"Hurry up, Max. We need to leave now so you aren't late for school," Amy yelled across her apartment while holding the seven-year-old's backpack in one hand and her keys in the other.
Max took his time exiting the bathroom. "I don't want to go to school today."
"You've got one week left before summer vacation starts. You're going," stated Amy as she held the door open for Max to exit in front of her. "Your lunch is in your backpack. Please eat more than two bites of your sandwich today. You've barely eaten it all week. If you don't want peanut butter and jelly for lunch anymore, you just have to tell me. I'll make you something different."
The pair got settled in Amy's car and it was a quiet drive until Amy was a few blocks from Max's school when he spoke up from the backseat. "Why are you and Sheldon lying to me?"
Amy glanced at her son in the rear-view mirror. "What are you talking about?"
"I heard you talking last night. I heard him say that I'm his son. Why didn't you tell me Sheldon is my dad?" His question was met with silence as Amy continued to drive, passing the turn for Max's school. "Where are you going? You just drove past my school." Amy didn't say a word until she pulled into a parking spot at her destination. "Why are we at your work?"
"I can't tell you why we're here, but you're not going to school today. It's the last week of first grade, so missing one day of school won't be the end of the world. Let's go," Amy opened the back door and waited for the boy to climb out. She took him by the hand and led him through the hallways of the physics building until she spotted the man she was looking for outside his office. "Sheldon!"
Sheldon looked up at the sound of his name. "What is Max doing here? Is everything okay?"
Shaking her head, Amy answered, "We need to talk about what we talked about last night. Is one of the guys around and able to watch Max for a few minutes?"
"Leonard should be in his lab. We just got here, he probably hasn't started working on anything yet. What's going on? You're starting to worry me."
Amy took Max's hand again and ushered him to Leonard's lab, where she knocked and opened the door without waiting for a response. "Hey, sorry to barge in like this, but something came up as I was driving Max to school this morning that I need to talk to Sheldon about. Can you please keep an eye on him for a few minutes? I swear it won't take long."
Glancing at Amy's face, Leonard tried to break the tension with a joke, "Keep an eye on who? Sheldon or Max?"
"Max," replied Amy, unamused. "I need to talk to Sheldon without him right there."
"Sure," agreed Leonard as Amy turned to go back to Sheldon's office. "So, what happened on the way to school this morning? Did you say a bad word or something?" He asked Max, who was standing in the doorway, confused as to why his mother was acting the way she was.
"No," he shrugged his shoulders. "I just asked why mom and Sheldon were lying to me. Then she got all weird and we came here instead of going to my school."
Curiosity was getting the best of Leonard. "What did they lie to you about?"
"They keep saying Sheldon isn't my dad, but I heard them talking last night after they thought I was asleep. Sheldon said he's my dad."
"Holy shit," Leonard's jaw dropped as he reached for his phone.
"Will you tell me what is going on?" Sheldon asked from behind his desk as Amy paced in front of him.
Continuing to walk from one side of the room to the other, she answered, "We were running a little late this morning. Max kept saying he didn't want to go to school today. We finally get out the door and he's quiet the entire drive until we're like three blocks from his school. He asked why we've been lying to him. He apparently wasn't asleep last night and overheard us talking. He heard you say that you're his father. We need to explain this to him. I know we were going to next week, but this can't wait any longer."
"Um. Okay. I'll get my bag and tell President Siebert that I need to leave for a family emergency. You should take the day off, as well. I have a feeling this is going to take a while. It's probably best if we go back to your apartment," Sheldon thought aloud while gathering his things. He was out the door of his office when he realized Amy hadn't moved. "Hey, everything will be okay. Let's go get our boy and take him home. I love you. We can do this."
Amy smiled and realized Sheldon was holding out his hand for her to take, something he never did at work. "I love you, too. That's the first time either of us has referred to Max as ours and not just mine. I like the sound of that."
It was another quiet car ride as Amy drove the group back to her apartment. She set Max's backpack next to the door before anyone said anything. Max was the first to speak, "Did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble?"
"No, you're not in trouble. Why don't you have a seat?" Amy motioned for her son to sit next to her on the couch. Getting settled, he looked between the two adults, waiting for someone to speak. "Do you remember what I would tell you when you would ask why you don't have a daddy?"
Max nodded, "Uh huh. You said that you wanted to have a baby so much and you didn't want to wait, so you told your doctor that you wanted a baby and you got me."
"That's right. When a mommy does that, the doctor gives her information about a bunch of men who want to help a woman have a baby. The woman goes through all that information and picks the person she wants to help her have a baby."
"Do you go on dates with the daddy?" Max innocently asked.
Feeling the need to have a part in this conversation, Sheldon chimed in. "No, no one goes on dates. The mommy never meets the man she picks. She doesn't even know his name. It's completely anonymous."
Taking a deep breath, Amy knew the next thing she said was going to change her son's world forever. "I looked at information about a lot of men before I picked the one I wanted to be your donor. I always thought I would wait until you were older and let you decide if you wanted to try to find the man I chose. But then, Sheldon and I were talking."
"You guys talk a lot," the seven-year-old interrupted while rolling his eyes.
"One of the things Sheldon and I talked about a lot was my decision to have you. Sheldon told me that there was a time not long before you were born that he decided he wanted to help someone have a baby. We noticed a lot of similarities between the two of you and got curious, so we had a test done on your toothbrush to see who your dad is. We found out that Sheldon was the man I picked to help me have a baby."
Max looked between the adults again, Amy was watching him and Sheldon was staring at Amy. "What does that mean?"
"It means that your mom and I just found out that, after years of you asking if I could be your dad, I actually am your dad," shared Sheldon.
The boy grew quiet for several minutes. Amy didn't say anything to give him time to process this information and as Sheldon opened his mouth to speak, she quickly shushed him. When Max spoke, he had his parents' full attention. "I think I have some questions."
"Okay," replied Amy. "We'll answer any questions you have. I know you probably have a lot."
"Are you and Sheldon getting married? Am I going to live here sometimes and with Sheldon sometimes? Do I have to start calling Sheldon dad?"
"You can call me dad if you want, but it's okay if you don't feel comfortable with that. You can try it out and see how it makes you feel," suggested Sheldon. "We want to make this as easy as possible for you and not force anything on you."
Amy reached for her son's hand. "Sheldon and I aren't getting married just because we learned he's your dad. Why would you ask if you are going to live here sometimes and with Sheldon sometimes?"
"My friend Noah's mom and dad aren't married. He stays with his mom sometimes then stays with his dad sometimes. Am I going to have to switch like that? I don't have a room at Sheldon's apartment. Where would I sleep there?"
"We haven't talked about you staying with Sheldon, but we have talked about him spending time with you without me, like when I go out for dinner with Penny and Bernadette. He's never spent time with you without me, so we thought it would be best to start with just a few hours at a time."
Max stood up and crossed to Sheldon who was sitting in the chair next to the couch. He stood in front of him for a moment before wrapping his arms around Sheldon. "Can I go play now?"
"Sure," Sheldon answered as he gently returned the boy's hug. Max ran down the hallway to his room and closed his door behind him. Sheldon waited to say anything until he was sure the door was closed all the way. "He took that pretty well, don't you think?"
"He's processing. That's why he closed his door. He never closes the door, especially when you're here. At least he didn't get angry when we told him," pointed out Amy.
Sheldon agreed. "Did you notice how he asked me if he could go play? He's never asked me for permission to do something when you've been right there."
Reaching out her hand, Amy indicated for Sheldon to join her on the couch. "I noticed. He's testing the waters, seeing how it feels to be treating you like his parent and not just his mom's boyfriend. I have a feeling there will be several moments like that in the coming weeks and months. I'll make us some lunch."
"I love you," Sheldon leaned over and kissed his girlfriend before she got up. "Should I stay the rest of the day in case Max has more questions?"
Amy started to answer, but was cut off by her phone ringing, "Hi, bestie. Yes, it's true. How did you find out? Only Sheldon and I knew until about half an hour ago when we told Max. How did he know? That's my fault, I asked Leonard to watch him for a few minutes at the university this morning. Please don't tell Bernadette and ask Leonard to not tell Howard and Raj? We want to tell everyone in our time. Max seemed okay with it, but he needs some time to process everything. I'll let you know if we need anything. Thank you, Penny."
"Max told Leonard what he overheard last night. Leonard told Penny. She agreed to not tell Bernadette, but I'm sure Leonard already told the other guys," Amy shared her phone call. I guess we don't have to worry about telling everyone, but I'm sure they'll have a ton of questions about how it happened and how we figured it out."
"I guess that makes it easier for us if they already know. If Penny knows, it is only a matter of time before everyone else knows, even if she says she won't say anything," Sheldon pointed out.
Max retreated to his room again following both lunch and dinner where he didn't say much, but late that evening, Sheldon decided to check on him before leaving for the night. He stopped outside the boy's bedroom before raising his hand to knock on the door. Hearing a quiet reply, he slowly let himself in. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going home for the night, but I can come back tomorrow if you want. It's okay if you don't want me to."
"Okay," Max replied, not looking up from the coloring book in his lap.
"Do you mind if I talk for a minute?" asked Sheldon as he sat at the foot of the bed. This caused Max to turn his attention to the physicist. "Please know that your mom and I only found out that I'm your dad a little while ago. We weren't lying to you for years, like I'm sure you think we were. It was your mom's idea to find out if I'm your dad. She wanted to find out because she loves you so much. I want you to know that I love you, too."
Max crawled down his bed to lean against Sheldon. "Can you come back tomorrow? I'm sorry I didn't want to talk today."
"Sure, I'll come back tomorrow. It's okay that you didn't feel like talking much today. I didn't feel like talking much when your mom and I realized this was even a possibility. It's a big change and change can be scary. I know better than anyone how scary change can be," Sheldon draped his arm around Max's shoulder.
"Do you know we were talking about Father's Day at school yesterday and I was sad because I didn't have a dad? I'm not sad about it anymore because now I do. Can you tuck me in before you leave?"
Smiling, Sheldon agreed. "I would love to. Go brush your teeth. I'll wait right here for you." Max returned a few minutes later to find Sheldon had pulled back his blankets and selected a book. Sheldon read the book and securely tucked the blankets around him. "Good night. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he turned out the light and exited the room.
"Good night, Dad," Max whispered to himself, but due to his Vulcan-like hearing, Sheldon heard it from down the hallway.
It only took 21 chapters, but Max finally knows Sheldon is his dad. I know a lot of people were hoping I would get to this point several chapters ago, but I felt the need to really build up to it.