Nudge, nudge, nudge, "Penny."
Nudge, nudge, nudge, "Penny."
Nudge, nudge, nudge, "Penny."
"What the hell, Sheldon?!" Penny said loudly, reaching over to the nightstand to turn on the lamp and saw that it was two in the morning.
Sheldon stood beside the bed, his hand clasped behind his back." I'm sorry to wake you up, Penny. I am having some trouble sleeping in Missy's bedroom. I was wondering if you want to switch rooms for tonight."
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You woke me up because of this?"
He stepped backwards, sensing imminent danger. He nodded cautiously and waited for the blonde to respond.
"You can sleep here for tonight, but I'm not getting out of bed," Penny simply said before shutting the light off and tucking herself back inside the covers. A second after shutting her eyes closed, the light opened once more and she groaned.
Sheldon was still standing beside her. "I can't sleep on the floor, Penny. The hardwood floor doesn't posses the proper lumbar support I need to achieve a successful REM sleep. I have to sleep on the bed."
"But I was here first!" Penny protested.
"This is my bed to begin with. Also, I would suggest that you do not dilly-dally about this situation since we are going to Meemaw's farm in less than eight hours. Give the bed up and sleep in Missy's room."
Penny buried her face within the pillow. "I'm not moving."
"If you do not move, then I'll sleep on the floor. But do I need to remind you that it was a challenge for you to sleep back on the plane because of my snoring? I'm sure it won't bother you this time."
She huffed and scrambled out of the bed before putting on her robe, mumbling how this was ridiculous. "Fine, Sheldon. You win. Enjoy your lumber support or whatever you call it."
Penny walked out of the bedroom, leaving Sheldon to smile smugly at how he was able to kick her out of his room.
Penny strolled back inside the Cooper home, leaving her sneakers by the front of the doorstep. Once she entered the living room, she sees Sheldon sitting on the couch watching an episode of Star Trek with Mary. They simultaneously turned their heads to her as she moved towards them. She was sweaty and hot, coming back from a mile-long jog outside. No one was awake when she left, and she enjoyed the time alone she had. Sheldon stood up and walked to her side as Mary excused herself for a minute. "Where were you?"
"I went jogging for an hour and stopped for a bear claw. Is anything wrong?" Penny responded as Mary returned to the living room with a bottle of water. Penny graciously accepted it with a smile. "Thank you."
"Sheldon, I never knew that you go out in the morning for a run. Since when did you take up on that?" Mary asked.
She glanced over to Sheldon, thinking of an answer. "A month ago. Running strengthens the cardiovascular system and it keeps me healthy."
Sheldon gave her a small thumbs up.
"You two have been acting strange, like you're not yourselves. Did anything odd happen back in California? I'm very concerned," Mary said.
Penny and Sheldon made a deal back at the airport that they were not to tell anyone in Texas about their situation. Sheldon believed that it would freak his mother out and think some weird voodoo happened to him. Sheldon stepped forward, "nothing happened. We're fine. Sheldon, go wash yourself up. We have to leave in an hour."
"Okay. I don't want to keep Meemaw waiting, now do I?"
Mary let Penny in Sheldon's body head upstairs to use the bathroom, and again she was left with her son trapped in the blonde's body. "Honey, I'm a mother. I know when something is wrong with my children, almost like instincts. I certainly know that there is something going on with my son and you. Now, I'm going to ask nicely one more time. I am known for prying into my children's lives like a squirrel trying to open a nut. I am going to find out sooner or later, so spill it out."
"Mrs. Cooper, I respect your wishes and glad that you are concern. I only wish you respect us and not pry in. When Sheldon and I say that there is nothing wrong, there is nothing wrong," Sheldon felt the corner of his right eye twitch. He fought hard to gain control of it, and hoped that Mary didn't notice anything.
"I get that, Penny, but-"
"Nothing is wrong!" Sheldon's eyes and mouth twitched, and Mary looked at him wide-eyed.
"Hun, what's wrong with your face? Only Sheldon does that weird twitchy thing whenever he lies."
Sheldon stepped backwards and dashed to the stairs. "There's no reason to bring my looks into this. I have to go change." With that, Sheldon marched upstairs. He turned down the corridor, only to bump into Penny in his bathroom robe. "Penny, she's closing in on us! I don't think I can do this anymore."
Penny gripped his wrists and he flinched. "Sheldon, it's your decision. You're the one who didn't want to tell your mother. I have nothing against it because we can trust her. If you want to, go ahead. It's your choice."
"But what is she going to think? She'll pray for my soul knowing I've seen your body nude when I shower. I can't risk it."
"Then don't tell her."
Sheldon crossed his arms. "But she's going to figure it out soon. She caught me lying. Curse my facial ticks."
"Sheldon, make up your mind. We're leaving for your grandmother soon and we'll be away from your mother for a day. Relax, sweetie."
He sighed. "Fine, but you have to help me if my mother starts badgering me about it once more."
"Okay, sweetie. Go change. I'll be ready in a few."
The city buildings seem to diminished as they travel more down the road. The cafes and local shops were replaced by fields of greens and cattle-grazing animals. Penny rolled down the window to her right and enjoyed the fresh breeze outside. The scenery reminded her of the farms back in Nebraska, the only thing missing were the endless ears of corn planted on the ground. Sheldon was sitting in the back, secretly solving equations from his seat. Mary had the wheel, and fortunately did not bring up a certain topic. They drove in silence, with the faint music playing inside the car.
Sheldon lowered his notebook as a small house appeared from the distance. He looked too excited and she thought about the adorable relationship Sheldon had with his grandmother. Penny never met her, only hearing stories about her from Sheldon. From what she had heard (and the letters she accidentally read), Meemaw sounded like a pleasant woman, much like her own grandmother.
The car drove through the long dirt road leading up to the house. It was white, and had red shutters all around it. There was a big tree in front of the house and Penny could see a German Shepard laying down under the leaves. Behind the house, she could make out a large pond with more vegetation. A few chickens were running away from the yard as Mary parked in front of the door.
A little old lady with gray hair up in a bun emerged from inside the house as everyone in the vehicle exited. Penny looked over to Sheldon, who was very uncomfortable. He was fighting the urge to run up to his Meemaw and give her a big hug, knowing it would freak his grandmother out if a blonde woman, whom she has never met before, touches her. Sheldon cocked his head towards his Meemaw, and Penny walked to her. "Hello, Meemaw."
"Moonpie! I'm so happy to see you again!" Meemaw greeted as Penny leaned down and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman. Sheldon twitched, not liking how Meemaw was using her pet name for him on Penny. "Who do we have here?"
Sheldon extended his hand. "Penny Queen. Nice to meet you."
Meemaw pushed his hand away and instead hugged him, surprising Sheldon a bit. "You must be the woman who stole my little boy's heart. Does he treat you well?"
Penny moved next to the two who ended their embrace. "Penny and I aren't together. Right, Penny?"
Sheldon nodded quickly. "We are merely close friends."
"Don't look that way, sweetheart. My Moonpie writes so much about you in his weekly letters. He thinks you're a catch."
"Sheldon probably didn't write that," Sheldon said, seeing in the corner of his eye Penny giggling.
Penny thought it was cute how Sheldon would write about her. She only wondered what were the exact words he used.
"Now, get your bags and I'll show you where you will be sleeping for the night."
The two grabbed their bags before saying goodbye to Mary, who was waiting patiently in the background, and after she drove away, they entered the house.
Penny walked down the stairs that emitted a small creak on each step. Her eyes were scanning the pictures hung on the wall, showing the Cooper family from the past years. As she descended, the pictures appeared to be taken after the previous ones. She reached the final step, and in an antique frame was a young boy, about five or six of age, facing the camera with his striking blue eyes and brown hair. Next to him was a younger version of Mary holding on to a little girl that looked like Missy. Besides the three was another boy, no more than ten years old. He had blond hair, but also had those same blue eyes.
She couldn't look away from the Sheldon in the picture. His smile was wide and bright, something that she hasn't seen for a while now. She knew little to none about his childhood growing up in Texas. He didn't mention it when the topic wasn't brought up which rarely happened. Penny grazed her finger lightly on the framed picture, her eyes still locked on the younger Sheldon who seemed happier back then.
"Penny?" Her head faced up the staircase, seeing Sheldon in her pink t-shirt and sweatpants. In the back of her mind, she wished that she wasn't looking at her body right now.
She wished that it were Sheldon's.
"Yeah, sweetie?" Penny asked as Sheldon walked down the stairs, stopping when he was next to her. She pointed to the young boy in the picture. "What happened to the old Sheldon?"
Sheldon was confused by her words. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what happened to the Sheldon that was happy all the time? The smiling Sheldon in this picture?"
Before Sheldon could answer, Meemaw called out for her Moonpie from the kitchen.
"Meemaw's calling us, and we can't keep her waiting," Sheldon said, hoping to avoid answering that tough question she had.
Penny nodded hesitantly. "I'll see what's up." Once she entered the kitchen, Sheldon sighed. He took one last look of the picture of him when he was younger. He smiled, thinking back to the fun times he had growing up.
Where did the old Sheldon go?
"I'll be happy to help, Meemaw," Sheldon heard Penny say as he walked into the kitchen a few minutes later. "Penny, Meemaw asked if we wanted to do some chores around the farm. You know, to help around?"
Meemaw beamed. "Yes, dearie. And afterwards, you can indulge in my homemade brownies that I will fix up as you help out. We're gonna have dinner over here for your brother's birthday and this place could use some fixing up. Moonpie, are you sure you remember your way around the farm?"
"Yup. I have an eida... eideta... something with an 'e' memory," Penny replied. Meemaw eyes shot up, but she didn't say a word.
"Oh, of course, Meemaw. Sheldon?" He glanced behind the older lady for Penny, who was gesturing him to follow her out the back door.
Once they got outside, Penny started to skip towards the barnyard, not caring about all the mud that was getting on her shoes. Sheldon shook his head. She was ruining his shoes and doesn't even give one thought about it. He carefully navigated through the mud covered ground, afraid of falling face first. He ran through the field of grass, seeing Penny already in front of the red barnyard trying to open it up.
As he made his way to where she was, Sheldon thought about how much he wasn't enjoying his stay at Meemaw's. Truth be told, the great Dr. Cooper was jealous of Penny. His Meemaw was the only person in his life that he initiated a hug regularly. Sheldon loved Meemaw's hugs. She would always smell like brownies or peaches when her arms were wrapped around him. Seeing his grandmother hugging Penny gave him a twinge of envy. He also wasn't enjoying the part when Meemaw would use 'Moonpie' on Penny.
He is her one and only Moonpie, and knowing that her use of the pet name was directed to Penny made him jealous with each use.
Another thing was helping around the farm. Growing up, Sheldon wasn't a big fan of cleaning the property and feeding the animals. The thought of the potential germs that might do harm to him was a set back. Instead, he would often help with Meemaw in the kitchen, learning her secret recipes and being able to bond with her more. He was the only grandchild she shared pet names with and wrote letters to every week.
Sheldon didn't notice the passing chicken, and when it clucked, he yelped and ran to Penny.
"Sheldon, what the hell happened?" Penny asked, seeing that there wasn't anything that could scare him.
"T-There was a chicken," Sheldon said shakily.
She stared at him wide-eyed. "A chicken?"
"Yes."
"Okay, next question: Why are you afraid of a small and harmless chicken?"
"When I was younger, a chicken chased me up the tree and it wouldn't leave. I stayed up there for almost an hour until it moved on."
Penny held back her laughter. She pictured that happening in her head, and thought it was adorable and hilarious at the same time. "Well, it's more scared of you than you are of him. Come on, we gotta start. Start by feeding the horses in the stable. I'll fix up the things in the barnyard."
Sheldon stood there, looking back and forth between Penny and the stable. "I'm not well suited for that."
"You don't know how, do you?" Penny knew the answer already, but when he stayed silent, she mused that he was not going to admit it. "How about I teach you?"
"Penny, I'm a physicist. I have a working knowledge of the entire universe and everything it contains."
"Except the farm life. Trust me, Sheldon. When it comes to all of this, I'm the expert here."
Sheldon rolled his eyes. He remembered about Meemaw and how this was her request. He could do this to gain attention from her. He sighed and nodded his head. "Fine."
"Good. Let's start with the stables."
A/N:
Up next: Horses and an appearance from George Jr.
Get ready for more Shenny scenes. I love writing them!
Again, excuse any errors I may have missed.