"Max, how does hanging out with grandma and grandpa for the afternoon sound?" Amy asked, looking up from her phone as Max was finishing his lunch.
Max glanced at his mother, "Do I have to? Where are you going that I can't go with you?"
"Penny needs my help with something," Amy lied while starting to get Max's backpack ready for an afternoon with her parents.
"Can I go to Sheldon's apartment while you're with Penny? I haven't seen him in over a week. I promise I'll be good," the seven-year-old pleaded.
Amy smiled at the boy, she hated having to lie to him. "He said he had to work today. You wouldn't have much fun with him at the university. It's been almost a month since you've seen grandma and grandpa. Don't you want to tell them what you've been doing at school?"
"Okay," Max reluctantly agreed while placing his plate from lunch in the sink.
"Hi, Mom," Amy greeted her mother a little while later. "I'm sorry for asking you to watch him so last minute."
"No need to apologize. I don't see Max nearly as much as I would like now that he's in school all the time. It's really no problem. Besides, your dad is out for the afternoon with your Uncle Robbie, so Max being here will give me something to do other than watching television all day."
Max stood waiting for a lull in the conversation, "I wanted to see Sheldon, but mom said he has to work today and Penny needs her help and I can't go with her. Can we get ice cream?"
"We can probably make that happen," Mrs. Fowler looked at Amy, who nodded before she turned back to the boy. "Go put your backpack down and I'll be there in a minute. Is everything okay, Amy? You seem worried."
"I don't know," Amy shrugged. "I didn't want Max to know, but I'm on my way to talk to Sheldon. There's something he and I need to discuss, but don't want Max to be in the next room and possibly overhear."
Mrs. Fowler hugged her daughter. "I don't know what's going on, but it seems serious. Take all the time you need. I hope whatever's going on works out the way you want."
"Thanks. I should be able to pick him up before dinner. I'll let you know if I'm going to be late," Amy said as she stepped off the porch and walked back to her car.
Amy let herself into apartment 4A. "Hi, Sheldon. Sorry for coming over unannounced, but I was hoping we could talk."
"Uh, sure. What's going on?" Sheldon asked, pausing the video game he and Leonard were playing.
"Could we talk in private?" she glanced at Leonard.
Setting down the controller in his hand, Leonard stood from the armchair. "I'll go across the hall so you can have the apartment to yourselves."
"Thank you, Leonard," Amy waited for him to exit the apartment before sitting next to Sheldon on the middle couch cushion. "The lab said it would take two weeks to get the results back, but I got the email this morning. I've kind of been freaking out since then. We agreed that I wouldn't look at them without you."
"Alright. I guess I'm ready whenever you are," Sheldon didn't realize he had reached for Amy's hand as she lifted her phone and navigated to her email. She selected the email and angled her phone for Sheldon to read it with her. "We're a match. It says there is a ninety-nine percent match between the test subjects. I'm Max's donor."
Tears began to well up in Amy's eyes. "Max is going to be thrilled. He's been asking if you could be his dad for years. You've been his dad all along."
Sheldon dropped Amy's hand and wrapped his arms around her. "I've loved that kid for a long time, but it feels like I'm about to explode from how much more I love him at this moment. How are we going to explain all of this to him?"
"Let's give ourselves some time to process all of this before we tell Max. We can plan a day to sit him down and tell him everything in a way he'll understand," suggested Amy as she relaxed into Sheldon's arms. "I should tell you that the girls know we had the test done."
"Amy!" Sheldon scolded his girlfriend. "We agreed to not say anything to anyone unless there was something to tell. You know I can't keep a secret. All it's going to take is one of them asking me and everyone will know within minutes."
"I'm sorry. Penny asked last week if we'd made any progress on being ready to find out and I mentioned that we submitted the test a few days earlier," explained Amy. "I knew the lab said it would take two weeks, but I told them we wouldn't get the results until later this summer. They agreed to not bring it up again unless one of us mentions it first."
"We can't say anything to any of them until after we tell Max. I want him to hear it from us first."
Amy nodded in response. "I agree. This is a big change. Nothing is ever going to be the same between us or with Max. How does this make you feel?"
Sensing Sheldon needed a minute to process, Amy was silent, waiting for him to answer. Finally, he spoke, "Excited, concerned, a little scared; all the emotions I feel in line for Space Mountain, but as I said, I've loved him for a long time. I've loved both of you for a long time. I know what you're thinking and you have nothing to worry about. I'm not going to run away again. I'm ready to be Max's dad."
The chapter everyone's been waiting for! Thank you for continuing to read and review. I can't wait to see what everyone thinks.