Chapter 41
"I still don't understand why I can't just borrow your car and drive myself to school?" Sarah asked her mother as they ate breakfast in the kitchen. "I mean, what's the use of having my own license if I can't drive myself to school everyday?"
"Because I said so!" Penny said.
Sarah sighed, knowing she can't win against her mother. "You know, I'm really getting tired of this dictator stuff...I'm a grown woman now...and it won't help with my social life if you're always lurking about like some private detective or something." said the young lady.
Leonard laughed. "That's funny!" he said before drinking his coffee and returning to reading the day's paper, somewhat ignoring the exchange between his wife and daughter.
"Are you gonna back me up on this!?" Penny asked her husband.
"Nah I'm good...I'll let you guys have fun on this beautiful Monday morning." said Leonard, as he continued reading his paper with a slight smug on his face.
"Fine...but you're not getting any tonight...I promise you that!" Penny said.
Leonard took a deep breath and put the paper down. "Okay...how about this, why don't you let Sarah drive the car to school so you could watch over her and then you can drive home after dropping her off. And in the afternoon, she can drive back home when you pick her up...problem solved...you're welcome!" he said before going back to reading his paper.
"I'm okay with it." Sarah said, hoping her mother would agree.
Penny sighed. "Fine...now hurry up...you don't want to be late on your first day...and UCLA is forty-five minutes away." said Penny before standing up and going to the bathroom to freshen up.
"You better hurry up young woman. You don't want to be late on your freshman orientation." said Leonard as he turned the page of his newspaper.
Sarah drank her orange juice before standing up, going straight to her room to get her stuff.
After a few minutes, the girls went down to the living room, ready to go to school. "Bye dad!" Sarah said, kissing her father's cheek before running out the door.
"Have fun honey!" he said as Penny went to the door, somewhat ignoring him.
"Bye jackass." said Penny, making Leonard laugh.
Leonard suddenly pinched Penny's butt, surprising her. "Bye little miss!" he said, teasing her.
"Oh no Leonard! I told you, you won't get any of this tonight!" she said, raising her eyebrows on her husband before going out the door.
"We'll see about that! You guys be careful alright?" Leonard said as he took his briefcase from his desk to get ready in leaving for work.
"Yeah...don't worry about us." said Penny before closing the door and joining her daughter who was already in the driver's seat, checking the mirrors and the control panel of Penny's car. "Okay, let's go." she said as she sat on the passenger seat, putting her seat belt on.
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After almost an hour, Sarah slowly parked the car before pulling the hand brake and turning off the engine.
"Good job sweetheart!" Penny said, impressed at her daughter's improving driving skills.
"Thanks mom...I told you I can handle it." said Sarah as she took her backpack from the back seat.
"Okay, now go...you only have ten minutes before your orientation starts." Penny said as she opened her door.
Sarah opened the door and stepped out. "Bye mom...I'll text you later." she said before running to the gate, joining the crowd entering UCLA.
Penny looked at Sarah and cried a little, proud of how her daughter faces life and all of it's challenges. She thought back to when she was her age and remembered doing all sorts of crazy stuff in Nebraska, with college far from her mind. Back then, her plan was to move to California to become an actress, relying mostly on her looks to make it but didn't realize that a lot of girls like her had the same dream. Then life threw a curve ball at her, finding herself working as a waitress just to make ends meet with her dream reluctantly being put to the side. What was she thinking back then, she thought.
Then she got together with Kurt, hoping that her big break would come soon. Then Leonard came along, making life a little weirder with his glasses, hoodies and nerdy shirts. Here comes a guy who had a massive crush on her along with his socially inept friends who never ran out of nerd things to talk about, taking her along for the ride. In the middle of all that craziness was Leonard, always there for her even if she hurt him many times. She knew she didn't deserve him but he stuck around nonetheless, making her feel special and loved, something nobody has done for her before with any guy who only saw her for her looks. Commitment always scared the hell out of her but when she almost lost Leonard, she promised herself to make it work with him.
Now, after more than twenty-five years of being together, here she was, dropping off their daughter on her first day of life at the university. She never imagined her life to turn out like this, with her and Leonard growing old, their children having their own lives and making decisions for themselves. After all the ups and downs, especially with Leonard's near-death experience, she was thankful that they were able to make it and stay happy together.
Penny snapped out of her daydream and decided to drive home, hoping that Marty stayed in his dog house and didn't make a mess in the living room.
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"So? Where's your darling daughter?" Leonard asked as he came into the living room.
"In her room." said Penny, welcoming her husband with a kiss before taking his briefcase and putting it on his desk.
Leonard smiled, happy in receiving his wife's affection. "Hmm...I already like where this is going." he said, lightly pinching Penny's butt.
"You keep it up and you might get lucky later." Penny said as she sat back on the couch. "Why don't you wash up so we could all have dinner?"
Leonard loosened his tie and leaned over to kiss his wife. "Yes ma'am!" he said as Penny didn't shy away from her husband's advances.
"Jackass!" Penny said.
"You keep calling me that and you won't regret it." He said as he went to the bathroom to freshen up while Penny laughed, amused by Leonard's confidence.
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"So how was your first day?" Leonard asked his daughter as they start eating dinner.
"Nothing much really...we had an orientation all morning." said Sarah.
"I'm sure you'll fit right in." said Leonard.
"I wish it was true dad." Sarah said.
"What do mean sweetheart?" asked Penny.
"Some other students joked about me being the youngest...like I got separated from my mommy or something." she said, surprising her parents.
"Oh my god! That is so terrible!" said Leonard.
"I'm sorry sweetie." Penny added.
"It's alright mom...I returned their fire back at them." said the young lady, making Leonard laugh.
"Really? What did you do?" asked Leonard.
"Nothing...1 just channeled my Nebraskan heritage and put them in their place!" said Sarah, surprising her parents.
"Oh my god!" Penny said, laughing a little and unable to believe what her daughter said.
"Don't worry mom...it's the first day so I had to make them respect me, even if I'm the youngest there." said Sarah.
Leonard reached out his hand and tapped her shoulder. "Just be careful honey, the objective is to make friends not enemies." he said.
"I know dad...and don't worry about me, I can take care of myself." Sarah said as they continued having dinner.
Sarah was really his wife's daughter, Leonard thought. He felt proud with how her daughter handled the situation, thankful that 'The Force' is strong with his daughter, able to channel Penny's sass at will.
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Later in the bedroom...
"I thought I wouldn't get any tonight?" asked Leonard as he held his wife close, their naked bodies wrapped up under the covers after making love.
"Shut up." Penny said, making Leonard laugh a bit.
"This just proves one universal truth." he said.
"What? That I can't resist you?" Penny asked, surprising Leonard.
"You are so smart!" Leonard said, pulling her close and kissing her.
"I know you're just buttering me up so you could get frisky with me again." said Penny.
"Is it working?" he asked.
Penny took a deep breath and rested her head on his shoulder. "Yeah."
"Don't worry honey...when your daughter moves out of the house, it'll just be you, me and Marty. We can go back to having sex all over the house again, like we did before William was born." he said.
"That is so creepy." Penny said while rolling her eyes.
"'Well...creepy is my specialty." he said, making Penny laugh.
She moved up and faced her husband. "Come here jackass, your wife needs you." she said as they lock lips, getting under the covers to have sex again.
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"That was fun." Penny said, trying to catch her breath with a goofy smile on her face.
"Yeah." said Leonard before taking a puff from his inhaler.
Penny looked at him and rubbed her hand on his chest. "Are you okay?"
Leonard nodded while waiting for his medication to take effect. "I'm okay now...don't worry."
They stayed quiet far a while, never letting each other go and feeling the warmth of their bodies.
"I'm so proud of her." Penny whispered.
Leonard pulled her close and kissed her hair. "Me too...I'm pretty sure she'll do everything to surpass her brother's achievements."
"Well I won't complain if she did." said Penny.
"What if she meets another boy?" Leonard asked.
"Don't worry honey, you might be forgetting that she got her sneakiness from me...I'll know if something's up with her." said Penny.
"You are so amazing!" he said, wrapping her in his arms. "Let's get some sleep...we'll have sex again in the morning." he added, making Penny laugh.
"I can't wait." she said, kissing her husband before closing her eyes.
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Meanwhile in New Jersey...
William and Erin were walking home after eating at a nearby diner. They were talking about stuff from work when they heard someone call out Erin's name. The young couple turned around and saw a guy walking towards them.
"Ronny? Is that you?" she said.
"Hi! It's been a long time!" said Ronny, lightly hugging Erin.
"Yeah! How have you been?" said Erin.
"I'm doing great...gosh it's so nice to see you again!" he said.
"Oh by the way, this is my boyfriend William." Erin said, holding onto his arm.
Ronny reached out and shook William's hand. "Hey man! Nice to meet you!" he said.
"Uh yeah...nice to meet you too." William said. "Uh...how do you two know each other?" he asked.
"Oh? I guess I forget to mention this to you but Ronny and I went out a few times...like two years ago, right?" she said.
"Oh? Okay." said William, somewhat surprised.
"Hey you never told me what happened to that cousin of yours...you know the one that got arrested by the cops?" Erin asked Ronny.
"Oh that's sorted out now. It was a case of mistaken identity." Ronny said laughing a little.
"Oh my god! Really?" Erin asked, laughing with him.
"Yeah, apparently the store owner told the cops that the shoplifter was wearing a green shirt when the real guy they were after was wearing a green baseball cap." Ronny said. "When they checked the cameras, there wasn't anyone in the store wearing a green shirt at that time. My cousin just happens to be walking by the sidewalk when the cops arrived, so they brought him over to the station for questioning." he said, making Erin laugh again.
"That is so terrible!" said Erin.
"Yeah, talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time." said Ronny. "Hey uh...if you guys are not doing anything this weekend maybe we can get together, have a nice dinner or something?" he said.
"Aww that's so nice Ronny...but we're not sure yet...we'll let you know okay?" she said.
"Yeah sure...listen, I have to go. I'll text you later. Nice to meet you William...bye!" he said as he walked the opposite way, waving goodbye to them.
William stood there and gave his girlfriend a blank expression.
"What's wrong?" Erin asked. William didn't respond as they continued walking. "Don't tell me you're jealous of him?" she asked.
"Why would I be jealous of your ex-boyfriend?" William said, being a little defensive.
"I don't know." said Erin. "Come on babe...please don't be jealous."
"I said I'm not jealous okay!" William said.
"Then why are you getting angry?" she asked.
"How did you know about that thing with his cousin?" he said, looking at her.
"Oh that? He texted me a couple of weeks ago about it." Erin said casually.
"And you texted him back!?" asked William, feeling his temper boiling up.
"Well yeah...I mean, it was nothing...we were just catching up with each other...but it wasn't awkward or anything!" said Erin, trying to calm William down. "Please don't be mad."
"Why would I be mad!? You just got chummy with your ex-boyfriend behind my back!" he said with a hint of sarcasm as he entered their apartment building and went upstairs, leaving Erin behind.
Erin sighed and felt bad for what just happened. She decided to run after him, knowing that she had to apologize. She reached William's door and knocked, getting no response from him. Erin then reached into her purse and took her spare key, opening the lock with it and slowly popping her head in. She heard William in the bedroom, rummaging through his closet so she decided to follow him.
"Babe...I'm sorry...please don't be mad at me." she said. "What are you doing?"
William didn't say anything and continued taking a few shirts from his closet. "I'm staying at my grandma's house for a while." he said, not facing his girlfriend.
"Aww babe? Come on...I'm sorry...I won't do it again...I promise." she said as she went near to hug him.
William wiggled himself out of Erin's arms and continued packing his duffel bag. "I'm still going Erin...I just need some space to clear my head." he said.
Erin stepped back and began to tear up, somewhat hurt by what William said. "Why are you acting like a baby? I said I was sorry okay?" she said.
"I'm not a baby Erin..." he said as he took his bag and went to the door, slamming it and leaving his girlfriend behind.
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"What happened to you?" asked Kim as Erin came into the living room.
"Will and I had a fight." said Erin before crying, making Kim jump from the couch to console her best friend.
"Oh my god! Don't cry, I'm sure you guys can figure it out." Kim said while hugging Erin tight. "Now tell me what happened."
Kim led Erin to sit on the couch as she told her what happened. Erin told her about their run-in with Ronny and how William got jealous of him, with them eventually fighting. She told Kim about William running off to stay at his grandma's house to have some space between them.
"Who are you texting?" Erin asked.
"'Jim...I'm telling him to come here quickly." said Kim.
"Why?" asked Erin.
"So we can go after your boyfriend and get him back." Kim said.
"But he went there to stay away from me?" said Erin, not wanting to complicate things.
"Relax Erin...I'm pretty sure Will would take you back once he sees you." said Kim, trying to keep her spirits up.
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After almost an hour, Jimmy arrived at the apartment. "What happened?" he asked.
"They fought." Kim said.
"Uh, okay...what do you want me to do?" Jim asked.
"We're gonna help them get back together." said Kim.
"I don't think I wanna do that...I mean, it's between him and Erin and getting in the middle of it is something I'm not comfortable doing." said Jimmy. "What happened anyway?" he asked.
Erin and Kim then told Jimmy what happened, about William getting jealous and eventually packing up to stay at his grandma's house.
"Okay...why don't we leave him alone for a while...let him cool off and get his head straight. I mean, If we run after him now while he's still on edge, he might lock himself and make the situation worse." he said.
"I think he's right..." Kim said.
Erin took a deep breath. "Okay...we'll go there first thing in the morning."
"Good, now why don't you wash up so you could go to sleep." said Kim, trying to reassure her friend.
Erin nodded. "Okay...thanks guys." she said.
"Alright...I'm gonna go now...I'll pick you guys up tomorrow morning so we could get your genius boy-toy back!" Jim said, making the girls laugh.
"Bye!" Kim said, giving Jimmy a quick kiss before closing the door.
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The next morning, Jim picked up the girls from the apartment to go to William's house, hoping he has calmed down enough to forgive Erin. They reached the house in no time, being that there was very light traffic since it was Saturday.
They went up the steps as Erin took a deep breath before knocking on the door. William opened it after a few minutes, surprised in seeing the three standing outside the door.
"Hey...I came to say sorry." Erin said, hoping her boyfriend accepts her apology.
William gave her a weak smile. "I'm making breakfast...do you want some?" he asked.
Jim looked at Kim and smiled. "Come on, I think they're gonna be okay now..." he said.
"Bye guys." Kim said, waving goodbye to them.
"Aren't you guys gonna stay for breakfast?" William asked.
"No we're good...and besides...you two need some 'privacy'." said Jim while making quotation marks with his hands, making Kim laugh.
"Fine...thanks guys." said William. "Come on...help me in the kitchen." he said, pulling Erin inside before closing the door. "I'm sorry if I over-reacted." he added, hugging her tight.
"I'm sorry too...I promise I won't do that again." she said, feeling his warm embrace and grateful for his forgiveness. "Come on...we have a lot to talk about." she added, pulling William to the stairs.
"But what about breakfast? I have some stuff cooking on the stove." he said.
Erin turned around and gave him a stern look. "Okay, here's what you're gonna do...you're gonna go to the kitchen and turn off the stove...and I'm gonna go into the bedroom and take off all my clothes...take it however you want..." she said before turning around and going upstairs.
William swallowed hard and ran into the kitchen, turning everything off and putting some of the stuff in the fridge before running upstairs and following his girlfriend.
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"That was fun huh?" asked William as they lay on the bed, trying to catch their breaths.
"Yeah." said Erin, looking blankly at the ceiling.
"I'm so glad you came over." he said.
"Of course babe...I had to make it up to my cute and smart boyfriend!" she said.
"Don't forget sexy." he said, making Erin laugh.
"Okay fine...and sexy!" said Erin as she faced him while sliding her hand to feel him. "Hmm...what do we have here?" she asked, teasing him with her caress.
"Come here you." he said while moving on top of her, burying his face on her neck and making her giggle and scream.
"Stop it!" she squealed, trying hard not to get too excited.
William held her arms and put his weight to pin her down. "Oh no...you're not going anywhere!" he said before attacking her with his affections.
Erin wrapped her arms around him as their bodies merge, feeling William's sense of urgency as they made love under the covers for the second time.
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After getting dressed, the young couple went back down to the kitchen to finish cooking and have breakfast, feeling tired and hungry after having sex for the past hour.
"Ugh I'm starving." Erin said as she helped William in the kitchen.
"Well...it's not surprising at all since you kept pulling me back in." he said, laughing a little.
"So you didn't enjoy it!?" asked Erin, glaring at him.
William leaned over and kissed her neck. "After breakfast, we're gonna have round three...for dessert!" he said.
"Hmm...so confident! Just make sure you can keep up!" she said, teasing him.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that..." he said, pulling her close and kissing her lips.
Erin pushed herself off of him. "Hey stop messing around...I'm hungry!" she said, turning her attention back on the stove.
"Fine." he said as he prepared a couple of plates on the table while Erin finished up with the bacon and eggs, handing the plate over to William. "Hmm...this smells so nice."
"Okay let's eat...while it's still hot." Erin said, joining her boyfriend on the table to start eating.
The young couple stayed like this for the whole day, eating when they weren't having sex and having sex when they weren't eating or sleeping. Erin was glad that they were able to sort out their misunderstanding, thankful that William forgave and understood her side.
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It was already dark outside when William opened his eyes. He felt nobody beside him so he turned on his side, seeing Erin on the floor, rummaging through some stuff in the closet.
"Hey babe...what are you doing?" he asked.
Erin turned halfway to look at him. "Nothing much...I got a little curious...I'm looking at some old pictures and stuff."
William got off the bed and put his shirt on, joining Erin on the floor. "Hmm...it's been a long time since I've seen these..." he said, taking a few pictures from Erin. "That's my grandpa...my grandma...and this is my uncle Michael...I don't know who this is...probably one of their cousins or something." he said while pointing at a picture.
"Your dad kinda has the same look as your grandpa huh? Look at how their hairline recedes the same way." Erin said.
William smiled. "Yeah...I guess you're right." he said as they looked at the rest of the pictures on the pile. "I wonder why my grandma never put this stuff in her will? I mean, this should have been divided between my dad and my uncle and aunt Cathy,"
"Maybe your grandma wanted this stuff to stay in this house?" said Erin as she took a large shoe-box, opening it and looking at the contents inside.
"Look, there's more in here." she said, leafing through the pile of papers and folders.
William took a handful and started looking at them one by one. "Is this what I think it is?" he asked, holding up a piece of paper in the air.
Erin looked over. "Is that a diploma or something?" she asked.
"It looks like a bond." said William.
"A bond?" asked Erin.
"Yeah...it's basically money that the bank owes you." he said, finding more in the pile. "There's like ten...fourteen of this in here." he said.
"So does this like...amount to anything?" she asked, taking a few from William and looking at them.
"I don't know...maybe...I'm not sure if these still have any value or something." he said, looking at the rest of the folders in the box.
"Well you inherited the house so I guess this stuff now belongs to you now, right?" asked Erin.
"I guess...but I don't know if this is worth anything or not..." he said.
"Why don't you go to the bank and ask them? Tell them that you found them in here." said Erin.
"Yeah... guess I could try that..." he said as he leafed through the stack of papers while doing a mental calculation. "...if this checks out, this is almost a hundred grand in total...that's a lot of money." He said.
"Hmmm...you know what?" said Erin, giving him a teasing look.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.
"You...just got a lot more handsome and sexier!" she said, teasing him while giving him a lovely look.
William laughed and put the papers of the floor before pulling Erin back on the bed. "Come on...I wanna take this opportunity while your shields are down." he said.
"You just can't help bringing in your nerd stuff into everything huh?" she said as they hop on the bed while starting to undress each other.
"Shut up and come here." he said, lightly pushing her down on the bed, kissing her on the lips when they heard Erin's phone beep. She reached for it, quickly reading the message on the screen. "Who is it?" he asked.
Erin tried to keep a straight face while William continued with his affections. "It's Kim...she's asking if we want to come with them to New York next week." she said. William stopped and looked at her.
"What are they gonna do in New York?" asked William.
"Just go around...see the sights...let's go with them babe." Erin said.
"Yeah sure." he said before going back into kissing her.
"Ugh...we're gonna have so much fun..." said Erin as she pulled William close, making love to him under the covers.