Author's note: It's been a while since I updated. Hope you'll like this one and I'll try to keep the chapters coming.
Chapter 66
"Ugh I'm so nervous mom!" Sarah said, feeling a little jittery as they enter the conference hall of her school where the academic decathlon against another school will be taking place.
"Just relax sweetheart! You can do this!" said Penny.
"Your mother is right honey. Don't pay attention to the crowd and just look at me and your mom, alright?" Leonard said.
Sarah gave them a hopeful took. "Okay dad."
Leonard hugged his daughter, "Just relax and everything will be alright." he said as Ms. Sanders walked up to them.
"Sarah, let's go. Your teammates are already waiting for you." said Sarah's teacher.
"Bye mom, bye dad." said Sarah as she followed her teacher to join her team.
"Good luck sweetie!" Penny said as Leonard took her hand and led her to the front of the hall, sitting in with the other parents and teachers. Most of the parents and teachers greeted Leonard and Penny, expressing their relief for Leonard surviving his recent ordeal and congratulating them on Penny's pregnancy.
"Dr. Hofstadter, it's so nice to see you again!" said Mr. Potts, one of the mathematics teachers in Sarah's school.
"Thank you Mr. Potts!" said Leonard.
"We didn't want believe it when we heard that your boat was in an accident and we got so worried about your daughter." said Potts.
"I'm just glad to be back." Leonard said.
"I guess you and your wife are more excited now that Sarah's gonna have a brother or a sister huh?" said Potts, referring to Penny's pregnancy.
"Yeah we are." said Leonard while smiling at his wife.
"Well, I'm gonna let you go back to your wife now." said Mr. Potts.
"Thank you Mr. Potts." Leonard said before siting beside his wife as the host started speaking on the microphone, telling everyone in the hall that the competition would be starting soon.
The competing teams then came on stage with Sarah being the youngest among them. Each school had four representatives standing on opposite sides of the stage with the quiz master in the middle. One of the kids from Sarah's team asked the quiz master for a few minutes while one of the teachers came on stage, carrying a stool for Sarah to stand on since the podium was too high for her. The crowd laughed a little, impressed at how a young girl like Sarah could make it on the team, unaware that the fate of their school rests on her tiny shoulders.
After getting Sarah settled, the competition began with the quiz master explaining the rules of the game, basically on how much time will be given for each team to give their answer, among other rules. Sarah saw her parents and gave them a weak smile, visibly nervous in doing this for the first time. The couple smiled at her, giving her a thumbs up to make her feel at ease before the quiz master read the first question.
After a couple of minutes, the game started as the quiz master - Mr. Hughes read the first question. "Which of Newton's Laws best describes a rocket flying out to the upper atmosphere and into outer space?"
Sarah quickly slammed her hand on the button as everyone looked at her. "Saint Thomas." said the Mr. Hughes, referring to Sarah's team. Without warning, Sarah froze and drew a blank, unable to speak on the microphone as her teammates did the same, waiting for the young lady to speak and completely forgetting about the time limit to give their answer when the opposing team buzzed in. "Staten-Moyer, you have ten seconds." said the Mr. Hughes, looking at the other team.
"Newton's third law of motion." said the kid from the other school.
"That is correct. Ten points for Staten-Moyer." Mr. Hughes said as the crowd applauded while the kids gave high fives to each other.
"Sarah, what happened?" asked Mitch, one of the kids in her team.
"I'm sorry I got nervous." said Sarah.
"Just relax, we can do this." said the other kid named Sam.
Sarah looked at her parents who gave her a big smile, silently telling her that she can do this as she took a deep breath and focused herself back in the game.
"Okay, for our next question in mathematics, we'll give you thirty seconds to solve this one." said Mr. Hughes. "What is the slope of the line segment 3y-5x+2=0?" he said while both teams scrambled to solve the problem on the pad of papers.
Sarah quickly pushed the button and yelled on the mic. "Five-thirds!" she said, surprising the whole auditorium.
"Correct! Ten points to Saint Thomas!" said Mr. Hughes, earning Sarah a deafening cheer from the crowd and high fives from her teammates.
Penny laughed and pulled Leonard close, impressed at how her stepdaughter got the right answer almost instantly. "She's so amazing honey." Penny told Leonard.
"I know." said Leonard, proud of her daughter.
The competition continued as Sarah carried her team, blurting out one correct answer after another. The rival team didn't back down, scrambling to give the right answer or risk Sarah's team stealing the points from them.
Mr. Hughes then raised the card containing the final question. "I have here the final question for thirty points. Whoever answers this wins the game as Staten -Moyer has one hundred and eighty points while Saint Thomas is in the lead with two hundred points." he said before reading the question. "What is the atomic number of Molybdenum?" he asked as the students looked at each other, trying to remember the answer.
A kid from Staten-Moyer pushed their button as the entire hall held their breath. "Forty-one." said the kid making some of the teachers grunt in frustration.
"That is incorrect. Saint Thomas you can steal, although it doesn't matter now because you're the winner anyway." said Mr. Hughes while facing Sarah and her team.
Sarah quickly slammed her hand on the button to answer anyway. "The answer to life is forty-two." she said, slightly surprising the crowd while Leonard laughed out loud, happy for her daughter's Hitchhiker's Guide reference.
"That is correct! Saint Thomas wins with two hundred and thirty points!" Mr. Hughes said making the entire hall roar with applause as Sarah and her team jump for joy, being joined by their teachers in celebrating their win.
"Oh my god Sarah! You were so amazing!" said Ms. Sanders while hugging the young lady.
"Thank you Ms. Sanders!" said Sarah as her classmates joined in their celebration. "I thought I was gonna miss that last one."
"You did so great. Thank you so much!" Ms. Sanders said as the rival team went over to congratulate them.
"Congratulations kid! I guess we better prepare for next year huh?" said the leader of the Staten-Moyer team named Justine, shaking Sarah's hand.
"Thanks. You guys did great too." said Sarah as they all shook hands, accepting their defeat and triumph with humility while Mr. Hughes handed the trophy over to Sarah's team, raising it in the air for the whole school to see.
Leonard and Penny stood up to congratulate their daughter. Sarah saw them walking towards her as she began to tear up while running towards her father, hugging him tight. "You were so amazing honey! I'm so proud of you!" said Leonard, kissing his daughter.
"Daddy." Sarah said, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Good job sweetheart!" Penny said as Sarah hugged her stepmother. "We're so proud of you!"
"I love you mom." Sarah said while the rest of them looked on, touched by the tender moment between the child and her parents.
"Good job you guys!" Penny said, giving high fives to the other kids.
"Well, we all know Sarah did all the heavy lifting." said Mitch making them ail laugh.
"Hey you answered three questions correctly, right?" said Sarah.
"Yeah I did." Mitch said as Principal Rogers chimed in.
"Okay, what do you guys say we take this celebration elsewhere?" said Principal Rogers. "Let's go out and eat!" said the principal, making the kids excited.
"What do you say Sarah?" said Ms. Sanders.
"I guess..." said Sarah, looking down.
Leonard and Penny immediately sensed something bothering their daughter. "Sweetie, what's wrong? Tell me." said Penny.
"Well, I'm happy with winning and all but maybe it would be great if the whole school could celebrate with us." said the young lady, impressing the adults with her empathy and making her parents proud with her kindness.
Principal Rogers knelt and smiled at Sarah. "You know what Sarah, you're right. We'll make it a school-wide celebration." said the principal.
Penny pulled her stepdaughter and hugged her tight while kissing her cheek. "I'm so proud of you sweetheart!"
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After being congratulated by almost everyone, Sarah and her parents left the school to celebrate on their own.
"So, where do you guys want to eat?" Leonard asked as they got into the car.
"I want some cheeseburgers dad." Sarah said.
"Okay, cheeseburgers it is!" said Leonard. "What about you honey, what do you want to eat?"
"I'm not sure. Let's just find a good place. Maybe I'll find something there that I can hold down and not make me sick." said Penny.
Leonard looked at his wife and felt her frustration with her condition being sensitive to certain foods and smells. "Okay, I'm sure you'll see something you'd like." said Leonard as he started the car, driving out of the parking lot.
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After several hours, the young family came out of the elevator and into their apartment, tired from the day's event. Leonard was glad that his wife was able to eat at the burger place they went to and didn't get sick with the food there.
"Dad, can I play on my X-Box?" asked Sarah.
"Sure, but wash up and brush your teeth first." said Leonard as Sarah ran to the bathroom to clean up while Penny sat on the couch, touching her baby bump. "Are you alright?" asked Leonard as he sat beside his wife.
"I'm fine honey, just tired I guess." said Penny.
"Why don't you wash up after Sarah so you could lie down on the bed?" Leonard said.
Penny smiled at her husband, touching his cheek. "Yeah, I think I'll do that." she said.
Leonard moved closer and held his wife, kissing her on the cheek. "Don't worry honey, you and the baby are my focus right now." he said as Penny rested her head on his shoulder.
"What about that genius in the bathroom?" said Penny, making Leonard laugh.
"Yeah and her too!" said Leonard making Penny laugh.
"Hmm, keep doing this amazing husband thing and I'm gonna have to drag you to the bedroom right now." she said, lightly touching his thigh, making Leonard shudder.
"Really?" Leonard said, becoming visibly excited.
Penny laughed, obviously making fun of her husband. "You're unbelievable. All you think about is getting inside my shorts." she said while slapping his chest.
"Hey I'm just making up for lost time after almost dying at sea." he said.
"Isn't that alibi a little too old now? You've been using that as an excuse since you came back!" Penny said.
"Come on honey!" said Leonard.
"I'm not in the mood Leonard!" Penny said, lightly pushing him.
Leonard sighed, knowing that he can't force his wife. "Fine. I just thought that we should celebrate since our daughter just single-handedly destroyed that other team." he said making Penny glare at him.
"Hey, it's her achievement, not yours!" said Penny, finding her husband's pleas adorable as Sarah came out into the hall already changed into her normal clothes.
Penny pushed herself off Leonard and stood up. "I'm going to wash up now." she said while lightly pinching Sarah's cheek.
Sarah looked at her parents. "What was that all about?" she asked her father.
"Nothing honey." said Leonard, smiling at his daughter. "Do you want me to play with you?"
"Only if you could keep up!" Sarah said, making Leonard laugh.
"Oh you think because you defeated that other school that I'm gonna take it easy on you?" Leonard said, thankful in seeing how confident his daughter has become ever since Penny entered their lives.
"Don't worry dad, I'll go easy on you!" said Sarah as they start the game.
After playing for about fifteen minutes, Leonard saw Penny come out of the bathroom wearing her robe. Their eyes suddenly met as Penny winked at him, silently telling him to come closer. Leonard sighed, telling his daughter to continue playing on her own before standing up and walking towards his wife.
"What is it?" asked Leonard. Penny bit her lip and moved closer to her husband to whisper in his ear.
"Go and wash up, I'll wait for you in the bedroom." she said softly before turning around and going into their bedroom, giving him a seductive look.
Leonard immediately turned around and went into the bathroom, quickly locking the door and taking off his clothes before jumping into the shower to clean himself up. After almost five minutes, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself up, putting on his robe and gathering his clothes before quietly stepping out of the bathroom. He saw his daughter glued to her game as he quietly tip-toed towards the bedroom, hoping that Sarah wouldn't notice her parents' absence. He opened the door and was surprised when Penny forcefully grabbed him and pushed him on the bed.
"Come here sailor! Your wife needs you." said Penny, jumping over him.
"I thought you're not in the mood?" asked Leonard.
Penny put her hand over his lips. "Just shut it and hurry up!" she said as they lock lips while quickly removing their clothes. Leonard gently held his wife, supporting her while he moved beside her as they got under the covers to make love.
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After half an hour, the couple came out of the bedroom trying to compose themselves.
Sarah saw them and gave them a suspicious look. "Where have you guys been?" asked Sarah.
The couple looked at each other and hesitated, unable to give a reasonable explanation for their 'absence'. "Uh...we were just talking about some stuff." said Leonard.
"What stuff?" asked Sarah.
"Mom and dad stuff." Penny quickly said, hoping the young lady would let it go.
"Can you share it with me?" said Sarah. "Why can't you talk about it here?"
"Because it's between me and your mom honey." said Leonard.
Sarah turned her attention back on her game. "You know dad, ever since you and mom got married, I kinda notice you two always sneaking around, like you're guilty or something." Sarah said absently.
Penny laughed a little, trying to pass it off. "We're not sneaking around sweetheart."
Sarah turned around and squinted her eyes at them, giving them the look. "Really? Because right now, with how you two stand and how your voice trembles tells me that you're guilty, like you're trying to hide something." Sarah said, surprising her parents. "Grandma taught me how to read people's body language you know?" she added before turning her attention back on the TV.
The couple was surprised, unable to respond to the young lady.
"Don't worry dad, I understand why you and mommy always sneak around."
"Uh...you do?" asked Leonard.
"Dad I think you're forgetting, I'm a smart kid remember. Of course I know these things! How do you think mom got pregnant?" Sarah said, not taking her eyes off the television while pressing the buttons on the game controller.
Penny covered her face with her hands. "Oh god!" she said as Leonard rubbed his hand on her back.
"If it makes you feel any better, I prefer this than you and dad always fighting." she said, surprising the couple even more.
Leonard got down and hugged his daughter. "Come here honey. I promise, your mom and I are not gonna fight anymore."
"I know." Sarah said and went back to her game. "Do you think you could beat mom at Mario Kart?" she asked her father.
Leonard and Penny laughed. "I know so!" said Leonard.
Penny took the other controller and winked at Sarah. "We'll show him who's the boss!" said Penny, giving Sarah a high five as they sat on the couch while Leonard resets the game.
The young family spent all night playing Mario Kart with Penny completely demolishing Leonard on the game, not giving him a chance to win. Sarah happily watched her parents play, happy in just sitting between them and joining his stepmom in ganging up against her father. Leonard went along with his girls, letting them win the game, happy in hearing their laughter fill the apartment, thankful that their lives are going back to normal. He thought to himself that their lives couldn't get any better as long as they are together.