2024
So the longest school week of all time finally came to its end. I felt kind of relieved, because no one attacked me all week. Of course I've heard my classmates gossiping about me and literally no one was talking to me, but it was better than getting beaten up then bursting out and getting punishment for it. I know that the only reason of my temporary peace is that it would be too obvious to prank me after that arm-breaking thing. And Debbie is way smarter than that, so they will find me when no one expects them to.
I go to my room after school and play video games. Or maybe read. My parents give me tons of books to read too, not just science stuff. I'm okay with reading comic books, but real books are so old. It's so much easier and more fun to play through the game or watch the movie, but they pretty much insist on reading. Mom has a terrible taste in novels, she loves historical and romantical genres, but they are the most boring thing I could ever imagine. Dad's books are somewhat better, but they are incredibly long, all of them has more and more sequels. I think they are a complete waste of time and although I'm not like my classmates, I really don't want to be like my parents.
So I play video games. I only come out of my room for dinner. It's a quiet one, Mom and Dad are not talking at all, but Dory doesn't recognize it, so she speaks about her stuff as usual. She forgave me as soon as I apologized, so we are good again.
After dinner I go back to my room. At ten p.m. Mom knocks on my door. She has her long, brown hair pulled back into a braid, and she is already wearing one of her long nightgowns.
"Nick, it's time to go to bed."
" I know. I'll just finish this. "
" Nick… I know it's been a hard week. I just wanted to tell you that you're a great kid. "
I just nod. This conversation was supposed to make me feel better but it's not. It's just weird, because we both know that I'll sleep in her bed because I have nightmares sleeping alone and she is sad sleeping alone. But we don't say a word about that. We just play this little game where we pretend to be an ordinary family where I am an ordinary boy who has to be reminded about his bedtime. I figured out lately, that Mom likes this game a lot.
In the moring I wake up pretty early. It's Saturday so it means another group meeting. This isn't my lucky week, since we are about to go to Debbie's house. I hate being there. At Justin's it's so much better, we hide in his room, which is even cooler than mine. His Dad gave him all his old comic books and stuff, while mine stores them locked. So I decide to get up. Dad is already up of course, and he watches some old TV show for the hundredth time, he used to watch on Saturday mornings. I sit next to him on the couch but he doesn't really pay attention to me. I'd like to watch something else, anything else but I can't even dream about getting a remote. Dory can watch whatever she wants even stupid girly cartoons or Disney shows, because she gives her cute look to Dad and Dad lets her do whatever she wants, but I don't have that superpower.
But as the show ends Dad turns to me and softly carresses my hair. He smiles at me and asks me to help making breakfast. I agree. We play a math game we invented during preparing the meal. I spill some of the eggs on the counter and I can see Dad is trying his best not to make a comment. But he succeeds so we have quite a good time. After eating there is not much time left, we have to leave to make it in time for lunch.
In the car we listen to the radio because Dory asked Dad to do that. Dad agreed but said Mom should drive since he can't guarantee our safety in this noise. My sister is kind of excited as she always is before meeting Debbie and our parent's friends. She wears her special new pink dress, and she can't resist but keeps touching it all the time. She think she is all sophisticated and grown-up, but she is just looking dumb.
As we arrive Aunt Penny opens the door. She gives me a quick kiss first. I blush but she doesn't have a chance to regognize it, as Mom wraps her arms around her.
" I missed you, Besite. "
" Missed you too. " Aunt Penny smiles and hugs Dory and winks at Dad. " Bernie is in the kitchen with Howie and Raj who insisted to help with the sauce to make it perfect. Leonard is with all the kids upstairs. Except Debbie. She is around Raj as always. "
Debbie acts really stupid around Uncle Raj and I hope I'm not like that around Aunt Penny.
She continues speaking in a quieter tone. " So guess what? I'm stuck with Raj's new girlfriend. "
Yes, Uncle Raj is introducing her new girlfriend today. Maybe it could be a special occasion because of that but it really isn't as he introduces a new girl every two week. They all are half of his age. And everyone hates them, but the best part is, that Debbie hates them the most.
" We'll be upstairs" Dad says and grabs Dory's hand.
I guess I could join them but no one invited me. Mom would notice that, but now she is already busy complaining to Aunt Penny about our family life while she pours her a glass of wine. So Dad has to drive home. She sure has a point, but I really don't want to hear this conversation any further. Getting ignored annoys me.
Of course I end up upstairs. They are all gathered in Chloe's room, I can see as I stand in the doorway. Chloe and baby Maya, Justin and Dory are all sitting on the floor. Uncle Leonard is telling a story and he is also playing it with puppets.
" So the big bad wolf appeared in the forest. He was really angry. Like almost blowing up. "
He cleared his throat.
" So the wolf appeared. " he repeated.
I can see Dad standing in the other corner holdin a wolf puppet.
" Do I have to do this? " he asks.
" Please, Sheldon, it's just like role playing. You like role-playing. Think of it as a real-life MMORPG. "
" MMORPG has online in its name. " Dad asnwers but puts the puppet on.
" I am the wolf. I am angry. Really angry. " he says with his bored sounding tone.
Everyone laughs, even I am.
" Look, Leonard, I can't be the villain, I'm a delight! "
" You are. "
I want to ask Justin to do something fun, but I can't, because the food is ready. There is no table big enough for all of us, so I eat at the kids table with Dory, Justin and of course Debbie. Raj introduces his new girlfriend, her name is Leah. Not if it's worth to remember, but I happen to remember everything, so another girl's name can't hurt.
At the table I want to eat fast and silently, to get away from Debbie as fast as I can. She is acting nice like everytime our parents are near.
" So, Nick, are you ready with homework? " Debbie asks with a little smile on her face.
Of course I'm not ready with homework, but all this stuff is so easy it takes only five minutes to me tops. And that's not the point. The point is that she tries to chitchat with me to annoy me. But she doesn't dare to do anything here, with everyone in the next room, so I can't help myself but tease her.
" I haven't finished it yet. What do you think of Leah? I think she is kind of nice, I hope she stays. " I say and I'm waiting for her reaction. I see as her eyes light with fire.
" Watch out Nickie, or you'll regret what you say. " she is threatening me.
" Deb, what are you talking about? " Justin asks.
" Oh, nothing. I'm just chatting with Nick. Did you two know that he is going to some math competition next week again? We should tell him to break a leg. Or maybe an arm. I really don't know wich is the right one to say. "
So she is playing dirty again, and I'm embarassed to say that, but it's totally working.
" SHUT UP! "
" Nick, don't do this again! Mom told me it's not appropiate to tell anyone to shut up. " Dory says.
" That's none of your business! " I say.
" Whoa, interesting, so you didn't tell Dory or Justin what you just did at school. " Debbie laughs.
" I told you to shut up your big mouth! " Now I yell. Debbie laughs, but Dory seems angry.
" I'll tell Mom and Dad how you talk, and you won't get any pocket money not even next week! "
" Oh, did I just catch that right? Big Nick Cooper was punished by his parents? They weren't happy about Caleb, were they? " Debbie enjoys this a lot.
" This has nothing to do with Caleb. " I say.
" Who is Caleb? " Justin asks Dory.
" I don't know, Nick got punishment because hitting me. " Dory says.
" Really, Nickie? Your own sister? You're worse than I thought. " Debbie tries to make a sad face, but she can't hide her wide smile.
" Yes, I pushed Caleb down the stairs, but he deserved it, and yes, I hit Dory, because she acted just as mean as you, and if YOU WON'T FINALLY SHUT UP, YOU'LL BE THE NEXT ONE I HIT, RIGHT NOW!
And of course that's the moment when Uncle Raj comes in with the dessert. So I'm in trouble again. He puts the cake down, grabs my hand and brings me upstairs. I usually like Uncle Raj, but now I hate him, but I hate it more how happy Debbie must be as Uncle Raj saved him.
" That's not how you talk to a girl, Nick. "
I snort.
" What? " Uncle Raj asks.
" It's just funny, how you tell me how one should talk to girls. Dad told me you weren't even able to speak with girls til your thirties. " I know I'm being naughty but it just slips out. I'm in a lost position anyway.
Uncle Raj tells me to stay and he runs down the stairs. Mom and Dad appear in a minute.
" Nick, what happened again? " Mom sounds tired.
" Debbie. "
" No matter what she said, you shouldn't yell at her like this. And you shouldn't talk to Raj like this." she says. Dad doesn't do anything just looks at the floor.
" What if he was just defending himself? Isn't that what we wanted? " he finally asks. Thank you, Dad!
" He was not defending himself, no one was attacking him, he was threatening Debbie! You just keep finding him excuses, you want him to be an outsider. To be just like you. "
" My son and I are a lot alike. "
" Guess what? I don't want that for him. You were lucky. Lucky to meet Leonard, to meet me. What if Nick isn't that lucky? He'll be alone unless he learns how to fit in and control himself. "
" Sometimes I wish I was alone. " Dad answers.
Mom really tries hard to stay calm.
" Nick, go, find Justin, play with him and avoid Debbie. We'll talk about this at home. " she says.
I nod and go look for Justin, because I really don't want to stay with them anymore. I find him in the dining room with her little sister Maya and her Mom, Aunt Penny. As he sees me he turns to me.
" Justin, want to go out? We could build something fun maybe. We could ask Uncle Howard to help. "
Justin looks back at me worried.
" Will you hit me? " he asks. Whoa, now I'm shocked.
" No, of course not. "
" Yout hit Dory. And you wanted to hit Debbie too. "
So they just had enough time turn Justin against me.
" Yes, but they were mean. You're never mean. "
Justin gives me a slight smile and we go out to spend the rest of the afternoon without the girls.
2016
" Well, I think you know what's about to happen so I prepared with a little speech to you. " Sheldon and Amy were standing on the roof, which was nicely decorated. Even music was playing in the background.
Amy nodded. " I can't wait to hear it. "
" It was hard to get my thoughts together about you. First of all because I have so many. And because at first I didn't know what else to say. I told you I love you, I told you that you changed my life. I didn't tell you that you are the dryer sheets of my heart, but I bet Penny did that instead of me. All of that is true, but now I don't want to talk about what you mean to me. I want to talk just about you. I realized that I do that very rarely. You are amazing. And not just for me, even the lesser minds can easily see it. You don't care about a lot of usual stuff ordinary people care about. That's a common thing we share. But unlike me, you care about people. You can be harsh or sometimes say things no one else would, but you deeply care about people.
And you are smart, of course, but I told you I adore your intellect a lot of times before. So now I want to tell you instead of that, that you are beautiful. You look pretty. Not just when you were a prom dress, but all day, every day. And you are more than pretty. You are glowing. So the point is I'm really lucky and I want all that to be mine forever or better to say until one of us dies. "
He got on his knee.
" So, Amy Farrah Fowler, will you marry me? " he asked smiling.
Amy looked up to the sky. It really didn't help. Her eyes were burning with tears. Now she tried to look away.
" Amy, will you answer me? "
" Of course, I just try not to cry. I know you hate crying. " she says.
" I don't hate it. I just don't understand, why would you even consider crying in a situation like this. "
" Because your speech was too beautiful and maybe I'm all hormonal " she tried to explain.
" Will you answer me finally? My knees are starting to hurt. "
" Yes, Sheldon, I will marry you. "
Sheldon stood up to put the ring on her finger. He didn't know what to do after that, so he just stood there looking at his woman and his ring, which was finally on her finger. Now this could be a right moment to kiss her, but he really didn't know how should he initiate that. And Amy was still wiping off tears from her face.
Amy looked up at him with a gentle smile.
" Is everything all right? " he asked.
" Sheldon, you made me incredibly happy. "
" I'm glad to hear it. Can I kiss you? "
" You don't have to ask. "
They shared a long passionate kiss. After ending the kiss they still didn't let go of each other.
" I'm thinking about taking your name. " she said after a long pause.
" Hyphenated? "
" No. I'm thinking about becoming Amy Farrah Cooper. Fowler… It was my Dad's name, and he is clearly not that important to me as you are. Or as little Cooper is. "
" But you have already made a name being Amy Farrah Fowler. "
" I don't think that will effect my career that much. If anyone wants to find me, I'm sure they will find me. "
" That's great news. My mother will be happy. We should visit them once anyway, where I introduce you to everyone properly. " Sheldon said.
" Will they give their blessing? I mean it's getting obvious that we engaged in premarital sex. " Amy placed her hand on her belly.
" I think they are happy about us secretly, they just have to pretend that it's such a big drama. " he said.
" So are you ready to share this with the group? " Amy asked smiling.
" Are they here? "
" Of course they are. Look, I know you wanted it to be romantic and it really was, but I went to ask Penny about tomorrow's girls night while you were in the shower, and I found everyone there. So do you want to join them? But if you want to be just the two of us, I can tell them. "
" No, it's fine, we can be just the two of us whenever we want to. We live together. "
" Well, that two of us thing won't last for a long time. " she smiled.
" I know. Sometimes when I think about this I feel a little regret. "
Amy looked back at him disappointed.
" About what? About our child? Or about moving in with me? Oh my God, did you feel just obligated to ask me to marry you? "
" Amy, please, that's absurd. I am a little afraid of parenthood, but I'm happy about our baby. And I'm happy having you around. I also wanted to propose for a long time. I just sometimes think we could have much more alone time if I had let you move in with me when Leonard wanted to move out first, years ago"
" Or I could move in when you asked me to during our break-up? "
" Yes. " he nodded
" Sheldon, we weren't ready. We both know that. We could end up breaking up. "
" We broke up anyway. " Sheldon pointed out.
" Yes, but we got back together. "
" We did. Now, let's go, give Penny the chance to get illuminated on our engagement. "
Sorry for the late update, I really want to finish this story, and I know where we are about to go, but I had so many things going on. I always enjoy your reviews. I plan on updating much sooner.