Author's Note: Whenever people review my fanfic, I always make it a point to thank them through PMs, but sometimes I either forget or couldn't because they commented as a guest. So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who've read and has continued reading my fanfic even after my long-ass hiatus. Thank you guys~!

Chapter 2: The Maternal Factor

Amy and Sheldon continued communicating through emails, texts and social media sites on a daily basis after their first meeting. They discussed her research in Neurobiology and his research in Physics and other random topics. For Amy, the same kind of conversations held with others would not have produced the same amount of stimuli as when it was shared with him. She felt that their minds worked on the same engine, and synchronized with every topic and idea. This was why Amy considered the possibility of an offspring between them. It was after four months of virtual communication that they decided to meet each other in person again as a result of Sheldon's friend's insistence that they meet. She found it odd that his friends seemed to have some sort of profound interest in her.

She was a bit surprised to find that they were dining with Sheldon's attractive blonde friend, Penny. Amy didn't mind since she didn't consider the date as something romantic in nature. Sheldon had informed her that since she was the one driving them, it's only fair that they let her dine with them. However, to Penny's dismay, she and her love life served as their conversation fodder.

Soon after their first formal date, they decided to meet in person more often much to the chagrin of Sheldon's friends who seem to feel intimidated by her. Although she thought of him as an equal, she still believed that Neurobiology, her field of expertise, was far more superior than Physics or any other science. Sheldon believed otherwise. This lead to a heated debate and their first disagreement that resulted in the termination of their "relationship."

Amy was slightly disappointed, but having been used to disappointments, she just shrugged it off and continued on with her life. It wasn't the first time she lost a friend. She was so sure that she wouldn't see him again, but she was dead wrong.

A few days later, she received an interesting call from Sheldon's mother, Mrs. Mary Cooper, asking her if she could come by and have a chat. His mother had told her that he was beginning to lose his mind over her and collected twenty-five feline companions. As a neurobiologist, it made her curious.

Upon her arrival, Sheldon's mother attempted to converse with her to get to know her better. It seemed that for every word that came out of Amy's mouth, Mary always had that perplexed, confused and slightly intrigued emotion displayed on her face.

"Now, answer me honestly dear. What do you really think of my little Shelly-bean? Don't you want to see him again?" Mary asked her, her face warm and inviting.

Amy pondered the question for a moment. She didn't think she'd ever feel the absence of a person, but she realized she missed having a friend who could actually follow her train of thought and understood what she was saying.

"I believe I am not entirely opposed to seeing your son again, Mrs. Cooper."

"Okay, I heard a yes! Just give me a moment and I'll get Shelly."

An interesting turn of events occurred within the next few minutes. One minute, Sheldon was stating his displeasure of having her company in his apartment, and the next, he was defending her to his mother, stating that there was no other person more similar to him than her. The day ended in the two reestablishing their friendship, meeting Sheldon's twenty-five cats and giving them away to people in the park.

It was an entirely different thing when Sheldon met Amy's mother. Amy just got back home from work when her mother called her through Skype. Her mother liked to occasionally check in on her, but her calls were usually filled with questions about her non-existent love life. In an attempt to keep her mother from pestering her about the subject, Amy once told her that she was seeing a miniature horse breeder named Armin, but her story fell apart once her mother asked for details.

But this time, it was different. She really was kinda-sorta 'dating' a guy, so lying about being in a relationship with Sheldon was more believable and a lot easier, specially since they talk on a daily basis. However, instead of quelling her mother's thirst for all this 'love' chatter, it unexpectedly invigorated her to call more often. Mrs. Fowler wanted actual proof that Sheldon was real.

"So Amy, when can I meet him?" Her mother doted.

"I don't know mother, we just started our relationship after all." Amy explained, trying to talk her mother out of the idea. "It's impractical to present the beau to the parent after just 5 months of dating. I think it would be best if I get to know him first."

"Oh, come now. Back in my day, you had to meet the parents before you even start dating!"

"Well, times have changed, mother. Most people these days present their beaus after dating for a year."

"A year?!"

"I think it's only logical. If I've already known him for a year when I present him to you, you'd know for sure that he's-"

"Honey, this isn't like one of your pretend boyfriends, is it?" Her mother interrupted, raising an eyebrow at Amy. This was not the first time her daughter pulled a stunt like that.

"No mother… He's real!"

"What was his name again… Armin, right?"

"This is not like that. It's Sheldon Lee Cooper and he is real. I met him through an online dating site and we met up in a coffee shop. I've already shown you pictures, his Facebook Profile-"

"Yes, but I want to see him for real, even just through Skype."

"But-"

"And if you're not going show him to me through Skype I'm going to go over there and see him for myself."

Realization quickly overcame her. Amy was not going to let her mother come to Pasadena.

"Oh look, he just texted me. He says he can't wait to have Skype session with you next week!"

This is going to be a nightmare.

She only had a week to arrange the meeting. It would have been okay any other time, she was pretty sure Sheldon would agree to help her with her predicament, but it had only been a few days after the two reconciled. She wasn't sure how to go about it until Sheldon asked her to 'hang out' via Skype, which basically consists of them doing two different things while having their webcam open and chatting every once in a while. Just before they signed off, Amy casually asked him to meet her mother. She was worried that he would decline or react badly to the request, but Sheldon told her nicely that he'd get back to her on the matter. So it was a big surprise to her when she opened her computer and found his name missing from all her contacts and social media accounts.

Oh boy.

Amy wasted no time to clear up the misunderstanding. As soon as she was done with work, she drove to the apartment at 2311 North Los Robles Avenue which was suspiciously missing the number 2.

I know he's a bit of a left-handed monkey wrench, but seriously? I've been here before!

She went up the stairs to her eccentric friend's apartment and knocked. She heard two voices which she determined to be Leonard and Sheldon. Leonard opened the door and told her that Sheldon was not in the apartment.

Yup, definitely misunderstood and definitely avoiding me.

"All right," Amy said, immediately taking a trip downstairs. She deduced that since Sheldon cut off all contact from her, it also means that he has also cut off the telephone line. That means he would not be able to order his routine Friday Chinese food and had to go downstairs to eat.

He might be a genius, but he's so predictable.

Just as she anticipated, Sheldon went downstairs to eat and wore a ridiculously striking red jacket, a red beanie and a pair of Groucho glasses as a disguise. His height and gait was a dead giveaway.

Red. He wore red to conceal himself. Brilliant!

Before the ludicrously dressed man exited the building, Amy called out to him and stopped him in his tracks, much to his dismay.

"I believe a misunderstanding may have occurred when I asked you to meet my mother," Amy said, getting straight to the point. There was no logic in dilly-dallying and wasting more time than she already had.

"No misunderstanding," Sheldon said casually. "I've learned what that request actually means, and I don't want to be joined to another object by an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis."

"In what way are you screwed?" Amy said, obviously confused by his statement. "All I want to do is present you as my boyfriend to my mother so she'll be satisfied that I'm in a relationship."

"…So we'd be perpetrating a ruse?"

"Precisely."

"And you haven't fallen hopelessly in love with me?"

Amy looked at him as if he just told her unicorns were real. "Don't be absurd. I find the notion of romantic love to be an unnecessary social construct that adds no value to human relationships."

There was a momentary pause as the lanky physicist stared at her in awe.

"Amy Farrah Fowler, that's the most pragmatic thing anyone's ever said to me!" Sheldon declared, touched and ecstatic at the statement the brunette gave.

"I trust this clarification allows us to return to our boy-slash-friend-slash-girl-slash-friend status?"

"Of course!"

Amy didn't find a point in extending the wait any longer. The very next day, she went to Sheldon's apartment to plan their course of action. Skyping with her mother might sound simple enough, but Amy knew that if they did not execute this correctly, their plan would backfire. It was highly probable that her mother would be even more relentless and pestersome after their Skype session. And Amy most certainly wanted this meeting with Sheldon and her mother to be their first and last.

"What if we tell her I have some sort of deadly disease and I only have one day left to live?" Sheldon suggested, a proud smile plastered on his face.

"That won't work," Amy said, scrunching her brows. "If anything, that will just encourage her to call more often, badger me to move on and find another worthy mate."

"Well, what if we tell her you've decided to become a homosexual?"

"Then she will be at my doorstep in a few hours with an intervention group and a pastor."

Sheldon thought long and hard, and after a couple of minutes, he turned to Amy with an even prouder smile displaying on his lips.

"Oh! We can tell her I'm just visiting from the future for a short time and I'll be meeting you again in the year 2060. By that time she has probably died or has developed memory impairment from old age and forgotten all about it!"

"Wait, I got it!" Amy exclaimed, breaking from her own silence. "Knowing my mother, she would definitely shy away from any conversation related to the act of coitus. If we imply that we are in a sexually active relationship, then she would not bother asking anymore details about our relationship."

"I still think my 'Sheldon from the future' idea was better."

Sure enough, her mother took the bait and never bothered her about her dating life again. If she ever did, Amy knew that she'd veer off the topic as soon as she starts telling her how pleasurable his 'company' is.

Reviews inspire me to write~!

~October 16, 2013~

Remade: ~August 17, 2015~

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She wished she could remember what happened, and what caused her to act irrationally. What perplexed her more was the fact that she didn't hate it. In fact, she liked it.