A fictional story about fictional characters. A stand-alone story. My version of S. 8, Ep. 18 "The Leftover Thermalization"
*****
Debbie Wolowitz was dead, to begin with. There was no doubt whatever about that; but even in death she continued to influence the lives of her dear son Howard, his adoring wife Bernadette, and all their friends. She had expired a peaceful death, in her sleep while visiting relatives, but that was where the tranquility ended. While retrieving her ashes, they had been misplaced by the airlines, thus causing Howard frustration and agitation even after her life ended. Now, as Howard, Bernadette and Raj walked into the Wolowitz household, Stuart quickly informed them that a transformer had blown out overnight, leaving the entire neighborhood without electricity. Stuart's comic-book store had burned down so Howard had hired him to be care-giver for his late mother.
After letting that information sink in, Howard had run to the refrigerator and discovered that everything in the freezer was rapidly defrosting. Bernadette suggested they take it to their apartment and refreeze it, but Raj correctly pointed out that refreezing food only invites the formation of potentially harmful, if not fatal, bacteria. Howard was nearly frantic as he unloaded the freezer, stacking the Tupperware bowls on the counter. It's only food Howie," Bernadette tried to console him.
"No...it's not," Howard snapped back, "it's the last food my mother ever made. Her last meatloaf; her last brisket; her last matzo-ball soup. She always kept a bid container of it on hand in case I got sick. She thought that her soup could cure anything; including food-poisoning caused by her food. We are going to eat it."
"Howie, there must be thirty pounds of food here," Bernadette stated, there is no way we can eat it all before it spoils.
"I know," Howard answered, "we can invite all our friends over for a meal, just like normal. It will be like Ma is feeding us all one last time." He continued to pull containers out of the freezer: "here's the buttoneer from my high school prom, she never threw anything out...if I find my foreskin in here I'm screaming."
Leonard Hofstadter and his fiancee Penny were in her apartment where he was grousing about the feud he was having with his roommate Sheldon Cooper. They were both Doctors of Physics at CalTech and had recently collaborated on a technical paper which had been published by Scientific American. Sheldon, as usual, had shown no consideration for anyone but himself and had gladly taken full credit for the research, even though the original idea had been solely Leonard's. The publication had not even mentioned Leonard's name, and it was the last straw in dealing with Sheldon's thoughtlessness. "He just always assumes the universe revolves around him," Leonard complained.
"I know sweetie," Penny agreed, trying to soothe him, "my baby is hurting so I am going to take you shopping to ease the pain," she continued as she reached for her laptop.
"I know shopping makes you feel better," he added, "but it's really not my thing."
"Ooo, here's a helicopter you control with your I-pad," Penny suggested.
"Your baby's listening...does it come with a camera," Leonard answered interestingly.
"It does come with a camera," she informed him, tapping the screen.
"Well, it might help me feel better," Leonard gave in, "I'll tell you one thing, that baby Sheldon isn't playing with my helicopter."
Penny and Leonard arrived at the Wolowitz residence at the same time as Amy and Sheldon. Penny asked if there was anything they could do to help with the meal and Bernadette told them to just make themselves comfortable while some of the food simmered. "It's a good thing she had a propane powered stove," Stuart added as he emerged from the kitchen with Howard. They all greeted Howard with sadness, knowing how much he loved his recently departed mother.
He assured them, "this isn't a sad occasion, it's just a remembrance of how much Ma was a part of all our lives."
They all sat around the living room discussing what was going on in their lives and when Stuart asked about the joint paper project, Sheldon of course volunteered, "I was the lead-scientist."
"Look Sheldon," Leonard gave in, "we all know how much you need to constantly have your inflated ego stroked, so I'm done talking about the paper."
"Well, what's new with you Raj," Amy quickly changed the subject.
"Thank you for asking," Raj began, "you know the new Discovery missions that NASA had been working on. They are trying to devise a delivery system to contain a message in case one of the probes is encountered by alien life. They have asked me to do the design."
Leonard acknowledged him, "congratulations Raj. Just for the record, in my experience with alien life, the key is not to sit in his spot."
As Sheldon glared at Leonard, Bernadette inquired, "Penny how did your audition go?"
"The whole experience reminded me of everything I hated about that world: the anxiety, the disappointment, the negativity. I don't want to go through those feelings...I want to sell drugs to people feeling those things...so after I stunk up the place with my audition, I walked out. I'm through with acting...well, unless some big time director requests me."
"I commend you Penny. That took a lot of courage...almost as much courage as chopping off your hair," Sheldon proclaimed.
"Thank you Sheldon...wait...what," Penny seemed confused, "I thought everybody liked my new short hair cut. Bernadette, you like it...right?"
"Well, I admire the courage it took to cut off all that beautiful blonde hair," Bernadette tried to console her.
"Amy, you like it...right," Penny pleaded.
"I admire the confidence it took that you would be able to pull off the new look," Amy assured her.
"Leonard," Penny looked to her fiancee for encouragement.
"Penny you know there is nothing you could do that would make you less attractive in my eyes," he reassured her.
"Many attractive women have short hair," Stuart added.
"Right, or are bald," Howard interjected, "like Ilia in Star Trek: The Motion Picture."
"Ooo, the actress who played her was from Bombay, you know," Raj told them.
"I think it's dinner time," Bernadette quickly suggested.
Sitting around the large dining room table, the setting was very intimate, illuminated only by candlelight. "Nothing sets the mood quite like a dozen menorahs," Stuart stated.
There was plenty of wine to drink as Raj, Stuart, Leonard and Penny, and Amy and Sheldon had each brought a bottle; not knowing the other's intention. Sheldon had questioned the purchase, but Amy had assured him that it was a non-optional social convention to bring wine when invited to dinner at someone's house. Even Sheldon was partaking in the libation when Amy suggested that it was also non-optional.
The brisket was smothered with generous chunks of thawed mushrooms and Sheldon, of course, felt the need to share his knowledge of the growths. "You know, Shiitake mushrooms are a fine source of minerals, including zinc; are known to promote digestive tract health; and have actually been found to shrink tumors in mice. These Maitake mushrooms are commonly thought to boost the immune system. I hope these mushrooms were not frozen, because it is thought that ice crystals separating the cells can induce intoxication when mixed with alcohol...sometimes even hallucinations."
Howard and Bernadette looked at each other and replied, "oh, no...they are fresh," not wanting Sheldon to launch into one of his psychotic rants.
"And in my culture," Raj added, "they are known to be a powerful aphrodisiac."
"Let's hope so," Amy mumbled, smiling at Bernadette and Penny.