A/N Good news, I got two chapters done this week, and have started on a third, so I'm at chapter 69 right now. That puts me almost four chapters (Or one month) ahead. A couple of more weeks like this, and I would be close to the end and not have to worry about delaying anything. Here's crossing my fingers. As for how much longer this will run, the end will be somewhere between chapter 75 and chapter 80 (closer to 80, I think). So, we have 10 to 15 chapters, about three months left, give or take a few weeks. For those who missed it, the name of the notary for the closing was Robert Hatfield. Bobby Hatfield was one of the Righteous Brothers. He sang the higher parts, while Bill Medley sang in the lower register.
Chapter 65
Wednesday 6 May, 8:45 PM
The whole group was standing by the front door of Penny and Leonard's house. They had taken them all through the entire house, showing everyone exactly where the furniture was going to go. As they were getting ready to leave, they stopped and Penny had said that she knew that it might be too much for this group, so she and Leonard had people coming over to help move the heavy things, like the furniture, on Friday through Sunday, but she didn't say who.
There were a few questions about the house. Bernadette seemed jealous of the open floorplan, along with the extra bedrooms. Howard explained that with so little grass, it wouldn't take much for one of the neighborhood kids to cut it. Sheldon, as expected, had shown very little interest in helping with the moving, until Leonard asked him to put the various figurines and other collectibles up on the shelves Leonard in some kind of order. Amy, to Leonard and Penny's relief, was looking forward to helping with the move and helping Penny decorate the house, with Penny sternly reminding Amy, Penny herself was in charge of decorating.
Penny had also talked with Amy about moving some of Amy's furniture from the storage facility, where she put it when she and Sheldon had moved in together. Now, Penny was going to take her bedroom furniture, and Sheldon and Amy would have to move some things in storage, into 4A. Amy's desk would go where Leonard's had been. Both their beds would go back into 4A, Amy's into Sheldon's old room because it was bigger. Sheldon's bed would go into Leonard's room so Sheldon's mother, when she visited, could use one of the bedrooms. Penny assured Amy their movers would be moving it.
Leonard also explained that there would be a lot of new furniture delivered on Thursday, and the move would be Friday through Sunday. They were both hoping the rest of them could help. Everyone said they would help as they all started back to the Wolowitz's. Once they returned, Sheldon and Amy prepared to leave and while they did that, Penny and Leonard got Halley and Michael ready for bed, while Bernadette and Howard cleaned up. Once the kids were ready the adults switched and Bernadette and Howard put the kids to bed, while Leonard and Penny finished the dishes.
They returned to the living room, finishing their drinks, when Bernadette said, "So, how did you calm Amy down?"
"I told her she could help me decorate the house," said Penny. "I also told her she could be a godmother."
"Really?" said Bernadette in a squeaky voice that sounded sad.
Penny took a drink of her cranberry juice, "Yes, I did. I asked her to be the godmother for Annika. Because I want you to be the godmother for Jesika."
A large grin broke out on Bernadette's face. "Jesika, huh?"
"Yes, Jesika," said Penny. "I figured you could handle being the godmother to the second one a lot easier than Amy. Also, just so you know, I told Amy she gets Annika because their first letters are the same. I had to really work to get her to cool off."
"I don't doubt it," said Bernadette. "And, I don't mind you having me be the godmother to the second one because I still get one of them. You said you're getting a lot of furniture tomorrow, what are you getting?"
"Let's see, all of our living room furniture," said Penny. "Our Dining area table and chairs, two televisions, one for the living room, one for the bedroom. Five or six bookshelves. Some for the living room, some for the bedroom, and a couple for one of the offices, we may order even more. The rest we'll figure out when we move the rest of the stuff."
"Sheldon and Amy will be staying in 4A starting Friday night," said Penny. "Because we'll be taking my bed out of the bedroom in 4B, and the movers will be putting up Amy's bed in Sheldon's old room. So, there is still a lot to do."
"What do you need us for?" asked Bernadette.
"Well, we have guys coming to move the heavy stuff, but they will also carry the heavier boxes down," said Penny. "We would like to use your van to move the boxes while the movers use their truck to move the big things if that's okay with you."
"As long as we don't have our guys carrying the boxes," said Bernadette, with a giggle. "They might pull something."
"Well, the lighter ones," said Penny, grinning. "Basically, we have to pack them, the movers will carry them to their truck and your van. We'll be working on taking some things on Thursday. We want to have the new bed set up, and have enough of the house set up to be able to live there by Friday. Next week, we'll just make sure everything is put away."
"Well, you'll have us on Saturday and Sunday," said Bernadette. "Halley and Michael are spending the weekend at their grandparents, so we don't have to worry about them."
"Well, we are offering everyone dinner on Sunday, probably pizza." Penny yawned, "I think it's time for me to get home and into bed."
"That's probably a good idea," said Bernadette.
Penny called for Leonard, he was talking with Howard about his idea for the failure of the grips, and Leonard came out of the dining room. Leonard and Penny said their goodbyes to Howard and Bernadette, got in their car and drove home. This allowed a tired Penny to be in bed before 10:30 PM.
Thursday 7 May, 9:00 AM
Leonard's team gathered in the lab and Leonard explained, specifically, what he wanted from the data, the team was about to go over. As they did this, he wanted the run team to start making the changes to the machine again, hoping to run it next week, to get 14 entangled photons. After he was done, he asked if there were any questions, as there were none, he told everyone that he would be gone for the next couple of days and if they had any questions, to call Keith.
As the group broke up, he asked Keith to come to his office. In his office, Leonard asked Keith if he thought there was going to be a problem with making the changes. Keith smiled and said, "No, I don't think there will be, Leonard. The team made a couple of errors last time, and we fixed it to get back to ten. Since the run team is mine, I'm going to go over every change we make, over the next couple of weeks. I want this to work also, so you shouldn't worry, I'll make sure it works."
Leonard nodded and smiled, "Thanks, Keith, you know my propensity to overthink things. Especially after they don't work as I expected them to work. I'll shut up and let you run your team to get the changes made."
Keith smiled, "Good, I'm going down to the lab."
"And, as I said, I'm going to be gone for the next couple of days," said Leonard. "We're moving into our new house. I'm also going to get the data files and look them over. Do you know how Tom thinks his team is going to do?"
"I think he'll say they are up for the challenge, and they are," said Keith. "Why don't you just go and have Tony bring you the info? After all, he is your grad student and he's on the data team."
"I do let him bring me the results, from time to time," said Leonard. "But, only after I talk to Tom, I have to let Tom run his team. If I have Tony bring up the data, and I don't talk to Tom about it, that's going over his head and it can mess things up. What if I had a grad student on your team bringing me all the info, and not telling you?"
"Yeah, okay, I could see where that might be a problem for me."
Leonard nodded, "So when it has to do with data from the experiment itself, it's better if I talk to Tom to get the data. And, also stop by the data lab every so often, just so the whole team sees me, and knows I'm interested."
"Yeah, that's a good point," said Keith. "Well, let me get going."
With that, they left the office, Keith going to the lab, and Leonard checking with the data team, getting the files, before leaving for the apartment.
Thursday 7 May, 9:15 AM
Leonard was driving to the house. The appliance people were supposed to be there between 9 and 11 and Penny was meeting him there.
As he pulled up to the house, he could see the truck from the furniture and appliance store backed up in the driveway. He hurriedly parked his car and rushed into the house. He found Penny and the delivery guys on the second floor, connecting the washer. After starting the washer for a short cycle, they went back down and were soon bringing up the dryer. It only took them about ten minutes to put the plug together, and connect the dryer. They then started it, to make sure it worked, before canceling the cycle. They gave Penny and Leonard the instructions for both appliances and told them they both worked and that they were done.
Five minutes later the guys were gone, and the electronic store truck pulled up. They hung the TVs on the wall of the master bedroom and the wall in the living room. They also ran the cat 6 wiring to the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the small desk by the kitchen before adding three places for the living room. An hour later, they offered to connect the router and check the TVs, but Leonard explained he would prefer to do it, as he had some switches he was planning on installing. They nodded and left.
Leonard looked around and said, "Let's go back to the apartment and start packing some more stuff, the rest of the furniture isn't due here until, at least, 2 PM, so we have time."
Penny agreed and Leonard pulled Penny's car into the garage, while Penny got in Leonard's car. Leonard came out, closed the garage door with the clicker, and then got into his car, driving them both to the apartment.
Thursday 7 May, 12:15 PM
Leonard had run to a nearby cafe to get two salads for their lunch. As he got out of the elevator and turned toward 4A, he could see Penny, through the door putting stuff in one of the boxes. It reminded Leonard of the first time he saw her, unpacking her things in 4B.
He stopped and looked at her. Penny looked up, and Leonard could see a look of puzzlement form on her face.
"Hi," said Leonard with a smile.
Penny caught on right away, "Hi."
"Hi," said Leonard.
"Hi?" said Penny with a question in her voice.
Leonard started walking, and said, "I don't need to tell you that a salad can be a natural laxative and a clean colon can be one less thing to worry about…"
At that, they both broke into laughter, with Leonard bringing in the food and putting it on the island.
Thursday 7 May, 2:15 PM
Leonard and Penny were unpacking several boxes they had brought along. Mattress covers, sheets, and blankets, they had bought new; enough pots, plates, pans, and silverware of Penny's they had packed from 4B and; clothes enough for a few days, and a bunch of stuff from their bedroom. In total it had been ten light, boxes, which was what they were going through now.
Suddenly, they heard the doorbell, and they stopped unpacking to get the door. It was the furniture people and for the next hour, they brought in the bedroom set, the dining table and chairs, and, finally, the living room set. They had already decided where everything should go, and they instructed the delivery guys exactly where they should put them. After the delivery, Leonard and Penny made up their new bed, took a short break, and then continued unpacking.
Just as Leonard found something in one of the boxes, he heard Penny say, "Awwwwwww."
"What?" said Leonard.
"I found your blanket with sleeves," said Penny. "Can you believe it's been almost ten years since I gave it to you?"
"Actually, yes I can," said Leonard.
"I was so sad you were leaving," said Penny.
"Yeah, why didn't you tell me you didn't want me to go?" asked Leonard.
"Like I said when I finally told you that story, " said Penny. "We weren't dating, so I didn't feel I had the right. Besides, it was your work, you needed to go." Penny turned back to her box.
"Yes, I did need to go," said Leonard. "After all, if I hadn't gone, you wouldn't have this."
Penny turned to see Leonard holding up a clear piece of plastic, but Penny knew what was inside that plastic, "My snowflake," she squealed.
"Yep, and it's been almost ten years, minus three months since I gave it to you," said Leonard.
"It's been a wild ride, hasn't it," said Penny.
"Yes, it has, but I love you," said Leonard.
"I love you too," said Penny. "Now, back to work, so we can get this done."
Everything was unpacked and put away by 5 PM, so they loaded up their cars with the empty boxes and went back into the house. They were just getting ready to leave when Howard came over. They said their hellos, and spent about ten minutes talking, before Penny said, "Howard, we'd love to stay and talk, but we have to go get something to eat, take a shower, and get to our birthing class."
"Oh, sorry, I'll let you go," said Howard, looking shamefaced.
"Don't worry, it's okay, but do say hit to Bernie for us," said Penny. "And, we will be staying here tomorrow night."
Howard lighted up at that, said he would say hi to Bernie for them, and walked back to his house.
Leonard and Penny each backed up out of their driveway, on their way back to the apartment.
Thursday 7 May, 7:25 PM
Penny was slightly upset as they entered the conference room. While eating, she had dropped some of her ravioli on her shirt. She had tried to wipe it off, but she had forgotten her stain removing pen, and now she had a red stain, where her blouse rested on the top of her belly. She had tried to insist they go home, so she could change, but Leonard pointed out that they would be late for the class if they tried to go home. Penny finally gave in and they just went to the class, but she was not happy.
At 7:30, Doctor Samuels walked in, put her material on the table, passed out the booklets, and held up her hand for quiet. After everyone quieted down, she said, "Okay, tonight we are going to learn the breathing techniques to help control pain, and the urge to push. We will also cover what your coaches should do to make labor and delivery as easy as possible for you. "So, can we have the coaches sit, with their feet on the floor, and their knees bent, with their legs apart. Now, ladies, sit down between the coach's legs and lean against your coach's chest. Now, we will start with the technique for dealing with the beginning pain of labor and move on from there."
Thursday 7 May, 8:45 PM
Leonard and Penny were on their way home from the class. Penny was confident she would be able to handle the breathing, and Leonard was confident that he would be able to help her through it. Penny jokingly said he better, because he was going to have to remember what breathing went with what stage of labor, cause she was going to be too busy breathing correctly.
Leonard laughed at that and they were quiet for the rest of the trip home. After they got home, Leonard grabbed a bottle of water and said, "Do you want to watch some TV?"
"No, not really," said Penny. "I'm pretty much exhausted already, and we have three more days to go."
"Are you doing all right," asked Leonard, sounding concerned.
"No, I'm all right, just tired," said Penny. "So, I think it best for me to just get ready and get to bed. We have to be up in time to pack a bit more, before Zack and his brother-in-law get here."
"Yeah, good point," said Leonard. "Let me lock up, and turn off the light, and I'll go to bed with you. I'll need my sleep, too. Just remember, if you are feeling tired or stressed, just let me know and I'll take over or we just slow down. I don't want you doing too much."
Penny nodded her head, "Okay, thanks. I'll try to remember that tomorrow."
"Don't forget, we'll have lots of help, on Saturday and Sunday," said Leonard. "So, you don't have to push yourself."
"I'll try to remember," said Penny. "If you see me struggling, or doing too much, let me know, so I don't get too over-involved. I love you."
"I will," said Leonard. "And, I love you, too. Now, go get ready, so you're out of the way when I start getting ready. We have to get to bed, this is our last night here."
Penny looked sad, but said, "That means our last time having sex here, right?"
Leonard smiled and nodded, "Of course."
Penny smiled and walked down the hallway to get ready.