Epilogue

Sheldon was just getting his things sorted away in his office. He was being forced into taking time off and going on a trip to an undisclosed location. Normally he would balk at such a thing, but Merritt and the boys went to a lot of trouble to create a pleasant anniversary experience for Cera and him. While Sheldon did make a point to express his continuing fondness for his wife of ten years, the couple rarely did anything so elaborate.

A commotion downstairs brought Sheldon out of his thoughts. The boys weren't usually so loud, but it could be because Merritt had returned, though he didn't know where she had gone.

"Olivia!" Sheldon called out to his wife. She was probably repacking her toiletries…again.

"You're still in here? We're supposed to leave in an hour and a half!" Cera stuck her head into Sheldon's Sanctuary at the end of the hall.

"I'm sufficiently prepared. You know I've had us fully packed for the past eight days…My concern was the hubbub coming from Nikola and Blaise. Has Merritt come back in?"

"I don't know, I hadn't heard." Cera didn't hear half the things Sheldon did, so she wasn't surprised when he made noise complaints about things she knew nothing about, but it did curb a lot of the hi-jinks the kids could get into.

The couple filed down the stairs of their home of eight years. The family had moved to Thousand Oaks after Sheldon had taken a job with Dimensional Designs. While he had been nervous about leaving Pasadena, Sheldon found leaving academia behind to be a good thing. He had been able to do much broader research, while actually creating solutions to existing quandaries. Both of which had provided work that was being considered for awards in the scientific community. Being closer to Cera's parents had also proven beneficial since, at the time, they were expecting Blaise, and Nikola was only one.

Upon reaching the bottom flight he noticed that Merritt was indeed home and she had brought someone with her. "Momma, what are you doing here?" Sheldon rushed for his mother.

"Well, Meri here called to get a little help sortin' out a anniversary present for you. Y'all work hard and take care the kids, so, I wanted y'all to do something you'd love. For our 10th anniversary, your daddy, bless his soul, got me a box of washing powders." Mary stroked her granddaughter lovingly. Merritt had grown into a lovely woman of nineteen, several inches taller than her mother and stood equal to her grandmother. "I figured I could help out while y'all are gone, and I could come wish Nik a happy ninth birthday, properly."

"See, I told you she didn't forget me." Nikola nudged his younger brother, Blaise, before Mary pulled him into her embrace, again. Nikola looked much like Sheldon except that his dark hair was curly like his Bumpa.

"Yeah, but she's three weeks late!" Blaise, the only blond child, retorted as he pulled at Mary's other side.

"Gentleman do you feel this is the best use of your time?" Sheldon broke in with a stern look before the brothers could make their disagreement physical.

"No, sir." The boys answered back in stereo. Being only seventeen months apart led them to being not only very close, but also very competitive.

"Well, this is quite the surprise. All the information Merritt has been willing to impart was we needed to take two weeks off, pack for warm weather and riding, and a departure time." While he still struggled with surprises, he had learned to make allowances for his wife and children. Sheldon looked over to his daughter and smiled. "We've told you grandiose displays weren't necessary."

"Yes, they are daddy. I know you do little things for each other and keep your celebrations low key, but it's a big deal to me. And this year I was actually able to do something for you." Merritt walked to the mantle where an envelope had been leaned against her favorite photo. Framed in silver was Sheldon and Cera, in the Tollman garden, aware of only each other.

The wedding had been a mere weeks after Cera and Sheldon had sat Merritt down and explained to her their plans for marriage and being a family. Those few weeks were busy, mostly getting Sheldon adjusted to a conjoined lifestyle with different housemates. After slowly moving his things in and spending more and more time in their apartment, he did confess it was far easier adjusting to them than it had been to Leonard, due to his fondness for them.

Less than thirty people were in attendance at the small ceremony. All of their closest friends and family. Cera and Merritt both stood in blue. Cera's knee length dress had an asymmetrical hem and a red sash that coordinated with the Superman shirt peeking out of Sheldon's dress shirt. Penny had stood with Sheldon, a fact that irritated Leonard. He just couldn't understand what Penny meant to the couple. Braden had stood with Cera and Merritt, after Pat walked them across the garden. On a Saturday afternoon in mid-August Cera and Merritt both changed their last name to Cooper.

Smiling at the memory, Merritt picked up the envelope and flanked by her younger brothers, handed the envelope to her parents.

Sheldon leaned in close so that Cera could see the tickets and read too. "It's an Amtrak itinerary, America Coast to Coast." For ten days they would travel east by rail, alternating between sleeper cars and hotels at key stops.

"How did you do all this?" Cera looked to her grinning children.

"It was Nanna's idea!" Blaise proudly called out.

"And then Meri called Honey!" Nik added.

"Yeah, Nanna came up with the idea, then we all chipped in a bit of our allowances, and Honey helped and made a few calls to book it all." Merritt wrapped up the explanation.

"Thank you guys!" Cera pulled the three into an embrace.

The kids moved on to Sheldon. Over the years he had learned that not all contact was equal and hugs from his children, as long as they were clean, were unparalleled.

"While this has been a pleasant greeting, Olivia and I do have some place to be." Abruptly Sheldon detached himself from the kids and kicked into high gear, rattling of procedures and rules to his mother.

"You're welcome to take the kids to my folks so they can swim. They're in Cabo right now, but Merritt has all the codes to get in."

"Can Becca come, too? She can even bring Chase if she has too!" Nik pleaded with Cera looking a lot like his father. Becca was Nik's best friend, even though she was four months older than him and very bossy.

"If Becca and Chase's attendance is acceptable to Nanna." Sheldon responded before turning to his mother with more instructions. "Momma, if you don't mind, you can have Merritt call Penny and they can meet you at the Tollman's."

Sheldon had been surprised by Penny's pregnancy announcement when he and Cera had returned from their three week honeymoon. Almost as much as he had been by Cera's several weeks after that. The Johnson's and Cooper's spent a lot of time together, especially when Cera and Zack were playing in the band, leaving Sheldon and Penny ample time to talk. Years ago Sheldon had asked her how she had managed to remain with Zack.

"Because we work together…not against each other. And even then it's peaceful, I'm not anxious around him; not about him cheating, not about my intelligence, not about fixing someone else's broken." Penny had said it so easily with such a big smile, even Sheldon could see she was right, and happy.

Not long after Penny had Becca, she had gotten a commercial for a national car rental company. Her bouncy, bubbly image in the 'Leaps and Bounds' campaign did so well they called her in for a second commercial and before long The Leaps and Bounds Girl was its own persona. For six years Penny helped support her family by hopping and jumping and other strenuous feats across America with a rental car. Being a commercial, the shooting was flexible and easily worked around her second pregnancy, with Chase.

Despite having Penny and Zack for parents the Johnson children were very sharp and perceptive. Becca, who was nine and a half, was Penny in attitude and shape, save the dark hair and eyes. Chase carried Penny's green eyes and fair hair, and kept his nose in a book, despite being only six.

"I don't suppose Penny's kids would be, too much trouble. That fellow she ended up isn't terribly sharp, but he's good with kids and very loyal. Kinda reminds me of Ralph, you remember? That old dog we had when y'all were little? He kept a good eye on you kids."

"Of course I remember him, Momma." Snatching up Mary's bag, Sheldon hurried upstairs to the guest room. He had learned over the years that help expedited the completion of tedious task, so that he could move on to better things. Sheldon impatience was growing along with his excitement. Boarding the train and receiving Cera's obligatory gift was now his primary focus. He, of course, had a present for her as well. Over the years she had given him tips on gifting her and she always seemed very pleased and affectionately grateful. Of course it would all pale in comparison to the train.

"Are we ready?" Sheldon was bouncing with excitement as he stood at the foot of the stairs, by the front door.

"Hang on. I've gotta text Penny and Bernadette." Cera stayed in touch with the Wolowitzs in addition to the Johnsons.

Howard and Bernadette had married at a local garden a month before Howard's departure. The ceremony was larger than the Cooper's due to the size of Bernadette's family, but still very intimate. Deciding on no attendants the ceremony was quick and focused solely on the couple.

The Rostenkowski-Wolowitz wedding was the final gathering of the group that had congregated in 4A. Amy, who the ladies saw little of and Sheldon saw even less, attended with a different date than attended the Cooper wedding. Having found a different social group, she wasn't heard from again. Leonard brought his fiancé, a lab tech, whom he started dating soon after his break up with Priya. He was seen only at lectures and the rare game night. Not long after Howard returned, Raj made a temporary move back home that ended up not being so temporary. Being at home helped him address his woman issues, finally allowing him to find a meaningful relationship. He and his wife had three daughters.

Howard was still working for the JPL, frequently collaborating with Braden Tollman. He and Bernadette decided to put off having children until she felt her career was in a good place for her to take the proper time with them. Their daughter, Deborah, was six and did not like boys, even if they were Ms. Cera's and Ms. Penny's son.

"Well, do it quickly, we need to leave in seventeen minutes and counting." Sheldon urged Cera on.

"I know, I know." Cera mumbled, trying to text, while Blaise sat in her lap.

"To prevent tardiness, let's make round to fifteen." As Sheldon called over his shoulder, Nikola approached him for a hug. It was rare when they were separated from their children for anything more than a long weekend.

"Come on. Help me load the rest of our baggage into the car." Sheldon clapped him on the shoulder.

After getting the car fully loaded and pulling his wife away and saying goodbye to his mother and the boys, they were finally on their way. Though Sheldon drove occasionally, it seemed more prudent to let Merritt drop them off. He was still a nervous driver, there were just too many possibilities. But having the ability just seemed safer once he had children.

"Olivia, were you aware of their plans?" Sheldon, turned to Cera, who sitting in the back with them.

"I had no idea. Your kids are quite crafty when they want to be." Cera gave Sheldon a small smile. While she was more straightforward with getting the things she wanted, the three kids took planning and directing a situation to the next level, much like their father.

"We just wanted you to get away and relax." Merritt spoke up from the front seat. "You're both so busy, with momma's hours, and daddy's project he's been on. And it seems like half the time our vacations are centered on daddy being a guest speaker somewhere. This seemed like a good getaway for you. And it's on a TRAIN!" Merritt squealed out the last, much like her dad.

"We're going on a train." Sheldon grinned as he splayed his hand on the seat and slid it closer to Cera. He still wasn't fond of excessive physical exchanges, especially in front of others, but he still occasionally initiated affection. Cera's hand met his in the middle letting her finger tips caress his. Feeling pleased, Sheldon engulfed her hand in his. The path his life had taken since Cera had come into his life still looked similar to the one he had planned for himself, only more….whimsical. And they were going by train.