The epic conclusion of the greatest series of our time, The Big Bang Theory, brought to you by...well, not me.

Five years later

Penny looked down at her husband with tears in her eyes. He looked so small, so weak.

He was sitting up in his bed, sipping on some ice water.

"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, as she rubbed her round belly idly.

"You can. It will be hard, but I know you can. I'm asking you to."

"It's so unfair," she held back the anger in her voice.

"It is what it is."

"It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, to not be here," her voice cracked. "You have to be strong for me, okay?"

"Of course."

"Getting tired?"

Sheldon nodded in response.

She leaned down and kissed his lips, then his forehead, before she pulled away.

"Tell Amy and Phil I apologize for not being able to visit with them," he said.

"They'll understand."

His eyes locked onto hers, as if willing her to stay. "You need to go."

"Yeah."

"You'll need to leave for the airport within the hour."

"Well, actually, everything is organized and packed and ready to go. My husband seems to have rubbed off on me over the years."

"Smart guy," he joked.

"I just need to get home to get my bags, drop the kids off with George and Amber, then head over to your mom's house. The car is going to come get us around three."

"Around three or…"

"Exactly at three, you insufferable dolt."

"Had to get one last insult in there, didn't you?"

"Your brother and sister-in-law deserve sainthood for what they are going to do this week. Our four kids, plus Remy and Nadia, on top of their own?"

"Meemaw will be staying with them for the week, so they'll have help. The older ones will be at school much of the day. And, Adelaide should be able to entertain the young ones. But, yes, they are being quite considerate."

"We'll have to do something nice for them when…we can."

He nodded in agreement. "You need to go."

"Okay," she squeezed his hand then blew him a kiss as she walked out the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Penny stepped from the hospital, the sun shining brightly in her eyes, as she blinked back the tears she had been holding onto for far too long.

She had a long journey ahead of her, both literally and figuratively. She resolved to take things one day at a time, one hour at a time. That was the only way she was going to be able to get through this.

She intended to be the kind of wife Sheldon would be proud to have. She would be resourceful and strong and stoic. Her children would never see her shed a tear or lose her temper. They would see her pray and know she meant it.

For now, all she concentrated on was getting home, getting the kids taken care of, then making sure that she and her three companions got to George Bush Intercontinental on time.

Howard and Bernadette sat in their pajamas in the living room of his childhood home. He had connected his laptop to their flat screen television, and they were waiting for the live feed to show up.

They had inherited the home from his mother and were grateful; having a family home to raise their kids in was a treasure, not one easy to come by in the expensive housing market of Southern California. The home felt empty without her, but by the same token, it felt lighter too. The home before had always been a dark reminder of not so great memories. They were able to make this place their home, and establish happy moments for themselves and their kids.

Howard missed his mother, but knew that she was very happily re-married to his former dentist, Dr. Schneider, and enjoying retirement (for him) in Palm Springs.

Bernadette shushed her husband as he spoke a little too loudly. "Quiet, if the kids wake up, it will take them forever to get back to sleep."

"Yes dear," he rolled his eyes.

Their eldest Toby wandered into the living room, yawning into his fist. He was the only one they decided to allow to watch with them. After all, they were his godparents.

"How much longer?" he asked.

"Probably about ten minutes," Howard replied.

The three of them sat there, eyes glued to the TV set.

Several hundred miles away, a weary physicist sat up in his room. The nurse placed his laptop on the tray table, and he was able to turn it on and get the live feed up and running.

The nurse checked his vitals, and before leaving the room spoke. "Dr. Cooper, your wife, she is a lovely woman."

He chuckled. "I suppose."

Penny had blossomed into an extraordinary woman indeed. While in the privacy of their own relationship she still had that attitude and spunk that would never be gone, she was also classy and gracious. She took extra care to be kind to everyone she knew; being a server for many years, she was especially caring toward people in service positions. She was generous with her money, but more importantly, her time. The school moms were constantly calling Penny for help with one thing or another, from organizing a bake sale to helping design soccer uniforms. She went overboard decorating their home for every holiday. She had given him five beautiful children, with another on the way. She instilled in their kids the importance of valuing their belongings. And manners. And recycling.

She took them to church. Every Sunday.

Most weekends, he went with them

On the screen, he saw the ceremony space, and knew that things were about to get started.

Penny sat on the stage with one of her oldest friends by her side. She looked across the way and saw the Royal Family decked out in their gorgeous gowns. Inwardly, she scowled, as she had been informed she was required to wear black or very dark blue. Feeling rebellious, she was half-tempted to wear a stunning red number to shake things up.

She looked out into the crowd, and smiled when she saw everyone in the fourth row: Mary, Missy, Mr. and Mrs. Koothrappali. She also knew that Amy and Phil, who were traveling in Europe at the time, had secured seats somewhere in the auditorium, thanks to his influence.

Then, the moment came, when the winners were announced for the Nobel Prize in physics. Penny and Raj stood, walked across the stage, and accepted the honors. They both stood at the podium, and Raj motioned for her to go first.

She took a deep breath and spoke. "Your Majesty, esteemed members of the Nobel committee, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Penny Cooper and I don't know a lick about science." She gestured next to her. "This is my good friend Rajesh Ramayan Koothrappali, and he is being recognized along with my husband Sheldon, er, Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper for their collaboration toward the breakthrough that earned them this special award. It is my honor to introduce Rajesh, as he is a brilliant man who has worked very hard to achieve this moment. But, I am also here to accept this award on behalf of my husband."

She licked her lips and thought to herself. She had prepared her speech, and in such, she had inserted one line that she was sure would stir it up, especially in this crowd. Up until this very moment, she hadn't decided whether she would include it or not. She smiled as she continued.

"On behalf of my husband, I would like to thank God for this special day and for the opportunities He has given us that led to this remarkable achievement." Her tone then got much more conversational. "Also, thank you for this prestigious honor. You know, it's funny. I always thought if I were to be up on stage accepting an award, it would be an Emmy or an Oscar. I never, ever dreamed I would be on stage accepting a Nobel Prize. Actually, I didn't even know you guys had ceremonies for these kinds of things. But, my husband did. He dreamed about this moment from the time he was a child, and he has worked to make it a reality his entire life. He has worked so hard for this moment. He should be here."

Her emotions got the better of her, and she softly cried as she spoke directly to him. "Honey, you should be here. Why aren't you here?"

She inhaled and visibly gathered herself. "You see, two weeks ago, our son Liam was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer." She knew if Sheldon were here, he'd be able to name and pronounce the exact type correctly. "He needed immediate treatments, and his best hope was with bone marrow. And, my husband was a perfect match. And, it was a little too late to call and see if you guys could postpone the Nobel Prize," she joked and the auditorium echoed with soft laughter. "So, here I am. Being a bone marrow donor is not easy. Watching your son, so little and so precious, go through such a scary disease is worse. And my husband, your co-Nobel Laureate for the prize in physics, has to do both. Sheldon, Dr. Cooper that is, always said that to win the Nobel Prize was the goal, that if he was able to do that, it would be his greatest achievement. Then, he said I was his greatest achievement."

She was shocked to hear whistles and catcalls from the seemingly stodgy audience at that last statement. She blushed a slight pink. "He's wrong about both. His greatest achievement is that he is there lying in a hospital bed and not standing right here on this stage, and he did so without even one second of hesitation. So, with that, I will hand it over to Dr. Rajesh Koothrapalli."

She stepped away, and not able to control herself, spoke into the microphone again. "By the way, if there is any way you guys could make an exception and let him give an acceptance speech next year, I would really appreciate it. Thanks. Okay bye."

As Raj stepped to the mike, Sheldon tuned out and thought of his magnificent wife. Her speech had a bit of a devil-may-care spin to it that he knew from her all too well.

She had been perfect. She was folksy and charming, and he could tell that she had the audience, the Nobel committee members and winners, and the Royal Family of Sweden eating out of the palm of her hand. She was engaging in a way that he never would have been able to pull off. His speech, unless he fainted halfway through it, would have been quickly forgotten. No one in that auditorium or watching worldwide will ever forget that courageous woman with the genuine smile and the gentle eyes.

He didn't need a speech next year. He wasn't that crazy about public speaking anyway. It was always about the achievement itself, and he had already won that. He would always be referred to as Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Nobel Laureate. He didn't need an official presentation for that. And, truthfully, his lasting mark on the Nobel Prize would be, should be the brave speech given by this simple girl from Nebraska.

Standing in a room full of the most brilliant minds in the world, she stood toe to toe with them. In a hall full of literature afficianados and science geeks alike, she was the most real one in the room. She was always the most real one in the room.

"Nicely done, Penny." He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Fin.

Thanks for coming on this long crazy journey with me guys. I really appreciate all your messages and feedback and views and everything.

I will be soon starting on a new Shenny story called Doomed to Fail, that I would love for you guys to get in on. It will be very, very different. It is set AU. It has some dark themes to it, much different than this one which was relatively puritanical. (Hey, it may have been smut, but I maintain that it was married smut)

For some, it may not be their cup of tea, and that's understandable, but just wanted to invite you on a different adventure all the same.