Thank you all for your very kind reviews! I get so excited when I see a notification from my app! Here's another chapter, I hope you like it and please please review if you do! Obvi I don't own anything.
"Elliott, turn that off!" Penny said, as she cleaned the living room while her son watched hockey on the TV, still sweaty from hockey practice but anxious to watch the game. .
"But mommy, it's the NCAA championships!" the seven year old whined as he stared at the game.
"Yes, but your grandmother will be here any minute and she'll judge me for letting you have screen time." Penny said, annoyed and uptight. She was making sure the house was spotless so Beverly would have nothing to say about her and Leonard's housekeeping skills, but mostly she was trying to distract herself from the anxiety about what Beverly might say about her parenting.
"You can handle her, mommy!" Elliott said, still not turning off the TV.
"Go upstairs and take a shower, she's going to judge me for letting you inside the house in those gross clothes." Penny said, taking the remote and shutting off the tv.
"Mom!" Elliott groaned and started to walk upstairs.
"Hey, mister, it's Mommy to you!" Penny yelled as the boy ran up the stairs. She opened her phone and checked Leonard's location and saw that he was on the way home from the airport with Beverly and Lily who he picked up from tennis practice so she could serve as a buffer between her father and grandmother. She realized it would probably be an hour until they arrived home, so she went to check on the guest room. She made sure the bed was perfectly made and that the air conditioning was set to the exact temperature she liked — she was getting flashbacks to living with Sheldon. Elliott entered the guest room in a hoodie from his most recent hockey tournament and basketball shorts, his typical weekend look and asked his mom if she needed any help.
"Oh sweetie that's so nice," She said, running her hand through his post-shower wet hair, "Change your clothes." She turned him toward the door and followed him upstairs to his bedroom.
"Mommy!" He whined, despite his sporty interests and blonde hair, he had his father's tendency to whine.
"You have so many good clothes, you don't need to wear that silly hoodie every day." Penny said, as she opened his drawer and pulled out a polo shirt and jeans for her son.
"I have to wear a polo shirt to school every day, why can't I get a break for the weekend?" Elliott asked, sitting on his bed and tossing his basketball in the air.
"You get a break every weekend, this weekend, Grandma is here and you're going to look presentable." Penny said, and Elliott understood. He got up and pulled out a button up shirt and khaki shorts.
"How's this?" Elliott said, holding up the outfit for his mom.
"Perfect!" She said, as she unbuttoned the shirt and helped him change.
"Are we going out to dinner tonight?" Elliott asked, as Penny buttoned the last button on his shirt.
"Yeah, your dad made a reservation somewhere." Penny said, as she got up and walked down the stairs with her son following her. He was dribbling his basketball behind her when the door opened and Beverly was the first to walk in.
"Grandma!" Elliott said, dropping the basketball and letting it roll down the hall. He went to hug Beverly but she approached him with a handshake, which made Penny roll her eyes.
"Hello Elliott." Beverly said, patting him on the head.
"Mom, Elliott will take you to your room." Leonard said, as Elliott grabbed her suitcases and led her to the guest room. The family followed closely behind.
"Hmm, the bed is made properly. Air is set to 73. There are fresh flowers in the vase. Well done." Beverly said, Leonard silently cheered, making Lily laugh. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, Grandma!" Lily said.
"Well, I think I'll wash up before dinner. Leonard, I trust that you've made reservations somewhere suitable for all of our diets." Beverly said, as Elliott dropped her suitcase next to the bed.
"Yes, we're going to a great new restaurant here in Pasadena." Leonard said, turning around to walk out of the room.
"Wait…" Beverly said, "Will Sheldon be joining us?"
"Yes, the whole family will be joining us." Penny said, shooing the kids out and mouthing "Save yourselves."
"Good, I'm looking forward to seeing him and his children, they must be quite exceptional." Beverly said.
"Yeah, they're great." Penny smiled, "You know, Elliott was just named the best hockey player under 8 in all of Southern California and Lily just won her first 10 and under tennis tournament."
"That is very impressive, I never thought Leonard's children would be athletes, but I suppose they got that from you," Beverly said.
"Thank you?" Penny said, confused about the compliment.
"And Lily just won the spelling bee at her elementary school." Leonard said.
"Don't brag Leonard, it's unbecoming." Beverly said.
"Okay Mother, why don't you wash up and we'll all head to dinner at 6." Leonard said, leaving the room and shutting the door. Penny patted him on the back as they took a deep breath and walked to their bedroom. She could tell that Leonard was already fuming and that they had a long night ahead. When they got back to their room, Leonard threw his jacket angrily on the bed. "Why does she still do this? We have two perfect kids, a house, good jobs, and she still has to find every way she can to criticize us." Penny sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder, sympathizing with his pain.
"How was the drive?" Penny asked.
"It was fine, thank god I had Lily as a buffer." Leonard said, "She luckily had 20 minutes on the school play, answered all of my mother's questions, and demanded that we listen to all ten minutes of All Too Well by Taylor Swift."
"That's my girl." Penny said, laughing. "You don't have to let her get to you, Leonard. She massaged his neck and noticed how tense he was. She knew that things with Beverly were much better than when she first met him and felt that they'd gotten much better right before Penny got pregnant. Bringing grandkids into the mix brought the judgemental parenting book writing, Beverly right back out. She began to kiss his neck, turning him on a little when there was a knock on the door.
"Any person who walks through that door will ruin this moment," Leonard whispered to his wife, making her laugh and stop kissing him. She got up and answered the door, to find Lily freshly showered and in a dress standing with her hairbrush and hair accessories.
"Can you braid my hair, Mommy?" Lily asked with her bottom lip puffed out.
"Of course, Lily bear." Penny said, gesturing for her to sit at the vanity in their bedroom. She began to braid Lily's hair as Leonard sat silently staring at the wall.
"Why's Daddy being weird?" Lily asked, giggling.
"Because, when Grandma comes, he gets a little bit stressed and it's hard for him to process that." Penny explained, finishing up the first braid.
"But Grandma is his mommy!" Lily said, not understanding how anyone could have a strained relationship with a parent.
"That's true, but sometimes some mommies aren't nice to their babies." Penny said, sadly.
"Not you, you're always nice to me and El." Lily said, sighing.
"Thank you, sweetie." Penny said, as she worked on the second braid. Leonard continued to stare at the wall, completely frozen and emotionless. Penny didn't like her children to see either of them when they were down so as soon as she finished the second braid, she told Lily to make sure that Elliott was ready to leave. She walked Lily out and closed the door behind her. Penny walked over to Leonard and wrapped her arms around him. "Where were we?" she asked, as she kissed him gently.
"Penny, I don't need you to do this." Leonard said, remembering the time when Penny used sex to distract him from his mommy issues.
"I want to," Penny said, as she sat in his lap and looked at him.
"She's living in my head right now," Leonard said, "I just hate that she can't just unconditionally love the kids. They're objectively great kids and that's kind of because of me."
"I had nothing to do with it?" Penny asked, giggling.
"Eh, a little I guess." Leonard said, finally seeming a bit lighter. He finally embraced his wife and kissed her back as she sat in his lap. They continued to kiss and things began to heat up. "Wait…" Leonard stopped, as Penny began unzipping his pants, "the kids and…"
"We have sex with the kids in the house all the time." Penny said, looking up at him.
"Yeah, but my mom." Leonard said, whining.
"Leonard, she's on the other side of the house." Penny said, as she kept unzipping.
"I know but she is stealth." Leonard said, "she could be in this room and we wouldn't even know." He said, causing Penny to laugh. Penny understood that Leonard was too anxious to have sex right now, so she just sat with him.
"I really just want to protect the kids from her." Leonard said. It was eating him alive that Lily noticed Leonard's discomfort with his mother being in town. He wanted them to think of her as a perfect grandmother, despite her horrible track record as a mother.
"I know, but you can't protect them from everything, honey." Penny said.
"Well, you did nix my plan to lock Lily in a castle." Leonard joked, making her laugh.
"That was to protect her from boys, not the wicked witch of the west." Penny said, "I really should get dressed for dinner, can you unzip me?" She turned around so he could unzip the dress she was wearing. As he unzipped her, he began to kiss her neck. Suddenly, he heard their bedroom door open.
"Well I'm glad to see you still have a thriving sex life after having children." Beverly said, as Penny faced her in her bra and underwear.
"Mother, can you knock?" Leonard said, whining.
"Ugh the whining again, Penny, how do you put up with it?" Beverly said, standing with her arms crossed in the doorway.
"Get out!" He screamed.
"That is no way to talk to your mother." Beverly said, "And I did, but you were too busy to hear me."
"We were just getting dressed, can you see if the kids are ready to go? It would be a huge help." Penny said, trying to change the subject.
"Dressed, undressed." Beverly said, "That's why I came here, your children are ready and Elliott is screaming at the television watching that silly sport."
"Yeah he's really into hockey, mother. He gets excited about the teams, it's normal." Leonard said.
"Okay, well I'm gonna get dressed." Penny said, turning to face their walk in closet.
"Yeah, me too." Leonard said.
"Oh good, I was worried you were going to wear that outfit to dinner." Beverly said.
"Mother, please get out." Leonard said, "we'll be ready in 5 minutes." Beverly finally turned around and left.
"I never thought my mother would cock block me well into my forties," Leonard said, as he changed into a button up shirt and slacks. Penny put on a more formal dress and they walked down the hallway to the living room where the kids sat waiting with their grandmother.
"Okay is everyone ready?" Penny said, and the kids jumped up and followed their parents to the car. Leonard drove and Beverly sat in the front seat while Penny sat between the kids in the back. They drove to the restaurant where Sheldon and Amy were waiting with Leonard and Marie. They walked in and Beverly was beaming.
"My favorite Leonard!" Beverly said, as she saw Leonard Cooper. Leonard Hofstadter looked down sadly as he told the maitre 'd they had a reservation for 9 people. The waiter sat them down and handed out menus.
"We're just gonna order a bottle of your pinot grigio." Penny said, as the waitress walked away.
"Okay and how many glasses would you like?" The waitress asked.
"Oh it's just for me," Penny said, then looked over at Leonard who looked miserable, "You know what, a glass for my husband too."
"Thank you." Leonard said.
"Your grandma is so smart," Leo said to Elliott as they played tic-tac-toe on the kids' menu, "mine loves Jesus and hugs, yuck!"
"Nana Mary is so awesome, Leo, what are you talking about?" Elliott said. They kept tying in tic-tac-toe and he was getting impatient. They all perused the menu and Sheldon made a big stink about not liking any of the options. His son followed suit, so Amy ordered them both chicken tenders off of the kids' menu.
"Sheldon, how has it been going back to string theory?" Beverly asked him, Leonard was working on the experimental aspects of string theory and Beverly never asked him about that.
"Oh it's been wonderful." Sheldon said, "We're making great strides."
"That is wonderful, Sheldon. I would love to read some of your work soon." She said, as she took a bite of bread. Penny chugged a glass of wine as she watched Leonard grow angrier and angrier.
"You know, Leonard has been helping him on the experimental side." Penny said, holding Leonard's hand.
"We're talking about Sheldon right now." Beverly said, "And young Leonard, what are you working on these days?" Leo perked up when he heard his name and stopped focusing on his tic-tac-toe.
"I just won a chess tournament and Elliott's and my hockey team won the Southern California Championships. Dad is teaching me about physics so we go to his lab before hockey practice and he lectures to me. I find it very interesting." Leo said, which made Elliott roll his eyes. Penny caught her son and didn't know whether to laugh or get mad at him.
"That's very impressive, Leonard." Beverly said to the seven year old. The older Leonard chugged his wine.
"She has never said that to me." Leonard whispered to his wife.
"We're gonna need another bottle of wine." Penny said to the waitress as she passed their table. "Lily, why don't you tell grandma about what you're learning in school."
"Oh grandma we're learning all about California!" Lily said, talking about her fourth grade endeavors.
"Well, that's nice, Lily." Beverly said, "And Marie, I heard you started kindergarten?"
"Yeah." Marie said, and that was all.
"How exciting!" Beverly said.
"I'm kinda bored." Marie said, crossing her arms.
"Well, that must be because you're too smart." Beverly said.
"Nah." Marie said, taking a bite of her mac n cheese.
"Very well." Beverly said, politely. She went back to doting on Sheldon and little Leonard and Penny finished another bottle of wine. Beverly asked Amy a ton of questions about her life, as she judged Penny for all of the drinking. "It is so impressive how you handle raising two exceptional children while working on such fascinating research, you remind me of a young me." Amy smiled, but then saw Penny's sadness in a quick glance.
"You know, Beverly, Penny is also working full time making much more money than I'll ever make, volunteering at the kids' school, and raising Lily and Elliott." Amy said, trying to make Penny feel better. Penny smiled at Amy, but the smile was still filled with sadness.
"Yes, my grandchildren are rather impressive." Beverly said, "Now Sheldon, tell me a bit more about your research. I just find physics so fascinating!"
"Okay, that's enough." Leonard said, "I'm your son! I am doing just as important research and my children are just as impressive as theirs…"
"Well…" Sheldon interrupted and Amy gave him a look, causing him to stop talking.
"Leonard, this is highly inappropriate." Beverly said.
"Mother, you are unbelievable." Leonard said.
"I wouldn't behave like this in front of your children." Beverly said, giving him an evil glare.
"You know what she's right, we shouldn't do this in front of the kids." Penny said quietly to Leonard. He sat back down and took a breath. He picked at his food angrily as Beverly continued to ask Sheldon questions and he delightedly responded to them. The dinner concluded finally and Leonard opted to pay and then walked to the car in a huff. Elliott ran to walk next to his father.
"Daddy?" He asked, pulling on his father's shirt.
"Yeah, buddy?" Leonard asked.
"Why does grandma love Leo and not me?" Elliott asked. Leonard picked his son up and gave him a hug.
"She loves you so much, El, she just expresses her love differently." Leonard responded, almost tearing up. Penny and Lily caught up to them as Beverly walked behind with the Coopers.
"Kinda like Uncle Sheldon," Penny added, overhearing her husband and son's conversation, "And you have to be patient."
"I can be patient." Elliott said, confidently.
"Why don't we go home and let grandma go to bed and then we can stay up a little past your bedtime and watch a family movie?" Penny suggested, which caused her kids to light up and start jumping around.
"Can we watch Toy Story 3?" Elliott asked, which made Leonard smile.
"Of course, buddy." Leonard said, kissing his son on the head. They reached their car and strapped Elliott into his booster seat. Beverly caught up and sat in the backseat, next to Lily.
"Grandma?" Elliott asked.
"Yes, Elliott?" She responded.
"Do you want to watch a family movie with us?" Elliott said, which shocked everyone in the car.
"I would like that very much." She replied. Elliott smiled and so did Leonard as they drove back to their house.