Wrote this really, really quickly so hope it's good! Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, okay?
Penny reached out for Leonard's hand, and a second later she felt him grab onto her. As she sat in the doctor's office, she felt nervous. Why wouldn't they just call her name already? Honestly, Penny just wanted to confirm or deny her pregnancy and get out of there. The stark white walls, awkward silence and blank stares that surrounded her made her uncomfortable.
Across the waiting room, a frazzled middle aged woman was trying to control two toddlers and sooth a newborn at the same time. Next to them sat a couple who were beaming at each other – the woman was very, very pregnant. Penny wrinkled her nose in thought, imaging herself as one of them.
Leonard rubbed her hand. "It's going to be okay," He whispered. She nodded.
"I love you," The words that she had once been unable to say now came out of her mouth easily, naturally.
"I love you, too," Leonard replied, smiling. It still surprised him sometime that a woman like Penny could love someone like him.
A nurse in purple and blue scrubs appeared from the back. "Penny?" She called.
Penny stood up, and the other people in the waiting room gave her a look. She met their stares and then turned away, still holding Leonard's hand. She looked back at him for reassurance. "You ready?" He asked.
After a moment, Penny nodded. "I think so,"
The nurse was still waiting patiently, tapping her fingers against her clipboard. With a smile, she started off, and Leonard and Penny followed her, about to find out once and for all if they were really going to do this.
Howard had noticed a change in Bernadette recently.
To most people, it wouldn't seem like much. She was just a little quieter than usual, slept with her back facing him, and would sometimes snap at him when she just didn't feel like talking. It was little things like that that he'd noticed lately and now he was genuinely concerned. At first, he'd just blamed it on PMS or some other girl thing he just didn't understand but now, he realized it was nothing of the sort.
Before they'd left for work that morning, Bernadette had told him that she needed him to come home ASAP tomorrow, because she had something really important to tell him. Howard finally had an idea what was up with his wife's strange behavior. Whenever a woman wanted to talk, it never ended well.
He just really hoped it wasn't something he'd done.
Raj had tried everything. He'd asked every astrophysics professor he knew if they taught a girl named Danielle, and the ones who did didn't teach his Danielle. He went to all the closest restaurants and clothing stores, hoping she'd be his waitress or a clerk. While he was waited on by some beautiful women who he could only talk to after a visit to a bar, none of them were Danielle. He couldn't look her up in the phonebook; he didn't know her last name. It was useless. Now, he grabbed his coffee from the barista and sat at an empty table, rubbing his temples. This was it; he'd never find her…
"Dr. Koothrappali?"
Found her.
Danielle smiled at him as she entered the coffee shop, walking over to his table and sitting down. Today her brown hair was pulled back into a long braid, her bangs falling free. She wore a loose, white blouse, a pair of skinny jeans and tall, brown boots. Her makeup was natural, just a little bit of lip gloss and brown eye shadow to match her outfit. She looked gorgeous.
Raj opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Come on, Raj. He thought to himself. Just speak, you know you want to. You can talk to Penny and Bernadette and Amy, why can't you talk to her… He gulped. "Hell…hello." The word came out shaky, but it still came out, and that was a huge improvement.
"You know, I was just thinking about you," Danielle said, still smiling.
"You…you were?"
She nodded. "I was reading one of your papers, and it really got me thinking about the possibilities of life on other planets. It's really interesting to think about, and no one has really taken the intellectual approach to it you do." She paused, biting her lip. "Would you…would you like to discuss it sometime? Maybe over lunch?"
Raj froze, and he knew there was no way he'd be able to find the words to answer her, so he just nodded vigorously.
"Cheesecake Factory, tomorrow, twelve o'clock?"
He nodded again, beaming. Danielle returned his grin, standing up. "I'll see you then, Dr. Koothrappali." She turned to go and started out.
Raj cleared his throat. "Ra…Raj."
Danielle turned around. "Did you say something, Dr. Koothrappali?"
"You…you can call me Raj." He said.
"Oh," Danielle laughed. "Well then, see you then, Dr. Koothrappali."
When she was gone, he fist pumped the air. Fate had laid a hand once again.