"You ever imagine what that would be like, not being born?" Penny asked while sorting through the box of ornaments.
"What do you think, what do you think, what do you think," Leonard replied, punctuating with knocks on the bookcase between each comment.
Amy quickly defended her boyfriend, "You make jokes about Sheldon, but if it weren't for him, I don't think any of us would be sitting in this room right now."
The group shared what they think their lives would be like while continuing to decorate the Christmas tree. "Why don't we have a big tree at home, momma?" Max asked as Penny set him on the floor after lifting him to put the star on top.
"We're not tall enough to reach the top, so it wouldn't have a star on top. All Christmas trees need something at the top. That's why we have a little one that we can reach the top of. Besides, our apartment is a lot smaller so we don't have as much room for a big tree as they do here," replied Amy, pulling her son onto her lap as she began to tell what she thought her life would be like without Sheldon.
Following Sheldon's video chat with Amy to inform his friends of his nephew's arrival, Amy was doubting the impact she has had on Sheldon's life. "If that were true, I wouldn't still be living alone."
"You don't live alone. You live with me," Max leaned against Amy's side while Leonard walked over to Sheldon's computer and showed Amy the screensaver. "I want to tell my story now," the five-year-old insisted after seeing a picture of himself and Sheldon flip on the screen.
"Okay, what's your story, Max?" Bernadette asked bringing a plate of cookies into the living room.
"I don't think I would be here if I didn't know Sheldon."
Confused, Amy turned her head to look at the boy, "What do you mean by that?"
"If you don't know Sheldon, you wouldn't know your other friends. We wouldn't be here putting up the Christmas tree together. Also, I wouldn't be happy if I didn't know Sheldon," he stated very matter-of-factly.
"Why wouldn't you be happy if you didn't know Sheldon?" Raj asked from across the room.
Max glanced at Amy while reaching for a cookie. "Because momma is happier when Sheldon's around. She smiles more when she talks about him. Seeing momma happy makes me happy."
"I am happier when Sheldon's around," Amy squeezed him in a hug.
"Do you know what would make me happy all the time?" Max asked, hugging Amy back.
Amy tickled him, eliciting a squeal, "What would make you happy all the time?"
"I'd be happy all the time if you and Sheldon get married so he can be my daddy."
The others in the room exchanged silent glances, wanting to give Amy privacy to have this conversation with her son, but not wanting to be too obvious with leaving the room. Penny and Leonard turned towards the tree and began acting like they were adjusting a few ornaments, Raj motioned to Bernadette to help him collect the snacks from the table and return them to the kitchen, Howard excused himself to the bathroom, and Stuart busied himself with his phone.
Lowering her voice so their conversation wasn't projected across the apartment, Amy answered, "We've talked about this before. I know you want a dad and you want Sheldon to be your dad, but getting married is a very big decision that we'd have to talk about a lot first. Sheldon and I would need to discuss it. I'd want to talk about it with you. I'm sure the three of us would talk together about what it would be like if we got married. You and Sheldon might even talk about it without me."
"Can you talk about it when he comes back?" The boy innocently asked.
"Why don't you and I talk about this more after we get home? This is something I don't think everyone else wants to listen to us talk about right now," suggested Amy before changing the topic. "Why don't you tell everyone about the Christmas program you're doing with your kindergarten class?"
Following Sheldon's return from Texas, Amy picked him up from the airport and walked up to his apartment with him, but was unable to stay long, leaving Sheldon to catch up with the rest of the group on his own. Everyone else made their way to apartment 4A for dinner, where they began to fill Sheldon in on what he missed while he was meeting his nephew.
Between bites of food, he was told stories from their Christmas tree decorating party, including what everyone thought their life would be like if they didn't know him. "Max said the cutest thing when he wanted to say how he thought his life would be different if he didn't know you," Bernadette stated.
"It was so cute, Sheldon. But then it got awkward. None of us knew what to do," shared Raj.
Sheldon set down his mostly empty plate and looked at his friends. "What did Max say that was cute and awkward?"
"He said he didn't think he would be here if he didn't know you. Amy asked what he meant by that and he explained that he wouldn't be helping us decorate the Christmas tree if he and Amy didn't know you because they only know all of us because of you. He then said he wouldn't be happy if he didn't know you," Penny chimed in.
"Well, of course, he wouldn't be happy if he didn't know me. Not many other people are willing to play trains for hours with him like I am."
Raj smiled at the way Sheldon was interpreting the story. "He said Amy's happier when you're around and seeing her happy makes him happy. He then told Amy that he would be happy all the time if the two of you got married."
"Raj," scowled Leonard, "We don't have to tell Sheldon everything the kid said while he was here."
"It's okay. I know he has said that to Amy in the past. She reminds him that something like that isn't a sudden decision we can just rush into and that if we ever get to that point, it's something we'd talk about with him first. He just wants to have what his friends at school have."
Thanks again for the reviews! I love checking my email and seeing all the notifications. This chapter is the halfway point of the story. The questions you've all been leaving in the reviews will start to be answered soon.