Sheldon sat on the edge of his bed, hands clasped, rocking gently back and forth. That had been a much harder encounter than he had imagined when Arthur came to visit him. Yet, while it wasn't easy to see his father again, his perspective had begun to alter. That awful memory of the "Cooper Christmas Catastrophe" was changing – there was humor and love skirting around its edges now. He knew that he had more thinking to do about those scenes his father showed him, but Sheldon doubted that he was going to have lots of time to reflect. After all, the next ghost was due any minute.

Sure enough, Sheldon was suddenly enveloped in the smell of Old Spice aftershave, with just a hint of talcum powder. "Pop-Pop!" shouted Sheldon, as he leapt up and threw himself into the arms of his beloved grandfather.

"Shelly, my boy! How did you know it was me? I haven't seen you since you were five years old."

"Pop-Pop. I have an eidetic memory; I don't ever forget anything. I remember exactly how you smell."

"Well, Shelly, look at you. You sure growed up nice and tall. And now you are a big-time scientist, doing your research at a university. I always knew that you were gonna do that some day."

"Pop-Pop, would you like to come see where I work? We could go right now."

"Shelly, you know I'd love to see and hear all about your work – I always have found your science fascinatin'. But I'm here as the Ghost of Christmas Present and right now I want to meet your friends and this girlfriend of yours. Why aren't you with them tonight?"

Sheldon hung his head a little. "Today is Wednesday. On Wednesday, we always get together to play Halo. But they were disregarding the schedule; they decided to have a Christmas Eve party instead."

"Hmm…I see. Were you invited to this party, Sheldon?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then we best hightail it over there."

Just a few minutes later, they materialized in Raj's apartment. Sheldon looked around. His friends had clearly just finished a great feast – there was still part of a freshly cut chocolate pie on the table and his friends had that glazed look that said they'd eaten too much.

Pop-Pop smiled. "I sure do love me a good chocolate pie. Nothing beat your MeeMaw's Christmas one – it was the best ever!" Sheldon exuberantly agreed. "It still is!"

Leonard roused himself from his glutinous stupor and picked up his empty plate. "Wow, Raj, that was fabulous. Why don't you let us clean up?"

Raj waved him away. "No, I'll take care of it later. Now it's time for games."

There was some good-natured bantering while the couples decided what game they would all be happy playing. Trivial Pursuit, Risk, and Star Trek Monopoly were all discarded as choices, as were Truth or Dare and Encore. Finally, the friends decided to play Cranium, a game that combined knowledge, charades, songs, and drawing – something for all of them.

Bernadette stared at Howard with narrowed eyes. "You'd better have your 'A' game on tonight, honey, or your Christmas may be a little less merry." Howard winced, but bravely answered back, "Of course I'm ready, but maybe it's good that I celebrate Hannukah, just in case." Bernadette just gave him "the look".

Penny ignored them, while setting up the game board. "I sure wish Amy and Sheldon were here tonight. I know Amy was really looking forward to this.

"Yeah, without Sheldon, it just wasn't the same when I gave the Christmas toast and nobody felt obligated to explain why it is called a 'toast'," said Raj.

"Why is it called a toast?" asked Emily, amidst a chorus of groans.

Leonard chuckled. "Let's leave that to Sheldon to tell you another time. Don't worry – his explanation of that is as much a tradition as toasts themselves are."

Everyone laughed, but then Penny sobered. "As much as I hate to say it, though, maybe it's a good thing that Amy didn't come alone. Dividing into teams for game time would just rub it in that Sheldon wouldn't come."

Raj snorted. "I'm assuming that Sheldon was an ass?"

"Yes," said Leonard. "You should have seen him shoot her down with his attitude. He didn't even have to tell her not to come. He was so critical and sarcastic that he just sucked the Christmas spirit right out of her."

Bernadette piped in. "I thought their relationship would be different after he told her that he loved her. I thought maybe he'd try new things for her…or at least work to make her happy."

"I guess that love doesn't keep Sheldon from being his usual self-centered self. Especially at this time of year."

Pop-Pop turned to Sheldon. "Shelly, what happened? You used to love Christmas."

Sheldon fidgeted, twitching a little. "It's a silly holiday, Pop-Pop. A forced gift exchange with reciprocal obligations. Rich food, not on my schedule, that upsets my digestion."

"Shelly, I didn't ask what excuses you give. I asked what happened?"

"You died!" Sheldon said heatedly. "I asked Santa to bring you back and he didn't. You were the only person who understood my love of science. Then you were gone and all the presents I got were stupid sports equipment and silly toys." Sheldon felt a bit of shame as he said that, though – he knew now that his parents had paid attention to his wants and tried to be supportive, but lack of money and access had kept them from fulfilling his wishes.

Pop-Pop sighed. "Shelly, I didn't WANT to leave you. I didn't want to leave MeeMaw or any of you. I'm sorry that you didn't get all you wanted, but you're takin' your anger out on your friends and family. You are old enough now, boy, to know that Christmas ain't about what you get – it's about appreciatin' what ya got. And ya got these friends – worryin' and thinkin' about you and your girl. The presents are part of this just to show that ya care."

Sheldon was feeling a little overwhelmed. He turned his attention back to the game just to clear his head a little. He watched Penny massacre "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". While Bernadette glared at him, Howard flubbed building a clay model of a goal post – it was questionable whether he even knew what one was. And Raj completely failed at spelling "diarrhea" backwards – no one bought his excuse that English wasn't his first language.

"If Amy and I were there, we would be crushing them! We know how to spell 'diarrhea'."

Pop-Pop bit back a smirk. "So your girl likes to play games? She smart as a whip - just like you?"

"Yes, she's a genius and an accomplished neurobiologist, too." Sheldon smiled widely. Although he wouldn't always admit it, he loved that she could often beat him at games. Together, they'd be an unstoppable team.

Then Leonard got up to act out a character card. He stood up tall, stuck his nose in the air and said, "I hate Christmas, the whole Christmas season. Now please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason."

"You're Sheldon!" Penny guessed loudly, as everyone burst out in laughter. The smile slipped off Sheldon's face.

"Penny, come on. Sheldon wouldn't put it like that. He'd say…

The Saturnalia holiday has been by Christians co-opted
But not by me – oh, not by me, will it ever be adopted"

"No, no, I've got it!" shouted Howard. "He'd say…

Set me free
Oh, Christmas tree
I will not be
A devotee

"My turn!" called Raj…

Sheldon turned to his grandfather. "Can we move on now?"

Pop-Pop nodded. "Sure. I think we'd better go check on your gal."

As they materialized in Amy's apartment, Sheldon noticed that Amy had out her harp.

"Pop-Pop, Amy's really musical too. Wait till you hear her sing!"

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
will find it hard to sleep tonight

Sheldon was alarmed to see tears rolling down Amy's face. "Amy, what's wrong?" he asked, even though he realized she couldn't hear him.

They know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh…

Amy set her harp down with a bang and stood up. She angrily struck the tears from her face. "Come on, Fowler, stop being maudlin. That life will never be for you. Your boyfriend will never celebrate this season. Your children, if you even get to have them, will never wake you up, bouncing on the bed, overexcited on Christmas morning, eager to see what Santa brought. So what? You don't need that. You…don't…need…that."

Amy walked over to a beautifully wrapped present on her counter. Sheldon could see that the tag said "To Sheldon, with all my love."

She picked it up and sat on the sofa, cradling it. "He loves me. I'm sure he does – at least, he said he does. But why do I feel so alone?"

Pop-Pop stepped forward, looking very sad. "She's pretty as a picture, Sheldon. But why's your girl thinkin' you don't love her?"

Sheldon shrugged. "I should check my calendar and see where she is in her monthly cycle."

Pop-Pop stamped his foot. "Sheldon Lee Cooper, you've always been extra special grandson to me. But right now, I am ashamed of you. You are too big to turn over my knee, but it don't mean I'm not tempted. Swallow that pride and answer me proper!"

Sheldon hung his head. "I won't buy her a present. I won't celebrate Christmas with her. I won't accept her gift to me," he mumbled.

"That's an awful lot of 'I won't' for a man in love. Love isn't only about you, Shelly. When ya love someone, there's a give and take. Do you ever do things just because she wants to, even when you don't?"

Sheldon nodded. There weren't many instances, but he could think of a few.

"Good, Shelly. I'm real glad. But I think you need to be paying more attention. Your girl has some hopes and dreams that you are killin'. And if you aren't careful, you could be killin' her love."

"Some of those hopes and dreams scare me Pop-Pop."

"And so they should, Shelly. Your MeeMaw scared me something fierce at first, too. Lovin' ain't easy. But you do it step by step – and each step gets easier. And then you wonder why you was so scared cause it really is as natural as a bear hibernatin'. You don't gotta leap to the end first. But you gotta be caring for her special all the time."

"Look at her, Shelly. I woulda cut off my arm rather than let your MeeMaw spend a night feelin' like that. Do you love your girl with that kind a passion?"

Sheldon thought for a minute. The word "passion" took him aback; it was a word he associated with coitus. But he realized that "passion" didn't only mean physical acts, but also referred to the depth of his feeling for Amy. He looked his Pop-Pop square in the eyes. "Yes, sir, I do," he declared firmly.

As Pop-Pop smiled and nodded, Amy's apartment began to disappear and Sheldon's room began to reappear.

"Oh, no. Pop-Pop, do you have to go already?!"

"Yes, Shelly, I do. Look, I want to tell you one more thing. We don't know how much time we have on this earth. I had to leave your MeeMaw way too soon. And I wish that I had had more time with her. If I could go back, do you think I'd ever miss out on any chance to spend more time with her? Any chance to make her happy? Any chance to make her smile that special smile at me?"

"Do you understand what I'm saying, Sheldon?"

"Yes, Pop-Pop. I do understand. But I still wish you didn't have to leave."

"Me too, Shelly. But you'll be okay. Take care of Amy. And, next time you see your MeeMaw – would you find a way to remind her about how much I loved her?"

"I will, but she knows, Pop-Pop. She always knew."

A/N - As this story delves deeper into Sheldon's psyche, it gets harder to keep up the humor. But I'm excited about the next chapter - I think I've got a fun idea.

As always, thank you to those of you who have taken the time to review or favorite the story. It really means a tremendous amount to see that encouragement. Bonus points for those of you who can figure out the identity of the next ghost.