To Leanne: Oh it was nothing! I personally don't think that Sheldon loves kids, and would quickly love kids he didn't even know. But I think he has the room to change, and that he can learn to like them. *wink* Leonard's story and how he knows will be revealed at about chapter eleven or twelve, and everything else will be revealed after that. There will be more Shenny progress in the future chapters :-D And thanks!

Monday; uncounted start of task / 7 days until end of task.

Andy watched curiously as Sheldon carefully attached a Lego block to the big circle thingy. He had been constructing the circle thing for hours now and it only piqued both of the twins' interests.

They hadn't missed a single block getting attached.

"Sedon," Maddie spoke up from the opposite side of the coffee table, "wat dat?"

Sheldon peered down from the thing, and stared at the two toddlers excitedly watching him from across the table. "It's a Lego Death Star that I bought for my birthday. I'm trying to achieve the task of finishing it before next week and attempt to prove Raj wrong that I can finish it within a week." Two pairs of blue eyes continued to stare at him, "this is very important as both my Hulk hands and my Green Lantern lamp—which he had given me in exchange for being his wingman—are at stake. So, please stop bothering me." He gave them a forced smile, then returned to building the Death Star. There was no way he was going to give his favorite gifts back.

Maddie nodded, and Andy frowned. "Sedon wat a deet stah?"

"Det stah!" His twin corrected, pointing to the circle thing—the 'det stah' and shaked her head in disapproval. "Andy! Dats a det stah!"

With a huff, Sheldon paused (again) in building and sighed. "The Death Star is from Star Wars and is a space station slash super-weapon that Darth Vader, a.k.a. Anakin Skywalker, built after he crossed over to the dark side." The twins nodded, a soft 'oh' falling from their lips. "If you have any more questions, speak now or hold your peace until I finish this." There was a short pause—which Sheldon hoped would be the end of the discussion—then Andy spoke again, "Who An-uh-kin? Who Dat Bedah?"

"Does your mother ever teach you anything?" Sheldon rhetorically asked as both of the toddlers shrugged. "Your mother could have at least taught you on her limited knowledge of one the greatest science fiction works of all time; especially as we had already bought her her own set of the entire series!" He shook his head at the thought, pursing his lips at their former neighbor's incompetence. No matter, he would be the one who would enlighten these simpletons' mind with all of the knowledge they would ever need. Leave it to Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper to ensure that the future generation will at least be able to contribute a minuscule of knowledge while his own intellectually gifted overlord children guided humanity into a brighter tomorrow. Maybe his own children could make use of these two simpletons if they proved to be useful when the time comes. They could be the engineers of the future, forced to do anything his overlord children wants them to do. Penny should really thanks him for even allowing her children a chance of a wonderful future as his future children's slaves.

"Darth Vader and Anakin are the same person, he just used a pseudo name to embrace his newfound darkness."

Maddie placed a finger on her chin, scrunching her face in concentration. "An-uh-kin and Dat Bedah same?" Sheldon nodded, curious to see where this would go. "Wike mommy and Peh-nee same?" He had to give it to this one; she was proving herself worthy of getting his praise. Though this one had limited comments compared to her twin, when she did speak, her comments were apt and logical. The male one wasn't too gullible as he had originally thought—and that heavily pained him to admit—and had even gained his respect in his own way. Whereas Maddie was logical, though obviously lacking in the attention department, Andy was curious and ready to experience the world, as Raj would say. Zippy always asked questions and was keen to learn, sometimes even retaining some of the information, and Sully always had a logical follow up to the questions her twin posed.

To keep it simple, they had earned a little respect from him.

Andy's eye widened as Sheldon opened his mouth to praise his twin, and vigorously waved a hand at him. "Andy know too! Ayn Man and Toh-nee Stahk!"

Sheldon would be lying if he said that he wasn't shocked at what Zippy said. The kid's curiosity and insistent asking on 'who dat' and 'wat dat' during the entirety of them watching Iron Man 2 had finally paid off. The twins had only been staying at their apartment for a week and a day, and yet his intelligence had already rubbed off on them.

Penny should thank him for the generous act.

"Well done!" He adulated, clapping his hands in delight. "I can't believe both of you managed to see the connection." The two grinned proudly at him and this may have been the first time that he didn't find it annoying for them to do so. He believed that credit should be given where credit was due. "You might not be as dumb as I thought you were; kudos." He gave them one small smile before returning to his Legos, as Leonard entered the apartment, balancing a bag of groceries and a bag of takeout in his arms. Howard and Raj shortly followed, carrying their own bags of groceries in their arms.

Leonard wobbled halfway to the coffee table, shifting the grocery bag. "Hey, Sheldon could you please help us with these?"

"I'd love to, but I'm afraid I'm busy," Sheldon replied as he checked the guide then attached another Lego.

Howard gently dropped his grocery bag on the floor, then helped Leonard with the bag of takeout and placed it on the table. "You're not busy, you're just playing." He gestured for Sheldon to move the Lego model, causing the physicist to groan. "I can be busy playing, for your information." Sheldon said as he carefully lifted the model, placing it on top of his desk. "And I was busy preventing my brain from winning and forcing me to destroy this model out of pure frustration." He eyed his work, proud at what he had accomplished, then turned to watch Leonard taking out the groceries one by one. "You don't understand how exasperating and utterly tiring that is. Ask the children, they saw how hard I'm working." The twins nodded, taking a seat at their respective couches, and Sheldon returned to his spot.

"Oh gee, I bet it's way more exhausting than taking care of twins and a semi-grown up man!" Leonard sarcastically said, "god, Sheldon, I don't understand how you even have the audacity to say that you're tired when you don't even do anything here!"

Sheldon frowned in indignation; obviously, there was a nerve that had been touched. "Excuse me, but I am offended by your choice of words. Didn't you swear that you would take complete and utter responsibility over all of the twins' wants and needs as they are your guest? Must I take out my copy of the temporary roommate agreement to further solidify my stance and counter your unnecessary whining?"

A food container was carelessly dropped in front of him in response.

"I know I promised to take care of them, but my vacation days are running out," Leonard wearily explained, placing his laptop on a chair in front of the tv before preparing the twins' dinner. "The next fundraiser isn't until November, and until then, I can't promise President Siebert any more donations for the department. A week was the longest he could give me, and I had to use 'family emergency' to gain another two days. I'm required to get back to work by tomorrow, and I'm still trying to think of what to do."

Raj nodded in understanding, passing Howard his food container. "I'd love to volunteer to take care of the twins, but I used up my vacation days for when I took that three day, two nights stay at Palm Springs." Howard raised an eyebrow at him, and Raj simply shrugged. "It was definitely worth it, even if I couldn't tell the masseur where it hurts since she was a girl. But I made sure that the next massage I got was from a guy, just so I could point out the cricks."

"I'm just going to cut him and save us from the misery of imagining that," Howard said, flinching at the sight of Raj getting a massage. "I'd say get my mom to look after them, but I'd only suggest that if you want them to return to Penny about thirty pounds heavier." He spread his arms out to further emphasize the size of the twins after staying with his mother, "and we all know that Penny wouldn't want that. Sheldon, why don't you watch the twins for a while? I heard from HR that you have at least two weeks of vacation days waiting to be abused."

"Leonard and I already talked about that," Sheldon commented, furtively watching as Leonard fixed the twins' dinner. Macaroni and cheese that did not have any preservatives, and was preferably home-cooked. That was one of the guidelines that Penny gave regarding the twins' food; everything had to be real food. Luckily, Raj found a restaurant that served mac n' cheese, as well as other pasta variants that Penny recommended with baby food on the side, and Leonard had started to buy the twins' meals there. The restaurant was also now his Tuesday burger joint (it was even better than his former order), as he refused to ever step inside a Cheesecake Factory ever again. "My refusal still stands, and can we please cut the banal chit chat? The food is getting cold." Sheldon lifted the lid of his food container, and Leonard readied himself for his roommate's regular line of questioning.

"Did you remember to ask for the chicken with broccoli to be diced, not shredded, even though the menu description specifies shredded?"

"Yes."

"Brown rice, not white?"

"Yes."

"Did you stop at the Korean grocery and get the good, hot mustard?"

"Yes."

"Remarkable, you finally got it right," Sheldon leaned over to pick up his dinner, glancing at the twins who were watching in awe. "And that's how you ensure that your food is perfect."

Howard scoffed, imitating Sheldon, "And that's how you act crazy."

"Hey, check if Penny's online," Raj suggested, pointing his fork at the laptop in front, "it's about four in the morning there, she's probably up to prepare for shooting." The astrophysicist looked at Sheldon pointedly, and he could do nothing but stand up. "Alright, but if this delay causes my food's temperature to drop, you will all suffer the consequences." He made his way towards the front, scowling down at Leonard's laptop, and at the list of contacts on his Skype account. Penny was listed as one of them, and Sheldon's scowl only deepened. When Penny had left two years and four months ago, she had removed all of them from all of her social networking accounts. Though he knew that Penny had accepted Leonard back into Skype—they always called Penny via Leonard's laptop—it irked him that she had still not accepted his invitation. He was trying to be the bigger man, and be the one to at least try to accommodate her into his life. As expected, she ignored the invitation, and he hoped that she knew that this was not helping in getting her back into his good graces.

He clicked the call button—which Penny answered—but was met by the plain wall of either her hotel room or trailer.

"I think she has fallen back to sleep," Sheldon informed them as he returned to his spot. "But the call has started." He placed a piece of chicken in his mouth and grinned; it was still at his preferred temperature.

Maddie curiously stared at her bowl of mac n' cheese, momentarily ignoring the second bowl which contained her favorite; mashed bananas. She lifted a finger, abandoning her monkey shaped spork, poking it into the yellow substance then bringing it to her mouth. She grimaced at the taste, exclaiming, "ick!"

"Ick?" Leonard repeated, lowering his container as Andy did the same. "What do you mean, ick?"

Andy lifted his bowl towards Howard, "Tase."

The engineer carefully took the bowl and ate a spoonful. "It's a bit salty," he said once he'd had a gulp of water, "did you forget to tell them to water it down a bit? You know that the cheese gets a bit salty sometimes."

Leonard paled as both of the twins pushed their bowls away, "I did! I always remind them that it's for toddlers and that the cheese might be a bit too strong for them."

"Oh Leonard, just admit that you once again, have failed."

"Failed… what exactly are you implying Sheldon?" Leonard narrowed his eyes at Sheldon. Howard sent Raj a look, telling him not to interfere. Sheldon-Leonard fights were always ugly, and the last time they got involved, they were forced to take sides.

"Well, like I said, you failed, again. Just declare that you fail at getting the right food," Sheldon dipped a strip of chicken in the sauce and frowned once he took a bite of it. "This mustard isn't that spicy."

"What do you mean it wasn't spicy—I got that where I always buy it!"

"I give you such easy tasks and yet somehow you always manage to fail at them, Leonard." Sheldon clucked his tongue at his roommate, who was starting to literally produce smoke from his ears.

"EASY TASKS? Do you think taking care of you is easy?" Leonard growled in disbelief; he knew that Sheldon was just being Sheldon, but the past week had been so stressful with him trying to at least work at home, and taking care of the twins and Sheldon that he was about to blow a fuse. He loved the twins, he really did, but when the gods of genetics rolled a dice and it landed on 'picky,' it was enough to rival Sheldon's captiousness. Penny had already taught him how to deal with the kids, and he was slowly learning how to take care of them. He was getting better at taking care of kids, and he was proud of that.

Then there was Sheldon; the other kid he was babysitting.

"Taking care of me?" Sheldon raised an eyebrow, "I hardly think that you are 'taking care' of me. It's more like I'm taking care of you."

Raj saw the look in Leonard's eye and knew that he had snapped. He quickly signaled to Howard who lifted Andy while Raj silently got up to get Maddie. Neither Sheldon nor Leonard noticed that they had got up and silently left the apartment. He didn't want the twins to get traumatized by shouting, or two adult looking people fighting over something they wouldn't even understand.

"Taking care of me?!" Leonard angrily repeated, his temper boiling at an alarming rate. He was so fed up with Sheldon and his arrogant self! "Fine! Let's say that you are taking care of me, I've been taking care of the twins ever since they came! Do you think that's easy?"

"Yes, and from the looks of it," Sheldon eyed the laptop screen, he saw some kind of movement, "they're pretty user friendly."

Leonard slammed his container on the coffee table, causing pieces of food to fall off from the intensity. "THAT'S IT! THEY ARE NOT AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE, SHELDON!" Unbeknownst to the two fighting roommates, even at the second floor landing, Howard and Raj heard the shouting, and moved down to the lobby. "IF YOU'RE SO GREAT, WHY DON'T YOU TAKE CARE OF THE TWINS, HUH? CAUSE YOU'RE JUST SO EXCELLENT AT EVERYTHING!"

Sheldon licked his lips, nodding curtly, "Alright then, that seems like a simple enough task." Leonard might think that he couldn't do it, but he could. He was Homo Novus, he was better than all of them, and he could most definitely handle two toddlers. This was another step in his plan of foiling Leonard's imbecilic ploy of getting Penny back. If he succeeds, not only did he get to stop this tomfoolery of babysitting, but he would also prove that he was right. He could also already feel the amusement he'd get once Leonard gets all mad and upset that his plans to win Penny back by taking care of her children crashes and burns. "I find no problems with doing so, and agree to takeover for a week. Mostly to prove you wrong."

"Alone," Leonard said the word slowly, his gaze slowly softening at the sound of someone clearing their throat. He sighed, turning towards his laptop, and saw a groggy looking Penny, "Hey Penny, good mo—"

"It's four in the morning and I am not a morning person, Leonard, you don't have to be so loud!" The blonde crankily said, running a hand through her hair, "and why the hell is it so bright?" Penny shielded her eyes with her arm, it seemed like Penny had just woken up.

Tuesday; 6 days until end of task.

Sheldon watched as Leonard shuffled around the apartment, preparing for his return to work.

"—so I already called President Siebert, and told him that you're going to be using a week of your vacation days."

"And what did he say? I'm sure he was puzzled and upset as to why I won't be gracing the university with my presence." Sheldon said from his desk, checking the email from Penny that Leonard forwarded to him. The twins' schedule could somewhat coincide with his, and he was currently thinking of how to change it.

Leonard closed the closet door, and fixed his jacket. "To be honest, he sounded really happy, and I called in at six a.m. He also said that he's more than willing to allow you that remaining week of vacation days if you want."

Sheldon waved a hand at him, "nonsense. I only need a week to prove that I am right, and you know what it will mean if I'm right." Leonard frowned at him, and he simply smiled, pointing a pen at him. "Not only do I get to ship the twins back to their mother, but I also get your limited edition Batmobile miniature replica!" He grinned at his roommate, who simply shrugged and placed his laptop in his bag. "Well, you're not getting any results until next week. You know what to do, right?"

Leonard waited, and was met by the patented 'you must be stupid to think I can't do it because I excel at everything' head shake. "Of course I do. I still have about an hour before they wake up. Enough time to continue my current research. " Sheldon stared at him. "Aren't you going to leave, yet?"

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving," Leonard said, raising his hands and backing up before making his way towards the door. "Good luck on your first day babysitting. Bye "

Sheldon snorted as the door closed. "Luck. Pfft. Like I'd need luck." He let out a small chuckle as he thought of how many wins he'd get within a week. A signed Silver Surfer surfboard from Raj once he finishes building his Lego Death Star, a limited edition miniature Batmobile replica, and the twins will be out of his metaphorical hair! DC, Marvel, maybe he'd even force Leonard to get him something cool from Dark Horse comics, or from anime/manga. He was going to—metaphorically—wipe the floor with them as Dr. Sheldon Cooper was one hell of a winner. Once the twins were shipped off to France, he would finally be able to conclude his theory on whether or not Leonard was only babysitting Penny's progenies to get back together with her.

He laughed at the thought. Leonard's plans were always so gullible and entertaining—but only when it fails. Which he will.

Although he had an odd connection with Penny's progenies, he still—in no way—liked the thought of them staying with them. Due to the infants temporarily lodging with them, Leonard decided postponing paintball as they couldn't leave the twins all alone in an apartment. He was okay with the thought, but then realized that if the twins were left by themselves, there was a huge possibility that they would play with his action figures. Or worse; they would somehow stumble into his room and would make their way through his comic books! Thousands of dollars worth of comic books tarnished due to an infant scribbling over it via crayons, or tearing it page by page or dribbling on it! It was the only thing that stopped him from leaving the twins and going to work. All he had to do was feed them, turn the channel to either Disney or Nick jr., then lock the door and proceed to the university. It was relatively easy, but so was breaking into his room as Howard had installed a sensor button that would open Leonard's, his and the bathroom's door if the twins ever touched it.

If the children from Rugrats could get lost in a forest due to the adults ignoring them; who could say that it wouldn't happen to the twins? Even if they did somehow survived!

His trance was broken by the feeling of something hard connecting with the side of his arm again and again. He tried to ignore it as he scrunched his face up, attempting to focus on his work. Sheldon continued to ignore it; as he might just have been hallucinating. But as the smacking of an object against his arm continued, he realized that he wasn't hallucinating, and that he wasn't alone. He had momentarily forgotten that he had foolishly fallen into Leonard's trap of getting him to watch over the twins. And since they were the only ones home with him, he assumed that the constant assault on his arm was somehow related to either of the infants.

And sure enough, the moment he turned his head, he saw that Maddie was poking him repeatedly in the arm with the remote control for the television, an annoyed and frustrated look on her face as she attempted to get his attention. Andy was on his tiny couch, watching them curiously and he briefly wondered how long the toddler had tried to get his attention. Maybe she had been saying his name, but he had been drowning everything out to focus on his proposal. With a small huff, he lifted his fingers off of the keyboard and turned his chair to face the infant.

"You're awake?" Was the first of many questions he wanted to ask. Maddie nodded, and he continued. "What do you want?"

Maddie blinked at him, her hand holding out the remote. "On tv, peas. Bues Coos."

"Blues Clues? The show where a mad man talks to supposedly inanimate animated objects that should be sent to an asylum?"

"Asah-lam?" Andy tilted his head to the side, while Maddie poked the remote on his arm again. "Bues Coos, peas!"

Sheldon rolled his eyes as he took the remote, pressing the power button to make the infants go away. The tv immediately turned on and he changed it to Nickelodeon where the said show was playing. He watched Maddie hurried to her couch, practically throwing herself on it as the insane man started dancing while making his way towards a red arm chair. He heard the twins singing along to a song about a letter before drowning them out yet again. It appeared that they were already content on watching the show, and he continued on to focusing on his work. It was around nine when he felt another assault on his arm.

"What do you want now?" He asked stoically, barely tearing his gaze from his laptop.

"Sedon, Andy and Maddie want eat." It was Andy, this time. "Peas make befast?"

Sheldon sighed in irritation and swiveled his chair back to the twins. He closed his eyes and recalled their supposed breakfast for the day, based on their mother's e-mail. "Pancakes, am I correct?" The toddler nodded happily, and Sheldon proceeded to stand up. Once he fed them, they would go on their merry way and he could go back to his work. He made his way to the kitchen and brought out the ingredients. Making pancakes was fairly easy, and he was sure that his would be the best pancakes those children would ever taste.

He was about to crack an egg when he felt someone tugging on his shirt.

"We hep?" Maddie asked as he craned his neck to look at the two toddlers. He hadn't noticed that the two were fairly tall for the age; they were a little past his thighs standing at an estimate of 36 inches. The math suggested that they would be tall when they grow up. "Miks battah!" Andy exclaimed, pointing up to the counter.

Sheldon eyed the counter island cautiously. The counter was not big enough for both of them to sit on, and for preparing their breakfast. He then eyed the two stools at the other side of the counter. If he placed them there, there was 99.9% chance that they would fall off, given that Zippy was too energetic, and mainly because a single un-calculated move could lead to a concussion. Or an untimely death. Although he was not overtly fond with the twins as his friends were, he did not wish for them to have any accidents leading to a tragic death. One blow to the head from the height of the stool could be crucial, and so he decided against it. Plus, the blame would be place on him, and he didn't want that.

"I'm afraid you can't help," he said and the twins frowned, "please return to your respective spots and wait for your breakfast."

"Peaspeaspeaspeaspeaspeaspeas?" Maddie pouted, and Sheldon furrowed his eyebrows. "Again, there is an l in please." He picked up the temporarily abandoned egg, and cracked it. "But I'll compromise," he glanced at them as he cracked another egg, "if you behave and allow me to finish these, I'll give you cookies."

"Ookies!"

"Ookies!"

Sheldon winced as they happily babbled about the cookies on their way back to their couches. Like their mother, they could easily be bribed with food. Another thing they inherited from her. "Ookies," he shook his head, as he mixed the pancake batter, "how gullible."

Once he was done, he decided to serve the twins their breakfast. He added blueberries on top, as Penny said to add fruits and that the twins liked blueberries, and just enough pancake syrup that was drizzled into the Flash and the Green Lantern's symbols. It was a masterpiece, and he knew that the toddlers would be amazed at what may be the best breakfast they would ever have. And, since he was such a generous person, he would let them use their bottle one last time before he disposed of them. They weren't going to progress in life if they couldn't even drink from a cup. At least they could use utensils.

"Bon appetite," he said as he placed a plate in front of the twins, and a bottle of milk for each.

Andy grinned at the food in front of him while Maddie frowned, scrutinizing the pancakes. Sully's frown deepened then she turned to her twin, crossing her arms, "Maddie no want."

"What?" Sheldon asked, glancing at his wonderful display of food then at the complaining toddler. "What do you mean you're not going to eat? In front of you is a plate of perfectly made blueberry pancakes! With the Green Lantern's symbol made with syrup. And I rarely cook for anyone. You should be happy to even get the opportunity to taste my cooking!"

The toddler looked up at him, and blue eyes met blue.

Sheldon suddenly felt an odd sense of familiarity as he glared back at the toddler. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about how she glared knowingly at him that made him feel déjà vu. It was like he had seen that look before, but somehow, his eidetic memory was failing him. Was it Penny's glare? It wasn't, as the toddler's glare was much more intense and intimidating that he suddenly wanted to allow the toddler to do what she wanted. Not that he was afraid of the toddler—he wasn't—but he just wanted to get it over with; he had far more important things to do.

"Fine. What is wrong with what I made?" He growled as he tore his gaze away from the still unhappy toddler.

Maddie pointed a finger at the stack of pancakes, "fuh-root in pun-kiks."

Oh.

Oh.

He straightened his back and scurried to his laptop and re-read what Penny said in her e-mail.

"Make sure that the fruits are inside the pancakes and the waffles, or else Maddie won't eat it. Andy will eat mostly anything, but Maddie will refuse anything that isn't up to her standards." Sheldon blinked at his laptop, then glanced at the twins over his shoulder. Andy was happily eating the pancakes while Maddie sat beside him, her gaze locked on the untouched pancakes. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

Maddie slowly turned her head to him, her frown still evident on her face. Another traitq she must have inherited from her mother, Sheldon thought. Stubbornness. "Make new."

Make new ones? Was this child insane? He didn't even take orders from Leonard, why would he, an accomplished, well-respected physicist and future Nobel laureate, obey a toddler's orders? One that couldn't even form coherent sentences, too! It was unbelievable, and if only their mother wasn't Penny, he would do something about it. So, he huffed, googled his problem, then stood up and marched to the kitchen to grab a plate and a fork of his own. Then he took the leftover pancakes he was saving for Leonard (it was an unspoken rule between them that if one were to cook, they would save some for the other) and placed it on his plate before making his way to his spot.

"Maddie," he said as he sat down, placing the plate on his lap. It was a good thing that Tuesdays just so happened to be Pancake day. He wasn't hungry—but had no plans on making another batch of pancakes; unless this plan wouldn't work, but the commenters said that sitting down and eating with children helped. This could be seen as an experiment. He may also owe Leonard an apology for how he reacted the night before. The darn toddler was picky, and had he not commented about it, he wouldn't be stuck in this mess. "Will me eating, somehow make you want to eat?"

The toddler looked up at him in confusion, and he simply lifted his plate. "Shall we have breakfast?" He quietly sliced a portion of the pancake, stabbed a couple of blueberries with the end of his fork and started eating. He was such a great cook.

Maddie glanced at the stack of pancakes, then up at Sheldon then at her twin brother who was drinking milk. "It good?" She asked, waiting for her twin to stop drinking. Andy grinned, nodding then stabbing his fork back down on the stack of pancakes. "It deh-ishas!"

"I recommend that you eat it now before it gets cold," Sheldon remarked, taking another bite of pancakes as Maddie sighed. Slowly, she picked up her fork, and stabbed a blueberry on top of a pancake triangle. With slight hesitation, she brought the fork to her mouth and ate it. Sheldon raised an eyebrow, "what is your opinion on it?"

"It deh-ishas!" Maddie grinned up at him, and Sheldon silently thanked the internet and whoever answered the question in Yahoo Answers. He would give that user a good rating.

"Hey Sheldon, are you ready to go?"

Sheldon was in the middle of shutting his laptop off when Leonard arrived to pick the three of them up for dinner. Tuesday nights were no longer spent at The Cheesecake Factory, and was instead held at the restaurant Raj discovered that served an array of food. He had originally gone against the idea of changing restaurants at first, but only Penny or Bernadette could serve his burger, no one else. However, both were gone from the restaurant, and Leonard was too attached to it, that they had to find a new Tuesday burger joint. As luck would have it (though, he didn't believe in luck) Raj found the restaurant, and their barbecue, bacon, cheeseburger was beyond acceptable. Which was actually much better than The Cheesecake Factory.

"Yes, I was just turning off my laptop."

"How was the first day of babysitting?" Leonard scanned the room; there were no messes or anything misplaced. He had originally thought that all hell would break loose once he closed the front door, and he would come home to find Sheldon finally going insane, and a receipt for Sheldon somehow finding a way to ship the twins to France. Instead, the apartment was tidy, Sheldon seemed like the Sheldon definition of normal, and the twins were dressed out of their pajamas and into outerwear. "You manage to give them a bath?"

"It was relatively easy, and I found no difficulties." The theoretical physicist smugly grinned as he slipped his arms through his windbreaker. His first day of the task started off a bit rocky, with Maddie refusing to eat pancakes with blueberries, but other than that everything went smoothly. After breakfast, the twins continued watching their cartoons, then went off to play in their playpen. Around lunchtime, there were no problems with what they ate; meatballs (made with mostly vegetables thanks to a website he found) with tomato sauce, with a side of bread and sliced carrots. Though, he did have some difficulty with getting them to eat carrots, but once he sliced them into tiny pieces and hid them in the soup, they completely forgot about it. Once they were all settled, he gave them a bath, which was a task that he found surprisingly easy to do.

As he was a hygiene enthusiast, he wanted their new inhabitants to be clean. It was quite a surprise that all he needed was to place his Death Star rubber boat in the tub, then the toddlers would no longer protest. It was a puzzlement how Leonard found the task of bathing the twins to be so tedious. It took him about an hour to clean both of them up—though he had some difficulty with Maddie—and got them to take their nap. While they slept, he continued working on his grant proposal, and even enjoyed a round of playing L.A. Noir before the twins woke up again. They played again (they never seemed to get tired of playing) then he got them to change into their outdoor clothes. Which reminded him that he needed to get them nicer clothes, like superhero shirts. Penny's choice of clothing for her children were foolish and composed of dresses and cardigans and fancy clothes that he decided that they needed more comfortable clothes. Again, like superhero shirts.

"Of course I gave them a bath. They have to be washed before we leave, Leonard."

"And you didn't have a hard time at giving them a bath?" Leonard asked incredulously, shocked that the anti-bathing toddlers agreed to a bath. "Why yes! Like the entire first day, it was easy. They didn't even resist, and are now clean and spiffy." The bespectacled man stayed silent for a moment, glancing at the twins who were busy molding new clay sculptures on the couch. Maybe, Sheldon really could take care of the twins. Which was beyond confusing, as Sheldon detested children.

"Okay," he drawled, walking over to the couch and getting the twins' attention. "Come on now, guys we're going out for dinner."

Maddie snatched the odd shaped sculpture from Andy's hands and placed it on the coffee table, along with hers, as Andy protested. "Andy was making Sedon!"

"Eat," Maddie said, pointing at Leonard, "toohs-dee dinnah."

"Fine," Andy grumbled, sliding down the couch to the floor along with his twin. He looked at Sheldon, "Sedon eat?"

Sheldon raised an eyebrow as he opened the front door, "of course. Plus, Leonard is going to have to give me a prize for having a splendid first day." He smirked at Leonard, who simply winced. "Yeah, sure, sure."

It was just the first day, a lot of things could change until Monday. So, Sheldon could be arrogant now, but Leonard knew that this was just the start.

Wednesday; 5 days until end of task.

"Can you tell me where the map is?"

"Da map is in da bag!"

"Da bag, Do-uh! Da bag!"

"Where's the map?"

Sheldon yanked his sleeping mask off his face as he sat up on his bed. He swore that he could hear voices coming from the living room. He glanced at his alarm clock and saw that it was five in the morning. He wasn't supposed to get up until seven for what most simpletons would call a 'good night's sleep' and not having enough would lead to impaired cognitive function. It was five hours past midnight, and there were no movie, game, online marathon or other agreed upon events, yet he could hear the television.

With a huff, he slipped his robe on and marched into the living room with a deep frown. "Leonard, it is an hour and forty seven minutes before your supposed—" he stopped at the entrance to the hall at the sight of the twins' eyes glued to the television as they sat atop a sleeping Leonard. "Why are the two of you awake?"

Maddie slowly twisted her head to face him—which somewhat reminded of characters in horror movies—her blue eyes wide as if she was getting hypnotized. "Do-uh da expo-wah."

"Dora? The explorer?" The toddler nodded, and he pursed his lips. He knew that show, it was a children's show that his niece used to watch. "Isn't that the show where a child with horrible parents—that should be reported to the proper authorities—travels without supervision while talking to various animals and at the same time can't seem to remember where she placed various objects, and figure out the difference between a forest and a lake?" Maddie blinked up at him, and he continued. "The little girl who should be sent to a therapist and get a second opinion considering a lifetime in Camarillo State Mental Hospital?"

"Huh?" Maddie tilted her head to the side, before Andy tugged on her sleeve. "Do-uh need hep!" Maddie nodded, clenching her tiny fists in excitement then returning her gaze to the television and yelling with Andy. "Sipuh no siping! Sipuh no siping! Sipuh no siping!"

Sheldon squinted his eyes at the television, then moved to grab the remote from the coffee table and turned the television off. "It is time for you two to sleep. This has made me realize that the gates are ineffective, and shall result in further inspection. Now, get off of Leonard and march back to your rooms." He waited for them to move, but they didn't budge.

"Hey! I told the both of you that it's time to sleep!"

"Maddie no want seep! Do-uh need hep, Maddie and Andy hep!" Maddie spat, shaking Leonard's arm to wake him up. "Uncah Wenad, Sedon make tv go bye bye!"

Leonard, still half asleep, slowly opened his eyes and yawned. "What?"

Andy shook his arm, again, "Sedon make tv go bye bye!"

"Sheldon," Leonard groaned, placing a hand above his face, trying to comprehend what was happening. "Don't make the tv go bye bye, or else we won't test out those robots that Howard made on Saturday."

The theoretical physicist stilled, then folded his arms. "Leonard, you are not seriously blackmailing me. Sheldroid will be tested when I want it to be tested, not because you said so."

"Keep that up and only the Hofstadtron will be battling Robopalli and Wolobot. The winner gets the other robot, and will be allowed to fuse with it."

There was a moment of silence and Leonard sighed in content. "There is a limit to your threats, Leonard, and one day, I'm sure you'll run out of them." Sheldon hissed as he pressed the power button on the remote, the sound of the delusional little girl's voice booming into the room. "There, are you happy?"

Leonard nodded, nestling his head on his pillow. "Yep, good enough."

With one last glare at the twins and Leonard, he walked back to his room and lied down. He needed to go back to sleep, but all he could do was stare up at the ceiling. He tried to count how many Beasts jumped over a fence; listed his favorite Marvel superheroes in order of strongest to weakest, listed his favorite DC superheroes in order of importance, listed his favorite Batwomen, stated all of the reasons why Firefly shouldn't have been cancelled, thought of all of the inconsistencies in the original Spiderman movies, mentally made a proper dissection of the new Amazing Spiderman movie (which he would post online later) and had imagined all of the cool superhero clothes he would make the twins wear. But after all that, sleep still eluded him. It was now ten minutes past six, and was still not the right time to be awake.

He was finding it impossible to sleep with the racket outside; the television was raised to the max volume and the toddlers were singing as loudly as they could. He could use his noise canceling headphones, but he was still charging them. All he could do was sigh, and try as hard as he could to return to sleep. A nap would be good enough to patch up the gap in his REM cycle, and he decided that it was what he needed. And soon enough, he was dozing off.

Bang, bang, bang!

"Sedon?"

Bang, bang, bang!

"Sedon?"

"Ignore them; and they'll go away." Sheldon sleepily muttered, shutting his eyes tightly.

Bang, bang, bang!

"Sedon?"

There was another moment of silence, and he started to drift off again. Sadly, it was barely a minute later when something tugged his blanket from his body. Curse Howard and his confounded easy open door button! He angrily sat up on his bed and flicked the switch on his lamp. If he was going to intimidate children into sleeping, he was going to do it with light on.

"What do you want, now?" Sheldon tiredly growled at the two toddlers standing near the edge of his bed.

"We hungy," Maddie said, pointing a finger to her clothed stomach.

It was hours before their supposed wake up time, much less their breakfast time! "Why don't you ask Leonard to feed you?"

Andy frowned, "Uncah Wenad say dat Sedon make befast."

Sheldon stared at the children in disbelief and grabbed his phone to check the email that Penny sent him. There was no definite time for breakfast. That means that they ate whenever they felt like eating, or rather, when they were hungry. Like now. He grunted in irritation before swinging his legs to the side of his bed, "let me just make this clear, this will be the last time that you will ever wake me up for such an asinine reason, ever again. Do you understand?"

The twins turned to each other, shrugged, then turned back to him. "Okay!"

It was a bit too late to admit to himself, but he strongly regretted taunting Leonard and putting himself in this position.

Damn those twins, damn them times infinity.

Sheldon usually did not subject himself to using profanity, but he was just so infuriated that he couldn't help it. He could accept them annoying him while he was working, or maybe waking him at a such an early hour that he could no longer go back to sleep. Anything but what they had force him to do!

They made him skip comic book night. And that wasn't the worst of all, no! The worst thing was that, apparently, a production assistant that worked on The Dark Knight was going to drop by and spill some spoilers about the new movie. He didn't care if the others would fill him out on all of the details, he wanted to be the one to ask all of the logical questions that none of them would come up with! Like if there were any plans of a Superman versus Batman movie in the near future! None of them was going to ask that. Instead, they were going to ask about Robin and Catwoman and all of the other vanilla questions that was already answerable via the internet.

Which was why instead of sulking on not getting to meet the production assistant, he again, worked on his grant proposal. It was almost done, and simply needed some polishing. He wouldn't be surprised if he was already another step closer to a Nobel. It was the main reason why he had been so busy working this past year. With the discovery of the Higgs Boson, physics was making a giant leap forward and—

"Ask Sedon!"

"But Sedon say no!"

"Go ask!"

"Why are the two of you creating such a ruckus when I specifically said not to bother me?" He stared at the bickering siblings, a small scowl of disapproval on his face. It was just his second day of taking care of the twins, and though the first day went smoothly, today did not. Due to them ruining his sleep, he had been awake since five that morning, and he had been working nonstop on his research ever since. Not only did they deprive him of sleep, they also did not falter at annoying him throughout the entire day. Andy with his constant questioning of what he was working on, and Maddie constantly prodding for him to continue building the 'Det Stah.' Then when Leonard and the guys arrived that afternoon to pick them up to go to the comic book store, they threw a tantrum saying that they didn't want to go.

Maddie pointed a finger at her twin brother accusingly, "Andy want sum-ting!"

Sheldon moved his gaze to Andy, who was shuffling his feet. "And what is it that you want?"

Andy wrung his hands then lifted his gaze up to him. "Andy want ice ceam, peas?"

"Ice cream? You want ice cream?" Sheldon narrowed his eyes and Andy nervously nodded, looking at his twin for support. "You haven't had dinner yet, and it will ruin your appetites."

Maddie tapped a finger on her chin, deeply thinking, then looked up at him. "Maddie want ice ceam, too."

"Your mother will not be happy to hear that you had dessert before dinner. It is said to ruin your appetite, and I do not want to shoulder any blame of such." Sheldon crossed his arms, and noticed how Maddie stilled and mirrored his stance, crossing her tiny arms. This toddler inherited her mother's stubbornness, and attitude, multiplied by a thousand. When she wanted something, really wanted something, she wouldn't give up until she didn't get what she wanted. Leonard always knuckled under for the toddler, and had spoiled her. He didn't know why, but Leonard always did. But he wouldn't. The little toddler could try with all her might, but no facial expression would make him obey her orders. "My answer, is no."

Then the blonde toddler stepped forward, and did what Sheldon never expected her to do.

She cried.

"Why are you crying?" He shrieked bolting from his chair and crouching down to the weeping toddler. He knew that she was only crying to get what she wanted, but he couldn't handle tears! Even if she knew that they were fake, tears made him uneasy and uncomfortable. Maddie's tears made his stomach drop, his heat clench, and he badly wanted to give her a hot beverage. He desperately wanted her to stop crying as each second only made him feel worse, and he wasn't dong anything wrong! But... the only way to make her stop crying was to give in and give her what she wanted. Curses. He really had to get used to seeing either of these toddlers cry, as he was sure that their tears were fake most of the time.

Sheldon sighed heavily, he just really wanted to get this over with. They were already dressed to leave, and maybe he did want some ice cream, as well. "Will you stop crying if we go out for ice cream?"

Maddie sniffled, wiping her face with her sleeve then beamed up at him. The nerve of this child. "Yes! Maddie want ice ceam!" She turned to her brother who was grinning and happily clapped his hands in delight. "Ice ceam! Ice ceam!"

"You're lucky that there's an ice creamery just down the street that I approve of." He slipped his windbreaker on, grabbed his wallet and took his keys from the bowl then opened the door. "Their ice cream is creamy, but they also have a non-dairy ice cream that Leonard enjoys. You might like their chocolate ice cream, it's excellent."

The twins ran over to him, before he locked the door. Leonard always had his key with him, and he knew that they wouldn't stay too long at the ice creamery. He turned around and found Maddie staring up at him. Sheldon also realized that this was the first time that the three of them went somewhere without the others. "And what do you want now?"

Maddie blinked, then raised her arms. "Is that some sort of expression of gratitude?" Sheldon asked, and the toddler shook her head, extending her arms up at him. "Maddie up, peas?"

"You want me to carry you?" Sheldon stared down at the twenty one month old toddler who was raising her tiny arms up at him, then at her twin brother who seemed to be affronted by the idea. Heavy lifting was not his forte (nor was it anyone else's in their group) which was why he declared Leonard as the muscle, by default. However, looking at the toddler again, she didn't seem too heavy. Leonard seemed to be able to do it, and could even carry both of them at the same time for at least five minutes before putting one of them down. Even Raj and Howard could do it, and the two of them together—even with Leonard—couldn't even beat him at Trestling! If they could, then there was no doubt about it that he could, too. Although, he was a bit nervous, as he really might injure himself, like when he lifted that unbelievably heavy encyclopedia.

Sheldon slowly leaned forward, stretching his arms towards her, and picked her up.

Maybe he finally got superhuman strength! ... That was scientifically impossible, and he was embarrassed to even have thought of the idea. But it was the only plausible explanation on why Maddie was currently perched on his left arm, and why he hadn't thrown his back out. Then again, the others could do it, so he could, too. He shifted his gaze to Andy, who was silent the entire time. "Do you want to be carried as well?"

Andy frowned and shook his head, "no! Andy not baby!" Maddie shot her twin a look from Sheldon's arm, "Maddie not baby! Maddie jus' want up."

"Alright, stop fighting," Sheldon hissed, grabbing Andy's tiny hand and proceeding to walk down the stairs. "The two of you should avoid fighting, as it really does irritate me to an extent. Fight again, and we will turn around and return to the apartment." Maddie made a zipping gesture over her mouth and Andy simply tightened his hold on his hand. Once they reached the second floor landing, Andy spoke again, "wat ice ceam Sedon wike da most?"

"Chocolate is my favorite flavor," he said as Andy released his hand, jumping down each step.

"Andy wike choc-et too!" Andy chirped, taking a big jump from the last step of the stairs down to the ground of the first floor. "Maddie wike ookies and ceam," Maddie stated, smiling up at him, "wike mommy!" He tilted his head to the side as he pushed the door open with his free hand, "isn't Penny's favorite strawberry ice cream?"

Andy spun around, nodding excitedly, "mommy wikes both!"

Sheldon watched as Andy ran up to a bench next to the building, greeting the pigeons that were sitting on top of it, then scurried back to him once he saw a lady walking their way. "Mrs. Gunderson, good evening, or as I call it, pre-evening." He calmly said as Mrs. Gunderson, the old lady from apartment 3A, strolled towards them, her white pet poodle at her side.

"Sheldon dear, I didn't know you had children!" The old lady animatedly placed a hand over her chest, then nodded her head towards Maddie who was sitting on his arm, then at Andy who was hiding behind his legs. He vigorously shook his head, while Mrs. Gunderson's dog started to sniff Andy, causing him to step back. "Oh no, I'm afraid you're mistaken, Mrs. Gunderson. These are not my children, they're Penny's children." The old lady looked to be in thought, trying to recall their former neighbor. "The one who used to date my roommate, and resided in 4B?"

Mrs. Gunderson nodded happily, finally remembering the girl. "Ah yes! The sweet blonde girl that stars in Halfway there! I'm a big fan of that show, and I can't believe I forgotten about living in the same building with her. I can't believe these beautiful children are hers, but I've seen them on gossip shows before! My, it seems just like yesterday that we would exchange pleasantries at the lobby before she scurried to get to the Cheesecake Factory for her shift!" She stepped closer to him, and reached out to gently pinch Maddie's (who blinked at the stranger) cheeks. "Are they Leonard's?"

Sheldon furrowed his eyebrows as he pondered the question. Were they Leonard's offsprings? But they call him uncle... but it was possible that it's just a setup to ensure that he doesn't find out. However, why would Leonard hide the fact that he had children? "No, they are not," his eyes darted at Maddie then at Andy before looking back at his neighbor to offer her a small, unsure smile. Andy started laughing as the little white dog started licking his face, tearing him away from his skeptic thoughts. He could theorize about it later. "Well, whoever their father is, he must have beautiful eyes. I know that Penny doesn't have those eyes," she patted Maddie's head then gently tugged on her dog's leash. "Come on now, Marsha, it's time to go home." The dog gave a small bark of understanding, and stepped closer to her owner. "It was nice seeing you, three."

The three watched as the old lady walked into the apartment before retrieving his sanitizer from his pocket and handed it to Andy. "Put some on your hand, then apply it on your cheeks." Andy did as he was told, then returned his hold on Sheldon's hand. He winced at the return of contact, but he saw that the toddler had thoroughly sanitized his hands. "Sedon get ice ceam, now?" They started walking, and he shifted Maddie—who was watching cars pass by—on his arm. "Of course. Scryer's has the best ice cream out there. It's clean, too."

Leonard quickly opened the door, then checked his watch—there was still time!

"Sheldon!" He glanced around the apartment, frantically searching for his roommate. "Sheldon, where the hell are you? Twins, hello?"

The experimental physicist abandoned the living room and made his way towards the bedrooms. He stopped at Sheldon's bedroom, he might be asleep or watching a movie on Netflix. "Hey, Sheldon! Sheldon! Sheldon!" He waited for a response, and found none. Somewhat worried, he opened the door—hoping that Sheldon wouldn't do his monthly fingerprint check on the doorknob to see who tried to get into his room—and found no one. He moved to his bedroom, and swung the door open. "Sheldon?" He scanned the room, it was still in the state it was before he left the apartment. The three of them must have left, which was shocking as Sheldon seemed to not want anything to do with the twins. Maybe he really was okay with the twins. But that gigantic leap of progress did not matter, as something much, much, much more important was happening!

Raj practically stumbled up the stairs and scrambled to get into apartment 4A. "Dude! Where is he?"

Leonard sprinted from his bedroom and into the living room. "I don't know, they must have gone out. I don't see them anywhere, and his wallet isn't on his table or in his room."

The astrophysicist groaned, "how is it that Sheldon is missing at the same time that William Shatner drops by Suart's store?!"

"Is Howard still holding up our spots in line?" Leonard worriedly asked, looking around the apartment again, in hopes of Sheldon magically appearing. Instead of the production assistant from The Dark Knight, it was William Shatner who visited the store for a signing. "Yeah, but he said that the line is moving pretty quick, so we gotta go quickly!"

Leonard frowned in regret, and grabbed all of their Star Trek memorabilia. "I'll just get something signed for him. Now let's go, or else we won't get anything signed!"

Sheldon swung the apartment door open, allowing the slightly sleepy toddlers to walk in. "I apologize if we're late; the line at Scryer's was excruciatingly long and it took us about half an hour to get inside." He closed the door and tossed his keys into the bowl, "it was a good thing that their ice cream is magnificent or else I would have found a way to run them down. My sharp comments got another bakery to close, you know." The twins then made their way to their respective chairs, and started to rub their full tummies.

"Oh no, we just got back about ten to twenty minutes ago," Leonard said, holding his excitement down as he pushed the container towards Sheldon, "eat up while it's not cold, then we'll start HALO night."

Sheldon nodded his head, walking to the kitchen to place an ice cream tub in the freezer. "I'm afraid the twins won't be able to eat anymore. Scryer's had an all-you-can-eat ice cream buffet, and they ate like there was no tomorrow. I fear that this mistake will heavily ruin their appetite for the days to come. "

"That must've been fun. Their non-dairy ice cream is great," Leonard commented, taking another bite of his food. Raj nodded in agreement, "they do have great ice cream. We should go there sometime soon."

Howard lifted his eyebrows, glancing at the box filled with collectibles that was sitting beside the couch. "Speaking of soon, why didn't you answer any of our calls? I asked William Shatner to wait for you for like five freaking minutes, just so he could say hi!"

The theoretical physicist paused, closed the freezer door then turned to face his friends. "William Shatner? What do you mean William Shatner?" He stared at the three men who were gaping at him; he had left his phone here.

"Apparently, there really was no production assistant," Leonard started, carefully watching Sheldon's reaction to what he was about to say. "Instead it was William Shatner, who arrived for a surprise signing." Sheldon's expression dropped, and it was as if the life was sucked out of his roommate. "He was there to sign anything Star Trek related, or Boston Legal related, then Raj and I came back for you, but the three of you were gone. Then once we got back to the comic book store, Howard tried calling you to at least get William Shatner to say hi to you. But we did get him to say something in your voicemail."

Sheldon immediately leapt to his desk, his eyes wide and his teeth clenched as he fumbled with his phone. He had missed the William Shatner, live and in person! He could imagine all of the questions he would ask him, and all the laughs they would share once he realized that he was the greatest Star Trek fan out there. Then his mind wandered to all of the Star Trek memorabilia he would've gotten him to sign, and the picture he could've took with him that he would use as his Facebook profile photo! He skimmed past the forty messages from his friends and opened his voicemail, putting his phone in max volume.

"Hey, Sheldon, this is William Shatner! It's a shame that you couldn't be here to meet me, your friends said that you're a big fan of Star Trek, and I wanted to meet you myself. I even heard of you from Leonard Nimoy, and his restraining order! Well, anyway, I just wanted to say hi, and that I hope we'd meet in person one day. Live long and prosper!"

"Pos-puh?" Andy repeated, turning to his twin. "Wat dat?"

"Who Wi-yam Satter?" Maddie asked Leonard, who was still nervous about Sheldon's reaction.

Howard and Raj watched ominously as Sheldon repeatedly played the voicemail, with a haunted, empty look on his face. Raj took a deep breath, the last time something like this happened was when Sheldon got a court order from the Pasadena jail. Sheldon was beyond angry when he had missed Stan Lee, and they weren't sure on how he would react about William Shatner. With as much courage as he could muster, Raj asked something none of them wanted to ask. "Sheldon?"

"What!" Sheldon snapped, a haunted look on his face.

"Are you okay?" Raj asked before flinching at the intensity of Sheldon's gaze. "We got him to sign some of your things for you."

"No, I am not okay. And next time, do not touch my belongings without my permission." He hissed and marched to his room. This was just like the time that he was thrown in jail for driving Penny to the hospital. He had missed Stan Lee, and received a restraining order, because of Penny. Now, because of Penny's offsprings, he missed William Shatner! For ice cream! If he hadn't succumb to the female toddler's wants, he might have been there when Leonard came back for him. He would have met William Shatner in person, instead of wasting time standing in line just to eat ice cream! Just like their mother, the twins were somehow ruining his happiness. Had the three of them stayed away from him, he would have met Stan Lee (and ate frozen yoghurt with him) and William Shatner. A lousy voicemail wasn't going to make up for the loss of not meeting him in person, nor would signed collectibles.

Well, it would, but it did not remove the fact that he was seriously regretting ever agreeing to taking care of these children.

He still had four days to put up with them.