A/N: I am so overwhelmed by the response I have had for this story. When I began this journey almost a year ago, I never would have expected it to get this long and have this many follows, favorites and reviews. We are nearing the end of the journey. I have enjoyed this ride and I hope you have too.
Thanks as always to my awesome Beta, Boys3allC, for the extras and the look overs. I could not have gotten this far without all your help. You are truly the best. Check out her stories they are terrific!
Okay I own none of the characters you recognize, the ones you don't are all mine.
Sunday morning, Sheldon and Amy slept a bit later than usual. Amy had been through a lot during the weekend and Sheldon wanted her to have the extra rest. When she woke up around 9:30, they packed up and checked out. Amy had talked about a restaurant her father used to take her to brunch on Sunday mornings. Sheldon was not a fan of brunch but since Amy loved it so much, he felt he could handle eating at table that had different types of food this one time. They arrived at the restaurant and it was relatively slow.
"Are you sure this place is good?" Sheldon asked Amy.
"Would I steer you wrong? It is slow because most people come after church. We beat the crowd." She told him.
"Oh well that makes sense." He said.
They were seated at a table near the back of the restaurant. Their waitress came over and took their drink order while they checked out the menu.
"I'm telling you, just get the buffet." Amy told him.
"But there is chicken and eggs on it." Sheldon whined.
"So get one or the other. No one says you have to get both. I am telling you the buffet is great." She said to him.
"Fine." He conceded. She smiled at him as the waitress came over.
"What can I get you guys today?" She asked them.
"We are both going to be getting the buffet." Amy told her.
"Terrific, you guys can start whenever you want. Let me know if you need anything."
"Thank you." Sheldon said to her.
While they were getting their food another couple was seated behind them. They were facing away so Nick and his girlfriend didn't realize Sheldon and Amy were there. Sheldon pointed them out to Amy.
"Oh God, I hope they don't see us." She said.
"We are seated right behind them. Luckily they are faced in the opposite direction. Perhaps they won't see us." He said.
"I hope you are right." She said.
The two sat down at the table and could hear the conversation. Sheldon and Amy sat on the same side of the table so their backs were away from Nick. They listened to the couple talking.
"So how was your aunt's party?" Jennifer asked him.
"It was interesting." Nick answered her.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked him.
"You know the only reason I went to the stupid party was because my mom told me that my cousin Amy was bringing her boyfriend. You remember I told you my Aunt Sandy had to pay me to take her to her prom, right?" He asked her.
"So because she now has a boyfriend you had to go? I don't get it." She said.
"Oh brother." Sheldon said quietly. "Your grandmother was right she is a ditz." He laughed.
"No you don't understand," Nick started. "Ever since I didn't go to that prom, she has been lying to the whole family about having a boyfriend. She even made up this guy once she told us was a miniature horse breeder. She got caught when she told us she met him at Woodstock."
"Your cousin went to Woodstock? That is so cool."
Amy laughed out loud at that. Luckily Sheldon had the quick sense to say "I am not kidding. He really said that." At the exact moment Nick and Jen turned around. They didn't recognize Sheldon and Amy from the back.
"No Amy never went to Woodstock, she lied and never had a boyfriend. So this time I just had to see for myself is this guy was really her boyfriend."
"Was he?" She asked him.
"Of course not. She paid some poor schmuck to come to the rescue again. And this time she at least had a back story. He was very adamant about how much they talked. I questioned if that was all they did and he said they went on dates."
"How long have they said they were dating?" Jennifer asked him.
"Almost a year."
"Have they slept together?"
"Well the guy said they had but I don't believe it because they were barely holding hands when they were together. Michelle and I agreed that it was just Amy pretending again.." Nick said.
Sheldon was furious. He couldn't believe after everything he had said the day before Nick and Michelle still didn't believe them.
"Sheldon don't do anything stupid." Amy warned him. She could see how upset he was.
"I won't." He assured her, taking her hand. "I do however have an idea" he said.
"I am not sure I am going to like it." Amy said, her stomach knotted with worry. This whole situation was taking away her appetite.
"Oh trust me you will." Sheldon said mischievously but just as he was about to tell her his plan the waitress come over and take Nick and Jennifer's orders. They ordered the buffet, which meant tbey would soon be leaving their table.
"Oh terrific. They are going to walk right past us." Amy said.
"That works out then." Sheldon said.
"Why?" She said. Sheldon heard them getting up and walk past them, not even looking in their direction.
"Okay so here is the plan. When we see them coming back I will kiss you. They haven't seen us and have no idea we overheard their conversation."
"And he will see you actually giving me affection! I like it." Amy said. "I say we start now so it won't look like we waited until we saw them. That might get them suspicious." Amy said to him, leaning in and tilting her face towards his.
"You just want to kiss me." Sheldon said softly, taking her face in his hand and stroking her cheek with his thumb.
"I always want to kiss you." She whispered, looking into his eyes. Sheldon leaned down and kissed her softly.
"I love you." He said, kissing her again.
"I love you too." Amy said. She then kissed him again and it felt like the room melted away. She forgot that they were in the middle of a restaurant and they are only kissing to prove something to her cousin. When he kisses her like that nothing else matters.
"Amy?" She heard. She reluctantly pulls away from Sheldon. Nick was standing there with his mouth wide open.
"Oh hello Nick." She said, looking up at him with a smirk. "What are you doing here?"
"My girlfriend and I come here for brunch on Sunday mornings." He answered.
"Hi I'm Jennifer." She said, holding out her hand to Amy.
"I'm Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, Nick's cousin." Amy said to her. "And this is my boyfriend, Cooper." She finished introducing Sheldon who shook Jennifer's hand.
"I've heard so much about you." Jennifer said to her. "But I can't say it has all been true." She glared at Nick, who was still standing open mouthed.
"Oh yeah? What did you hear?" Amy asked innocently knowing full well what Nick had just told her.
"Something about you making up having a boyfriend. I must say he looks pretty real to me." She said, eyeing Sheldon up and down.
"That's because I am real." Sheldon said to her. "I tried to tell your boyfriend that yesterday but apparently he didn't believe me."
"Well he tends to get his facts mixed up. It is very nice to meet you and enjoy your meal." Jennifer said, walking away from the table. Nick was following still trying to figure out what he had just seen. Once they sat back down, Amy let out a sigh of relief but heard from behind them, "You really thought he was faking?" Jennifer said to him. "And your grandmother thinks I am an idiot!"
"I guess your cousin believes us now." Sheldon said laughing.
"I guess so." Amy gave him another kiss. "Thank you again."
"There is nothing you have to be thanking me for. I would do anything for you."
They finished their brunch and headed back to Pasadena. The drive home was much quicker than the trip had been the previous Monday. Amy and Sheldon went over how they were going to tell their friends about the news they had learned this weekend. Sheldon also thought about calling his mother to let her know. She would love to hear from Amy's mom again.
They arrived back in Pasadena around 3:00pm. They had asked Leonard to see if everyone was free at 7 that evening. Leonard had told them that everyone was coming over and he was expected to provide dinner. Amy said she could cook since they had done a lot of eating out over their week off.
"Can you make that taco thing your mother said is so famous?" Sheldon asked her.
"We will need to go to the store then." Amy told them. "Does anyone have any allergies to anything Mexican?"
"The only allergy I know is you to avocado. And I am pretty certain you don't put that in your recipe."
"No there isn't any but we could pick up some guacamole, chips and salsa as an appetizer. I just won't eat the guacamole."
"Me neither. Don't want to send you into anaphylactic shock because I kiss you."
"You are so sweet. Although that didn't stop you ordering that hamburger a few weeks ago."
"Yes but if you recall I brushed my teeth when we got to your place so I could kiss you."
"You can always do that again."
"But what if I want to kiss you spontaneously? Then what am I going to do run to the bathroom to brush my teeth every time?"
"That would be most inconvenient. So let's get to the store. Do you remember what you need?"
"Yes, I have been making this recipe since I was thirteen, I think I know what is in it."
"What is in it, your mom never told me."
"It has ground beef, taco seasoning, refried beans, sour cream and taco sauce plus cheese. We mix it all up together and bake it for about a half hour. Mom and I always ate it with tortilla chips."
"Sounds yummy." Sheldon told her.
"It is. I don't know why I never made it before for you."
"Probably because I kept asking for spaghetti with hot dogs cut up."
"Probably."
The two stopped at Sheldon's apartment to drop off their things before heading to the store. When they got there, Leonard and Penny were sitting on the couch watching a movie.
"Hey guys how was your vacation?" Penny asked when they walked in.
"It was great. We went to the zoo, the aquarium, and to the science center. Amy tried to get me to go to the beach but I talked her out of that one. We did go to the pool on afternoon. I read while she swam."
"We also met my mom's new boyfriend and Sheldon's new fan." Amy told them.
"New fan?" Leonard asked.
"Yes, mom's boyfriend's son apparently has been following Sheldon's work for years. He talked Sheldon's ear off the first night we met him."
"Oh I bet Sheldon loved that." Penny laughed.
"He was a nice guy." Sheldon said. "He actually drove to Stanford to see our talk." He told Leonard.
"Wow this guy must really like you." Leonard said.
"It was a bit annoying actually." Amy told them.
"It actually was after a while." Sheldon told them. "I enjoyed the attention, don't get me wrong, but he did dominate my conversation."
"Anyway how was the party?" Penny said, changing the topic.
"It was interesting." Amy said.
"Why what happened?" Penny asked.
"I think we can save that story for when everyone is here." Sheldon told her. "We need to get to the store. Amy is going to make us dinner. And I would like to start some laundry before the group gets here."
"Are you sure you want to cook after vacation?" Penny asked Amy. "We can always order."
"No I want to make dinner plus what I am making isn't too time consuming. But we really do need to get to the store so it is finished in time." Amy said.
"Alright I will let you guys get going and we will talk later."
Sheldon and Amy put their things in Sheldon's room and then left for the store. When they got back Amy got to cooking the ground beef, while Sheldon went to start a load of laundry. The group arrived just before seven. The taco casserole was just going in the oven.
"Wow it smells great in here." Bernadette said as she walked in. "Are we having Mexican?"
"Yes, Amy made a taco casserole. Her mother tells me it is famous." Sheldon said.
"Well it smells terrific." Bernadette commented.
"It will be ready in about half an hour. In the meantime, I picked up some chips with guacamole and salsa." Amy said, putting out the bowls.
"So how was your vacation?" Raj asked them. He had brought Hannah with him.
"We did some fun things like the zoo and aquarium." Sheldon answered.
"Of course you did." Howard said.
"How was meeting Amy's family?" Penny asked.
"Her aunts and grandmother were very nice. Her cousins on the other hand…" Sheldon started.
"Oh did they give you a hard time?" Penny asked.
"Hard time is an understatement." Amy said.
"Why what happened?" Bernadette asked.
"Let's just say they had no intentions of believing Sheldon was my boyfriend whether he had been there or not. But Sheldon put them in their place." Amy said.
"Sheldon put them in their place? What exactly does that mean?" Penny asked.
"He told them off. He was so angry he almost told them all about our sex life."
"He did what?" Howard said, choking on his water.
"Well they didn't believe that we had a real relationship, so I set them straight. I told them when we move in together next month, it will be for real. She will be sleeping in my bed."
"Did they believe you then?" Bernadette asked.
"I thought they did but we ran into her cousin, Nick this morning at brunch."
Sheldon told them. "He was spouting off his doubt to his girlfriend. But I don't think he has any doubts after seeing us this morning."
"What did you do?" Penny asked, almost frightened to hear the answer.
"All we did was kiss." Amy explained. "He thought if Nick saw us kissing he wouldn't doubt us. And it seemed to work because Nick could barely speak when he saw us. I assume he thought Sheldon was someone I paid to come to the party, but seeing us together this morning convinced him. I just hope he tells Michelle and they leave me alone from now on."
"Well your grandmother did tell us we were welcome any time and Nick and Michelle would not be invited." Sheldon said to her.
"Yeah, like Aunt Barbara would stand for that." Amy said.
"Anyway, it sounds like Sheldon really defended you." Penny interrupted.
"He did. It was amazing. No one has ever stood up for me the way he did." Amy said, staring lovingly into Sheldon's eyes.
"Hey wait a minute," Leonard interrupted. "Did you guys just say you were moving in together next month?"
"Oh yeah, about that." Sheldon started. "We were going to tell you."
"Where do you plan on moving?" Leonard asked.
"Amy is moving in here." Sheldon stated.
"And where am I supposed to go?" Leonard asked.
"You have three months to figure that out." Sheldon said. "According to the roommate agreement I have to give three months' notice."
"Does that mean the end of August or July?" Leonard asked since Amy wasn't moving in until June.
"August." Amy answered. "It is technically four months since he is letting you know now."
"But the sooner the better." Sheldon stated.
"Sheldon!" Amy yelled at him. "That is no way to talk to your best friend."
"You are right. I am sorry Leonard. You take all the time you need." Sheldon said.
"Amy can you move in tonight?" Leonard asked and the group laughed at this.
"She is staying. She starts at Caltech in the morning." Sheldon said, totally missing the joke. "She just has to give her landlord notice."
"Do you think he has an apartment available?" Leonard asked.
"I can ask him." Amy said. "I don't know if there is a waiting list or not."
"Thank you." Leonard said.
Dinner was served and everyone really enjoyed the casserole.
"Your mom was right, this is delicious." Sheldon said to her.
'It really is." Penny agreed.
"Thank you." Amy said, blushing.
Sheldon and Amy had agreed to wait until after dinner to let the group know about the bombshell they had learned about. Once all the dishes had been cleared, Sheldon began to speak again.
"So Amy and I learned something very important this weekend." Sheldon stated.
"Yeah who is Samuel Keller?" Leonard asked, remembering Sheldon's call from Friday night. He had said they would explain when they got back.
"My father." Amy answered.
"Your father?" Penny asked. "I thought he was dead."
"My dad is dead. Samuel Keller is my biological father." Amy said.
"I'm confused. What do you mean your biological father?" Bernadette asked.
"I found out this weekend that my mother was married before she was married to the man I called dad. That man she was married to before was my biological father." Amy answered.
"Oh Amy that must have been hard to handle. Why did she tell you now so many years later?" Bernadette asked.
"Because I recognized her." Sheldon said.
"You recognized her? I don't understand." Penny said.
"Her mother showed me pictures of Amy as a child but she only had ones from when Amy was four and older. She told me the others had been lost in a move. When I saw the first one, I immediately recognized the little girl in the photo." Sheldon answered.
"Are you saying you knew Amy when she was a little girl?" Leonard asked, beginning to understand where this conversation was leading.
"Yes." Sheldon answered. "She hadn't changed in the year since I had seen her."
"But how did you know her? The only friend you ever told us about was a little girl named Samantha." Leonard said.
"Exactly." Sheldon replied.
"So you are saying that Amy is Samantha?" Bernadette asked.
"She is." Sheldon said. "Her mother confirmed it."
"How is that even possible?" Penny asked.
"Well it was a long story but my mother left a very bad marriage and moved back home. She then got back together with my dad, whom she had dated in high school. They married within six months. He legally adopted me and the rest is history." Amy told them.
"But that doesn't explain why your name is now Amy." Penny said to her.
"In order for my father not to find us, my mom changed our names. She uses her middle name now. She had apparently wanted me to be named Amy Farrah when she was pregnant with me but my father wanted a junior and since I was a girl I became Samantha Jo." Amy told them.
"Wow. That must have been hard to swallow." Penny said to them. "How do you feel about all this, Amy?"
"I was angry at first but then I realized my mom was trying to protect me. My father was an abuser. She left him and never looked back. My dad was a wonderful man. He loved my mom and me, even knowing I wasn't biologically his. I can't stay angry about that."
"That is a good attitude." Bernadette said. "I just think it is amazing that you guys found each other after all this time. So Sheldon you never even had a clue she was Samantha?"
"To be honest, when we stopped seeing each other at the beginning of our relationship, I told my mom she reminded me of Samantha. But how would I have known she had her name changed? I am so glad we found each other though. It's like it was meant to be." Sheldon answered.
"You don't believe in fate." Leonard stated.
"You're right I don't. But I am not sure how to explain how this happened." Sheldon said.
"I can tell you." Raj said. "We put your name in a dating website and it spit out Amy Farrah Fowler. Then we had to bribe you to go and meet her."
"Yes but I could easily have said no." Sheldon said. "Something drew me to the prospect of meeting her."
"Yeah a drawer full of dirty magazines." Howard laughed.
"There was that." Sheldon said.
"Anyway," Amy said, trying to forget what Howard just said, even if she already knew about them. "We found each other and that is all that matters. If it was fate or a coincidence I don't care. Sheldon has agreed to tell me about our times together and I can't wait to hear about them. Maybe it will trigger some memories."
"That is so sweet." Raj said, tearing up.
"I am so happy for the two of you." Penny said.
"Thank you." Sheldon said.
The gang spent the rest of the night talking about the rest of the vacation. The guys had a good laugh about Dave and his being such a fan. The girls were really impressed that Amy got Sheldon near a pool. The group left around ten. Leonard went to spend the night at Penny's which left Sheldon and Amy alone.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Sheldon asked her as they got ready for bed.
"A little but I can't wait to start this study." Amy told him.
"I am sure you are going to do great." He said.
"I hope so."
"I know so." He told her.
"Thank you." She said. She leaned over and gave him a long kiss.
"Anytime. Now let's get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow."
"You are right as always. Goodnight. I love you."
"I love you too."
So next chapter we will begin Amy's career at Caltech. Who will she meet? And how will it affect her relationship with Sheldon?
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