Chapter 2
December 24, 2033, 7:00PM.
The family just had dinner and were sitting in the living room, watching TV. William and Leonard were seated on the floor by the coffee table playing chess while Sarah was sitting on the couch, painting her mother's fingernails. Leonard was quietly looking over the chessboard while William was alternating between the game and the television. Leonard moved his pawn which William quickly captured like the move was an afterthought to him.
"Give it up dad, you will never beat me in chess." said William.
"Hey, it's not over until it's over." Leonard said defiantly.
"Alright dad. I just don't want to humiliate you again." William said.
"Mom?" said Sarah.
"Yes sweetie." said Penny.
"Dad's a nerd, right?" said Sarah.
"He's not just a nerd, he's the 'king of nerds'!" Penny announced smiling at Leonard.
"Awww, thank you honey!" said Leonard to his wife.
"Then why does he suck at chess?" asked Sarah.
"Hey!" Leonard said.
"Relax honey." She said then turned to her daughter. "Your father taught me chess once and I beat him the first time." Penny said.
William and Sarah were surprised. "You beat dad at chess!?" asked William.
"Yeah. I think I cornered his king guy with my horsey and my pointy-head guy." Penny said.
"They're called knight and bishop mom." William corrected his mother.
"You should have seen your father's face, it was priceless!" Penny laughed with her children as Leonard stayed quiet.
"Mom?" Sarah said.
"Mmmm." Penny muttered.
"When did you know that you loved dad?" she asked her mother.
Leonard was surprised and looked at Penny. Penny understood the look Leonard gave her. "I don't really know. I mean your father has always been there for me even if I sometimes took him for granted." said Penny smiling at her husband.
"And you never gave up on mom?" Sarah asked her father.
"Yeah. I remember your grandfather asked me to never give up on her even if she can be difficult to deal with sometimes." said Leonard.
"Your dad is right sweetie. But looking back at it, I always knew I loved him. It just took me a long time to realize it." said Penny.
"Dad?" Sarah asked.
"Yes honey." Leonard said.
"When did you know that you loved mom?" asked Sarah.
"The very first time I saw her. She was so beautiful." he said. "You see that picture in the bookshelf over there?" Leonard said pointing at the picture frame. "That was the shirt your mom wore when I first saw her." He said.
"Aww honey! You remembered?" said Penny looking at her husband.
"Of course. I won't forget that day. I told myself that our babies would be smart and beautiful!" Leonard proudly said.
"You said that to yourself the first time you met mom?" William asked.
"Yeah, your uncle Sheldon was there too." said Leonard.
"That was strange, not to mention creepy. I mean, how could you know that you and mom would end up being together much less having kids from that first meeting alone?" said William. "I mean, there are an infinite number of possibilities on what could have happened in your lives, one of you could get hit in the head by a coconut or run over by a car or even die in a fire." said William.
"Now you sound like your uncle Sheldon." Penny said as Sarah and Leonard laughed.
"Son, I know what you mean and I don't have an answer for that. I just knew that your mother was the one for me, even if she herself didn't believed it." Leonard said smiling at Penny.
"That's absurd dad." said William.
"I've been married to your mom for almost twenty years now, you and your sister are here, so there it is." said Leonard.
"Sweetie, if you love someone, you don't give up on them. You talk, you work things out, you forgive each other. That's how a relationship works." said Penny. "Your dad and I broke up so many times that I can care to count but that didn't stop him from coming back to me and I never stopped letting him in because I always knew how much your father loves me. And now here we are, with two amazing children." Penny said. "But enough about me and your father. When are you going to introduce this girl that you're dating to us?" Penny asked her son.
"Soon." William said.
"Uh, I'm gonna need more than that." said Penny.
"Let it go mom." said William.
Penny rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine." She said.
They were quiet for a while when someone rang the doorbell. William stood up to get the door.
"Hey Jason, what's up?" William yelled. Sarah immediately became pale-faced and her hands began shaking.
"Sweetie are you alright?" Penny asked her daughter.
Sarah began to panic and without warning, quickly jumped over the couch and ran into the bathroom. Penny laughed a little and followed her daughter to try to calm her down while Leonard stood up to join William at the door.
"So, you're Jason huh?" asked Leonard. "Aren't you Matt and Debbie Harman's kid?" he asked.
"Yes sir." Jason said. William and Leonard both folded their arms, looking at Jason and the bouquet of flowers in his hand.
"So, what brings you here on Christmas eve?" asked William.
Jason swallowed hard and spoke. "Well uh, I just wanted to give this to Sarah." said Jason showing them the flowers in his hand. "and I wanted to ask your permission if I could take Sarah to the New Year's Eve party." He said nervously, feeling a big relief from his chest. Penny and Sarah returned and joined Leonard and William at the door. Jason greeted them. "Hi Sarah, hello Mrs. Hofstadter." He said.
Sarah waved hello to him. "Hi." said Sarah.
"Hi Jason! You were saying something?" Penny said, putting her hand on Leonard's shoulder.
"Uh yeah. I brought this for you." said Jason, handing Sarah the bouquet of flowers. Sarah accepted it.
"Thank you." said Penny's daughter, giving Jason a weak smile and smelling the flowers.
"You're welcome." said Jason smiling at her.
"Is that it?" Penny asked the boy.
"Uh, I just wanted to ask for Prof. Hofstadter's permission if I could ask Sarah to the New Year's Eve party." said Jason.
"But you're already going with Cassie right?" William said.
"Oh no! I never asked Cassie out. That was a misunderstanding." Jason said.
"That's not what we heard. Maybe you're asking my daughter out because Cassie refused to go with you, which means my daughter is just your second choice." Leonard said looking him in the eye.
"No sir. I swear I never asked Cassie to the party. I was always gonna ask Sarah to go with me." said Jason nervously.
"You do realize that my daughter's only fourteen and is not allowed to date yet?" said Leonard.
"I know sir and I promise I won't do anything inappropriate." Jason said.
William and Leonard looked at each other and smiled slyly.
"Good. But before you can take my daughter to that party, you have to answer three questions first to prove if you are worthy." said Leonard.
"Dad!?" Sarah protested.
Leonard looked at his daughter. "Honey, my house, my rules." He said.
Sarah sighed. "Fine." She said while Penny tried to console her daughter. Penny felt a little excited for what her husband and son are about to ask Jason.
"Are you ready?" William asked Jason. Jason nodded nervously.
"Okay. What is the Sine of 30 degrees?" asked Leonard, fist bumping William.
"Uh?" Jason muttered and looked at Sarah. Sarah held up her index finger, and then two fingers, hoping he would understand. "One? No, it's two! Twelve!" he said hoping he was right.
Leonard looked at his daughter and then turned to Jason. "Nice try." He said. "Hofstadter one, Jason zero." He said. "The answer's one-half!" said William. Jason grunted.
"Okay my turn." said William. "This should be easy. Recite Pi to five decimal places." William said.
Jason took a deep breath. "Uh, three point one, four, one, six, no! five, uh, nine?" he said while counting with his fingers. Leonard quickly looked at Sarah but she immediately folder her hands as she smiled at her mother. Penny smiled back at her daughter.
Leonard nodded. "Fair enough. It's a tie." He said. "Last one, when did Marty McFly returned to the past in the first Back to the Future movie?" he said smugly.
"November Five, Nineteen Fifty-five!" Jason said proudly. They were all surprised at how quickly Jason answered the third question. "That's one of my favorite movies." Jason explained as Sarah became excited.
Leonard and William nodded. "Alright Jason. You can ask my daughter to that party." said Leonard.
"Thank you, sir." He said then turning to Sarah. "Sarah, I was…" he said when Sarah cut him off quickly.
"Yes Jason, I'll go with you to the party!" said Sarah quickly, smiling at him.
"Wow! Thanks. I'll give you a call later." Jason smiled back a her.
"Okay. I guess you better go home before your parents start looking for you." said Leonard.
"Thank you, sir." Jason said. "Bye Sarah!" he waved at her.
Sarah waved back and smiled at him. "Bye Jason!" she said as Jason turned around and started to walk away. William closed the door as they made their way back to the living room.
"Urrgghh! I can't believe you two would do that to Jason!?" Sarah yelled to her brother and father.
"Hey, my house, my rules!" said Leonard.
"You sound angry but your face says otherwise little sister!" William teased her.
"Urrgghh!" Sarah said stomping her foot and folding her arms.
"He's right Sweetie! You should see your cheeks right now. They're red as beets!" Penny said leaning on her husband on the couch.
"Mom!?" Sarah yelled.
"What!?" Penny said. "You should probably put those flowers in a vase or something." She said to her daughter.
"Oh right!" said Sarah as she went to the kitchen to look for something to put the flowers in. She then took the vase and filled it with water before going to her bedroom, putting the flower vase on her desk by the window. Sarah returned to the living room and squeezed between her mom and dad on the couch, leaning on Penny's shoulder.
"Thanks mom." said Sarah.
"You're welcome sweetie. Aren't you gonna say thank you to your father?" said Penny.
Sarah leaned over and kissed Leonard's cheek. "Thank you daddy." She said.
"You're welcome honey." He said. They sat quietly for some time until Leonard looked at Penny.
"Hey we haven't done presents yet?" said Leonard.
"You're right honey." Penny said. "William sweetie, your present is under the tree." said Penny as William went over the tree to look for his present.
"Where's mine?" asked Sarah.
"Yours has been under your bed for the past couple of weeks." said Leonard. Sarah quickly jumped over the couch and ran upstairs to her bedroom. Leonard looked at William. "Wait for it." he said smiling. They then heard Sarah scream from her bedroom. She then ran downstairs to the living room like she was possessed, carrying a big box.
"A MacBook Pro! Thank you mom, dad!" she said kissing and hugging her parents tight.
"You're welcome sweetie! Now you can retire that old computer of yours!" Penny said.
"What's mine?" William asked as he ripped open his present. "An Algebra book? Really!? I could solve these in my sleep!" he said as he opened the book when a key suddenly fell from the pages. William picked it up. "Uh what is this key for?" he asked his parents.
Leonard and Penny looked at each other and laughed. "Didn't you notice the car parked in front of our house?" asked Leonard.
"Huh! No!?" said William. "You're kidding me!" he said.
"Why don't you see for yourself!?" said Penny, smiling at her son.
William quickly stood up and ran outside to try his keys on the car parked on the curb in front of their house. The three of them went to the front porch to see William doing the 'happy dance', checking out his new car. He went back to his parents and gave them both a tight hug.
"Thank you mom, dad! This is the best gift ever!" he said wiping the tear of his cheek.
"You're welcome son. It's a small price for graduating summa cum laude."
William kissed her mother on the cheek. "Thank you mom!" he said.
"You're welcome sweetie. I'm glad you liked it." said Penny.
"Are you kidding me? I love it!" said William.
"Dad, when do I get my own car?" Sarah asked.
"When you graduate from college with honors, you might get one." said Leonard pulling his daughter close and kissing her cheek.
"Oh, I will!" said Sarah looking at her mother. "and I want a fast one!" She said.
"Okay, now hold your horses little princess! You're a scientist, not a race car driver." said Leonard as Penny shook her head in disbelief.
They moved back inside the house with William going to his room to look for accessories to his car online. Sarah on the other hand stayed in the living room to set up her new laptop and transfer her files from her old computer.
The couple sat back on the couch with Leonard's hand over Penny's shoulder. Leonard reached into his pocket and gave a small box to Penny. Penny was surprised, looking at her husband.
"I thought we agreed, no presents for us?" she asked Leonard.
"I know. It's not a big deal honey. Just open it." He said. Penny opened the box and saw a golden bracelet with several charms on it.
Penny looked at her husband. "Honey, I love it. It's perfect!" she said kissing his lips.
"Ewww that's gross! Get a room!" Sarah teased them.
"Hey. This is why you and your brother are here!" said Leonard pointing at himself and Penny.
"That's disgusting dad!" said Sarah.
"Honey, put it on me." Penny said as Leonard put the jewelry on her left wrist. "It's so beautiful. You never fail to impress me." said Penny hugging Leonard.
"I'm glad you liked it." said Leonard as Penny leaned on him.
"Now I feel guilty for not getting you anything." Penny said.
"You're in trouble now mom!" said Sarah.
"Hey! Why don't you go up to your room!? It's getting late." said Penny.
Sarah folded her laptop and went to her room to continue her setup. "Fine mother!" She said sarcastically.
"You better watch your attitude young lady!" yelled Penny.
"I love you mom! I love you dad!" Sarah yelled from the stairs.
"Ugh! That girl will be the death of me." said Penny.
"At least we know whom she got it from." Leonard laughed.
Penny leaned over and kissed Leonard on the lips. "I love you honey!" she said.
"I love you too!" said Leonard.
Penny then picked up the ribbon from William's gift wrap, putting it on her head. "Hey, what if my gift to you is this?" she said waving her hand from head to toe.
"Hmmm, I love it!" said Leonard laughing.
Penny bit her lip and pulled him up to their bedroom. "Come on Hofstadter. Let's see if we can be naughty or nice!" she said teasing him.
"Oh, I can do both." He said proudly.
"We'll find out soon enough!" said Penny as Leonard closed their bedroom door.