Penny had naively thought that after her role in Scrubs it would be slightly easier to find her next role but Thanksgiving came and went without another role materializing for her.

She's trying really hard not to let it get to her, but it's really hard. Last month she auditioned for a sitcom and Penny really thought she had nailed it, but no callback. Laura had already told her that the rough part would never end, you would always wonder about what you could have done differently or better. The secret was in not stopping, not letting yourself stop trying.

There was always the next role.

Laura had also suggested that Penny hire an agent but for some reason she wasn't fully aware of, Penny resisted the idea.

"Fred. You can untap your Lob-"

"Sorry! Sorry, got it, almost forgot."

"It's rude to interrupt." Sheldon saw Fred impish smile and could feel his eye twitch in annoyance, ever since they became friends Fred had taken upon himself to 'tease' Sheldon. Part of being friends. Usually he would only allow Penny to have that privilege, but Fred had an annoying way of being endearing.

"I untap my Lobber Crew due to casting-"

Their opponents could already see their end approaching and rather than face the humiliation of dying by a barrage of 1 damage pings, they simply scooped.

"GG guys, better luck next time." It was amazing how Fred could easily disarm people with a smile, the Indian man in front of him seemed to have even blushed due to it.

Their opponents grumbled a response but Sheldon didn't care enough to pay attention to it, he was carefully packing his deck and ensuring his cards remained in an ideal condition.

"Fred, Sheldon, let's go!" Every head turned to look at the door, including Sheldon and Fred. Penny and Kelly stood there. "We're running late for the movie." Penny waved in apology to Summer whose turn it was to man the counter.

"We just finished our game and we're ready to go."

"Chop chop Moonpie."

Sheldon narrowed his eyes at Penny who only smiled wider. He said nothing, he'd get even later.

"Dude, stop hitting me." Raj rubbed at his shoulder.

"The blonde, the blonde!"

"What blonde?" Even though they had met not too long ago, Raj liked Howard quite a lot, but he could be way too excitable at times.

"The girl!" Howard gestured towards the door. "Scrubs!"

"Dude, breathe."

"I could swear that's the girl that appeared in Scrubs!"

"...Okay?..."

"Ah, forget it. Leonard would have gotten it."

"Is this Leonard your imaginary friend?"

"He's not…You know, you sound like my mother."

"Low blow dude."

"Let's go find another game before we hit the clubs."

"Nothing like Magic to prepare you for clubbing."

"Howard, c'mon, let's go. I'm tired."

"I was so close to getting her number!"

"You were close to getting a kick in your giblets."

"Look, 10 0'clock, two girls. You take the chubb-nevermind, they have boyfriends."

Raj shook his head in disbelief. "Dude, Monday it's my first day. I would rather not have to spend my weekend in jail."

"Okay, okay, but I'm only going along with this because I'm your friend and not because we couldn't score anything."

"Whatever dude."

"Nervous about your first day?" Howard at least started moving towards the entrance and Raj followed him.

"A little bit. I heard Dr Cooper is quite intimidating."

"Who?"

"Dude! You're kidding!"

"Woah woah, I'm not. Don't squeeze my arms so hard, I need to drive us home." Howard rubbed at his biceps.

"Sorry, but dude! Sheldon Cooper is the one that wrote that paper about string theory and dark matter." Unfortunately the only response Raj got was Howard's blank face. "You need to get out of your Engineering cave more often. You've been working at Caltech for almost a year and you've never heard or seen Dr Cooper?"

"Hey, unless Dr Cooper is a hot chick, I don't really care."

"Is that the only reason you like Lynn Conway?"

"That woman is a national treasure and Caltech would be lucky to have her."

"Well, that's Dr Cooper for the Physics world."

"I know you like your old and crusty old men but-"

"Dude!" Raj laughed "Dr Cooper is younger than you!"

"Wait, what?"

"Take us to McDonalds first and I'll tell you what I know."

"Weren't you tired?"

"Never too tired for a cheeseburger."

"Hey Howard, I just got my mount to-"

"Shut up Lenny! I got some fricking news for you! I SAID FRICKING, MOM!"

"Oh, okay?"

"Guess who we saw at the game store last Friday?"

"We?"

"Raj and I, remember Raj?"

"Is he-"

"No he's not imaginary. We saw that blonde chick from Scrubs!"

"No way! Are you serious?!"

"As serious as my mom's blood sugar levels."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Too real?"

"Yeah."

"My bad. But yeah, man, she's even hotter in person."

"What was she doing in the game store though? That doesn't sound like a thing a girl would do."

"Oh, she was picking up her boyfriend, this redhead guy that kicked our asses at Magic. Have you ever watched Conan? This guy looked just like him and he was just as charismatic. I wanted to hate him, but I just couldn't. They make the perfect couple."

"Aw man, she has a boyfriend?" Leonard had the whine down to an art.

"Buddy, they always have a boyfriend."

"When is it going to be our turn huh? Don't we deserve a hot girlfriend as well?"

"I am actively working on that Bud, soon enough you'll see me with a hot chick hanging from my arm."

"So is your mom okay with me staying until I find a place?"

"Sure is Bud. Plan is still the same?"

"Yeah, I'll apply to Caltech and hopefully be able to find a place of my own soon after."

"Speaking of, does the name Sheldon Cooper mean anything to you?"

"THE Sheldon Cooper? You're joking right? I'm a Physicist Howard, you can't take a class without Dr Cooper's name somehow showing up."

"Oh wow, okay, I thought Raj was exaggerating about this guy."

"He's the reason I'm applying to Caltech. This guy is going to change the world Howard."

"He can't be all that-"

"Sheldon Cooper was the one that solved the issue of rocket retro-propulsion and reentry to earth. He was eleven."

"...holy fuck…" Howard could hear his mom yelling at him for cursing, but he was too shocked to yell back.

"Yeah. He's THAT good."

"You suck Sheldon."

Her Moonpie glared at Fred. Fred and Kelly have been helping them practice how to dance and while Sheldon was usually a fast learner at everything he did, it looked like dancing was his one weakness.

"Don't listen to him Moonpie, he's just jealous because Kelly actually can wear heels to dance with you and still look up and not look down like with him." Penny pulled Sheldon's face to make him focus on the dancing again.

"Ouch, okay. No more teasing Sheldon." Fred acted as if someone had shot him after Kelly swatted at his arm. "You guys are still going to Kelly's graduation right?"

"Yes. Our flight is scheduled for the day after her graduation, which should give us more than enough time to assist with the wedding preparations." Sheldon talked as if they weren't in the middle of dancing.

"Yep. We couldn't miss it." Sheldon had said he didn't dance but maybe they could take dance lessons together, Penny wanted to learn how to Salsa. "And you guys already have your tickets right?"

Kelly answered happily "Yep. We were able to get some pretty cheap tickets thanks to Fred's mom. We'll fly out on the 22nd and then come back on the 27th. Leave you guys to your Honeymoon."

Sheldon froze and Penny almost went tumbling. "Penny! A Honeymoon! We haven't planned it!"

"What are you talking about? We're going to Texas, doesn't that count as a Honeymoon?"

"Oh. I see."

"Nonononononononononononononono. NO!" Kelly was shaking her head at them and raised her voice at the end. "What do you mean that's your Honeymoon? There's no way you're spending your first night as a married couple in your Mom's house" She pointed to Sheldon.

"No, of course not." Sheldon looks offended. Kelly looks relieved until he talks again. "It would be Meemaw's house."

Penny wants to laugh at Kelly's expression.

"That's it, neither of you can be trusted with this. Penny, may I have your phone for a moment please?" Kelly extends her hand.

"What for?"

"I need to speak to someone with common sense and Missy seems to be the only option."

Turns out that Missy was also scandalized about Penny and Sheldon not having made any actual Honeymoon plans, after much back and forth and several calls later, Sheldon and Penny have a 4 days and 3 nights stay at the Grand Galvez Hotel…In Galveston, a 5 minute drive away from Meemaw's house. Sheldon grumbles about it until Penny points out they can have sex and not worry about his family bursting in unannounced.

Penny is reading a script. She's got the option to audition for an upcoming sitcom, 'How I met your mother' is a weird title but the script is golden.

She's so focused on it that when her phone rings, she doesn't check the caller ID before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey Pen." Penny freezes at hearing the voice. Frowns in disbelief and takes a look at the phone screen 'Dad'.

"Heeeeeeey dad." This feels weird, it brings back all sorts of feelings. "Uh, how are you?" This is awkward, this is so awkward.

"We're okay. So, uh, listen. We saw you on that doctor's show."

Penny can feel her throat close, the script now forgotten on her lap. "Oh." She tries to say more but it won't come out.

"Yeah."

An awkward silence fills the static of the call. Her dad is the first to speak.

"I just wanted to call you. To congratulate you, that is."

"Thanks." Penny hates the warmth that fills her chest at her father's words. "Dad." She adds hastily.

"Uh, also, your mother says hi."

Penny scoffs "No she doesn't."

"...Yeah…" No point trying to deny it. "Anyway, I'm proud of you slugger."

Penny has to close her eyes, tears sting at her eyes hearing her father use her nickname again. "Thank you Dad." She's trying to keep herself under control but her dad must be able to hear Penny starting to break.

"I'm sorry." His own voice breaks. "I'm so sorry." And for the first time in her life, Penny hears her father cry.

"Daddy." Penny says it in the same voice she did when she was five.

Her father gasps, she can hear him trying to get himself back under control. "I love you slugger." He manages to say and Penny feels something inside of her dislodge, a weight she didn't know was there is suddenly gone.

Slowly, painfully, they start talking about things they kept inside for far too long. Things that shouldn't have been pushed to the side. Recriminations and apologies are now on the table, unable and unwilling to be ignored further.

Things are not okay, they're both too bruised for things to be okay…but Penny can see a future where they're okay, eventually.

"Dad, I'm getting married."

"Ah…"

"Do you think, you could mak-"

"I'll make it." Her dad doesn't hesitate. "I'll make it." He repeats it.

"Uh, mom…" Penny is unsure on how to finish the sentence.

"I don't think she will be able to make it."

"Yeah."

Neither mentions that Penny hasn't told him the date yet.

Plans are quickly made and her father promises to be there once again. After the call with her father, Penny has to take a shower. She knows that it's silly, but as she's drying herself she feels so much lighter.

Now to call Missy to make some changes to the wedding.

Kelly's graduation is so loud.

Her family from Georgia wouldn't miss her graduation and once her name is called it's like a stampede happened, there's whistling, clapping, yelling and she's pretty sure they're stamping their feet.

Kelly looks proud as heck.

Fred and Penny join in making noise, and even Sheldon claps a little more enthusiastically while cringing all the while.

They all go have lunch with Kelly's family and Fred ends up proposing in the middle of lunch much to the delight of everyone present.

As soon as the plane lands in Texas, Penny feels at ease.

This place holds so many great memories and the family she didn't know she needed. Meemaw and Mrs Cooper have been more of a mother figure than her own flesh and blood. Not to mention that she actually feels loved.

She's the one driving to Galveston this time. She sings along with David Bowie's 'Starman' and even Sheldon is tapping his finger to the rhythm.

Penny loves the view as they drive down I-45, it's magical in a way she would have a hard time explaining to anyone else. Life is good.

They'll be staying with Meemaw again right up to the wedding and then it's off to the Hotel and then back to Meemaw's house. Maybe down the line, when Penny has a steadier role they could go on a second Honeymoon.

Meemaw's house soon comes into view and Penny loves the feeling of home it brings her. "Ready for a nap Moonpie?"

Sheldon yawns. "Perhaps we could have lunch first."

Penny nods and tries to stifle her own yawn. "Hopefully your mom made pancakes."

Sheldon brightens. "That would be ideal."

Sadly Penny doesn't get her wish, when they enter Mrs Cooper kitchen she's prepared a breakfast casserole, and while it looks super good, Penny mourns for the pancakes that weren't.

Mrs Cooper crushes Penny in a hug and she's not sure why but she can feel tears start to gather, Penny hugs her back just as fiercely.

"Welcome home darlin'." Ah this is why. She's tearing up because this is home.

Meemaw hugs her even harder and repeats the words. Penny doesn't think she'll ever get tired of hearing that "Welcome home." Just two words and yet they hold so much.

Sheldon asks about Missy, but she's with Jonah and Shane, they'll come to Mrs Cooper's house for dinner, Meemaw tells them.

The casserole is amazing and Penny regrets thinking it wasn't as good as pancakes. Mrs Cooper is a magician when it comes to cooking, this is the last time Penny underestimates her.

The alarm clock pulls her out of her great sleep.

Penny doesn't know why but napping after a flight just feels really good, she wipes her mouth and hopes Sheldon doesn't notice the wet spot on his jacket.

Squinting at the alarm clock shows that it's still early for dinner. Sheldon looks tired still, but he still sits up on the bed.

"Come back to bed Moonpie, I'm tired." Penny mumbles as she plants her face in the warm spot left by Sheldon.

"If we sleep for longer than we already have, our circadian rhythms will be affected." He sounds way too reasonable for having just woken up a moment ago.

"Don't wanna."

"Missy mentioned in one of her emails that a new McDonalds recently opened up a couple of blocks away."

"...I guess I could go for a McNugget…"

"A single McNugget?"

"...because of that, you're driving."

They eat their McNuggets in the car, Sheldon doesn't want his mother to find out.

"Are you nervous Moonpie? About the wedding I mean." Penny adds that last part, otherwise Sheldon might take it too literally.

He had just dipped his nugget in the BBQ sauce, stopped and faced her. "No. If I hadn't been a hundred percent sure, I would not have proposed."

Penny snorts, how could she forget, her Moonpie was the romantic between them. Sarcasm.

"I know Shelly, but, you know…" Penny looks down and pretends to be interested in dipping her nugget. "Maybe there's someone better for you out there." She has to close her eyes, shame creeps up her neck until she can feel her face flaming.

"Penny." Sheldon's voice is unusually serious. But Penny can still feel the shame burning itself on her skin and she refuses to look up at him. "Penny." He repeats, but this time it is softer, warmer.

Against her better judgment she opens her eyes and is mortified at her blurry vision, on top of everything she was about to cry. 'Stupid, stupid, stupi-'

Sheldon's hand on her cheek stops her internal tirade. Carefully, his thumb moves back and forth on her cheek, it makes her close her eyes again and lean into his hand.

"Penny."

"Sheldon." She still has her eyes closed and shame still burns at the edges of her consciousness. Her voice is heavy with too many emotions.

"I've been physically attracted to people before. Some of my baser urges that I seem unable to rid myself of. However, not once did I ever feel the desire to share my life with anyone." Sheldon's voice is still soft, for anyone else it might seem like he is just speaking normally. But Penny knows him, she can hear the emotions in his tone.

"I found the idea of romantic relationships baffling and nonsensical. Until I met you." Penny finally opens her eyes, she blinks quickly to try and clear her vision. Her hand covers his, still on her cheek.

"I didn't expect…You." Sheldon says it in a way that she knows he's having a hard time putting into words. "You accepted me as I am. Offered your friendship and you were (and still are) never intimidated by my work or what I do. Your presence pushed me to do more, to be more. I wanted you to look at me." A shy smile grows on his face. "I wanted you to look at me, the same way you're looking at me right now."

Penny smiles at him and her own hand goes to caress his face.

"I love you Penny."

"I love you too Sheldon."

Sheldon's voice grows serious again. "There is no one better than you to stand by my side. Penny, I subscribe to the "Many Worlds" theory which posits the existence of an infinite number of Sheldons in an infinite number of universes, I assure you that in every single one of them I love you."

Penny can feel heat on her face again, but this time it warms her from the inside out and turns her into goo.

Turns out that Sheldon was the romantic one after all.

That same night, Penny is too wired to go to bed, she has all of these feelings inside of her and if she stays in the same room as Sheldon for a moment longer she's going to jump his bones. Which usually wouldn't be an issue, except that Penny can hear Meemaw and Mrs Cooper out in the backyard.

If Penny can hear them, then they can hear Penny and Sheldon.

Since she's already up, Penny decides to walk downstairs and join them. The night air is crisp and cool, before moving to join the Cooper women at the porch swing, Penny takes a big breath of night air and lets it out slowly.

"Couldn't sleep, Girlie?" Meemaw is nursing a beer.

"Yeah, I thought you wouldn't mind if I joined you."

Meemaw laughs and motions for Penny to sit between them.

"Penny, darlin', what is it? Are you nervous about the wedding?" Mrs Cooper also has a beer.

"No, no, well, yeah. I mean…yeah. I was feeling something but Sheldon reassured me and I'm feeling better now." Penny sits between the Cooper women and this time Meemaw covers her legs with her own blanket. Penny smiles at her.

"Good, good. I would hate to have to dust off my old shotgun." Meemaw jokes…well, Penny hopes it's a joke.

"Darlin', Missy mentioned something about your dad coming to the wedding. Is that right?"

"Oh, yeah. I…don't know if I can say that things are okay between us, but, well, you know, I just…it just felt right to tell him." Penny nods to herself. "Maybe one day we can be okay again."

Mrs Cooper makes a noise in the back of her throat, Penny isn't sure if it's an approving noise or not but the hand on her leg is solid and supportive.

"If your daddy messes up, I'll set him straight. Don't you worry."

Warmth fills her chest. "Thank you Mrs Cooper."

Mrs Cooper smiles but it quickly turns into a frown. "Now, I remember telling you to call me Mary."

"Ah…sorry, it's just-"

Mrs Cooper continues talking, as if Penny hadn't said anything. "But I can see that it's a bit hard for you." Mrs Cooper's arm goes around Penny. "So, how about instead, you call me Momma like Missy."

Penny freezes, but then slowly, allows her head to rest on the solid shoulder beneath her.

"I think I can do that." her voice is choked up with emotion.

"Every day, I give thanks to the Lord for bringing you to us Darlin'. You're exactly what my Snick-ugh." Penny is already crying but she needs to be closer to this woman, to her momma. Penny hugs her suddenly and tightly, making the older woman squawk.

Meemaw laughs at the sound.

It feels weird to say it. Momma. But not bad weird. Her Momma hugs her back and rests her cheek atop Penny's head.

Penny would never get tired of saying this. 'I'm home.'

Kelly and Fred soon come to join them, as well as Tamika and Jack.

Fred and Sheldon pull Jack aside and the forever jock is treated to a crash course on Magic The Gathering. Soon enough Jack is playing against Fred and the both of them are hurling good natured threats and insults at each other, while Sheldon looks approvingly at the cards on the kitchen table.

Tamika looks confused at her boyfriend and Penny doesn't have the heart to tell her that he was just converted to a new religion and service was on Fridays.

Her dad arrives on Christmas Eve, alone, thankfully.

"Penny, Darlin'. Why don't you and Shelly go and check on Meemaw's brisket."

Penny wants to argue, but Sheldon takes her by the hand and they go to Meemaw's house. They check on the brisket and perhaps it takes them 10 minutes total, when they're back, her dad is red eyed and can't look her in the eye.

"Penny, why don't ya show yar dad the backyard?" Meemaw offers, her voice is firm.

She knows it's a setup of some kind but she still does it, they sit on the porch swing and neither says anything for a long while.

"You found some good people."

Penny smiles and nods at her dad, she's proud of this house and the people in it. "I did."

"I'm glad…I'm glad…" Her dad trails off.

"Didn't mom ask why you weren't going to be home for Christmas?"

"Ah, she's spending it with Tim up at the joint. Apparently he found Jesus and he's been doing okay, so they gonna let him have dinner with family."

Penny nods but doesn't say anything, her brother was a stranger so she didn't have an opinion.

"Pen…I'm sorry." Her dad deflates, he always looked so strong, but right now he just looks like a thin and tired old man. "I owe you an explanation."

This was the rest of the conversation they left pending it looked like.

"Tim was always a mess. Ever since he was but a sprout, I could see it. I tried to set him straight, but your mother would just baby him. Maggie was never interested in the farm or anything that could get her dirty. And then you came along…I've always loved you Slugger." A watery smile appears on his face. "You came out to the world swinging. Ever since you learned how to walk you were following me around on the farm, you wanted to learn how to fix the tractor, you played with the animals and you weren't afraid of getting dirty."

Her dad has a faraway look on his face. "You wanted to play all the sports too and I could teach you, we spent hours outside just playing with a football."

Penny remembers it all, as much as she hates to admit it, those are her fondest memories.

"But, I was stupid. I had tricked myself into believing that you were a boy, my boy. So when it became obvious that you weren't one…I rejected you." His voice breaks but he harrumps and doesn't break further. "It was a shitty thing to do to you."

Penny is looking straight at her father. She's trying to make as little noise as possible.

"You…I…" He huffs. "I was selfish. That's the truth of it." One of his hands scratches at his face in frustration before moving up to his hair and then to the back of his head where it scratches him violently before pulling it back down. "I've been a shitty parent. Your mother and I, we…we loved each other at one point. She wanted to be an actress, you know?"

Penny's eyebrows go high on her forehead, she knew her mom resented being married to a farmer but she didn't know this.

Her dad nods as if she had voiced her thoughts. "Yeah, I thought she would grow out of it. I was also a shitty husband…still am."

One of his hands rubs at his mouth, as if he was trying to remove something from it. "Seeing you on that TV show just made it clear. I failed to support you." He looks at her and the pain in his eyes mirrors hers. "I don't deserve it. But I'm glad you gave me a second chance, Slugger."

Penny reaches out and grabs his hand.

"A second chance sounds good." She smiles at her dad. His hand squeezes hers and Penny remembers they were in this exact same position when she was only nine and struggling with understanding why the vet had to put down that old horse.

"I know I missed a lot, but this boy you're marrying. Tell me about him."

Penny does, she talks about Sheldon and how he encouraged her to be better just by being himself. How he never doubted that she could make it. She talked and talked and then talked some more, until the day grew dark and Meemaw called them in to have dinner.

It might take years for them to have a normal relationship, and they might fail. But they were going to try. Penny hoped that her dad would stay in her life from now on.

Many, many years down the line, she hopes that her children will meet their grandpa.

Penny is ready to get married.

Last night they all had a nice family dinner and Penny was fine. She was joking around with Meemaw, playing with Ceecee, holding Sheldon's hand and bringing her father into this little slice of heaven that was the Cooper house.

Then this morning Missy did her makeup, helped her get dressed and all around made sure that Penny looked stunning. Sheldon and Georgie were in charge of making sure that everything was in place at both the church and the hall which meant that he still hadn't seen Penny in her full bride glory.

Penny gets a little sentimental when Meemaw gives her a beautiful brooch to wear, it's handcrafted and depicts three tulips, red, yellow and white.

"I made this Girlie. When Charlie and I got married, we didn't have a lot of money." Meemaw's voice is wistful. "For our wedding day we simply wore our Sunday's best, except for two brooches, that one you're holding. I made it for him to wear on that day. The other one, my momma made it for me, that one went to Missy." Meemaw's hand is soft on her cheek. "One for each of my girls."

Penny can't stop the tears, she crushes Meemaw in a hug and weeps on her chest.

"There, there. Meemaw is here." Meemaw pats her in the back.

Missy is not impressed at having to redo her makeup but Penny doesn't miss that her own makeup looks fresh. Meemaw was the only one that didn't need her makeup redone.

In what feels like too little time, Penny is taken to the church where everyone is already waiting. Her dad fixes up real good in his tux and he looks nervous, keeps looking at his shoes and practicing walking. The sight of it makes her relax and even laugh a little.

Mrs Coope-No. Her Momma comes to give her a hug and a kiss before she has to walk down the aisle. "Penny. Darlin' you look gorgeous." Before returning to her place she gives her dad a pointed look and her dad simply nods.

"Ready Slugger?"

A deep breath "Ready."

At some unseen cue the double doors in front of her open up and Penny is facing a church full of friends and family, but the moment she lands eyes on Sheldon, the rest disappears.

Sheldon is standing tall in his custom-made tux, it makes him look handsome but he still keeps that boyish charm of his. His eyes are focused on her, she's seen that face before, it's the face he makes when he's had a breakthrough, when nothing else matters but the formula in front of him, except, there's no formula this time.

It's just her, Penny.

Ceecee is the flower girl and she's doing a fantastic job, except Penny wishes that she could just run up at the altar, kiss Sheldon and drag him back to their hotel room.

She's halfway through when Sheldon starts tapping his feet and she can't help but smile, it looked like her Moonpie had the same idea as her.

Her dad tears up once he has to hand her to Sheldon, she hugs him and whispers a 'Thank you.' which breaks him and Meemaw has to drag him back to his seat because he can't see through his tears.

She can hear Jonah snapping picture after picture and makes a mental note to ask if he was able to capture a good shot of her and her dad.

When she's finally next to Sheldon, she's surprised to see Fred occupying the best man spot, he looks pretty damn proud and she guesses that some of that hero worship is still there.

"Penny. You are breathtaking." Sheldon whispers to her.

"You also clean up nicely Moonpie." She teases him.

The rest of the ceremony goes without a hitch, Penny refused to have them write their own vows. She was barely holding on as it was and didn't want to become a crying mess (again) right in the middle of her wedding. Corny was fine for movies and shows, but she wanted this to be an amazing memory they could look back on and not have to see a picture of Penny looking like a racoon.

"You may kiss the bride."

And just like that, she was now Penny Cooper. She never really had a great attachment to her last name, everywhere she went, she was just Penny. Maybe it's because she never felt any attachment to it that now that she's Penny Cooper, it feels right. A piece of a puzzle finally fitting it.

Penny Cooper. She liked the sound of that.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, family and friends, it is my pleasure to present, for the first time anywhere, Dr. And Mrs. COOPER!"

Fred has a way with words and he's able to hype up their entrance to the hall.

Penny is thankful for her family, thanks to Meemaw, Momma and Missy, Sheldon and her are able to enjoy their party without worries. They have their first dance while Jonah snaps away at what feels like five pictures per second.

Fred is a dear and he's able to emcee the entire thing. They need to buy him something nice…maybe get Kelly to finally dress up as a Futurama character.

She's glad that other people are dealing with this party thing. Penny is in no mood to focus on anything else at the moment. She dances with her dad and he cries again, he apologizes again and again, but Penny focuses on the feeling of being in his arms and she feels six again, like when she 'danced' with him, but in reality she was only standing on his shoes as he gently swayed and moved to the music.

And she knows why her dad is crying so much, because this dance feels too much like goodbye.

They will rebuild a new relationship, but they can never recover what was lost. Now she's Penny Cooper, an adult, a married woman that is chasing her 's saying goodbye to his little girl, the one he had rejected for so long. As the dance ends, Penny kisses him on the cheek and whispers "Thank you for being here dad."

She's able to maintain her composure, at least until she's dancing with Sheldon again. He holds her closer and nuzzles the side of her head, a silent acknowledgement that he's there for her. At some point they stop moving with the music and simply stand there holding each other.

"I love you Moonpie." Her voice is shaky.

"I love you Penny." His voice is steady, he's telling her that grass is green. He's telling her that the earth is round. He is stating a fact.

Penny grins up at him and kisses him, he is quick to reciprocate.

Penny flops onto the hotel bed, her feet are killing her and she's dead tired. She had imagined her first night as a married woman having nonstop sex, but she just wants to cuddle with Sheldon and sleep for their entire stay.

Sheldon is not doing much better, he had sat down to remove his shoes but she can see that he's closed his eyes as he tries to not fall face first into the carpet.

Groaning, she sits up next to him and bumps him with her shoulder. "C'mon Moonpie, let's go to sleep."

"I'm trying to remember the last time I felt this exhausted…I am unsuccessful to do so." He is usually so energetic, but now his voice is slow and careful.

Penny snorts "Right there with you Honey." She lets her head fall on his shoulder, the silence of the room makes it easier for Penny to hear his soft breathing, the inhaling and exhaling of air fills her with so much joy that she can't help but smile.

Penny pulls Sheldon down with her onto the mattress, their legs are still hanging off the side.

"Penny. We should change." Sheldon still has his eyes closed.

"I'll get up if you get up." Penny closes her eyes.

With a lot of groaning Sheldon sits up and pulls her up with him. They finally change out of their stuffy clothing and into their regular pajamas, when her head nestles in the crook of his arm Penny is fully gone, asleep in the arms of her husband.

The next morning they go eat breakfast, return to their room and don't come back out until midnight.

McNuggets are the only thing they can find for dinner. They eat them in their car because their hotel room is a mess, they left a couple of windows cracked and Penny made a mental note to tip the maids extra generously.

Way too soon for her liking they go back to Pasadena and Penny decides to finally bite the bullet and get an agent. Laura has been a fantastic help but agents can be magicians and get you auditions you never even thought were possible…according to the internet and Laura herself at least.

She gets Sheldon to help her with the search and after a month they both decide on Paula Rossin. She's got a great reputation and word on the street is that she's a fierce protector of her actors.

Almost immediately it pays off.

Paula is able to nab an audition for Penny, a real audition, it's for a cop show and Penny would audition for the main cast, not a one-off, but the main cast!

The role is for Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Penny studies the script front to back, goes on the internet to see how real cops act…and then realizes the character is an FBI agent, so she changes her approach. She finds out about Susan Roley Malone and Joanne Pierce Misko and reads as much as she can on them.

When the day of the audition comes, Penny is feeling the same butterflies she did whenever she was about to get on the horse for Junior Rodeo.

She's ready to kick ass.

Penny is so wired, she's waiting for the elevator to arrive but it's taking so damn long. It finally arrives and she's dancing from one foot to the other. Sheldon already went to pick up dinner and he's just waiting for her.

The ride up to 4A has never felt this long before, Penny is getting antsy.

Finally after what she swears is an hour, the door opens and she's sprinting to their apartment. Sheldon is in his spot and he's reading something but before he can even greet her, Penny has already tackled him.

"I got a callback! I got a callback!" She's so excited. "The casting director liked my audition so much that they want me back for a live reading!" Her voice is high and excited, she's talking so fast that she wouldn't be surprised if Sheldon didn't actually understand what she was saying.

"Congratulations Penny." He somehow manages to keep a cool tone of voice, he's holding onto her strongly. Penny squees and returns the hug.

She had a good feeling about this.

Fred is the last to graduate from their group.

In what Penny considers the ultimate friend move, Sheldon not only decides to give a speech during the graduation ceremony. Something he's doing for the first time ever, despite being in Caltech since he was 16. But, he is also the one that gives Fred his diploma.

Honestly, they've been friends for over a year now and Fred still has Sheldon on a pedestal. At least Fred teases Sheldon now, but seeing the redhead smile like a child on Christmas morning reveals how much this truly means to him.

Also, Sheldon looks kinda silly up there with so many ribbons on him.

On the other side of the country, Leonard is also graduating. But when his name is called there's only silence, the places dedicated for his family are empty.

His mother had to go and attend a lecture being given by his brother. His dad never even replied to his email. His sister was in Japan.

As he trudges back into his seat, Leonard is only thinking about moving to California. There, things will be different, he will not be the runt of the litter, he won't have to beg for scraps of attention, he'll find a beautiful girl that will make it all better.

Leonard will finally be 'One of the guys.'

They're all in the middle of playing 'Railways of the World' because of course Sheldon had to get this board game as soon as it came out, when Paula's call interrupts them.

"Penny dear. You got it. You're 'JJ'." Penny had set the call on speaker and the response was immediate. Penny lets out a huge sob of relief, she had wanted this part so badly. She was so sure that she rocked it, but the silence after the live reading had been deafening.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kelly and Fred bounce on their seats and holler loudly.

Feeling a hand on her cheek, Penny looks up. Sheldon's smiling face greets her, and the softness and happiness in it makes her start crying in earnest. "Congratulations PennUHG" Sheldon can't continue because she pulled him into a hug.

Yeah, life was good.

Filming is fun, it gives Penny a unique feeling. Sheldon was made for Physics and Penny was made for acting.

Funnily enough, in the show there's a character that reminds her a lot of Sheldon. Dr. Spencer Reid was basically someone taking Sheldon and turning him into an FBI agent. It was a bit scary at times to see how similar the character was to her Moonpie.

Maybe one of the writers was a fan of Sheldon?