The Hofstadters get to talk it out

Thank you for the reviews

Leonard and Sheldon drove home in relative quiet. Leonard was lost in his thoughts as to what the guys had told him. He was worried that Penny was giving up everything she had for dreams of her future just for him. The more he thought about it, the more he loved her for it. However, he also hated himself for being so selfish.

Penny sat on the end of the couch. She expected that Leonard would be home pretty soon. She wondered how he would react to what the girls told her to talk to him about. They thought it would be a good thing for her to continue with college and making more of herself in her career. The biggest problem with that train of thought was, she had no idea where she wanted to go with her career. She was so happy just being a mom, she hardly thought about it. Penny got up and went to the side of the playpen to look at her children.

Leonard walked into the apartment half expecting Penny to be in bed. When he walked in, he saw Penny bent over the side of the playpen making sure the children were Ok. Leonard walked over to Penny and put his hand between her shoulders and started to gently rub her back. Penny let out a quite moan. She stood and turned to her Husband. Penny put her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Leonard returned the kiss. When Penny tried to deepen the kiss, Leonard put his hands on Penny's hips and pulled away.

Penny immediately had the same feeling she had when Leonard stopped the kiss earlier in the day and left for work. As Leonard turned to go sit in the living room Penny brought one hand down to trace his arm as he walked away. When their hands met, Penny didn't let go. She purposefully intertwined their fingers. "Sweetie… That's the second time today you have pulled away. Is something bothering you?"

Leonard sat in his chair with Penny quickly following, Sitting across his lap and placing her arms around his neck once again. Leonard gave Penny a quick peck on the lips that she found completely inadequate. She got up from Leonard's lap and sat in Sheldon's spot. "Leonard, we need to talk…. If anything is bothering you, you need to say what it is. Is it me? I know I've let myself go a little. My boobs are huge, although I never thought that you would ever complain about that happening, I'm not down to pre baby weight, but I promise, I'll do better. "

Leonard looked at Penny with a completely disbelieving look on his face. "What? NO…. of course not! How can you even think that? Penny…. You are the most beautiful woman on the planet. You always have been and for the life of me, I can't conceive of how anyone could look more beautiful".

Penny looked into his eyes. "Well then what just happened? I tried to give you a kiss and you just stopped. Just like today, when we got back from the TV studio…. You gave me that incredible kiss then just up and went to work! What am I supposed to think?"

Leonard took Penny's hand. "Sweetheart, I love you with all my heart and soul. And I could never love anyone else. I want to be with you every minute of every day. I just needed to get to work, that's all".

Penny got more serious. "Leonard, OK… this morning, you needed to get to work… What about just now?"

Leonard looked at the floor. "I don't know, It's different, I see you and the kids and I think of how much you have given up. You never want to go out anymore, you do everything for the babies, and you take care of the apartment and the laundry, and me….. It just like…. Everything I always wanted and more. You are the perfect mother and wife…"

Penny's eyelashes fluttered a few times. "You're going to have to make a little more sense than that…"

Leonard looked up. "OK, Penny, you were always so excited to go out. It didn't matter whether it was dancing or a movie. You used to be excited about going to class and coming home and telling me about what you thought was good about class. You went on auditions and were in the plays with your acting class. You were always so happy. Now you just sit at home with the kids and cook and clean, have dinner ready when I get home. Taking care of Jenny and Max all the time, you tire yourself out. Penny, you are everything that any sane man would want in a wife. I told you all these years... You are perfect."

Penny grabbed his hand tighter, "Then what is the problem?"

Leonard got up and walked over to the play pen where the children were starting to stir. "Penny….. Are you happy"?

Penny walked up behind him and put her arms around Leonard's waist while leaning her head between his shoulders. "Leonard… I couldn't be happier. Why do you ask? Can't you tell?" Penny then came around to stand beside him.

Leonard looked into her eyes. "You have given up everything that you were… Everything you wanted to be… Just to be my wife and take care of my children… Are you happy being just Penny Hofstadter the house wife, instead of "Penelope" staring in the movies with your name on the marquee and jetting off to all kinds of exotic locations?" Jenny started to fuss and Leonard picked her up. This woke up Max who didn't like being alone at all.

Penny bent down and picked up Max. He, of course knew exactly who had hold of him and exactly where he was, so he began to nuzzle up to Penny's left breast. Penny walked over to Leonard's chair and sat down and got Max into position. He was fine once he started to suckle. Jenny was content for the moment being held by her father, staring up into his eyes.

Penny kissed Max on the head and rubbed his back as he fed. "Leonard... I haven't given up anything… You are my husband… I asked YOU to Marry ME….. REMEMBER?... These two precious children are MINE TOO…. I was there when they started… I carried them inside me for as long as I could…. I love them so much… OH…. And by the way…. I happen to LOVE you too. Don't think that I'm giving up on anything. I may be taking a little break from the stuff I used to do, But the stuff I do now is stuff I WANT to do… and it's stuff I want to do WAY MORE than anything I ever did… EVER!"

Penny was a little agitated and that didn't set well with either Max or Jenny. Penny calmed Max down on the pillows she used when she fed the babies together. She looked over at Jenny squirming in Leonard's arms, pulled her shirt over her head and looked at Leonard. "Give her here." Penny took Jenny and placed her near her other breast where she easily found her mother's nipple. "See? This is what I want to do now, MORE than being on any marquee, BETTER than being in any exotic place… RIGHT HERE… with these two babies… Right here with you…"

Leonard sighed. "I just don't want you to think that you have to give up everything that you were just to please me… I don't want you to regret… you know… Marrying me…?" Leonard's voice trailed off as he finished his sentence.

Penny looked at her husband. She wanted to pull him into a hug and just hold him. She looked down at her children, then up at Leonard. "Sweetie, I would never regret marrying you, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. Without you I would still be that shallow naïve girl that thought it was easy to get noticed and be a star. I would still be jumping from one guy to another or worse, be stuck with some jerk that just used me for his play thing. Leonard, you are such a good man. Anybody would be lucky to have you, I'm just so glad that it happened to be me."

Max and Jenny seemed to be just playing with Penny at this point. "Well, you two, if you're not gonna take this seriously, then you are just going to have to go to bed. It's late anyway." Leonard came over and took Jenny and went to the kid's room to change her. Penny meanwhile, pulled her t-shirt back on and followed Leonard into the room. After changing Max, Penny put him down with Jenny and the two babies let out a big yawn each. Leonard turned out the lights as Penny took his hand and brought him back into the living room.

Penny sat down on the couch and pulled Leonard down to sit with her. "Leonard, Honey, there IS something that I would like to get your opinion on".

Leonard looked into her eyes. "What is it?"

Penny took a deep breath and let it out. "Well… after today's show, I was pretty excited. It was so much fun and everything seemed so natural. I was talking with the girls tonight, and they think that maybe acting is not where I should be looking. They said that maybe a career in communications would be better. They think that I should take more courses and get a degree".

Leonard looked surprised. "That's GREAT! You would be so good at it. Everybody loved you today, the audience, the director, you were a natural. I'll do anything I have to so you can do what you need to do, so you can take whatever courses you need to take. I'll help out with the kids, and the house. The guys kind of said I should ask you what you wanted."

Penny looked questioningly. "You talked to the guys about US?"

Leonard looked back. "Well… yeah… Kinda…"

Penny was surprised. "What about? Is there anything I should be embarrassed about?"

Leonard looked into Penny's eyes. "Penny, you were so excited this morning. You should have seen the look on your face, the look in your eyes, the smile. You were so sexy, I could hardly keep my hands off you. And just like always, you were putting the family first and taking care of Jenny and Max while all I wanted to do was tear your clothes off right there on the spot. I was so embarrassed. I felt so selfish."

Penny couldn't believe what she just heard. He did want to stay with her this morning, it wasn't just her. He did still find her attractive. At that moment, Penny could think of only ONE thing. She grabbed both sides of his face and pulled him into a kiss. It wasn't long, but its intent was clear. Penny pulled her shirt over her head and pulled Leonard's over his. Penny pushed Leonard down on the couch, their chests bare against each other. Penny hugged Leonard tightly, rubbed her hands up his chest and down his sides. She grabbed his butt and squeezed. Penny moved her hands around to Leonard's belt and unbuckled it. She quickly dispatched of his pants and boxers while also shedding her shorts and panties. Their lips barely parted except for the occasional gasp for breath. Penny grabbed back onto the couch and pulled an afghan over the two of them. For the next hour, Penny and Leonard spent time enjoying themselves finally swearing that they would never tell Sheldon just what had happened in his spot.