Disclaimer: I don't own The Big Bang Theory or its characters, this is for fun and entertainment only since the show is not going the way I planned it.

P.S. this story is not BETA'd so all mistakes are mine and please excuse.

Chapter 42 All or Nothing

Lee Ann flung herself on the bed and couldn't help the sobs that shook her tiny little frame. She took some deep breaths and then remembered the calming techniques that her therapist taught her after her mom died.

In and out.

In and out.

She could hear everyone talking outside the door and even could tell that Joe was starting to get upset as well. In the back of her mind she knew she ought to go back out and explain what was bothering her but honestly she didn't care how everyone else was feeling at the time, so she stayed where she was.

There was only one thing that kept replaying in her mind. How could he just give her up like that? Yeah, ok, she didn't want a full on fight but a little resistance was at least expected from her grandfather. He had seemed so determined to keep her with him and Poof! Just like that he gives up?! What is all that about?

She knew that the tears weren't going to stop and she just let them keep going.

Was she too much trouble?

Was this his chance to be alone again?

Why didn't he want her anymore?

She heard a knock on the door, "Lee Ann?" she could tell Penny was worried by the tone in her voice. She didn't want Penny to see her like this so she kept quiet. "Lee Ann, open the door please, your dad is starting to worry."

"Lee Ann, please, darlin'… what's wrong?"

She shook her head, she didn't want her dad to see her like this either, and she didn't want him to think that it was because of him. This was about her and right now the grownups could wait. "Go a-away!"

Penny tried for a little while longer before leaving Lee Ann and dragging Sheldon away from the door. They would leave Lee Ann alone until she was ready to leave the room on her own.

Lee Ann waited until she heard them leave the hallway and go back to the living room before she started digging in her pocket for her phone. She knew she needed someone specific.

She hit the little green button and waited for the voice that she recognized would make everything better.

"Hello?"

She tried to clear her rough throat, "Ma- Mamaw?" And with that she let out the most pitiful whimper. She tried to stop herself from sobbing but couldn't.

"Lee Ann? Baby what's wrong?!"

She couldn't talk yet without huffing and shaking.

"Lee Ann, Shhhhh shhhh shhhh it's ok baby, breathe for me." She could hear her Mamaw start to hum and try to calm her down over the phone.

"Now baby please tell me what's wrong before I fly over there and start taking people down one-by-one."

Despite her tears Lee Ann smile. "You don't ha-have to kill anyone, Mamaw."

"No no babygirl, I think I do. Now you take a deep breath an' swallow those tears and you tell me who upset you." Lee Ann could feel the absolute exasperation in her voice; she could see it in her mind, her putting those hands on her hips and pursing her lips. Ha, that rhymed.

She whispered, "I'm at dad's and he told me what happened at the meeting. Mamaw he doesn't want me anymore," and that was all she got out before the sobs broke out again.

"WHO? Who doesn't? I know not yer daddy- you know what git-cherdaddy on da -phone-"

"-it's not dad, Mamaw!" she huffed and tried swallowing back a sob and calmed herself down, "My grandfather just gave me up, and- and he didn't e-even try to fight for me, and I know that huhhh hu I should be happy and I am but ho-how could he just do that!"

Mary took a moment to process what she was just told, "Oh, bless yer heart. Let me handle this, Lee Ann. Now you wipe yer nose an' go wash yer face, remember to pat dry, don't rub, that gives you wrinkles and you let Mamaw fix this. Cause' I know that this is just a big misunderstandin'. And don't think for a second that yer unwanted, because there is no one I know who wouldn't want you as soon as meet ya. Ok baby?" Lee Ann could hear someone else in the background and Mamaw was filling that person in to what was going on. (…these damn foolish men, Lord Jesus, don't know how ter talk ter children…)

Lee Ann nodded and then tried to keep her breathing steady as she started to realize that she was jumping to conclusions instead of talking with her grandfather like an adult. Yeah. She sniffed, "Ok, I will."

"Now where are you Lee Ann?"

"I kinda locked myself in dad's room."

"Ok just stay there. Now you relax, ok. I'll call you back in just a moment," She could hear her Mamaw sighing.

"Ok, but call right back please."

"I will baby, I love you."

"Love you too Mamaw." Lee Ann hung up and lied down on the bed staring absentmindedly at the gold fish tank as her breathing tried to even out.

Robert was finishing off his day at the office and was in the middle of packing away his briefcase, when he felt the phone in his pocket vibrate. He almost cringed hoping it wasn't another client wanting another meeting.

But looking at the screen he could only see the work TEXAS across the screen. Who the hell was calling from Texas? And after all of two seconds he groaned as he realizes WHO exactly it was.

He pinched the bridge of his nose before answering, "Mrs. C-"

But before he could finish his greeting Mary Cooper unleashed Hell over the phone.

He pulls the phone away from his ear before he even tries to understand her tirade. It wasn't until he heard her yell at him that Lee Ann called her in tears that he even started to understand what was going on.

"Mrs. Cooper-"

"Don't Mrs. Cooper me! She's devastated an' thinks that you just GAVE 'ER AWAY! What da hell is wrong wit' you?! She called me in tears ROBERT! TEARS!"

Robert tries to understand what in the world is going on when it dawns on him how his granddaughter could feel like she was being passed around.

He should have discussed this with her before the meeting. He hangs his head and realizes what he needs to do.

He lets Mrs. Cooper continue to reprimand him like a child while he grabs his keys and heads straight to his Jag. "Mary! …Where is she?" he keeps his voice low but to the point.

"She's locked inside Sheldon's room at his apartment. You fix this an' you fix it now or so help me Jesus, I will fly over there tonight!" Robert cringed at the thought before he heard the dial tone.

As soon as he gets in his car he grabs a file searching for the address to the apartment before putting it in the GPS and breaking every speed limit from the office to 2311 Los Robles.

Sheldon was now sitting in his spot with his head in his hands trying to figure out what was bothering his daughter. Was she upset about the decision? Did she no longer want to stay with him? He could have sworn that she was on the same page as he was. That they would be together and live a wonderful normal family life!

Ugh, he scratched his hands over his scalp before looking up and setting his jaw in his hand. "What did I do?" he looked at Penny who was sitting next to him. "Was I wrong for doing this?" he waited for Penny to answer him but she just grimaced and hugged his shoulders.

"Sheldon, I don't think it is anything you did." She rubbed his back and tried to soothe his worries.

The others around the room were all talking amongst themselves, each with a different theory. Perhaps she was tired. Maybe the sudden change was too much for her. Or the most common theory: Hormones. Who knows?

Joe was pacing in the back of the room. He wanted to butt in and see if Lee Ann would talk to him but he also didn't want to over step his bounds. And the longer he waited for her father to do something the harder it was to pick up his cell and call Mr. Hurley himself.

Joe has noticed over the years that Lee Ann always seemed to keep things buried until she would almost burst before locking herself in her room. He'd seen it often with the nannies and Mrs. Patterson. She was so smart and they all treated her more like an adult than as a young girl. She spoke to them as if she were an adult, so they would often forget to account for her youth when she was faced with changes in her life.

He shook his head and kept to himself, hoping that her father would do something instead of waiting for Lee Ann to come to him.

Sheldon waited for a few more minutes before standing up and going back to his bedroom door. He tapped on the door,

Tap-tap-tap, "Lee Ann"

Tap-tap-tap, "Lee Ann"

Tap-tap-tap, "Lee Ann"

"Won't you open the door, please?" he waited outside but didn't get an answer.

He sighed and realized that she wasn't going to answer, "Fine, I'll just wait," so he decided to sit down on the floor exactly where he was standing and wait for her.

He sat there staring at the door for almost five minutes before he heard someone come into the apartment. And before he had a chance to stand up fully, Robert was walking towards him. "Mr. Hurley what are you doing here?"

Robert just raised a hand and patted Sheldon on the shoulder. He could see that he was at a lost as what to do. "Is she in there?" Sheldon nodded and sighed. "Let me take care of this, ok?" he turned to the door and knocked, "Lee Ann. Open this door right now."

Sheldon stood back, and watched Robert knock again.

"Lee Ann!" it only took another minute before they could hear the lock turn and the door opened a small crack.

Robert turned and kept Sheldon back, before walking into the room and closing the door.

Lee Ann sat on the bed and tried to school her face into showing no emotions. She had just gotten off the phone with her Mamaw and knew that he was on his way over. And at first she was sure that he would be upset with her. She had wiped away her tears, wiped her nose and was going to wait for whatever punishment she was due for not going straight home after school.

What she wasn't expecting was for her grandfather to take a knee in front of her and look her in the eye.

Robert swallowed whatever first reaction he had and instead he surprised his granddaughter and he apologized. He tried to speak clearly but even he knew he couldn't hide the tears that caught in his throat, "Lee Ann …I'm sorry."

Lee Ann couldn't help herself and she started sobbing again. She tried to stop but once her grandfather pulled her into a tight hug she could stop the tears anymore.

Robert began repeating his apology in her ear and he held onto her. "Lee Ann I do want you, I will always want you. I'm so sorry; I should have discussed this with you before."

He held onto her and began rubbing her back hoping that he was soothing her worries away. "I thought you wanted to be with you dad, you haven't changed your mind have you, because if you have I will fight for you to stay with me."

Lee Ann tried to calm down once she knew that it was all just a misunderstanding. She shook her head and tried to answer as clearly as she could," I do want to be with d-dad, but I thought you were just giving m—e away, that you didn't wa-want me anymore. I'm sorry too."

Robert sat them both back on to the bed, and he pulled out his handkerchief and gave it to Lee Ann. "Lee Ann, look at me. I should have spoken with you more about what we were doing. It isn't fare for us to make decisions without you."

Lee Ann wiped her face again and knew her nose was going to be sore the next day. She nodded her head, "its ok. I was just expecting… honestly- I don't e-even know what I was expecting. I was just sur-p-prised that you agreed, you usually fight everyone tooth and nail." She gave a twitch of a smile and tried to take deep breaths again. She was just about calmed enough to realize how tired she was.

"Yes well, I suppose that I was trying to think of you instead of me this time, so I did what I thought was best for you, but should have at least told you beforehand, either way I screwed it up."

Lee Ann looked up at him and couldn't help the smirk on her face, "that is the first time you've ever, I mean EVER, you've admitted that."

"Yes well you did tattle on me to your grandmother." He arched an eyebrow at her and chuckled at the guilty look on her face. He pulled her into a side hug and squeezed her shoulders. "It's ok, I deserve it. She can be quite scary when she wants to be by the way."

Lee Ann smiled and hiccupped, "People say the same thing about you too."

They stayed seated for a short while longer until they were sure that Lee Ann's tears were all whipped away. And when they made their way into the living room Lee Ann tried to hide her face from everyone in embarrassment.

Sheldon was turned around talking on the phone to his mother, "Mom- Mom… ugh, yes I- ok but- Yes Ma'am. No I don't baby Jesus is mad at us-" He heard Robert clear his throat and turned around to see Lee Ann tucked in under his arm hiding her flushed face.

Lee Ann peaked out and pointed to the phone, "Is that Mamaw?" Sheldon tried to give her a sympathetic smile and nodded his head. And when Lee Ann reached out for the phone he gave it to her without hesitation. "Mamaw?"

While Lee Ann tucked herself to one side and spoke in whisper tones, Sheldon and Robert spoke to each other, "She'll be ok, I explained to her what was going on about our meeting today ." Robert tried to look stern but Sheldon could tell that this was affecting the man.

He nodded his head and glanced at his daughter as she talked quietly on the phone, "Does she always lock herself in a room when she's upset?"

Robert tried not to chuckle too much, "as all teens do. You'll learn that in due time. Hot chocolate usually helps, though."

"With whip cream!" Lee Ann butted in.

He rolled his eyes at his granddaughter, "yes with whip creamed." He patted Sheldon on the shoulder and waited for Lee Ann to finish on the phone.

Once she hung up, she was visibly happier, "Mamaw says that you two are as thick as rawhide, whatever that means," She handed the phone back to her dad and then gave him a hug, "Sorry about that, I'm actually really happy about getting to be with you."

Sheldon swallowed and tried to keep his emotions at bay as he bent and patted her on the back. He whispered in her ear, "me too. But next time talk to me before tattling. Mom is not happy with either of us at the moment." He chuckled before pulling back.

Lee Ann looked at both of them, "well she said the only way to make it up to me is to take me on vacation to Texas!" She smiled big and looked back at the stunned faces of the two men. "Oh please! I have spring break coming up."

Sheldon stood stalk still and then looked back at Robert.

Robert started stuttering out, knowing that Mary obviously put the idea in her head, so essentially he is not only fighting Lee Ann but her as well, "Lee Ann we have to get you and the house ready for you two to move in-"

"But.. you don't really need me for that," Lee Ann pleaded.

Sheldon tried to reason with her, "Lee Ann you can't go alone, and I need to be here to pack up my ow-"

"NO YOU DON'T!" Leonard butted in. He knew all too well how frustrating Sheldon can be when packing his thing in such a meticulous way, "ugh, we'll do it for you," he mouthed 'two weeks Sheldon free' and pointed to the other guys and watched as they all reluctantly agreed, but then he elbowed Howard.

"Oh of course we will, don't even worry about it, we'll handle it …what are friends for?" Howard piped in after thinking about it. They haven't been Sheldon free for a very long time. Think of all the free time they could have.

Robert and Sheldon looked at each other knowing that they were pretty much stuck, and neither of them wanted to upset Mary again. So Robert sighed and Lee Ann took that and her dad's silence as confirmation, 'YAY! I'll call Mamaw back right now!" She gave Sheldon a quick hug and then yelled out a quick goodbye to everyone and started dragging her Grandfather out the door, "Joe come-on, I need you to get my luggage out of the garage! Bye Dad!"

As soon as the door closed Sheldon dropped his head into his hand, and sighed, he looked back at everyone and rolled his eyes, "Thank you, all of you, its allergy season in Texas by the way. Hot and then cold and then pollen and wag weed, not to mention the mosquitos! Ugh I wonder if there's time for a malaria vaccination. Ugh God, and the likelihood of tornadoes is highest this time of year. Ugh I'm going to need an emergency kit."

Sheldon kept rambling on and on and then began giving orders to Leonard about how he likes his things packed and what type of packing peanuts are best and biodegradable, not to mention what is to be done about his comic book collection and it didn't stop for quite a while as he kept talking about the most acute packing guidelines. And as he kept going the others began to one by one leave the apartment. And in the end all but Penny was still in the living room.

"They're gone sweetie. Just write it all down for them, ok. I'll see you later," Penny got up and began walking towards the door.

Sheldon nodded his head, of course writing his instructions down would be best. He'd make a spreadsheet. But before Penny could leave he spoke out, "I'll call your boss in the morning to secure your time off."

Penny stopped at the door. The day had been a rollercoaster of emotions not only for Lee Ann and Sheldon but for her as well. And since the day was really about Lee Ann she had kept her thoughts to herself. But just like Lee Ann had locked herself in the room when she was overwhelmed Penny was starting to feel the same.

"What?" she turned and looked back at Sheldon, who had already sat down at his computer to start his new 'Packing Algorithm'.

He didn't even stop typing as he answered her, "I'll call your manager in the morning and make sure you get the two weeks off."

"Sheldon I can't just take off for two weeks. I have bills to pay and an audition coming up, I just can't lose that much time."

"If your issue is with your finances, they're obsolete once we move," he arched a brow and finally turned and looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Excuse me?"

"Of course your audition can't be helped but you go on so many missing one won't hurt, and I can't imagine that the time off would be that detrimental to your …career." He turned back and started to type again; completely oblivious to a seething Penny that was boring holes into his head.

"Sheldon!" she swallowed back her bark, "I think you are skipping some rather crucial steps here."

Sheldon turned around and actually looked at Penny, she was glaring at him, her eyebrows raised, her posture hunched and defensive, her hand clutching her purse as if she wanted to throw it. He looked around the rest of the apartment finally taking note of the fact that it was just the two of them. Once he finally realized that the atmosphere in the apartment had changed he turned his whole body around to give full attention to Penny.

He thought back to the whole day trying to pay special attention to Penny's role. He couldn't find anything that raised any major red flags so he decided that asking was probably his best option, "Skipping steps?"

"Yeah, Sheldon. Don't you think that before you ask my manager for time off he probably doesn't want to give me and take me on a trip to Texas, I can't afford anyway, that you might have missed a step? Or maybe before assuming that there needs to be a page dedicated in that instruction manual that you are writing, to the packing of my things that perhaps a small step was skipped?" she punctuated her questions with a pinch of her fingers.

"Come on Sheldon, think about it," she sighed and turned back around to go to her apartment. She was tired and would deal with this again tomorrow.

But before she was able to open the door, Sheldon had turned her around and stopped her. He looked her in the eyes and tried to understand as best as he could, "Why are you mad?"

Penny sighed and tried to calm herself down, but she didn't answer.

"Was it not you who told me that you were going to be there for Lee Ann and me?" Sheldon looked for an answer in her facial expressions but he couldn't interpret them.

"Penny, did I not tell you that you would be an important part of mine and my daughter's life?' You would be in the title' remember?" He tried to jog her memory of their conversation at the restaurant. But Penny just looked up at him and didn't answer, "Penny?"

Penny backed up against the door. She looked down as she tried to understand what it was that she was feeling. Yeah she had told him that, and she did want to be a major part of his life but was it too much too soon? Or was it too much to be asked what she might want? She looked up, "You could have just asked me Sheldon."

"I thought I had made my feeling quite plain. I'm ready for change, aren't you? All or nothing, Kitten." He took a deep breath before stepped closer, "Penny …would you like to move in with me and Lee Ann?"

Penny licked her lips and watched as Sheldon hesitated to ask what he had thought was already a done deal. She could see the fear of rejection in his eyes. She tried to think back over the past few weeks and to be honest; it was a bit of a whirlwind. All or nothing? What did he mean? If she said yes, was that confirmation to a commitment that she wasn't sure she was ready for? And if she said no, what then? What? Would he decide to end it? Well that wasn't going to happen.

She tried to hide her smile but she knew that if she waited a second more, tears would be making an appearance, "okay."

Sheldon couldn't help but to set his forehead on hers, "and Texas?"

She shrugged but smiled up at him. She wasn't going to leave him alone to deal with everything alone for two weeks, "Yeah, ok, I could use a vacation."

He was lucky that she still had on her heels, because he didn't have to bend down very far to kiss her senseless.

And to Penny's surprise he took advantage of them being at the apartment alone for the night.

A/N: OMG LOOK! I updated before the seasons changed again! LOL

I'm really hoping this is proof that I have my writing mojo back, wouldn't that be nice!

Please, please review and I will respond to you all. Thank you to those that review after each chapter it really helps the story placement and it helps keep me motivated. I got some new followers and faves so if you have been reading and have yet to comment please take the time to do so, I love hearing from all of you.

I really think it's time to introduce Lee Ann to the rest of the family, don't you? By the way who's ready for a little sexy-shenny? cause i think i need some, what do y'all think?

REVIEW!