The physicist had a huge smile on his face and stepped into the apartment without noticing they weren't alone. He was already packing his suitcase in his mind and trying to make a mental list of things he needed. Did his suit still fit? Oh well, he would simply use the one he had worn at the prom on the roof. The memory brought a quick smile to his face.

"Uhm, Sheldon…" Amy mumbled, slowly closing the door.

"What? Oh! Right, sorry." He quickly bent down and pressed his lips onto hers. But he also backed away just as quickly.

Amy blushed.

"We'll have time for more of this later. I have an important question to ask you!" He seemed very excited and Amy wasn't sure if she wanted her mother to hear any of this.

For all she knew he could have asked her about anything concerning the Relationship Agreement. About hugging, or kissing. Or even worse – coitus. No, not in front of her mother.

"Sheldon, may I…" Amy walked past him and only when he looked after her he realized that there was a petite person sitting on the chair. And she didn't look too happy.

Sheldon swallowed. His eidetic memory immediately punched him in the face; it was Amy's mother. The mother he had skyped with and proudly told her how he was going to make love to her daughter's vagina.

"This is awkward" He swallowed hard.

"Indeed" Amy's mother crossed her arms. "And before you proceed even further with your question; I don't want to hear any of it."

Amy couldn't believe how rude her mother was. After all Amy was over thirty – coitus would have been the most normal thing in the world. Would it have made her happier to know she was still a virgin and Sheldon hadn't touched her sexually in any way? That they hadn't even French kissed yet? Probably.

"I was just going to ask, if…"

"I said I do not want to hear it, Dr. Cooper. But nice meeting you again." Elizabeth stood up, walked a few steps towards him and stretched her hand out.

Sheldon took it, shook it and then nervously cleared his throat. Great. She managed to make even someone like Sheldon nervous and unwell.

"I appreciate your sarcasm, Mrs. Fowler" Sheldon's smile was thin. When Elizabeth only huffed and turned around to walk back to her chair, he quickly looked at Amy with wide open eyes, screaming for help. But Amy just shrugged apologetically and sat back down as well. Insecurely Sheldon walked over to the table and sunk down onto the chair next to his girlfriend.

"How are things going with the two of you?" Elizabeth asked, taking a sip of her coffee. Even though she sounded indifferent, Amy knew exactly what was going to come.

"Great. We've been together for almost five years and… I really love your daughter" Sheldon smiled, looking at Amy with this enamored stare he always got whenever she was in sight lately.

"So you think love is defined by having sex with my daughter but not wed her?" The look from her icy eyes almost pierced through his skull and blew his brain out.

Sheldon coughed while Amy's jaw dropped and she stared at her mother in an 'I can't believe you just really said that' way.

"So – when will you finally marry her and not just use her?"

"I don't think this is up for discussion now. And mother, nowadays love works without marriage. Just like in your times marriage worked without love." Amy mumbled, clearly becoming pale.

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to be completely flabbergasted.

"I know our first encounter wasn't the best…" Sheldon started sheepishly before grabbing Amy's hand and squeezing it. "But I really do love your daughter. And let me assure you, I respect her more than you will ever know. She is a great person."

Amy couldn't help the huge smile spreading on her face. She grabbed his hand back and then looked at her mother. However he had managed it – he seemed to have cracked her. A small hardly noticeable smile rushed over her thin lips. This was a proof that there was at least some genetic bonding between Amy and her mother; they both couldn't resist the charming man that was Sheldon Lee Cooper.

"Are you hungry? I have prepared some lasagna." Amy looked around and felt like the mood had eased a lot.

Sheldon and Elizabeth nodded and Amy stood up and walked over to the kitchen with a deep relieved sigh.

The dinner had gone great. After a while they even had laughed together – only once and only for a few seconds, but Amy knew that her mother could hold a grudge against people for years and apparently Sheldon had managed to gain her respect back. At least some of it. Amy knew that she would probably never ever be okay with Sheldon's sex comment when they had started dating. She was just happy that Sheldon hadn't corrected this fact – it would have been even more awkward to explain to her mother that they hadn't had coitus yet. She would have started with arguments like "Don't you find my daughter pretty enough?" and "Amy, I always told you that boys don't like too brainy girls for sin times".

Thankfully Amy's mother had left just half an hour after dinner, trying to catch the last train back home. Sheldon had even held the door open for her – he clearly could be a gentleman when he wanted to.

Now Sheldon was sitting on Amy's sofa and she was preparing Strawberry Quik for him.

"Your mother sure is a handful" He sighed and leaned back, clearly exhausted. He had never been too good with social interactions but people like Amy's mother took all of his learned skills.

"I know. I am sorry." Amy grabbed the glass and went over to the sofa, putting the glass on the couch table and then sitting down next to him.

He thankfully took a sip and then turned around to his girlfriend. "What I am actually here for…"

"Right!" Amy nervously folded her hands in her lap and looked at him with an eager smile.

"My sister called today. She is getting married next week and invited me." Sheldon began to explain but waited for a reaction. There was none except her still curious stare.

"Okay?"

"And I wanted to ask if you want to come with me. You're invited, too, of course."

He almost spilled his Strawberry Quik when Amy's arms wrapped around his neck abruptly. He put the glass back on the couch table and hugged her back. When they parted again, she smiled at him so happily that he felt his heart jump. He hadn't known it would mean so much to her – but apparently it did. He actually had only thought about taking her with him so he wouldn't have to miss her, but now it dawned to him: She'd meet his entire family. And his family would meet her. He couldn't wait to finally introduce her to Meemaw.

"When are we going to leave?" She suddenly seemed all business.

"Tomorrow noon, if that's okay with you"

The sentence wasn't even quite finished yet, when Amy already jumped up and pulled him with her. Before he knew what was going on, he found himself in her bedroom.

"Help me pack! Choose all the dresses, skirts, cardigans and blouses you like!" Amy shoved him to her wardrobe and opened it. He was kind of slayed by all the colors and patterns. While he was still busy trying to figure out what pieces of clothing looked good on her and where his favorite blouses and skirts were, Amy packed underwear and bathroom utensils.

After 15 more minutes Sheldon finally grabbed a few pieces and happily packed it into the suitcase.

"Alright. I think I'm ready to go." Amy looked at the suitcase again to check if everything she needed was really inside, then she closed it. "I can't wait to meet your family. Who will be there?"

"Well, my sister and her fiancé… my nephew, my mother, my Meemaw, my brother, a few of my cousins I suppose. Eventually even Uncle Edward."

Amy started biting her lower lip nervously. She'd meet all of them. Sheldon's entire family. She knew how much they meant to him, most of all his mother and Meemaw. Even though she had already met his mom and been on the phone with his grandma, she was still nervous. She'd spend an entire week with them and that was more than enough for them to figure out she eventually wasn't the perfect daughter-in-law – not that she was thinking about marriage whatsoever. She knew that Sheldon was nowhere near ready to marry her yet. But what if his family disapproved of her? Then she could write him off. No matter how much he loved her, if his Meemaw would dislike her she knew she had no chance.

"You're pale. Are you nauseous?"

Sheldon's deep voice brought her back to reality.

"Uhm… no, I was just thinking…"

"About something unpleasant?" He knitted his eyebrows skeptically and sat down on her bed.

She sighed and nodded. "What if your family doesn't like me?"

He looked at her as if she had just uttered a theory that was not possible in any Universe ever. He loved this woman more than life itself and his family knew that – at least his mother and Meemaw. He didn't really care what George Junior had to say and he was quite sure that Missy would approve of Amy as well. It was beyond him how she could even think anything like that.

"I mean, what if I am just too… weird for them?"

"You're not weird" Sheldon said, incomprehension sounding in his voice again. "You're wonderful."

She smiled, clearly appreciating his try to calm and comfort her. Then she went back to the living room, Sheldon following her.

He sat back down on the sofa and took another sip of Strawberry Quik.

"Have you thought of a wedding gift yet?" Amy quickly cleaned the dining table and then went back to the sofa to sit down next to him.

"Oh my, I knew this unpleasant topic would start sooner or later" He sighed. He had racked his brain about what he could give them but he simply hadn't managed to come up with anything creative.

"We still have a week until they are going to marry, right?" Amy thought loudly.

Sheldon just nodded.

"How about we work together with Meemaw and make her a little private cookbook with all of her favorite dishes that your mom and Meemaw always cooked? We just write in the recipes…"

Sheldon's jaw dropped as he looked over to her. He was seriously blessed to have the best girlfriend in the entire world. He had always underestimated her and he had realized that more and more often lately.

She wasn't entirely sure how to construe his open mouth and his silence but as soon as his lips hit her cheek, she was pretty positive that he liked her idea. With a huge smile on his face he finished his Strawberry Quik, stood up and grabbed his satchel. "Can you pick me up at 8am tomorrow?"

"Of course" She walked him to the door. "Thank you for taking me with you"

He smiled down at her. "There's no one I'd rather take with me"

He slowly bent down and this divine feeling of electricity hit Amy's body when his lips collided with hers. His lips were delicious, most of all his full lower lip. Amy was afraid she slowly got addicted to the softness and the feeling in general. They had kissed more and more often within the past year and strangely, she didn't become used to it, it only got better. She felt strong and weak at the same time and with every time they kissed she realized more things; the feeling of his nose poking her cheek, his warm breath on her, his taste, the softness of his lips, his amazing smell. It almost drove her insane, made her want to dig her hands into his hair and just pull him closer and never let go. But she held herself back, knowing that it was a huge step for Sheldon to be more and more physical with her slowly.

She backed away even if it almost broke her heart every time and smiled at him. "Good night, Sheldon"

"Good night, Amy" He turned around and walked down the corridor. Amy only closed the door when she couldn't hear his steps anymore.