Amy awoke the next morning to an odd sound that seemed to be coming from the living room. She twisted her head to find Sheldon's side of the bed empty.
"Good morning, Monkey," she whispered, while she stroked her belly, as she did every morning. "Let's find out what kind of trouble your daddy's getting into."
She donned her slippers and robe and padded to the living room. Stacks of books lined the floor next to crates and cardboard boxes, and her husband was crouched in front of one of them with a tape gun. "Morning."
He looked up at her with an apologetic look. "Morning. Sorry I left. You looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you. I hope you're not up because of this." He waved the tape gun.
"It's okay. I got enough sleep."
"How are you feeling?"
"Much better. What's going on?" She asked, taking a step closer to the organized chaos.
He looked down at the box filled with books then back up at her. "Isn't it obvious?"
She bent over and picked up a Star Trek novel from one of the stacks, examining its slightly-worn condition. "Are we making a trip to the storage unit today?"
"What? No, I'm planning to read these again."
"Then why box them up?"
He applied a strip of tape to the box then stood and took her hands. "We need to pack before we move."
"Move? What are you talking about?"
"It would be very difficult to avoid Leonard and Penny if we continue to live across the hall from each other. If we move, we have a much lower chance of running into them. I did the math, taking into consideration the number of residents in Pasadena..."
"Sheldon," she interrupted.
"If you're worried about the work situation, I've already come up with a plan. It will be trickier to avoid Leonard there, but we can stagger our lunches and..."
"Sheldon," she interrupted again. "I'm sorry you've gone to all this trouble, but we don't need to move. I overreacted last night, and now I feel foolish. I blame the pregnancy hormones."
"Hormones or not, you were right to be upset. We've put up with their insults for years. It's time we take action."
"I haven't always said the most flattering things about them either, and you've thrown some insults at them too. Let's just call it even."
"Those weren't insults, I was merely giving them constructive criticism."
Amy rolled her eyes. "And your solution to avoiding our friends is to run away?"
"Precisely. Only, as you said, they're no longer our friends."
"That was the hormones talking. I'm going to apologize to Penny."
"Why are you apologizing? They should apologize to us."
"They don't know they have a reason to apologize, but I do. We were wrong to ignore them, and I take full responsibility. I never should have asked you to help me avoid them. Let's go over there and sort this whole thing out, then I'll help you unpack these boxes."
Sheldon crossed his arms over his chest. "You may be able to forgive and forget, but I'm not."
"Sheldon, they're our best friends. I don't want to stay mad at them." Amy stepped over a pile of books and picked up her abandoned phone that was still lying face down on the coffee table. She clicked on her texts icon and skimmed through the incoming list. "Seven missed messages. Now I really feel bad."
Sheldon placed his hand on hers. "Don't contact her."
"Honestly, Sheldon. I'm sorry I worried you last night, but..."
"Please, just promise you won't speak to the Hofstadters. At least not now."
"Why not?"
"You haven't even had breakfast yet. You're eating for two now; you need your energy."
"And I suppose you've already eaten?"
He gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry I didn't wait for you. I'll make it up by getting yours ready. That will give you a chance to look over what I found online."
Amy took a seat on the couch and peered at the images on his laptop screen as he prepared her breakfast. "House listings? How long have you been awake?"
He consulted his watch. "Two hours and seventeen minutes. I bookmarked the ones we're going to look at this afternoon."
"This is all going a little fast. I thought we agreed to wait until our little one is a year old so we can save more money for a down payment."
"We were, but after seeing these, I'm excited at the prospect of owning a house." Sheldon topped a bowl of cereal with fresh fruit and carried it to the couch.
"Buying a house is a huge decision. Not only do we need to be financially stable, we also need to do extensive research."
"That's what I've been doing." He angled the laptop toward him and tapped a few keys. "This one is near that Mexican restaurant you like, and it's still close to work."
"Sheldon..."
"...and it has three bedrooms." He rested his hand over her belly. "Baby Cooper #1 can have his or her very own nursery then move into the extra room when future baby #2 comes along. There's also a den where I can set up my whiteboards, a modern kitchen, we will finally be free of having to share laundry machines, and best of all it has a library with a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf."
"Sheldon," Amy rested her hand on his. "I'm sure there will be other houses that will be just as great when we're ready to buy."
"How many will have a library? Amy, look at it and tell me it's not like the one you've always dreamed of. It even has a bay window complete with a reading nook."
She gazed at the photos while she chewed her cereal. It really was beautiful. She could already picture them sitting side by side, her reading The Canterbury Tales while he had one of his beloved Star Trek novels. She clicked through the photos of the other rooms of the spacious the house then looked around their tiny apartment. It was fine for just the two of them, but they would really have to cram a bassinet in the bedroom, not to mention needing room for a stroller and all the other baby necessities. In a house, they wouldn't be tripping over clutter or each other.
He turned toward her and tried to gauge her reaction. "So? What do you think?"
"It's very nice, but how can we afford it right now?"
"We have enough money set aside for a down payment. Those extra 17 months were just to give ourselves a bigger financial cushion, but we can do it. We'll cut back on takeout food and forgo cable and satellite, maybe even put our Netflix account on hold temporarily. Plus I have that stash of money in the snake can and..."
"Don't forget I'll be on maternity leave, so we'll have a smaller income for a few weeks."
"We already took that into account when we went over our finances last month.."
She looked him straight in the eye. "Are you wanting to do this just to get away from Leonard and Penny?"
"That's part of it, but I really do think this is the best decision for us, for our family. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise, as my mother would say. Amy, promise you'll at least look at it in person before you say no."
Amy studied his body language. He didn't exhibit any nervous tics and looked back at her steadily. He was being truthful. She bit her lip. "Okay."
"Thank you." He leaned over and pressed his lips to hers, as Amy wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed.