Leonard suggests to Sheldon that they take Mary out to lunch and then sight seeing around town. The last time he tried taking her she was so upset over Sheldon's behavior all she wanted to do was look at churches. Leonard invited Penny to go with them but she had something she wanted to do with the girls. That was fine with him he wanted to get some advice from Mary and it would be hard to ask with Penny around.
"This is nice! I feel like I have hardly seen you two my whole visit and now it is almost over!" Mary says walking in between Leonard and Sheldon and wrapping her arms around their shoulders.
"Who's fault is that? You have been spending all your time with Amy , who is not even your daughter yet."
"That was kind of the point of my visit, Shelly to get to know the girl who is going to be my daughter in law some day! Now that we are on the subject though when are you going to make this thing official?"
"I think getting engaged classifies the relationship as official." Sheldon says shirking out of her embrace.
"You know what I mean, when are you going to set a date! When do I get to see my handsome man in a tux saying his vows before God and his family."
"Mother, I never said anything about getting married in a church or in a tuxedo! As for when I do not know, I hardly think we have to rush things, we already live together."
"See son, that's where you are wrong! That is why living together before marriage is just no good, you get to comfortable and you forget all values! Not that you need to go marching down that aisle tomorrow but I would like to see it all settled before to long. Memaw is getting on up there in the years and I an sure she would like to see her moonpie happy before she goes."
"Good heavens! is Memaw sick! If she is sick why are you waiting til now to tell me!" Sheldon says shocked
"No! Memaw is fine don't get your kickers all twisted! I just meant she is not as young as she used to be."
"Of course not, we get older everyday , right now you are not as young as you were five minutes ago." Sheldon tells her.
"I think what your mother means is that, your like to drag your feet and she would like to see a wedding sooner rather than later. Actually Mary I would like to get your opinion on something with Penny.I want to start planning the wedding but she can not commit to a date."
"Now, I was the same way when I married Sheldon's father, I was so excited when he asked me then I hemmed and hawed at setting a date."
"How did you finally decide on one?" Leonard asks her.
"Well I got pregnant with George Jr. and that really sped the whole thing along." Sheldon does a double take and looks at his mother stunned.
"I knew in those baby pictures of George Jr. he was far to big to be a premie!" Sheldon says shaking his head.
"Yes honey, your mother made some mistakes when she was young, but I was young and stupid. Now I want to ask you something and I want you to answer honestly."
"I do not know if I care to hear more of your candor." His mother shoots him a look and she sighs. "Fine, yes I will endeavor to give you a honest answer."
"Does my marriage to your father, and all the problems we has make you question whether you want to marry Amy?" Sheldon contemplates the question for a moment and sits down on a bench Mary sits down beside him.
"I suppose, on some level, I do worry that when Amy and I actually get married it will end up like your and fathers marriage. We get along so well, we hardly ever fight and if we do we never scream at each other. I grew up in a house where it always seemed like someone was screaming and fighting with someone. I know father was an alcoholic and that had something do with it. I don't know I guess I worry that someday I will turn out like him as far as I have tried to separate myself from my upbringing."
"I thought so, now listen to me and listen to me good! What you have with Amy is nothing like what me and your father had. I got married far to young, the only thing your father and I had in common was our love if having a good time. I fell for your father because he was handsome and charming and a lot of fun. Let me tell you those are not qualities that last in a marriage. The more he fell into his bottle the more I fell out of love with him. Now Amy and you got something special that your father and I never had, you love and understand each other like nothing I have ever seen before. I do not think if you searched all over the world you would find another young lady quite like her. As far as you turning out like George that is just not gonna happen, they only thing you inherited from him was your height."
"I guess that is true, So when do you think we should set the date for?" Sheldon says after digesting the information his mother just gave him."
"Well honey that is a question only you can answer, what are some dates that are special to y'all?"
"I know what date I want to get married to Penny September 24th,"
"What is September 24th?" Sheldon asks him
"It is the first time that I ever laid eyes on her ,it was love at first sight. I knew from that moment that she was going to be the girl I was going to marry. I remember every detail about that day, and I don't have an eidetic memory so it is far more impressive for me."
"You want my advice, tell Penny that story and she will have no problem setting the date with you. If she does after hearing that story then maybe she is not the girl for you."
"I did not know that I wanted to marry Amy when I first met her, I did not believe in marriage or love back then."
"When did you start to believe in it then?" Mary asks him and he thinks about it for awhile.
"It did not happen overnight, I did not wake up one day and decide that I loved her. One time I would find myself thinking about her when she was not around and wish she was there. Or I would be sitting next to her and my hand would itch to touch her and I never had the wish to touch anyone before. I just can not think of one specific date that encompasses the significance of our relationship."
Penny and Bernadette are sitting on the bed in the extra bedroom in the apartment. Penny stares at the garment bag hanging in the closet currently the only thing inhabiting the closet. Bernadette rubs her friends back consolingly. They are waiting for Amy to come over and model her new wedding dress for them.
" Uggh!" Penny groans. "That stupid dress is haunting me!"
" If it bothers you so bad just tell her to find another place to store it." Bernadette says.
"No, I promised her that I would hide it for her until she gets the lady balls to tell Sheldon about it." Penny sighs.
"Just curious ,why does it bother you so much having it here?"
"No good reason! It is kind of like Schrödinger's cat you know? In the bag the dress is hidden and I know once I see the dress I will know for sure how I feel about marrying Leonard. So in the bag my marriage is neither alive or dead but once it is out if the bag I will know!" Penny exclaims.
"Penny if you are having doubt's like that then it is safe to say the dress is dead already." Bernadette tells her.
"No, maybe I am not explaining myself well enough. OK it is not like Schrödinger's cat it is like that story written by that creepy guy. You know the one where the guy hears a heart beating in his house and it drives him crazy?"
"The Telltale Heart, by Edgar Alan Poe?"
"Yes! that one it is like the dress is in here and I can almost feel its presence and I want so badly to look at it but then I am terrified too at the same time." Bernadette gives her a concerned look but they hear a knock in the door and go to answer it. It is Amy and she looks radiantly happy and she bounces in the door.
"Dress day! I have been waiting for days to show you guys my dress!"
"So are you and Sheldon getting closer to planning this wedding now?" Bernadette asks her.
"No, I did not even plan on buying a dress, just in case he gets cold feet you know? My mom insisted in going shopping. Then I tried on the dress and then his mom and my mom fought over who would buy it! So I could very well own a dress that is never going to be worn." Amy sighs her mood deflating a little.
"Never mind all that let's see it on! I am so excited!" Penny says easily masking her emotions. "First let's do your hair and make up!"
Penny brings out her make up case and starts applying make up to Amy. Bernadette starts working in her hair first straightening it then braiding it and setting it in an elegant updo. Penny makes her make up natural just enough to highlight her natural beauty without changing her look to much. They guide Amy into the bedroom and block her view from all the mirrors. Amy puts on the dress and the girls are speechless.
"Amy! I do not care what we have to do you are walking down the aisle in that dress!" Penny says choked up.
"You have got to see yourself Amy!" Bernadette says leading her out of the bedroom and into Penny's in front of the full length mirror. She spins Amy around so she can look at herself and Amy covers her mouth with her hand.
"I am so beautiful!" Amy cackles.
"You really are sweetie!" Penny says hugging her tightly ,then they hear Sheldon's trademark three raps in the door followed by him calling Amy, Bernadette, Penny!
"Oh my God! he can not come in here!" Amy cries!
"Don't worry we'll get rid of him!" Bernadette tells her and she and Penny hurry out of the room to get the door. Penny opens up the door on a crack.
"What's up Sheldon?" Penny asks
"Is Amy here?" he asks.
"Umm no she is not." Penny tells him.
"Nice try, her phone has GPS and I know that she is in here my query was purely cursory. I need to speak to her right now."
"Sheldon Amy is busy right now." Bernadette tells him.
"It's OK let him in." Amy says behind them "He is not going to stop until you let him in."
"She's right." Sheldon confirms and Penny reluctantly opens up the door for him and he walks in and freezes in his tracks when he sees Amy in the dress.
"What is going on here?" he asks confused.
"I can explain! after lunch with our mothers, they strong armed me into going dress shopping. Then they fought over who got to buy me the dress and it made me feel special. I do not have to wear this on our wedding day, you do not even have to set a wedding date. I was just showing Penny and Bernadette the dress before I returned it."
"Why would you bring it back?" he asks her.
"Well we never discussed getting married in a traditional way and to buy a dress before discussing it with you was presumptuous."
"Amy, that is what I came here to talk with you about."
"Oh God! you are calling it off!" Amy says walking briskly back to the extra bedroom, he stops her by grabbing her arm.
"Amy stop!" She spins around to face him and be gently grabs her face and kisses her she stops in her tracks an kisses him back he breaks the kiss but keeps his hand gently on her face. "I came here to tell you that I have decided on a date for our wedding."
"You have?" Amy asks breathless
"Yes, I was having a discussion with Leonard and my Mother and he was telling us how he knows the date be wants to marry Penny because he wanted to marry her from the moment he met her. I could not think of the moment that I fell in love with you."
"Leonard said that!" Penny asks.
"Yes but that is not the point of my story! Please! I kept thinking about it, when did I know that you were the one? Was it May 24th when we first met? Was it in September on our first date? Was it in November when I first asked you to be my girlfriend? Then I realized that my life has not been the same ever since you entered it. That whatever date I chose was arbitrary, that I can not assign one date as special among the many I have shared with you." Sheldon gulps and pauses. "So I think we should get married six months from today, it will give us enough time to plan a very small ceremony and allow for our families to make travel arrangements."
"Sheldon that sounds wonderful." Amy says wrapping her arms around him. "But you have already seen my dress, is'nt that bad luck?"
"Only if you subscribe to silly superstitions which neither of us do. I definitely want you to wear this for our wedding."
Penny watches them and her heart swells she has seen these two weirdos grow and change so much. It is hard to believe that these two are the same people as four years ago. Seeing Amy standing there beaming up at Sheldon completely lovestruck makes her wish Leonard were here. Penny is certain now that Leonard is the one, she remembers that first day meeting him. Maybe it was not love at first sight but she felt something, and she could not stop thinking about him that night. How sweet he was, how soulful his eyes were from that first meeting he had wormed his way into her heart.
"So is the dress dead or alive? " Bernadette whispers to her.
"Alive" , she says tear rolling down her cheek "Very much alive!"