It was the day following Sheldon's appearance to the Hofstadters to drop of The Separation Agreement for Amy. The agreement became the catalyst Amy needed to make some decisions concerning her marriage. No matter how painful, she could no longer act like a child and ignore Sheldon and their problems.
She knew her husband would not take the decision to separate lightly and that was her greatest concern. Sheldon hated change and if he was willing to change everything by possibly ending their marriage, it may be too late for them no matter how she felt about it. She could not believe their fight had escalated to this point!
Amy decided to go away and be by herself for a while to decide what she really wanted for her marriage and for her life. She talked with Penny this morning about a place to go and when Penny mentioned her doctor friend's cabin on Big Bear Lake was available, Amy jumped at it. She made Penny promise not to tell Sheldon where she would be staying.
Penny helped Amy carry her few belongings to the car and Amy decided to try and take a quick nap before making the drive to the lake. She wasn't sleeping very well at night and she didn't want to fall asleep driving.
While Amy rested, Penny worked on her laptop. After a while, Penny heard a knock at the door.
"Elliot!" Penny said surprised when she opened her apartment door.
Penny was struck by how much Elliot looked like Sheldon seeing him stand in the same spot as his father had only yesterday.
"Hey Aunt Penny" Elliot said.
"Come here" Penny demanded bringing Elliot in for a famous Penny hug. "I thought we wouldn't see you until Thanksgiving" she said as they came inside the apartment and she closed the door.
"Fall break" he said simply. "Thanks to you and Uncle Leonard's plane ticket" he smiled.
Penny smiled in return and then frowned when Elliot blurted out "I want to talk to Mom." Just like his dad, he never beat around the bush.
"Hold on" Penny replied as she went to the spare bedroom. Penny hated to wake Amy but she knocked gently on the door and told her Elliot was home for fall break and here to see her.
Amy jumped up like a cannon (especially for someone her age) and practically sprinted to the living room where Elliot had settled into his dad's old spot on the couch.
For a moment, Amy stopped moving as she was taken aback by how much her son looked like a younger version of Sheldon sitting in that very same spot over the years.
"Oh my goodness sweetie! What a wonderful surprise" Amy said finally reaching him as he stood up and she embraced her tall son.
"Hi Mom" he said hugging her in return. He noticed when he hugged her that she felt smaller to him if that were even possible.
They both sat on the couch and Elliot took her hand and turned to her.
"Mom, Dad told me everything. Why are you still here? Why aren't you even trying to fix your marriage?" he asked bluntly.
Amy sighed. Elliot took after his father in many ways, not just in appearance but also in his direct manner.
"Elliot" she began. "I'm sorry you had to find out about your father and my situation. Actually, I had hoped to figure out what to do about it by now, but I haven't. I think we just need some time apart."
"Nope!" Elliot jumped up from the couch. "That is not right Mom. You and Dad have already spent enough time apart as it is. And don't be sorry about me finding out about you guys either. Marie and I aren't kids anymore and that was not cool, you keeping something like this from us" he said.
"I'm sorry" Amy said again.
"It's okay" Elliot said sitting back down. "But you might not want to talk to Marie for a while. She's pissed that you didn't tell her what was going on when you were in England."
Amy gulped and nodded.
"Look Mom, Dad loves you. He knows he made a mistake. Both in keeping his contact with that woman a secret and in sending you the Separation Agreement. He didn't mean it Mom. He doesn't want to separate."
"I don't know Elliot. The agreement made his intentions pretty clear" she said softly.
"Will you please just talk to him? Please?" he begged.
Amy looked at her son. She never could resist him. All he had to do growing up was say "please" and look at her with those puppy dog eyes like he was doing now and she was a goner. She nodded in the affirmative.
Before Amy knew what was happening, Elliot quickly got up, grabbed Penny by the arm and moved them both to the door.
"Bye" he said opening the door practically shoving a very confused Penny through it.
"Hello Amy" said a voice in the doorway.
It was Sheldon.