A/N Real life has intruded and I'm now only four chapters ahead, of publishing. I'm hoping the next month will allow me to get back to 8-10 ahead, but that's going to mean getting two first-draft chapters a week out. Here's hoping, and if not, I may have to go to an every 10-day update. For the next couple of weeks I'm good, just giving you a heads up, just in case. And now, on to why Priya is there. And, why is she holding a toddler?
Chapter 52
Saturday 04 April 2:05 PM
Leonard was stuttering, trying to get some kind of answer out of his mouth. Priya was looking at him with a wicked grin. Penny had her own grin, hearing Leonard flail around, trying to get the words out, while she looked at Priya. Priya had put on a few pounds here and there, thought Penny, but in places where the extra weight looked really good on her. Penny thought Priya looked fantastic, and felt like a cow, in comparison, next to her.
"It's nice to see you too, Priya," said Penny, continuing to grin and pointing to the stuttering Leonard, "But, as you can see very unexpected."
Priya chuckled, "Of course, it's been a few years and I understand why you might not have expected me. Howard, not I, is the one that thought it would be a good idea to keep it from you. By the way, this is, Aadav, my son and he's 3 and a half years old. My daughter, Parushi, is here somewhere, maybe with the other children."
Penny saw Priya look at her, and Penny smiled, "Yeah, I'm right at 25 weeks, with twins, and I'm starting to feel like a cow…oh, sorry."
Priya looked surprised, "Raj told me you were pregnant, but he didn't know, for sure, how far along you were and he never mentioned twins. And you shouldn't feel like a cow, you look great for 25 weeks with twins. You should have seen me with, this one here." She jiggled her son up and down, then smiled, "I had to work really hard to get the weight off, and, don't worry about the cow comment."
"Is your husband here?" asked Penny.
"Yeah, he's in with Rajesh, Sheldon, and Stuart, " said Priya.
Leonard finally got his voice back, "What are you doing in Southern California?"
"I have some legal work with my company," said Priya. "Sanjay managed to get some time off from the call center."
"Er, Sanjay?" said Leonard questioningly.
"Yes, that Sanjay," said Priya. "I hope you're not still upset by that."
"No, no, I'm not," said Leonard. "I mean, Penny and I got back together shortly after, so, I can't really be mad."
"Good," said Priya, she turned toward Penny, "we were in a good place when I left, I hope it's still okay."
"Well, I'll be honest. I was really pissed at you, just before you left. When I found out how you hadn't told him you were leaving," said Penny.
Priya shrugged, but nodded indicating she understood, "I can understand that."
Penny continued, "But, yeah, I'm over it, because while at least he was honest, he did kiss another woman, something he has a history of doing" Penny looked at Leonard, "But, we ended up together, so it all worked out."
Priya chuckled, "I'm glad you got back together, but I thought you would have gotten back as soon as I left."
Penny and Leonard looked at one another, then back at Priya, both wondering if she knew about that night between Raj and Penny.
"Oh, come on, it was obvious you both still had feelings for each other," said Priya. "That's why I asked him to stay away from you, but after I decided to go back to India, I just took a chance at the hospital, it worked. I wasn't mad about him talking to you anymore."
Penny and Leonard nodded, thinking she really didn't know.
"Anyway, I'll see if I can find my husband," said Priya, who walked through the door into the dining area.
Penny turned angrily to Bernadette and Howard.
"What?" said Bernadette.
"Howard, you're an ass" growled Penny.
"Guilty," said Howard, smiling.
Penny shook her head and looked at Bernadette, "That's why you wanted us to come, not for Raj."
Bernadette couldn't hide her smile.
"Howard I can understand, but you could have told us," said Penny. "I thought we were better friends than this."
"What, and miss both your faces when she turned around?" said Howard laughing.
"I talked to her and it wasn't like she was holding a grudge," said Bernadette. "She was really excited to see the both of you, so I figured a bit of deception couldn't hurt."
Leonard and Penny scowled at both of them, but they did see the humor in the situation, and their scowls gave way to a bit of a grin. Before they could say anything else, Priya came back through the door, still carrying Aadav. Bernadette and Howard left and then a short, lean, man and a beautiful little girl came walking in. Penny thought the man was very well dressed and would have thought him handsome, except for the scowl on his face.
"Sanjay, this is Dr. Leonard Hofstadter," said Priya. "Leonard, this is Sanjay Kirtikar, my husband."
Leonard, trying to be nice, smiled and extended his hand for a handshake, but Sanjay paused.
"Don't be a child Sanjay," said Priya, "Leonard and I broke up over eight years ago."
Sanjay glanced at Priya, Penny thought he looked angry, then turned back to Leonard to extend his hand, as they shook hands.
Priya continued, "Sanjay, this is Leonard's wife, Penny. They've been together, on and off for about twelve years, so please don't act up because you think you have something to worry about."
Sanjay again glanced at Priya, then turned towards Penny with a less angry look, before extending his hand and shaking Penny's.
Penny looked down, smiled, and said, "And, who is this beautiful girl?"
Priya smiled and said, "This is Parushi. Parushi, this is Penny Hofstadter."
Parushi curtsied and said, holding out her hand, "Hello Miss Hofstadter". Penny was impressed that she got the name right, and wondered if Priya had coached her.
Penny shook hands with Parushi, and then Priya said, "And this is Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, he is a friend of your Uncle Rajesh."
"Hello, Dr. Hofstadter," said Parushi, holding out her hand.
Leonard shook it and said, "Hello Parushi."
"What does Parushi mean?" asked Penny.
"It means beautiful and intelligent," said Priya.
Penny smiled, "Well, she is certainly beautiful," said Penny. "She's just adorable."
Priya smiled, "Thank you, and she is quite intelligent, doing very well in school."
Sanjay turned and went back into the dining area. Priya watched him leave, looked at Leonard and Penny, and sighed, "I'm sorry, he has been a bit of a pain about this since he found out Leonard was going to be here. I'm not sure why; he won't tell me. I keep trying to tell him, Leonard and I ended up with who we should be with, and it's been eight years since we went out. But, he still seems to have trouble dealing with it."
"It's okay Priya," said Leonard.
At that moment, Bernadette called out that the food was ready, and everyone gathered outside. The food and drinks were on the picnic table, as were paper plates and cups. The kids had their own plastic picnic table to sit on, while the adults found chairs scattered around the backyard, although Sheldon, as usual, found the seating terrible. He also thought eating outside was ridiculous and unsanitary.
Over the next few hours, Priya filled everyone in on her life. She had continued at the car company and was now a VP in the legal department. She and Sanjay had gotten married about a year and a half after she had gone back to India, and they now had a seven-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son. She explained Sanjay worked in a call center, which handled European customers of Microsoft. He had just been promoted to the VP of technology, so he was in charge of all the hardware, for the call center company.
She was in LA, for a couple of weeks, because the negotiations were at a sensitive point, and she had previously worked with several of the executives. She had asked to stay on for four weeks of vacation after the two weeks of work and had brought Sanjay and the kids. They were planning on spending two weeks in LA, visiting the major theme parks and other tourist spots, like the studios, before going to San Fransisco for a few days, then a few days in Las Vegas, before spending their last few days back in Pasadena, until they left to go back to India on the 24 May.
The couples filled Priya in on their lives. She knew that Sheldon and Amy had gotten married and won the Nobel, but she didn't realize that Amy had gone back to neuroscience, while Sheldon was traveling to various universities, to explain Super-Asymmetry. She knew the others who had worked at Caltech, were still there, but Leonard mentioned he was now the lead for the photon entanglement team and Howard told her he would soon begin working on his Ph.D. She knew that Penny and Bernadette worked for Zangen, but she didn't know about their recent promotions and, of course, Penny had already told her, how far Penny was along with twins. The only one Priya didn't know, was Denise, and although Stuart introduced her as his girlfriend, she and Priya didn't talk all that much.
Sanjay seemed to have a good time, except when Leonard was near, then he scowled. Leonard was puzzled, I don't know why you're mad at me, you're the one that fucked her while she was still my girlfriend. As it approached six PM, Priya and Sanjay said they had to leave, as did Sheldon and Amy. Raj, Stuart, and Denise offered to stay and help clean up.
Sanjay and Priya said their goodbyes to everyone, except Sanjay didn't say goodbye to Leonard ad Penny. He didn't even go out to the backyard, where they were. Priya said goodbye to everyone and did go out to talk to Leonard and Penny. She again apologized for Sanjay and said it was good seeing both of them, and she was glad they were together. They both smiled, told her not to worry about Sanjay, and wished her well.
After that, Sheldon and Amy left, and Penny had gone out the door, while Leonard stopped and talk to Howard about his classes starting. Just as Leonard started for the door, Bernadette said, "Leonard, can you wait a minute?"
He stopped and looked quizzically at Bernadette. Bernadette looked at Howard, who rapidly left to the kitchen.
"Remember back when you were dating Priya," said Bernadette. "And, we told you she was trying to change you?"
Leonard nodded, and said, "And I told you she wasn't?"
Bernadette grinned, "Well, I was talking to Sanjay, and he was telling me how much Priya has changed him. His hobbies, his clothes, and a bunch of other stuff. While he said he didn't mind, he seemed unhappy about it. She was telling me about how much he's changed because of her. But, you know, she was trying to make changes to you, but they didn't take. You're lucky she wasn't able to change you."
Leonard looked thoughtful. "Well, she's been with him longer. And, maybe that's why she went back. She realized she couldn't change me."
Bernadette grinned at him, "Or, she realized she wouldn't be able to change your feelings for Penny."
"What?"
"That's what I got from her comments," said Bernadette.
Again, Leonard looked thoughtful, and nodded, before saying, "Thanks for the party Bernadette, tell Howard thanks too."
"I will. Drive safe," said Bernadette.
Leonard walked out but didn't see Penny. He got to the car, but she wasn't there. It was then that he saw her walking down the sidewalk, typing something into her phone. As she got to the car, he said, "What are you doing?"
"I thought of something for work, and I'm just leaving myself a note," said Penny.
"Where were you coming from?" asked Leonard.
"I was just wandering along, as I was typing it in," said Penny.
Leonard shrugged and got into the car, Penny did a few more taps on her phone, before doing the same. As they drove away, Penny looked back, but Leonard's eyes were on the road, and he didn't notice.
Saturday 04 April 6:30 PM
When they got home, Leonard carried the leftovers Bernadette had given them up to their fridge and put them in. He grabbed two bottles of water, before asking Penny to come sit with him on the couch. Penny looked concerned as she pulled her phone from her back pocket, before sitting down. Leonard handed her a bottle of water, opened his, and took a drink.
"I want to thank you," said Leonard.
Penny now looked puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"Bernadette told me that she had talked to Sanjay," said Leonard. "And, evidently, Priya has made changes to him, and Bernadette said he didn't seem happy about it. I remember how Priya tried to force me to change to contacts instead of glasses. And then buying me new clothes, new shoes, and trying to get me to quit comic books and games. All that stuff."
"Why are you thanking me?" said Penny, now sounding puzzled. "You've made a lot of changes, on your own, since we started going out all those years ago."
"Yes, but you never pushed me," said Leonard. "Priya took me out to buy clothes, tried to get me to stop playing games, or made me feel guilty for wanting to play them. She, also, wouldn't watch any of the science fiction movies I liked."
"Yes, I did push you, at times," said Penny. "I mean how many times did you follow my suggestions when you asked about clothes?"
" Well, yeah, because you know fashion," said Leonard. "But, you didn't go out and buy my clothes or drag me off to buy clothes and pick them out for me. You would just mention what you liked me in, and then let me make my own choices, she didn't."
"As for our hobbies, you would watch our movies, and while you might make a snarky comment about them, and the games, you never told me to stop playing them."
"Well, if I change you then you aren't the person I fell in love with, right?" said Penny. "You've bought different clothes, but you still have some of your superhero t-shirts and underwear. You might still play games, but I play them also. I'll watch your silly movies and TV shows, but you also watch my silly TV shows and movies."
"Did I change you then?" asked Leonard.
"No, I still watch my shows and movies, listen to my music, read my magazines," said Penny. "Come to think of it, you've started doing my things with me like I do your things with you."
"Exactly," said Leonard. "We do those things for each other because we want to make the other happy, so we've both changed. But, unlike you, Priya only wanted me to change and did a lot of work to get me to change. I didn't, but evidently, Sanjay has. I do like what Bernadette said today."
"What?" asked Penny.
"She said, 'Maybe Priya realized she wouldn't be able to change my feelings for you,'" said Leonard, with a grin.
Penny grinned back at him, "Maybe that's it. After all, she said today that we ended up with the people we were supposed to be with. I wonder if she knew back then."
"I would say, yes," said Leonard. "After all, she wanted me to stop seeing or even talking to you. She must have sensed something about my feelings."
"Or, she sensed something from me," said Penny.
"What do you mean?"
"I still had feelings for you," said Penny. "When you first started dating her, I broke down crying."
"What?" said Leonard, shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Yeah, after we broke up, I tried to keep my feelings hidden," said Penny. "I wanted to stay friends, so I suggested it. A bit later, I think the girls suspected. There were a couple of times I think it should have been obvious to them."
"I almost said something to you that New Year's Eve, when you were trying to get me to go to that costume party. I finally said I'd go, so I didn't have to explain my comment about you being there."
"Then Amy saw my crying about you and Priya. I assume she told Bernadette, so I think she knew. But, the two of them never did say anything, just kept trying to cheer me up." Penny nodded her head, "Yeah, I think Priya knew, and that's why she suggested it."
He hugged her tightly, "I didn't know any of this, but I am glad you still had feelings for me because I still had feelings for you."
"I know," said Penny with a smile. "It all worked out."
"Yes, it did," said Leonard, smiling.
"How about we head into the bedroom?" asked Penny.
"Why not just do it right here?" responded Leonard
"Well, for one big reason, this belly of mine will not be comfortable out here."
Leonard smiled, nodded, and leaned in to kiss her, before leading her toward the bedroom.