Hi lovely readers,
Thank you so much for all of the lovely reviews on the last chapter. Like I always say, it still amazes me that you all enjoy my writing it means so much!
This prompt was requested by ThayAwkwardPotato and I want to apologise for taking so long to write this for you. It seems like forever since you sent in your request. I have used S10 Ep15 as a basis for this prompt, I know it doesn't fit in with the timeline of them being married but I stumbled across the episode and it gave me some added inspiration. Thank you so much for requesting. I really hope you enjoy.
Enjoy reading!
Sheldon had a few days in his life that he could firmly say were some of the best days of his life. His wedding day of course being number one but he figured a close second would be today, the day his best friend gifted him with the ultimate train experience. He had been so moved, so blown away by Leonard's generosity and kindness that he had succumbed to hugging him, something that Sheldon Cooper never, ever did.
The smile on his face grew wider as he re read the leaflet Leonard had handed him. 'You are at the throttle, you are the engineer, you are running the locomotive', he really could have burst with excitement. He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts about trains when he heard the front door click open, letting him know his wife was home.
"Hello" Amy spoke cautiously as she placed her keys in the bowl by the door, "why are you smiling like a crazy person?" she asked with a smile playing on her own face. Normally, when Sheldon smiled like this it often led to something she knew she wouldn't like.
"Because" he rose to his feet like the excited child he was. "Leonard has gifted me with the ultimate train experience, the ultimate train experience, Amy" he repeated the words for affect.
"Oh no, what did you do?" Amy knew that Leonard had this gift in the bag for quite some time. He had bought it with the premise of using it once Sheldon became too involved with work or somewhat overbearing to be around. She knew that recently the work on their guidance system had left them all working very closely together but she didn't think Leonard would use this now, they needed him, surely. But then again, she was under no illusion just how much hard work her husband could be at times.
"I don't know" Sheldon shook his head, oblivious to his wife question. He followed her into the kitchen, watching as she pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. "All I know is I get to be on the railway all day" Amy found him so endearing, the way his smile made his eyes sparkle and the corners of them crease, he was genuinely happy and that was all Amy ever wanted to see.
"Well, I'm really happy for you"
"It's not just me Amy, you get to come too. I need someone to drive me"
"Great"
As Amy spent the evening preparing dinner, tidying the apartment and getting herself ready for bed Sheldon continued to fill her in on how they would spend their day on the train. She learnt that they would probably be sleeping in bunkhouses, the different engines Sheldon would be able to drive on each day and all the hand signals Sheldon had to learn from the manual. She missed most of these though as she was showering however, she knew he would be performing them on the other side of the bathroom door.
"Sheldon" she finally whispered once she was tucked up in bed beside him, he was still talking and all she wanted to do was sleep. "I know you're super excited and I really am so excited for you but please can you just let me sleep. It's late and I'm really tired" she sighed sitting herself up on her elbows.
"Okay, sorry"
"Don't apologise, you're allowed to be excited" she placed her hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. "I love you"
—
The next evening, with Amy out with the girls and Sheldon taking a break from work on their guidance system, he decided to take it upon himself to weld a locomotive engine in his front room. Prior planning was key and he had already bought himself the protective equipment needed, pushed back various pieces of furniture and draped blankets over almost every visible surface. There was no way Amy would let him do this so he had to be clever and remove any trace of this ever happening before she returned from her girls night out.
The evening had been going great, he was having so much fun. It was only when Leonard and Howard rudely interrupted his fun to ask for the help that he knew deep down they desperately needed that his evening took a turn for the worst. Initially he turned them down, they didn't even want to entertain his idea when he first brought it their attention and now suddenly they needed him. It was the second time, when they came back thirty minutes later that Sheldon finally caved in and agreed to help.
Pulling off the protective gloves he had deemed it sensible to wear, he took hold of the whiteboard pen that Howard offered up to him and set to work. It was only once he was done that Leonard asked him the question that sent his heart racing.
"You're not wearing your wedding ring" Leonard noted, gesturing to his friends left hand. Seeing a ring on Sheldon Coopers finger was quite a sight and one that he seemed to notice was missing.
"Oh I know" Sheldon shrugged. "I thought it was best to take it off before I began working" in just the four short months that he had been married he had never once removed his ring, he had felt guilty taking off but he was sure Amy would understand. "It's just on the side over there" with his head he nodded in the direction of where he had delicately placed the ring before working.
"I don't think it is" Howard spoke slowly as he surveyed the scene, finding no ring in sight.
"Please Howard, don't even joke about things like this" Sheldon dismissed his friend, waving his hand behind him as he continued hashing out his theory on the board.
"Sheldon, I'm being serious. It isn't here"
Sheldon sighed, throwing his arms up in the air. "Of course it is, I left it here no more than a few…oh" Leonard immediately saw the colour drain from his friends face, the look of utter dread filled his eyes. "It was here. I swear I left it here" his head moved back and forth, to and fro as he tried to find the lost ring, his heart thumping in his chest at the thought of Amy discovering that he had lost such an important thing.
"Hey, it's okay buddy" Leonard placed his hand on his shoulders. "We'll find it, surely if it was right here, it can't be too far away"
Suddenly, wielding a train engine and making their guidance system smaller didn't seem all that important. It was all tossed aside as they worked together to try and find the ring. They moved furniture, looked under furniture, looked on top of cupboards and every visible surface but still as the night went on the ring was still missing and Sheldon's anxiety was only growing.
—
Sheldon was praying that by the time Amy returned home, the missing wedding ring would be found and she would never, ever need to know about this. He didn't want to explain to her that it was missing because that then also meant admitting that just for a moment he had removed such a precious symbol of their love. It was rare that Sheldon's actions left him feeling awful but this was one of those moments and he wished that he had a time machine where he could go back and never have taken that ring off of his finger.
He was so busy, so preoccupied by thinking about how he could have handled this situation differently that he hardly noticed Amy was home. She was making quite a clatter and seemed a little unsteady on her feet.
"Hello" she sang, looking up at her husband with a lazy smile upon her face as she kicked off the small heels she had been wearing. She was by no means a heels kind of girl so the first opportunity to remove them she took.
"Are you drunk?" he asked, observing her appearance and stature.
"No" she shook her head, dismissing his question with a wave of her hand. "I've just had a few drinks that's all" she padded over to the sofa where she curled herself up into a ball and fell into his chest. She was always like this when she had a bit too much to drink, utterly adorable but completely needy and dependent on him.
"Did you have a good night?" Sheldon asked. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, it felt unnatural not doing such a thing but he was terrified of her seeing that the ring was missing.
"Mhmm" she nodded her head slowly and Sheldon wondered if she'd fall asleep. "We talked about babies" she mumbled sleepily. Ever since Halley had been born, the conversations of little Cooper children seemed to be much more frequent. He had made it clear where he stood on the subject, they were in his future for sure but no babies right now however, as the cogs in his brain started to turn he figured this could be a good topic of conversation to keep Amy distracted.
"You did? Tell me about it" even though Amy had had a little too much to drink, she thought it odd that Sheldon was asking for more information. She was half expecting him to roll his eyes and tell her he wasn't ready.
"Oh you know" she sighed. "Just girl talk" he felt her shoulders shrug. "Cuddle me" she mumbled as she snuggled herself further into him, she didn't like feeling like a complete dead weight against his chest. Taking a deep breath he wrapped his arms around her, covering his left hand with his right. "Mmm" she sighed, clearly satisfied with the cuddle. Sheldon held his breath, hoping that if he could some how get her to sleep then he could search the apartment again and she'd be none the wiser. "How was your evening? What did you do?"
"Oh nothing much. Watched a movie and went over to Leonard's" he felt her nod against him. They stayed like this for a few moments, Sheldon listening carefully to the pattern and sound of her breathing, trying to decipher whether she was in fact asleep. He was just about to nudge himself away from her when she suddenly jumped in his arms, she swatted his hands away and sat upright.
"I need to go to bed. I'm going to fall asleep here otherwise" she told him, trying to open her eyes wider so that she didn't fall asleep. Sheldon tried to hide his hands but Amy's gaze was quick and he suddenly found it lingering on his left hand, her eyes told him that she had already noticed. "Where… where is your wedding ring?" she asked, there was something in her eyes that Sheldon couldn't read.
"Amy...I…I…" he sighed, before taking a breath and just deciding to be honest. "I lost it" he finally admitted.
"You lost it?" she didn't sound angry or annoyed, if anything he thought she was quite amused but that still didn't stop Sheldon from rambling on about how he had come to lose it.
"Yeah, I've lost it. Amy, I'm so sorry" he was waving his hands around as he explained. "I decided to weld a train engine in preparation for the train experience and I thought it was sensible to take my ring off before I started doing the work. I placed the ring just over there and when I came to retrieve it, it was gone. I have no idea where it is, we searched the apartment from top to bottom. Amy, I'm so sorry, I feel terrible" he finally stopped, breathing heavily as his ramble ended.
Hearing Sheldon's confession and having to process such a thing caused Amy to sober up quite quickly. She had so many questions, she didn't quite know where to start.
"You were welding a train engine in our front room?"
"Yeah…I…wait, is that the bit you're mad about?" he asked, this wasn't quite the way he saw this going.
"You know, I have so many questions that I'm not even going to ask" she shook her head, it was late and she was so tired. "The ring is definitely here though right, you haven't lost it for good?" she asked.
"It's has to be in the apartment somewhere. We couldn't find it but it has to be here" Amy could see the inner turmoil that this was causing her husband, she wasn't angry, even if she was she couldn't show it that would only make him feel worse.
"Okay, we can take another look in the morning" she nodded her head and covered her mouth as she yawned.
"You're really okay about this?" he asked, he was expecting her to flip out and lecture him about how important this was.
"Sure, we don't need rings really. I still love you with or without one" she kissed his cheek and he was left wondering if this reaction was partly down to the alcohol.
"I feel awful Amy. I promise, I'll make it up to you. I promise" it surprised him how much this meant to him, the significance of such a thing that he didn't think was all that important suddenly mattered so much now it wasn't here.
"You will make it up to me" she told him very matter of fact. "Starting with breakfast in the morning and then maybe we can have that baby conversation again" she flashed him a playful smileas she rose from the sofa and headed to bed.
Thank you so much for reading! As always reviews are always welcome and so appreciated, I love hearing your thoughts.
Stay safe
Lots of love.