A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews that I am getting about this story here and on the BBT Fan Forum. I just want to do these characters justice. I know this story may move at a slow pace for some, but I want to explore the characters. These stories are always the best.

For fans of my story "The Plan" I have not forgotten to update, but as powerful as the season premiere on Thursday was it also left me sad. I need a few days before I can go back and finish the chapter I was editing not an hour before because it featured one of my fave characters. You have not been forgotten, I promise.

Now, to continue where we left off...

Breakfast was a quiet affair, at least at first.

"So Amy, Sheldon tells me you're one of those brain scientists" Mee Maw said

"Yes, I've been studying neuroscience for sixteen years. I've always loved the brain. It's the center of all activity and you are always learning new things."

"Sixteen? You must have been a baby like Moon Pie when you started college" Mee Maw commented.

"Not as young, but I skipped the first and the sixth grades because of my intelligence" Amy replied with Sheldon sitting next to her with a proud smile.

"Didn't I say she was brilliant, Mee Maw?"

"You sure did, Moon Pie" His grandmother replied back. She enjoyed the young woman's company the more she talked to her. "She sounds as smart as you"

"You went to that Harvard University, I hear." Mary interrupted.

Amy chewed her breakfast and nodded. "Yes, my father was an alumnus there. Growing up he told me stories of his education and experiences there. It also has one of the best neuroscience departments in the country"

"That's in Massachusetts, right? A lot of Godless activity there I hear" Mary replied

Amy knew a jab when she heard one. "Yes, Mrs. Cooper, Massachusetts and the Northeast as a whole is a more…." She chose her words carefully. "…its political center tends to lean more towards the liberal side as opposed to other areas. However, no matter how a person believes politically can change the fact that the educational opportunities are exceptional in that area. Besides Harvard, there is Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, and even Yale, Harvard's biggest rival."

"Isn't that an expensive place to go?" Mary asked.

Sheldon's face was screwed up as if he was holding a comment back, but suddenly his attempts to be polite were stopped. "Ow!"

When the three women looked at Sheldon, he winced. "I bit my tongue. Amy…."

"Relationship Agreement Section Four Boo Boo and Ouchies. Got it covered." She moved her chair closer to Sheldon and moved to open his mouth. "No blood so you'll live, but don't drink your orange juice or you will regret it."

Amy moved back to her spot and looked directly at Sheldon's mother for a moment before smiling. "In answer to your question, Mrs. Cooper, my intelligence enabled me to earn grants and scholarships that my lesser cohorts were unable to have the drive to work for. Also, I had a college fund my father started when I was born with enough to cover any expenses not covered by my Harvard aid packages."

"What do your parents do for a living?"

Amy hesitated for a moment. "My mother is a homemaker"

Mary continued. "Well, what about your father? Surely he must be a good provider if he went to that fancy school and had enough money to send you up there far away from parental guidance"

"Mom! That's a rude thing to say" Sheldon was mortified at his mother's comment.

"Shelly, I'm just getting to know your girl is all" Mary turned her son's girlfriend. "My apologies for the interruption, Amy. Please continue"

Amy tensed up. "My father was a researcher who specialized in neurological studies at USC"

"I would like to meet your parents sometime, Amy, but you said was. What career path is he pursuing now?"

"Mary, let the girl finish her breakfast in peace" Mee Maw said to ease Amy's discomfort that even Sheldon noticed.

"It's okay, Marie" Amy took Sheldon's hand before she turned to Mary. "My father died when I was fifteen. While I am not sure of the exact amount, I do know that his life insurance left my mother very comfortable income wise. Her main focus now is volunteer work."

"Will your mother have enough to pay for the wedding also?"

"Mother quit analyzing my girlfriend like she's a soul to save for your mythical Jesus!" Sheldon yelled annoyed at his mother intrusiveness, ignoring the pain in his mouth. He was about to comment further when his grandmother stepped in.

"You know, it's such a nice day outside and it'd be a shame to waste it. Moon Pie? Why don't you show Amy around?"

The physicist gave his grandmother a silent look of love. "Of course. Amy, would you like to see the property?"

Amy was touched by her boyfriend's attempt to protect her from his mother's interrogation. "Yes, thank you"

Sheldon was in such a hurry to get Amy away from his mother that he grabbed his juice glass to finish it off. He drank before he almost dropped the glass. "Owwwie!"

"Sheldon Cooper, I told you not to drink the orange juice! You really need to work on your issues with closure and completion"

"I do not" the physicist replied as the two moved from the table.

"Okay, Sheldon, whatever you say" Amy replied

When the couple was out of the house, Mee Maw turned to her daughter. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What? I am trying to get to know my son's girlfriend."

"You were treating her like a criminal and you pushing that marriage talk was just embarrassing. We are not rude people, so whatever stick you have up your butt about her get it out."

Sheldon and Amy strolled away from the house in a comfortable silence. He took her hand without prompt and was pleased when she not only accepted it but squeezed back gently. When she looked at him, he saw her green eyes glow through her glasses that she elected to put on in lieu of her contact lenses that morning. She gave him a smile that caused butterflies in his stomach. Suddenly, he felt a wave of dread in his system. Before he could remove his hand in a panic, the scientists arrived at the black oak tree and tire swing. He was saved from an awkward moment when she lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Sheldon! You have a tire swing!"

Before he could stop her, she let go and ran towards it. When she arrived, Amy adjusted her skirt demonstrating her legs to Sheldon in a pleasing manner and climbed on. He saw the look of pure joy on her face and for a moment became lost in it as he felt a few more locks on his heart open. She was so beautiful at that moment and thought how he could make her carry that feeling his way. Then it hit him.

He had seen that look in the past, but then it would always changed to disappointment…after she tried to be affectionate or attempt to be closer only to be pushed away by him.

Somehow, he had to make up for that, but how when he almost lost his composure from a hand hold?

Bringing himself back to the moment, he watched her continue to swing gently. "Yes, we do. When Junior wasn't hogging it, I would occasionally indulge myself in moments of whimsy on it while contemplating String Theory. Did you have one in Glendale?"

Amy's look of relaxation stiffened. "When I was ten, my father made one for me as a surprise one day when I came home from school. He let me play on it for thirty minutes every day before I started my homework because of my exemplary grades. My mother disapproved of the swing. She said ladies did not debase themselves on a dirty tire swing because a male could see their secret garden'"

"How can a woman have a garden on her body?"

Amy smiled at her boyfriend's naiveté. "It meant flashing boys my undergarments and giving them the wrong idea about me since I was rarely allowed to wear shorts."

Sheldon nodded. "That never seemed to stop Missy"

Amy snickered for a second before she continued. "My parents fought about that swing every night after I went to bed. They thought that I never knew about their fights, but I did. Even a child can't mistake yelling, items breaking, or even stony silence at the dinner table. Anyway, I digressed from your original question"

Sheldon watched her move back and made the swing move slightly higher. He understood exactly what his girlfriend was talking about. He just never knew that she had similar experiences in those parental relations and it saddened him. He realized his attention had drifted when she continued to talk.

"A couple of weeks after he put it up, my dad went to a week long conference in San Diego. The day before he was due to come back, I got off the bus in front of my house after school and saw a green truck outside…Davey Tree Service on the passenger side door as I recall. I got closer to the front door and two men were leaving from the back yard with one holding a chain saw. I walked inside the house and hung my book bag on my assigned hook. Not seeing my mother, I ran to my room and changed my clothes as I was instructed to do every day after I got home"

Amy hesitated for a moment. "When I got outside, the swing was on the ground. Beside the house, there was a new pile of firewood from the branches cut down. My mother was working in her flower garden and she looked at me before returning to her work. I knew when I was being dismissed, so I went back inside to do my homework."

She continued to look off into the distance as she continued to talk and swing. "When my dad got home and saw the swing cut down, he was furious. He promised to make it up to me, but it was never put back up. It was okay, though. Because of my extra study time, I was allowed to skip into junior high the following school year"

Sheldon stood there stunned as his girlfriend continued to enjoy the swing. He continued to process what he was told until he remembered what Amy said at breakfast. He hated to bring it up, but had to know. "Amy? What didn't you ever tell me that your father died when you were young or that he was also a scientist?"

Amy stopped her actions and looked at her boyfriend before giving the only answer she could. "Because you never asked"

Sheldon felt shame at that moment. "I'm sorry, Amy"

Amy laid her head on her arms. When she turned, she saw he had genuine remorse. "It's okay, Sheldon"

"No it's not. You knew that my father died when I was fourteen."

"I do, but I've never inquired further since you seem reluctant to talk about it"

Sheldon walked over to Amy and stopped next to her. "I never saw the need to. I am a Homo Novus, as are you. Feelings and emotional connections were a waste of time for people like us…at least I've always thought so before"

Amy smiled as she understood what her boyfriend was telling her and responded in kind. "I had always thought so, too, but from my studies over the years with the monkeys I have seen that there are advantages to bonding with other beings"

Sheldon knew the couple was wandering in dangerous territory with their conversation. He was unsure how to proceed as he walked in front of the tire. "You may have a point Doctor Fowler"

Suddenly, he held out his arm in a dramatic fashion towards the open spread. "Proposal. The two of us explore the Cooper Homestead. I would enjoy showing it to another Homo Novus who could appreciate what it can offer."

Amy merely answered by climbing out, recognizing and welcoming Sheldon's efforts to escape. "Counterproposal. We have this exploration of your family property while we start another session of Counterfactuals"

Sheldon debated. "Agreed. Follow me this way, Little Lady"

He held his hand out to her and she took it gladly before they walked away from the swing. Each knew that the conversation they left behind in Michigan was hanging over them, but neither were ready to take that leap, or for what they would land in.

But for a while at least, they could pretend that all was okay in their world.