Author's notes: This is a short story for the Holiday Challenge. It's my first attempt in writing an angst story. It will be 3-4 chapters long.

Review if you like.

I own nothing.

Chapter 1 - The trip disturbance

"Come on, Sheldon, move! There are other people who want to get to their seats!"

"Penny, as soon as I make sure that my bag and Amy's are well positioned and secure from accidental sliding in the upper compartment I will move."

Penny rolled her eyes. She turned back to Leonard, who had a distant look.

"What's the matter, Sweetie, are you nervous for the flight?"

"Sorry, what?" Leonard was clearly distracted.

"Sweetie, I asked you if you were nervous."

"No, it's not that, it's just that it's been so long since I visited my mother in New Jersey..."

"Ohh, everything is gonna be fine, don't worry!"

"Hey Bestie, move, people need to pass!" Amy nudged her arm, showing that the hall was free to move. Sheldon and Amy were already accommodated in their seats, Sheldon sitting by the window, Amy by his side in the middle seat. Penny and Leonard moved to the back of the airplane.

"Thank God our seats are far from Sheldon's!"

"Yeah, I couldn't stand flying next to him again."

After fastening the seat belt, Penny reached for Leonard's hand. He was shaking a little.

"Sweetie, what's wrong with you?"

He turned his head away from the window to face her.

"I'm not sure we should be going on this trip."

"Why not?"

"It feels like I'm not welcome there."

"But it's your mother's house! I know you two don't get along, and she's hard to deal with, but-"

"It's not that. Listen, I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable, but the truth is that she didn't invite us."

"What?" Penny blinked faster. " Oh crap. Sweetie, are you telling me inside of the airplane that we were not invited to spend Christmas there and we are still going?"

"No!" He tried to calm her down patting the back of her hand. "She invited Sheldon to spend Christmas at her house, and she extended the invitation to Amy, as she is his girlfriend."

"How come she invites Sheldon and doesn't invite you?" Penny shook her head. "I'm so sorry sweetie." She lifted her eyebrows, pouting.

"That's ok, Sheldon reminded her that it would be rude to invite him without inviting her own son, as social convention dictates, so she told him that he could extend the invitation to me as well."

"And I was not invited at all?"

"No, Sheldon said he would extend the invitation to you as well, as we are engaged and I wouldn't want to travel without you."

"How considerate! I mean, Sheldon-considerate."

"Isn't it delightful to spend such a nonsense holiday having dinner and deep discussions with a brilliant neuroscientist?"

"Sheldon, I'm a neurobiologist."

"Don't be silly, I'm not talking about you. You know that Dr. Hofstadter is a neuroscientist, besides being a psychiatrist?"

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Amy, you will love her library. She told me that it's the most complete one of her area. She had transformed 3 rooms in her house into it. Three whole rooms!"

"Wow, that's surely a fascinating collection. I wonder if she will let me have a look at her books and even borrow a few."

"I'm pretty sure she will not oppose to that."

"Good morning, Ladies and Gentleman. Welcome on-board to flight number 0681 American Airlines with destination to New Jersey. I'm captain Lamar and we are expecting a smooth flight today, with little chance of turbulence. Once again thank you for choosing to fly with us and we hope you enjoy your flight."

"And let the nightmare begin."

"Sheldon, try to relax, he have around 8 hours of flight ahead."

"You didn't have to remind me."

"You can hold my hand if you want."

"Thank you, but that will be 8 hours of unnecessary hand holding."

Amy grimaced and turned to her other side. She found the earplugs to watch a movie in her iPad and decided to ignore Sheldon for a while. 'I should have asked to exchange seats with Leonard' she thought.

After a few minutes the plane took off. Amy watched Sheldon from the corner of her eye, and he was with his eyes closed, probably trying Kohlinar. 'He's so stubborn sometimes.' She wondered if she should try to help him anyway, so in a moment of bravery she grabbed his hand. He didn't open his eyes, but he didn't move his hand away.

"Amy."

Removing the earplugs, she turned her head to look at him. "What?"

"Thank you for holding my hand, I didn't know how much I needed it." She softened, offering him a grin.

"That's ok, Sheldon. I know how nervous you get with flights."

He still had a firm grip on her hand, and it seemed that he wouldn't let it go so soon. A few minutes later his breathing returned to normal and he brought her hand to his chest. She looked at him again.

"Amy, will you hold my hand until the end of the flight?"

"Oh, that will be a lot of unnecessary hand holding, don't you think?" She raised her eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes. "Ok, sorry I said that, I didn't mean that holding your hand was unpleasant, just too much."

"And now it isn't too much anymore?"

"No, it seems that holding your hand will be very welcome." He smiled at her, hoping that she wouldn't be upset anymore.

"All right, my hand is all yours." She smiled back.

"What are you watching?"

"Gravity. Would you like to see it with me?"

"Hmmm it's not under your skirt but I'd like that very much." He raised his eyebrows to her quickly and gently pulled out one earplug from her and placed on his ear, never letting her hand go.

The plane landed in Newark at 5 pm. Luckily it was not snowing, but the temperature was pretty chilly. The two couples rented a car and Leonard drove them to his mother's house. Leonard was still quiet, he didn't speak much during the whole trip. They took a road and thirty minutes later they arrived in Highland Park. Dr. Beverly Hofstadter lived in a nice and cozy house in a calm neighborhood. Leonard parked the car on the driveway and in a few minutes they were knocking on the front door.

*knock knock knock* "Dr. Beverly Hofstadter"

*knock knock knock* "Dr. Beverly Hofstadter"

*knock knock knock* "Dr. Beverly Hofstadter"

Beverly opened the door, greeting her guests formally.

"Dr. Cooper. I hope you had a delightful flight. I see you brought Dr. Fowler with you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Hofstadter."

"Please call me Beverly. Leonard, I see you accepted the invitation and brought your fiancée with you."

"Yes, mother, thanks for accepting Sheldon's suggestion and extending the invitation to me and Penny."

"Well, I don't see why you are thanking me for that. If there is someone you should thank is Sheldon."

Leonard and Penny exchanged glances. Amy felt the discomfort in Leonard's behavior, and tried to break the ice a bit.

"It's chilly here outside, would you be so kind to invite us inside?"

"Sure."

Amy and Penny entered the house while Leonard and Sheldon picked up the bags from the car.

"Where can we put the bags?"

"Obviously in the guest rooms, Leonard."

"Uh, guest rooms? What happened to my room?"

"Leonard. Don't tell me you expected me to be that kind of mother who mourns the absence of her progeny keeping their rooms intact even after years and years they had left home."

"No, mother, I guess it wouldn't fit your personality."

"Of course not. A few years ago I transformed yours and your siblings bedrooms into my great library."

"I'm sure you did." He answered, carrying the bags upstairs to the guest rooms. Sheldon followed him. 'My mom keeps my bedroom. I like that. Apparently being Beverly's son may not be so perfect.' he thought.

"Speaking about that library, Sheldon told me all about it and maybe you could let me have a look at the exemplars you own?"

"Sure. Be my guest."

Amy walked upstairs after Sheldon and went straight to the library.

"So, Penny, would you like something to drink?"

"Only if you have something strong."

"Leonard, are you sure these are the only guest rooms in this house?"

"Yeah, after my mother transformed my siblings' and my bedroom's into a library, these two are the only ones left besides her own room."

"But they only have a double bed!"

"Yeah, buddy, what's the big deal? It's past the time you and Amy share a bed."

"Oh boy." He swallowed hard.

The two roommates went downstairs and found Penny and Beverly having a drink in the living room.

"Where's Amy?"

"She's upstairs in the library." Penny answered.

Leonard sat beside her on the couch as Beverly stood up to pour them another drink.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Hofstadter. Dinner will be served in 30 minutes."

"Thank you, Deena."

Leonard turned his head and stood up immediately after he heard her name. "Deena?" He walked over to her and gave her a warm hug.

"Leonard! Wow, I almost didn't recognize you! It's been such a long time since you left, you came back just once!"

"Yeah, I know, it's been a while. I can't believe you're still working for my mother."

He joined her in the kitchen and they chatted to catch up while she was getting dinner ready. Deena was the only person Leonard could really open up when he was a child.

Penny looked at Leonard leaving the room after the old woman. She never heard him mention about that 'Deena', she wondered who she was.

"So, are you still waitressing at that Hot Cheese place?"

"It was the Cheesecake Factory, and no, I quit a few months ago. Now I'm working with sales for a Pharmacy company."

"Well, we could say that it's an upgrade."

"Yeah, you can say that."

"Wow, I can't believe she has this!" Amy cheerfully showed Sheldon a neuroscience book. "It was out of stock when I tried to buy it, apparently it will be reprinted in the future, but I could never have the chance to put my hands in one!"

Sheldon watched Amy having a blast in Beverly's library. She looked like Sheldon in a model train store. He started looking at a few titles himself, but Amy just wouldn't stop talking about her findings and he gave up and just sat down and watched her moving around for a while.

"Hey, Shamy, dinner will be served shortly!" Penny chuckled as she entered the library to announce the meal.

"Penny, really, how many times did I tell you not to call us by that juvenile term."

"Yeah, yeah. By the way, Leonard's brother and his wife arrived a few minutes ago and they will be joining us."

(...to be continued)