Leonard and Penny
Leonard slowly opened one eye, awakened by a dull thud to his arm. Penny grinned when she saw he was awake.
"About time! I thought you were never gonna wake up!"
"How are you awake before I am?"
"I woke up and couldn't get to sleep."
"Oh, right." He yawned loudly. "Good morning, sweetie."
"Morning." She kissed him lightly on the mouth. "Merry Christmas, honey."
"Oh, God. I forgot it was Christmas. Hey, you wouldn't be open to wearing the kinky suit, would y-?"
"No!" Penny shrieked.
Leonard chuckled at the look of horror that had appeared on his girlfriend's face. She glared at him.
"It's not funny, Leonard." She lay down and propped herself up on her elbow. "I wonder if they know they've gotten the wrong gift yet."
"I dunno. But it's Christmas, let's not worry too much."
"I wonder what your mother's got us."
"Hmm." Leonard couldn't trust himself to be honest. He just knew that Penny would be unhappy by the fact she would have an essay.
She didn't notice Leonard's shifty expression. She smiled brightly and said, "Let's go get breakfast ready!"
About 20 minutes later
Beverley eyed the scene in front of her with growing interest. It was fascinating how she was the one making mess and not caring and he was the one fussing and cleaning. This, she decided, would make good material in a book detailing the progression of men and women in today's society.
"Good morning." she greeted.
"Morning, Mother."
"Good morning, Bev."
"So," she took a seat where her son's wonderful roommate usually was. "What are you making?"
"Pancakes." Penny answered, cheerfully dumping the thick mixture into a frying pan.
"I see."
"How many do you want?" Leonard asked.
"One, please."
"Are you sure? We've got plenty."
"That's alright, dear. Leonard told me how you struggle with basic culinary science."
Penny slowly turned her head to face her boyfriend. Leonard froze and looked, panicked, into her eyes.
"Did he?" Penny asked, shaking the pan a lot harder than it needed to be shaken.
"Yes. Now, pasta is supposed to be soft. Unless, of course, you're going for an al dente texture."
Penny gave a tight little smile. "Thank you, Bev."
The rest of the morning was spent in silence.
Sheldon and Amy
"It's firework time!" One of Sheldon's uncles shouted.
Sheldon stiffened. Amy, who was standing next to him, holding his arm, looked up at him. "What's wrong, baboo?"
"Nothing." Sheldon answered, trying to put on a brave act. "And I'm not fond of being called 'baboo'."
He pointed the way to the backyard and disappeared upstairs. Amy looked after him, confused. Why was Sheldon leaving? Didn't he like fireworks? She joined the rest of the family, marveling at the bright colours and flashes that filled the moonlit, star-studded sky. But it wasn't right. Not without her Shelly. She decided to find him. She remembered where Sheldon had said his room was and went to look there for him first. Pushing open the door, she was shocked by what she found.
Sheldon was curled up on his childhood bed, jumping violently whenever a firework went 'BANG!' Then she understood his disappearing act. He was scared of fireworks.
"Sheldon?"
"Go away, I don't want you seeing me like this." Sheldon murmured.
"Oh, baboo." She took a seat by him. "It's OK. We've all got fears."
"It's a dumb fear. What kind of a man is afraid of fireworks?"
"What kind of a woman is afraid of the dark?"
"You're afraid of the dark?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's understandable. You can't see what's in the dark, which is why so many are afraid of it. It's a survival defence."
"And some are afraid of loud noises because it sounds like a predator in some primitive part of their minds. It's not dumb, Sheldon."
He moved to sit up. He didn't say anything, but took her hand. That gesture said it all.
"Amy?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you watch the fireworks with me?"
"I'd love to."
He smiled fondly at her, the expression making her heart flip. She got up and opened his door.
"What are you doing?"
"I thought we were going to watch the fireworks."
"From here. I don't need all those people breathing their germs on me."
Howard and Bernadette
"Howie, why don't you want to see your grandmother?" Bernadette asked.
They were alone in an abandoned part of the house. From what they could hear, the people outside their room were having a pretty good time. Grandpa had gone to visit his wife, who lived in a nursing home about a mile away, and it confused Bernadette as to why Howard hadn't wanted to visit her.
"I do, it's just..She was taken during the war. Now she's all quiet, like she's too scared to talk to us. It's selfish to avoid her, but.. it's really sad and...scary.."
"Aw." She slipped her arms around her husband. "I'm sorry, honey."
"Do you want to meet her?"
"Honestly, yeah I would."
"I'll take her to meet her one day. Maybe New Year's."
She beamed up at him. "Thank you."
He smiled down at her, threading his fingers through her golden locks. "Nana used to have blonde hair. Grandpa told me."
They stayed in peaceful solitude for a few moments and were interrupted by Joey who burst in and told them it was 'Dreidel time'.
"I've never played Dreidel." Bernadette told Howard. "How do you play?"
"Well, you're given 14 pieces of gelt, which is usually chocolate coins in this household. The dreidel, is an object which you spin around. It has four letters on it, and what letter you get determines what happens to the gelt. "
"What letters are there?" Joey asked.
"Nun which means you don't have to do anything with your gelt. Gimmel, that means you get all the gelt that's been lost by the other players. Halb which means you give up half your gelt and Shin, meaning you just put one piece in."
"In what?"
"Oh, there's a pot you put your lost gelt in. The winner gets the whole pot. Once you've lost all your pieces, you're out."
"It sounds like gambling." Bernadette told him, nervously. "I'm not sure my parents would like it."
"They don't have to play. Most of us don't. Usually, it's me, Mom, Grandpa, a couple of cousins and maybe an aunt or uncle."
"I'm playing." Bernadette told him.
Joey and Howard exchanged a worried look, knowing how competitive she was.
Under his breath, Joey muttered. "Someone's ending up in hospital."
Will he be right? Who will win the Dreidel game? Incidentally, Dreidel sounds really awesome! Will Sheldon join his family for some holiday fun? Will Penny forgive Leonard for going behind her back and telling his mother she's a bad cook? Who knows! As always, reviews are welcome and I hope you enjoyed! Peace out!
Love from Shania. xx