The Railroad Recalibration (9/9)
by phantagrae

Rating: G
Disclaimer: The characters and universe of this story do not belong
to me. I just like to play with them. 
Feedback: Yes, please. phantagrae@earthlink.net

Summary: My idea of how Sheldon's train journey might
have gone.  A million thanks to my super beta, FoxPhile!


Chapter Nine

Sheldon stepped down from the train, making his way wearily
toward the early morning sun streaming in at the exit, looking for the
bus stop.

Suddenly he saw a familiar form silhouetted in the sunshine. A
shocking flush coursed through his body as he realized who it was.

"Amy?"

"Welcome home, Sheldon," she said, her wide smile coming into
view as she stepped closer.

"Amy, what are you doing here?" he said, a surprised smile
breaking across his face. His heart was suddenly pounding in his
chest.
     
"When you called to tell me you were leaving Houston and that
you'd be home today, I went online and looked up the train
schedule," she explained. "I knew you had to be on the Sunset
Limited, so I checked the arrival time and, well, here I am!"

"Amy," he said quietly, "It's good to see you." He wrapped his arms
around his body.

"It's good to see you, too, Sheldon," she replied, clasping her hands
together. "My car's right outside."

As they walked out toward her car, she continued.

"Did you know that the Sunset Limited is the descendent of the
former Southern Pacific Railway's service dating to 1894? And
today it is the oldest 'named' train in continuous operation."

"I know!" Sheldon enthused. "Did you know that the name
originated with a predecessor railroad - the Galveston, Harrisburg
and San Antonio Railway, known as the Sunset Route as early as
1874?"

"I know!" Amy replied.

"Isn't this fun, Amy?" He smiled happily at her as he loaded his
things into the back seat.

She smiled and nodded as she got in the car.

He got in beside her and buckled up, turning to her as she started
the engine.

"I can tell you all about the Coast Starlight, and the California
Zephyr, and the City of New Orleans!"

"Yes, you could," she replied, pulling out into traffic. "Or you could
tell me about that night in New Orleans."

"Or I could tell you about the University of Chicago and their
physics program," he countered.

"Tell me about the trains," she said.

"Great!" he began, pulling his phone from his pants pocket. "I have
pictures and everything."

As Sheldon launched into a description of each of the trains, he
realized they weren't headed to Los Robles Avenue.

"Amy, where are we going? To your place?"

"I thought I'd fix you some breakfast, Sheldon. Today is Friday,
so...scrambled eggs and toast?"

"Yes, scrambled eggs and toast," he replied quietly. He quickly
thought through the implications. He'd never had a breakfast date
before. She'd never made him breakfast before. But this could be a
perfect opportunity. He wanted a few minutes alone with her
anyway, apart from Leonard and Penny and the others.

"Finish telling me about the trains, Sheldon," she said simply,
reaching over to pat him on the knee.

He started up again, slowly at first, as he tried to gauge her
sincerity, but soon his enthusiasm for the subject took over and he
was talking quickly, spilling facts about the history, size, speed and
construction of each of the trains in turn.

****

As they reached Amy's door, Sheldon finally ran out of steam. He
suddenly realized he didn't want to talk about the trains anymore.

"Why don't you relax on the couch while I get the eggs started,"
Amy said simply as she tossed her purse on the chair by the door.

"Oh, I can help you," he offered, setting his shoulder bag and jacket
on the chair as well. "Would you like me make some tea? Do you
have orange juice with no pulp? I can certainly get the toast started
- even though you don't have a Cylon toaster. Cylon toast is the
best."

"Sheldon," she chided as she got the eggs and other items from the
fridge, "Cylon toast tastes exactly the same as regular toast."

"Disagree," he said, getting juice glasses and plates from the
cabinet. "But it's a moot point, since you don't have a Cylon
toaster."

She chuckled as she fished a whisk out of a drawer. "Sheldon,
would you please reach into that cabinet on the right and hand me
the small, black mixing bowl."

"Of course." He handed her the bowl and set about loading her
regular toaster, setting the table while it worked.

They set about making breakfast together, moving easily about her
familiar kitchen, as Amy caught him up on what everyone had been
up to while he was gone.

After they ate, they moved over to the couch to have some tea.

"Amy," Sheldon began shyly, "I have something for you."

She smiled in bemusement as he stood to retrieve his bag.

"Sheldon, did you buy me a gift? I thought you didn't like gift-
giving."

"I don't," he replied, sitting down again. He first pulled out the t-
shirt from Galveston. "My mother bought this for you. She bought
one for me, too."

"Matching t-shirts?" Amy smiled as she took the shirt from him and
held it up. "How did she know my size?"

"I picked the size." Sheldon said nonchalantly. "For the record, I
will not be wearing my shirt at the same time as you. We're not
twins."

"But you are my boyfriend..." Amy said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Sheldon sighed and pulled the gift bag from his duffel.

"This is from me. I...I...Um...Here." He quit trying to talk and
simply handed her the gift bag.

She reached into the bag and retrieved the small tissue-wrapped
gifts. Each one was wrapped in a different color and as she set
them on the coffee table, Sheldon rearranged them into a specific
order.

"I want you to open them this way - starting with this one," he said
quietly.

She unwrapped the first gift.

"A monkey!" she exclaimed softly, a wide smile blossoming on her
face. "Oh, look, it says 'Welcome to Emeryville' on its tiny shirt."
She looked at Sheldon with a questioning tilt of her head.

"I bought it at the hotel that first night of my trip," he explained. "I
saw it in the window of the hotel's gift shop and I knew I wanted to
give it to you. Open the others!"

Next was a fairly realistic chimpanzee on a tiny pedestal, with the
words "Denver Zoo" on the front.

Then came a keychain with a small, square-shaped, stylized rubber
monkey with a small medallion that said, "Chicago".

Next was a wooden monkey playing a trumpet. It wore a banner
across its chest that said, "Laissez les bons temps rouler."

Lastly was a monkey fashioned out of seashells with the words
"Galveston, Texas" inscribed on its base.

"Oh, Sheldon," she said softly. "These are so sweet!" She wiped at
her eyes.

"I, um..." he began uncertainly, "I missed you...and...when I bought
them, it was almost like...like having you there with me."

She suddenly had her arms wrapped around him and he
instinctively tensed up at the feeling of her body pressed against his.

But then he felt his universe expanding.

He wanted to hug her back.

He extricated his arms from where they were trapped on his lap
and he returned her embrace. He took a deep breath and relaxed
into her arms, feeling the small hitching of her breath as she sniffed
back her tears.

At last they sat back from each other, she wiping at the tears
welling in her eyes, he, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from his
trouser legs as he willed his flushed face to return to normal.

Sheldon cleared his throat and looked up at her.

"Amy," he began, his voice faltering a little.

"Yes?" she replied, looking up happily at him.

"We...didn't get to have our date night this past Thursday."

"I know."

"Um, do we want to make it up somehow?" he asked, studying
her hair and her features, but managing to avoid looking her in the
eye.

"Well, pretty soon it will be time for our June Date Night," she
pointed out. "I suppose we could have two date nights this
month..."

"I don't want to wait another week," Sheldon blurted out.

Amy gaped at his outburst, raising a questioning eyebrow, but she
said nothing.

"I propose we simply make up the date...by...by..." Sheldon took a
deep breath and lowered his gaze. "By kissing," he squeaked out.

"Um...okay," Amy breathed. "How...?"

Sheldon suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers,
his heart pounding and warmth spreading through his body at the
strange yet familiar feeling of her lips. He took hold of her upper
arms to give himself better leverage and he felt her hands clasp his
arms at the elbow.

They kissed for a long moment, then sat back from each other.

Sheldon swallowed hard and took a deep breath before he dared
to look up at Amy.

"I...I don't...I don't want to change our dating schedule," he finally
managed to stammer out. "I still want to take things slowly."

"Of course, Sheldon," Amy replied breathlessly.

Suddenly his lonely night in the hotel room in New Orleans came
flooding into Sheldon's mind.

"Um, I think maybe I should go home now," he said, looking down
at his lap again. "I need to go home and take a shower," he added
hastily.

"Okay," Amy replied, a puzzled frown crossing her brow at the
abrupt ending of their moment.

They both rose to gather their things and went down to her car. As
they made the trip back to Los Robles Avenue, Sheldon returned
to his talk of trains and scenery, trying desperately to fill the air with
conversation that had nothing to do with the feelings running
rampant in his chest.

Sheldon could feel the burning flush still present on his cheeks and
he didn't trust his voice. Yet he had missed her so much that he
wanted to stay with her. He began to twist his mental Rubik's Cube
again. He wanted to talk with her. He didn't want to talk about his
confused feelings. He wanted to spend time with her. He was afraid
to admit how he was feeling.

After what seemed to Sheldon like an eternity, they finally pulled up
in front of his building and made their way inside, Sheldon at last
falling silent.

As they started up the stairs, he slipped his left hand into her right
hand. They climbed in silence for the first few floors.

"Amy," he began at last.

"Yes, Sheldon?"

"I'm sick of trains."