"Tonight is Sheldon's first official date. So, Amy, do you date much?" Penny knew she was in her current situation because she opened her mouth and suggested that Sheldon actually spend time with his 'girl who is a friend, but is not his girlfriend.'
"It's been a few years since I've been on a date. I had an agreement with my mother that I would date once a year in exchange for her silence on the matter," answered Amy.
Finishing the bite of salad she had just shoved in her mouth, Penny tried giving Sheldon a chance to continue the conversation, but he wasn't taking the bait, "What happened to the agreement if it's been a few years since you've been on a date?"
"She and I had a bit of a falling out and she's only recently begun to accept the choices I made that led to that," Amy was hesitant to go into a lot of detail about her relationship with her mother on their first date. She put up a finger when she heard her cell phone ringing and began to reach for it in her purse. "Excuse me, I need to take this. Hi mom, his medicine is on the counter next to the sink. The medicine dropper should be in the dish rack from when I used it this afternoon. It's okay if he falls asleep, the extra sleep could do him some good."
Sheldon may not pick up on many social cues, but he could tell something was off based on the side of Amy's conversation he just overheard. "Is everything alright? You sounded concerned on the phone just now."
"Max has an ear infection and is on antibiotics. He gets them all the time, so I'm not worried, but it's the first time he's been with my mom with one. She wanted to know if it was okay to give him his medicine a little early because he was starting to fall asleep," explained Amy.
Penny had only known about Amy's presence in Sheldon's life for less than a day and was feeling a little lost because she knew next to nothing about the woman sitting next to her. "Is Max your pet? We had a dog named Pepper on the farm growing up that always needed ear drops. I used to have to hold her down while my mom tried to get the drops in her ears. She hated them, so I practically had to lay on her to keep her from getting away."
"Max is my two-year-old son," Amy had barely finished her sentence when Penny's drink shot out her mouth, spraying the side of Amy's face. Picking up her napkin to wipe herself dry, Amy questioned her date and his friend. "You didn't tell her I have a son, Sheldon?"
"I uh, I didn't know you have a son," stammered Sheldon, "Whenever you've mentioned Max, I thought it was your dog or something. You've never explicitly stated that he's your son, just said things like you didn't get much sleep because he was up all night or that you were taking him to the park later."
Amy reached for her purse off the back of her chair, "It was in my profile on the dating website. For someone as brilliant as you, it seems as though you could brush up on your reading skills. I think I should get home. Thank you for a nice evening."
"We can give you a ride home if you'd like. I'm sorry for asking about who Max was," Penny apologized.
Shaking her head, Amy declined the offer, "That's okay, I'll call a taxi. It's not your fault you didn't know I have a son. Sheldon should have given you a head's up before he roped you into joining us on a date."
After Amy called a taxi, Penny drove herself and Sheldon home in silence. Sheldon was furious with his friends and she didn't want to add to that. Since she had only learned about Amy the day before, Penny knew there was no way he could blame her for not telling him what Amy's dating profile said.
"How could you do this to me?" Sheldon exclaimed as he entered his apartment and found the men responsible for him meeting Amy Farrah Fowler. "You refused to show me Amy's dating profile and now I know why! Did everyone know that she has a son except for me?"
The three men exchanged glances, silently debating who should speak first. "It was my idea to not show you her full profile," confessed Raj. "Howard said you would refuse to meet her if you knew and Leonard thought you'd leave her at the coffee shop the moment she mentioned it. When you continued speaking with her, we all figured you were okay with it. We never thought you didn't know."
Howard was the next to speak, "That's part of why we were always surprised whenever you mentioned her all summer. We've debated whether or not you knew the longer you've known her. I know some single moms don't like to talk about their kids with people they're interested in pursuing relationships with until it's more serious. That's what we thought was happening with Amy."
"For a group of guys that doesn't have many friends, you sure know how to make the ones you do have feel like crap. I can't believe you would lie to Sheldon about something like this,". Penny scolded the men who had come to be her friends as Sheldon stormed off to his room.
"Maybe we should let Sheldon have some space to himself," suggested Leonard. "I have a feeling we'll be canceling paintball tomorrow. I'll let you know in the morning."
Penny watched Howard and Raj exit the apartment before she faced Leonard. "You can say this was all their idea, but you played a part in it, too. You knew Amy has a son and you didn't tell Sheldon. He's your best friend. You betrayed his trust. Don't come crying to me if he doesn't believe anything you say ever again."
Author's Note- Thank you so much for all of the reviews so far! For everyone that asked if it was Amy or her mother who put her profile on the dating site, that will be answered in a few chapters. I'm enjoying seeing the guesses as to how this is going to play out.