Again, I do not own BBT nor the characters in the show. Well, except for Alex…

Chapter 2: Hankey-Pankey Delay

Bzzzzzt!

Mary Cooper, who was engrossed with dredging the milk-marinated chicken cutlets in flour, was startled by the sound of the doorbell.

Bzzzzt-bzzzzzzzzt!

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said as she got to the kitchen sink and rinsed her hands. She picked up a towel on her way to the door.

"Now who could this be…"As she turned the doorknob, familiar faces greeted her. "Oh, Shelly bean!" With no hesitation, she gave her son a hug.

Sheldon, although surprised by the action, hugged back. "Oh, mom. I missed you too."

Alex rolled his eyes at the sight but his lips twitched slightly, trying hard not to let his lips curl upward.

Amy smiled as she looked at her husband and his mother. "Good evening, Mom. It's definitely nice to see you again."

Mary let go of her son and also gave Amy a hug. "Aww. Good to see you too, Amy." As she let go of her daughter-in-law, she turned to her grandson. "Now Alex, you know I only got to see you a few times a year, so you better give your grandma a hug or you won't get a present this year." She raised an eyebrow as she held her arms in from of her, awaiting a hug from Alex.

He looked at his parents, who were trying hard not to laugh and then looked away from him. "Fine," he breathed. Mary leaned closer and gave her grandson a warm embrace.

Surprisingly, he placed his arms around her and squeezed her tighter than she would have expected. "I missed you too, Grandma," he admitted.

They both let go from the embrace and there was a short awkward silence. "So, you guys seem to be a bit late."

"Right… that," he trailed. "You see mother," he kept his face serious as he looked at Amy, who was biting her lips and trying to avoid eye contact.

"Mom and Dad played Mario Kart for at least an hour before we left." Alex gave an annoyed expression. "Well, they played for, like a round or two, before they stood up and went back to their room." He crossed his arms as he leaned on the closed door.

Mary gave her son and his wife a suspicious look. "Oh, you two. Ever since your wedding day you just can't keep it in, now can't yah?"

"No, really! We were—"he turned his wife again who was now looking down on the floor and was hiding her grin, "playing, and then we lost track of the time—"

"Oh hush," Mary waved her arm, dismissing his last statement. "What's important is that God brought you three here safe and sound. Now, y'all must be worn out from that trip. I got plenty of ice-cold Yoohoo in the fridge." She headed inside as the three followed her in.

"Alex, where in the world did you get that darn hat?" Mary gave a perplexed expression as she handed him a bottle of Yoohoo. Sheldon and Amy were upstairs, busily unpacking their bags. They decided to spend their holidays in Galveston this year after being pestered by Mary since Thanksgiving.

He held the hat at the brim and tipped it, more like a salute. "Ain't it cute on me, Grandma?" He asked while imitating a Texan accent.

"No, you look worse than your Uncle Georgey when he got home from that Gala at the Bensons' ranch. And I tell you, that gala wasn't a pretty sight when it ended."

"Aww, come on Grandma. It can't be worse than that."

"Oh, don't believe me? Just ask your father."

"Nevermind," Alex trailed as he took off the hat for the first time since they arrived in Galveston.

"You know what? You can go upstairs to your Uncle Georgey's old room and you can check out some of his stuff and see if you might like 'em". Alex's expression softened. That seemed to cheer the little bugger up.

"Really? Can I go check them out right now?" Alex stood up and motioned towards the stairs.

"Sure, Go ahead. The food won't be ready for the next hour anyway."

"Thanks, Grandma." Alex smiled at her before proceeding upstairs.

End note: Things will get even prettier in the next chapter. I don't wanna spoil what's going to happen ahead but I'll be updating again soon. I haven't checked for errors that much in this chapter since I'm typing this up in my spare time between my class and PE. And yes, Sheldon and Amy pretty much changed ever since Alex was born. That round of Mario Kart game really turn couples on, if you know what I mean. You'll read all about the mysteries that surround these two soon in the later chapters.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are highly appreciated! 3