My present to all of my loyal readers! Having left his Christmas shopping until the last minute, Sheldon must suffer the consequences. Ten Dates universe. Samuel is 6 months and Amelia is 4. M rated for a reason! Enjoy!
I'm planning for this to be two (possibly 3, as yet unwritten) parts. Work is insane right now and I'm finding writing to be my stress relief, but please be patient with me as the next chapters won't be posted immediately.
The kids are being spoiled this year, Sheldon decided as he opened the closet to see the mountain of presents Amy had purchased and reached to place the presents from Mary and Missy on the top shelf. Deciding he needs to rearrange some of the presents to make more room, Sheldon moves aside the giant dollhouse box and finds his Christmas present, Luke Skywalker's lightsaber which was used in the first two Star Wars movies. Sheldon has no clue how to even begin to compete with such an incredible present and so he racks his brain trying to think of something Amy has always wanted.
That was two weeks ago. Sighing, he glances at the clock. It's 1:05 PM on Christmas Eve and he still has not decided what his wife's present is this year. Sitting at his desk, Sheldon reclines back in his black office chair and picks up his red and yellow fidgit spinner, deftly sliding his finger against one of the edges to send it rotating between his fingertips once again. Amy has been more serious about exercising lately, even going to a few spin classes with Penny. Should he get her one of those bikes that are advertised on TV? Is that an appropriate Christmas present, Sheldon wonders as he brings up Google to look at the bike.
Hearing Samuel begin to fuss as he wakes up from his nap, Sheldon quickly makes his way to the toy room next door and picks up his son who immediately calms down as he snuggles into the crook of his Daddy's neck.
"Did you have a good nap, Little Moose?" Sheldon questions as he lays the baby on the changing station and unzips the pink bunny suit pajamas, his hilarious wife's idea of a joke after she made him watch A Christmas Story rather than letting him and Amelia watch The Star Wars Christmas Special.
Looking up at his Daddy with his big blue eyes, Samuel gives Sheldon a big toothless grin before yawning.
Listening to the baby monitor in the kitchen, Amy grins as she hears Sheldon singing Frosty the Snowman to Samuel as he changes the baby's diaper.
Lifting Amelia up onto the counter and reaching for the pink hair tie, Amy pulls her Wookie's hair out of her eyes and into a ponytail. "We're making cookies for Santa!" she yells in the direction of the toy room as she turns on the oven to preheat.
"Santa isn't real and neither is Darth Vader, going crosseyed from sitting too close to the tv or lighting your farts on fire. Uncle Georgie tried. Oh, and Geology isn't a real science," Amelia recites from memory as she places her white chef hat atop her head.
Uh oh, Sheldon thinks as he hears Amelia perfectly recite his answer to her questions about Santa. Quickly zipping up Samuel's pajamas, Sheldon slinks his way along the wall, hoping if the baby stays quiet enough, he and Samuel can sneak out to go to the mall and temporarily avoid Amy's wrath.
"Sheldon!" Amy exclaims as she immediately turns to her husband and raises an eyebrow as she crosses her arms over her chest.
"She asked," Sheldon meekly offers in apology as he and Samuel come around the corner from the toy room. "Are you making Meemaw's sugar cookies?" he wonders as he places Samuel in the walker and goes to prepare a bottle.
"It's on the list," Amy reassures, "but first, we are making my Grandmother's Lebkuchen cookies," she explains as she locates the yellowed recipe card with her Grandmother's impeccable cursive handwriting.
"Mommy, what's a leb... caught... hen?" Amelia wonders as Amy lines the two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
"Great job with your pronunciation," Amy praises. "It's a German Christmas cookie that tastes very similar to the gingerbread that we made for your candy house," she explains as she points to the gingerbread house that Sheldon and Amelia put together earlier in the day. "It's one of my favorites."
"Okay," Amelia happily concedes. As long as she gets to help Mommy bake, she's happy.
"Is Daddy in trouble?" Amelia wonders after a few minutes of her Mommy and Daddy having a conversation with their eyes.
Amelia once asked Auntie Penny if it is true that grew ups can read minds cause it seems like her Mommy and Daddy can read minds. Auntie Penny laughed and said that they can totally read minds. Amelia isn't sure if Auntie was teasing or not. The few times Amelia has tested to see if Mommy can read her mind, like Friday night when Amelia wanted chocolate milk with dinner but didn't ask Mommy out loud, Mommy has read her mind every single time!
"Daddy is totally in trouble," Amy confirms as she winks at Sheldon, "His punishment is to be determined later."
"Daddy has to pick up Chewie's poopies in our grass," Amelia suggests. She hates that chore!
"Nope!" Amy replies as she makes an "eerh" buzzer noise, "Nice try, but that is your chore."
"Amelia, you now know the truth about Santa, but all of your cousins still believe that he's real. You can not tell them the truth. Do you understand?" Sheldon warns as he picks up Samuel and goes to sit at the dining room table.
"But why not?" Amelia wonders as Amy hands her a measuring cup to scoop flour with.
"Well, that's because it will upset them and your Aunties and Uncles. You figured it out on your own but can you imagine how upset you'd be if someone told you Santa isn't real?" Amy questions as she tries to get Amelia to empathize.
"Yeah. I would've cried," Amelia realizes. "Okay, I won't tell."
"Thank you, Sweetheart," Amy praises as she leans down to kiss Amelia's cheek.
While the girls bake cookies, Sheldon takes the opportunity to sneak off to the mall with Samuel in tow. After changing the baby into more appropriate clothes, Sheldon and Samuel return to the kitchen so Sheldon can inform Amy where he's going.
Pausing in the hallway, he stops and silently watches Amelia intensely concentrating on rolling the perfect ball of cookie dough, the red tip her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she focuses. Amy must've given Wookie candy, Sheldon realizes. His daughter's apron is covered in flour and dough and as Sheldon pulls out his camera to take a video, his wife looks up with him, mischief glinting in her eyes, as she sneaks up behind Amelia.
"You are a mess, but I think you missed a spot, Wookie," Amy informs her as she hides her hands behind her back. "Right here!" his wife exclaims before pulling Amelia's hat off in one quick motion and rubbing flour in Amelia's hair as their daughter squeals. Wrapping her arms around Amelia, Amy lifts their squirming and laughing daughter off her feet and blows a raspberry in the crook of her neck as Amelia kicks her feet in protest.
"Mommy!" Amelia squeals. Swiping her finger in some dough which somehow made it onto the wall of the fridge, Amelia smashes it on to Amy's chin. Using her finger, Amy removes the dough and licks it off her finger, moaning in pleasure at the sweet treat.
"Yummy. You're a good cook, Wookie!" Amy praises before turning to Sheldon. "Where do you think you're going?" she wonders as Sheldon stops recording and puts his phone safely in his pocket.
"To pick up your Christmas present," Sheldon vaguely answers, leaving out that he has no idea what that present will be.
"I wanna go!" Amelia pleads as she reaches behind her to untie the apron and throws it to the ground.
"I need you to stay here," Sheldon requests, knowing that by the time Amelia got cleaned up and they got to the mall, he'd have a very limited amount of time before they had to return for dinner with their friends. "Mommy needs your help cooking dinner. You are the official taste tester."
"Okay, but don't go to the Lego store without me!" Amelia pleads as she picks up her apron from the ground and places it around her neck.
"I wouldn't dream of going to the Lego store with you, Wookiee," Sheldon promises as he bends down to kiss her cheek. "I love you."
"I know," Amelia replies as she wraps her arms around her Daddy's neck. "I love you too, Daddy."
"Are you sure you want to take Samuel?" Amy wonders as she picks up the black backpack turned diaper bag and follows Sheldon to the front door as he crouches down to load their son into his car seat.
"We've discussed your desire to have more one-on-one time with Amelia," Sheldon softly murmurs in his wife's ear as he keeps his voice low, hoping their overly-perceptive daughter doesn't realize they are discussing her. "This seems like the perfect opportunity. Additionally, there's a certain store containing secrets which our offspring's innocent oculi need not be exposed to."
"Now you're just teasing me to be cruel," Amy pouts as she zips up the diaper bag for Sheldon.
"Daddy's being mean?" Amelia wonders from her spot on the kitchen chair where she has climbed up to resume making cookies.
"Daddy's a mean one, Mr. Grinch," Amy sing-songs as she teases her husband before leaning up to kiss away the pouty lip from her husband. "I love you, Scrooge."
"I love you too," he replies as he takes the bag from Amy, gives her a love tap on the rear and exits to load Samuel's car seat in the car.
I will never leave my Christmas shopping till the last minute again, Sheldon vows to himself as he circles the parking lot of the Glendale Galleria for the 18th time in a vain attempt to find a parking spot. Motioning as he sees a woman on her cell phone with two whiny toddlers in toe, Sheldon slowly follows her to her car and waits as she loads her bags, turning his blinker on to signal that he's taking the spot. He quickly turns his head to check on Samuel when the baby coughs. Seeing that Samuel is alright, Sheldon turns back around and prepares to pull into the parking spot, when he sees a red convertible whip around three cars in the other lane in order to steal the spot from Sheldon.
"Son of a biscuit!" Sheldon seethes, as he cracks his window when the gang of teenagers exits the car.
"My blinker was clearly on indicating my intention to park my vehicle!" Sheldon yells at them.
"So?" One of the boys yells back as the group laughs and they keep walking.
Sheldon finally gives up on this area of the parking lot and easily finds a parking spot further away from the mall entrance. Getting out of the car, he decides that it will be easier to place the baby in the chest carrier than attempt to navigate a stroller through this crowd. Getting Samuel secured, the little boy seems terrified by all of the noise and sounds as he buries his head in Sheldon's chest.
"Maybe Mommy was right that you needed to stay home," Sheldon apologizes as he places the blue stars blanket around the baby.
Entering the mall near Godiva Chocolates, Sheldon calculates the trample rate at nearly 20 people per one of him and Samuel. He quickly ducks into the chocolate store and licks his lips as the smell of sugar tantalizes his nose. Quickly seeing a set of white mugs with golden handles and a tin of dark chocolate drink mix, Sheldon selects his first purchase of the day. He also gets a box of assorted dark chocolate truffles for Amy and two candy bars which he will place in Amelia's stocking tonight.
Quickly walking by The Lego Store, Sheldon keeps his eyes averted to the baby so as to not break his promise to his daughter. He's often left in stunned amazement at how Amelia seems to be an equally proportioned mixture of her parents. Amy sometimes teases that their daughter got all of her bad habits from her father, only to be stunned into silence when seconds later Amelia will do something eerily similar to her mother. While Samuel's personality is starting to develop, their son is so small that they're not yet sure who he most resembles. Certainly, as far as looks go, there is no doubt who his father is. In fact, when Amy posted side by side baby pictures of Samuel and Sheldon on Facebook, even she became confused as to which baby was which.
Sheldon continues his journey through the mall, carefully zigging and zagging through the crowd as he places his free arm around the baby's head to protect him until they reach Victoria's Secret. It's only the thought of seeing his wife's smile as she comes to their bed in the new nightie he's picked out for her that finally tempts Sheldon to cross the threshold of the store. He knows exactly what he's looking for, having been in here last week with Amy while she purchased new bras and immediately heads in the direction of the red satin romper that he has been fantasizing about taking off of Amy with his teeth.
He turns around after selecting the correct size and spots the dreaded underwear drawer. Sure he's seen his wife's underwear many a time, but actually selecting a pair for her? Well, that's entering the final frontier. He eases his way up and stands behind three women who intently study each pair they select, color, material, cut, before ultimately placing them back in the drawer, not seeming to notice that Sheldon is waiting his turn. It isn't until Samuel makes his presence known by letting out an ear-piercing scream that the ladies quickly move out of Sheldon's way to allow him to get the overpriced scrap of lacy red material and make his way to the front to make his purchases.
He still doesn't know what Amy's gift is, he sighs in discontent as he exits the store a few minutes later. Noticing his son is in need of a fresh diaper, Sheldon makes his way to the family room and contemplates his next move.