(They call The Promised Land)
"Do you Leonard Hofstadter; take Alex Jensen to be your lawfully wedded wife..."
As the minister continued with the traditional question, for some reason Alex found her breath seemed to be caught in her throat. Not that she had any worries about his answer, what she saw in his eyes was enough answer for her. She just was amazed that here they were surrounded by friends and family, including some people she never thought would be here.
Had she and Leonard simply run off the weekend after he had popped the question without a doubt it would have just been them. Her friends were one thing but it had taken patience, understanding and work to get close to Leonard's tight-knit circle of friends. All of them had been so inter-locked that winning one of them over meant winning them all over. She knew how important they all were to Leonard. Yes, and that even included Sheldon.
Sheldon by the way had been very upset with her for "abandoning him", an attitude that spilled over to Leonard. Amy had a mind of her own and had advised Penny NOT to break up with Leonard but then the waitress WAS her "bestie" after all. To her amazement Alex discovered that Raj had had a bit of a crush on her and had been on the verge (well, for him two more months apparently was on the verge) of asking her out. Or at least talking to her. Bernadette had been a co-worker of Penny's and was very fond of her but she and Howard were a little more distant from all the sound and fury that had come with the announcement of the engagement.
That was the first step, to allow some time to go by and give some distance to everyone involved and let them all get used to the new situation. It helped that Leonard didn't move out as they had first thought would happen. That meant HALO night and Pizza night and all the other traditions continued. At first it was simply Leonard by himself. After all, that was how most of those nights had been. But more and more Amy had insisted on sitting in on some of those nights ("That's good," Leonard had told her. "It's giving Sheldon time to get accustomed to Amy measuring my room to see if her bed and all her furniture will fit."). Bernadette followed her lead.
So it had only seemed natural for Alex to accompany Leonard one evening for HALO night. They had made their entrance low-key, bringing and distributing the Chinese take-out they had picked up before Leonard say down in his usual chair with Alex on the arm. She had listened much most of the night, avoiding thrusting herself into the conversation although she did exchange friendly words with the other two girls. In fact before the night was out the three of them had gravitated to the far side of the couch while the guys played.
It had also helped that Sheldon had found a new target to vent his displeasure on. It seemed that Raj had been a no-show again, something that had been happening more and more often, requiring Stuart from the comic book shop to take his place.
Comic books. Alex had certainly been a nerd through high school and college in many ways. Of course that was obvious, few hoped-to-be future supermodels, homecoming queens or famous actresses studies extra science in high school and majored in Physics in college. But the world of comic books and the enormous importance they played in the world of her future husband and his friends astounded her.
Alex didn't believe that trying to change who you were to please someone else ever led to a happy ending. It hadn't for her in the past. But that didn't mean that she wouldn't try new things and maybe develop new interests to share. Leonard certainly had gamely tried some things she had asked him to do. Some had been a success; go-cart racing on Saturday nights had been one. Dancing, well, he tried and if you closed one eye all the way and squinted with the other he only looked halfway like a headless chicken. But he had insisted he liked it.
That was important. From the beginning she had expected honesty from him. Some of the things she had got him to try had failed horribly and he not enjoyed them in the least. But he had told her that, something she had all but had to beg him to do.
"Please Leonard; don't say you like something when you hate it. Tell me it's awful. I'll do the same. That way we won't be spending time making ach other miserable and not knowing it. It's not healthy for a relationship."
He had agreed and so far that agreement was standing up. So not long after their engagement when new comic book night was announced she went with him.
Leonard HAD warned her. So she was mostly prepared upon entering for the hush that fell over the little establishment and the swiveling of heads towards her accompanied by open mouthed looks of surprise.
"They don't see many girls in here," Leonard had advised her. "And very few really hot girls."
"Like Penny?" she had teased him.
"Like you," he countered although he confessed he had brought the blonde in here looking for a few comics as a present for her nephew. "Like I told her, they're more scared of you than you are of them." She had to giggle at that.
She hadn't completely lost all worries about Leonard's gorgeous ex-girlfriend but those fears had receded more and more into the background the longer they were together. She always reminded herself that she was the one engaged to Leonard now and that Penny had her chance and blew it. Regardless she wasn't going to start second guessing things every time they went someplace Leonard and Penny had gone before. Besides, it was FUN to have a whole roomful of guys gawking at her.
She realized upon meeting Stuart, the kind of cute incredibly shy owner of the store that she wasn't the only one having a good time. When Leonard introduced her to Stuart, in a tone of voice designed to carry throughout the room, as his fianc she thought his shirt buttons were going to pop he was so proud. Later at her apartment she would tease him about it.
"Just arm candy, that's all I am to you," she had pretended to pout. "Just some incredibly sexy bimbo for you to show off to your friends, to demonstrate what a macho man you are."
He had pretended to consider her remarks seriously for a bit and then had nodded. "Yep, that's about it alright."
"You!" she had cried as she pounced on him, pushing him back on the couch and pinning him under her. He had quickly regained the upper hand, twisting around until he had her safely trapped under him. From there the rest of the evening had progressed delightfully, not ending in fact until the wee hours of the morning.
That had been the icing on top of the cake for the entire visit had proved to be quite enjoyable. Alex had already gained some familiarity with the current status of comic books and how the genre had grown far beyond the "Archie" and "Betty and Veronica" ones she remembered from when she was a girl. That knowledge had originated with Sheldon, who had more than once regaled her with long tales of recent purchases and trends while she was still his assistant. It could have been worse she supposed. She WAS getting paid and if he either didn't notice her eyes glazing over or care than it was alright with her if they wasted some of his grant money. She didn't learn much physics on those days though.
What she had not anticipated was how broad and deep comics/graphic novels/role playing accessories/everything else had become. She knew that Leonard and his friends shared this world and found that she liked a good bit of it herself. Plots were more complex (mind boggling so sometimes), the art work was crisper and there were a LOT more female heroines than she remembered. While it wouldn't replace something like shoe shopping in her list of things she loved the best it was a good time shared with the man she loved.
It all proved useful in more ways than just bonding with Leonard. It gave her opportunities to find gifts for him she knew he would enjoy. It also allowed her to interact with Sheldon and Howard; she could question them about new lines and upcoming issues that Leonard might enjoy. That also gave her an in with Amy and Bernadette. Several times she was able to tip them off on something that their respective guy was interested in and had not had any luck finding.
There had been one nearly embarrassing moment that ended up being funny. One afternoon Alex had slipped into the store to talk to Stuart about ordering an action figure Leonard had mentioned. While he searched online she had been browsing idly through the boxes. Her eye had been caught by an interesting looking locally produced book. While examining it a contralto voice had spoken from across the table.
"Oh my gosh, a prospective customer!"
Alex looked up into a smiling female face. Instantly grasping what the attractive tattooed girl was implying she looked back quickly at the comic and back up again.
"Really?"
"Really."
"That's amazing," Alex admitted. A thought struck her. What a neat gift for Leonard. "Would you autograph it for me?"
"Absolutely."
The other girl was just getting out a black felt tipped marker when Stuart bustled over saying "Alex I found it for you." His voice trailed off and he looked from her to the other girl with a surprisingly uncomfortable look on his face.
"Hi Stuart," the girl spoke. Her voice was a bit puzzled. Obviously she too had picked up on his discomfort. She looked over at Alex and lifted a questioning eyebrow. Alex shrugged in confusion.
"Ahh, hello Alice," the store owner stammered slightly. He rallied. "Alex if you'll come over to the register we can take care of your order."
Alex didn't know and didn't care why Stuart was acting more wigged-out than usual. Neither did Alice apparently. The comic artist poised her marker over the cover.
"Make this out to Alex?"
"No, make it to Leonard and I better spell his last name," she replied.
That did it. Alice looked surprised and without missing a beat she wrote Leonard's full name without asking.
Stuart let out a moan. The two girls ignored him and just looked at each other.
Alice spoke first. "You don't look like a lawyer from India," she said thoughtfully.
"Nope," Alex replied. "That was Priya. I'm a physics grad student from California."
Alice looked intrigued. "Are you a colleague? Is he back on the market?"
"Yes," Alex smiled. "And no." She held up her hand to display her engagement ring.
A smile crossed Alice's face. "The story of my life," she said. "He's awfully cute."
"He is indeed," Alex returned the smile. The pair contemplated each other. Rather than feeling any sort of jealousy Alex found she liked the girl artist. Impulsively she spoke. "How about a cup of coffee?"
"Deal."
Alex paid for her order as well as the autographed comic book and the pair left chatting away.
Stuart looked surprised and then relieved. Apparently he had thought he was about to have his shop torn to pieces by a cat fight. Alex noticed his eyes followed Alice as they left. She also noticed Alice glanced sideways at the shop owner. Alex grinned to herself.
Before the afternoon was out Alex had made a firm new friend and found something delightful to tease her man about that evening. And in a few weeks when Sheldon began to complain that now Stuart seemed to have other plans a lot Alex just smiled to herself again.
Alex had already been sworn to secrecy about the oddball but rather sweet and definitely growing affair between Raj and the girl Lucy. It WAS a little weird to see them together, side by side and texting each other for hours. But if it made them happy than that was all that mattered.
She was getting closer to everyone in the group and enjoying them. Certainly they were all different than the run-of-the-mill people but that just made them more interesting. Or in Sheldon's case tolerable. Well nearly tolerable. But she knew the group still was missing a very important member. Summoning her courage on afternoon she went to Leonard's building but turned right at the top of the stairs instead of left. She took a deep breath and rapped on the door. When it opened a very startled blonde waitress looked out at her.
"Penny. Can we talk?"
(To be continued)