Author's note: Let's move forward a couple of years.
Chapter 50
"Daddy again!" Sarah said while pulling on Leonard's collar.
"Aww honey, I'm tired." said Leonard. "And you're getting heavier everyday!"
"But I wanna play horse again daddy! Please!" Sarah said, giving her father a sad face, playing on his obvious love for her.
Leonard sighed, knowing that he doesn't stand a chance against his daughter. "Okay fine. But this will be the last time, alright?"
"I promise daddy." Sarah said as Leonard slowly got down and let his daughter climb on his back to play horse. "This is so much fun!" she added.
"This is not gonna be fun for my back when I get older." said Leonard as he continued to pretend on being a horse while his daughter laughed, happy in riding her father on his back.
"Buster, come and catch me if you can!" Sarah yelled as the dog happily played with her, trying to get on Leonard's back as well.
"Buster stop that! I can't carry both of you on my back!" said Leonard while Sarah happily rode him.
"Come on daddy! Giddy up!" Sarah yelled as she held tightly on his shirt while Penny came out from the house to join them.
"Hey you guys! Playing horse again huh?" Penny said while rubbing the dog's head.
"Uh huh! I wish I had a real horse mommy." said Sarah.
"Where are you gonna keep it then?" Penny asked.
"What do you mean?" said the little girl.
"Well if we have a horse, we need a barn for it to sleep in, we need lots of hay and water for it's food and we need a lot of open space so it can run around and stay strong." said Penny. "So for now, you have to be content with your daddy, okay?"
"I guess." said Sarah as Leonard laid on the lawn, tired after being ridden by his daughter, pulling her close to hug the young princess.
"Ugh, you are so heavy now! I don't think I can carry you on my back next time!" he said as Penny laughed, amused by her husband and daughter.
William arrived, opening the gate and seeing his parents and sister playing on the lawn.
"Hey sweetie! Where have you been?" said Penny.
"Mom, dad, there's someone looking for you." said William as he pointed at the three men behind him.
Leonard turned around and was surprised to see his three best friends, Sheldon, Howard and Raj standing at the front of the gate.
Sheldon ran and hugged Leonard tight, crying at seeing his best friend after a long time. "Leonard!" said Sheldon as he cried on his shoulder.
"Hey buddy, it's so nice to see you again!" Leonard said, consoling his friend while rubbing his back. "It's alright Sheldon, I'm glad to see you too!"
"We missed you so much Leonard. It was never the same without you." Sheldon said as Howard and Raj joined in hugging their friend.
"How did you guys find me anyway?" Leonard asked.
Howard shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Well...I might have lured that writer from Wired Magazine into letting me borrow his laptop when he visited CalTech and find out about his recent travels. From there it was a walk in the park." he said making them all laugh.
"Oh my god! I can't believe you would do something like that?" Leonard said.
"Believe it dude. Sheldon and I had to distract him while Howard hacks into his laptop." said Raj, laughing with them.
"Come in! Come in! Let me introduce you to my family!" said Leonard. "Of course you guys have met Penny and my son William...and this young princess is my daughter Sarah...honey, say hello to your uncles Sheldon, Howard and Raj." he said as he lifted his daughter onto his arms.
"Hello!" Sarah said while holding on to her father.
"Hello Sarah! Wow, you look just like your mother huh?" said Howard, lightly touching her hand.
"Everyone says that about me." said Sarah.
"Guys, why don't you come in?" said Penny as Leonard led them towards the house. "You guys want a beer? Pepsi maybe?"
"Thank you Penny, a beer would be nice." said Howard.
"Me too." said Raj.
"Pepsi for me." said Sheldon.
Leonard suddenly turned around and looked at Raj. "Hold on, have you been drinking alcohol?" he asked.
"Uh, no. Why do you ask?" said Raj.
"You talked to my wife just now? How is that possible?" said Leonard.
"Oh that!? He's been doing that for a couple of years now!" said Howard. "His girlfriend dumped him out of the blue then all of a sudden...BAM!...he could talk to women!" he added.
Leonard laughed. "Wow that is amazing! I really missed a lot of things back home huh?" he said as they sat in the living room. Sheldon then looked around, unable to decide where to sit because it was his first time being there.
"Daddy, what's wrong with him?" Sarah asked her father.
Leonard sighed. "Nothing is wrong with him honey." he said before turning to Sheldon. "Sheldon just sit down!" he said, startling Sheldon into sitting beside Howard and Raj.
"I'm sorry, but it's my first time here and I'm not familiar with the airflow and heat distribution of this house." said Sheldon as William and Sarah stared at him, unable to understand his behavior.
"I don't get it daddy." said Sarah to her father.
Leonard laughed. "Don't worry honey. No one would get it too." he told his daughter. "I guess some things never change huh?"
"Not necessarily Leonard, Sheldon is actually seeing someone right now!" said Howard.
"You have a girlfriend Sheldon?" asked Leonard as Penny came back, carrying a tray of drinks for her husband and his friends.
"Sheldon has a girlfriend? What's her name?" asked Penny.
"Okay, let's make something clear as I've said before. Yes, I have a friend and she is a girl, we communicate daily, but she isn't my girlfriend." said Sheldon.
"What's her name?" asked Leonard as Penny sat beside him.
"Her name is Amy Farrah Fowler." said Sheldon. "And we met online thanks to Howard and Raj putting my information into one of those dating websites." he added.
"Well, do you have a picture of her?" asked Penny.
Sheldon nodded and pulled out his phone, showing the screen to Leonard and his family.
"Hmm, she is kinda cute huh?" Penny said, smiling at Sheldon. "What do you think sweetie? They look cute huh?" she asked her daughter.
"I guess." said Sarah before looking up to Sheldon. "Are you gonna marry her uncle Sheldon?" asked the little girl, surprising them all.
"Yeah Sheldon, are you going to marry her?" asked Leonard, trying to get Sheldon to open up with something unfamiliar to him.
"Why would I even marry her? We haven't even held held hands." Sheldon asked, clearly agitated with Leonard's question.
"Well, do you like her?" Penny asked, piling up on what Leonard said as Howard and Raj smiled, nodding in agreement.
Sheldon thought for a while. "I don't dislike her." he said making Leonard and Penny sigh, amused by his non-committed response.
"You talk funny uncle Sheldon." said Sarah.
Penny held her daughter. "Sweetie, that's not a nice thing to say."
"But it's true mommy. He talks funny. Like the robot in that TV show that daddy likes to watch." said Sarah making Leonard and William laugh.
"It's alright Sarah." said Sheldon.
"How about you Howard? What's new with you?" asked Penny.
"Believe it or not, but Howard here is getting married soon." said Raj, surprising the couple.
"Oh my god, congratulations! What's her name? Tell us how you proposed?" said Penny.
"Yeah, tell us. How did you guys meet?" said Leonard.
"Well, her name's Bernadette and I met her at the restaurant where she's working." said Howard before continuing. "She's working there to support herself through college."
"What is she studying?" asked Leonard.
"She's studying microbiology." said Howard. "She's actually in the middle of her dissertation now so I guess she'll be getting her doctorate a few months from now."
"That is amazing. I'm so happy for you Howard." said Leonard.
"Thanks Leonard." said Howard.
"Leonard, why did you leave us?" asked Sheldon, surprising Leonard and the others.
Leonard took a deep breath and looked at Penny, telling her silently to take the kids away so he can talk to his friends. "Come on kids, your dad and his friends need some space so they could talk." said Penny.
"But mommy, I want to hear more stories from them." said Sarah.
"Don't worry honey, I'll tell you everything later, okay?" Leonard told his daughter as Penny led the kids to the backyard.
Leonard faced his friends, knowing that they had many things to talk about. "Sheldon, I'm sorry if you felt that I abandoned you without even saying goodbye but it was the only way I know how." he said before continuing. "I had to leave because it was the only way I know how to stay sane. My life was going nowhere so I had to leave to start over even if I had no idea where to begin."
Sheldon, Howard and Raj kept quiet as Leonard continued with his story. "When I came here, I was as lost as ever. I didn't know where to start so I learned how to ride a motorcycle and started exploring the whole island. Then one day, I saw this other tourist in the hotel where I'm staying complaining about his TV on the front desk. I told them I could help out and that's when my job as a handyman started." said Leonard.
"What about Penny?" asked Raj.
"I met her after three months of staying here. Her TV was acting up and then I saw her having some trouble with her laptop so I helped her with that too. I guess that's how it started for both of us." said Leonard.
"You never went anywhere else but here for almost ten years?" asked Howard.
"Oh we've traveled back to the states several times." said Leonard.
"And you never even bothered to call or write us?" asked Sheldon. "How could you do this Leonard."
Leonard sighed. "Sheldon, I'm sorry if you think that I've forgotten about you guys. And I don't have an excuse for not calling or writing. I hope you could forgive me." he said.
"You don't have to explain Leonard." said Howard before facing Sheldon. "Sheldon you have to understand, Leonard is happy with his life now. He has a good wife...two adorable kids...a good job...I mean, what else could he ask for?" he said.
Leonard tapped Howard on his shoulder. "Thank you Howard. I appreciate it." he said.
Sheldon took a deep breath and wiped the tear off his cheek. "I guess you're right Howard." he said.
"At least we know that Leonard is well and happy." said Raj.
Sheldon nodded. "I understand." he said. "I guess I just never imagined seeing you having a family and playing with your daughter, living a quiet life."
"Thank you Sheldon. It means a lot to me." said Leonard, pulling Sheldon in for a hug.
"It was never the same without you Leonard." said Raj. "Every time we went to the movies or the comic book store, we always hoped that you'd be there, browsing over the new releases or checking some action figures in Stuart's counter."
"How is Stuart by the way?" asked Leonard.
"He's still the same as you left him." said Howard. "Although, he's currently seeing this girl Denise. Can you believe it?"
"Stuart's got a girlfriend too?" asked Leonard, laughing a little.
"Yeah, they're both awkward and weird!" said Howard. "It's like they were made for each other, like Peter Parker and Mary Jane!" he added as they all laughed.
Sheldon stood up looking at the white board on the wall. "I've been working on that for almost six months now but I can't seem to reconcile the terms. It's like a big carpet, I pull on one corner and the other three just messes up." said Leonard.
"Well, you do see where the problem is, right?" asked Sheldon without taking his eyes off the board.
"Sheldon, if I knew then you wouldn't see this on the board right now." said Leonard. "Do you see something?" he asked as he stood beside Sheldon, looking at the board.
"I guess I could take a shot at it." said Sheldon.
Raj stood up and took a couple of board markers from Leonard's desk. "Why don't we try this?" he said as he wrote on the blank space on the board.
Howard took one of the markers and joined Raj. "What if we use this instead?" he said, writing on the other side of the board.
"I think you're onto something Raj." said Sheldon, taking the marker from Howard and started writing on the board. "Leonard?" said Sheldon.
"What is it buddy?" asked Leonard.
"I think you better open up your laptop in case we come up with something here." said Sheldon as they continued with their calculations, doing the thing they do best.
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After almost an hour, Penny and the kids returned to the living room, finding the guys busy in having a discussion while Leonard typed on his computer along with Raj and Howard, checking to see if he's doing it correctly while Sheldon finishes his work on the board.
"Honey, what are you guys doing?" asked Penny.
"We're doing a paper honey." Leonard gladly said. "Sheldon saw a way through my equations and Howard and Raj are helping out as well!"
"Really?" Penny said as Sarah went to her father, squeezing under his arms to sit on his lap.
"Daddy, what are you doing?" asked the little girl, snuggling up her father.
"We're doing some math and science honey!" said Leonard, kissing his daughter on the cheek as William went near.
"Is that real math? It looks funny with all these squiggly lines." said Sarah, making them all laugh.
"It's math for grown-ups honey, and your uncles are helping me finish it." said Leonard.
"What does this one mean dad?" William pointed at the screen.
"That, is an N-dimensional submanifold of M connected to subcomponents of this." he said pointing at the screen. "I know it looks confusing but when you grow up, I promise I'll teach it to you, alright?" he said to his son.
"Are these even letters daddy? They look like funny worms." said Sarah making them all laugh.
"They do look like worms right?" said Leonard, hugging his daughter tight while nibbling on her neck, making the girl scream with laughter.
"Daddy stop it!" Sarah said when Buster came running in, scaring Sheldon and making him get up on the couch.
"Leonard!" Sheldon yelled, slightly scaring the kids. "Get that attack poodle away from me!" he yelled as Leonard tried to keep the dog from getting near Sheldon. Buster barked and wagged his tail at Sheldon, wanting him to pet his head.
"Aww don't be scared Sheldon. Can't you see he just wants to be friends with you?" said Raj, picking up the dog, rubbing it's head and scratching it's belly, making the dog lick his face. "Aww, you're so sweet." said Raj as Howard joined in, tickling the dog.
"See that Sheldon? He's completely harmless!" said Howard.
Sarah stepped forward and took the dog from Raj. "Come here Buster. Don't be scared." she said as the dog licked her face as Sheldon stepped off from the couch, calming down a bit.
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The guys stayed for the rest of the afternoon, finishing up the first draft of their paper while Penny prepared dinner with the kids helping her out. Penny looked at her husband and saw a different Leonard as he exchanged ideas with his best friends while doing their math and science. She somehow realized that although they are happy with where they are right now, maybe it's time for them to come back home and return to their life in California. What more could she ask for, she thought...they're happily married...they have two smart and wonderful kids...their life is great and she wouldn't ask for anything more.
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After dinner, Sheldon, Howard and Raj said their goodbyes to Leonard and his family, promising to visit them again the next day and the day after that until they go back to the states.
Penny laid her head on his shoulder as they lay naked on the bed after making love.
"That was great right?" said Leonard, hugging his wife tight.
Penny laughed a little while tightening her arm around him. "Uh huh." she said.
"Honey?" Leonard said.
"Yeah?" said Penny. "What is it?"
Leonard moved slightly and faced his wife. "I was thinking, maybe it's time for us to go home...you know...back to California?"
Penny smiled and kissed his lips. "Honey, I was thinking of the same thing." she said.
Leonard smiled at her, surprised at what Penny said. "Really?"
Penny nodded. "And what made you suddenly decide to go back?" she asked. "Is it because your little hide and seek with your friends is over?" she added, teasing her husband.
Leonard laughed, smelling Penny's hair. "No, it's not that. I just thought that maybe it's time for us to come home." he said. "What about you?"
"Leonard, I'm happy wherever we are, as long as we're together with the kids." said Penny.
"How do we tell them anyway?" asked Leonard.
"The usual I guess. I mean, I know William would be excited to go back to the states." said Penny.
"How about our princess? Do you think she would want to come with us to California?" Leonard asked.
"Don't worry, we'll tell her we'll visit Nebraska and show her the horses in my dad's barn." Penny said making Leonard laugh at her how well his wife knew how to coax Sarah into anything by using the things she likes against her.
"You are so smart." said Leonard.
"Hey, you're not the only genius around the house!" said Penny.
Leonard pulled her close and started kissing her again while moving on top. "No I'm not." he said as Penny wrapped her arms around his neck as they lock their lips, trying to stay quiet while making love for a second time.