Chapter Two

When they all reached the door to 4A, Duke didn't gently place Sheldon down on his feet. He put him down more like he was offloading a sack of potatoes. "Gee, Pet-" Both Sheldon and Penny glared at him. "I mean Sheldon, you've put on some weight since I last hauled you around."

"Are you referring to the time you placed me in a gunny sack and then suspended me from the elm tree out in front of the house? Or, the time you hung me upside down by the ankles until I helped you with your math homework?" Sheldon asked his brother pointedly.

Duke looked abashed. "Well Shelly, that was a long time ago, and all in good fun."

Leonard unlocked the door to let everyone in. Missy was in the kitchen getting out plates. She had the good sense to keep the kitchen island between her and Howard, as he was trying his best to enchant her with the latest pick-up lines he found on the internet. She deflected all his advances quite nicely as she tried to get Raj to say even one word to her. He could still only bat his eyes at her and shrug. All three looked towards the door as it swung open.

Leonard was speaking to the group coming in. "You really tied Sheldon up in a sack and hung it in a tree?"

Howard jumped into the half-heard conversation. "What's this about Sheldon in the sack?"

Duke guffawed. "In a sack, not in the sack. Although, if anyone had a story about my little brother in the sack, I'd be glad to hear it!"

"I will not have any of that kind of talk while I'm around." Mary said as she grabbed the lobe of Duke's ear and gave it a swift tug. "Now you go on and help get things ready so I can cook."

Both Missy and Duke sniggered and looked at each other.

"That 'kind of talk' Mama?" said Missy. "It seems to me as I recall that you and Daddy had quite a lot to say on the subject."

Mary blushed. "Now you hush up!"

"Explain to me Mother," Duke continued with a wide grin. "How I happened to be two months premature when you and Daddy were newlyweds?"

Her reply was a dish rag thrown in his face.

Leonard, Penny, Howard and Raj stood agog on the side of the kitchen island watching the playful banter of the Cooper clan. They all separately wondered how Sheldon came from the same family.

Raj whispered into Howard's ear. Howard nodded in agreement. "It's a sound theory."

"What?" Leonard asked.

"Maybe Sheldon was switched at birth." Howard said under his breath.

Leonard grinned and softly muttered back. "Or dropped on his head."

Penny shot them all 'the look' and they dropped the subject immediately. She was still plenty pissed off that they had ditched Sheldon when he had got sick even though they had no idea how sick he actually was. She had been the one to take Sheldon to the hospital and had to deal with all the fear and anxiety when he had to have emergency surgery. She had been running the boys ragged for the past day and a half. They did everything she asked as they were trying to get back on her good side. First she had made them detail her car. Cleaning up Sheldon's dried puke had nearly done Howard in. Then she made Leonard and Howard clean her apartment while she sent Raj to pick up Missy and Mary at the airport. She could think of no worse punishment for him. She took time for herself to catch a catnap on the boy's couch. She then made the boys go back and spend 'quality time' with Sheldon at the hospital. She had gone back there by herself in the early evening before her shift began at work. She was still tired and a bit cranky, but she had all of today off. She wished she could crawl into bed, but she was letting the Cooper women stay in her apartment while she slept on her sofa. Mrs. Cooper had gently implied that she didn't approve of Penny spending the night with Leonard since they were not married.

Well, I didn't really want to anyway. In fact Leonard has a lot to make up for before I let him anywhere near me again!

"I still say switched at birth." Howard said to no one in particular.

Penny held up her fist to his face and shook it while she turned to see if Sheldon had overheard him. Her worry seemed unfounded. Sheldon had not settled into his spot on the couch as she thought he would. In fact, he was nowhere in sight.

Knock, knock, knock

"Sheldon?"

Nothing.

Knock, knock, knock

"Sheldon?"

Still nothing.

Knock, knock, knock

"Sheldon?"

"Come in Penny." Sheldon said softly.

As Penny slowly open the door and peeked into Sheldon's bedroom, she could see that he was sitting on his bed with his back to the door.

"Are you feeling okay Sweetie? Do you want me to get you anything?" She walked over and stood next to the bed by where he was sitting.

He wouldn't meet her gaze, he only spoke quietly. "No, I'm fine. I do not require anything."

She sat down next to him on the bed. "Sheldon, you are not fine. Tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing."

"Sheldon." She said his name in almost a whisper as she tried to coax a real answer out of him.

He turned to face her. "I heard what Howard and Leonard said, and they're right."

"Oh Sweetie, don't listen to what they said."

Damn them!

"It's just…it's just…even I feel like I don't belong in my own family. I do not have the easy going ways or 'charm' if you will, of my siblings. At times it makes me feel uncomfortable. It's not their fault. Sometimes, I wish…I wish…" He rubbed his eyes with his fingers and looked away from her.

"Shh, it's okay honey." Penny put her arm around him which he didn't pull away from. "You have your own special charm."

Mary stood back from the doorway of her son's room.

Yes, I really do like that girl.