Chapter 17
Morning Troubles
Penny strapped her three Daughters securely into the back seat of her small car and then struggled to fit the stroller in the trunk, the trunk though already half filled with samples for her client that morning meant that Penny had to make several attempts to fit it all in before closing the trunk albeit with some difficulty. She got behind the wheel with some relief after her exertions and turned the key to start the car, and while the starter motor operated correctly, unfortunately the engine refused to cooperate. On the fourth attempt the engine started and ran albeit very roughly for about five minutes only to stall as Penny attempted to move off her drive. Penny sat there for the moment in utter disbelief at how this day was going.
1) Leonard had been working nights at Cal-Tech for the last two weeks on a high energy laser project hence the need to perform the experiment at a time as more power was required for the experiment and Penny was only seeing him for a couple of hours in the evening.
2) Honey Marie decided that, instead of eating her jelly on toast, thought instead that the toast would make a super hat and placed it jelly side down on her head.
3) Then as Penny washed Honey Marie's hair, while trying at the same time to keep a close eye on the twins, the washing machine seeming to feel suddenly neglected at the lack of attention paid to it by Penny, made it's feelings known by spewing soapy water all over the floor so that by the time Penny had cleared that up she was over two hours late for her appointment with her client by the time she had got the girls in the car.
So Penny while still sitting in her car rang her client to apologize that she would not be able to make it that morning, only to receive a rather irate reaction from the client who had only today free as the next month or two she would be shooting at Pinewood studios in London on a new film from tomorrow.
After which the actress abruptly ended the call.
Penny sat and thought through her options, Beverley was on a conference in Chicago. Bernadette and Amy were at work, and Leonard was still at Cal tech, Penny had just decided to call a garage when "Hi there Babe, you have a little trouble there?". Penny groaned, 'Oh no please let it not be the slimy sleazeball from number 11', she thought to herself. "Do you need any help?, as your car seems to be blocking half of the sidewalk", Sleazeball asked again. "It won't start at all now?", Penny told him, cringing inwardly as she noticed his eyes were fixed firmly on her cleavage as she spoke to him.
While Penny pushed the car back onto the drive from the drivers side and sleazeball pushed from the back while all the while admiring the view of Penny's ass as he did so. Then he gave Penny and the girls a lift to Cal-Tech so Penny could take Leonard's car and all the time Penny struggled to stop Sleazeball's hand from fondling her leg each time he changed gear as she rang Leonard, finally to Penny's great relief they reached their destination and as she set up the stroller for the twins, while feeling very conscious of Sleazeball's eyes glued to her ass.
And it was with great relief for Penny, that Leonard who had at that very opportune moment had returned to his car just after they arrived and was able to take his eldest daughter from Mr Sleazeball. After Leonard thanked him for his kind help Penny strapped the girls into the back seat and after one look at a very tired Leonard, she jumped into the driving seat.
"...And it just refused to start and then I had to..", Penny was explaining when Leonard interrupted, "Well I told you you should have bought new instead of used, didn't I", He told her, as he was feeling irritable through his tiredness".
"Oh thanks, so it's all my fault now is it?", Penny snapped at him.
"Well you had enough money to buy new?", Leonard reminded her.
"Oh sorry if I don't want to waste my money, I've had enough of being broke when I was working at the cheesecake factory, Mister, and I don't want to be broke again", Penny answered him as her voice rose an octave.
"Well! I like that, if you had kept to that budget we worked out back then it would have not been so bad", Leonard reminded her again, as he wished he was in his bed right now.
"Thanks, throw another thing into my face why don't you, you short sighted jerk", Penny retorted.
Then as April began crying, obviously not liking her Mom and Dad shouting at each other like that, Penny and Leonard lapsed into a strained silence.
After arriving home Leonard took to his bed without a word to Penny, while Penny made herself a coffee and remembering her friend Cheryl, who she had still kept in touch with from her days as a waitress, she asked a big favour from her and was delighted when Cheryl informed her she would be glad to look after the girls this afternoon, And so the rest of the morning Penny was kept busy with the girls and also the task of coaxing her washing from a stubborn machine, in order to dry it.
Penny loaded her samples into Leonard's car and after dropping her girls off at Cheryl's, Penny rang her client and asked hopefully if she could see her that afternoon, and fortunately for Penny the client had had a few glasses of wine with her lunch earlier and was now in a much more mellow mood, and agreed for a rescheduled appointment that afternoon.
Leonard despite his tiredness woke up just three hours later. His fight with Penny had unsettled him very much. "Why did I have to bring that up, I knew darn well how depressed Penny got at times when she worked at that restaurant, and for Penny if it wasn't the glass of wine or two to make her feel better it was shopping, and now like a jerk you go and upset her", he berated himself.
Leonard knew he would seriously have to make amends towards his wife, Penny though was frustrating for Leonard, but in a good way. For whenever he gave her some money to get herself something nice, Penny would always return with something she had purchased for her girls, and explain to Leonard, that she did not see anything she liked enough to buy for herself.
No it would be no good just giving Penny money, Leonard would have to make amends by doing it all himself. So he reached over for his cell and started making some calls.
After a very successful meeting with her client. Penny arranged with her to carry out the refurbishment to her house while the client was away filming in England, and feeling a lot happier after her success, Penny stopped off for a coffee and a sandwich. And as she ate her mind returned to the events of that morning, particularly her fight with Leonard. She had really missed him these last two weeks and a couple of hours with him of an evening was simply not enough for Penny, as her craving for her husband had not abated one iota since their wedding, and as she remembered how so tired he looked and how she had upset him her tears began to flow, she just wanted to hold him tightly in her arms and tell him that she loved him despite her feeling that Leonard was in the wrong, and thus galvanized into action to rush back to her husband she quickly drank her coffee and after paying the bill she headed for Cheryl's and to collect her girls, "maybe if I can cook something special for him tonight, then we can spend those two hours cuddling up together?', She thought to herself.
After some difficulty of keeping to the speed limit, she reached Cheryl's house and rang the bell.
"Hey girl, you're too early, you collect the girls about 09:45 tomorrow morning. And all you have got to do is to drop the girls night things off later this evening", Cheryl informed her.
"What!, Cheryl, what's going on?", Penny asked her.
"Don't ask me?, you had better ask your husband, he arranged it all", Cheryl explained.
Feeling bewildered by this turn of events Penny returned to her car and made her way home, only to find that where she had left her car on the drive, there was now a brand new eight seater MPV standing in it's place. Upon opening her door she called out to Leonard, "Honey?, What's going on?", she asked as she entered the lounge.
Only to see Leonard standing there and holding a big bunch of flowers for her.
"I'm so sorry for this morning Penny, I was such a jerk!, can you forgive me?", he pleaded, looking quite penitent.
Penny rushed into his arms and nearly squashed her flowers. "Oh Leonard!, I love you so much", she told him before hungrily pressing her lips on his.
"How on earth did you sweet talk that great Loaner out there, out of the garage?", she asked him.
"Well I called in a few favours and so we now have the loan of the Mpv while your car is being repaired", he told her. "Now we are going to that Italian restaurant you like tonight and then perhaps a movie afterwards?", Leonard revealed.
"Oh Leonard, that sounds wonderful", and after quicly putting her flowers in some water, Penny rushed upstairs to the shower.
Then wearing her favourite dress Penny stepped outside where on giving her the keys, Leonard told her "here you are you can drive".
And as Penny reached to insert the key into the ignition she noticed a name tag on the fob which read 'Penny'. "Leonard?, have you done it again", she asked, her eyes as big as saucers.
"Guilty as charged. It will be easier for you to strap the girls in, the three seats at the back will fold up giving you more room for strollers and your samples", Leonard explained.
Penny rushed to hug him tightly as she cried tears of joy over her husbands loving concern for her.
"But aren't you going to work this evening", she asked in puzzlement.
"Nope we successfully finished the project early this morning", Leonard told her.
"Wow!, a new car, a night out, and my husband in bed with me the whole night, this evening just could not get any better", she told him, then after sharing a passionate kiss she headed for Cheryl's to drop the girls things off before heading for the restaurant.
