Howard started on the way. "I think I was chosen to be last because of our connection that happened during the scavenger hunt."

Amy smiled at the memory. "The day we discovered we shared a love of Neil Diamond? Oh, Howard, we had such fun singing in the car together!"

Howard laughed. "I keep meaning to find out when Neil will play in southern California next. Bernie won't go with me, so I'm dragging you along. Is that OK?"

Amy laughed too. "Wild horses couldn't keep me away!"

Their laughter faded, and a gentleness played over Howard's features. "You know, I couldn't imagine being close to Sheldon ten years ago. He and I butted heads on the very first day we met. But two years ago, when we went to Texas together, he and I bonded. And then this year, when my Mom died…"

Amy reached over and held Howard's hand. She knew no words were necessary at that point.

Howard held it together as best he could. "All I'm saying, is that I don't know if I would have made it through this without Bernadette… and believe it or not, without Sheldon as well. He understood where others couldn't. I've wanted to say thank you for whatever it is that you did. He's different now… still Sheldon, don't get me wrong… but different."

"So are you, Howard. Bernadette helped you, too… made you more open and honest with your feelings. I sang with you at the hospital outside her room, remember?" Amy and Howard smiled at each other at the memory.

"I guess we all have affected each other, haven't we?" Howard mused.

So true, Amy thought.

######

Howard pulled into a parking space along a row of businesses on a normally busy street, quieter this day with the coming New Year only a few hours away. It was about 6:00 that Thursday evening; the sun was beginning to set in the west. "Here we are," Howard stated.

Amy looked around. This was not a place the group often frequented, but one business stood out to her.

Joe's Coffee Shop.

The place she and Sheldon first met. The place it all started.

Amy got out of the car, and stepped carefully up the curb. Howard brought Amy's purse and the box from the back seat. Amy adjusted the shawl as a cool breeze caught her off guard. Amy turned, and saw her car parked two spaces down.

Howard followed the motion of her eyes. "You've always been free to go, Amy. No one is forcing anything. Your car is right there. You have your purse, your keys, your freedom. It's up to you."

Amy nodded. "I know," she said. "My mother may have thought it was her doing, but I walked into this coffee shop that day five years ago, not her. I choose this tonight, just as I did then."

Howard went to the front door of the coffee shop. A sign on the door read "Closed For Private Party," but when Howard pulled on the handle the door opened without issue. Somehow, Amy suspected it would before he even tried…

The holiday decorations were still on display inside the shop, with the wonderful aromas of different coffees permeating the room. The store lights were uncharacteristically dim, but the icicle holiday lights around the ceiling gave plenty of light for maneuvering in the room. The majority of the tables and chairs had been pushed to the side walls, while one round table sat in the middle of the room. From a distance, Amy could see a crystal vase (partially filled with water) with the final four white roses, Sheldon's Gollum figurine, and Raj's music system from the night of Prom on the table.

When Amy walked closer, she also could see a game board to fit the tiles she had been collecting during the day... but it had been altered. The majority of the squares had been covered in black felt, saving only spaces for fifteen tiles cut out in a specific pattern: four in the first open row, three in the second open row, five in the third open row, and three in the last open row.

Howard stepped around Amy, and placed her purse on the table. He arranged the roses so all twelve were in the vase together. Satisfied with his work, Howard stepped back to Amy. "May I?" he asked, and she nodded. Howard gently took Amy's hand and deposited three more tiles into it: M (3), R (1), and Y (4).

Howard gave Amy a brief hug, and whispered in her ear, "It's time for me to go."

"Thank you… all of you... for everything." She whispered back. Howard kissed her gently on the cheek, left through the front door, and turned away.

Amy watched Howard leave from her line of sight, then set the tiles on the table. Amy slipped off the lace shawl, and laid it down over a chair back as she turned to look at the crystal vase. She recognized the pattern immediately… it was an import from Ireland…

"Waterford," Amy breathed, as she ran her hand gently across the crystal facets. "So beautiful…"

"Not nearly as beautiful as you."

Amy was startled, and turned around. Leaning against the barista counter, with one arm propping him up, feet crossed at the ankles and with one shoe's toe pointed to the floor, stood Sheldon, watching her intently. And as much as Amy felt she had "dressed to the nines" this evening… well, Sheldon was a match to it. He was wearing a charcoal grey suit, with black dress shirt and shoes, and a scarlet tie to match her dress.

Amy gulped hard to swallow her involuntary Hoo.

Sheldon stood up, and slowly walked over. He tapped a button on the music player, and a familiar tune started to play. Sheldon looked into Amy's eyes, and she saw his unguarded desire for her once again.

"May I have this dance?" Sheldon asked quietly and deeply. Amy nodded, and immediately took his hand.

Wise men say, only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you…
Shall I say? Would it be a sin?
If I can't help falling in love with you…

Like a river flows, surely to the sea
Darling so it goes… some things are meant to be…
Take my hand, take my whole life too…
For I can't help falling in love with you…

Just as they had danced weeks before, Sheldon and Amy moved seamlessly as a single being. Around and around the store, under the holiday lights, they saw nothing but each other and heard nothing but the music. The remainder of the world seemed to face away. And each heart rejoiced that it should be so.

When the song finished, Sheldon leaned down and took her lips with his own. Amy responded willingly. Sheldon dropped Amy's arms from their formal stance. He ran his hands through her hair and held her gently from behind her head. She reached her arms around his waist and held tightly to him, her hands finding their way up his back underneath his suit coat.

Both Sheldon and Amy trembled when the kiss broke, but neither let go of the other. Mere inches apart, each felt the now-familiar sensation of blood coursing, the rising heart rate...

Not now... later… Amy thought.

Agreed… was Sheldon's silent reply.

When Amy and Sheldon each looked in the other's eyes, each was certain the other had heard.

Reluctantly, Amy drew her hands from his back to her sides. Sheldon followed suit, releasing her from his grasp.

Sheldon cleared his throat. "I believe I offered a game for New Year's Eve. Would you like to play?"

Amy looked back down at the board. Fifteen spaces. She mentally counted the tiles in the bag in her purse, and added the three that Howard had given her just before he left.

There were only fourteen tiles.

Amy looked up surprisingly at Sheldon; she couldn't believe he would make an error like that. "Sheldon, there aren't enough tiles to finish the puzzle."

He looked at her and tilted his head slightly. "What do you mean?" Sheldon asked.

"There's fifteen spaces on the board, but only fourteen tiles." Amy replied.

"Are you certain?"

"Positive. Here, let me show you…" Amy picked up her purse, and reached inside for the red velvet dice bag that bore his initials. She opened the bag, and let the tiles fall out on the table, adding the final ones Howard had just given her.

Amy sorted the tiles alphabetically, as was her standard for starting any word puzzle:

There were: one A, one E, one I, two L's, two M's, one O, two R's , one U, one W, and two Y's.

"Exactly. Fourteen tiles. Fifteen spaces." Amy's face lit up, and she chuckled. "Sheldon… that's really not like you."

"Try anyway." Sheldon's demeanor and tone left no brooking.

Amy was mesmerized by his stare. Jesus, he's serious, she thought.

Amy forced herself to look down at the tiles. There was no pattern to the letters presented that she could decipher with her intellect. Amy closed her eyes, and tried to visualize the letters forming words. With her eyes closed, she heard once again the voice from within…

Soon enough… When you, too, can see what it is that you are meant to see.

Well, Amy knew already: when MeeMaw spoke, you'd better listen.

Amy willed herself to calm, and the tiles began to dance in front of her inner vision, just as the first three had tried when Amy was losing consciousness at the spa earlier that day. Only this time, the tiles found themselves forming groups, dancing for joy underneath icicle holiday lights in a coffee shop in Pasadena…

Amy's eyes suddenly snapped open, and she looked up at Sheldon, shock and amazement written across her face.

"Sheldon…" she whispered.

"Did you figure it out?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

Amy nodded. "46 points," her voice still a whisper.

Sheldon was completely taken aback. This was obviously not the answer he expected.

"What?"

Amy smiled. "46 points," she repeated in her normal voice, quite certain of herself.

Amy explained her score while arranging the letters on the board.

"See… there's a double letter score on the first letter, and double word score both on the first word… then a triple letter score in the middle of the second word… a double word score for the word across the middle space… and a triple letter score on the second letter of the last word."

When Amy was finished, the board read:

WILL
YOU
MARRY
ME_

And the last space remained empty.

Amy looked up at Sheldon, tears threatening to spill over her eyelids. "I think there's supposed to be something in the last space, but I don't have a tile for it," she concluded.

Sheldon reached into his side suit coat pocket. "It might be in here."

Sheldon handed Amy a dark blue ring box. She gasped, and looked back up at him again.

"Go on, open it."

Amy's hands shook as she opened the box. Inside, in the place where a ring would sit, a small faux wood tile was perched. The tile slid from its precarious position, out of the box, and landed on the final space in the puzzle, as if guided by some unknown force.

The blank tile from the game had been altered with a black permanent marker. It was now a question mark.

Sheldon and Amy had both gasped in surprise, when the tile started its fall. When it landed safely without assistance, both started to laugh. They fell into each other's arms. When the laughter faded, Sheldon caressed her cheek with his hand.

"I don't think you've answered the puzzle's question yet," Sheldon softly observed.

"You're right…" Amy replied in a whisper.

"Wait…" Sheldon interrupted her with a fingertip on her lips. "There's something else first."

Sheldon reached into his inner coat pocket, and pulled out a deep blue, soft velvet bag with a drawstring tie at the top. He opened the cord, and reached inside the bag. His fingers deftly retrieved an elegant diamond solitaire ring.

Amy could scarcely breathe. She tried in vain to meet his glance, but Sheldon's eyes wouldn't leave the ring yet.

"I was promised this ring many years ago, when I was very young. MeeMaw told me someday I would meet someone special… someone I would want to spend every day and every night with for the rest of my life. She assured me when that happened, I would have this ring to give to her."

Sheldon's eyes finally came back to Amy. "I called MeeMaw right after last Christmas. When you called her… when you got that recipe from her to make the cookies… I knew without a doubt we were meant to be together. Just as she and Pop-Pop were. I thought I was ready to ask you on our anniversary in May…"

Amy shook. Tears ran freely from her eyes and down her face. Sheldon gently wiped them away with his free hand.

"… but it wasn't meant to be. Not just yet. When we got back together, I started to plan. I knew I just needed the right moment, and the right way. Your Dad gave me his permission the night we met, but told me the 'how' didn't matter. He said that all I needed to do was to love you, and be honest with you."

Amy's tears stopped. Her heart sang that Sheldon had thought enough to talk to her Dad first.

"So be honest with me," Amy whispered. "Tell me what you want."

Sheldon smiled. "I want to love you forever, from this day forward. I want to declare my love for you, and promise myself to you and you alone in front of all of our friends and our families. I want to have a family with you, grow old with you, and laugh while we watch our grandchildren play. And when the time comes, I want to meet you in the next world and be together always."

Amy's soul leapt. But he had left something out. "What about your Nobel?" Amy asked.

Sheldon shook his head. "That's not the key to my happiness, Amy… you are."

Amy stepped forward and reached around Sheldon's neck. He placed his arms around her waist. She stood on tip-toe and he leaned down; her forehead touched his. Sheldon's eyes sparkled as he awaited her answer. Amy didn't keep him waiting long.

Amy's voices, both the audible one and the one in her soul, spoke with one accord. And Sheldon's Vulcan ears and human soul heard them in unison.

"Yes. Yes, Sheldon, I will marry you."

Sheldon lifted Amy and spun her around, and the pair laughed in delight. When he set her back down, Sheldon motioned for Amy to sit in a nearby chair. He knelt down on one knee in front of her. Amy trembled as Sheldon passed the ring over the knuckle of the third finger of her left hand.

As Amy knew it would be, the fit was perfect.

Sheldon reached into his remaining coat pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Amy wondered in amazement as Sheldon snapped a picture of her left hand, and then started to type. She looked over his shoulder. The picture was set to accompany a text message: "She said yes!"

"We'll still have to call MeeMaw tomorrow," Sheldon said, excitedly. I think she already knows, Amy thought, but nodded her agreement anyway.

Sheldon hit "Send." Then he started to count down… "Five, four, three, two, one…"

A chorus of cheers came from the kitchen in the back of the coffee shop. All their friends ran out to congratulate the couple, and give approval of the ring. Rob and Carole Fowler had made it, too. Rob hugged Amy tightly, while Carole kissed Sheldon's cheek.

######

Dinner was catered in to the coffee shop, and music played from Raj's system. All the couples talked and danced the evening through, planning to greet the New Year together as the large family they were. A family joined once more by friendship and love.

######

Just before midnight, Sheldon pulled Amy aside, alone together for a kiss. Amy stood on tip toe to meet him half way. They claimed each other's lips once again, and when the kiss broke, Sheldon reached for the deep blue velvet bag he had dropped on the game table earlier.

"One more present for me?" Amy teased.

"Actually, yes, just not today," was Sheldon's odd response, as he let her go and started to put the bag in his pocket.

Amy tilted her head and said, "What?"

Sheldon laughed. "It's a dice bag for you, because I want mine back. But you can't have it… not yet."

Amy raised an eyebrow and stared at him, but said nothing. Sheldon acquiesced.

"OK, you can look at it, but just for a little bit. I need it back. I want to give it to you a year from tonight."

That was even odder still.

Amy took the bag from his offered hand and turned it over. She gasped, and her heart skipped a beat.

There were gold embroidered initials on the bottom of the bag.

AFFC

Thank you for joining me in this journey. As I mentioned at the start of The Second Thought Realization, it has been over 20 years since I last wrote, and at that time, it was only for me. Now, the great joy of being able to share this with many... it fills my heart. It is amazing to me that something as simple as a television show (and one episode at that!) brought out such a need in my own soul to purge the hurt and restore the love. I feel that speaks to the talents of the actors and writers of this show.

Do I think it will really happen this way on The Big Bang Theory? No. But if, as Sheldon believes, there are infinite universes, then this can be one of them...

As always, thank you for reading and sharing with me. I appreciate each and every piece of feedback.

If you would like to know when further stories are posted, I would love to have you follow me.

Take care.