Sheldon and Amy watched anxiously over Rosie's shoulder as she opened up her emails. She had worked so hard and been waiting for so long to find out her grades and now they were all up online.
Of course, Sheldon had no doubt in his daughter. Even years before she was born, he had referred to her as 'our progeny' and after growing up as the top of every class – even skipping several years – Rosie was applying to one of the most prestigious schools in the world.
Despite his confidence; as she logged in Sheldon felt a twinge of pain shoot through his chest. This was more difficult than he thought, it must be torture for Rosie. After all this waiting, they would finally have a result.
Sheldon felt for his wife's hand which she clutched anxiously. They both leant forward over the back of Rosie's chair to see the computer screen.
Slowly the mouse moved and hovered over one unread message in her inbox. It paused.
"Honey? Are you okay?" Amy asked gently. Rosie always puts a lot of pressure on herself, she probably inherited it from her father.
Their daughter sighed heavily, "I can't do it…"
Sheldon and Amy glanced at each other.
"Dad, you look first"
Sheldon's heart clenched.
He gulped slowly, "Are you sure?"
Rosie nodded and stood from her chair. Sheldon worriedly took a seat in front of the computer and cradled the mouse in his hand to glide it over to the message. It remained unread. Rosie turned and wrapped her arms around her mother, nestling her head into the crook of her neck.
Amy carefully wrapped her arms around her daughter and patted her back soothingly. She made eye contact with her husband and nodded. Mother and daughter closed their eyes and clutched each other supportively.
Sheldon clicked the mouse.
There was silence.
"What? What does it say?"
Rosie's voice was muffled against her mother's woollen embrace.
Sheldon stared at the screen. His eyes scanned it over and over.
"Dad?" Rosie turned to look at her father, wondering why he was so silent. Was it bad news?
Sheldon gulped slowly, "You did it" he said quietly.
"What?" It was not that she had not heard, Rosie was simply in shock. She lunged at the computer to read the message.
Amy followed and leant over her husband to read the screen, "You did it!" she shouted.
Rosie jumped up in the air with a whoop and hugged her mother. She and Amy cheered and shouted and skipped around the kitchen together. Little Isaac came running in without even questioning what was going on and joined in with the celebrations.
Sheldon still had not moved.
It had finally hit him. He understood why Rosie had been so worried all summer. This was real.
She was going. His little girl was growing up.
Not only would she be moving away, but she would be moving to a whole other country.
Cambridge University was obviously a huge achievement and he could not be more proud of his daughter. She was incredibly intelligent and worked so hard; she deserved this.
But they would apart for so long. His personal experience with college was not very pleasant. What if Rosie was uncomfortable or lonely or bullied? How would he protect her?
Swivelling in the desk chair, Sheldon turned to watch his family. They were dancing around the kitchen making complete fools of themselves. Isaac still had no idea what was going on but was laughing hysterically with rosy-red cheeks of happiness. Amy picked him up in her arms and snuggled him into her chest.
Time seemed to freeze as Sheldon's eyes glassed over. Tears were brimming along the rim of his eyes, blurring his vision. Spinning back towards the computer, he blinked rapidly to compose himself.
Suddenly there was a pair of arms reaching around his neck from behind and pulling him into a tight embrace.
Rosie's head lowered towards him, "Thanks Dad" her voice was barely a whisper and it wavered from the shock and emotion.
Sheldon placed his hands on hers. They were both held over his chest where a soft heartbeat could be felt through the bolt of his 'flash' logo.
By tightening his grip, Sheldon pulled his daughter closer and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.
"Well done, I'm so proud of you"
Rosie smiled and gave an extra-large squeeze to her father before running back over to her brother who was performing some very strange dance moves as his mother clapped along.
Wistfully, Sheldon observed the scene. With his girl leaving, there would be very few moments like these left. He wanted to appreciate his weird and quirky family and make the most of times like this.
Standing with a grin on his lips, he joined the festivities. Catching his wife, he clasped hold of her hand and the pair danced together. Rosie and Isaac laughed before partnering-up to copy their parent's moves.
Laughter and giggles filled the kitchen as the family rejoiced in Rosie's achievement.
Sheldon had been so confident in her throughout the whole of summer that he had not thought about the next steps.
She would be leaving and moving away to an entirely different country. She was growing up and parting home. It hurt so much but Sheldon knew, that if anyone could do it, it was his Rosie.