Penny would never tell Sheldon that she's just at the boy's apartment so she doesn't have to have her own AC on. She was trying to keep her power bill as low as possible.

"Mom?"

Penny dropped the magazine she was reading and stood up quickly from Sheldon's spot to look around, the voice had been young, but not that young.

"Hello?" She said to the empty apartment, the boys were at work.

Silence was the only answer she received. For good measure she checked the apartment, even going as far as entering Sheldon's room, but nothing was out of the ordinary. She did end up closing the window, maybe it came from another apartment she thought, even tho she could swear it had come from right next to her.

Warily looking around, she grabbed her magazine again before taking a seat, but this time on her own spot. Maybe it was something Sheldon had done to keep her from sitting in his spot while he was gone…yeah, it sounded like something he would do.

She went back to reading and soon forgot about the strange incident.

"Drat! I was so close."

"I don't know Connie. Maybe we shouldn't be messing around with your dad's stuff."

"C'mon Lenny, I want to meet my mom. I know dad does too. He told your dad that he thought he had cracked the right frequency."

"...I don't know…what if we get grounded? What if our dads forbid us from watching the season finale of Mistborn?"

Connie gasped. "They wouldn't!...right?"

"I don't want to find out."

"Drat…why must you always be the voice of reason?"

"Dad says it runs in the family."

"No one runs in your family."

"...we have asthma…" Leonard Jr deadpanned in a very Amy way.

"Touché."

The tweens made sure to leave no traces of their presence before locking Sheldon's lab door./p

Penny was relaxing in her bathtub, making sure not to jostle her arm too much. The cast had been removed that day and while the pain was no longer unbearable, it was still very present and she only had over the counter stuff to deal with it.

The warm water made her muscles relax and it made her sleepy.

"Mom?"

Her eyes immediately opened and she looked around her small bathroom. It was the same voice she had heard all those months ago. Strangely enough, she wasn't scared…even though she was in a very vulnerable position.

"Hello?" She asked out loud.

"Mom!" This time the voice replied.

"Uhhh…wrong number?"

"..." A static buzz that reminded her of insects was the only reply and she got the impression that the person on the other end was seriously considering her reply. "Is this Penny Cooper?" Finally came through.

"Ummm…no? I'm Penny Quinn."

"Do you know a Sheldon CoopAGH!" The voice couldn't finish her question.

"Hello? Are you there?" Penny asked the air.

"Hello. Please ignore whatever my daughter might have said to you. Pretend this conversation never happened and carry on as you normally would…except, please remember that driving at night is dangerous. Farewell." The voice of an older man replaced the young girl's voice and the man sounded a lot like an older version of Sheldon. Well, not exactly, when he told her about driving at night there was a lot of emotion behind it that she'd only heard Sheldon use when it came to his precious Meemaw.

"Hello?" She asked the air but even the slight buzzing was gone.

Penny decided that perhaps it was time to get out of the bath and go talk to Sheldon about what she just experienced.

It was fracking weird.

Connie kept rubbing at her earlobe while her dad glared at her and at Lenny.

"Why would you think using my machine was a good idea?" Her dad was eerily calm which made her realize he was truly angry.

"I…just wanted to talk to mom…" Connie was never good at lying so she didn't even try.

Leonard grabbed her hand and adjusted his glasses. He was terrified of her dad on a good day so she can't even imagine what he's feeling right now. But he was still doing his best to stand by her side.

"You…" Her dad trailed off. "I see. I suppose this is a result of my actions."

"You never talk about her." Connie pushed.

Her dad nodded and pulled out his phone, two presses and he was talking to Lenny's mom. "Amy. Could you please arrange for Leonard to come pick up your son? He and Constance were playing in my lab and using machinery beyond their ken. Thank you."

"Dad, they live next door, couldn't you…" She trailed off at seeing her father's calm face. This was new, when her dad was angry, he would be emotional and sort of funny. There was nothing funny about his reaction now.

A knock at their front door made her and Lenny jump.

"You. Stay." Her dad told her.

Lenny squeezed her hand twice before letting go and following her dad. Connie had the same hearing as her dad but even with it she could only make out a couple of words.

"...lab…punishment…finale…Mistborn…agreed."

"Drat." Connie whispered. It was serious.

Her dad returned soon and sat at his desk, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and started talking.

"Your mother was…I don't believe that I have the correct skills to describe her in a way that will do her memory justice. She was the brightest person I had ever met, until you." He gave her a small smile which turned wobbly and watery almost right away. "Losing your mother was…" Her dad struggled to continue.

Connie approached him and sat in his lap, she hugged him and buried her face in his chest. She wanted to cry as well. Her dad hugged her back and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Losing your mother was never a possibility in my mind." His chest rumbled against her face. "A drunk driver took her instantly from this world while he came out unscathed. It was utter madness."

"I remember her singing to me." Connie said against his chest. The only memory she had of her mother.

She felt her dad nod. "Penny loved singing, even if it wasn't her forte."

And just like that, the floodgates were open.

Her dad told her all about her mother, moving to 4B, helping her get her TV back, Halloween, auditions, her shower incident, small chocolates, football games, dancing, Halo, Chinese food, laundry night, Soft Kitty and more. For the first time Connie was able to get a clearer image of who her mother had been, of course she had pictures and videos of her, but she needed to listen to this from her father.

He made her mother sound like she was the sun itself.

"We went on a date after your uncle Leonard dared us. Neither of us wanted to back down from it so we proceeded to go. And then we went to a second date, and then a third. Before we knew it, we were married and expecting you." Her dad smiled softly at her. Connie is jealous of him, he has an eidetic memory so he'll always have all memories of her mom fresh in his mind.

That's why Connie clings desperately to the memory of her mother singing to her. It's the last memory she'll ever have of her own mom.

"Perhaps I should have never built this." Her dad points to the machine. "It allows us glimpses into other universes, but our actions can disrupt the flow of those other universes. A butterfly effect." He shakes his head. "I'll have to think further on this."

"I just wanted to see her…"

"I know…I think I would have done the same. Except I would not have gotten caught." His Texas twang strong at the end.

"Can you tell me more about mom?"

Her dad did just that. He spent the rest of the night telling her about her mom, her love for Radiohead, how she loved quesadillas but always burned them, he even told her about what type of characters her mom loved playing in MMORPGs.

Connie was pretty happy and hoped that she hadn't disrupted that other mom's life in the universe she contacted.

Oh, and she was forbidden from watching the season finale of Mistborn. Lenny too, he cried.

"C'mon Moonpie, date me up if you dare."

"Penny, just because you might be the only person that has made contact with an alternate universe does not mean that I will 'go easy on you'"

"Huh…so you're going to go hard at me?"

"I will most certainly wil-PENNY!"

Penny laughed without a care.