"You didn't have to take the morning off work to drop me off at the airport, Shelly. Amy and I would have been fine," Mary told her son as he loaded her suitcase into the trunk of Amy's car.

Sheldon closed the trunk and opened the front door for his mother. "I know. We thought it would be nice to stop for breakfast on the way. We haven't had any time for just the three of us since you've been here, besides, Amy's going to work today so she won't be going out of her way to drop me off."

"Breakfast does sound nice; I won't have to find something at the airport if we stop. Where did you have in mind for breakfast?"

Amy put the car into gear and backed out of the parking spot before answering, "There's a diner a few blocks from here. It's nothing fancy, but it's been one of my favorite places for years."

The trio was sitting in a booth in the small diner a few minutes later. Sheldon and Amy were next to each other, with Mary sitting across from them. "I'm glad you both appear to be doing better than you were over the weekend. I was really good at putting on my happy face when I was around other people for the first few weeks. How are you really doing?"

"I can't speak for Sheldon, but I think we've both had good moments and bad moments and I know we'll have more of both in the coming weeks and months. I don't want to act like this never happened, but I also don't want to dwell on it and let it keep me from moving forward," Amy answered.

Sheldon nodded, "I'd have to agree with Amy. I know we're going to have some rough times, but I think we are closer than we were before. We've talked more about what we're feeling the past few days than we have in a long time."

"Don't forget that you can call me any time if you ever need to talk to someone else about how you're feeling. I can be on a plane within twenty-four hours if you need me to come back. I have no problem getting on an airplane if you need anything, even if it's just a hug," Mary finished her glass of orange juice as she glanced at her watch. "We'd better get going for me to be to the airport in plenty of time."

Arriving at the airport, Amy and Sheldon both got out of the car to hug Mary goodbye. "Thank you, Mary, for everything. I don't know if we could have survived this week if it weren't for your support. I found great comfort in knowing I had someone to relate to throughout all of this."

"Of course, darling. Don't forget you can call me anytime; that goes for both of you," Mary released Amy from her hug and moved to her son. "I love you. I know how you get when you're stressed or worried. Don't push Amy and your friends away or do anything crazy."

Sheldon rolled his eyes over Mary's shoulder, "I won't, Mom. I haven't done that in a long time. I was thinking maybe Amy and I could come home for Easter. I haven't been home for your big Easter dinner in years and I think it would be nice to see everyone."

"That sounds wonderful, Shelly."

Interrupting his mother, Sheldon continued, "But you won't be forcing us to go to church with you if we do come."

"We've got time to figure those details out, Easter isn't for two months. I better get going. You know how those security lines can be," Mary said as she picked up her suitcase.

Amy and Sheldon went to work after dropping Mary off at the airport. Amy spent the rest of the morning catching up on emails from missing three and a half days of work, while Sheldon continued to make progress on his equation from the week before. Amy chose to not join the guys for lunch, so she didn't see Sheldon again until her came to her lab at the end of the day.

"How was your day?" Amy asked as she removed her lab coat and picked up her purse from the hook it was hanging on.

Shrugging his shoulders, Sheldon answered, "Not bad. The guys asked about you. I told them you were catching up from the past few days, but would join us for lunch tomorrow. Did you get caught up on everything?"

"Sort of. My grad students did nothing while I was out, but I think we'll be in a good place for tomorrow morning. I did lay into them about how they should have been able to continue with processing the data we already had. Not gonna lie, it felt good to yell at them," Amy smiled.

They continued to talk about their day throughout the drive home. Penny was waiting for the elevator as they entered the lobby. "Hey guys. Did you go back to work today?" She greeted them.

"I did after we dropped Mary off at the airport, so it was a shorter day. I was glad to be back, get back to normal."

"That's good. Howard and Bernadette were going to bring the kids over and Raj is coming, too, for pizza night if you want to join us," Penny offered.

Sheldon glanced at Amy before answering, "I don't know, Penny."

"It's okay, Sheldon. I'll be fine. We would love to come over for pizza night. We can't stop living our life. Just let us know when the pizza gets here and we'll come over," Amy said as Sheldon unlocked the door to apartment 4B.

Closing the door behind them, Sheldon spoke, "Are you sure you're up to seeing everyone? Howard and Bernadette are bringing their kids. Is that going to be too much for you?"

Amy hugged Sheldon and didn't let go of his waist as she answered him, "I really was comforted by your mom being here. She and I will always have this special connection now. I'm going to have to see everyone all together eventually, might as well get it over with. I've seen everyone in the past week, so I don't think it will be too awkward."

"When did you see Howard and Raj? You didn't come to lunch today," Sheldon tilted his head in confusion.

"They brought me tea this afternoon. They wanted to check on me since I didn't join you all at lunch. I know you told them to not bother me today, but I enjoyed their visit. Please don't admonish them for not following directions."