Chapter 37 - Wedding Preparations
For Sheldon, it was looking down at a happy Amy that caused the brain itch to start, and it quickly grew in intensity as Sheldon now knew there was something he forgot. His smile quickly turned to a frown as that intensity increased, he was a person who didn't forget, so that pain was even more pronounced as he struggled under its weight. It was that crushing weight that made him do something he never imagined he would ever do, he turned to Howard Wolowitz to whisper a question to the engineer. "Howard what am I forgetting?"
Howard just smiled up to him, "Well it would have been a little nicer if you had a ring to give Amy." he said with a shrug.
"But I have a ring!" Sheldon whispered back, then left the surprised engineer and went to his desk.
Sheldon's sudden movement caught Amy and Bernadette's attention as they both turned to look after Amy's, now fiancé, go to his desk. But it was when he turned that made them both gasp, Amy's heart beating so hard she thought it would burst from her chest, upon seeing Sheldon holding a small velvet box in his hand. Bernadette had the sense to steady Amy as Sheldon opened the box for Amy to see the most beautiful engagement ring she had ever seen.
Sheldon immediately felt relieved, this was exactly what he forgot, now recalling both Howard and Leonard's engagements completely, a ring had been part of both of them. However again Amy's happy expression was contagious, and he found himself smiling in spite of himself, wondering if that would be the way from now on, Amy's happiness would make him happy. It actually took him a few seconds to get his mind back to the task, something that both annoyed him and yet made him feel strangely good inside. "Amy, this was MeMaw's engagement ring. She gave it to me a year ago to give to you, I don't know how she knew, but she was obviously right when she said you are the one for me. And since I never disobey MeMaw, I had it sized for you."
"Sheldon…I love it." Amy said through gasps for air. "Put it on, please."
She then extended her hand to him.
Again Sheldon noticed her hand shaking, but did what she asked, placing the ring on the proper finger and congratulating himself that it of course fit perfectly. The addition of the ring to Amy's hand resulted in him getting a kiss from her and then another round of squealing from Bernadette and Amy as they hugged again. Even with Sheldon's aversion to public displays of affection, the group hug that happened quickly after Bernadette's hug of Amy and then the second kiss by Amy, just seemed to be 'right' so even someone like him had nothing to complain about. He just went with the flow and became a 'hippy' that whole night for the woman who just agreed to be his wife. The thoughts of Amy being with him forever and never deserting him making him smile in spite of the aloof persona he always tried to maintain.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWRONG BABYxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next week began abruptly Monday morning for Penny, with a wedding now to set up, the first day was spent out and about to confirm the locations of the wedding and reception. Leonard and her helped her father with some of the chores in the morning, then after a quick shower and breakfast, her, Leonard, Lindsey and her mother went out to spend the remaining morning and the whole afternoon together. The church was first and was very supportive, again because of her mother's participation, fitting the new wedding date into their schedule of events. Also because the wedding was in the winter, there were still several locations open for her reception, so they had no trouble reserving a place before the day was over. That all done on their first day, made it actually relaxing that night for Penny knowing she had a date and a place, and that she would be married soon to Leonard.
It was also obvious to Leonard, that Penny was feeling good that night so he had to ask her about it after everyone went to bed, after they got in their room, and they changed into their pajamas. "You seen pretty happy today."
Penny looked back, a smile on her face, "Yeah, I guess I am." Penny then bit her lip, "I guess I'm glad we have a wedding date, because I want to marry you right away." her smile then fell a little, "I'm not rushing you into this am I Sweetie?" Penny then looked at him waiting for a response, the last six months immediately going through her mind as she suddenly got scared at what he might say.
If Leonard knew how fragile Penny had just become he did not let on to it, as he responded in the only way he could. "I love you Penny, you are not rushing me at all, I want our marriage to happen this soon too."
And no sooner than he said that she was in his arms, squeezing him tight, her face buried in his neck making the words she was saying muffled though he still was able to make them out, "I love you so much Leonard."
The second day was spent at her parent's home, the girls working hard all day putting all the invitations together, so that they could drop them at the post office before it closed that day. Leonard had worked with her father that morning while the girls stayed inside to first decide who was coming, then putting a list together of the names and addresses. The girls then used the software package Leonard bought and downloaded, to pick out the invitation card design they wanted. So it was after lunch, when Leonard came back to join them, setting the inkjet printer with fresh ink and card stock, he had also brought the day before, in the colors Penny had picked out. It was short notice for a wedding, therefore the invitations provided an email address and text number for RVSPs by the people who wanted to attend, which Meryl expected to be all the family, since they would have a free bar at the reception. It took over an hour to print the invitations, then 30 minutes to print the envelopes, after which all four of them spent an hour stuffing the envelopes with the invitations, licking them and finally stamping them. Each of them working diligently except for when Lindsey read off her phone the symptoms of envelope glue poisoning which got them all giggling for several minutes.
Once done, Leonard volunteered to take the invitations to the post office, Penny of course going with him to show him the way, also agreeing that they would pick up pizza on the way back. Meryl, who had been helping all day with the invitations, did not want to cook dinner and the thought of pizza, after what they had been doing all day, seemed just right to everyone. However, as expected, Penny didn't get to leave without a ribbing from her sister, Lindsey insisting that the only reason she wanted to go with Leonard was to have some teenage make out session in their dad's pickup truck, which was promptly answered by Penny sticking out her tongue at her older sister.
It was a few minutes later that Leonard and Penny were sitting in her father's pickup truck, letting it warm up before they left, both of them packed tightly together in the cold cab, too cold to drive. Leonard and Penny had lived over 10 years in California, so they had lost their tolerance of the cold in Nebraska or New Jersey, both of them now sharing all the body heat the other had to offer. Leonard was actually wearing one of Penny's father's coats, his jackets way too thin for the Nebraska cold, made worse by the wind with its wind chill. Penny naturally went to the warmest spot which was under her dad's coat with him, Leonard wrapping her up next to him as they both tried to get warm in the icebox that was the truck, which seemed to be taking its sweet time to warm up enough to start using the heater.
Penny couldn't help feeling of being so comfortable under Leonard's coat against him, as he rubbed her arm in an attempt to warm her further, and she closed her eyes in contentment as a small hum escaped her mouth. It felt so good at that moment and she couldn't even remember feeling like that for a long time, the feeling so strong in her that she hoped in would never end. Her sister had been right after all, the way she felt now, all she wanted to do was kiss Leonard and make out with him, but those thoughts were broken when Leonard said his next words in relief. "Oh good the temperature is up and I think the heater will now kick out warm air." as he reached over to the fan switch to start the flow of warm air. In another minute she had to reluctantly come out of his coat as the cab filled with heat and he was now able to drive without shivering. So she just sat as close to him as the seatbelt allowed, her left arm around him and her hand gently touching his thick soft curly locks as they ran to the post office and then to get pizza for the night.
The third day of that week was spent in Omaha, Lindsey, Meryl and Penny shopping for Penny's wedding and bridesmaid dresses. It was the longest time Penny had spent away from Leonard, since they had gotten to Nebraska, and although she knew he shouldn't be with them picking out her wedding dress, the longer they were shopping the more his absence weighted on Penny. By the afternoon she would find herself daydreaming about what Leonard was doing at the farm, while she robotically tried on dresses, because after a couple weeks of her supervising him, he had gotten very handy in helping her father and now they would get her father's day worth of chores done just before lunch. That had allowed Leonard to work on his Cal Tech project in the afternoon while her dad tinkered on farm projects he had been putting off till he had more time. It also had meant she was around Leonard most of the time, either working outside or curled up next to him while he typed on his laptop, sometimes napping, and the thought of being with him then made her miss him more. It was almost a relief to her when they returned home and she found him in the kitchen, working on his laptop and drinking coffee, drawing her to him immediately as she went over to sit in his lap. She asked him about his day and he her's as they both listened to each other like what the other had to say was the most important thing in the world and for them, at that moment, it was.
The fourth day was the same, although they had found a couple nice dresses the day before, Penny hadn't really shown any excitement for any of them. Today was a little worse, inwardly she was reluctant to leave Leonard that day, she felt a little cheated out of her time with him the day before, but allowed her mother and sister to lead her out for another day of shopping. It was something she would have never thought she would have to be coaxed into doing, but lately she cherished all her time with Leonard, so shopping without him was not something she looked forward to. So they had spent all morning in a large bridal shop and as it now got close to lunch, Penny was again operating on autopilot, her sister or mom handing her a dress to change into and her just doing it, modeling it for them as soon as she was ready. It was during one of her many dress changes in the dressing room, where she was daydreaming about Leonard again, that her sister called her out. "Hey Slugger you fall asleep in there?"
Penny shook her head, the daydream of her nuzzling her nose against Leonard's ear as she kissed his neck, driven completely from her mind. "No, just trying to get this dress on." she lied. She then quickly zipped up the dress and walked outside to her sister and mother, not even looking at herself in the changing room mirror.
However the wide eyed looks of her mother and sister told Penny something was either wrong or right and it was her mother who gave the answer to that question, "Sweetie you look beautiful." Meryl told her daughter as she gazed at her trying not to cry.
"Pen that dress is perfect, it looks like it was made for you." Lindsey added and the saleswoman who had been with them the whole time just nodded and smiled.
Penny now confused turned to look at herself in the room's full length mirror, and it felt like she was looking at someone else, the blonde woman looking back at her wearing the prettiest dress Penny had ever seen. It actually took Penny a moment to realize she was really looking at herself and after she did a small tear fell down her cheek as she knew this was exactly how she wanted to look on her wedding day for Leonard. Penny looked back at her smiling mother and just nodded, her mother and sister and even the saleswoman now squealing in joy as they all gathered around her, the bride to be, and told her how amazing she looked while saleswoman checked to see if it needed alterations. However Lindsey had been right, the dress was made for Penny and they would leave with the dress that afternoon, Penny's wedding dress now secured and her searching now over.
The bridesmaid dresses were an easy pick for Penny, she was never one for gaudy shows, so she went to a couple of woman's stores and just picked a nice looking slightly above knee length dress at a store who had enough of the design on hand to fit all her bridesmaids. Lindsey even commenting that she could wear the dress again to go out to dinner, it was so nice. That evening turned out being the same as Penny returned home that night, she immediately went looking for Leonard as soon as she walked in the door and found him in the living room on his laptop working again. Again she immediately went to him and he had to chuckle at how adorable she was when she practically sat on his laptop getting in his lap, as she had done that day before.
So even with so much accomplished that week, Friday morning found Penny, her sister and mother at an Omaha bakery, that specialized in wedding cakes, to look and taste samples of cake. That morning however had been harder to move Penny as she had to be coaxed out of the house, her telling her mom and sister that they should wait till after lunch, when Leonard could come. Only by her sisters insistence that waiting would make them get done late and would make it late for her to get home, were they able to pry Penny away from her wanting Leonard to come along. Consequently at the bakery Penny was quickly distracted again, thinking of Leonard and missing him, like before when she had been dress shopping. This made the looking for the cake, for all of them, a long difficult process as she tried to faint interest where none was present. Her sister and mom, who had been leading her around the last couple of days were now starting to get on her nerves a little, compounded with her not liking being away from Leonard, for the third day in a row, was now taking a toll on her fragile happiness.
The visit to the bakery also created another problem for Penny, in that soon after her arrival another couple showed up to pick out their cake and Penny couldn't stop taking glances at them as they touched, whispered, and kissed each other. Having to witness those personal displays of affection, only made her miss Leonard more and being away from her fiancé, again all day, now started to weigh on her. It wasn't that she was going to go into a mental breakdown, it was just that seeing the other couple made her question leaving without him again as she now wished he was there with her. It also meant that everything else seemed even less important to her and she immediately became disinterested in what they were suppose to be doing, making her hesitant about picking anything. It was of course her mother who noticed her daughter's melancholy and it was her mother that noticed her looks at the other couple, making it was obvious to Meryl, by the way Penny acted that morning, what was the reason for Penny's mood. Her disinterest for selecting a cake and her seemingly indecision as she tried the samples, meant there was only one thing for Meryl to do, so she made an excuse to use the restroom and once there, called Wyatt to tell him what she wanted him to do.
Since Penny seemed to be having trouble liking anything in the store, the three women kept looking at cakes in the sample book while the bakery staff moved on to help the other couple. So in didn't seem that long that another hour passed and as the other couple finished up their order, the noise from the little bell on the door made everyone look up as a new customer entered the bakery, Penny letting out a little gasp as she saw who it was. Even though she tried to control herself from just running to him, she met Leonard about half way to her, to hug then kiss him, the feeling of him holding her immediately making her feel better. Her previous glum mood had dissolved almost instantly, and the other couple smiled at Penny being held by Leonard as they exited the store.
Leonard, who knew why he needed to come to the bakery, sat with Penny, holding her hand in her lap while his other hand gently rubbed her lower back. Penny, who would look at him and smile, now was able to concentrate on cake samples, feeding little pieces without frosting to Leonard to get his opinion on some of the better ones she tasted. It was less that an hour later that they left the bakery, their order complete, and headed back towards home, it had actually been a good week for the wedding and they had gotten a lot done. Penny was happy on the drive home that afternoon, she would not have to look for Leonard when she got home that night, because she was pressed into his side already as they talked and cuddled all the way home.
However, it was later that night, when Leonard and Penny were getting ready for bed, that Penny felt she needed to talk to him about the week. So stopping what she was doing, she took a big breath and just stared at Leonard, him quickly stopping what he was doing to look back at her, a confused expression on his face. "Honey is there something wrong."
Penny didn't know whether to shake her head 'NO' or not, so she didn't, just coming out with her feelings for that day. "I'm sorry Sweetie."
Leonard was insecure so his go to feeling, when something was happening and he had no idea of what to expect, was fear. "Sorry about what?" he almost whispered out. Penny looked down at the floor, which only made Leonard more nervous, he had been feeling things were going great between them, at least he thought they were till now. So this situation was almost too much for him, "Please Penny, tell me what's wrong."
The pleading tone in Leonard's voice made Penny look up at him instantly, she saw the fear in his eyes, and she almost burst out in tears as she realized she was somehow hurting him at that moment. She knew she had to fix this quickly, "I love you Leonard, I want to be with you forever, I will be with you forever or as long as you want me." she immediately responded. She then watched as the fear left his eyes to followed by confusion again, she now also knew she wasn't doing this right and just needed to come out with what she was going to say.
"I love you too and want to be with you forever too. But I don't understand what you are sorry about." a still confused Leonard asked.
Penny just started to talk, "I'm sorry for the way I acted the last few days, the needy girl I was with you and how it got so bad that you had to come to the bakery today."
Leonard just looked at her, then walked up to her and lead her to the bed to sit, she just followed him offering no resistance. He then looked at her for a few seconds before he spoke. "You know how I was raised?" Penny nodded, "Well I never felt needed or actually wanted by my family. My sister was the only one who seemed to care about how I felt, but even then my mom's influence on her, made that very limited."
"I'm so sorry Leonard." Penny offered in sympathy.
"Penny I don't know if I will ever be able to explain how much I love you. You're just perfect, the person I've always hoped in dreams I would meet and I don't know if I will ever completely understand why you even want to be with me, but I'm so happy you do." Penny swallowed, she was about on the verge of tears. "I'm ashamed to admit that you needing me makes me feel good about myself, that someone like you would ever need someone like me. Please believe me that I never wanted anything like this to happen to you and I would do everything I could to change things if I could, but you needing me to help you through this is something I treasure and please don't feel sorry about it."
Penny stared at his eyes, breathing heavy, her emotions trying to take complete control of her and she knew if they did she would be a sobbing mess. "Leonard, how can you love me so much?" her voice cracking as she said it.
"I don't know how to explain it, I just do, and I know I will love you forever." Leonard just stared back at her.
"Oh Leonard…." there was no holding back as the tears now flowed freely.
Leonard took her into his arms as she cried on his shoulder for about a minute, finally coming to halt and nuzzling herself closer to him. "I love you Leonard." he heard her whisper.
Leonard smiled. "Are we okay then?"
Penny kissed his neck, "More than okay, my love."
Penny and Leonard went to bed that night, their bodies woven together tighter than they had ever fallen asleep before. Their lips were actually against parts of each other's bodies as they basically gave each other small kisses while falling asleep. The next day they both woke up a little cramped because they stayed that way all night, but neither of them actually minded, because it was like a new chapter of their life had begun. Penny could now really see everything getting only better, because with Leonard she knew there was nothing in life she couldn't handle when he was by her side.