It was Friday evening and Amy was driving to Leonard and Penny's with Sheldon. They were talking about taking a break from the house hunting that weekend. After three months of research and open houses, they both getting burned out on it.
As they drove by the brown house by the park, Sheldon looked up out of habit. He liked keeping tabs on it.
"Amy, stop the car!" Sheldon said.
"Are you okay?"
"Just stop the car!"
Amy pulled the car over and Sheldon jumped out. She got out and followed him. By the time Amy caught up to Sheldon, he was arguing with a woman in the front yard of the brown house.
"I'm sorry, sir. The first open house is in two weeks. The owners aren't even ready to allow a private showing yet. They are just putting it on the market today," the woman told Sheldon. Amy saw the "For Sale" sign behind the realtor.
Amy didn't know why Sheldon wanted to see this house so badly, but it was easily the most enthusiastic he had been about a house so far. "Can you at least go ask them?" Amy asked.
"I suppose I can ask, but they will probably say no," the realtor said.
Sheldon and Amy waited while she went back inside. "This is it, Amy. This is our home. We can't let anyone else get it," Sheldon said.
The realtor appeared at the door and told them it was okay to come in. Sheldon took Amy's hand and they went inside. There was a couple a few years older than Sheldon and Amy and three little boys sitting at a table.
"I'm sorry that we are interrupting your dinner. We've been looking at a lot of houses. I think it's been getting to my husband," Amy explained.
"No problem. We're pleased to get attention already. I've been offered a teaching position at Harvard, so that means that we need to relocate soon. We love this house though," the woman said.
"Oh. I went to Harvard," Amy said.
"It's a great school," the woman said. "I'm Katherine. How about I show you around, Mr. and Mrs.?"
"Dr. Cooper and Dr. Fowler-Cooper," Sheldon said.
"Look at them, honey. They are just like us ten years ago," Katherine said to her husband. "You two are just adorable," she added to Sheldon and Amy.
Then Katherine started showing them the house. It was very open on the main floor. There was a big kitchen and a laundry room and plenty of living space. Then she took them upstairs to look at the bedrooms. There were four rooms upstairs including a master bedroom that was big enough for a king sized bed.
"Sorry about the boys' rooms. They weren't expecting anyone to see their rooms," Katherine said as she showed Sheldon and Amy three adorably messy bedrooms. "Do you have any kids?"
"Not yet. We wanted to have a little more space. Our apartment isn't exactly too small for a baby, but we don't even have a full kitchen," Sheldon explained. Amy looked at him while he explained why they didn't have kids. Some days he even looked a little excited about it.
"Yeah. For tiny people, they need a lot of space. Now, this house has a basement, which is not very common for the area. We'll go down there now, but I want to warn you. My husband is a veterinarian, so that's why there are cages and lab equipment down there. We aren't running any strange experiments down here," Katherine said.
They went down to find a small lab area set up. "We were going to rip all of this out before the open house. The realtor said it is a bit unsettling, so I'm sorry that you have to see it."
"Sheldon, this is perfect," Amy said when they saw it. The cages were built into the walls, and there was a lot of counter space. She could see that it might be exactly what she would need if she wanted to work from home. Well, with a few alterations, but still very close.
"It is?" Katherine asked.
"I'm a neurobiologist. I don't know how much work I would be able to do from home, but this just about everything I would need to do it," Amy explained.
"Oh," Katherine said with a smile. "Well, my office is just across the hall here. It's much more subdued. Just some whiteboards on the walls," she added as she showed them the space. "There's some storage space down here, but that's about it."
Amy looked at Sheldon. He was right. The house was absolutely perfect. She wondered how he knew it would have everything they were looking for. Amy's phone beeped to alert her of a new text message. She checked it and realized that she had never called the guys to let them know they were going to be late. She texted Penny back.
Sheldon and I got caught up looking at a house. I don't know when we'll be by. I'll call when we're done. - A
Then they went upstairs to the main level. The realtor was sitting with the husband whose name neither Amy nor Sheldon had caught yet. The boys were off playing somewhere in the house. Amy could hear them arguing over one thing or another, and she smiled.
"We want to buy your house," Sheldon said. He had a feeling that they were never going to be able to afford it, but the house was so perfect for them that they had to ask.
Some numbers were thrown out and Amy's heart sank. "That's about $50,000 more than our budget," she said quietly.
"We can raise our budget some, but we can't go that high. There's just no way that we can make more than that work," Sheldon added. "We've taken up enough of your time tonight. Thank you for indulging us." Then he and Amy got up to leave.
"Dr. Cooper? Leave your card. We will at least give it some thought," Katherine said.
Sheldon pulled a business card from his wallet, and handed it over. "Thanks," he said. Then there was a round of hand shaking, and they left.
Amy called Penny and explained that they were on the way. When they got there, everyone else was done eating, but they were still hanging out. Amy heated up her and Sheldon's food in the microwave.
"So, tell us about this house," Penny said enthusiastically.
"It was perfect. Four bedrooms, a beautiful back yard, a nice kitchen. It even had a mini lab in the basement," Amy gushed. "It's too expensive though."
Sheldon wanted to give Amy anything she wanted, but he had no idea how he could give her this house. He'd somehow always known that it was the perfect house for them. He hated that it was another thing that he couldn't give her.
"That does sound perfect. Why does it have a mini lab?" Penny asked.
"The husband is a veterinarian. They might rip it all out if they can't sell the house with it," Amy told her.
"Wow," Penny said. "If they can just bring the price down, they won't have to go to all that work. You said they would think about it. Maybe they'll surprise you."
"I don't know. It's a lot of money to come down on for us to be able to afford it. It was so great, just like Sheldon knew it would be," Amy said as she looked over at him. "How did you know?"
"I just had a feeling. I've liked that house for months. Not that I believe in fate or anything, but I thought it was remarkable timing that it was going up for sale while we were looking."
Marcus started crying, so Howard got up to take him home. "If you can find someone to take you home, you can stay," Howard told Bernadette. "You had a long day at work."
"No. I'll come with. I want to spend more time with my boys," Bernadette said. Then she got up and went over to Penny to give her a hug. "Congrats again on the news that he's a boy," she said as she put her hand on Penny's stomach. Then Bernadette went to hug Amy. "And good luck to you on the house. I'm sure it will work out one way or another."
"Thanks," Amy said as she sat back down. She wasn't so sure. It was a lot of money. Still, maybe she and Sheldon would find a different house that would suit their needs.
Instead of looking at houses that weekend, Sheldon and Amy just relaxed at home and out with their friends. It seemed more important to take a break after seeing that house, and realizing that they needed to reevaluate their priorities. They couldn't have everything they wanted for their budget. It was just that simple.
In fact the whole thing left them sort of apathetic toward the house hunt for a couple weeks. They checked out a couple open houses over the next couple weeks, but nothing really stood out. Sheldon looked longingly at the brown house each time they drove by, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. He was starting to feel helpless in his life. Maybe there was something he could give Amy even if he couldn't give her the home of their dreams.