Chapter 58 - Aftermath - Man and Wife and Time

The wedding was perfect, Sheldon and Amy writing their own vows, that would have everyone crying by the time they finished pledging themselves to each other that day. Leonard had originally offered to help Sheldon with his vows, but after reading his draft, Leonard was so moved, he told Sheldon he was better off on his own. Leonard did not want to ruin them, since they were great as they were, and Leonard was happy for his friend that he now could express his love for Amy in words. Everything, during the actual ceremony, went extremely well until the end, their first kiss as man and wife was magical, until Leonard had to nudge Sheldon as their kiss got noticeably way too long, with no end in sight.

The reception was just as wonderful as the wedding and all Sheldon's friends noticed how extremely happy he was during the whole event. Sheldon himself felt content, now that he was married to Amy, and he couldn't help how good the feeling of finally knowing the one woman he needed in his life was now his wife. In addition, in a lesser sense, it also served his need to complete things as he now knew Amy was the one he needed to fill a missing part of his life, she made him complete.

A small smile formed on his face as he looked over at Amy with his relatives, they had pulled Amy away to meet her and talk about him, his MeeMaw being one of the worse offenders. Sheldon had been watching them for over 20 minutes and now had decided he had enough of that, he knew Amy liked to dance and they were playing their song, at least that is what he planned to tell them when he stole her back. They danced a lot that night, Amy wearing Penny's flats, after discarding her heels, while Penny sat in reasonable comfort on a chair next to Leonard, her feet in his lap being massaged.

Sheldon was almost disappointed when it was it was time for him and Amy to leave, almost, however he was ready for their first night together as man and wife. The last few months together Sheldon and Amy had gotten closer, much closer, Sheldon's love for Amy making things he originally rejected now become things he desired with Amy. It was awkward at first, both of them nervous, but when Amy took off her dress, Sheldon helping her, and revealed herself in just a little white corset that was an under garment to her dress, Sheldon found he couldn't help himself. She looked so vulnerable, just standing there, and Sheldon just took her into his arms, the need to protect his wife, the strongest need driving him at the moment. They just held each other tight for several minutes, the closeness of their mate making them both content and making them both relax.

So when Sheldon leaned down to kiss her, there was no more nervousness, just love as they found there way to their bed and began something that was actually instinctive to humans for thousands of years. The first time was delicate and slow, Sheldon's fear of hurting Amy making him hesitate several times only to be urged on by his wife. It was also a little clumsy as Sheldon couldn't let Amy go from his tight grasp on her and Amy never even considering not being held protectively tight by the man she loved. The second and third times they both relaxed more and by the time they exhausted themselves they both were satisfied and smiling at each other.

"I have to say cuddles, you are certainly a quick learner." Amy teased.

Sheldon gave her a little chuckle, "Why Dr Cooper, you know I excel at everything. Plus it helps that I have become quite fond of the subject and the teacher." Sheldon then kissed her on the nose.

Amy smiled and Sheldon swore her eyes twinkled. "Honey, call me that again."

Sheldon smiled, "I love you Dr Amy Farrah Cooper."

Amy launched herself at her husband connecting her mouth to his, his opening willingly to accept hers. Amy always dreamed how it would be to be married to the love of her life and to spend the rest of her life with him. It was the most amazing dream she had ever imagined, how could it be that being married to Sheldon could even be better, she was the happiest she had ever been in her life. That night when the two lovers finally fell asleep, they both were happy and content, their lives seemed just perfect and everything was right in their world.

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The couple of weeks in Pasadena, after the wedding, where quiet and comfortable for Penny and Leonard, working and relaxing together being their standard routine. Amy and Sheldon where on their honeymoon for the next three weeks, so the gang came over to Leonard and Penny's each weekend to socialize and spend time together. On the weeknights they usually spent them at home, Penny carrying twins, making her a devoted homebody, just wanting to stay at home each night, to rest and be pampered by Leonard as soon as she walked in the door every evening.

However, about a week after Sheldon and Amy returned, the great feelings Sheldon Leonard were having became strained, both of them knowing they had something to do, that both of them dreaded. They had both agreed, but the enormity of what they were doing didn't make it easier, they had to take apart the time machine. So it was on a Friday morning that Leonard took the padlock off the basement room so him and Sheldon could walk in to begin the task they were both not looking forward to. The hardware was important but it was the software that made it all work so they decided first to purge the software first, and it required them to spend the first ten minutes powering up the computers to a operating state. They would then insert a special disk they had gotten from Howard that contained a destructive worm virus. The virus would eat its way through all the code and destroy it, eliminating all the computer code calculations that were needed for time travel. It was all routine and would just take some time, so they never expected to see what was displayed on the computer screen after the machine came up ready to operate.

"Sheldon tell me I'm not seeing what I am seeing. It is a software problem, right?" Leonard stared at the screen looking at something he considered impossible.

Sheldon swallowed, "Let me run a complete diagnostic on the system." he looked at Leonard who shrugged then nodded.

It was a couple minutes later when Sheldon and Leonard were sitting watching the diagnostic routine run, that they spoke again. "Sheldon, the computer said there was a marker signal it was detecting."

Sheldon nodded, "I don't have an answer, except what you first thought, maybe it is a software error."

Leonard looked at Sheldon closely. "You don't think it is a software error, do you?"

Sheldon shook his head, "The system seemed to boot up perfectly."

"How can a marker be out there?" it didn't make sense to Leonard, "We reset everything, there shouldn't be a marker out there."

"Maybe." then Sheldon shook his head, "The probabilities of another person inventing a machine and becoming a time traveler using the same marker frequencies as mine are astronomical."

Leonard felt a headache coming on, this was terrible, they were suppose to have fixed everything, there should be no more markers. "Sheldon that can't be us, can it?"

Sheldon was now worried, "I don't know Leonard."

"OH GOD." Leonard stood up and walked around the room, trying not to think the worse, but his mind kept going there and he couldn't stop it.

They didn't talk for almost the whole next hour, the time it took the complete diagnostic program to run. Sheldon softly sighed when the results came up on the computer screen, 'NO ERRORS', the words seeming to mock him. He turned to his friend, "Leonard the software is working properly." Sheldon then closed the diagnostic routine and the marker alert came back on letting them know there was a marker out there wanting to come back.

The beeping of the marker warning brought Leonard back to the computers to look over Sheldon's shoulder, seeing the display show the same thing as before. Leonard just felt tired, everything from months before now coming back to him as he quietly said, "Sheldon what do you suggest we do?"

Sheldon looked at Leonard, "I think we should bring it back."

Leonard stood there a couple minutes saying nothing before he spoke quietly again, Sheldon's Vulcan hearing the only reason he even heard him. "We really don't have a choice I guess." Sheldon just nodded.