My Love; My Life: Slipping Through My Fingers

Zinnia's Imaginary Friend

Setting: Pasadena California; Sheldon and Amy's place...

Sheldon is focused on his science work, as Amy watches their only daughter with great interest-as if studying her-as the young girl pretends to have a tea party with her imaginary friend on the floor. This would seem normal for any little girl to do, but what made it so odd to Amy is that Zinnia instead that her friend wasn't imaginary. Zin calls this friend of hers Aunt Bay, and continuously insists she really is talking to her dead Aunt. Sheldon refuses to acknowledge it at all and Amy has been more focused on the two cases of thirteen year old pregnancies recently discovered than what her only daughter was saying. Holly had a huge disagreement with Penny and got kicked out of her home, Leonard wanted to argue the point, but Penny was too livid for him to even try.

     Penny had kicked Holly out while Leonard was at work, and because Holly told her she wanted to actually keep her and Ace's baby because they're in love. Penny argued that they're only thirteen and don't really know what love is, that what they felt for each other is just lust. Ace begged his parents to take Holly in, and after not talking it over with each other, Sheldon agreed to it-if they agreed to his conditions...

"Mommy?" Zin calls from where she sits on the living room floor with her tea party set up

"Yes Zin?" Amy asks her

"Where's daddy?" She asks Amy

"Busy work," she tells her daughter, "what do you need?"

"Aunt Bay says I gotta tell him something," Zinnia tells Amy

"..." Amy just starts at her daughter in silence for a moment

"Aunt Bay says that I gost ta tell daddy right now," Zin says as she starts getting up from the floor

"Tell him what?" Amy asks her, "your father is very busy with his research sweetheart, he doesn't have time right now to play with you and your imaginary friend-"

"AUNT BAY ISN'T IMAGINARY!!" Zin screams at Amy with a look a frustration and verge of tears, "she's right here!" She adds pointing to the only place setting at tea party that isn't filled by a stuffed animals or dolls

"Who is shouting?" Sheldon asks as he comes out of another room, "I'm trying to work."

"Our daughter," Amy says not enthused as Zin starts crying

"DADDY!" Zinnia cries as she runs over and hugs Sheldon

"There, there," Sheldon says patting her on the head and gently trying to pry her off of him

"Really?" Zin asks with a sniffle as she looks up at her father, "Aunt Bay says ta 'hug me back' and says your a crazy idiot."

"..." both Amy and Sheldon go silent at their daughter's words

"..." Zin is quiet as she stares up at her father

     Amy is unsure of what to say, while Sheldon is lost by his daughter's words within the memories of his older sister from his eidetic memory...

"Oh yea!" Zin adds as if she just remembered something, "Aunt Bay also told me ta tell you something else..."

"And what might that be?" Sheldon finally speaks as he looks down at his daughter

"She says that it's time you go home," Zin tells him

"But I am home," he argues not even taking that Zin said his dead older sisters told her to say it seriously

"NO!" Zin snaps, "you're not home!"

"Zinnia Curie Cooper," Amy finally scolds, "you do not shout at your parents."

"Sorry," Zin replies quietly as she goes meek and mouse like looking at her mother, she then looks back at her father, "Aunt Bay says you gost ta go back ta Texas Daddy-"

"Zinnia," Amy sighs out, "enough is enough," she tells the eight year old, "your aunt Bay passed away before you were even born-"

"In a car crash due to a heart attack," Zin finishes for her, "I know..."

"..." both Sheldon and Amy go quiet at this news, both of them had yet to tell their eight year olds of this and had wanted to wait till both were older

"Did Ace Tell you that?" Sheldon asks her

"No," Zin replies quietly as she shake her head, "Aunt Bay did..."

"..."both Amy and Sheldon are quiet again

"But Aunt Bay says that's not what actually happened," Zin adds in, "and that's why you gotta go home daddy."

"Zinnia," Sheldon starts, "I know you wish you could've met your Aunt Bay-"

"I would I wish that when I can talk with her whenever I wanna?" Zin asks him confusion written all over her face

"Zinnia," Amy starts again, "you must grasp reality," she tells her, "and that reality is that your Aunt Bay has been dead for eight-almost nine years now. She's gone, she can't come back; you are not talking to her, you are talking to an imaginary friend that you have developed to try and replace her-"

Before Amy can continue, the last picture they received of Bailey Ellie Kripke-alive-with her family in a Christmas card, suddenly falls from where it hangs on the wall and the glass holding it in the frame shatters to pieces on the floor. The sound causes both Amy and Sheldon to jump and Sheldon stares at it with wide, deer in headlights type eyes; but Zinnia is unfazed by this, as she had watched her Aunt Bay simply walk over, push the frame off the wall, and let it drop to the floor. Though Bailey Ellie Kripke's body may have been much gone her spirit is still very much alive and active; it's been around since her death, watching over her loved ones happiness and troubles. She just never felt the need to make her presence known before this point in time. The picture moves through the air on its own it seems to those living, as Bay picks it up and moves it to the coffee table before easily snatching the marker from Sheldon's hand and writing on the back of the photo...

"..." both Amy and Sheldon are too freaked out to move or speak

"..." Zin finally lets go of Sheldon, walks over and grabs the picture, "it's ya you daddy."

"..." Sheldon takes it from his daughter with shaky hands

"What's it say?" Amy asks him

"That I get my But back to Texas, cause Bay was murdered," he replies as he passes the picture with the note on the back to his wife before running off to his room freaked out

"..." Amy looks at the writing and mental tries to compare it with that of Bay's from years back

"I was murdered so get yer ass back ta Texas Shelly! NOW!"

Amy looks up from it just in time to see Sheldon come rushing out with suitcases and heading for the door as she gives him a confused look...

"Where're you going Sheldon?" She asks him

"We're going to Texas," he states to her plainly, "all of us."