46
After her therapy session, Penny decided to head over to 2311 North Los Robles, primarily to say goodbye to Junior, who'd be leaving the next morning, but to also let Sheldon and Missy know what she was planning to tell Leonard. Despite the changes that Sheldon had made to his life, Penny was still pretty sure that he wouldn't react well to the surprise she had in store for Leonard. She also had something else she wanted to share with Missy.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Cooper Family.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Cooper Family.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Cooper Family.
Missy opened the door.
"Hi, sweetie. We weren't expecting you."
"Sorry I didn't call ahead. I guess I wasn't thinking."
"Well, I do recall saying that you are always welcome. So come on in. Sheldon's puttin' the baby to bed."
"Awww."
"So, what's goin' on with you?"
"Well, I'm just coming from therapy."
"How's that going?"
"I guess it's going okay. Only broke down crying once."
"Well, it's been a rough couple of days and you've got a lot on your mind. To be honest, I'm a little surprised you even showed up at work today."
"Yeah. It's weird. I know I should be a wreck about all the stuff that's going on. But I'm really not. I feel, I don't know, kind of calm."
"You've decided something, haven't you?"
"Yeah, pretty much. But that can wait until Sheldon comes out. First, I think I need to talk to Junior."
"Uh oh. Hey Junior, Penny wants to talk to you."
"Hi darlin'. I'm real sorry I put the hurt on Leonard last night."
"Junior, I wanted to apologize to you. Leonard had no right to do what he did. I just wish I could've seen what happened."
At that moment Sheldon came out to the living room.
"Penny, it was not a pretty scene. Two men stark naked about to come to blows."
Penny giggled.
"I will say though that Leonard looked very tiny as he lay on the floor attempting to protect his manhood."
"Is that what they call it, little brother? As far as I could tell, he has very little manhood to protect. I can't believe for a minute that he can satisfy you like a man should, Penny."
"Junior, you will not speak about Leonard's manhood or anyone else's in this house!"
"Sorry, Missy. But Shelly brought it up."
"Yeah, well I'm ending it."
Penny smiled at Missy.
"Thank you, Missy. And for your information, Leonard is very…enthusiastic."
"Indeed, when Leonard was still residing here and he and Penny were engaged in coitus she often requested more."
"Sheldon!"
"What?"
"Shelly, it's inappropriate for you to speak about what Penny and Leonard do in private."
"It wasn't private. I heard almost all of it. For years. Even through noise-cancelling headphones."
"Can we please move on? There's some stuff I want you guys to know about… so it isn't a surprise tomorrow."
"What's goin' on, sweetie?"
"Well, you guys know that Leonard and I have not exactly been seeing eye-to-eye on things since, well, since you got back Sheldon."
"I had surmised that. When I offered you your position and you accepted it I thought Leonard might object. He prefers to be the one making the decisions for the both of you."
"Yeah. I guess I let him do that for way too long. It's not like he really knows anything at all about how relationships are supposed to work. Everything he knows he got from TV, the movies and comic books."
"And his mother."
"Yeah, let's keep Beverly out of this. That's a whole other set of issues."
"So, what are you gonna to do, sweetie?"
"Okay, I'm not ready to end our engagement, but I am thinking about it. What I am ending for now is me and Leonard living together. I'm going to ask him to move out. I need some space."
"Penny, Leonard will likely not go along with that."
"I'm not exactly giving him much of a choice. If he doesn't move out, I will."
Sheldon looked alarmed.
"Penny, you can't move. Junior, stay and help me make Leonard move."
"Sheldon, I don't think we can make Leonard do something he doesn't want to do. If I have to move I am quite willing to do that."
"You aren't going to leave us, me are you."
"No, sweetie. If it ends up being me that moves Alex and Nora have asked me to move in with them. I'm pretty sure that could work while Leonard and I figure things out."
"Leonard will not like having difficulty accessing you."
"Maybe it's time Leonard learned that he might have to work a little harder for what he wants. Maybe a lot harder."
"Darlin', I thought we weren't gonna talk about Leonard's equipment, such as it is. And I caught a little glimpse of what he looks like when he works hard."
"Junior, I like you, but I really wish you wouldn't keep talking about Leonard's 'equipment'. There's more to a relationship than sex."
"Penny, your amorous history would belie that, and Leonard is lacking in so many more areas that his ability to satisfy you sexually. There is his lack of honesty, his inability to process most foods, his breathing difficulties and lack of stamina due to asthma, his scientific incuriosity, his treacherousness…"
"Enough, Sheldon. I know that you now see Leonard as a less than good friend. Please understand that I want to try and work things out before I consider doing something more drastic. I feel like I owe him that."
"Alright. Just know that we will be here for you no matter what. Except for Junior who is departing in the morning."
"Thank you. I appreciate that. Now, I'm pretty hungry. You guys don't have any food left from Saturday, do you?"
"We have lots, sweetie. In fact, we can give you some to bring back over for Alex and Nora. You're going back over there tonight, aren't you?"
"Yeah. I really like those guys. They've really been a big help figuring things out. And they're fun. Nora especially. She's getting me to do things I never would have thought of before."
"Like what, sweetie?"
"Missy, some things I really don't want to say in front of your brothers."
"I get that. Maybe later. Maybe all four of us can get together and have one of them Girls Nights Shelly told me about."
"That would be nice. And it sure would be different from the Girls Nights I used to have with Bernadette and Amy. Speaking of Amy, have you heard anything from her, Sheldon?"
"Nothing, Penny."
"She called Momma last night."
"Excuse me."
"Amy called Momma to try and get Momma to convince you to get back with her."
"Oh my. What did she say?"
"I don't rightly know for sure. What I do know is that Amy won't be callin' Momma again. Not if she don't want Momma flyin' up here to go after her."
"Perhaps I should call Mommy and find out what happened."
"Okay, Shelly. Junior, why don't you start warmin' some leftovers up for dinner. I think maybe Penny and I should have a word in private."
"Missy, why don't we go over to my apartment for a minute. I should probably pick up some more things. Who knows how long I'll be camping out with Alex and Nora?"
"Sounds good. And then we'll have us some dinner."
Over at her apartment, Penny grabbed some more clothes for work, underwear and a couple of pairs of shoes.
"First thing, Missy, we're supposed to be doing this therapy thing together."
"Wednesday after work. I already made the appointment."
"Good. I'm glad. Listen, how's Sheldon doing with all of the stuff that's going on. He's been really busy at work with meetings and Alex that I really haven't had a chance to talk to him."
"He's okay. I guess I'm a little surprised but he's handlin' stuff pretty well. I was a shocked he didn't lock himself up in his room on Saturday night with all the excitement. I think maybe he found a way to deal with it."
"How?"
"He plays with the baby. Sings Soft Kitty a lot. I think maybe he sings it for himself as much as the baby."
"But he's okay. All this Amy and Leonard crap isn't going to send him running to Galveston again, is it."
"I don't think so, Penny. I think Shelly knows that he has people he trusts that he can go to if he's having a tough time. He knows we have his back."
"Good. I'm glad. I don't think I'd ever forgive myself if the crap that's going on with me and Leonard made things difficult for him."
"Penny, I think if Shelly was still close to Leonard it might be a problem. He's still bothered that you're upset but I told him that you're taking good care of yourself and that you have to figure things out with Leonard for yourself. You're doin' that so Shelly is waitin' until you need him. He'll be there for you. We all will."
"Thanks. Tomorrow's gonna be a rough day. I wish I didn't have this wardrobe thing but Wil said it was pretty important. And my agent wants me to pick up some papers the network said they'd have ready."
"And you're gonna show 'em to Shelly too, right."
"Yeah. But speaking of showing, I wanted to show you what I did yesterday."
"I was wonderin' why you were carryin' around that big sketchbook. Did you take an art class or somethin'?"
"Not exactly."
Penny opened up the sketchbook to her favorite sketch from the previous day, the last one Stuart did.
"Wow. You did do somethin' different. Is that Nora huggin' you?"
"Yup."
"There's nothin' goin' on with you two is there? Not that there's anythin' wrong with that."
"Nora and I are friends. That's it. Naked friends, but just friends. What do you think of the sketch?"
"It's beautiful. What are you gonna to do with it?"
"I think I want to get it framed."
"But where do you put something like that. Known' Leonard a little he won't want anybody seein' it. Hell, he'll probably have a fit that you posed without him knowin' about it."
"Yeah, I know. If I were living alone I wouldn't really have a problem with people seeing it. It's art. And I'm not gonna look like that forever. It'll be a nice thing to have."
"But with all this stuff up in the air?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna hide it in the back of the closet for now and maybe surprise Leonard with it when things are better between us."
"You really think that's gonna happen, sweetie, things getting' better I mean? He's probably gonna be pretty upset when you ask him to move out."
"If Leonard really loves me, like he's been saying forever, then he'll be willing to do the work to fix things. I changed a lot of things in my life for him. He should be willing to make some changes for me."