A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has followed and favorited this story. Also all the reviews have been wonderful. Thank you for all the honesty about the last chapter I was worried. Writing that kind of stuff is not my forte. Oh and to answer any questions, my head cannon has always been that Amy is on the pill so sorry to disappoint, no Shamy babies in this story. That conversation took place without us seeing it as well.
Oh well so on with the story. Chapter 5 has us at Amy's mother's house for a Christmas gathering with some family. I will only name a few of them. I hope you like the characters I have invented.
So that being said, on with the story. I don't own the characters well except for the ones I invented. Enjoy
Sheldon woke up first the next morning. He always got up at 6:15 on Saturday mornings so he could watch Doctor Who at 6:30. Amy was still wrapped up in his arms. The memories of the night before began to run through his thoughts. He smiled as he recalled how he felt. He couldn't believe how long he had waited to do that with Amy. All his worries about intimacy and germs seemed to be gone. There was no denying how much he loved the woman that was wrapped up in his arms. Now they were really one. She was his and he was hers.
He decided he could go one week without seeing the show. He laid and watched Amy sleep for a while. After about 20 minutes she stirred.
"Good morning." Sheldon said to her.
"Good morning. How long have you been awake?" She asked.
"I wake up every Saturday at 6:15. I usually watch Doctor Who."
"I'm sorry do you want to get up? You can still catch the last 20 minutes of the show."
"I chose not to get up. I was enjoying myself just laying here watching you." He said.
"Oh, well what did you want to do today?" Amy asked him.
"I was thinking, I have my Meemaw's cookie recipes and I know you love to bake. I was wondering if we could make the cookies together. Then we can take some to your mother's house tomorrow." He answered her.
"I would love that." She said.
"Well then let's get started." He started to get up.
"Are you sure you want to get up right away?" She asked him.
"Well Dr. Fowler, what did you have in mind?" He asked as he pulled her close and kissed her.
30 minutes later they were lying in each other's arms fully sated from their morning activities.
"So shall we get started on those cookies?" Amy asked him smiling.
"Yes, but I want to take a shower first." He answered.
"Okay why don't you go first and I will go start breakfast. What would you like to eat?"
"Well usually on Saturdays I have cereal but I think I am a bit hungrier now." He said.
"Do you have eggs and bread? I can make us French toast." She said to him.
"That sounds wonderful. I think we may have some bacon too."
"Okay you go get your shower. I will take care of the food."
He gave her a quick kiss before grabbing his clothes and heading into the bathroom. Amy quickly made up the bed and picked up the clothes that had been thrown on the floor the night before. She was still in shock that they had made love the night before and that morning. It seemed they moved so quickly to that stage. But she didn't regret it at all and apparently neither did Sheldon. She finished cleaning up the room and made her way into the kitchen where she found the ingredients to make French toast in the refrigerator. Sheldon came out 20 minutes later dressed and cleaned and took over the cooking duties while Amy got herself ready. They ate a nice breakfast together.
"So do you have all the ingredients to make the cookies?" Amy asked him as they cleaned up from breakfast.
"I think I have most but I will get the recipes and see if we need anything else. We could run to the store and pick up anything I don't have."
They made the list and left a few minutes later. When they returned they made Meemaw's special sugar cookies and lacey cookies.
"I've never tasted this kind of a cookie." Amy said.
"It is Meemaw's special recipe. She shared it with me because I loved them so much. They didn't come out quite as thin as hers but they are still just as delicious."
"Now that we have these let's make chocolate chip." Amy said.
"Yummy. And when we are finished we should still have time to make it to the zoo for the holiday light show." Sheldon said hopefully.
"Oh that sounds like fun. When does it start?" Amy asked
"It starts around 7. They have a Christmas parade and then the light show."
"Since when did you want to do anything Christmassy?" She asked. "First you buy gifts for everyone then you want to bake Christmas cookies. Now you want to see a Christmas parade. Did you fall on your head and I missed it?"
"I just know how much you love this holiday and I want to make it special for you." He answered her.
"Just spending time with you is enough. If it is too much for you we don't have to go to the zoo."
"Well I love light shows so I really do want to go. Just because it has a Christmas theme doesn't mean it won't be spectacular."
"Well then let's go."
They finished the chocolate chip cookies and boxed up a bunch to take to Amy's mother's house the next day. They ordered a pizza for dinner and then went to the zoo. The light show was as spectacular as Sheldon had hoped it would be. They went home and were so tired they fell asleep quickly.
The next morning, they were up a little later than the day before and spent some time just cuddling. They got up and had a nice breakfast.
"What time are we due at your mom's today?" Sheldon asked her.
"Around 3 but we will need to leave around 12:30. It's about a two hour drive. And I realized last night that I left the gifts I bought for my mom at my apartment. I need to stop there on the way out to Santa Barbara."
"So do you want to watch a movie? It is only 10 now." Sheldon asked her.
"Why don't you choose something, I need to finish getting ready."
"Okay." He settled in and decided to watch Gravity since he had only watched that 5 times since he got it.
They left for her mom's at 12:30 and stopped at her apartment. They were on the road again by 1:15. They spent the car ride playing some of Sheldon's favorite games. They even invented a few new Counterfactual questions that had a holiday theme. They arrived at Sandy Fowler's home around 2:45. It seemed that there were already some others there. Sheldon became nervous. He had met her mom a few years back but that was before they had officially started dating. He said some things that he wished he hadn't about a nonexistent sex life that left her mother shocked. Amy had explained that she told her it was all a joke and that they were just really good friends. But now some of what he had said that night was true even if it had only been for a few days. Now they did have a bit more of an intimate relationship and had even had sex. He certainly wouldn't say anything about that to her this time. Amy had told him to just be himself.
"Sheldon!" Amy yelled at him.
"What?" He asked coming out of his thoughts.
"Are you okay?" She asked
"Yes I am fine. I was just thinking about the time us Skyped your mom. I am afraid of what she thinks of me already and she hasn't even met me in person."
"Sheldon, I have told you, just be yourself. Don't worry about what we said to her the last time we spoke. She knows I made it all up. She doesn't think you are a sex pervert anymore. I promise."
"She thought I was a sex pervert? That is not good, Amy."
"Will you relax? I told her that I said to say those things. I didn't tell her that we worked together on our little speech to her. She thinks you just listened to me and did what I asked. Now let's get in there. I can see her peeking out the window from the kitchen."
"Fine." Sheldon opened the car door and walked around to Amy's side. She got out and got the cookies and gifts from the trunk. Sheldon carried them up to the house. Before they could knock on the door it flew open and Sandy Fowler came face to face with the couple.
"Hi mom, Merry Christmas!" Amy said hugging her mother in greeting.
"Hello." She said back.
"Hi Mrs. Fowler. Merry Christmas." Sheldon said to her.
"Hello, Sheldon. It is nice to finally see you in person. Come on in. Everyone is in the family room." She said to them
Amy took the cookies from Sheldon and gave them to her mother. Sandy took them back into the kitchen while Sheldon and Amy made their way into the family room. Amy took Sheldon's hand as they walked through the hallway. When they entered the room they were greeted with about 10 people.
"Hello everyone. Merry Christmas." Amy said in greeting. "Everyone this is my boyfriend, Dr. Sheldon Cooper."
Everyone looked at him in shock. They never expected Amy to bring home a boyfriend and had stopped believing her long ago after he never showed up at family functions.
"Hello, Sheldon, it is nice to meet you." A woman stood up from where she was sitting and came over to shake his hand. Sheldon took the proffered hand without wincing.
"This is my grandmother, Ruth." Amy said to him.
"It is very nice to meet you." He said to her.
"Well come on in and sit down and let us get to know you. But before you do, I have to point out that the two of you are standing under the mistletoe. You know what that means." Ruth said to them.
Sheldon looked at Amy. She was beet red. She didn't think he would want to kiss her in front of all her relatives. He surprised her when he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Her relatives were shocked. They had made bets as to whether Amy was going to really be bringing someone and if she did would he really be her boyfriend. It seemed to them that Amy really was dating this man or she paid him a lot of money to pretend.
The two sat down on the sofa next to a woman who looked a bit younger than Amy.
"So how did you two meet? How long have you been seeing each other?" The young woman asked.
"Geez, Michelle, breathe between questions." Amy said to her. "Sheldon this is my cousin Michelle."
"Good to meet you, now answer the questions."
"We met at a coffee shop after a dating website said that we would be perfect companions. Of course, I did not believe it at all. Those dating sites are complete hokum. My friends blackmailed me with a dirty sock."
"Excuse me?" Michelle asked.
"They told me they had hidden a dirty sock which we had found on our roof earlier in the week somewhere in my apartment. They would not tell me where it was until I agreed to meet the woman that been mathematically matched to me. I had no choice but to go." Sheldon said. Amy smiled at him. She knew the story all too well about how he had no intention of ever having a girlfriend and how love was too hippy dippy. She didn't mind because she felt the same when they first met.
"How romantic." Michelle said sarcastically.
"I understand that was sarcasm, but I have to tell you, I didn't believe in love. I thought that all those hippy dippy feelings were for the weak minded. When I met Amy she seemed to be on the same page as me. We instantly clicked." He smiled at her. He had never admitted it to her but he was smitten from the moment she said she didn't want to have any physical contact.
"That is so sweet." Michelle admitted. "So how long have you two been seeing each other?"
"We had our first date 4 years ago."
"Four years! Why aren't you married?" She exclaimed.
Amy fielded that question. "Well we had our first date 4 years ago but we had no intentions of ever being more than just friends. We denied it to everyone around us. If asked we said that we had a relationship of the mind."
"So you were not interested in romance?" Michelle asked.
"Not at all, we both didn't want it. We were happy with our arrangement." Sheldon answered.
"So what changed?" Michelle was curious if they were now romantic.
"I went on a date with another man." Amy answered her.
"You did what?" Her mother had just come in from the kitchen and had heard only the last part of the conversation.
"I accepted a date with another man." Amy answered again. "My friends told me if I didn't think it was going anywhere with Sheldon that I should put myself out there. Stuart from the comic book shop asked me out to coffee and I accepted."
"I knew it was Penny's idea for you to go out with him. No wonder she didn't accept the date from me."
"Wait you asked Penny out?" Amy asked a bit annoyed. "How did I not know about this?"
Her family members looked around uncomfortably. They didn't know how to react. Amy seemed a bit upset.
"Um, well I was trying to make you jealous. At least that is what Penny thought. I guess in retrospect she was right. I didn't want you going out with Stuart. When Penny went out with him, I was fine with it. I told Leonard that Stuart was taller, artistic, self-employed, and most importantly got 45% off of comic books. When Leonard asked if it was okay for him to ask you out, I told him that there was no way that you, a noted neurobiologist would be at all interested in Stuart, an impoverished peddler of picture books. I was shocked when you said yes to him."
"You know I did it to make you jealous." Amy said to him.
"I know and it worked." He answered
"What happened?" Michelle asked.
"Sheldon showed up during my second date with Stuart and asked me to be his girlfriend." Amy answered her.
"In the middle of a date?" Michelle asked.
"Yep, right in the middle of a movie theater." Amy answered.
"That is so romantic." Michelle swooned. "So you two have been an item ever since? How long ago was that?"
"Three years ago." They answered at the same time.
"So will there be wedding bells any time soon?" Amy's grandmother asked.
"Um well," Sheldon stumbled.
Amy had a feeling this would be brought up. She really wanted to tell everyone to mind their own business but knew that was never going to happen.
Sheldon spoke up again. "We don't have any immediate plans but that does not mean it will not happen."
"That is good to hear." Ruth said and smiled at Sheldon.
Just then they heard another knock at the door. A minute later there were 3 more people in the family room.
"Damn." Amy whispered in Sheldon's ear.
"What?" He asked.
"That is my cousin Nick."
"Yeah so?"
"He is the one my mom paid to take me to prom. He ended up using the money she gave him to buy drugs. That is why I was on the cleanup committee. After he took off with the money, I agreed to help out. I can't believe he showed up today. He hardly ever comes with his parents."
"Why is it such a big deal?" Sheldon asked.
"Because every time I see him he taunts me about that prom." Amy answered. "I just can't handle that again this year."
"Well now you can tell him you have been to a prom. And let him know that you won Prom Queen."
"I can only imagine what he will say about a bunch of adults having a prom."
"Who cares what he says. I sure don't. Why should you? That was a great night in my opinion." Sheldon said.
"Mine too." She said and she smiled at him. He leaned over and kissed her.
"Oh now isn't this sweet." Nick said as he walked over to them. "Amy aren't you going to introduce me to you 'boyfriend'" He said as he used air quotes at the word boyfriend.
"Well I don't know what you mean by that but my name is Sheldon Cooper." Sheldon answered. He did not want to deal with this jerk acting like he wasn't really her boyfriend.
"Well it is nice to meet you Sheldon. I am Nick, Amy's cousin. So are you really her boyfriend? I know Aunt Sandy had to pay me to take her to the prom."
"I assure you I am her boyfriend. We have been together for 4 years."
"Then why is this the first time I have ever seen you before today?"
"Because I never felt the need to actually come to any of these events. I can't say I have been the best boyfriend. Amy has asked me on several occasions and I made up an excuse to not come. I chose to come this time because it was about time I met everyone."
"Oh well." He mumbled. "I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't. How could you?" Sheldon said.
"Well shall we all go and sit down for dinner?" Sandy said changing the subject.
The group made their way to the dining room for dinner. They had a delicious dinner of ham and turkey followed by plenty of pies and desserts including the cookies Amy and Sheldon had made.
"Wow these cookies are amazing." Nick said. "Who made these?"
"Sheldon and I made them yesterday." Amy answered
"You made these? They are great!" Nick said.
"They are my Meemaw's recipe." Sheldon said proudly.
"What's a Meemaw?" Michelle asked.
"Meemaw is what Sheldon calls his grandmother." Amy answered.
"I've never heard that term before." She said. "Where are you from Sheldon?"
"Galveston, Texas." Sheldon answered.
"I never would have guessed." Michelle said. "You don't have much of an accent."
"Well I left Texas when I was 15. I guess I lost it." He said.
"So does your family live in California?" Sandy asked.
"No they are still in Texas." He answered.
"So you left home at 15? Where did you go?" Nick asked.
"Well I graduated high school when I was 11."
"You graduated high school at 11?" Michelle said shocked.
"Yes and Sheldon got his first p.h.D when he was 16." Amy said proudly.
"Wait did you say first?" Nick asked.
"Yes, I have two." Sheldon said.
"Amazing." Nick said.
"I know." Amy said. "He is brilliant."
"Wow you guys are perfect for each other. Do you know Amy has an IQ of 185?" Nick asked him.
"Well I knew she was brilliant. She never told me her IQ." Sheldon said smiling at her. Amy blushed.
"What is your IQ?" Nick asked, knowing he had to know.
"187." Amy answered.
"You guys really are perfect for each other." He said.
The rest of the night was spent playing games. Apparently it was a tradition to play Trivial Pursuit after dinner. Sheldon and Amy paired up and won easily. The party broke up around 8 and everyone left for their homes.
"Thank you for coming today." Amy said when they got home.
"It was fun." Sheldon said. "I enjoyed your family."
"They really liked you." She said.
"Oh well that is good. But how can you tell?"
"Mom told me on the way out." She answered.
"Oh."
"I have a question for you." She said seriously.
"What is it?" He asked concerned. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No. It's just when my grandmother asked about us getting married, you told her that just because we had no immediate plans that it doesn't mean it won't happen. Did you mean that? I mean we have never even discussed marriage."
"Amy, I know we have had issues when it has come to discussing future plans but I assure you that I have thought long and hard about us and marriage since Leonard and Penny got engaged. I have not ruled anything out. I love you. I want us to be together. I just have never ever thought about getting married before meeting you."
"Me neither. But now you have?"
"I have. Now I am not saying it is happening tomorrow but someday I do plan on asking you to marry me."
"That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard. I love you."
"I love you too."
The two went to bed together and snuggled close together.
This was one of my longest chapters but notice I got the last words in for the challenge. I got 6 of the 8 so do I get a Cooper Coupon. Probably not since I have doubled the length it was suppose to be.
Last chapter will be finished before Christmas. Oh boy that is only 6 days from now. I hope my creative juices start flowing quick.
So what did you think? well what? Let me know in reviews. I love them.