Chapter 3
December 31, 2033, 6:00PM.
"Sweetie would you just relax!?" Penny told her daughter.
"Ugh I'm so nervous mom!" Sarah said looking in front of the mirror, trying to fix her hair.
"You look fine sweetie!" Penny said.
"What if he doesn't like my dress?" Sarah said nervously.
"Are you kidding me? You look amazing!" Penny was beginning to get irritated.
"Are you sure?" she asked her mother.
"Would you just relax! Now why don't we go down to the living room. Jason's probably on his way now." said Penny, pushing her daughter out of her room. They came down to the living room where Leonard and William were sitting, watching the TV. Leonard saw his daughter and was amazed at how pretty she was.
"Wow! You look amazing honey!" said Leonard kissing her daughter's cheek.
"You think so?" asked Sarah.
"Of course!" said Leonard reassuring his daughter.
William decided to chime in. "If you don't relax, you'll sweat profusely then smell funny later which will drive your precious Jason away!" said William.
Penny shook her head. "Can you please just shut up for one minute!" Penny yelled at her son.
"I'm just stating facts mom. Nervous people tend to sweat more than usual which eventually results in an unpleasant body odor common to people doing prolonged physical activities, like sports or mountain climbing." said William. Sarah stomped her feet and turned around, running to the bathroom.
"William Hofstadter I swear to god!" Penny yelled at her son, turning around following Sarah to the bathroom. She saw her daughter looking at herself in the mirror.
"Mom, do you think Jason would like my dress?" she asked her mother.
Penny hugged Sarah and kissed her forehead. "Honey, he's stupid if he doesn't." she said as they heard the doorbell. "Come on, that's probably Jason at the door." She smiled at her daughter.
They went out the bathroom and walked towards the living room where Jason was waiting for her. His jaw dropped as soon as he saw how pretty Sarah was. He walked towards her, giving her a bouquet of flowers.
"Hi! I brought this for you." He said handing the flowers to Sarah.
"Thank you." said Sarah.
"You look very pretty." Jason said.
Sarah smiled at him. "Thank you. You look good too." She said.
"I guess we better get going. My sister's outside waiting by the car." said Jason then turning to Leonard. "We're leaving now Dr. Hofstadter." He said.
"Now remember Jason." said Leonard.
Jason nodded. "Don't worry sir, I'll bring Sarah home right after the fireworks." Jason said.
"Good, remember that Sarah is my only girl and if you're afraid of me or William, then you should be more scared of my wife." said Leonard giving Jason the look. Jason nodded and looked at Penny staring at him.
"Yes sir. I understand." Jason said as they went out the door and into the car parked on the curb. Jason's sister Francine waved at Leonard, Penny and William standing on the porch as they looked at the young couple walking down the pathway. They got in the car as Francine drove away.
"Dad I thought you and mom are gonna go the party too?" asked William.
"We will, but we won't stay long. Your sister will hate us if we're there all the time, standing guard at her and Jason." said Leonard. "How about you?" he asked his son.
"I'm just gonna hang out with my friends by the lake. We have our own fireworks there." said William.
"Sweetie just be careful alright and you're still eighteen so no alcohol you got that?" said Penny.
William sighed. "We're not doing anything stupid mom." He said.
Leonard tapped his son's shoulder. "We know. Your mom's just making sure." He said as they went back inside the house to get changed for the New Year's Eve party at their community hall.
William left the house after an hour while Leonard and Penny went to the party around eight o'clock. Most of the people at the party were residents of their community with a few guests from outside here and there. They greeted most of them while making their way to the buffet table to get a few finger foods to eat. Penny got them a couple glasses of champagne to pair off with their food. They saw their daughter dancing with Jason with the other kids on the dance floor. Sarah saw her parents and waved at them. Leonard and Penny smiled and waved back at their daughter.
"Look at her honey. She's so happy." Penny said.
"Yeah. Which makes me more worried." said Leonard.
"Come on Leonard. They're just kids. I won't be surprised if they break up after a month or two." said Penny.
"I know. I just can't believe that our daughter is growing up too fast. It seems just like yesterday when all she wanted to do was to dress up like Elsa and sing that song all day. Now she's going to parties and dancing with boys. Next thing you know, you catch her smoking or something." said Leonard.
"Relax honey. Our kids are too smart to do those stupid stuff. And I think we raised them well enough for them to make good decisions." said Penny.
"We really make a good team huh?" Leonard said.
"You bet we do!" said Penny kissing her husband. "I mean, look at our son. He may sometimes act like a complete jackass like his father, but when it comes to decisions especially concerning his career, he basically got it all figured out." said Penny.
"I'm a jackass!?" asked Leonard smiling at his wife.
Penny held his chin. "You're my jackass!" she said teasing him.
"Hmm. We had one on Christmas eve so I guess we're having one tonight huh?" asked Leonard.
Penny shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. If you play your cards right." she said playfully.
Leonard rolled his eyes. "After all these years, you're still playing hard to get." Leonard said.
Penny looked at him. "Aww, are you mad?" she said.
"A little bit, yeah." said Leonard.
"What are you gonna do mister?" Penny said teasing her husband.
"I'm gonna punish you, hard." said Leonard pulling her close.
"Oh. Please sir. I promise I'll be good." She whispered playfully, hugging Leonard. Sarah and Jason then came near them.
"Hey no hugging and kissing!" said Sarah as they walked towards her parents.
Leonard and Penny released their hug and faced their daughter. "Hey, that's my line!" said Leonard.
"Hello sir, hi Mrs. Hofstadter." Jason said.
"Hi Jason. Looks like you two are having fun?" Penny asked him.
"We are. Thank you for letting Sarah to go with me." said Jason.
"No problem Jason. You were nice enough to ask properly and we appreciate that." said Penny.
Sarah pulled Jason's hand to go back to the dance floor. "Come on Jason, let's go back out there! Bye mom! Bye dad!" she said as they walked back to the dance floor.
Leonard and Penny joined the dance floor when the slow music came on. Penny wrapped her arm around Leonard's neck while his arms were around her waist.
"Penny." said Leonard.
"Hmmm?" she said.
"What if Sarah asks if she can have a boyfriend?" Leonard asked.
"Well we can allow it, but with boundaries." said Penny.
"Like what?" asked Leonard.
"Well, we set a curfew. She has to be home by eight or she'll be grounded." Penny said.
"Sounds good. What about open bedroom doors when they hang out in our house?" said Leonard.
"That seems fair." Penny nodded.
"What about 'the talk'?" asked Leonard.
"Don't worry honey. I'll talk to her about it." Penny said hugging him.
"I can't believe I would come to this point in my life. Worrying about my daughter turning into a young woman." Leonard sighed deeply.
"Honey it will come one way or another. There's no way out of it." Penny said consoling her husband.
Leonard took a deep breath. "You're right." He said looking around seeing her daughter dancing with Jason. "No matter how I look at her, she's still that little girl running around the house, causing all sorts of trouble." He said smiling.
"I know honey. But you can't stop the kids from growing up and living their own lives." said Penny.
"Yeah. I guess at the end of the day, it will still be just you and me huh?" Leonard smiled at his wife.
"That's not so bad right?" Penny said tightening her arms around him.
Leonard pulled her close. "I wouldn't ask for anything else." He said kissing his wife.
Sarah suddenly appeared beside them and pulled Penny aside to talk to her. Leonard tried to know what it is they were talking about but Penny held her hand up to stop him. He then saw her daughter get excited, hugging her mother tight. Penny kissed Sarah on her forehead before going back to Leonard to continue their dance.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"She said that Jason is asking if it's okay to kiss her." Penny smiled at him.
"What!?" Leonard exclaimed.
"Relax honey. I told her okay, but only on the cheek." said Penny trying to calm him down. Leonard hung his head low. "Honey, at least they are asking. Do you prefer them hiding these things from us?" asked Penny.
Leonard sighed and hung his head.
"Do you want to go home?" Penny asked him.
Leonard nodded. "Yes. I think I'm getting a headache." He said as they started to walk away. Penny stopped and went to talk to her daughter.
"Sweetie, your father's getting a headache so we're going home. Are you two going to be alright?" she asked Sarah and Jason.
"We're gonna be fine mom." said Sarah.
"Don't worry Mrs. Hofstadter, I'll bring her home after the fireworks." said Jason.
"Okay. You guys have fun alright." Penny said while hugging her daughter.
Leonard and Penny drove home and decided to watch the fireworks from their backyard. They arrived home, washed up and changed into their sleep clothes. They went to the backyard to sit on the patio.
"How are you feeling honey?" Penny asked as she massaged Leonard's neck and shoulders.
"A little better now. It's still early you know?" he said smiling at her.
"What about the fireworks?" Penny asked.
Leonard stood up and pulled her back inside the house. "The kids are away so we could be as loud as we want." He said winking at Penny.
They were lying on the bed naked and exhausted after making love.
"We still have it right?" Leonard asked trying to catch his breath.
"Yeah." said Penny looking at the ceiling. "Do you think we can make it to round two?" she said teasing him.
"I'll try. Just give me time to rest. We don't get to have the house to ourselves as often as we want so we have to make it count!" Leonard said.
Penny rested her head on his chest. "That's the spirit!" she said hugging her husband.
A few minutes to midnight, Leonard and Penny were sitting on the backyard, cuddling to each other.
"It's amazing right?" Penny said.
"What is?" asked Leonard.
"That we were able to make it to round two. I thought you would just give up, but you kept on going!" said Penny.
"Well it's sort of a special occasion so I had to step it up." Leonard said, feeling proud of himself.
Penny moved and gave him a big kiss on the lips. "Good job honey! I'm so proud of you." she said leaning her head on his shoulder. After a few minutes, the sky lit up with fireworks from the party. The couple looked up, mesmerized by the beautiful patterns of light across the night sky. The fireworks ended as the couple decided to stay in the backyard to wait for their daughter to arrive home. After about fifteen minutes, the front door opened and Penny called out to Sarah.
"Sarah honey, is that you!?" Penny yelled from the backyard.
"Mom? Why are you guys still awake!?" she asked as she locked the front door and walked towards her parents.
"We were watching the fireworks from here and decided to just wait for you to come home." said Penny. "Did you have fun with Jason?" asked Penny.
Sarah gave her parents the biggest smile. "Yes mom. I had so much fun!" she said.
"Aww, we're glad you had fun. Come here!" Penny said inviting her daughter to sit between them. Sarah squeezed between her parents, hugging her mother. She leaned over and kissed them both on the cheek.
"Thank you daddy, mommy. I love you so much!" Sarah said.
"You're welcome honey." said Leonard kissing her back on the cheek.
"So, tell us about Jason." Penny said.
"Mom!?" Sarah protested.
"Alright. I'm just being curious. No need to be defensive." said Penny.
"Did he kiss you on the lips?" asked Leonard.
"Daddy!?" Sarah exclaimed.
"Okay jeez! We were just teasing you!" said Leonard laughing at his daughter's reaction.
The three of them stayed there for a while, looking at the sky when Sarah decided to speak.
"Mom?" she said.
"Hmmm?" Penny muttered.
"Jason asked me if I could be his girlfriend." said Sarah.
The couple were surprised. "What!?" Leonard exclaimed.
"What did you tell him?" Penny said calmly.
"I told him I would think about it." said Sarah.
"And what did he say?" asked Penny.
"He was cool with it. He said he really liked me and that it's okay for him if we will be friends first." said Sarah.
"Do you like him?" asked Penny as Leonard paid close attention.
Sarah hugged her mother. "I do mom. I really like him." She said.
"I think I'm getting a migraine." said Leonard.
Sarah hugged and kissed her father. "I'm sorry daddy." She said.
"It's alright honey. You don't have to say sorry." He said to his daughter.
"So, it's okay to you if Jason will be my boyfriend?" his daughter asked.
Leonard sighed and looked at Penny. Penny gave him a hopeful look. "Tell Jason that I want to talk to his father first." said Leonard.
"Really!?" Sarah said, somewhat excitedly.
"Yes. We need to establish boundaries." said Leonard.
Sarah hugged her father. "Okay daddy. I'll tell him." said Sarah.
"Good. Why don't we get some sleep? I'm tired." said Leonard. The three of them stood up and went inside the house the same time as William came through the front door.
"So!? Did our little princess have fun with her prince charming!?" he said teasing his sister.
"Shut up William!" Sarah yelled at her brother.
"Alright. But based on your reaction, you already answered my question!" He said as he ran upstairs to his bedroom.
"Ugghh! I'm gonna kill you!" Sarah yelled running after her brother. The couple then heard William's door slam shut with Sarah grunting with frustration.
Leonard smiled and turned to his wife. "Happy new year honey!" he said.
"Happy new year too, sweetheart!" she said kissing his lips as they held hands, going upstairs to their bedroom.