A/N: I just wanted to thank LizzybethLovesShamy for reading my chapters before I post them. I also wanted to thank you for reading this. I hope you are still enjoying this story.
A few more weeks passed and it seemed like the pile of work never really ended. Sheldon's work at Cal Tech was steady, but not overwhelming. He found himself doing more and more at home. He also had to rely on Leonard because Amy was busy all the time. It reminded him of when she made herself busy when things between them had been bad. He didn't like it, but he knew she wasn't doing it on purpose.
Amy's current study was coming to a close, and that meant that she had to stay at her lab for long hours working on write ups and double checking results. She missed Sheldon, but at least once this study was over, she would have a little bit more down time. Her current plans were to assist with a colleague's work until the wedding. That would give her a less hectic schedule and she wouldn't have to trust anyone to look over her experiments while she took off the three weeks she was planning for the wedding and honeymoon.
Amy was disappointed that this freer schedule wouldn't translate to any extra time with Sheldon. At least not right away. The day after she was set to finish, Mary was coming into town to fulfill the requirements by the church and meet Amy's parents. The whole weekend sounded very stressful to Amy. Plus, she knew she wouldn't get any sleep over the weekend.
Sheldon and Amy agreed that Mary would not care for them sleeping in the same bed while she visited. They weren't hiding anything because it had never been much of a secret to begin with. Mary knew that they shared a bed. She probably assumed that they were having sex too, but they wanted to respect her and her wishes while she was visiting them. Sheldon had gallantly volunteered to sleep on the couch while Amy kept sleeping in their room.
"I'm not going to get any sleep without you there. You know how much I hate it. I'll sleep on the couch," Amy told Sheldon when they discussed it.
"My mother would never let me sleep comfortably in my room while the love of my life slept on the couch. I don't particularly relish the idea of sleeping without you either, but at least I can afford you some privacy by letting you sleep in our room. It will only be temporary. I promise, I will not cause you any undue stress by staying on that couch even one moment more than I have to," Sheldon told her.
"I wish that we could just sleep together while your mother is here," Amy complained.
"You saw how she was when we were in Texas, and that was when we were having problems. If she sees how happy we are, she's going to be watching us even more closely. She'll probably sit between us on the couch."
"You are over thirty, she can't really hold any objections about you having an intimate relationship with your fiancee, can she?"
"Maybe if I were my brother or sister we could get away with it. She would probably just be relieved that they were planning on marrying the person they were sneaking into their rooms. I was always the good one in this regard. I think she feels real hope that I will have a lasting and loving marriage, and somehow she feels like she is protecting that," Sheldon said.
"Fine," Amy said grumpily. How could she argue when Mary really did seem to be looking after them. It looked they they had one over involved mother, and one barely interested mother. It would have been nice to find a balance.
Amy wasn't sure how, but she somehow survived to the end of her study. She submitted the last of her papers to be reviewed by her peers. She was nervous about it, but it was looking promising. There was little she could do about it now other than wait to find out what others thought. It was always the part that worried her the most. She knew the science was solid, but there was always the possibility of a mistake somewhere down the line.
It was nearly nine when Amy got home, but Sheldon was waiting up for her. He had a cup of hot chocolate ready for her almost the moment she walked in the door, and it was pressed in her hand nearly the moment she hit the couch. He also brought over his own mug and a plate of cookies before he sat next to her on the couch. Amy leaned into his side as she sipped the hot chocolate.
"Are you glad that you've finished this round of your study?" Sheldon asked.
"Yes. Unfortunately, I've gotten so far behind on wedding stuff, that I should probably start working on it tonight," Amy complained.
"I prohibit you from working on anything tonight. I have borrowed a romantic comedy and a bottle of wine from Penny. You are going to sit here with me and we are going to watch it together. We are okay on the wedding stuff, you've accomplished something very important by finishing your study, and we're going to relax for the night," Sheldon told her.
"But," Amy started.
"But nothing. You can skip the movie and you can skip the wine, but you have worked yourself too hard lately. You need rest," Sheldon said.
"I'll watch your movie, but I'm not drinking," Amy said stubbornly.
"Fine, but you are relaxing here with me," Sheldon said.
He put on the movie. Amy curled herself onto Sheldon's lap and put her head on his shoulder while they watched the movie. He had his arms around her and held her even after she fell asleep half way through the movie. Once the movie was over, Sheldon shook Amy awake and put her to bed. He felt relieved that she let him take care of her because she had been so stressed lately. She was usually so stubborn when it came to him doing things for her. He knew it came from years of putting himself ahead of her. Sheldon was just glad that he had the rest of his life with her to prove how much he loved her and how much he wanted to be there for her.
Sheldon got into bed and Amy didn't even stir. She really had been pushing herself too far. Early the next morning, Amy woke up next to Sheldon. She felt better than she had in weeks. She felt like they were still behind, but she had to admit that the rest was nice. Plus, he had a point about working too hard. That combined with the stress of his mother's visit was enough for her to realize that he was right.
Sheldon was stirring next to her, so Amy pressed her face to his neck and said, "Thank you for the movie last night. Is there any way I can convince you that your mother won't be that upset about us sleeping in the same bed?"
Sheldon wrapped his arms around Amy and held her to him as he answered, "You're welcome, but there is no way my mother will be okay with us both sleeping in here."
Amy tried to wiggle out of Sheldon's grasp, but he just held her tighter. "Sheldon, I need to get ready for work. As do you. We'll both be leaving early so that we can pick up your mother," Amy told him with a little bit of a laugh.
"You finished your study. You can be a little late," Sheldon said as he squeezed her even tighter and started kissing her neck.
Amy didn't want to resist anymore. She was still a little bit baffled when this Sheldon came out. She had spent so much time with the version of him that had no interest in kissing her that it still occasionally felt like a dream when he wanted to. She never would have expected him to be this pushy about it. Although, he was pretty pushy about a lot of things in life, so she should have seen this coming.
Amy enjoyed Sheldon's affection for a few minutes. She deserved it after all, but decided that she should probably get their morning moving. "Okay. That's enough, Sheldon," Amy said after a few minutes.
Sheldon immediately released her. He gave her a sheepish smile. He knew well enough to let Amy go if she genuinely requested it, and her tone had been much more serious that time. He got out of bed and into the bathroom for his scheduled bathroom time. Amy just smiled after him.
Amy decided to drive Sheldon into work since she had barely seen him in weeks. She enjoyed him chatting at her and trying to engage her in his little games. Though she could tell he was annoyed with she won the third round of his element game. He switched topics and started talking about his mother and their plans for the weekend.
"All of our friends are going to want to spend time with Mom tonight. They always monopolize her time when she comes to visit," Sheldon said a little grumpily.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Sheldon," Amy said as she pulled into the parking lot. "She still loves you best."
"Obviously she loves me best. I just want her to spend lots of time with us," Sheldon said. Amy was a little happy that he included her. It seemed that he always saw them as a team now, and that made her all the more excited to marry him.