Christmas Night. Paper Night.
The Hofstadter family of five—three PhDs, one future PhD, and one future professor—each grabbed their latest papers and strutted out of their rooms. The scene was hilariously absurd.
Adam and Peggy pulled out their own papers too.
"I'm a biologist, so I'll swap with you first, Dr. Duncan," Rachel, Leonard's sister, said, handing her paper to Peggy and reaching for Adam's.
"Whoa!" She flipped to the first page and let out a gasp.
"What's up?" Michael, Leonard's brother, who'd been watching, piped up instantly.
"This pic—it's a Lancet cover?" Rachel pulled out an image and looked at Adam.
"Not yet," Adam said with a grin. "I sketched it when I heard they were coming to shoot a cover photo for me and Peggy. Just something for them to reference—saves us the hassle if they don't nail what we're going for."
"You drew this? It's not a photo?" Rachel's jaw dropped.
"What drawing? Let me see!" Michael couldn't resist, stepping over. He grabbed it, stared, and froze.
"Me too!" Leonard, curious as ever, joined them. "This is insane—it looks exactly like a photo, with special effects added to the details!"
Alfred, the perennial runner-up of Paper Night and not exactly a fan of it, was thrilled for any distraction. He shuffled over too. "Wow, this is amazing!" he said, glancing from the drawing to Adam and Peggy sitting together. "You two are like a match made in heaven!"
Michael snapped out of it, itching to argue, but the perfect pair in the drawing left him sour. His teenage crush hadn't even started, and it was already crushed. 😅
In the drawing:
Adam and Peggy locked eyes, smiling.
A colorful brain cross-section floated between them.
Math equations shimmered faintly amid a battle of viruses, tumors, and the immune system.
Peggy held a pen, its tip landing on the end of a formula glowing on the brain. The formula's colors matched the tumor-ravaged tissue around it, like a defensive shield.
Across from her, Adam wore a surgical cap, scalpel in hand, slicing into the gray tumor. His blade met Peggy's pen tip perfectly.
Both showed only half their faces, but peek closer: Adam's right eye reflected a tiny, perfect Peggy, while Peggy's left eye held a mini Adam.
Their names ran along the side. The paper's title sat below.
The whole thing was striking—visually stunning. For Michael, it was like choking down bitter dog food while grudgingly admitting they did look perfect together. A photo alone couldn't pull this off—tons of Photoshop would still fall short. Now Leonard and the rest got why Adam said Lancet's crew might not capture their vision. This wasn't flexing—it was just facts! 😎
"Adam, you're a genius!" Leonard said after a few more glances, unable to hold back.
"Thanks," Adam chuckled. "But calling anyone a genius here feels redundant. I mean, is there a single non-genius in the room?" He scanned the group, his gaze landing on Dr. Boots Hofstadter, who'd leapt from the couch to the table.
"Meow~!" Sensing Adam's look, Dr. Boots piped up, as if to say, "I'm a genius cat too, you know!" 🐾
"Fair point!" Leonard and Alfred puffed up proudly, grinning like kids.
Michael sulked, too moody to chime in.
"Is this right?" Rachel pointed to a math calculation.
"Yep," Peggy said confidently, smiling.
"Can you explain it?" Rachel frowned.
"Sorry, it's so basic—what's there to explain?" Peggy shrugged.
"…" Rachel stared at Peggy's "1+1=2, it's right there, what's to unpack?" vibe. For the first time, she felt intellectually steamrolled. But she was proud too. Instead of arguing, she dove into the paper, determined to crack the math herself. As a celebrated biologist with a killer IQ and math chops, she could handle it. The paper leaned heavily on virology—her wheelhouse. After reading it through, she gave it high marks in her head. Still, the math stumped her.
"This part still seems off…" Rachel pointed to another calculation.
"Here's how it works…" Adam stepped in, catching Peggy's glance. She clearly wasn't up for playing teacher again, so he took over. She'd already walked him through this stuff ages ago. Since she didn't want to repeat "simple, obvious" steps, he'd handle it. It was Christmas Night—Paper Night, after all. The whole point was to discuss and grow together.
For a super-genius like Peggy, watching people fumble through basic math and ask "dumb" questions was torture. If Adam weren't her muse—and their bond weren't deepening, with him smoothing over her annoyance with charm after every silly question—she'd explain once and be done. Don't get it? Study harder. Still lost? Oh well! That's normal. Math's history is full of geniuses stumped by formulas from decades past—hence the seven big unsolved problems. Even top mathematicians take months or years to wrestle with a peer's work, sometimes misjudging it only to realize they're the clowns. Math, the start and end of human science, doesn't mess around—you either get it or you don't! 🧠
After Adam's breakdown, Rachel sighed. The math was spot-on—she'd been the one off-base. Adam caught her look: understanding, with a hint of sympathy. Good thing the paper aligned with her field. If Peggy had brought her latest pure math opus, everyone here would've been lost. What is this? Where am I? What am I even doing? 😂
(End of Chapter)