The Wolowitz Conclusion

Chapter eight

At some point after the three o'clock feed, Penny had managed to drift off with Kristian curled up on her chest and neither of them woke up until seven. Bernadette had managed to bend Stephanie's arm and let her visit this early, it wasn't normally allowed, but Penny and Stephanie had spent the evening before chatting and Penny had explained there was something important she needed to tell Bernadette.

"morning" Bernadette was a bit of a whirlwind as she came into the room, she was aware that if Stephanie hadn't been there and if Penny wasn't in a private room that this wouldn't be allowed "how are you feeling today?"

"much better" Penny smiled at her best friend trying to hold back the tears that were coming like a tsunami at the back of her eyes "okay, I'm lying"

"are you in pain?" Bernadette asked her obvious concern on her sometimes sharp looking face "do you need anything"

"okay, Bernadette, sit down" Penny sat herself up in the bed and let Kristian latch on to her breast "I spoke to Amy last night and she agrees I need to tell you this as soon as possible

"okay" Bernadette sat down bracing herself for what was to come, she was worried, the way Howard had shut down Lesley and Megan yesterday had been playing on her mind, she knew there was something wrong "Penny, you're scaring me"

"Howard's been having an affair" Penny watched Bernadette's face fall even further, tears welling up in her eyes "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this"

"you're wrong" Bernadette pleaded with her, hoping there was some misunderstanding "you're, you're wrong?"

"I'm not wrong, sweetie" Penny leaned even further forward and put her hand on top of Bernadette's "I saw him"

"when"

"yesterday" Penny ran her hands through her hair "its what made me so angry, that's what caused my stitches to burst"

"with who?" Bernadette's eyes started to sting "and what were they doing when you saw them?"

"that new girl from his office, I think her name is Hannah" Penny took a deep breath, really not wanting to answer the next question "they were having sex, Bernadette, I'm so sorry"

"why?" Bernadette felt like she'd been hit by a bus, winded and in shock she collapsed onto Penny's bed, head in hands, their whole relationship flashed through her mind, so many questions followed it "why would he do this to me, what am I going to tell the kids, what's going to happen?"

"I don't know" Penny tried to be sympathetic with Bernadette, she tried to imagine how she would feel if Leonard had been cheating on her, but then stopped, it was too painful

"did he say anything to you?"

"just that it was a momentary weakness" Penny shrugged "but Hannah said they had slept together every day for a week"

"oh"

"Bernie, I'm so sorry"

"it's… not… your… fault" Bernadette could hardly breathe "thank… you… for… telling… me… I'm… sorry… he… caused… you… to… bleed"

"its okay" Penny smiled "that's not your fault either, and I'm going to be okay"

"your children could have been left without a mother and…"

"Bernadette, please" Penny shook her head, the thought of that was too painful too "stop talking about it, I'm okay, I'm going to be okay, my children still have their mother, and their father, and, hopefully, their auntie Bernadette"

"oh, Penny of course" Bernadette sobbed unsure why Penny said that, maybe Penny thought it would be too painful for her to see her "none of this is your fault"

"and I hope" Penny wiped tears away from her eyes and Bernadette's "Halley and Michael will be allowed to have their auntie Penny and uncle Leonard"

"of course" Bernadette took both of Penny's hands in her own "I don't blame you for any of this, actually, I'm pleased you told me"

"can I ask what you're going to do about Howard?"

"he has to go" Bernadette found some strength in her voice, and Penny heard it too "I'm not going to let him treat me like this"

"Good for you"

It was later in the day when Penny was finally let home from hospital with strict instructions to go home and rest. Stephanie had written Leonard a note giving him four weeks off work to spend waiting on Penny hand and foot, and Penny couldn't wait. As Leonard opened the front door Megan, Elliot and Alice all ran towards her clinging on for dear life. Penny checked her phone, she had finished her conversation with Bernadette with a promise that as soon as she had spoken to Howard Bernadette would text Penny to tell her what happened. There was no text from Bernadette yet, so Penny thought that she hadn't spoken to Howard yet, and being as it was a weekend, she thought this was unusual

Hope all is okay, text me back, Penny xxx

Haven't spoken to him yet, given him all day to tell me, don't worry, not going to cave. Bernadette xxx

What have you been doing today? Penny xxx

Took the kids bowling. Can't believe I'm going to break their hearts. Bernadette xxx

You haven't broken their hearts, Bernie, Howard has. Penny xxx

Bernadette looked down at the last text that Penny had sent and realised, she was right, Bernadette had done nothing wrong, yes her and Howard had been going through a rough patch, but there was absolutely no excuse for Howard cheating on her. Bernadette sat on the sofa and watched Halley and Michael playing with the Lego their father had bought them over the years, at 10 and 11 they would be old enough to remember a time when their family was together and unfortunately, remember the break up. Once the kids were in bed and asleep Bernadette looked at her husband, he didn't know why he hadn't spoken to her about it. Maybe on some level he knew today was their last day as a family, he knew Penny would have told her, he knew she went early to the hospital, he knew she had been crying when she got back. He knew what was about to happen.

"Bernadette, can we talk?" Howard got there before her, which surprised her "I think we need too"

"I know what you're going to say" Bernadette whispered as if she didn't want to say it, fighting back the tears and trying to stay as composed as possible "I know you've been having an affair"

"Penny told you?" Howard asked, not really surprised "I thought she would"

"of course she would" Bernadette answered him, her voice getting a little louder "did you really think she wouldn't"

"not at all" Howard answered, begging silently that nothing catastrophic would happen "I knew she would"

"you should have told me" Bernadette insisted, almost letting her guard down "you should have told me when it first happened"

"it was a momentary lapse" Howard begged "I shouldn't have done it, i…"

"Hannah told Penny you'd done it every day last week" Bernadette pleaded with him "you're not even denying it"

"I'm sorry Bernie" Howard tried to touch her on her neck, knowing this was normally the way to drive her wild, but she batted him away "I…"

"don't touch me" she screamed at him, waking Halley and Michael, causing them to gather at the top of the stairs "don't you ever touch me again"

"Bernadette, please" it finally dawned on him what was happening "we can get over this"

"I don't think we can" Bernadette's shield finally came down and she let all the tears flood out of her "you had sex with another woman, and you nearly killed my best friend"

"that wasn't my fault" Howard rolled his eyes, he knew Penny would try to blame him for that "if she hadn't got so angry…"

"don't even think that, Howard" Bernadette yelled again "Penny was angry with you for what you were doing to me, and she started to bleed, and she needed a blood transfusion"

"I know but…"

"If you hadn't been fucking that girl it wouldn't have happened"

"I didn't know they were coming to see me"

"oh, that changes everything" Bernadette threw her arms in the air adding to the obvious sarcasm in her voice "if you'd have known they were coming you'd have given yesterday a miss?"

"I'm sorry" Howard pleaded "I shouldn't have done it"

"no, you shouldn't" Bernadette agreed with him, "but you're not sorry you fucked that girl, you're just sorry you got caught"

"no, Bernie…"

"GET OUT"

Howard looked at her, disbelief in his eyes, yes he had done wrong, yes he shouldn't have slept with that girl, but surely they could work through this. He hadn't meant to make Penny so ill. He hadn't meant for any of this to happen, he just wanted the closeness back, ideally with Bernadette, but Hannah had been there, right place, right time.

"fine" he shrugged, giving up "I'll be at Raj's if you need me"

"Mommy?" Bernadette looked up at her eleven year old daughter standing at the top of the stairs with her son, hoping she hadn't heard it all "where's Daddy gone?"

"to stay at uncle Raj's" Bernadette answered "come here, you two, we're going to auntie Penny's"