(Communication)
It was quiet. There were a few sounds; the hiss of the hull cutting through the water, the creak of the sail, the click of the winch as the tension of a stay was slightly adjusted, the snort of Howard's snoring which often caused the entire group to drive him up to sleep on deck as far as possible from everyone else. But these were sounds that were familiar. Soothing even. Well except the snoring perhaps.
Penny sighed contentedly as Leonard sat back down from his sail adjustment. Michelle snuggled between them. All three heads tipped up to view the once unfamiliar stars.
"Which one is that Daddy Leonard?" the little girl inquired.
Leonard peeked at his laptop, the screen carefully shielded to avoid lessening Penny's night vision.
"That's Achernar. It means 'the end of the river' and it's called that because it's the very last star in the constellation Eridanus which is known as..."
"The river," the little girl clapped her hands and crowed with glee.
"Exactly." Leonard ruffled their informally adopted daughter's hair. "Very good munchkin."
Michelle sighed dramatically. "I am NOT a munchkin am I Mommy Penny?"
"Just sometimes sweetie." The girl, satisfied somehow with that answer, squirmed between the two of them. Shortly her breathing became regular as she dropped off to sleep.
No moon was up but the starlight, the leakage from Leonard's computer and the red glow of the compass were enough. The two adults smiled at each other. Careful not to disturb the sleeping girl they leaned towards one another and kissed.
"I never thought I would say this. Here we are far out in the ocean, having escaped a world-wide disaster that has wiped away not only our home but most of the world. We're in a sailboat of all things, a thousand miles from land and I'm out of Dramamine. In an instant we were made parents by the incredible sacrifice of a desperate mother. We don't know when we'll find land. Our supplies are limited. We're trapped on this small boat with Sheldon Cooper. And I have never been so happy in all of my life."
Another kiss ensued.
"I know," said Penny. She paid the gentlest of kisses on the top of the sleeping child's head.
"She is so beautiful," said Leonard.
"And more and more accepting of us and the relationship we're building with her. Although she's blocked out much of what happened before somehow she knows that her mother gave her to us. And taking an interest in the world around us, small though that world is."
"And then there's the names."
"Yes." Penny pondered. "She's not ready to give up her birth mother and father. And we certainly won't try to make her do that. But she's beginning to feel like our child; that we are her parents. Right now though she's unsure so she adds our names to the titles. That's fine."
They sat in comfortable silence for a little while before Penny suggested that Leonard go ahead and power down the computer.
"Might as well save the battery charge even with Howard's latest additions."
"Good idea," her husband returned. The screen light faded out as he shut down.
Howard had been a bundle of energy and ideas lately, aided and cheered on by Bernadette. Using materials specifically salvaged from the other boat and some scraps from theirs as well he had first constructed a working solar cell. That had been followed by a windmill mounted over the engine compartment that could be hooked to drive the diesel's alternator. Run through a convertor either source could be used to power and recharge appliances including the laptops.
His last addition had been a solar hot water heater that could also be used as a still. Even a sea water shower was better when it was hot all agreed. And its use as an additional solar still had doubled the amount of fresh water available to them each day.
Sheldon had been behaving much better recently but the applause that Howard was receiving for his accomplishments had awoke his jealousy. Unable to match them except in esoteric language and mathematical equations that he was forced to write in the air due to the lack of any boards to write on and the refusal of the group to allot him fresh paper ("You used every bit of your share with your attempt to appoint yourself Captain"). He had however triumphantly proved conclusively that Howard's wind-powered generator system would not work just as the MIT engineer brought it on line. Since, of course, he hadn't made a mistake it could only mean... he couldn't figure out what it meant. He wasn't even sure he could define what "it" was.
As it turned out that confusion led to an earth-shaking and completely life-changing event. Brooding all day he took advantage of Howard actually having a snore-free night to sit on deck at the bow that night all alone. All alone until Amy joined him. And when the sun rose the next morning to find two no-longer inexperienced people sleeping in each other's arms Sheldon found he was looking at the world with new eyes.
"Whoever would have thought that all we had to do to get Sheldon to act like a human being was to get him laid?" mused Howard as the group watched Sheldon and Amy skylarking on the bow like teenagers.
"I once told you everything comes down to sex," Leslie commented.
"Testify," agreed Howard although now he said it almost automatically and without the slightest sexual innuendo of old as he sat with his arm around Bernadette.
Shouts and splashes over the side drew everyone's attention away from the, unbelievably, frolicking couple at the bow. Everyone smiled. Michelle was splashing water at Leonard while being carefully supported by Penny's arms around her. The two teen boys, William and Harry, were each towing one of Donna's kids around on their backs, the younger ones arms securely if loosely wrapped around their necks.
Today the wind had died down to nothing at all. There was no point in starting the engine; they knew perfectly well that they could not cover a fraction of the distance to even New Zealand before running out of fuel. So they had lowered the sail, rigged awnings to shade them from the sun and made a day of relaxation of it. It was just coincidence it happened to take place the morning after Sheldon and Amy had finally finalized their relationship on a carnal level.
The "John B" had a ladder permanently fixed on the stern leading from the cockpit down to the water. Another one had been hung temporarily on the port side in the shade. It was part of Donna's rules that anytime anyone was in the water there would be at least two ways for anyone to climb back up. There was even a rolled up rope ladder on the starboard side that could be pulled down with a piece of rope attached to it and hanging down to the water's edge.
"No one is going to reenact 'Open Water Two' on this boat," Donna had declared firmly. The Coast Guard also required that life jackets be immediately available and a shark watch be kept. That meant Donna was sitting on top of the cabin in a position where she could see all around with her M16 near at hand.
"You would not believe the disasters and loss of life the Coast Guard sees every year that could have easily been prevented by just a little forethought. The ocean is no place for impulsive actions. Especially now," she had added grimly.
Sheila had joined Donna, the better to keep an eye on her boys. It was hard for her the group knew, she would always feel like she had somehow abandoned her husband and the boys' father although of course she had done no such thing. She tried to maintain a cheerful, positive demeanor for her sons' sake but below it they could all see the sadness and no one blamed her.
Howard and Bernadette decided to join the group in the water, telling Donna of their decision. Therefore no one except the sharp-eyed female captain noticed when Leslie and Raj slipped into the now vacant cabin. Muffled sounds soon informed her that the last of her friends were finally pairing off, something she had hoped for even before the voyage had started and certainly since then.
Trials and tribulations sometimes brought out the best in people she reflected. They made what once seemed insurmountable obstacles things that blew away in the wind like the tip of a milkweed. For example Raj had started talking freely to women when it became apparent that there was no other choice when he was manning the radar. He confessed later he simply didn't even think about it, he simply talked. And finally Sheldon, with Amy's support, was growing into am actual human being. Oh he never would be the life of the party and his quirks and phobias would remain forever but now they were becoming funny, almost enjoyable rather than making her set her teeth and reminding herself that she promised she would NOT drop him in the ocean and wish him Bon Voyage.
Strangely, the woman who had grown so close to her cousin's friends never saw herself as alone. She had them, she had her children. She had "loved and lost" before and while never regretting it had no real desire or need for another romantic relationship. Not now anyway.
A puff of wind touched her cheek. She wetted her finger and eyed the placid water. Evening was drawing near and the breeze was beginning to pick up. She cocked an ear. Silence from the cabin beneath her. She cupped her hands into a speaking trumpet.
"All aboard!"
Everyone climbed back on, each person checking and rechecking that everyone was there. Because of Howard's successes there was enough distilled fresh water to allow a hose to be used to spray everyone down to wash off the salt water, and any thing else in the case of the two couples that had remained aboard for amatory exploration. Donna DID admit to herself that she missed that.
Supper was prepared and dug into with gusto. The sails had been hoisted and set and the "John B" was slowly picking up speed through the water. The group had scattered about the boat. Two card games were in progress although Donna had yet to even begin to want to decipher the mysteries of the "Mystic Warlords of Ka'Ha", or whatever it was called. And the other was Spades. She herself was a bridge player but no one else was.
She had made herself comfortable in the forward cabin with her children, it being her turn to spend the night again with them until midnight when she would take over the helm. She was just drifting off when a commotion came from the main cabin. She lifted her head as Raj burst in.
"Donna! I'm picking up a radio conversation between at least two ships! Come quickly."
(To be continued)