Sheldon was not shy in admitting when Penny was right.
And she had certainly been right about the house, it was a fantastic place. As soon as he saw the backyard he ordered a grill and a smoker, it was time to honor his Meemaw in a way she would have approved of, with Brisket.
They've only been here for a week but it's already starting to feel like home, they brought all of their furniture here from the apartment. It didn't fully match the style of the house but each piece of furniture had a story. Their beds were the only things that didn't make the trip, now they just had a Queen.
Sheldon mused on his life since he had met Penny and he had to admit that it was serendipitous. Perhaps his mother and Meemaw were looking after him, or perhaps he was just in the right place at the right time…Shaking his head, Sheldon goes back to cooking dinner. Penny as a topic would always bring out the more philosophical side of him, trying to find an explanation for meeting Penny.
Maybe Sheldon was just that lucky.
Penny loves Sheldon to pieces, but she had to admit that he wasn't exactly the most sociable of persons. At some point it became known that at social events, galas, etc. She was the one that did the talking while Sheldon did the science. As such she wasn't shocked by President Siebert's call to request if he could join them for dinner at their home.
It most likely meant that Sheldon needed to attend a gala and he needed to play nice.
"Dr. Cooper, Penny. Thank you for such a wonderful dinner. I have to admit that this is the first time I've had a Brisket this good."
Sheldon couldn't contain his smug smile but Penny didn't mind, the brisket really was that good.
"I had a particular reason to ask to join you for dinner however." Penny puts on her game face. Sheldon looks as innocent as always. "As you are aware Dr. Cooper, Caltech has been unable to retain a Department Head for our Physics branch. As you know, egos tend to be volatile."
Sheldon tilted his head like a puppy, but his eyes were narrowed. He had already figured out what this was about. Penny schooled her face to be a mask of indifference.
"As the University was considering who we could bring to man the Physics Department, a suggestion came that perhaps we already had the perfect candidate at hand. That's you Dr. Cooper. We would like to offer you the position of Department Head."
Wow, 3 years and they wanted to make him the boss? She knew that Sheldon was good but still, wow. She looked at him and he didn't look excited but he was not freaking out either. Time to give him a push.
"What would his task entail? As you know, Sheldon is a researcher at heart." Sheldon's hand found hers under the table and squeezed in gratitude.
"I understand Penny and trust me, we appreciate and respect his research. As such we would still like for Dr. Cooper to be able to continue with his research. The role of department head would require him to-"
And President Siebert explained in detail what Sheldon would have to do, which honestly sounded like a lot. He would be responsible for developing and implementing policies and practices for the entire department. He would also be the one in charge of teaching curriculums. Monitoring and supervising experiments, managing resources and budgets. It all sounded good…so of course there was a downside.
"On top of that, you would also be responsible for managing, leading and teaching everyone in the department, which yes, would mean managing interpersonal relationships. Resolve conflicts among the staff, motivate them, etc." President Siebert doesn't hide the grimace and she can't blame him. Sheldon is a lot of things, but a social person was not one of them.
"I see. I need to discuss this with Penny before I can reach a decision."
"Of course, of course. I know it's a lot to suddenly think of. But Dr. Cooper, I believe that you could do it. And *ahem* of course, the department head also has preferential access to the labs."
Later that night as they laid in bed, Sheldon asked her point blank for her opinion and if he should take it.
"I don't know Honey. Of course this could be easy with the way your brain works. I'm certain that before Siebert finished talking you already had the next two years planned ahead, with budgets and everything."
"Three years."
"See. There you go. I know that the only thing stopping you is the part about needing to talk to people, train them, manage them." Penny thinks deeply about it. "Maybe this is what you need."
Sheldon looked at her, curious.
"Well…I mean. I know you're happy being a pure researcher, but with this you'd basically have an entire Physics Department under you. You could meet people that are just as passionate as you. You could guide the research. I don't know, I just think that maybe you can do it." Penny kisses his jaw. "I believe in you."
Sheldon nods, lost in thought.
Sheldon was already regretting this. He had accepted the position after thinking it through, it would reduce the amount of time he spent on his research, but he would have access to all labs as a priority which could actually advance his research. It was almost paradoxical.
The thing that made accept however, was the idea that some random no-name scientist with no idea on how Physics worked could come and take over the Department.
Sheldon was already attending the galas, fundraising dinners and so on. Now he would be attending in a different role. Perhaps he would fail, but at least he would try.
Today he was supposed to be introduced to everyone in the Physics department. And it had been all going rather swimmingly, until he and President Siebert went into the experimental physicists labs, there among the rest of the talentless hacks was the person that had tried to steal his mail.
"I'm glad that you were all able to gather here on such short notice. This is the new Department Head. Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Dr Cooper has been with Caltech for three years now and we're looking forward to his contributions in this new role."
Name tag: Leonard Hofstadter. Sheldon very deliberately did not look at him.
"Nice to meet you all." A small twitch on his face.
*Knock, knock*
Sheldon liked his new office quite a bit. A lot more space for whiteboards. Of course someone had to come in and interrupt him just as he was rearranging everything to his taste.
"Enter." Better to deal with this.
"Hi Dr. Cooper." Ah, of course.
"Dr. Hofstadter."
"…"
"…" And to top it all off, this homunculus was wasting his precious time.
"Sir, I just-I mean. I wanted to apologize."
"For what exactly?"
The goblin simply squirmed in place, Sheldon knew he would never admit it.
"If that's all, you can leave."
"I-I'm sorry. I'll show you that you can trust me."
Sheldon didn't reply and just looked at the other man with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll see myself out." And his office was cleared of goblins. Maybe he wasn't such a rational individual, he just knew that this Hofstadter would be trouble.
He hoped to be wrong.
A weary sigh left his body without him intending to. "And he was planning to hand it over to a North Korean Spy?"
The voice on the other side of the phone sounded just as weary and Sheldon had to close his eyes at the answer.
"But instead he blew up the 4th floor of Los Robles?" Sheldon felt like cursing the goblin to death if he hadn't just blown himself up.
"And how do we know what he intended to do?" Maybe it was a misunderstanding.
"He bragged about it?...you're kidding. Who told you?"
"The engineer?"
"Thank you for letting me know. Let the NSA know that we'll cooperate fully and give them everything we have on Hofstadter."
"You too. Thank you Dr. Winkle." Sheldon had made the right choice in Dr. Winkle as Minor Head of the Department.
Hofstadter hadn't even made it to 6 months without an incident, and what an incident. At least he would no longer make them suffer his incompetence.
"Hey Moonpie, everything alright?" Penny's voice finally made him look up.
"No. Remember Hofstadter?"
"Creepy guy that also happened to spill his Starbucks drink over the new laser?"
"That one." Sheldon still couldn't believe how a supposed top of the field experimental scientist could spill a drink on a priceless laser. "He just blew himself up using materials from the University. But to top it all off, it looks like he was planning to hand over those materials to a North Korean Spy."
"You're kidding!"
"Oh I wish I was. The NSA will be a pain to deal with." Sheldon rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And you haven't heard the worst part yet. He blew up the 4th floor of Los Robles, the entire building is condemned now. They will have to demolish it."
"Aw, that was our first home. It sucks."
"I concur. I have to admit to feeling nostalgic, that's where our relationship changed and grew and now thanks to some no-talent traitor it will be gone forever."
"But we have a new home now and we have each other."
"Indeed." Sheldon leaned in to kiss Penny.
He would have to worry about this tomorrow. For now he would go to bed with Penny in his arms.
Penny felt like a cow. Damn Cooper genes, she was carrying twins and she longed for the days when standing up from a chair didn't make her fart.
"Tsk, Penny. In your state it would be far more ideal for you to request assistance when standing up."
"Sheldon, I can do this on-fart-my own."
She loved Sheldon with all her heart but he was far too neurotic about her pregnancy.
"Yes. I am perfectly aware of that. My point is that you don't have to." He extended a hand "I'm here to help you."
Penny finally gave in "Thank you Moonpie."
"You're welcome Penny."
Just another month of this before the babies were due. Penny was super excited/cranky/tired/nervous/scared.
But she had Sheldon by her side so it didn't feel as daunting.
"Sheldon, did you come up with a name for our baby girl? I already have the name for the boy."
Sheldon nodded "Perhaps we should both say the names at the same time?"
"3, 2, 1."
"Elijah."
"Emma."
"That's a cute name."
"I like it."
So maybe Penny did things a little out of order. Her life hadn't exactly been a traditional one by any means you measured it.
But still, she felt that maybe getting married while your 5 year old twins flanked you counted as pretty out there. And yet, she would not have it any other way.
This was just another Sheldon and Penny thing.
They made their own roads.