Chapter 23 - The Apartment

Penny looked at Leonard and then back at the building, a little too surprised to respond to what was happening, so she just reached over to open the car door. However, Leonard reached over and stopped her, giving her a small smile as she turned to him, confusion written all over he face. "We can't park here, I just wanted you to see the building from the front before we parked in the parking garage."

Penny just nodded, "Okay."

Leonard then drove away from the curb and to the next cross street, the apartment building being on a corner, which he turned down so that he could access the entrance to the building's apartment garage. There was an access gate, so Leonard typed a code into the keypad and the gate opened to allow them in the cool darkness of the garage, from the hotter sunny outside. Penny looked at the secure gate closing behind her then at the cool dark parking spots in the underground garage thinking how many times she had to open her hot car and how sometimes at night she had been scared parking in their unprotected parking lot. Penny shook her head, happy that Leonard was driving and did not notice that she had zoned out for a minute, she really needed to be with him fully mentally concerning this surprise of his.

However Penny couldn't help being lost in her thoughts again as her and Leonard got into the elevator of the apartment building, and then taking one of the TWO working elevators to the 7th floor. The building was tall, and Leonard told her it had 12 stories, but is was pretty new and Penny would be lying if she didn't admit it looked really nice. However, none of that prepared Penny for when she entered the apartment that Leonard lead her to and where the real-estate agent waited for them. Penny stopped only a few feet into the living room and gasped, the one wall being almost all sliding glass doors and outside of them a balcony, making her look at Leonard in shock. She had always dreamed that in her rise to stardom, before she would buy a mansion, she would move to a nice big apartment with a balcony. She and Leonard had always used the roof as their makeshift balcony at their apartment building.

Penny had again become lost in her thoughts, only to be brought back by Leonard softly calling her name, "Penny…Penny Honey, you okay?"

Penny looked at him a second then quickly understood she had been daydreaming, "Sorry Sweetie, just thinking about something too hard."

"Everything is okay…isn't it?" Leonard was now wondering if this whole thing had been a bad idea. Maybe he was pushing too hard again, she had gone through a lot and maybe she wasn't ready for a step like this.

Penny gave him a small smile, "Everything is fine. Why don't we look at the rest of the place."

The living room was large and just as Penny wondered if there was enough room to add a dining table the realtor showed her the far wall where there was a folding door leading to an attached room for a medium sized dining table. Then there was the kitchen, it was three times the size of her apartment's and it had an island with four stools around it, Penny knew it would be fun to learn how to really cook there. But the thing that really got to Penny was there was three bedrooms, the master that was huge and had its own bathroom, with a Jacuzzi tube to die for, another large bedroom and a small bedroom next to the master that would perfect for a nursery, another bathroom between it and the spare bedroom. If that wasn't just perfect, Penny almost swooned at the huge walk-in closet the master bedroom had, with built in shoe shelves.

Penny was amazed at everything she was seeing, but as she looked around more, reality seemed to hit her squarely in the head. She waited till the realtor left her and Leonard alone in the bedroom before she addressed what she felt was the elephant in the room. "Leonard we can't afford this."

Leonard smiled, "Actually we can, I got a big raise at work and that raise will just cover the rent for this place. The money I was paying Sheldon for rent will then be extra for us. Also, if I agree to sign a three year contract, they will give me a $25,000 bonus which you can use for furniture."

"Really they gave you a raise and a bonus?" Penny asked in surprise.

Leonard nodded, "Penny this would be a fresh start for us, a place to raise a child and it would be big enough for us to breathe. It has the space to bring friends over and an extra bedroom for your mother to stay a few weeks after the baby is born, like you said you wanted."

Penny nodded and looked around the bedroom again, again mind lost in thought as she thought about the change. She had come to California to be a star, make tons of money, to move into a nice big apartment, then a home, and finally finding the man of her dreams. She just realized she got the order all wrong, she found the man first, then the acting job and now here was her apartment, with the balcony she wanted to sit on at night in the arms of the man she loved. The apartment was actually perfect and she now wondered how Leonard somehow knew this was just the kind of place she wanted.

Penny walked quietly back into the living room looking around again at the open kitchen, dinning room area and of course the balcony, which she ended up going through the sliding glass doors to look down at the world from the seventh floor. She then turned around to look at Leonard, who had been quietly following her, hoping she was considering moving there, and she gave him a small smile, "When can we move in?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWRONG BABYxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Amy drove Sheldon home, quietly thinking about what Bernadette told her earlier that afternoon, guilt now coming back to her as she thought of Penny being heart broken about losing Leonard again. She was happy Sheldon had been quiet the last couple days on the ride to and from work, she really didn't want to discuss anything silly after she heard such bad news about her bestie. The bad news also made Amy wonder what it would mean for the baby, would Penny even want to raise Sheldon's baby now after losing her love. That thought made her think maybe her and Sheldon raising the baby was not so outrageous a plan now, and she knew they needed to talk to Penny about it all, after she had time to heal over Leonard.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWRONG BABYxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Penny and Leonard spent an hour signing paperwork and Leonard put down a security deposit and the first months rent of the apartment. They would be moving in the end of the month, the apartment complex repainting the whole apartment and just for Penny painting the small bedroom the neutral baby color she wanted. Leonard then took Penny to dinner, she now couldn't help being distracted as she was now excited and thinking about decorating their new apartment. She had a lot of shopping to do, which was exciting in itself as she loved shopping, especially when she was buying things to make their new apartment their home. She was so deep in thought the time to the restaurant seemed to fly by and she was surprised when Leonard began to talk to her after leaving her with her thoughts the whole trip.

"Penny, is everything alright. I mean I didn't want to force you into this. If you are not really happy with the apartment, we don't have to move." Leonard told her, a little concerned she had been so quiet, he now wondered again if he had pushed to hard and she was just doing this for him.

Penny turned quickly to him, "No Honey, why would you think that? Sweetie I was just thinking how I was going to decorate the place. I love it honey and I can't wait to move. But you are going to have to do some serious shopping with me the next couple of weeks."

Leonard felt immensely better and chuckled at her enthusiasm, "I'd love to go shopping with you." It made him feel really great inside that she wanted to begin a new life with him too.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWRONG BABYxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sheldon was looking at Amy, an expression on his face that for him meant he was stunned at what she told him. Leonard leaving meant that Penny was alone again, with a questionable job, his original plan now seeming more possible than just a few days ago. "Are you sure about your facts Amy?"

Amy shrugged, she was a sure as she could be, given what she had been told, "Bernadette said the boys saw Leonard's office emptied and everything packed up. She also said Penny sent her a text that that they were having a hard time together and she seemed really wore out. Finally you told me last week that Leonard had been made an offer to join Hawking's team at Cambridge and he would be a fool not to take it."

Sheldon nodded in thought, "I really don't see him staying with a chance to be on such a team, it is far more prestigious than Leonard deserves, he will probably jump on it. It would put him in a spot he would never achieve on his own, riding on Hawking's coat tails." Sheldon then made a face. "I don't understand why good things happen to Leonard all the time. Not only did he rid himself of Penny, but he has hooked up with Dr Hawking."

Amy looked at him in angst, "Sheldon, Leonard loves…loved Penny, this has to be hard on him having found out what happened with us." Guilt again growing in Amy as she remembered she was also involved in Penny's loss of Leonard.

"Amy, I'm the one that was violated, and Penny was the person who caused it all. However, look who suffers, me. I am the one Leonard abandoned for Penny's actions and I'm the one who deserves the slot on Hawking's team, not Leonard. Please Amy get your facts right." Sheldon whined.

Amy just stared at him, Sheldon the victim was not very attractive, especially when he whined about it. She loved him, but sometimes Penny was right, when he opened his mouth she just wanted to leave. "Sheldon, Penny is suffering the most in this, so I think a little sympathy is deserved."

"Amy, Amy, Amy, you are just prejudiced by your friendship to Penny. You women always take each others side, even when you are wrong, estrogen always fueling your thoughts." He then turned to his bedroom. "Well Amy it is bedtime, I will see you tomorrow." he was letting her know the discussion was over.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWRONG BABYxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Leonard and Penny got home a half hour after Sheldon had turned in, having been at the restaurant several hours talking about their new apartment. Penny had gotten very enthusiastic after they sat down to eat, Leonard enjoying how much she was now excited about the new apartment and their moving. He now felt he did the right thing, Penny's happiness and his feelings of starting anew, now seemed like an extremely good idea and Leonard found himself smiling all evening.

They were getting ready for bed when Penny got quiet for a second, Leonard noticing she had the expression on her face when she was trying to figure out something in her mind. "Sweetie I was thinking about something for this weekend."

Leonard nodded then walked up to her back, putting his arms around her with his hands on her belly. Penny put her hands over his and leaned back against him, a small content hum coming from her as she got comfortable against him. "Okay, what were you thinking?" he asked after she seemed settled.

"Well, I have to go in tomorrow to see if we have to redo scenes, but I honestly think everything I was in went fine, so I don't think we will have anything to do." she started to explain.

"Okay." Leonard responded.

"So I probably will get done early, I'm thinking before lunch." she turned her head to look at him.

"Okay, so you want me to get off early, that shouldn't be a problem." he told her.

"Also…..I was wondering if we could go away this weekend, someplace away from here." She looked at him, a pleading look in her eyes.

Leonard thought she looked adorable right then looking back at him, "I found this nice bed and breakfast in San Diego a while back on the ocean we could go to, if they have a vacancy."

"That sounds perfect." she smiled at him, then the smile slowly faded, "When did you look for a bed and breakfast?"

Leonard felt trapped, but he had to tell her, she asked. "I was going to take you there the next weekend after you taped your pilot, since I couldn't go to your cast party and I wanted to treat you to a little celebration."

Penny looked at him, tears now forming in her eyes, her thoughts about how she screwed up her life that night now coming back to her, "I'm sorry Leonard."

Leonard squeezed her tight to him. "Hey, remember what we did today, new start, okay. That is in the past and we are moving into the future….we both agreed on that Penny."

Penny nodded, "New start, thank you Sweetie." She then rotated in his arms so she could kiss him. The kiss lasted a little while, before they both separated, both their eyes locked on each other.

Leonard smiled at her, "We then will need to pack before we go to bed tonight. You know how you are in the morning." he chuckled.

His teasing of her, broke all the tension, and Penny playfully swatted his arm as she giggled. "Hey, I resemble that remark." she then hugged him.

Leonard immediately got on line to reserve a room and was lucky they had one available making them both now get excited about the trip on Friday. They were up another hour packing, Leonard done after 15 minutes, but having to pack again after Penny went through his bag and changed what he took. That night they fell quickly asleep, Penny settling in to be spooned in Leonard's arms all night. The day had been very exciting for both of them, the apartment, their plans for San Diego and the packing, and the need to get as much sleep as possible, resulted in them both falling asleep shortly after their heads hit the pillow.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWRONG BABYxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning Leonard called Dr Gablehauser, telling him since he didn't have an office he was taking the day off, he would do some work out of the office that day and would see him Monday morning. Penny was thrilled he was going to stay with her all day, so after they loaded the car they both went to Penny's studio, where Leonard stayed in the room with the food, catching up on his email, while Penny went off with her fellow actors. Penny had been exactly right, it was less than two hours later she was standing over him with a huge smile on her face. "I'm done Sweetie, let's go."

At the same time Leonard and Penny were getting into his car, Howard and Raj had gone over to Leonard's office to look for him. What they found was worse than yesterday, the graduate students had moved all of Leonard's boxes to his new office, so that they would be there Monday morning for him. So Raj and Howard found a completely empty office when they got there, empty desk, tables, shelves and file cabinets, all empty and waiting for the next person to move in.

"Dude his stuff is all gone!" Raj stated the obvious.

"I see that." Howard looked around hoping something was left, he couldn't believe Leonard was gone, but there was nothing. "I can't believe he left, he didn't even say good-bye."

Raj nodded, "I think Penny finally pushed him too far."

Howard just nodded, "I asked him when he started with her the second time, if he really wanted to go through that all again and take the chance she would hurt him again." Howard sighed, "But you know it was Penny and Leonard wanted to be with her so badly he wouldn't listen."

Raj again nodded a whimsical expression covering his face, "She did smell nice when we spent that night together."

Howard shook his head, "Yeah, you mean the night you blew your wad after she touched you?"

"It was heavenly." Raj seemed to be still daydreaming, but suddenly looked at Howard in shock. "Who told you that, Penny?"

"No Casanova, Bernadette told me. You know those girls talk about everything." Howard just shook his head again.

"Yeah, well it was magic." Raj said trying to vindicate himself.

"Yeah, Yeah. Lets go to the office to see if they know anything about Leonard." Howard then headed out the door, Raj in tow.

However when they got to the office the same secretary that Leonard had talked to was working and again they had to talk to her while she worked on her computer. "Excuse me, but is it true Dr Hofstadter moved out of his office?"

The secretary glanced up at him and them back to her computer. "Yes Dr Hofstadter moved out of his office."

"Is he coming back?" Raj asked.

"To that office?" The secretary now looked up at them like they were nuts.

"Yes to that office." Howard now answered in exasperation.

"No, he is not going back to that office." she responded, not liking Howard's tone.

Raj and Howard looked at each other, each knowing what was in the other's mind, 'Leonard was gone, he had left Cal Tech'. Howard was going to ask more but the secretary had gone back to work at her computer and she didn't look like wanted to talk anymore, but Howard still tried. "Do you know what is going on with Dr Hofstadter."

The secretary was told not to talk about Dr Hofstadter and his new position until Dr Gablehauser and President announced it to the department in a meeting Monday afternoon, so she just looked up at the two men, "Look I just do what I'm told, they don't tell me what is going on around here. Now if you excuse me, I have work to do."

Raj and Howard just looked at each other and left, Howard pulling out his phone to call Bernadette. She wanted to know any news he had about Leonard, because she was convinced Penny and him didn't make up, like she hoped.