Amy opened her eyes at the muffled sound of Sheldon's voice travelling through the walls. "What?" she called back.
"This Breathe Right keeps slipping off."
Amy rolled her eyes. "Then put tape over it!"
He didn't answer, but after a brief hesitation she heard his door open and his footsteps go down the hall. All too soon his voice was floating through the wall again. "I hope it works!"
"Sheldon! Remember your lessons. Talking to me through the wall at night is not okay!"
"Sorry." There was the distinct sound of tape ripping, and then he quietly said, "Goodnight."
Amy closed her eyes and tried to relax.
-0-0-0-0-
(The next morning: Wolowitz's house)
"Cecile, these are our friends - Leonard, Sheldon, Amy, Penny, and of course you know Raj," Howard said. "Guys, this is Bernadette's sister, Cecile."
"Hi!" Cecile chirped. "Nice to meet you all." She winked at Raj. "And meet you again."
He blushed.
"Are you twins?" Leonard asked.
"No, I'm older," Cecile answered.
As Cecile spoke incessantly about how she always thought Bernadette had intentionally tried to look like her despite an obvious height difference, Leonard tried to pay attention, but his focus was diverted when Sheldon caught his gaze and gestured to the kitchen by moving his head.
Leonard tried to excuse himself subtly before following Sheldon. "What?"
"You closed the door in my face in such a hurry yesterday, I didn't get a chance to give you your housewarming present." Sheldon extended a flat, square package.
"You didn't have to buy me a housewarming gift; it wasn't that big a move."
"I didn't buy it; I made it."
Leonard's hands stilled and he tilted the package away from him as he continued to open it.
"Why are you holding it like that?" Sheldon inquired.
"In case you made it out of spite and something shoots out." Leonard pushed aside the wrapping and blinked in confusion as he pulled out a CD case. "No prank?"
"No. It's all your favorite songs on one CD; I compressed the files to make them all fit."
Leonard looked up at him, perplexed.
"I thought you would appreciate it after all these years of not being allowed to whistle, sing, party, or...play music." For a brief moment Sheldon looked remorseful.
"That's, uh, very thoughtful; thank you."
"You're welcome. Please don't play it loud enough for me to hear. Unless it's the theme to Star Trek."
Leonard nodded and began to move toward the recycle bin, but Sheldon snatched the wrapping from him. "Now hang on, there's no need to recycle what can be reused."
"Right, what was I thinking?" Leonard asked, and the pair walked into the living room as Sheldon tried stuffing the wrapping paper into his hanging wallet. Raj was holding Sugar, and Sheldon stopped so quickly that Leonard almost bumped into him.
"She's so well-behaved," Raj crooned. "She's like a completely different doggie! And my carpet's not even dry yet!"
"He's the best," Cecile explained succinctly.
"How can I ever repay you?"
Cecile shrugged and smiled. "How 'bout a date?"
"Uh, o-okay," Raj stammered eloquently. He stood. "I-I should go see if she gets along with Cinnamon now." He turned and carried the quiet, respectful Sugar to the door.
Sheldon looked grimly at Amy, and with a quick raise of her brows Sheldon knew not to bring up the ethical conundrum involving Raj's current girlfriend Emily.
At least, not now.
-0-0-0-0-
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have to end this story here. Turns out I'm moving to a place that most likely will not have Internet, and I'm on a serious time crunch to write two sequels! Eek! They might be single chapter stories...Thanks for the reviews guys!
