"No, Amy, you do need to vacuum again. I'm washing the sheets and then I'm going to do the dishes," Sheldon said into his phone Saturday afternoon from the basement of the building. "I know we don't usually vacuum twice a day, but Penny's father is going to arrive in a couple of hours. The apartment needs to be clean when he gets here." He stood listening to his girlfriend rant for a moment, but she finally agreed to do as he asked. There was a small part of him that enjoyed it. Amy had been so shut off from him when they weren't doing well that he almost relished her honesty. Almost. He wasn't a fool. He didn't like getting yelled at.
When he came back up, the dishes in the sink were gone and the floor was vacuumed. Amy was sitting on the couch and she jumped up and helped him with the laundry basket he held. "I'm not sure we can ever have your mother come visit if you are this worried about Penny's dad," she said.
"My mother cleans and cooks every time she comes for a visit. I've largely given up on trying to impress her. Of course, every time she has come for a visit before, I've been a bachelor," Sheldon said.
"I think you still are," Amy said with a smirk. "You haven't made an honest woman out of me yet."
Amy mistook Sheldon's nervous facial expression and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that we need to be married. I love you and I love how happy we are right now," she said quickly.
Sheldon didn't know what to say to that. He just nodded and took the basket into the guest room and made the bed. When he was done, he stayed alone in the room until he heard a knocking at the front door. He went out and stood behind Amy as she answered it. It was Penny and her dad.
"Dad, these are my friends Amy and Sheldon. You met them at the wedding, and they've been kind enough to offer use of their guest room during your stay. That way you can be just across the hall and no one has to sleep on a couch," Penny said.
"Hello, sir. Let me show you the way. I'm sure you are tired after all of your travel," Amy said.
"Dad, we're all going to dinner in an hour and a half," Penny told her father as he followed Amy into the back.
"I really can't thank you enough for this, Sheldon," Penny said. "I couldn't believe that you agreed when Amy suggested it."
"Amy? Leonard was the one to ask me if your dad could stay here," Sheldon said.
"Oh, well, I must have gotten confused," Penny said before quickly walking away.
When Amy came back out, Sheldon was staring out into the hall. "Is everything okay?"
"Did you trick me into letting Penny's dad stay here? Penny said you suggested it, but you acted like you didn't know anything about it when I brought it up. I'm not okay with you tricking me into things like that," Sheldon said angrily. It was the first time he had been mad at her in a very long time.
"I didn't trick you. I knew that Penny's dad was coming before you said anything, but I only found out about ten minutes before. You had already had it planned with Leonard before I even knew. I'm sorry that I let you think I didn't know anything about it, but it wasn't about tricking you. I just didn't know how to bring it up."
"So this wasn't a plan to pull something past me? I don't want to start a life with you based on lies even if they aren't a big deal. We can't live like that," Sheldon said seriously.
"I promise that there was no scheme," Amy said sincerely.
Sheldon softened and put his arm around her. He didn't know what they should do if Penny's father was trying to take a nap. He wanted to be quiet and respectful. He decided to make himself a cup of tea and read some of his comic books. Amy went out to run a few errands. With the extra cleaning, she hadn't had a chance to run by the library and the dry cleaners.
When she came back, Sheldon was in his spot, and she sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder. She wasn't sure if she was testing him still or if she just enjoyed the fact that she could touch him without him complaining or getting up.
He put down his comic book and turned toward her. She sat up assuming that he was going to give her some lecture about not interrupting his comic book time or something, but instead he put his on her cheek and placed a soft kiss on her lips. They just traded sweet, gentle kisses for a moment until they heard a throat clearing from behind Sheldon.
"Sorry, kids," Penny's dad said when they looked over at him.
"Sorry, sir," Amy said quickly. She was embarrassed that Penny's father had caught them kissing.
He laughed, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure I would have walked in on much worse across the hall. Also, call me Wyatt."
"Would you like something to drink, Wyatt?" Sheldon asked, standing up. He had forgotten to offer Penny's father something earlier because he had been distracted.
"I'll take a beer," Wyatt said. Since Raj could speak to women without alcohol, they didn't typically keep beer on hand in their apartment, but Penny had brought over some of her dad's favorite kind. Sheldon appreciated it because he never would have thought to buy beer, and he would have felt like a bad host without it.
Sheldon nodded, pulled a bottle from the fridge, opened it and brought it over. "Amy, do you want anything?" Sheldon asked.
"I'll have whatever tea you were drinking. It was good," Amy said.
Sheldon nodded, and the stopped to look at her. She hadn't had any of it because it was brand new, so he wondered how she knew what it tasted like. She watched as he realized what she meant and his tongue darted out to taste his own lips. He gave her a faint smile and she winked at him.
He brought over her tea, exactly how he had made his own. She sipped it and smiled. It was sweeter than she would normally drink her tea, but Sheldon's lips had tasted incredible. Amy wished that she could keep kissing him, but she knew it would be disrespectful in front of Penny's dad.
They made small talk for a few minutes, but then Penny and Leonard came to collect them all for dinner.
Amy had had a little too much to drink during dinner, so she went to bed as soon as they got home. She wasn't really drunk, but just sleepy. Penny and Leonard came over and they all spent time hanging out with Penny's dad. They played some sports video games and chatted for a while. Then, Penny and Leonard went home to go to bed.
"Sir, can I ask you a question?" Sheldon said when he was alone with Penny's father.
"Of course, son," Wyatt said.
"My dad died a few years ago, so I thought I could use your presence to gain some 'fatherly advice,'" Sheldon started. "I've recently been contemplating proposing marriage to Amy, and I'm supposed to 'just know' when to do that. I don't know how I'm supposed to know, so I was wondering if you had any advice," Sheldon said.
"How long have you and Amy been together?" Wyatt asked.
"Four years," Sheldon said.
"And I'm assuming you love her?"
Sheldon nodded.
"Well, I don't know what kind of advice you are getting, but I only knew Penny's mother for three months before I asked her to marry me. I was terrified by it, but I knew I loved her and I knew that she made me happy. Four years, three months, a week. Love is love, and if you think you want marry that lovely young woman sleeping in your bed, I suggest you do it. Life is a lot shorter than you can believe at your age," Wyatt said before slapping Sheldon's shoulder and going to bed to leave him alone to think.