The Paternal Catalyst 4
The Paternal Catalyst
Rating: PG
Word Count: Over 44,000 in all
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize except California. That I rule.
Spoilers: Up to the Maternal Congruence
Summary: Because of Penny's father, Penny finds herself hiding in the laundry room while Sheldon constructs a dating formula and Leonard performs human experiments.
Author's Note: In this fic, Bernadette and Howard are broken up. I originally had a subplot that revolved around their break-up and make-up. However, I couldn't really work it in without disrupting the flow. I MAY write it as a companion piece but as of now, consider this fic AU in that respect.
(This fic was beta'd by the charming talkingmetaphor without whom I would still have the shoddy grammar that comes from writing while an insomniac)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
4
Penny
‘So this is where you live?’ My father was completely out of place in his warn plaid shirt and mud-stained jeans. California was a bright place of the latest trends and my father was as rural as they came. We had just walked into my apartment, which he’d insisted on seeing to make sure I was ‘living the good life’. Sheldon’s cleaning had given me a head start but I still had to shove a bunch of clothes underneath my bed. Dad had a look of disdain as he peered at the aged painted walls, the girly colors.
I glanced at the bottles on top of my fridge and mentally kicked myself for not hiding those. I didn’t want him to think I was some sort of alcoholic. ‘Yeah, it’s cozy. Good neighborhood. Listen, why didn’t Mom come down?’
My dad stooped over to peer into my fridge, and then opened up each of my cupboards making tsk sounds all the way. ‘Your mother had to work a double-shift at the clinic. Is this really all the food you have?’
‘It’s been a while since I went shopping.’
‘We’ll go tonight; I’ll buy you some groceries.’
I sighed. I saw it coming. ‘No, Dad that’s okay. I’ve got plenty of money.’ So long as I don’t intend on living here anymore. Then yeah, I could eat well each month. But he didn’t have to know The Cheesecake Factory cut my hours. again. I was starting to feel like I was getting pushed out.
‘I thought actors got paid a lot,’ commented Dad, turning to look dead into my eyes. Like me, he had a roundish face and large eyes. The blond hair I got from my mom; my dad’s once-black hair had a dusting of grey. He’d developed a belly since I’d moved here after community college but other than that, he looked just the same. Down to the disapproving eyes.
‘I’ve been . . . holding out for the right position.’ I did not mention the only promising offer was porn, and it was getting more and more tempting. Before he could say anything, I changed the subject. ‘You know what, why don’t we go to the grocery store and come back here and I’ll cook you up your favorite dish; how about that, Daddy?’
He gave me a faraway smile and said, ‘Okay.’
But when we stepped into the hallway, I heard voices. Voices that made me consider going back up to the roof and making that leap across the gap.
Sheldon appeared first, long neck craned to look beside and slightly behind him. ‘Well how was I to foresee him visiting home for the holidays?’
‘Well,’ came Leonard’s dry voice. ‘There has been the sign on the door for two weeks.’
‘Your point?’ asked the taller of the two, moving to unlock their door.
Leonard had made it to the landing but hadn’t noticed me and Dad quite yet. To Sheldon, he insisted, ‘You have a photographic memory. Why wouldn’t you remember that?’
‘I only remember what I notice.’ Then he caught my eye over my boyfriend’s head, and I knew he was trying to distract the other so we could make a clean getaway.
It might have worked, too, were it not for my father. ‘Penny, aren’t you going to introduce me to your neighbors?’
Leonard turned around in surprise. ‘Hello?’ he said uncertainly.
‘Dad, this is Leonard and Sheldon. Guys, my father.’
‘Leonard your boyfriend?’
‘Yep. Now that you’ve met, we need to go to the store. Remember, the store? So I can make the food?’
But it was no use. His eyes were fixated on Leonard, scrutinizing his every move. Leonard, for his part, kept throwing curious glances my way and Sheldon was just avoiding looking at me altogether.
Dad smiled brilliantly at Leonard, though I could tell it was a shark’s smile. ‘Well, Penny. Why don’t we invite these boys to eat with us?’
‘It’s Halo night,’ said Sheldon and for once I was thankful for his retentiveness.
‘That’d be awesome,’ Leonard ignored his friend. ‘You know, actually, our apartment’s bigger than Penny’s, if you guys want to cook there.’
‘Splendid,’ my dad said, delighted. He turned to me. ‘Why don’t you go to the store without me, let me bond with Leonard, here. You can take Steve with you.’
‘Sheldon.’ But it was no use. They were already going into Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment, leaving me and Sheldon alone in the hallway.
He protested, ‘But it’s Halo night.’
‘Sheldon,’ I groaned as I half-dragged him down the stairs. ‘I thought you were going to keep Leonard out of the apartment.’
‘The agreement was for me to get him out of the apartment; you did not specify how long to keep him there.’ Chapter Five
Rating: PG
Word Count: Over 44,000 in all
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize except California. That I rule.
Spoilers: Up to the Maternal Congruence
Summary: Because of Penny's father, Penny finds herself hiding in the laundry room while Sheldon constructs a dating formula and Leonard performs human experiments.
Author's Note: In this fic, Bernadette and Howard are broken up. I originally had a subplot that revolved around their break-up and make-up. However, I couldn't really work it in without disrupting the flow. I MAY write it as a companion piece but as of now, consider this fic AU in that respect.
(This fic was beta'd by the charming talkingmetaphor without whom I would still have the shoddy grammar that comes from writing while an insomniac)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
4
Penny
‘So this is where you live?’ My father was completely out of place in his warn plaid shirt and mud-stained jeans. California was a bright place of the latest trends and my father was as rural as they came. We had just walked into my apartment, which he’d insisted on seeing to make sure I was ‘living the good life’. Sheldon’s cleaning had given me a head start but I still had to shove a bunch of clothes underneath my bed. Dad had a look of disdain as he peered at the aged painted walls, the girly colors.
I glanced at the bottles on top of my fridge and mentally kicked myself for not hiding those. I didn’t want him to think I was some sort of alcoholic. ‘Yeah, it’s cozy. Good neighborhood. Listen, why didn’t Mom come down?’
My dad stooped over to peer into my fridge, and then opened up each of my cupboards making tsk sounds all the way. ‘Your mother had to work a double-shift at the clinic. Is this really all the food you have?’
‘It’s been a while since I went shopping.’
‘We’ll go tonight; I’ll buy you some groceries.’
I sighed. I saw it coming. ‘No, Dad that’s okay. I’ve got plenty of money.’ So long as I don’t intend on living here anymore. Then yeah, I could eat well each month. But he didn’t have to know The Cheesecake Factory cut my hours. again. I was starting to feel like I was getting pushed out.
‘I thought actors got paid a lot,’ commented Dad, turning to look dead into my eyes. Like me, he had a roundish face and large eyes. The blond hair I got from my mom; my dad’s once-black hair had a dusting of grey. He’d developed a belly since I’d moved here after community college but other than that, he looked just the same. Down to the disapproving eyes.
‘I’ve been . . . holding out for the right position.’ I did not mention the only promising offer was porn, and it was getting more and more tempting. Before he could say anything, I changed the subject. ‘You know what, why don’t we go to the grocery store and come back here and I’ll cook you up your favorite dish; how about that, Daddy?’
He gave me a faraway smile and said, ‘Okay.’
But when we stepped into the hallway, I heard voices. Voices that made me consider going back up to the roof and making that leap across the gap.
Sheldon appeared first, long neck craned to look beside and slightly behind him. ‘Well how was I to foresee him visiting home for the holidays?’
‘Well,’ came Leonard’s dry voice. ‘There has been the sign on the door for two weeks.’
‘Your point?’ asked the taller of the two, moving to unlock their door.
Leonard had made it to the landing but hadn’t noticed me and Dad quite yet. To Sheldon, he insisted, ‘You have a photographic memory. Why wouldn’t you remember that?’
‘I only remember what I notice.’ Then he caught my eye over my boyfriend’s head, and I knew he was trying to distract the other so we could make a clean getaway.
It might have worked, too, were it not for my father. ‘Penny, aren’t you going to introduce me to your neighbors?’
Leonard turned around in surprise. ‘Hello?’ he said uncertainly.
‘Dad, this is Leonard and Sheldon. Guys, my father.’
‘Leonard your boyfriend?’
‘Yep. Now that you’ve met, we need to go to the store. Remember, the store? So I can make the food?’
But it was no use. His eyes were fixated on Leonard, scrutinizing his every move. Leonard, for his part, kept throwing curious glances my way and Sheldon was just avoiding looking at me altogether.
Dad smiled brilliantly at Leonard, though I could tell it was a shark’s smile. ‘Well, Penny. Why don’t we invite these boys to eat with us?’
‘It’s Halo night,’ said Sheldon and for once I was thankful for his retentiveness.
‘That’d be awesome,’ Leonard ignored his friend. ‘You know, actually, our apartment’s bigger than Penny’s, if you guys want to cook there.’
‘Splendid,’ my dad said, delighted. He turned to me. ‘Why don’t you go to the store without me, let me bond with Leonard, here. You can take Steve with you.’
‘Sheldon.’ But it was no use. They were already going into Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment, leaving me and Sheldon alone in the hallway.
He protested, ‘But it’s Halo night.’
‘Sheldon,’ I groaned as I half-dragged him down the stairs. ‘I thought you were going to keep Leonard out of the apartment.’
‘The agreement was for me to get him out of the apartment; you did not specify how long to keep him there.’ Chapter Five