"Sorry...But once you start fighting any boss, you're committed."
Bernadette smiled and patted his back. "Unfortunately, so am I," she said lightly.
Howard gave a short, insincere chuckle at her words and the pair began walking to the table, sliding into the two remaining seats.
"And not only did I start the Babysitter Agreement, I finished it," Sheldon was saying. "Laminated, color-coded, college-ruled, and it has an alphabetical list of contestants in descending order of adequacy."
"How thoughtful," Howard muttered, easily joining the conversation like he had been there for hours.
"Sweetie, did you ever think that's something Missy would decide?" Penny asked.
Sheldon's hesitation was only brief. "No."
"I'm sure all of Sheldon's babysitters were chosen in descending order of their tolerance levels," Leonard mused.
"Actually, by age five I was looking after both Missy and myself," Sheldon informed him, and he playfully, gently hit Amy's arm, a big smile on his face. "You should've seen me. I wore my hair the same, I went to school in fun tuxedos and, naturally, I was the brightest pupil in school. That hasn't changed, either."
"Aren't you modest," Penny said sarcastically, and tapped her wine glass to silently request a refill.
"Excuse me, when you're as intelligent as am I, you don't need to be modest."
"Nah, but you'd be less of a smelly pooper," she replied, totally disenchanted.
"Can we not say that in a restaurant?" Bernadette requested. "Ever again?"
"Agreed," Sheldon and Howard concurrently said.
"Well, maybe this will bring you back to Earth," Raj said, "You've made no progress in string theory. The one time you thought you did was a mistake, and the whole university heard you on helium."
Sheldon was silent, giving him a lethal glance beneath his lashes as he folded his napkin into a triangle. He was rearranging his cutlery when Penny's voice sawed through the insults he was contemplating. "What are you doing?"
"This is how the napkins and cutlery are supposed to be in restaurants," he grumbled, still offended. "Everybody do this," he ordered, and only Penny and Amy were complying when Sheldon glanced up -
...And became ice.
"Oh, dear Lord," he whispered.
"What?" Amy asked, looking at him. Sitting right beside him, she followed his gaze when he wouldn't respond, and vaguely recognized a man in a gray tweed suit. "He looks kind of familiar."
At once, all seven turned to look at the same man.
"Oh, yeah..." Leonard said thoughtfully.
Seeing fourteen eyes on him, the man began to walk toward their table.
"Oh, dear. Oh, dear." Sheldon stood, slowly.
Stopping near them, the man looked at the seven friends. "Is there a problem?" he asked, and the grouchy voice made Sheldon withdraw. "It's rude to stare."
"We're not staring, sir. Those guys all go to the same doctor for neck twinges and we just hit it off," Howard said. When the man just looked at him, he turned his attention to his plate and began to butter a bagel.
"Is there anything else?" Sheldon asked roughly.
"Yes. Mind your own damn business. Enjoy your dinner."
The man turned and walked away with a cold confidence.
Sheldon slowly, shakily sat.
"I know I've seen him before," Leonard said obsessively. "Seems to me I saw him last week."
"In the photo album Mother gave me," Sheldon informed, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Estranged uncle?" Bernadette asked.
"No," his voice came from a grave. "My father."