A/N Hi all, it's been rather hectic around here. Besides Real Life, in which there are medical things happening, along with some things I'm working on, I found several points, in this chapter, where I had some places that were different from previous chapters and later chapters. So, of course, I had to go back and re-write, and also thought of something else to add, which worked out, because I had to cut a couple of things and move a couple of others to different chapters, due to the differences.

I do want to point out something. You might be shocked, but the information at the end of the chapter was accurate for 2020 (you'll know it when you see it). I know I was, but, it allowed me to turn it into an interesting storyline as it will require Lenny to make some decisions as to what they will do in the future.

And a point of Geography, Ontario, in addition to being a Canadian province, is also a city in California. They weren't thinking of moving THAT far east.

Chapter 48

Sunday 16 March, 5:00 PM

Leonard and Penny had just started getting ready to go out for dinner. They had spent the morning and afternoon, looking at different houses, in various locations throughout the LA basin and the surrounding area. They found several in Pasadena, but none of them were near the price they were considering.

It was proving to be a difficult chore, to find a four-bedroom, two or three-bath house, for less than $700,000. They had finally found several, but they were quite a distance from Pasadena. They were either far to the East, in Ontario or Fontana, or, far to the South, in Long Beach or Torrance. As he was getting a shower, Leonard began wondering if they might have to consider either paying more or accepting there would be a longer commute.

Monday 16 March, 9:30 AM

Leonard's team had just finished running the combined test on all six modules. There were some anomalous readings, and now that they had at the control module in, they could see the problem was again in module number four, and the team had started troubleshooting the problem.

Meanwhile, the next two modules were being completed and tested, so Leonard walked over to see how that was going. Keith explained both teams were confident that they would be ready to go onto the device, as soon as they figured out what the problem was on module four.

Leonard nodded, told Keith he had to prepare for a meeting with Dr. Gablehauser, then would be going to lunch, and be gone for the afternoon. If they couldn't get the number four module working by four, shut everything down, and go get the replacement number four module, so they could start prepping that in the morning. If there was a question to call him, but he would be in early tomorrow. With that, Leonard left the lab, heading back to his office.

Monday 16 March, 11:00 AM

Penny had spent almost two hours with Dan and he was quite happy with the decisions Penny had made, and the explanations, on the problems he had given her. There were a few minor issues, one could possibly have been due to a couple of ambiguously written statements. Once he clarified the statements, Penny quickly came to the correct conclusion.

They had then gone over a couple of the chapters of the management book. Penny asking several questions she had written down. Dan assigned her another two chapters, along with giving her three more problems, telling her to turn them in tomorrow afternoon.

But, for now, after returning to her office, Penny checked her voice messages and emails. She answered several before turning to the new problems Dan had given her. She looked each of them over for a few minutes, to get an idea of what the problems were. And then prepared to head to lunch, and with Leonard to her doctor's appointment. After the appointment, they would both be going to the credit union, to apply for a mortgage.

Penny shut off her computer and quickly stood and started walking. She got just past her desk when she started feeling dizzy and her vision became gray. She reached out for the chair in front of her desk and was able to touch the armrest, which she grabbed and used to guide herself into the chair.

She sat there for a few minutes until the dizziness went away, and her vision returned to normal. She then slowly got up, and slowly walked across the street to the restaurant for lunch.

Monday 16 March, 1:05 PM

Leonard and Penny were still waiting for Dr. Samuels, which was unusual. When she arrived, Penny had been taken back to give a blood sample, be weighed, and have her blood pressure taken. The nurse then took her back out to the waiting room. It normally took only a few more minutes for Dr. Samuels to come out and get them, but it was now after one.

Ten minutes later, Dr. Samuels came out and called them into her office. They walked back, sat down, and waited while Dr. Samuels looked over some paperwork. Finally, she looked up and said, "Ok, your weight is good, as is your blood pressure. All your tests are good, except one, your Hemoglobin."

"I explained four weeks ago that we would like it above 12 and, at that time, it was 12.1," said Dr. Samuels. "Last time, it was the same, but today, it was only 11.5. We reran the test, on the same sample, and got an 11.4, which is why I was a bit late coming to get you. If it gets any lower, we may have to do something about it." Dr. Samuels handed Penny a piece of paper. "But, for now, this is a list of high iron foods, I would like you to eat more of them, and we'll check your levels at your next appointment."

"Before we start, do you have any questions?" asked Dr. Samuels.

"Yes, and this just happened," said Penny. "When I got up from my desk, to leave for lunch, I got dizzy and my vision grayed out." At this, Leonard looked very concerned, but Penny continued, "I sat back down until I felt better, then slowly got up. I walked over to the restaurant and when I got out of my chair there, I did it slowly, and it didn't repeat. Is this something normal?"

Dr. Samuels nodded, "Yes, it can be. With all the changes going on in your body, sometimes, especially if you stand up too quickly, your body will react the way yours did. Just make sure you stand up slowly, and there shouldn't be any problems. But, if you do stand up slowly, and it happens, or it happens while you're walking, call me immediately, as it could mean a bigger problem."

Penny nodded, and then Dr. Samuels told Penny to get up on the exam table, and they would start the ultrasound. While Dr. Samuels started the machine, Penny got up on the table, slightly pulled down her pants, and pulled up her top, leaving her stomach bare. Dr. Samuels put the gel on the end of the wand, then started moving the wand around.

She did this for several minutes, stopping to change the settings, or to move the wand, until suddenly she stopped and said, "Hey, look at this."

She spun the monitor around, so Leonard and Penny could see it, and Dr. Samuels moved the wand a tiny bit, stopped, and pointed, "Look, this one, can you see it?"

Penny gasped and Leonard looked surprised, but they could clearly see the one looked like it was sucking its thumb.

"Leonard, look, it's sucking its thumb," said Penny, with tears forming in her eyes.

"Yep, it is," said Dr. Samuels. She moved the wand and the baby could clearly be seen with its thumb in its mouth. "Can you see it clearer now?"

Both Penny and Leonard said, "Yes," and Dr. Samuels pushed a button, then shut off the machine, passed wipes and a towel to Penny, and said she'd be right back. Penny cleaned off and just as she was finished with the towel, Dr. Samuels came back in. She sat behind the desk and Leonard and Penny sat in the chairs.

"Here you go," said Dr. Samuels. "It's an image of one of your daughters sucking her thumb."

Leonard and Penny looked at the image and both of them had big grins. Meanwhile, Dr. Samuels looked at the papers and did some calculations. Finally, she stopped and looked up, "Okay, baby A is about 9 inches long and baby B is about 7 inches. As for weight, baby A is 15 ounces and baby B is 13. "

"What does the difference mean?" asked Penny, sounding concerned.

"How do you determine which is baby A and baby B?" asked Leonard.

"The differences mean nothing, really," said Dr. Samuels. "In most cases, twins usually are different sizes in the womb, and when born. Except in extreme cases, and they aren't, right now, they quickly make up the difference after being born."

"As for which is which, baby A is positioned lower in the womb, and is the bigger one," said Dr. Samuels. Turning back to Penny, she said, "Have you been feeling them move?"

"Just little movements," said Penny. "I felt one big movement about a week ago. It really felt like a punch."

"After your next visit, I'll give you instructions on measuring the movements. We'll want you to do that about every other day, from there on out. Other than that, I've got nothing else. Any questions for me?"

Both Penny and Leonard shook their heads.

"Okay, we'll see you in the two weeks," said Dr. Samuels.

Leonard and Penny got up and made their way to the reception desk, made their appointment, and left, both driving to the bank, to apply for a home loan.

Monday 17 March, 2:45 PM

Leonard and Penny walked into their credit union together and talked to the receptionist. She indicated where they should sit, and then called someone. Five minutes later an older man came out and called them into his office. He introduced himself as James Harris and asked what he could help them with.

Penny and Leonard explained about wanting to buy a house and were looking to see what kind of mortgage they could afford before they started looking for specific houses. Leonard explained they had looked at several over the weekend and were trying to find what they wanted at around $700,000, however, they didn't find any close to Pasadena, at that price, and were thinking they may have to go higher. Leonard asked if it was possible to apply and let the credit union tell them how much of a mortgage they could get.

Mr. Harris told them, yes, they could apply and let the mortgage committee tell them what amount they could get, provided the house came back valued at least for the amount they would be paying. He then let them know what they were going to need, and Penny pulled out all their financial information from her purse. Over the next ninety minutes, Mr Harris filled out the loan application, using the information Leonard and Penny provided. After finishing he printed out one copy, and then went over it, with Lenard and Penny, satisfying all three that the application was filled out correctly.

When they were done, he printed out two more copies, and then made two copies of all the financial and identification information Leonard and Penny had given him. Mr. Harris had them sign all three copies, gave one back to them, and then explained that the application would go before a review committee. They would check it over and after that send it to the mortgage committee. He told them that if everything on the application was good, they should get an answer, one way or another, by Friday. They both rose, and left the credit union, on their way home.

Tuesday 17 March, 3:05 PM

Penny was walking back to her office. She had handed in the three problems and had gotten three more back. Again, she had to work hard to think the problems through, but Dan had been very happy with all her results. Even one that Dan originally thought wasn't right, until Penny explained her decision, based on sales routes and some sales data.

She had also gone through the two new chapters Dan had given her in the management book. She knew she was working her brain harder than it had ever been worked, but Penny was very proud of herself, after Dan told her how well her decisions, and her study of management was going.

She would have to work on the problems tonight, as she would be going out into the field tomorrow. She was going to check on Karen, and make a stop to see one of the other salespeople, before coming back to her office. She looked at the clock and realized that she could get some of the problem work completed, and then finish up at home.

Leonard would be picking up Thai food on the way home.

Although Sheldon no longer lived with them, and they no longer used his schedule, it did make an appearance every now and then, mostly with the food eaten on certain days of the week. Penny smiled at some memories, and started in on the three problems.

Tuesday 17 March, 5:05 PM

Leonard was running late and had just got back to his office. It had taken to just before noon today, to move the unique circuit boards to the new number four module and install it in the machine. It was just after 1 PM, when the module passed the internal test, and until just a few minutes ago, for all six to pass the combined test.

His team had already prepared and tested modules seven and eight while waiting to find and fix the problem with the number four module. While the combined test was in progress, part of the team started preparing modules nine and ten. He was hoping that this would allow them to put seven and eight on the machine tomorrow, and nine and ten onto the machine on Thursday, adding the final two modules on Friday.

However, losing today trying to get the number four module working could jeopardize doing the final checks next Monday and Tuesday. Which could delay the test run planned for Wednesday and the first actual run on Friday. He had worked through the problems, in his head, and had talked with the rest of the team, individually. He called everyone over to him and went over the new timeline for getting everything together, running the tests, and doing the actual run.

He had taken some time to make a few phone calls, during lunch and now he had a couple of stops to make, before heading home. He had hoped to leave the campus by 4:30 PM, but figuring out and explaining the new timeline for finishing the equipment, and running the tests had taken longer than he thought.

He quickly went through his emails and voicemails, having to answer a couple of them, requiring some time to look a few things up. As a result, he didn't leave his office until 5:30, and now he was going to have to hurry to make his planned stops, get dinner, and, finally, get home in time.

Tuesday 17 March, 6:45 PM

Leonard had made his two stops, spoke quickly with the people there before heading home. He was thinking about what he had learned and was both upset and deep in thought, while he drove home. He found a place to park in front of the building and opened his car door and started to get out. But, when he reached over to get his messenger bag, he swore, "Damn, it, I forgot to get dinner."

He pulled the door closed, took out his keys and started the car, heading back to the Thai restaurant to get dinner. It took him ten minutes to get there, and he ordered both his and Penny's favorite dishes, some extra rice, and waited while they prepared it.

He finally got back to the apartment, having to park well down the street, at 7:30.

"Where have you been?" asked Penny

Leonard looked downcast as he walked in, and just mumbled something Penny didn't understand. He put the food on the island, got plates and put their dinner on the plates, while Penny poured the wine, before telling Penny dinner was ready. They both sat at the island, with Penny talking about her day, and Leonard not saying much.

Finally, Penny said, "What the hell is wrong with you? I should be feeling bad with all the extra work I'm putting in. But, you were late and didn't call, you're mumbling and not talking and you look like you lost your last friend, so what's wrong with you?"

Leonard rubbed his face, then said, "I talked to the Caltech Childcare center today."

Penny looked surprised, "Really?"

"Yeah, and then I stopped by a couple of other places," said Leonard.

"Why, I thought we agreed on Caltech's as being the easiest way to do it?"

Leonard paused, "It will be, but I found out today, it's going to be $2300 a month, for each kid."

Penny looked shocked, "How much?"