"Dr Fowler?"
Amy looked up to where her name was being called from.
"Yes, Professor Roberts?" She replied, straightening up.
"We have two newcomers here; a dolphin and her calf. We've named them Soleil and Capri. Soleil is the mother, and Capri is the calf…Capri is very inquisitive of humans, but his mother is very frightened of us, which is unlike many dolphins. Dolphins are usually curious, but she is terrified. Do you think you could monitor her?" Professor Roberts asked.
"Of course sir." Amy nodded. "One request though…I'd really like to show my boyfriend this. Is there any way you or someone else can record my work?"
"Hannah will be diving down with you," Professor Roberts replied, nodding to where Hannah, the diving instructor, had just emerged from the changing rooms in her wetsuit and diving apparatus. "I could attach an underwater video recorder to her diving helmet, and give you the memory card afterwards so you can show him. Of course, we would need it back though."
"Of course!" Amy beamed, rushing to her locker, "Thank you sir!"
"I'll get that set up for you right now." He promised, as Amy took her diving gear into the changing rooms.
..
"Do you have the electrodes?" Hannah asked, pressing record on the video recorder.
"Yes." Amy confirmed, tapping the pocket of her wetsuit.
"Okay. In we go!" Hannah said, as the two women adjusted their apparatus and masks, before diving into the marine pool.
"This one is Capri." Hannah said through the microphone underneath her helmet.
"Okay, so I'm guessing that Soleil can't be that far away?" Amy replied into hers.
"Here she is!" Hannah responded almost immediately, as she pointed towards a dolphin with a white patch near her dorsal fin.
Hannah attempted to swim near the dolphin, but Amy's instincts kicked in.
"Hannah, wait!" She said suddenly; "What if we stay still and let her come to us?"
Hannah looked to Amy. "Hmm, I don't know. I know that she's afraid of humans, so what if she doesn't come near us?"
"But all dolphins have a natural curiosity, right? I have an idea." Amy replied. "Please can I try it?"
Hannah nodded. "They do…Okay; sure thing Dr Fowler." She replied, staying as still as she could.
"Turn around and face away from her." Amy whispered through the headset, and turning around herself.
Hannah followed her lead.
Soleil glanced at the two divers and cocked her head.
She slowly swam towards them.
Amy could see her reflection in her diver's helmet.
"Move forward." Amy whispered through the headset, and she and Hannah slowly moved forward, away from the dolphin.
Capri was swimming inquisitively around the two women, but they remained still.
Soleil was slowly approaching them now.
Amy and Hannah moved forward again, until Soleil's curiosity got the better of her, and her nose nudged them both lightly on the back.
Amy slowly turned around and held out her hand.
Soleil looked at it, and bumped it with her nose, before proceeding to roll over in the water.
Hannah's eyes widened. "This is amazing!" She whispered.
Amy smiled to herself as she slowly and carefully extracted the electrodes from her pocket and attached them gently to Soleil's head.
Hannah pressed a button on her headset box which was attached to her back pocket.
"Hannah Burkin to lab; the electrodes have been connected. Over."
"Message received; wireless data being received. We'll analyse it tomorrow. Over." Crackled the voice of Professor Roberts over the headset.
"Excellent job, Amy!" Hannah smiled. "You're a natural! I'm so glad we caught this on video!"
"I know!" Amy grinned broadly through her helmet, as Soleil let Amy stroke her gray, cool skin. "I can't wait to show Sheldon!"
..
Later that afternoon, Sheldon leaned back in his seat as the video of Amy with Soleil finished, and Amy removed the memory card adaptor from the laptop.
"Amy…That was amazing!" Sheldon said, "I'm speechless!"
"That's a rare thing for you!" Amy teased.
"Amy Farrah Fowler, after the intense lovemaking I gave you last night, you should be nicer to me!" Sheldon replied, smiling cheekily.
Amy grinned. "Fair point."
"I still can't believe that you have such a natural flair with dolphins. If you can be so caring and instinctive with a dolphin, imagine what you would be like with children!" Sheldon smiled.
At that, Amy looked up, wide eyed.
"What?"
"What?" Sheldon repeated, swallowing hard, the realization of what he had just said hitting him.
"Sheldon…We're not even married. I don't want children yet." Amy spluttered.
"I know, I know…I was just speaking hypothetically." Sheldon answered, quickly.
Amy just nodded, frowning.
"On an unrelated topic, what if we were married?" Sheldon piped up.
Amy stared at him. "I…I don't know. Sheldon, it took you three years to say that you love me and started being intimate with me. This is moving too fast!"
Sheldon gave a sad smile. "Forgive me Amy, but you wanted this relationship to progress into kissing, cuddling, public displays of affection, the "I love you's" and intercourse. We have done those things."
"I know, but…Sheldon, I know that you're making up for all those years when we had no physical relationship; you've done incredibly well, but I know you don't really want to get married." Amy smiled weakly. "And I'm okay with that."
Sheldon just nodded. "Fair enough; but what if I do want to?" He hinted.
Amy shrugged. "I don't know…I assumed you would never want to marry me nor have children to be honest. But I do know that we aren't there yet."
Sheldon nodded again, slowly.
He swallowed hard. "Excuse me; I'm feeling a little tired, I might go lie down for a bit." He muttered.
"Oh…Okay. Would you like me to come with you?" Amy offered.
"No, it's okay…You go and see Penny for a bit." Sheldon replied quietly.
Amy opened her mouth to protest, but Sheldon had closed his eyes and was fiddling with his bedside drawer.
Sighing, Amy grabbed her belongings in her shoulder bag, and left the suite.
Once she'd left, Sheldon took the little cube shape out of the drawer and sighed loudly.
He placed it back, hiding it behind a book and his emergency stash of money and protection, out of sight, and closed his eyes.
..
Amy approached Penny and Leonard's room and knocked.
Moments later Penny answered. "Oh hey, Ames! We were just going for a swim; we have until nine when the pool closes. You coming?"
"Sure." Amy shrugged. "But I don't have my swimsuit."
Penny frowned. "What's wrong?"
Amy shook her head.
"Come in; you can borrow one of my swimsuits while you tell me what happened." Penny invited.
Amy entered Penny and Leonard's room and Penny took out a plain purple bikini, handing it to Amy.
"Will this even fit me?" Amy asked.
"Of course it will." Penny insisted. "Go put it on."
Amy let herself into the bathroom and returned minutes later, still in her clothes, but with the bikini on underneath; the halterneck straps just visible.
"Thanks Penny." Amy smiled as Penny handed her a spare towel.
"You're welcome. Now…What did Sheldon do?" Penny asked as she, Amy and Leonard walked out of the room with their belongings and locked the door, making their way to the elevator.
"Nothing. I think I upset him." Amy replied, remorsefully.
Leonard frowned. "Really? That doesn't seem likely."
Penny smirked a little, but Amy didn't see it.
"Well, I showed him a video of me dealing with a sensitive dolphin today, and he was really impressed, which then led to him saying if I'm that good with dolphins, what would I be like with kids?" Amy explained.
"Whoa, wait…WHAT!?" Penny exclaimed.
"I know, right?" Amy nodded, "Then he started asking about kids and marriage, and I said we only just got into the swing of having a normal relationship; we aren't there yet! So, he got upset and basically told me he wanted to be alone…So I came to see you guys."
Penny blinked. "Wow…Sheldon wants to be married and be a daddy? That's so not like him! Maybe it's something in the water?"
Amy shrugged.
The two women turned to face Leonard, who remained silent, biting his lip.
"Uh…You two go on ahead. I'll go talk to him." Leonard said.
"Are you sure?" Penny asked.
"Yeah; we have just over two weeks left here, so it's no biggie! I'll see you later." Leonard replied. "I'll see you later, ladies!"
"See ya." Penny and Amy replied in unison, as Penny kissed her boyfriend goodbye.
Leonard hurried into the free elevator that Penny and Amy weren't taking, and pressed the button for the 20th floor.
Once alone inside the elevator which had begun its ascent, Leonard sighed. "Oh Sheldon Cooper, you really do love her don't you?" He muttered, shaking his head.