Disclaimer: All is Chuck's...
(The full story of Amy's and her tragic if unbalanced sister's encounter with Sheldon can be found in my Sheldon-narrated tale "Gran Mag" and the story of his eidetic memory's first capture of Amy at Penn Station in "It's a Reasonably Bearable Existence" which also tells the story of his relationship with his first adviser, Dr. Brown.)
Part XIII...
Raj emerged from the ER doors to see Sheldon sitting by Amy...Amy leaning on his shoulder. They looked up to see his relieved face.
"Leonard's all right?" Amy, anxiously...
He nodded, with wry smile... "Yes...And to a certain extent, no..."
"What?" Sheldon frowned... Lucy frowning at Raj who grinned...
"He's married, dude...I'm sorry, they wouldn't let us cram anyone else into his spot in the ER or we'd've got you..."
"Married...?" Amy blinked.
"By us...Me and Bernadette, that is...We are still officially ordained, you know." grin. "Penny wasn't going to wait another second...She's truly sorry but there was no way to squeeze you in. Of course, without license and all that, it's still technically not official. You are still slated for best man, Sheldon." Smile... "And I'm afraid Amy is once again saddled with maid of honor..."
"Really?" beam... "Oh, we can be each other's maids..." eagerly, then pause. "Well, Bernadette should have her chance at glory, poor thing."
"She'll be busy officiating again...Penny wants us to handle the official ceremony. However, she says from this night forward...It's Penny Hofstadter."
"She also says..." Howard, hearing as he emerged from the ER, with Bernadette... " 'My husband needs his rest, get out'..."
"Which we understand, completely..." Bernadette, beaming...Eyeing Amy and Sheldon...
Phew...I see quiet on that front as well...
Good, cause lil' Ms. Wolowitz is about ready for beddy-bye. After an hour or two of torrid passion with lil' Mr. Wolowitz, that is...
"Everything's ok, here I gather?" Howard eyed Sheldon...
"If Amy says so, yes..."
"She says so..." Amy nodded, beaming.
"Is there a Sheldon and Amy Fowler-Cooper here?" a nurse called from the ER door.
"That's my bestie..." Amy beamed. "Lets go, Moonpie." She rose, holding hand out to Sheldon who took it gently, caressing it...Kissing a long moment. Rising and heading into the ER with her as the others watched, a bit startled.
"Dr. Praetorius..." Raj bowed to Howard... "Dr. Frankenstein..." Howard returned bow...Both high-fiving...
"Dude, the creation of relationships is enthralling...Simply enthralling..." Raj grinned.
"Speaking of Frankenstein..." Dr. Stein's voice, rather cheerily from behind them...
....
"So, Dad...I promise we'll do all the official stuff soon as we...Dad?" Penny sighed, smiling, tears dribbling a bit... "Are you crying? Leonard?..." she turned to Leonard, lying on his ER cubicle bed, oxygen line to nose... "My daddy's crying for joy...Oh..." Amy beside her, hugging...Oh...
Oh, Lord...Sheldon rolled eyes.
"Lets hope so... I mean...I know so..." Leonard, quickly correcting at Penny's frown.
"Oh..." she blinked at the phone. "Well, Dad, you don't have to do that...Leonard and I...Well, Leonard...Can take care of the wedding...We...Well, Leonard...Wouldn't have it any other...Well..."
Hmmn? Oh, if Dad wants to express his joy...Leonard stared...
Who am I to stand in Dad's way? Grin to Sheldon...
"Leonard? Dad wants to pay for the wedding...He's insisting..."
Oh, I clearly died tonight and this is either Heaven or the dream before everything shuts down for good...
"Uh, well...If he really feels he must..."
"Oh, thank you, honey. He'll be so pleased..." she patted him. "Dad? Leonard says if you really feel that way...Ok. Ok, good. Can we have everybody? All our friends here? Well..."
Hmmn...I don't think seven...Eight if we include Alex, as a nice gesture...
"Well, there's our gang...And all the folks in Leonard's department at Cal Tech...And his bosses, the Chairguy, Dr. Gablehauser and the President of Cal Tech, Dr. Siebert, and their guys...Dad..." Penny grinned... "A bunch of the world's leading scientists are coming to your lil' slugger's wedding...Can you believe it? Oh and some of my friends...And some wealthy guys...Alumni, Leonard?.."
He stared...Nodding blankly...
The whole department, Dr. Gablehauser, President Siebert...And wealthy alumni?
"Alumni, Dad...Of the Physics department and anyone President Siebert suggests...I'll get a list from him...Oh..." she eyed Amy beside her.
She'll get a list? From President Siebert? Leonard stared...
My god...I have a manager...He blinked...Slowly grinning...
And a damn good one...
"Sheldon and I can do something separately. Don't worry about, bestie." Amy, quickly.
Penny put up a hand... "Dad? Sheldon and Amy are getting married too. Yeah, the crazy roommate...We wanted to do a double...Oh, thanks, Daddy!"
Sheldon, nonplused...
"I was tested...Leonard?"
"He says fine, more the merrier..." Penny hissed to Amy...
"Your dad can really cover all this?" Amy blinked...
And couldn't cover your last five years here...She did not say...
"I have money...We'll take care of our half..." Sheldon cut in.
Amy, looking away...
Well...Given that money could take us to Paris for a honeymoon and pay a downpayment on a nice townhouse...
"Mom will want to have her minister..." Sheldon noted. "And my family will insist on coming...Any event with free food and booze, they're there."
"Well, ok, Sheldon...We'll work it out later..." Penny nodded.
Right...So much for Paris...Amy sighed.
"We'd have to do it here, I think...Is that ok, Dad? Great...You decide who from the family...Excuse me..." Penny paused. Assuming regal air befitting the wife of Dr. Leonard Hofstadter... "I mean, Whom, Father... From the family to invite, ok? Well, if they can't fly we can put em in a rental van. Uh...No. Probably not a good idea to invite anyone with a drug conviction or a rap sheet in general. Well, that sure narrows it down, eh?" grin. "Say it, Daddy...I know you want to...My lil' Mrs. Penny Hofstadter...Oh! Daddy!" she sobbed. "But oh, you know...You know...I'll always be your lil' slugger. Won't I, Leonard?" she looked to him.
Uh... "Yeah...Suuree." Leonard nodded.
Sheldon eyeing Amy who'd glanced at him... "I'll have Leonard's mother explain later...Interesting case of parental expectation and gender role affect."
"He wants to talk to you...Dad, Leonard's very tired, don't kill him on me, please? Ok...Ok...I love you, too, Daddy!" Penny handed phone to Leonard.
"Just..." she waved hands to indicate "...keep it short...
"Sure..." he nodded. "Hey...Dad...Yeah...Well, a surprise to us too...Though we knew it would be comin'. No, I'm a little tired and dizzy but fine. Just a little of the usual stuff with Sheldon...Nothing serious but the party and Penny accepting my proposal...Bit much for me. What? Oh, sure...Pace myself on the honeymoon. Right. What? Oh, well, really..."
"What? And not much longer...!" Penny hissed.
"He wants to pay for our honeymoon...Anywhere we want to go..." he hissed.
"Oh...Wow...Well..." she began...
Paris, say Paris...Amy thought, anxiously...
"We really don't want to impose, sir...Dad...I mean the wedding alone...What?" he looked at Penny as she whacked the bed.
Glaring at him...Amy as well...
"If Daddy wants to do this..." she hissed.
"Penny...I'm getting a little..." he gasped...She dived for the bed's intercom buzzer, whanging and took the phone.
"Dad?! It's great of you. We'll talk about it later, ok?! Leonard's very grateful but he wants to think it over...That's the kind of guy he is, right? Right? Oh, I know...I know! Thanks, Daddy! Love ya!"
She grabbed the buzzer squeezing... "Nurse! Goddamn!" Startling Sheldon and Amy with her vehemence.
"Penny...I'm not that..."
"Come on, come on...!" she rose as a nurse hurried in, questioning look.
"Sorry. I just got a little excited..." Leonard told the nurse, eyeing Penny.
"It shouldn't take four buzzes to get help in an ER...Right, Sheldon?" Penny frowned at the nurse who was examining Leonard's vital signs' readout on his bed monitor.
"Well..." Sheldon began...She glaring...
It's "well..." now? Sheldon Cooper can tolerate delays in the care of his best friend but if it were him...She frowned.
"We're very busy...And we monitor him out there as well...He's fine...But he should rest." The nurse eyed her. "We'll be getting him upstairs for an overnight evaluation, you can see him then."
Did I do something again? Sheldon hissed to Amy...
Yes...She hissed back. "If you were in here and it took one buzz to get a response in five seconds..."
"That's sweet." he eyed her. "What would you do?"
She sighed, then finally grinned. "One-to-three for stealing medications and holding a nurse hostage."
He nodded. "Me too." smile. "Though I'd grab a doctor for you."
"And stay...I'm stayin'..." Penny insisted. Then smiled, shyly. "It's our wedding night..."
Dear God...Leonard thought...I wasn't dreaming when Raj asked me if I took this woman...? And Penny said "He does, stop asking him silly questions. He can't breathe here."
It is our wedding night...Faint smile.
About the sort I kinda expected...Sigh...Looking at her anxious face as the nurse assured her he was stable and she'd be able to rejoin him within an hour.
Magical...He beamed.
'Course the free wedding and honeymoon don't hurt in makin' it so...
"What?" Sheldon stared at Amy as they rose to leave...Penny desperately hanging back to give Leonard a long, goodbye...No, see ya in five minutes...Kiss...
"You know I could probably make a nerve pinch look like you'd had a minor heart attack." Amy noted. "...And after we were settled, I'd have no trouble stealing a doctor's id and operating a brain scanner."
"Amy Farrah Fowler, you vixen you..." he beamed. "But this is Leonard's and Penny's night...They should have it alone, with Leonard's nursing team and O2 mask standing by." pause. "Of course, no reason we can't do all that on our official wedding night...You could bring along your Star Trek doctor's outfit..." Amy, sly grin, nod...
Penny blinking as she listened...
I was just an innocent, semi-slutty girl from Nebraska when I came...
....
"So your daughter told you we'd taken Leonard here..." Amy nodded politely to Dr. Stein's explanation for his presence, repeated to the returned, slightly startled members of the gang. "That was nice of her...And nice of you to come."
"Least I could do..." Stein smiled. "But Dr. Hofstadter will be all right?"
"Just fine..." Bernadette nodded, contentedly. "Assuming he's up to his new position. Whatdaya say, honey? Can he cut it?" grin to Howard.
"I think Hofstadter will squeeze by..." Howard, sage nod. "We can't all be superhubbie but, he'll manage just fine."
"Susan would have come but she's wasn't feeling well, I hope you can excuse her." Stein noted, apparently anxious to continue with Amy.
"Certainly..." Amy nodded. Cautious tone.
"Cooper? I haven't had the chance to congratulate you on a wise choice..." Stein eyed him. "I think you made the right decision..." hard stare to Sheldon.
"Thank you..." Sheldon nodded. "Was Susan...?"
"Heartbroken?" wan smile. "Well...She's a big girl, Sheldon..." smile, slight sigh. "So you'll be married with Dr. Hofstadter and Miss Penelope here?" fixed smile...
"So..." Lucy hissed to Raj after pulling him to a corner out of earshot... "Dr. Frankenstein, Sheldon's adviser, has the daughter who was trying to steal Sheldon...But we think she's got the message now? Is that right?"
"Perfect."
"And the 'message is'...Keep away from my fiancée or I and my friends will cut you?" she asked...Sly grin.
"Lucy...?" grin back. "You have been listening..."
"Of course..." she looked over at Stein... "He's here...How do we play this? Cool? Or 'get the hell outta here, you father of Frankenstein's friend's would-be fiancée-stealing daughter?"
"Tough call..." Raj pondered. "I'd go with cool for now."
"That I can do...If I don't hafta talk."
"That's my girl." Beam.
"He's here for a reason though..." she eyed him. "Not just because of Leonard..."
He regarded her...
"I know when someone's not happy about having to be with people...He didn't want to come, she asked him to." Lucy, shrewdly.
Raj, appreciative stare...
That, lucky me, is my girl...He nodded.