done the right thing when he immediately accepted and assured them he would be bringing a fantastic plus one.

Leonard shook his head but then smiled, "Well, at least we will be supporting a local business."

When Penny stared at him, he went on, "A local escort service."

Debbie went into the house after giving Sam a kiss good night. She watched out the window as he walked off. After talking to Howard and Bernadette, she decided she did want to keep seeing him. She knew he was not her husband, but she just could not get over the fear of being hurt again.

But when they talked, she was both disappointed and relieved when she found he had no interest in a serious relationship. He still loved his wife. He just wanted them to keep each other company and have some good times.

She had wondered about asking if he would go to Leonard and Penny's wedding with her, afraid she was pushing it, but he quickly agreed. What really bothered her was that she realized she was in danger of getting in too deep. She needed to accept what they had or break it off. The trouble was, she wasn't willing to do either.

Howard would probably have been surprised if he knew Bernadette was thinking along the same lines as he was. He was wondering if it was time to take the next step. With Leonard and Penny getting married, he thought about him and Bernadette. He loved her, he wanted to be with her. He finally decided he would wait for now. Maybe after the wedding…

From the time Penny and Leonard had announced their engagement, Bernadette had thought about Howard and her. She had decided it was much too soon. Now that they had been living together, she was experiencing those thoughts again. It still bothered her a little about him and his mother, but things were getting much better. She finally decided to wait until after the wedding, deciding she may just be caught up in the excitement.

On Halloween, Penny and Leonard threw a party in their apartment.

They didn't invite Leslie or Barry and not only for Sheldon's sake. They did invite Stuart and Bert. They figured they didn't get invited to a lot of parties. They also invited Wayne and Barb. They smiled as they realized it had been obvious they would invite them. Leonard was dressed as Inspector Gadget and Penny as a Swiss miss and was sexy as Hell.

Sheldon showed Amy how much he loved her by not being the Flash but rather Emmet "Doc" Brown from back to the future with Amy as his wife Clara.

Stuart was Doctor Who while Raj showed up as "Indian" Jones who he explained was "Indiana Jones' mocha-skinned love child."

When Bert arrived, he brought a couple surprises. First, he just appeared to be wearing an old-fashioned suit. He later explained he was geophysicist Maurice Ewing who won some award and died of a brain hemorrhage. The big surprise was the girl he had with him; a very sexy woman named Rebecca. By the end of the evening everyone knew she was with him for his money but no one wanted to tell him.

But the shocker of the party was when Howard and Bernadette showed up dressed as Sheldon and Amy.

While everyone caught on right away and thought it was funny, even including Amy at first, Sheldon was a little slow on the uptake but then was offended, feeling they were laughing at him.

It was tense for a while but Amy was able to sooth his outrage. Finally, he grudgingly accepted it but not without saying, "A man with Howard Wolowitz's intelligence impersonating me is like a man of Leonard's stature trying to be the Hulk."

It appeared Howard was going to react but then decided he could give Sheldon that one and the party moved forward.

When Wayne and Barb showed up, Penny introduced them as friends. Of course the gang knew all about them, but she decided she didn't want to get into all the stuff about Roy with the others.

Wayne and Barb had been thrilled to be invited. Checking out what Leonard and his friends seem to be into, they stunned everyone by coming as Superman and Supergirl.

All the women except Penny reacted by going WOW to themselves, while Amy stunned herself by saying "Woo."

The men all looked at them; especially Wayne as Superman, and had the same thought. They had a great chance of finally winning the trophy at the Comic Book Store's New Year's Costume Contest.

With all the drama out of the way, everyone settled in. Bert sat down with Sheldon and Amy to talk about Asymmetry with Stuart pretending to be interested. Sheldon and Amy had to admit they were impressed at what Bert seemed to understand.

While Bert was involved in that, Howard and Bernadette sat with Rebecca. Bernadette spoke up, so how did you and Bert meet?"

"On the internet."

Howard looked at Bernadette, "What attracted him to you?"

"He just looked like a nice guy."

Just then Bert joined them. Howard turned to him, "Rebecca was telling us how you met."

Bert smiled, "Yeah. I hadn't ever done that before but Stuart talked me into it."

He smiled ruefully, "At first, I didn't get a response. But then someone suggested I put on there how I won the MacArthur Fellowship grant…" He turned to Rebecca, "And I met my soul mate."

Howard and Bernadette had a tough time hiding their reaction but Rebecca just smiled up at him.

Leonard and Penny were talking to Wayne and Barb.

Wayne spoke up, "I just want you to know how much we appreciated you asking us to this party. You guys have really been great."

Penny smiled, "We invited you because you're our friends and we like to spend time with you."

Leonard added, "And those costumes are great." He hesitated, "You know, there is a Costume Contest at the Comic Book Store on New Year's Eve. With the way you guys look in those costumes, we would have a good chance of winning."

Penny broke in, "Leave them alone, Leonard, I am sure they can find something better to do on New Year's Eve."

Barb looked at Wayne, "No, that sounds great. We would love to take part."

After a moment, Barb said proudly, "We have some big news. Wayne is taking classes at night. He is working to get an associate degree in Accounting."

Wayne broke in, "It's not a big deal. I just thought maybe…"

Penny spoke up, "Don't sell yourself short. It sounds like a great idea." She hesitated and looked at Leonard, "We are really proud of you."

"I haven't got it yet. I am just starting."

Leonard smiled, "You can't finish unless you start. Penny and I know you can do it."

Afterwards, no one was sure where the idea came from but suddenly it was decided they would play a game of couples Never Have I Ever between Howard and Bernadette, Wayne and Barb, Bert and Rebecca, Sheldon and Amy and Penny and Leonard. They would play until one team had five points. The woman from the losing team would have to kiss Stuart and Raj.

Wayne and Barb started it off and took an easy shot at Penny and Leonard, "Never have I ever appeared in a commercial."

Penny and Leonard glared at them.

Penny went next. She had thought of saying she had never been in prison but wasn't sure Wayne was that comfortable around everyone yet. She finally said, "Never have I ever rode a motorcycle across the country."

Bernadette turned to Howard, "That does not mean riding that silly scooter around town."

Howard and Bernadette went next and decided to hit a few teams, "Never have I ever been a Doctor."

Sheldon and Amy went next, "Never have I ever performed stupid magic tricks."

Bert and Rebecca finished the first round, "Never have I ever won a Nobel Prize."

Leonard and Penny glared at everyone, Penny spoke up, "What's this about going after us?"

Score after first round Leonard and Penny 3, Sheldon and Amy 1, Wayne and Barb 1, Bert and Rebecca 1, Howard and Bernadette, 1

The next round they went in reverse order starting with Bert and Rebecca. "Never have I ever played basketball."

Everyone stared at them, but they just shrugged, "We couldn't think of anything."

Everyone was a little surprised when Barb and Wayne said they had.

Barb turned to Penny, "You never played?"

"Just shot a few baskets at home, not on a team or anything."

Sheldon jumped in, "That counts."

Penny was stunned, "You mean, none of you even did that?" Then she realized who she was talking to, "Never mind, I didn't think that out."

With four points, Penny and Leonard were in trouble. Sheldon and Amy decided to finish them off. Knowing of Penny's errant youth, Sheldon figured she must have been in trouble some time, "Never have I ever been arrested."

He was shocked when Wayne and Barb had to take a point. Bert stared at Rebecca when she said they would have too also.

But the biggest blow came when Leonard said, "Didn't you once get arrested for Jaywalking?"

Sheldon quickly said, "That doesn't count."

Penny quickly said, "If I get hung for shooting a few baskets, it counts."

With the scores now being, Leonard and Penny 4, Sheldon and Amy 2, Wayne and Barb 3, Bert and Rebecca 2, Howard and Bernadette 1, Penny decided their only hope was Wayne and Barb.

There were obvious ones like never was my mother a prostitute or never did I have a half-brother, but she didn't want to risk either of those. Finally, she just decided to give up and just catch Sheldon and Amy, "Never have I ever played the harp."

To her utter amazement, she hit the jackpot. It appeared Barb, Rebecca, and Amy had played.

Wayne and Barb wondered what to do. They knew they could win the game. All they had to do was say Never have I ever been married. They wished now they hadn't gone after Penny and Leonard before. But then they decided it was just a game and they should play to win.

"Never have I ever been married."

Of course, both Penny and Leonard and Sheldon and Amy had to admit to it. Bert was again surprised when Rebecca owned up to it too. He started to wonder what all he didn't know about her.

With the decision made, Penny walked over to Stuart and Raj who were waiting in anticipation. She got near them and acted like she was going to embrace them. At the last moment she quickly kissed them on their foreheads. Everyone laughed at the look on their faces when she finished.

The party broke up soon after that and Penny made sure Leonard was the big winner for the night.

All in all, the party went well and Penny and Leonard marveled again at the wonderful friends they had.

As the month of November began, everyone looked forward to the holidays and the coming year with excitement and hope.