A Few Years Later...

Penny looked up from her spiral notebook and rolled her stiff shoulders to work out the kinks, as her eyes drifted to the clock. Nearly 2:00 AM. She should probably get some sleep. She looked longingly toward the corridor that passed outside the study where she sat. She and David had moved into this apartment almost two years ago, and she was still getting used to the spacious floorplan – such a contrast to the cramped, makeshift bedroom where she used to do her MCAT studying, not so many years ago.

Now her medical books sprawled about the little office in disarray. David made no comment on the mess, as long as she kept it confined to the study and didn't allow the chaos to spread to the two rooms at the other end of the hall.

One, the master suite that she and David shared.

Two, the second bedroom, split by their two new roommates: Leo and Adam.

Penny scowled at the clock, fighting back a yawn. She only had one more week to prepare for the big exam at the end of the month. She had to make sure she aced it on the first try – couldn't afford the delay if she had to re-take it. She'd already taken an extra year to finish her degree. She just graduated from Cornell Medical School this past May, and now she had one week left to study for the boards, before she took her place in the psychiatry residency program at Mount Sinai.

She sat up straighter in her chair and took a swig of black coffee. One more hour, she told herself. Bed could wait. David would be fast asleep anyway by now, although Adam and Leo might be up before too long. . . .

"Roommates," Penny muttered under her breath. She couldn't help but crack a tired smile at the thought.

She would never forget that day, a couple years ago, when she sat in the living room of David's old one-bedroom, scrolling through apartment listings on Craigslist. He'd found her there when he came home from work that day, and he'd eyed the screen skeptically over her shoulder.

"Craigslist, Penny?"

"I know. I know," she'd answered without looking up. "You have a rule."

"Why are you looking at apartment listings?" He'd loosened his tie as he spoke, and cast aside his suit jacket over the back of the couch. She hadn't been able to resist a furtive glance as he moved, the lean muscles of his back and shoulders rippling beneath the thin cotton of his dress shirt.

"I'm thinking of moving," she told him vaguely.

He'd slumped beside her on the couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. "Brooklyn?" he inquired.

She shook her head, and then pulled up one of the listings to show him. "Manhattan," she replied. "Gramercy Park."

"Classic 6?" His eyes had darted to her face, and Penny remembered how she bit the inside of her lip as she awaited his response. He knew what that term meant – probably the most coveted apartment floor plan out there, when it came to Manhattan real estate. He read the rest of the listing under his breath. "Living room, dining room, study, two bedrooms. . . ." He paused for a moment before he spoke. "Seems like a little much for two people, don't you think?"

She shrugged. "I'm thinking of taking in some lodgers."

He'd screwed up his forehead at her. "I know med school is expensive, Penny, but—"

"I'm not planning to charge them any rent."

"So we're just going take in random people off Craigslist and provide free housing?"

"Room and board," she corrected.

"Why would we do this?"

"Well, a Classic 6 would be way too big for two people."

He'd known she was messing with him, of course, but he hadn't quite yet caught on yet. He could be so slow sometimes. She recalled how he'd taken her hand in his and fiddled idly with her fingers as they bantered.

"OK, Penny. I'm going to go ahead and veto this plan." He'd reached with his free hand to shut the laptop, but she'd swatted him away.

"Too late," she answered.

"What do you mean?" His head had swiveled toward her. "You already rented it? Did you sign a lease?"

"No, but I lined up the tenant."

He might have freaked out at that point, back when the two of them first got together. But they'd already been married for a couple years by the time this particular conversation took place. He knew her well enough not to take anything she said too seriously. He'd merely lifted her hand and pressed a kiss against the back of it, his lips twisting in a half-smile. "You don't think you should've discussed that with me first?"

"Why?"

"Oh I don't know. There's this thing married people do sometimes. It's called talking to each other."

She bit the inside of her cheek, and lowered her voice suggestively. "I prefer non-verbal forms of communication."

He'd choked, and she pressed her advantage.

"Anyway we did discuss it."

He had started to rise from the couch, his eyes moving toward the bedroom door, but she yanked him back in place, and he sighed helplessly as he sank back down. "When, Penny? When did we discuss turning our apartment into a homeless shelter?"

"I believe it was about two months ago," she'd mused.

"I have no recollection of this alleged conversation."

"Well you're almost 40 now, dear." She sadly shook her head. "They say the memory is the first thing to go."

"Pretty sure I would've remembered that one."

"Well, we were sitting right here on this very couch," she'd told him. She was careful to keep her eyes on the computer, but it was all for show. She was watching his reflection in the screen. "I said I should go refill my birth control prescription, and you said maybe I shouldn't bother."

Penny would never forget the look on his face when she said it. Frozen. Utterly speechless. The half-smile wiped away. Eyes widening as realization slowly dawned.

Even now, two years later, Penny still felt a warm glow of satisfaction at the memory.

David Powers without a witty comeback.

A full 30 seconds must've passed before he finally responded, his voice low and hoarse.
"Penny, exactly how large is this tenant you've lined up?"

"Right now?" She'd lost control of the corners of her mouth at that point, and she'd broken into a wide smile. "I'm guessing about the size of a sesame seed, but we'll have to wait and see on the ultrasound. . . ."

Of course, they'd both been in for the surprise of their life at the OB/GYN appointment the following week. Apparently they'd be taking in not one lodger, but two.

Penny heard a rustling sound from the other end of the hallway now. One of her twin sons must have woken up in his crib. She paused, listening, waiting for the sound of crying. She could always tell which one it was, just by the pitch and cadence – although one crying twin usually meant the other would be joining in the chorus before too long.

Instead, she heard the sound of footsteps, and she let out her breath in a long sigh. Not Adam or Leo after all. What was David doing up at this hour?

He wandered through the office door a moment later, rubbing his eyes and pulling a flannel robe around his shoulders. His hair, disheveled from sleep, stuck up wildly on top of his head. Her fingers itched to fix the mess.

"What are you doing up?" she asked instead.

He came to stand behind her desk chair and his hands dropped lightly to her shoulders. He massaged them gently, and she sighed in gratitude. He always knew just the right spot to work out all the knots and kinks, whenever she put in one of her marathon all-nighter study sessions.

"I thought I heard one of the junior associates," he muttered. "False alarm, I guess."

"I'll get them if they wake up," she responded. "You should get some sleep."

"No, you should get some sleep." He swiveled the chair around so that she faced him, and he crouched down in front of her, gathering both her hands in his. "No more studying. Come to bed."

"I'm almost done," she protested.

"Penny, you're going to be fine. You're going to pass the boards with flying colors. You know that, right?"

She shook her head. "I just want to be sure," she replied softly. "I don't want to leave anything to chance. Not this time."

He lifted a hand and gently cupped her cheek, replacing a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. "You're going to pass the boards," he told her firmly. "You're going to ace the boards. Just like you aced the MCATs. Just like you aced every test in med school. And then you know what you're going to do, Penny?"

"What?"

"You're going be an amazing doctor."

Her face crumpled, and she pressed the back of her hand against her mouth. Her eyes were welling with tears, and for the life of her, she didn't know why. Something about the way his face looked when he said that. . . .

Or maybe it was something else. Maybe the long-forgotten echo of some unfamiliar drunken voice, overheard once in some bar:

"What's his type?"

"Oh, you know. The over-educated, 16-letters-after-her-name, smarter than he is type. . . ."

She only had two letters after her name at this point, but she knew for a fact that he was just as proud of those two letters as she was.

MD.

David gathered her into his arms, and she buried her face into his neck, wiping her dampened eyes against the collar of his robe. 

"Penny, you're exhausted," he murmured into her hair.

"Why am I crying?" she asked him in reply.

He scooped her up out of the chair, and carried her in his arms toward the bedroom, helpless as a baby in his arms. "How should I know?" he answered, and she could hear the trace of laughter in his voice. "You tell me. You're the psychiatrist."

He laid her gently on the bed and started unbuttoning her blouse.

"But I'm not allowed to treat myself," she murmured. She could feel the sleep overtaking her already, as he stripped her down to her underwear and tucked her beneath the covers. "Someone told that me that," she muttered. "Do you think that will be on the test?"

He slipped into the bed beside her, and flicked off the bedside lamp. "Bed time," he whispered.

She snuggled her body into the hollow of his arm, familiar and comforting. "Hmmmmm," she muttered. "You're probably right. Probably not on the test."

He pressed a kiss against her lips to silence her, and his voice was firm and final when he spoke again. "Go to sleep," he said. "Goodnight, Penny."

"'Night, boss. I love you."

"I love you too, Dr. Powers."

THE END

Dear Readers:  Thank you SO MUCH for all the love and support you've shown this book! This used to be the final epilogue of this book, but by popular demand, I brought back David and Penny for one more Valentine's Day epilogue. Keep scrolling to catch up with them a couple years later!

Love,
Viv (adam_and_jane)