The Skype Syncopation

by katladyd

Sheldon and Leonard leave for Germany to give a month-long lecture series at the University of Heidelberg. While they are gone, them and their wives learn some things about life, love, and friendship. This is a sequel to The Assistant Conundrum, so it's pretty much the same characters. Note: I don't own any part of TBBT, not one bit of it.

49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Straight Talk

My work life has bee crazy, I have been working on call on top of my usual hours. That's being the head of your department in retail sometimes. I haven't forgotten my readers or this story, I'm just usually dead tired when I finally do get home. But forget that for a bit and let's see how the Cooper's adjust to being back home, shall we?

Two hours later, all three couples sat back on the living room sofa in the Cooper home, their bellies full of Thai food and their minds content. It was Amanda Koothrappali who finally broke the silence with, "Okay, now that we've eaten, how about you guys telling us more about your award? For instance, how much money are you getting, when and where do you go to get this award, and is Binary giving you both a raise for winning it?"

Sheldon Cooper sat straight up and looked over at his friend's pretty wife, and then answered, "The Sakurai Prize is all about prestige, there is little monetary value attached to it. I'd say that Leonard and I will most likely split about twenty-five-thousand dollars between us. And Binary has informed us that there will be some sizeable monetary rewards from them for our efforts. Also, we will be getting the award in Washington D.C. sometime in early April. Of course, our travel expenses will be covered."

"For all of you?" Raj asked.

"Yes. For ourselves and our wives and children. While Washington D.C. is quite a bit closer to us than Sweden, it is nice of them to pay our way to receive the award."

Penny interrupted Sheldon with, "I know you've explained this to me before, Leonard, but just how important is this award? Is it as big a deal as that Nobel those guys," pointing to the Coopers and Raj, "won for that gravity theory thing?"

Leonard gave his wife a fond look before replying, "The Sakurai is a very prestigious award. It's given only to physicists, particularly those who have made important discoveries in particle physics, so it honors the best in the field. To the world, the Nobel is more prestigious, but to a physicist, they're pretty close to being even."

Niki interjected, "Let's just say I'm as proud of Sheldon getting this award as I was when we won the Nobel. Particle physics isn't Sheldon's main area of focus, but his collaboration with Leonard had its main theory based in particle physics. If you really want to get down to the nitty gritty, most physicists that study astral bodies use some form of particle physics in their research. Even us astronomers use it. Raj, for instance, is an astrophysicist who specializes in particle physics."

Penny nodded and then asked her friend, "What about you? Why weren't you in on this paper?"

"Mainly because Sheldon and Leonard have been working on this thing for years together, long before I ever came on the scene. I had no part in their research, so I really had nothing to contribute to their paper."

Sheldon put an arm around his wife and pulled her closer to him, "Not that you couldn't have, had we met you earlier."

Niki laid her head on his shoulder and answered him in a matter-of-face way, "I suppose. But I'm more of a pure astrophysicist. My focus is on larger space objects, not smaller ones. I'm heavy into planets, stars, black holes, and SETI than I am into how particles in space react to things. In our gravity nullification paper, my area of contribution was limited to light, which is made up of particles, and how it behaves around black holes. You may say I blended the two, but my main focus was the black holes."

Penny leaned forward, her eyes shining, and asked her friend, "What's SETI?"

"Oh. That's an acronym for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. In my spare time, I used to monitor transmitters that were attempting to send and receive message from other life forms in the universe. I'm afraid I don't do much of that anymore."

"Why?"

Niki gave a short laugh and then answered her friend's question, "No free time. With a husband, teaching, a business, and a child, well, something had to give, and it was my SETI involvement."

Penny's face fell as she replied, "That's sad."

Niki looked over at Sheldon and gave him a loving smile, "Not really. I've gained a lot more than I gave up."

Now it was Leonard's turn to question her, "Do you think you'll ever get back into SETI involvement?"

"Someday, sure. It's fascinating to me. I do keep up with the latest SETI developments in journals."

Amanda had true concern in her voice as she queried, "Speaking of no free time, how are you going to handle everything with another child on your hands?"

"Well, Sheldon is a very involved parent, so I will have lots of help. Plus, both sets of grandparents will most likely offer to babysit whenever we need a break. Also, with Penny and I living so close to each other, we can always help each other if the need should arise."

Penny smiled happily and responded with, "Thanks, girlfriend. I will most likely take you up on that one."

Niki giggled and assured her pretty blonde friend, "Hey, we do that now. Why should one more child be any different?"

Penny gave a heartfelt nod, "True. We've always had each other's back."

"That we have. I don't know what I would have done without you the last three weeks, honey."

Penny winked saucily and replied, "You'd have survived. You're pretty resourceful."

Niki nodded her head and agreed, "Yeah, I am. And my favorite resource when Sheldon isn't available is Penny Hofstadter."

Amanda suddenly blurted out, "Hey, I forgot to ask you guys something. Do you guys want a boy or a girl this time?"

Penny gave a hearty laugh, "For sure I want a girl. I love Blake to pieces, but two little boys running around? No way!"

Leonard agreed with his wife, "Yeah, this time I think I want a girl, too. I can see my next child being a Daddy's Girl."

Sheldon gave a noncommittal shrug and added, "I highly recommend it. As for me, it really doesn't matter this time. I have my little Princess, so I will be happy with whatever gender we get."

Niki patted her husband's leg and continued the thought, "I just want a healthy child. But, I suppose there is a place somewhere deep inside me that would love to have a boy. Blake is just adorable, and I can see how much fun it could be to have a boy."

Raj responded to their comments with, "Well, I hope both couples get exactly what they want."

Penny then asked a pointed question of Raj and Amanda, "When are you two going to have children?"

Raj smiled and answered her with, "Whenever we get tired of having a dog."

Amanda hugged her husband and explained his remark to Penny, "Which means never. Raj loves that dog! And if I have to be honest, so do I. I don't know who I fell in love with first, Raj or Cinnamon."

"It was love at first sight with both of us. Right?"

The dark-haired beauty turned to Raj, kissed his cheek, and answered, "Yeah, it was. Who could resist the soulful eyes of either one of them? Not this lady, that's for sure."

At that point, Sheldon gave a yawn and a stretch and told their guests, "Well, I hate to call and end to this wonderful evening, but I do believe jet lag is catching up with me."

Me, too." Niki looked over at both women and volunteered, "Hey, let's call Bernie tomorrow and all get together for brunch?"

Penny stood up and told her, "Sounds like a plan. What time?"

"Say, elevenish. I'll call both of you with the details after I've called Bernie. Penny, when do you go back to rehearsals?"

"The day after tomorrow. We open in three weeks, so are you guys going to come see me?"

Niki also stood up and declared, "Try and keep us away! Sheldon and I should be fully recovered from our Disneyland trip by then."

Penny asked her, "Are you guys taking Lori with you?"

"No. My mom and Richard are taking her down to San Diego for a couple of days. They haven't seen her in about three weeks and their dying to spend some time with her. So, Sheldon and I are going childless to The Happiest Place on Earth."

Sheldon nodded and added, "Yes. Niki and I will, once again, be attempting to recapture the magic of our first visit there together."

Penny teased them, "I suppose torrid coitus is on the menu?"

Niki gave her friend's arm a gentle punch, "As always, girl. But that's between me and Sheldon."

"Suuure it is! Just look at the way you two are staring at each other. Heck, the way you have always stared at each other. Girl, we all know when you guys have being bad on your minds."

Raj, who was beginning to become uncomfortable with the topic of discussion, took his wife's hand and helped her off the couch, "With that being said, Amanda and I will see ourselves out."

Leonard put his arm around his wife and steered her towards the door as well, "So will Penny and I."

Niki caught up with both couples and mildly scolded them, "Hey, wait up. We aren't in that much heat that we can't see our friends out the door."

Sheldon muttered to himself, but loudly enough for the others to hear, "Speak for yourself."

Niki looked over at him and cried out in embarrassment, "Sheldon!"

All the friends then had a good laugh and made their plans for the next day as they walked the Koothrappalis to their car.

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Thirty minutes later, the tired couple found themselves once again sleeping together in their own bed, something that hadn't happened in almost a month. Sheldon lay on his back, his hands entwined behind his head, and addressed the ceiling in a dreamy voice, "It feels so good to be home once more, relaxing in my own bed."

Next to him, Niki smiled slyly into the darkness and added, "And next to your wife, also."

"AND with our daughter fast asleep down the hall. Yes, I do believe this is what can be called one of life's perfect moments."

Niki gave a happy sigh, "If it got anymore perfect, I don't believe I could cope."

Sheldon Cooper looked over at his wife and happily responded with, "Oh, but it will. In a few short months we will be blessed with another child of ours to love and cherish."

Niki rolled over onto her side and gently laid her head on her husband's chest, "You always have the perfect words to say in moments like this."

"No, Freckles, I don't. It took many, many, years of experience before I good even passably good at what is termed, 'pillow talk'."

His wife began to lazily trace hearts on his chest as she replied in a loving voice, "Well, you have definitely perfected the art, my dear Schatze."

Sheldon grinned to himself and reminded her, "I always strive to be the best at everything I do. I don't always succeed, but generally my results are quite positive."

Niki lips found Sheldon's ear and she whispered seductively, "Would that include certain intimate interactions with you wife?"

"Those are among my best moments, at least that is what I have been told from a most reliable source."

"Who would be?"

Sheldon gave one of his strange little laughs and turned his head to face the woman lying next to him, "You, silly."

Niki responded with a giggle and a leading suggestion, "I do believe, as a team, we need to do some proofs on the viability of that theory."

This time it was Sheldon who rolled over onto his side. He then took his wife into his arms and began caressing her body as he asked her, "Like this?"

"Well, that is a good beginning. But I do believe in this circumstance, we will need some in-depth proofs. We must delve deeply into our research to either prove or disprove your theory."

At that, Sheldon's lips found his wife neck and his hands began an intense exploration of her body, causing Niki to cry out, "Oh, Cooper! That is just the form of proof we should continue."

He then pulled his wife closer to himself and reassured her with, "And so we shall, so we shall."

Thirty minutes later, Niki Cooper lay back on her pillow, a smile of catlike satisfaction filling her face. "Cooper," I do believe we have proven your theory beyond any reasonable doubt. The empirical evidence speaks for itself."

Sheldon Cooper merely smiled into the darkness. His happiness at being home and making love to his wife in their marital bed making his heart too full for words.

Our couple is now safely home and things seem to be getting back to normal. And that includes a weekend trip to Disneyland for Sheldon's birthday. A returning to the scene where it all began, if you will. Stay tuned. I will try to have this next chapter up in a more timely manner than I have been lately.