A/N Not much to say here. Some of the things (not all) that Leonard and Penny go through when they buy the house, are things that my wife and I actually went through, in buying and selling our houses (we've owned three, including the one we've been in for 26 years now). Some are things that happened to friends and family, and a couple are modified to fit in the story. I have another A/N at the end (so it doesn't give away anything in this chapter). So, enjoy.
Chapter 57 2783
Wednesday 15 April 3:00 PM
Leonard heard a ring tone, picked up his phone, and saw the name. He slid the indicator on his phone to accept the call and said, "Hello, Patsy."
"Hi Leonard," said Patsy. "I'm setting up the inspection, for the house, and this is one of the expenses you have to pay for, upfront before they look at it."
"How much?"
"Let's see, 2200 square feet, 36 cents a square foot, that comes to…ahhhh…around $800," said Patsy.
"Wow, I didn't expect it to be that much," said Leonard. "I knew we needed one, but when I looked, I thought it would be lower."
"Leonard, listen to me," said Patsy. "First off, that is an estimate. It's based on square footage, and cost per square foot. As for the price, home inspectors do not need to be licensed in California. That means anyone can do the inspection. Many, who are just starting out, will put out a low price, to get business. But, many of those do not know what they are doing and this could cost you."
"We use only licensed building contractors, who know what they are looking for, to do our inspections. It could be the difference between having a house with no problems, having a house that the seller has to fix, or having a house you have to spend another $100,000 on, to fix a problem you didn't know was there when you bought it. With our inspectors, you may pay more, but you get a guarantee that if anything is found wrong, within two years after you buy it, they will have to pay to fix it, which gives you peace of mind."
This made sense to Leonard, and he said, "When do you need it?"
"Can you and Penny come in tomorrow?" asked Patsy. "You'll also need to sign the offer sheet, the title insurance application, and the closing cost estimates."
"Can it be late afternoon?" asked Leonard.
"Sure, how about around five PM," said Patsy.
"I'll check with Penny and get back to you," said Leonard. "But that should be late enough for both of us to just have to get off work a bit early. Do you need our loan paperwork?"
Patsy said, "No, I already have all the loan paperwork from your credit union. They sent it over earlier, so we could verify that you have a loan. This will also allow us to set up an appointment to close on the house. We won't know for sure until I get all this back."
"Okay, I'll call Penny, and then I'll call you back," said Leonard. "That way we'll have a firm time tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll talk to you in a little bit," said Patsy. "This will also give me time to get you an exact amount for the inspection check."
"Okay, that sounds good," said Leonard. "Talk to you in a few minutes, goodbye." They both disconnected.
Wednesday 15 April 6:30 PM
Leonard and Penny had told everyone they would pick up the food for the night since they were both working late. The rest of the gang were already there. The other three guys went to the comic book store before going to the apartment, and Amy and Bernadette let themselves into 4A with Amy's emergency key.
As they pulled off from the restaurant, Penny said, "Remember Leonard, we have to talk to Sheldon and Amy tonight."
Leonard sighed, "Yeah, I know, but it's not going to be easy."
"It may be easier than we think," said Penny.
"What do you mean?"
"When I was waiting for the elevator this morning," said Penny. "I could hear the two of them arguing, again, about each of their workspaces. We may find they are happy we'll be moving, so they can have 4A, and the room it gives them."
"Yeah, but they'll have to come to that solution themselves," said Leonard. "And, until they do, I don't see them being happy with us moving out."
"Yeah, well, you have a point there," said Penny.
"And how are we going to do that tonight, anyway?" said Leonard. "You know Sheldon doesn't stay up late, and he leaves when Howard and Bernadette do."
"I talked to Bernadette this afternoon," said Penny. "I asked her if she and Howard could leave early, so we have time to talk to Sheldon and Amy about something."
"That was good thinking," said Leonard, nodding. "Hey, wait, didn't she ask what we are going to talk to them about?"
Penny chuckled, "Yeah, I started to stammer, then told her we were going to ask about possibly letting one of them use our area up by the window, in the living room."
Leonard chuckled too, "Oh, that was some quick thinking."
Leonard found a parking spot, surprisingly, in front of the building and they got out, grabbed all of their things and the food, and walked toward the building.
Wednesday 15 April 8:30 PM
Dinner was quiet, nobody seemed to have anything to talk about. Finally, near the end of the dinner, Leonard and Penny had told the gang the apartment would not be big enough for four of them. So, they were looking for a house and everyone had been surprised to hear that. Howard, Bernadette, and Raj were vocally supportive, while Amy and Sheldon looked distressed, but didn't say anything. Bernadette gave Leonard and Penny a hard time about not buying the house next to them. She had been cleaning up and missed the look Penny and Leonard had exchanged.
Bernadette, Howard, and Raj left as planned, with Leonard and Penny walking down to the minivan carrying Halley and Michael with them. They said their goodbyes and watched them drive off. Leonard and Penny had asked Amy and Sheldon to stay, so they could talk about moving. Neither of them appeared happy about it, but they both agreed to stay. The elevator stopped at the fourth floor, and they got out and entered their apartment. Sheldon was still sitting in his spot, with Amy next to him. Both had annoyed expressions on their faces and their arms were crossed. Leonard and Penny looked at each other and sighed. This was not going to be easy, but Leonard went to his chair and Penny to a chair next to him, and they both sat down.
"I can tell that neither of you is happy about this," said Leonard. "But, we don't have a choice. There simply isn't enough room in this apartment, for us, and a set of twins."
"And, just like I said you would do, you will now go off and forget about me," said Sheldon.
"Sheldon, I won't forget about you," said Leonard. "We've been through this before. We're still going to have Wednesday nights together. Look, Howard and Bernadette have two kids, and they still come here, and also host, don't they?"
Sheldon didn't say anything.
"And, it's going to continue when we have our two daughters," said Penny. "The whole gang can come to wherever we end up for Wednesday nights. And, you two, along with us, will go to Howard and Bernadette's on Wednesdays. It will even let you and Amy host the Wednesday night dinners. So there is no reason to act like we won't ever see each other again, and you know that's not true."
"And you can come over anytime you want," said Leonard.
"That's not it, Leonard," said Sheldon. "If I need you, or Penny, I will no longer be able to just walk across the hallway to come over here and talk to you. What happens after you leave, and I want to talk to you? Depending on where you go, it might take an hour to get there." Penny and Leonard looked at each other a bit guiltily.
"You won't need to talk to us, Sheldon," said Leonard. "You have Amy now, you won't need me like you used to."
"That's not always true either, Leonard," said Sheldon. "Amy has her own schedule, her own research. I can't always depend on her to take me around if she's busy. Right now, I can just come over here any time I want. If you no longer live here, I won't be able to do that anymore, will I?"
"You can always call," said Leonard.
"Not if I need to talk to you about Amy," said Sheldon. "You won't be here for that, will you?"
"Then what would you have us do, Sheldon?" asked Leonard. "There isn't enough room in this apartment for us and our two babies. So we don't have a choice. If you believe differently, then let us know what we can do."
Sheldon's mouth moved, but nothing came out. He stared at Leonard and finally stood, and left the apartment. Amy stood, she didn't look happy, but looked at Leonard and Penny and said, "Look, I get it. I understand you have to find a place because this one is too small. You owe it to yourselves and your daughters."
"But, that doesn't make it any easier for Sheldon. Leonard, you two have lived together or near each other for over 15 years. You know better than anyone he hates change and that he can't turn off being near you, just like that. And while I get it, I'm not happy I'll be losing the best friend I've ever had."
"Amy," started Penny, but Amy stood and walked toward the door. Before leaving, she turned and said, "As I said, I do understand why you have to move, so I'll talk to Sheldon about it and try to get him to understand. But, I have to be truthful, it's going to be a struggle for me, for a bit." She then turned and left.
After she closed the door, Penny looked at Leonard and said, "And she doesn't even know where we're going. Can you imagine her reaction when she finds that out?"
Leonard just shook his head and shrugged.
Thursday 16 April 5:30 PM
Leonard and Penny were working their way through the paperwork. They had signed the offer sheet, the inspection request, the application for title insurance, and the estimate for closing, and several other papers. Patsy explained she would return the offer sheet to Andy, who would then sign it, and the process could continue. Leonard wrote Patsy's company a check for $847.52, part of which might possibly be refunded. Patsy explained she had worked with Bob, their finance guy, and beyond the $100,000 he would wire over, they should bring their checkbook or their debit cards to cover any last-minute fees.
All the documents had been signed and Penny said, "Wow, that was a lot."
Patsy chuckled, "You haven't seen anything yet. The pile you need to sign for closing will be much, much larger."
Penny's eyes went wide, "What?"
"Oh yeah," said Patsy. "Everything you signed here will have final versions or something similar. There will be other things, like the insect rider, your homeowner's insurance, and several other things. The other guy will have a bunch himself, and then there will be those that he'll sign, then you'll sign. It takes about 45-60 minutes for each of you. They'll come in and start before you, you might not even see them. I'll have to start working on the closing documents in the next few days."
Penny just shook her head.
"Is there anything else," asked Leonard.
"Nope, you're done for now," said Patsy.
Leonard and Penny excused themselves and left the office.
Friday 17 April 1:30 PM
Leonard was supposed to be looking at the planned upgrades for the experiment, but he was thinking about the house and the various things they were going to have to buy for it. They didn't have a dining table, they didn't have anything to put in the fourth bedroom, and worst of all thought Leonard, there weren't any shelves to put up all of his collectibles and superhero figurines. He was thinking about having to buy some shelves when the phone rang. It didn't register to him at first and rang several more times before he finally picked it up, "Hello," he said.
"Hi, Leonard," said Patsy. "We have a glitch in the offer."
"What's wrong?"
"Mr. Ash doesn't want to pay for my services," said Patsy. "Traditionally, the owner pays six percent, for the realtors, half goes to the seller's realtor, and the other half goes to the buyers. Since he's doing it himself, he doesn't have to pay for his realtor and he can just keep that money. But, he still should have to pay for mine."
"So, is this going to keep us from getting the house?" asked Leonard.
"I don't think so," said Patsy. "But, it's my duty to keep you informed of everything going on with the sale, and this could be a problem, and end up with you having to pay for my work."
"Okay, well then, I guess we'll just have to wait until you call us back," said Leonard.
"Don't worry, Leonard," said Patsy. "I'm sure I can work something out. I'll probably not talk to you until Monday though, bye."
"Bye," said Leonard. He hung up, looking worried.
Saturday 18 April 3:30 PM
Leonard had spent most of the day going over the plans to upgrade the entanglement experiment, which would be starting this coming week. But, while he was doing that, he was also watching Penny. She had spent most of the day, cleaning the apartment. He had been amazed to see her dusting the bookshelves, sweeping and vacuuming the floors, and then mopping the kitchen. She had also spent some time out of sight, which from the sounds Leonard could hear, thought she had spent cleaning the bathroom. It was the most he had ever seen Penny clean, and he told her to slow down and take it easy.
Suddenly, he thought of something, and pulling up Google, he typed a question in and read for a bit. Finally, he had said, "Penny, what are you doing? You never clean."
Penny stopped and looked puzzled, "You know, I'm not sure, I just felt the need to clean up the apartment."
"Yeah, but, you never clean," said Leonard. "And, just today, I not only saw you clean, but you took off the couch cushions and cleaned under them, cleaned the top of the bookcases, and even cleaned the windows in here. What's going on?"
"I don't know, it is kinda weird, isn't it?" said Penny.
"I think what you're doing is called nesting," said Leonard. "I looked it up on Google."
"Nesting? Now? I thought that happens just before labor," said Penny. Her voice rose and started sounding panicked, as she continued, "That can't be, I'm only 26 weeks. That's too early, Leonard, I can't go into labor right now, our babies aren't ready…what are we going to do?"
Leonard stood, walked over to her, and pulled her into a hug, "Penny calm down, I read it can happen at any time, it's just more likely in the last couple of weeks. We can talk to Dr. Samuels on Monday."
Penny stopped and nodded, "I'm sorry, I just got scared"
"It's okay, Penny," said Leonard. "Why don't we start getting ready to go out for dinner? We can go get our showers."
Penny put her cleaning things away, while Leonard closed down the work on the computer before they both got ready to go out. As they left their apartment, they saw Sheldon and Amy coming up the stairs. They said hi to both of them, but Sheldon ignored them, walking to the door of 4B, and entering, without saying anything.
Amy stopped and turned to them, whispering, "I'm working on it, but he's being really stubborn. It may take a few more days."
Penny and Leonard nodded, and then Amy turned and entered her apartment. They looked sadly at each other, shaking their heads.
One thing I do want to point out, I am not trying to paint Amy and Sheldon as evil or being a pain in the ass, or bad friends. And, while Amy is doing a better job handling it than Sheldon is at this point, there is more to this arc coming in the next few chapters, and Amy will have her own struggles. So, please, before you blast them, remember that they both know Leonard and Penny need more room, and both are simply struggling with what they see as losing easy access to their best friends.