Chapter 23

Things started to 'normalize' between Leonard and Penny. She made sure to hang out with them in their apartment usually over dinner to catch up on things. Leonard agreed to Penny's suggestion of not hanging out with them everyday so that Sarah's emotional attachment to her would not deepen. Leonard agreed that Penny would only come over to their apartment two to three times a week and sometimes she would come with them to the park or to the mall on weekends but they would keep it short so that Sarah would not be as dependent on her.

They were done having dinner one night and Sarah was in the bathroom brushing her teeth and washing up. Leonard and Penny were having wine on the couch, watching TV. They were snuggled up to each other, holding hands when Leonard spoke to her.

"Honey….how do you feel about going out on a second date with me?" he asked her.

Penny looked at him. "Why….is Cathy coming to visit again?" she asked back.

"No. My mom is." he answered.

Penny got a little uncomfortable. "Wait….is she gonna size me up?" she asked him.

"What? No….she's here to visit her granddaughter." he smiled at her. "but yeah….I guess my sister told her about you." he added. "Are you alright?"

"Now I'm a little bit nervous….didn't you say that she didn't give you any affection when you were growing up?" Penny asked him.

Leonard nodded. "Yeah...but that was a long time ago." he continued. "When Sarah was born and June got sick….we sort of repaired our relationship for Sarah's sake. Now if I have problems with my daughter, I would call her and she would offer her help no matter where she is. She wasn't like that to me before I met June." he smiled at her.

"Now I'm more scared." Penny said. "Looks like she's the protective grandmother to Sarah huh?" she looked at him.

"Is there a grandmother who's not protective of their granddaughter?" he asked her.

She looked at him. "I'm afraid Leonard." she said.

Leonard put his arm around her. "Well...you're going to meet her eventually….don't worry I'll talk to her before you meet her….I'm gonna pick her up from the airport in a couple of days." he kissed her on her forehead.

Sarah came out of the bathroom and snuggled up between them.

A couple of days later, Leonard picked up his daughter from school then went straight to the airport to pick up his mother. Leonard saw her waiting by the airport exit. He pulled the car over and went out to greet her.

"Hi mother!….how was your flight?" he asked her.

"It was okay I guess….nothing out of the ordinary." Beverly said.

Sarah got out of the car and ran straight to her grandmother. Beverly knelt to hug Sarah.

"Grandma!….I missed you!" Sarah yelled as she hugged her grandmother tight.

"Ugh...I missed you to dear!….you've grown so much!" Beverly said as she kissed her grandchild.

"Are you gonna stay long grandma?" Sarah asked.

"Only for several days…..grandma has to go to a conference…..but while I'm here, we'll go the park, we'll go to the mall….whatever you want dear!" Beverly carried Sarah as Leonard took his mother's luggage and put them in the trunk.

"Yay!….I love you grandma!" Sarah said as she never let go of her hug.

"I love you too dear….now let's get in the car." Beverly said as she put Sarah in the backseat and secured her seat belt while she sat in the front seat. Leonard drove them to the apartment before returning to the university.

He got back to the university after an hour and went straight to his office to rest for a little while. He pulled out his phone and dialed Penny's number. She answered after a few rings.

P: Hi honey! Did you picked up your mom from the airport?

L: Yeah. I just dropped them off at home and went back here at the university….how's work?

P: It's great honey….I made two sales today.

L: That's great honey….so you think you can come over for dinner later….I told her about you and I'm sure Sarah won't stop talking to her about you.

P: Okay I'll come over….do I need to be nervous?

L: No….just relax….she won't give you a hard time….I promise.

P: Okay...I guess I'll see you later honey.

L: Yeah….bye honey.

Leonard put his phone down and leaned back on his chair to relax his eyes. It is then that he realized he haven't had lunch yet so he decided to head to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite. He saw Howard alone at the cafeteria drinking coffee and went to sit with him.

"Hey!" he greeted Howard.

Howard looked at him. "Hey Leonard….where were you during lunch?" he asked.

"Oh….I picked up my mom at the airport….she's visiting for a few days….so how are you and Bernadette?" he asked.

"Oh it's going great….I brought her home to meet my mom and they hit it off quite well….she says it's a relief that I brought home a girl for a change instead of Raj…." Howard smiled.

"Your mom didn't mind that she's catholic?" Leonard asked him.

"Not at all which is weird….I mean Bernie never took off that necklace and I'm sure my mom saw it but she never made a fuss about it." Howard added. "So you and Penny are doing good?"

"Yeah...we're taking it slow….you know because of Sarah…." he answered Howard.

"I wish I could help Leonard….I can only imagine how difficult it is raising a daughter alone." Howard said.

"Well I guess I'm lucky that Penny hasn't left me yet….if it were other women, they would have bailed the second my daughter forms an emotional attachment with them." Leonard said.

"You deserve to be happy Leonard….after what you've been through….June passing away….raising Sarah by yourself….I'm just amazed you haven't snapped yet or something…" Howard said as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Sarah has no one else but me….I have no choice but to be strong for her." Leonard said.

"So your mom would probably size Penny up huh?" Howard asked.

"Well she's going to this conference and decided to visit for a few days….but yeah I guess part of her visit is to meet Penny." he continued. "I'm just glad my mom's not the same person she was before."

"Yeah….or else two minutes with your mom and you can kiss Penny goodbye…" Howard chuckled.

"Penny is a little nervous but I told her to relax….plus I'm gonna be there so my mom wouldn't say anything that would scare my girlfriend away." Leonard said.

Later that evening, Beverly was cooking dinner while Sarah was watching TV. Leonard arrived and kissed his daughter in the head.

"Wow...that smells good mom." he said as he went by the kitchen island.

"Is Penny going to join us for dinner?" Beverly asked.

"Yeah...I'm about to text her now." Leonard said as he took his phone and texted Penny.

After a few minutes, Penny knocked on the door and Leonard went to open it. She gave Leonard a kiss on the cheek.

"Penny!" Sarah said as she ran to hug her. Penny knelt down to hug the child.

"Ugh….did you miss me sweetie!?" Penny asked the child. Sarah nodded. "I missed you too!" Penny released Sarah as she went back to the couch to watch TV. Penny stood up as Leonard took her hand to introduce her to Beverly.

"Mom….this is Penny….Penny this is my mother Beverly." Leonard said.

Penny gave her a light hug. "Hi Beverly...nice to finally meet you!" she said.

Beverly was slightly taken aback but returned Penny's hug. "Nice to meet you too Penny….I hope you're hungry….we'll be eating in a few minutes." she said to Penny as they broke off from the hug.

"You need any help back there?" Penny asked.

Beverly gave her a smile. "It's alright….you can have a seat while I prepare the kitchen island." she said

Leonard smiled at Penny and directed her to sit on the couch. She sat beside Sarah while Leonard took the chair.

"So how's school sweetie?" Penny asked Sarah.

"It's okay I guess….we're doing Show and Tell Penny." Sarah said to her.

"Wow that's great sweetie! So what are gonna bring?" she asked the child. Leonard turned to face them to see what his daughter will say.

"I'm going to bring my Algebra book!" Sarah said. Beverly heard her granddaughter and turned around looking at the three on the living area. Leonard and Penny were slightly shocked too. Beverly turned off the stove and went to her granddaughter.

"Algebra book?….Leonard what is she talking about?" Beverly asked as she sat beside Sarah.

"Oh I forgot to tell you mom….Sarah found June's math textbook and learned Algebra by herself….she was sitting by the coffee table a couple of weeks ago when Penny and I heard her mumbling equations….and when I asked her….she showed me her solution to an algebraic equation…." Leonard continued. "I guess I forgot to tell you when we were in the car earlier." he said.

Sarah got off the couch and reached under the coffee table to get her notebooks. She pulled one and gave them to her grandmother.

"I solved more grandma….look!" she said proudly. Beverly took the notebook and fixed her glasses. Leonard and Penny leaned forward to look at the notebook.

"This is amazing dear….did your father taught you how to do this?" Beverly asked as she leafed through the notebook.

"No I did it by myself…..is it correct grandma?" she asked her grandmother.

Beverly looked at the pages of the notebook and carefully studied it. "It seems correct dear." she added. "I'm a little bit rusty on my algebra….maybe your father can check if it's correct." she said as she handed the notebook to Leonard. Leonard scanned it and was speechless.

"These are correct honey….and it's a different route than what they teach at school….this is amazing honey….I'm so proud of you!" Leonard smiled at her daughter.

Beverly hugged Sarah and kissed her on the head. "Good job dear….we're all very proud of you!" she added. "Now why don't you go to the bathroom and wash your hands so we could eat…" Beverly helped her down the couch. Sarah ran to the bathroom. Beverly turned to Leonard. "So what are your plans for your daughter? It's obvious she is intellectually gifted….learning Algebra by herself." she looked at her son.

"I'm planning to go to her school and discuss this with her teachers….they'll surely recommend to enroll her to some private school for high-IQ children or something. If that's the case I need to earn more money, those exclusive schools are quite expensive." Leonard said.

"Well you don't have to worry about that dear….I'll help if it's necessary. We can't let her intellect go to waste." Beverly said.

"She's right Leonard." Penny added.

"That's what I'm worried about. I still want my daughter to have a 'normal' childhood…" he told his mother.

"Well, that's why we're here for her….don't worry dear….I'll ask my colleagues on how to approach this kind of situation." Beverly offered.

"I just want you to know that I won't allow anyone studying my daughter like some sort of lab animal." Leonard said.

"I understand." Beverly said.

They all stood up and went to the kitchen island to prepare dinner the same time as Sarah came out of the bathroom. Penny helped her get up to her chair. They all sat and began to eat. Beverly turned to Penny.

"So Penny, Leonard told me you were a waitress before but now you're a fashion consultant in a boutique?" she continued. "and Sarah here told me you have a TV commercial as well?"

Penny smiled. "Yes. I've only been in my new job for about a month and a half now….we have dresses, shoes, bags...the usual 'girl' stuff." she said.

"But you're also into acting?" Beverly asked.

"Yeah….that has been my dream since I was young." Penny told her.

Sarah butted in. "Her commercial is so cool grandma….she rode a horse!" the child said.

"Really?….that's great dear." Beverly said to Sarah. She then turned to Penny. "But how are you going to manage doing two things at once?" she asked her.

"Well….my focus now would be my new job….but if I come across any casting calls...I guess I'll have to take a shot and give it my all….my boss is quite supportive of my acting gig….he says it helps the boutique if an employee is some kind of celebrity or something…" she smiled at Beverly.

"Well good luck….which reminds me..." Beverly said as she spooned her food. "I'm going to this conference in a few days and I was wondering if I could visit your boutique and get some new clothes for myself….I think a change in wardrobe would be nice don't you think?" she asked Penny.

"Oh my god yes!….no problem…." Penny said.

"Thank you...I'll come visit tomorrow after I drop off Sarah at school." Beverly said.

"Are you gonna take a cab?" Leonard asked.

"Oh no dear….I called the car rental and they brought the car a few hours ago….I'll bring Sarah to school and fetch her after….right dear?" Beverly asked her grandchild.

"Can we go to the mall tomorrow after school grandma!?….please!" Sarah asked.

"Sure dear!" Beverly lightly pinched Sarah's cheek.

Sarah got excited. "Yay!"

Later that night, Sarah and Beverly were already asleep. Leonard and Penny were snuggled up on the couch watching TV.

"What are thinking?" Penny asked him.

"My daughter….I'm already worried she might not have a 'normal' childhood given her gifted mind." Leonard sighed.

Penny held his hand. "Don't worry honey….Sarah's lucky to have you….and now you have me too!" she smiled at him.

He kissed her cheek. "Thank you honey….I needed that." he said as he put his arm around her shoulder.

"So are we still up for tomorrow night?" Penny asked him.

"Yeah of course….we don't get to have many date nights alone so we are going to have a date until my mom leaves for her conference…." he smiled at her.

Penny looked at him. "Really….we'll go on a date every night?"

"Why not….you're my girl and I'm your man...do you have other things in mind?" he asked her.

"Well no…." she smiled at him.

"Trust me….it's gonna be fun." Leonard hugged Penny as they continued to watch TV.