2025 Amy and Sheldon

Amy, Sheldon and Dory were watching a kid's show, when Amy's phone rang. Sheldon didn't want to feel hope to get disappointed again, but anyway he felt it. He was holding his breath as Amy run for the phone.

" It's a New York code number! " she screamed.

Sheldon muted the TV. Now he was definitely hopeful.

" Hello, it's Dr. Amy Farrah Cooper. "

He couldn't hear what a male voice said on the other end of the line, he just saw Amy is acting really nervous. He stood up and walked behind her looking worried.

" Is he…Is he all right? " she asked.

So it was about Nick. Now he was nervous maybe more than ever. Most likely it only took a couple of seconds to the police officer to tell Amy that Nick and Debbie were found, but for Sheldon it felt like long hours. He thought about that maybe this is the moment when they tell them, that they'll never see Nick again.

" Oh my, I just can't believe that, I'm so happy. Can I talk to him? " Amy asked. Could it be true? Is Nick all right? Sheldon stepped closer again.

" Sheldon, they've found him. He's okay. " she whispered to him.

" Put him on speaker! " Sheldon asked.

" Nick? " Amy asked.

" Mom? " That was Nick's voice. Definitely. " Nick, are you okay? " Sheldon asked.

" Dad? "

Dory got up from the couch too.

" Is that Nick? Nick, where are you? "

" Dory? I'm in New York. Long story. I'll tell you when I get back home. " Nick said.

" Oh my God, Nick, we missed you so much. Are you sure you're okay? " Amy asked.

" Yes, Mom, I'm okay. Now I have to give back the phone. "

Amy talked to the officer when the kids will arrive back home.

" Oh my God… Sheldon… They got him. He's coming home! " Amy put down the phone and jumped immediately at Sheldon's neck, hugging him tightly giving him a kiss on his cheek. He mostly just stood there as he was not ready for this. He barely could process all the information.

" That's wonderful. " Sheldon said smiling patting her back.

" So Nick's coming home? " Dory asked.

Amy let Sheldon go as she realized Dory's there too.

" Yes, he is. We have to get to the airport to get him home. " Amy answered hugging Dory too.

" Mom, are you mad at him? Because of running away? Will he get a punishment? " Dory asked.

" No, of course not. We want to talk to him about it, but I don't think he will get a punishment. " she answered with wide smile.

Sheldon nodded.

" So would you be okay with it if I ran away too? "

" No. " Sheldon and Amy answered the same time.

Amy called Penny immediately after the phone, then Howard and Bernadette. The police called them too and they could a talk a little to Debbie so they were a lot nicer than in the past week. Sheldon was just sitting saying barely anything as Leonard called him to express his happiness about Nick. Sheldon felt happy for sure and mostly relieved, but he also felt something else, something he was sure, he wouldn't be allowed to feel right now. It was discomfortable. Amy seemed enthusiastic making phone calls. As she called Sheldon's mom she handed her over to him, but it just made him more annoyed as his mother was all about thanking everything to the Lord.

Amy cooked dinner, then after eating, she played chess with Dory. According to Sheldon they both were really bad at chess, and there were at least fifty times when Amy and six times when Dory could win in a step, but Amy forbade him to help any of them, as he never let anyone else to actually think and play. After that Amy insisted that Dory should go to bed, because they still had a couple of hours left until the arrival of Nick's plane. They put her into bed together and after they left her alone in her room, now it was just the two of them again.

" Don't you want to sleep? " he asked.

" I don't think I could. " she answered. " But maybe we should rest a little. "

Sheldon nodded. He felt tense when thinking about tomorrow. Was Nick really okay? What if he won't arrive home? His plane could crash. Or what is even more likely he could escape again. No, he may felt something bad thinking about tomorrow, but after all that not seeing Nick would be something he couldn't bear.

Still, more likely he will see him and that means the end of the past week. Amy didn't cancel the divorce and didn't call the lawyer. She made a promise to think about it, but this cearly was only a situation that forced them together and all this still meant that eventually, he will have to leave. Of course it was good to know that Nick was safe and he really felt happy that he will get home, but now this is not his home anymore.

He layed down on the bed next to Amy staring into the distance.

" Are you okay? " she asked.

" I am. " he answered. " Wonderful. "

" You know you're a bad liar. "

" I'm not lying. " he insisted.

Amy lifted her eyebrows.

" Fine. I think I'm terrified thinking about tomorrow. I don't know what will happen. What if his plane crashes? What if he escapes again? He will if he wants to, he is a lot smarter than most of the adults. And… never mind. "

" Yes, I fear of these things too. And…?"

" An what if he actually comes home… What does that mean? What will happen to us? I have no idea how will we get things right and how will we live… And I really like to know what will happen. I need to know. And now I just don't know. "

She nodded then slowly moved closer, placing her hand then his head on his chest. " I don't know either. " she said softly.

Sheldon didn't meant to do anything at the moment but he automatically put his arm on her shoulder. After that they didn't move or talk at all.

After four hours Sheldon woke up to the alarm on Amy's phone. It felt like he didn't even sleep or just for ten minutes. He remembered they were awake mostly at the night. Amy was still in the same position snuggling up to him, but now he moved to reach her phone. It was timet o go to the airport.

After an hour of rushing through getting ready Amy and Sheldon and Dory were waiting at LAX with Howard and Bernadette and Chloe. They were all really excited and a little worried. Amy felt like, now she has to see Nick or else she will really fall apart.

Then the plane landed and after looking at the crowd for several minutes. Amy's eyes were wet. Then there he was with a police officer and Debbie on his side. He ran to them.

" Nick, are you all right? " Amy asked bending down to hug him. Sheldon held his shoulder and stroked his head.

2025 Nick

The flight is much more comfortable than all the bus rides, but I'm kind of nervous. I don't know how my parents will react to all this. I guess this will be the longest period anyone has ever been grounded of all times. What if they are still mad and everything got even worse and they were arguing about me all the time and now I have to deal with them hating each other even more? They sounded cool on the phone, but who knows.

And I really don't know what will happen to Debbie. Maybe I won't see her ever again as their parents won't ever allow her to go near me. She may even switch schools. And if not… I don't know how that will affect me.

When we finally land I'm really nervous, but then I see them. Mom, Dad and Dory. I can't help but run to Mom. She hugs me really tightly and asks me if i'm okay.

" Yes, Mom. " I try to look up into her eyes. Dad stands next to her holding my shoulder.

" I'm so sorry. I missed you so much. " Mom says still crying and holding me. Okay, well, I wasn't expecting this, and it's really emotional, because of course I missed Mom too. I missed all of them. But I'm not a baby so I try hard not to cry.

" Mom, Dad, aren't you mad at me? " I ask.

" No. I mean you shouldn't have ran away, but we get it. I'm really sorry too. " Dad says while running his fingers through my hair.

" I'm sorry too. I know I shouldn't have done all this. " I say.

" It's okay. Fortunately we got you back, that's important. " Mom smiles and kisses my cheek.

" MOM! It's so embarrassing! " I complain but I'm actually really happy. When they finally let me go I step to Dory.

" Dory, I'm sorry. "

" You are so stupid! " she says and gives me a punch in my stomach.

" Agh! "

" Dory! We've talked about this. " Mom says.

" It's okay, Mom. I deserved that. " I say.

" You did. " Dory says but she still lets me hug her. " Next time please don't leave me home. " she whispers into my ear. I giggle.

" I won't, I promise. "

" You should start to keep your promises. " she says, but then Dad lifts me up and she and Mom ask a hundred questions about where I've been, what have I've been eating, did I get hurt anywhere. I try to answer but then I look at Debbie who is still in her Mom's embrace, and I realise that maybe I still have something to do.

" Mom, Dad, I have something to take care of. " I say as I ask Dad to put me down. They share a worried look but they decide to trust me and let me go.

I walk to Uncle Howard. She barely notices me as he can't stop but stare at Debbie. After couple of minutes I clear my throat. He looks at me angrily and steps closer to Debbie and Aunt Bernadette.

" Uncle Howard…"

" Yes, Nick Cooper? " he asks.

" I just wanted to say that all this is my fault. Debbie tried to stop me and make me go home for quite a lot of times. I wasn't listening to her. She just wanted to make sure I'm okay. I'm sorry. "

"Well, I hope you keep your distance from my daughter from now on."

" Yes, Uncle Howard, I will. " I promise.

Debbie finally got somehow out of her Mom's hug, and she was apparently listening.

" Daddy! It was not like that. I wanted to go with him. I didn't leave him alone. He didn't take me. And it was scary a little, but he actually took care of me. Mostly. "

" If you say so, Deb… I know you've had some hard times yourself, Nick, but I'm sure you realised this was no solution. " he says.

" I did. " I nod and run back to my family. When Mom finally feels sure that no harm happened to me and I'm not starving she finally turns to the police officer. They still have papers to sign but it's okay at least I have a chance to talk to Debbie when everybody is busy with the papers and my sister plays with Chloe.

We share a look with Debbie. She steps closer.

" Thanks. " we say at the same time. We giggle. It's weird as we spent the last week together, still now I'm feeling insecure.

" What? " she asks.

" Thank you for defending me in front of you father. That was cool. And you? "

" Thanks… for the adventure. " she says and winks then runs back to Chloe and lifts her up in her arms.

Mom and Dad came with the same car to the airport so we're going home together to our house. Dad comes in too and Mom makes some tea. They make me sit down in the living room and now I have to tell them the whole story. They almost look approving and a little surprised. I'm sure they underestimated me. Than they tell me how they were trying to find me and how they got to the answer that I'm in New York. That was also kind of impressive, and they share proud looks telling me.

I really want to know what is going on between the two of them but I don't want to ruin the mood. They tell me that they are sorry and they will be a lot more availible and understanding in the future and that they try to maintain a good relationship with each other to be good parents to us. Well, we'll see. Then they finally let me go upstairs to play and jump back to my own bed. It's good to be home actually.

2025 Sheldon and Amy

After the kids went upstairs and Sheldon joined them, Amy was packing their teamugs into the washing machine.

" They are having fun. I said goodybe to them. " Sheldon said walking down the stairs.

Amy knew what this meant. " Are you going back to your apartment? " she asked. She was surprised and a little bit disappointed. She didn't know what she was hoping for. She was the one who rejected his attempts more times in the last couple of weeks. But now they had Nick back and she felt so happy being part of this family, she never wanted it to end.

" I am. I think I should go. Now, you don't need me anymore. " he said. He smiled at her but it was apparently a forced smile. His words felt like a shot to her heart.

" Sheldon… That's not true. I do need you, you know that. All this is so new and so complicated and Nick just got home, but I do need you. At least as a co-parent. And as a friend. " she said.

" It's okay. But that's not enough reason for me to stay here. " he said.

" I know. " she said. " And I'm not asking you to…"

Sheldon put on his coat.

" Well, I guess, then, that's it for now. " he said

" Yeah. " she nodded. She wanted to ask him to stay so much, but this was so new and so complicated and she really couldn't explain why.

"Goodbye, Amy. "

" Can I give you a hug? To thank you for your support." she asked.

" There's no need to thank me for anything. I just did what I was supposed to do. " he sounded rational again. She hated that. It looked like the sensitive, suppportive Sheldon only came with the huge price of their kid missing. He may already changed his mind about them.

" But you can hug me if you'd like to. " he added looking at her. Amy didn't want his pity, she wanted a lot more, but she stepped closer anyway and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back. Amy was so full of emotions she couldn't sort out that all this was just because of being in his arms or because Nick or because something different, but she never wanted this moment to go. It did anyway.

She took a deep breath and stepped back.

" Bye, Sheldon. " she said with a forced smile.

" Bye, Amy. " Then after a strange moment as their eyes met, he walked out of the house.

Thank you for you support and the reviews, I'm sorry, but I promise, this is the last time I broke your heart in this fic. Now we're on the finish line.