One year later Raj meets a lady from the past.

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One year after Raj's second divorce Sheldon and Raj were eating in the Caltech canteen together when they were joined by a person from their pasts.

"Professor Cooper"

"Oh, it's Dr. Nowitzki, I thought you were at Harvard?"

"I was, but after I got divorced earlier this year it wasn't so nice working out there. So I am back here at Caltech."

"Welcome back, if you want to discuss Science with me then contact my assistant Ms. Rigby and arrange an appointment."

"I was just thinking now that I am single and back here in California again that we could get back together again."

"That implies we were ever together in the past. If you want to talk Science then I have just told you what you can do. If you don't want to talk Science then I have nothing else to say. Good day to you Dr. Nowitzki."

Sheldon got up and walked out of the canteen.

Raj said "You do know Ramona he is still married to Amy, they had twins 5 years ago. It is going to be easier to get a free quark from a nucleon than to split up Amy and Sheldon. I got divorced for the second time last year, I know what you are going through, neither of my marriages lasted a year. Sit down Ramona, how has your work been since you left Caltech?..."

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Two weeks later Dr. Nowitzki was in her office when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in"

"Hello Dr. Nowitzki, my name is Amy Farrah Fowler, may I have a word with you."

"Please come in Professor Fowler and sit down. I remember you, the Nobel Prize winner with your husband, a pleasure to see you again. How is your husband, I hear that you have children now."

"Sheldon is fine, our children Flora and Stephen are a bit of a handful but we wouldn't trade them for the world. Now for the reason for my visit. I understand that you have started a relationship with Dr. Koothrappali?"

"Yes I have, although I fail to see how that concerns you."

"You are right, what you and Raj do together is your own business. However, Raj is a very good friend of mine and Sheldon's. We have known him a long time, he hasn't had the best of luck with female relationships, when I first met him he couldn't even talk to unrelated women unless he was drunk. Raj has twice been married, both times he rushed into marriage too quickly and both times he was divorced within the year. I wish the two of you all the best for your relationship, maybe you are the one Raj has been looking for all these years. I am no expert on relationships, Sheldon has been my only serious relationship in my life and I was lucky to find Mr. Right first time. I have seen what happens to Raj when his relationships fall apart, please do not lead him on or hurt him. Our social group meets for lunch every Sunday, please tell Raj that we would all love it if the two of you were to join us for lunch. Thank you for your time and good day to you Dr. Nowitzki."

Amy left the office.

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Two weeks later Ramona came with Raj to Sunday lunch with the rest of the social group. It was Amy and Sheldon's turn this week. It was a bit awkward for Ramona seeing Sheldon and Amy together but Ramona just talked Science with Sheldon. She got on well with Bernadette, she was pleased to meet another lady Ph.D. Raj was happy to have her as a partner at the Sunday lunch and they were soon regular attendees on Sunday.

Six months later Raj and Ramona were living together and they hosted some Sunday lunches at their apartment. Ramona and Sheldon's relationship improved as they were now collaborating in their Physics work. Ramona was a fully fledged member of the social group, the sixth Ph.D in the group of eight.

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Six months later Raj got married for the third time. Penny, Amy and Bernadette had a long discussion with Raj to make sure if he was really really sure about this but Raj was adamant about getting married to Ramona. It was a much smaller affair than the lavish Indian wedding to Shuchi, just the social group, some of Ramona's family. Priya flew from India to represent Raj's family. Everyone had a great time at the wedding, Ramona even got a congratulations kiss from Sheldon!

For the first six months of their marriage all was well between Raj and Ramona. Then Raj took Ramona, Sheldon and Leonard to the airport

Ramona "Time to say goodbye my dear husband, off to Harvard for a week."

Raj kissed his wife goodbye "Enjoy the conference, keep Sheldon and Leonard out of trouble."

At the conference Nobel Prize winner Sheldon gave the introductory plenary lecture. At the tea break after the lecture Ramona introduced someone from her past to Sheldon and Leonard.

"This is my former husband Professor John Smith of Harvard, John these are my friends and colleagues from Caltech Professor Cooper and Professor Hofstadter..."

It was a busy conference with lots of parallel sessions, Sheldon and Leonard didn't see much of Ramona. They were both in the audience when she gave her presentation on the last day, they couldn't find her afterwards in the tea break.

The conference ended on Friday night, Saturday morning Sheldon and Leonard went to Boston airport to fly back to California.

As they waited to board

Leonard "I wonder where Ramona is, I thought she was flying back with us?"

Sheldon "I am sure that she is. The Caltech travel office booked all three of us of the same return flights LAX to Boston."

Leonard "I hope she is OK, looks like our flight is ready for boarding. OK Sheldon, lets go home..."

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Next day it was Howard and Bernadette's turn for Sunday lunch. The Hofstadter and Fowler-Cooper families were there but no sign of Raj or Ramona. Then just as lunch was ending Raj turned up alone, he looked terrible.

"Hello my friends, sorry I am late, please listen to this" and he played a message from his phone

"Hello Raj, this is Ramona. You know I was back at Harvard last week for the conference with Sheldon and Leonard. I met up with my ex-husband and we had a wonderful time together. I am staying here in Cambridge, my lawyer will be in touch about divorce proceedings, goodbye Raj..."