Author's note: Welcome to my new fanfiction! To everyone who already read something from me: welcome back ;D please leave reviews, guys. They make me so happy, you have no idea! :) Plus, I decided to throw it out today already because the season 8 finale depressed me more than I thought so here you go... *rains you with much needed fluff*

The furious clickity-clack of Sheldon's keyboard almost drove his roommate insane once again but he decided to ignore it. When his best friend was "in the zone" there was no way to simply kick him out of it even though Leonard would have loved to most of the time.

Ever since they had published their paper, Sheldon had basically ignored Dark Matter and had concentrated on getting more and more information about their thesis. Of course, it had been the greatest achievement of their career so far, but Leonard started to worry about his friend. The past three days Sheldon had done nothing but research, even at Date Night he sometimes had taken his phone to check several facts… at least that was what Amy had complained about to Penny. The highlight of yesterday had been Sheldon screaming at Leonard about looking for wedding rings instead of "something important". It had culminated in a fight where Leonard had yelled that – of course – Sheldon didn't know how important love actually was. This had hit him harder than he would have ever admitted but Leonard as his best friend had known that he had made a terrible mistake and had apologized even though he still wasn't quite sure if Sheldon had forgiven him fully yet.

"Buddy, what do you think about pizza?" Leonard carefully asked.

Sheldon stopped his mad typing and turned around with a puzzled look on his face. "As food in general? I think it's a great invention. Did you know that pizza was basically known as peasant food for centuries in Italy…?"

"I meant if we should order some. Are you hungry?"

"Oh" Sheldon pulled a face and then shrugged. "I guess so"

Leonard sighed and grabbed the phone, dialing the number of their favorite pizza place. Yes, Mary had been right. Sheldon sure had been a handful – and he still was.

Amy sighed, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she conjured a smile back on her face and turned around with one cup of coffee and one cup of tea in her hands. Her mother hadn't even been here for an hour and had already exhausted her kindness to a point where Amy just wanted to hiss at her and chase her back out the door with a cross and a pile of garlic. It always reminded her why she had had moved out at the age of 17 – one moment longer in the same house and they probably would have killed each other.

Amy's mother was conservative and strict and had clear ideas of what a lady had to do and how she had to behave. Amy choosing neurobiology as her field of study had already been a thorn in her flesh just as much as the fact that Amy was now over thirty and still had not blessed her with grandchildren yet. Up to this day Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Fowler still thought that it had been a great idea to force her daughter on yearly dates. What she still did not understand was how Amy could have chosen this lust-ridden rude swank instead of all the nice guys she had dated over the past years before. Elizabeth clearly remembered Chad, a rather good-looking young man in his early thirties with a well situated family. He had been polite, charming and everything that a woman could have wished for. What Amy hadn't told her mother was, that this guy had been extremely handsy all evening and had even tried to get his sleazy paws under her skirt which had earned him a firm slap in the face.

Amy placed the cups on the table and shoved the one filled with coffee to her mother. Then she took a seat and smiled innocently. "Nice to see you, Mother"

"I just came because I visited an old friend in Burbank and thought I might see how my daughter is getting by… since you don't think it's necessary to call me anymore."

"I do call you, Mother"

"Once a month – maybe!" Elizabeth took a sip and put the cup back onto the table with a disgusted expression on her face. "Two spoons of sugar, please. Amy, this is not the first time I am drinking coffee with you."

The neurobiologist shoved her chair back and got up again, grabbing the cup and stomping back into the kitchen.

"Watch your attitude, young lady" Elizabeth sighed and then looked around irritatedly as something buzzed.

Amy quickly dumped another spoonful of sugar into the coffee, placed the cup in front of her mother and rushed to her phone. Just a text message from Penny asking how she was doing. Amy had ranted all evening yesterday… most of all about her mother. What a good friend she was to ask now if everything was okay. Amy smiled and quickly texted back, then she walked back to her kitchen table. "That was my best friend"

"Penelope?" Mrs. Fowler took a sip and seemed a lot more satisfied with her beverage than just a few minutes ago.

"Yes" Amy nodded. "But she prefers to be called Penny."

"What a shame" Elizabeth sighed and leaned back. "Penelope is such a beautiful name."

Amy sunk back onto her chair and took a big sip of her chamomile tea. That could become a really really long visit.

"Did you know that the pizza like it exists today wasn't always like that? At first it was just dough with a little bit of olive oil, tomatoes and basil. The first real pizza – if you will – was made on June 11th 1889." Sheldon was so proud of himself for knowing these facts that a huge lopsided smile spread on his face.

"But why?"

Two pairs of annoyed eyes hit Raj.

Leonard had called Howard and Raj and since they both had been free – Bernadette had met up with an old friend and Emily had still been at the hospital – they had agreed to come over and have one of the good old pizza evenings. Ever since all of them had girlfriends this didn't happen too often anymore but whenever it did, it was great. They ate and then played videogames or Dungeons & Dragons.

"Well, Raffaele Esposito – a pizza maker – was told to create a special pizza for a King. Since the King wanted something extraordinary, he decided to put on mozzarella."

"God bless the King" Howard mumbled, munching his pizza happily.

"I still think sooner or later someone would have gotten the idea to put cheese on" Leonard commented deadpan.

They all thought about it and then nodded.

"By the way, I asked Bernie and she said she's okay with me going to Comic Con" Howard grinned so much that his ears almost fell off.

"Okay" Sheldon nodded, suddenly all business again. "That means all we have to do is get tickets. I could ask Wil Wheaton if he can help somehow."

"That's a nice idea" Leonard nodded. "And maybe the girls can help us, too, this time!"

"Hey hey" Howard stopped him. "I said Bernadette is okay with me going. Not that she would help."

Raj just sighed and concentrated on his pizza again, while Sheldon and Leonard tried their best to hold back their comments. Ever since Howard's mom had died he seemed even more dependent on Bernadette but no one blamed him. Howard had grown up with his mom his entire life, a few weeks ago his half-brother had suddenly appeared on his doorstep and Howard's world had been crumbled and crushed all over again. The first thing everyone had thought about was Howard's father; what if he'd appear? No one really knew what Howard thought about it – if he'd be happy or angry. If he'd forgive him or chase him down the road. All they knew was, that there was something to come probably and none of them was really prepared for it. Not even Bernadette.

Sheldon put his pizza box on the couch table and fished his buzzing mobile phone out of his pocket. He would have bet it was Amy, apologizing about nagging on Date Night – since she had made the rule of not being grumpy.

When he saw the name "Missy" blinking on his display though, he was confused. His sister usually only called him twice a year – for Christmas and his birthday. Sheldon stood up and walked over to his desk before answering the call. The first thought that rushed through his brain was, that there was anything wrong. With mom? George Junior? His nephew? Or even worse; his Meemaw?

"Missy" He said dryly. "What's the matter of your call?"

"Shelly" It sounded happily out of his mobile phone. "Charming as ever"

Sheldon ignored her sarcasm and asked again what was going on. He felt nervous. Even though he didn't see his family often, he loved each and every one of them with all his heart.

"Is everything okay with Meemaw?" He couldn't help it, the feeling something might have been wrong with her had clinched his heart and made it feel heavy.

"She's fine. Stop being so negative, Shelly. All I wanted was inviting you to my wedding!"

Sheldon was clearly relieved but as soon as the second sentence got to him, he knitted his eyebrows skeptically. "Are you pregnant again?"

His friends started to look up and stare at him. It hadn't only been Sheldon who had had to go through that birth – it had been all of them. He had shown them pictures and had told them about the birth of his nephew. So detailed that Raj had gotten up at one point and left.

"No, but we already do have one that was born out of wedlock. You know what mom thinks about that… so John and I decided to finally get married. And now again; would you like to come?"

Sheldon shrugged. "Well, sure. When do you need me there?"

"We're going to get married in a week so basically you could come around tomorrow and help with preparations. If it's possible. Meemaw already asked about you, she sends all her love and said she misses you."

He couldn't help but smile. His dear Meemaw. Yes, he would definitely fly over by tomorrow just to get one of her great warm hugs again. He hadn't seen her in years. "I'll be there, Missy."

"That's great to hear" She seemed genuinely happy. "Well then, see you tomorrow, Shelly!"

"See you tomorrow" He smiled. Then a sudden thought struck him. "Missy?"

"Yes?" He seemed to have caught her just a second before hanging up.

"Can I bring my girlfriend?"

"Amy? Of course! I am sorry I didn't think about this. It's just getting really stressy here. But Shelly, I really gotta go now. Noah is hungry and wants some spaghetti with hotdogs."

Sheldon smiled. "Good boy"

He hung up and then immediately tried to dial Amy. He had flight tickets to book and needed her answer. Sheldon strongly hoped she'd come with him. Another two weeks without her seemed endless after he had been away for so long almost a year ago.

Amy had managed to not fight with her mother for another hour but she wasn't sure how long she still could keep this up. They had talked about her friends, about her free time, about Amy's work and about what was going on in her mother's life. Of course Elizabeth hadn't been able to not criticize her daughter. Amy had restrained from screaming and yelling but it had taken up all of her mental strength.

"Another cup of coffee, Mother?" Amy sighed.

"No, thank you. Say, Amy, this paper you told me about... was it really written by your boyfriend or did he just say he co-worked with this other great scientist?" Elizabeth pulled a specs cloth out of her purse and started cleaning her glasses.

Amy wanted to answer but her phone buzzed again – like it had constantly for the past thirty minutes. She stretched out her hand, but a loud smack on the table let her flinch.

"Amy Farrah Fowler. This is certainly not how I raised you. You're not a teenager, can you stop checking your phone every five minutes, please?"

The neurobiologist sighed and dragged her hand back. She didn't see her mother too often so she decided not to freak out. Only one or two hours more, then she'd be gone again – hopefully for a long time.

"Excuse me. And to answer your question; actually Dr. Hofstadter thought of the hypothesis and Sheldon wrote the paper." Amy tried to ignore her annoyingly buzzing phone.

"So he basically didn't do anything else than write someone else's idea down and still puts his name on it? That is bold…"

"Sheldon is a great scientist, Mother. One of the greatest known to mankind. And you'd know that if you were interested in science." Fine. Amy had no problem with her mother nagging about her and her life. But when it came to Sheldon, she couldn't take a joke. If anyone would have even remotely known how much this man meant to her, no one would have ever dared again to make a joke at his expense.

"You don't have to be interested in science to know big scientists. I am also not interested in art and still I know about Picasso"

"What a great comparison…"

"Amy, your sarcasm is inappropriate!"

"No, Mother! What's inappropriate is your…" Amy's starting rage was interrupted by the doorbell.

She turned around and stared at her door in confusion, then back to her mother. "Did you bring anyone?"

"Not that I know of. Do you expect anyone?"

"Actually, no, I don't…" Amy got off her chair and walked over to her door. She was afraid that it was Penny who had texted and called her the entire time and now was here to visit her to ease the situation. Amy was more than sure that her mother would not have approved of Penny at all – starting with her hairstyle and clothing.

Amy swung the door open and her jaw dropped when she saw, who had been ringing the doorbell instead of doing his knocking ritual. "Sheldon!"