"I must say Leonard, I am utterly baffled as to you did not alert me to the fact that Penny has returned to Pasadena."

Leonard rolled his eyes at Sheldon's complaints as hef distributed tfhe food amongst the four of them. It was seven years later but not much had changed. He still lived in the same apartment, but with Howard since Sheldon had moved out, and the four of them still hung out there at least three times a week for dinner, games, and movies.

"Frankly, Sheldon, I am utterly baffled as to why I would," said Leonard. "You've expressed no interest in seeing Penny or Zoe, in fact you've had a disturbing lack of interest."

"All the same I think there should be an amendment made to the Friendship Agreement which stipulates that the known return of any future progeny and mother of said progeny should be made known to the friend."

"I thought we should tell you," said Raj, "but Penny did ask us not too. And Howard and Leonard didn't want to anyway."

"Oh, I see it's a mass conspiracy," said Sheldon, his voice heightening slightly. "I feel as though one of my so called friends should have taken the time to at least leave a memo."

"Penny's our friends too," said Leonard. "And when two friends break up it's very complicated …"

"Especially when one of them was a giant douche," said Howard pointedly.

"Now Howard," said Sheldon. "While leaving without saying anything might have been a bit rude, I do not think such harsh words are necessary."

Howard looked at him, a look of disbelief on his fact, but Leonard shook his head to silence them.

"But all the same," continued Sheldon. "She has returned to Pasadena with my child and..."

"Wait, did you meet Zoe," asked Raj. Sheldon looked at him.

"Have you?"

"Of course, Penny has been sending me pictures for a long time. Howard and I took her to the park a couple of weeks ago….turns out I can speak in front of female children by the way. But she's pretty amazing dude."

"Damn," exclaimed Howard. "Can you imagine? With Sheldon's brains, and Penny's goddess like features, and knowledge of social norms, that beautiful nerd is going to rule the world."

"I hardly say she has my brains," said Sheldon. "She's undeniably intelligent, but…"

"But nothing," interjected Leonard. "She's you in a prettier package. She has an IQ that cannot be accurately measured by human tests, as you delight in reminding us about yourself. In fact, I might go as far as to say she's smarter then you, your homo novus, she's homo novus superior. She has all your logic and analytical skills, but her right brained abilities aren't handicapped like yours."

"Nonsense," said Sheldon. "She's a ballerina, how smart can she be? All the same, she has undeniable potential and it would seem she and Penny will both be settled in Pasadena until further notice."

"So," said Raj. "Are you planning on being a part of her life?"

"Is Penny letting you be part of her life," asked Howard, in disbelief.

"Yes," said Sheldon. "It would seem so. She's allowing me to go to her ballet recital tomorrow. But who knows what I will choose in the long run. Any long term obligation would be a severe disruption in my life."

It was odd, the sick feeling in his stomach when Sheldon imagined telling little Zoe that he would not see her again. He told himself it was solely due to her disappointment and had nothing to do with his own.

"I have not decided what course of action I will take. All of this is further complicated by the presence of Penny's current husband."

"Oh yeah, Jake," said Leonard. "Nice fellow."

Raj made a snort. "I don't know, I don't trust the guy."

Sheldon cocked his head to the side, looking at Raj questioning. "Why?"

"I don't know," he said. "There's something about him, but hey, what do I know? He seems to love Penny and Zoe well enough."

"Well, we'll see how he will react to my presence in Zoe's life. I need further data before I can arrive at a conclusion." Sheldon didn't know he had decided the minute he met her.

Sheldon stood nervously in the lobby of the theater where Zoe would be performing that night. They were late, as usually was the case with Penny. He was somewhat comforted by the fact that this had not changed.

He first saw them standing outside the studio, she was in the middle of a heated discussion with a very handsome man. He observed them for a moment, he had been the recipient of that face many times, her eyes blazing with anger, but never in their courtship did he yell back in the way this man was.

Finally things seemed to calm down and Penny opened the door, her face went from one of stress to a smile, a fake smile. They had lived together for a year, he had learned how to identify this smile.

"Sheldon," she said. "I'm happy you could come."

He nodded.

"This is Jake," she said. "My husband." She pulled the man closer, he clearly did not even bother with a fake smile.

"Hello," said Sheldon, neither man extended a hand of greeting. Jake was shooting daggers at Sheldon, clearly not pleased with the situation.

"Look Shelly," he started, his voice derisive and rude. "I don't like you, I don't think I'm going to like you, frankly I can't believe Penny is letting you back into her or Zoe's life…"

"Back into Penny's life," corrected Sheldon.

"What?"

"You said you couldn't believe Penny would allow be "back" into her or Zoe's life. I was never in Zoe's life so I can't come "back" into her life, I have just now entered her life. Unless of course you are like my mother and adhere to the belief that a fetus is indeed a human life, then I suppose you could make that statement."

Jake looked at Sheldon for a moment, then back at Penny.

"Is this guy shitting me?"

Penny shushed Sheldon before he could state that this was "a biological impossibility."

"Jake," she said sharply. " Please."

Jake rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said. He turned back to Sheldon. "Let's just agree we aren't going to be friends, we don't have to talk during this thing, so let's just go in, sit down and watch my daughter's recital."

Sheldon nodded his head. "I find that very agreeable."

Penny shook her head and sighed. This was going to be a long night.

The three of them went to sit down, with Penny in between them. She almost laughed a little when she observed the situation. She couldn't imagine a more awkward situation. She was with her current husband and her ex-lover, the daddy of her child and the father of her child, one was pissy, the other oblivious.

She made a few feeble attempts at conversation, but breathed a sigh of relief when the auditorium darkened and the curtain rose.

Sheldon was no sap, in fact he was a robot, which meant he rationalized everything. So that night left him with the only possible conclusion, Zoe simply was breathtaking. He was a scientist he had to accept when in the course of two days Zoe had had the same effect on him twice, that it must just be so. She was simply beautiful. Her curls gathered up atop her head, laced with flowers and glitter. She moved gracefully and fluidly. He noted her long limbs, yet another trait from her father, but somehow she made what was awkward and gangly on him into something controlled, elegant and beautiful.

For a brief moment, he felt a surge of pride. He usually only felt it for himself, but it was unmistakably. But as quickly as it appeared it was chased away when he remembered, once again, she was not his daughter. He did not raise her. He looked over at Penny, whose hand was resting in Jakes, her eyes brimming with tears as she watched her little girl. Jake too looked at her with pride filled eyes. She belonged to them.

He told himself this did not make him sad.

At the end of the performance, Penny was beaming as they walked out. "She was beautiful," she exclaimed with a giddy laugh, kissing Jake on the cheek. She turned to Sheldon. "Wasn't she spectacular?"

Sheldon nodded in response. The three of them waited in awkward silence for Zoe to meet them in the lobby. Zoe finally came bounding out from behind the double doors. Her face was red and lit up with happiness. To the surprise of all of them except Penny, Zoe leapt straight up into Sheldon's arms. It was a good thing she was so light, or his lack of upper body strength might have failed him at the sudden and unexpected weight it was forced to support.

Jake looked put-out, but Penny did not take notice of this. She was too distracted by the fact that Sheldon did not recoil. He did not embrace her but allowed her to hug him. She let go of Sheldon and slid to the floor and then hugged Penny around the legs, and then proceeded to hug Jake.

"Sweety, I am so so proud of you," said Penny. "You were so beautiful. You were a perfect little swan."

"Mommy, I wasn't a little swan, I was the Swan Queen."

"Oh honey, you know I haven't been able to tell you the plot of any of the ballet's you have been in. You could've been a snowflake, a mouse, a swan, but either way you were wonderful."

Zoe shrugged and hugged her mother again. Sheldon was never able to have such an interaction without correcting, scolding, or unwittingly mocking the person he was speaking too, Zoe seemed to have found a way to temper her genius. Was it possible that she had inherited all of us good qualities and none of his faults?

"Now you want to get icecream?"

Zoe looked at her mother, her gaze a bit condescending. Well, thought Sheldon, maybe not none of his faults.

"Mother," she said. "You know today is not ice cream day. "

"Right, today is cookie day. We'll run by the store on the way home to get your favorite cookie dough."

Zoe nodded, her smile wide and bright. "I suppose it would be inappropriate to invite Dr. Cooper?"

Penny laughed. "Sweety, coming home with us to make cookies is the last thing Dr. Cooper wants to do."

"Of course," said Zoe. She turned to Sheldon and looked up at him. "Thank you for coming," she said softly, eyes somewhat sad. "I hope to see you again soon." The last part was said almost as a question. What was the answer to that question? Did he hope to see her again? Would he see her again?

"Thank you for inviting me," he said. "I found it to be an all together tolerable way to spend an evening."

Zoe hugged him around the legs one more time, before he turned to leave. He stepped out of the studio into the warm night air. He paused for a moment to look back in. Jake was holding Zoe, Penny was touching her face lovingly. They were a perfect, beautiful family. It could've been his.

He turned to leave but found that walking away from Penny and Zoe was not the easiest thing to do, why had it been so easy before?

"So Sheldon," said Howard, with a slight teasing tone in his voice, as he sat down at their lunch table in the cafeteria. "Tell us how was the ballet recital? Did you enjoy the evening out with Penny, the husband and Zoe?"

"Yeah, that had to have been awkward," said Raj. "Penny with her good looking, rich, manly, husband who wears adult shirts…"

Leonard smacked Raj in the shoulder.

"Come on guys," he said, good naturedly, but then turned his gaze back to Leonard. "But seriously, how was it?"

"It was…fine."

"Fine? That's it? What did Jake say when he saw you? Was he upset or was he almost insulting by how non-threatened he was by you," asked Howard.

"I don't know how Jake was, that's something you will have to ask him. We established a relationship of mutual indifference."

"Indifference," said Howard. "Wow, you must have been on your best behavior."

"Alright, well perhaps more than polite indifference on his part, but I could not be bothered with it."

"And Zoe," pressed Raj. "How was she? Excited to see you?"

"Of course she was," said Sheldon taking a bite of his beef-o-roni. "She simply adores me."

"Yes, she does," said Leonard. "But what do you think about her?"

"Well, she's an impressive ballerina," said Sheldon. He kept to himself just how much he enjoyed watching her dance and how he did not feel utter repulsion when she hugged him, that was none of their concern. "Especially for a child of her size, and age, though I imagine that kind of thing can't be good for her feet. Perhaps I should speak to Penny about that."

Sheldon did not have to tell them anything, that last final line gave it all away. Sheldon taking notice, Sheldon showing concern, Sheldon investing himself. He looked up, fork almost to his mouth, he stopped when he noticed the shocked faces.

"What?"

They shook their head, and shrugged, they wouldn't say anything, he was like a deer and they didn't want to spook him or push anything.

"So," continued Leonard cautiously. "Did you decide?"

"Decide what?"

"If you are going to be a permanent familiar fixture in her life or if you are going to abandon her again?"

Sheldon looked at him exasperated. "Again, I did not abandon her, just Penny, and technically Penny left me."

"God knows what she was doing with you in the first place," said Leonard, somewhat bitterly, but he couldn't get into this again, it had been a bad time in their friendship when Penny had first walked out on Sheldon and he didn't need to stir up those problems again.

"That's irrelevant, she is no longer with me and she has a new husband who is clearly fulfilling all of his spousal duties, as to my duties concerning Zoe, I don't know. I am still uncertain as to whether or not Penny wants me to be in Zoe's life, she never said specifically and she knows I would need it to be made explicit."

"I'm sure if Zoe wants you, Penny wants you," said Leonard.

"It's true dude," concurred Raj. "I've never seen a mother love a kid that much…certainly not mine."

"Well, we shall see how this progresses."

"How are you hoping it progresses," asked Leonard. He did not want to hear him say it, to recognize what a mistake he made. Sheldon looked at him, obviously frustrated.

"I do not know Leonard, I suppose it would not be entirely off putting to interact with her again at a future date, but seeing as I have no way of contacting them I suppose I'll wait and see if Penny is comfortable with me having any further presence in Zoe's life. And I certainly don't see what concern it is of yours."

Sheldon's Teas twang came out a little stronger as he stood and walked away. The three scientists sat there for a moment in silence.

"Well, plucked a nerve there didn't we," said Howard, leaning back in his chair and stabbing at Sheldon's beef-o-roni with his fork. "Guy must be upset, he didn't finish his meal now his bowel movements are going to be out of whack."

Sheldon paced in his office, trying to distract himself with his work but he couldn't. His thoughts constantly returned to those big blue eyes, and brown curls, and the sick feeling that overtook him when he thought of not seeing them again. It was such a distressing thought, it had even thrown off his breakfast as well, Lord knows how long it would take him to get his bowel movement back on track. His thought process was interrupted when his office phone rang.

"Hello," he said uncertainly.

"Hello father," came the voice on the other end of the line that made his breathe catch. "Or should I call you Dr. Cooper, I am not sure what protocol demands."

"How did you get this number?"

"CalTech does not protect its employee's privacy very well at all. You would think their firewall would be better." His daughter was a computer hacker, at the age of six, that was…wonderful. "Anyway, I know you have very little knowledge of these social interactions, so I decided that I would make the first move." Sheldon cleared his throat, this was the moment. Option A, say "no" hang up the phone and continue his well-ordered routine, continuing a path that was moving ever closer to a Nobel Prize. Or Option B, he could allow the conversation to continue, risk further attachment on both sides, and further disruption of his everyday life, and possibly slow down his trek to future greatness and breakthroughs. He asked himself the question which had determined so many things in his life, what would Spock do? But this time he didn't like the answer to the question, so to hell with Spock.

"What do you propose?"

Option B it is.

"Well, today is ice cream day," she stated.

"It's also comic book day," he said.

"Well, how about you come pick me up after work today, we will go get ice cream and then we can go to the comic book store."

"That sounds acceptable."

"Good pick me up after work, I live at…"

Sheldon heard a familiar voice drift over the phone.

"Zoe who are you talking to?"

"Drat," whispered Zoe into the phone. "Foiled by my own mother."

He could here Zoe protest weakly and then rummaging as the phone switched hands.

"Hello," came Penny's voice.

"Hello," he said slowly, uncertain of how to proceed.

"Sheldon?"

"Yes."

"Why are you calling, how did you get this number?"

"I didn't call," said Sheldon. "Zoe called me."

"What? How…Dammit Zoe, I told you, you can't just hack indiscriminately…also, how did you get onto my computer?"

"Oh mother," said Zoe with a smirk Sheldon could practically here. "It's hardly hacking when you use the same password for everything, my name and my birthday mother, really?"

"Fine," she returned. "I'll change it to the other name I have for."

"Beelzebub?"

"I wouldn't tell you even…Ugh, I'm sorry Sheldon."

"No need to apologize . Zoe requested I take her for ice cream and then to the comic book store today."

Sheldon felt Penny tense through the phone. While he was still socially inept, he still knew Penny. And why shouldn't she be uncertain about allowing her child to spend the day with the man who abandoned her in her time of need without so much as a how-do-ya-do. Even he knew that would be a source of tension for anyone. Apart of him, the rational logical part, wanted her to say "no", to make the decision for him, but another side of him, the side that had been collecting dust since his relationship with Penny had come to an end was hoping that she would let him have this.

"And you agreed," she asked a slight edge in her voice.

"Yes."

"How will you get here?"

"3 years ago I was regrettably forced to obtain a drivers license when I moved to LA for a time to work with Dr. Smoot."

"Okay," she said. "I live at 574 Oakland Ave."

"I will be there at 5:30."

"Alright."

The next thing Sheldon heard was the dial tone. What the hell was he getting himself into?