Max exited of his bedroom and noticed the door to Sheldon and Amy's room was closed. Walking into the living room, Amy was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. "Is dad sick? Why isn't he watching Dr. Who?"
"He's not sick; he needed a little time to himself this morning," explained Amy, setting a bowl of cereal on the island in front of the ten-year-old.
Lifting a spoonful of cereal to his mouth, Max paused before eating it. "Is he still upset about finding out your theory doesn't work?"
Amy sat on the stool next to him. "That's part of it. You know how his dad died when he was only a little older than you, right?" Max nodded in response. "This week is the anniversary of when he died."
"And he's sad because he misses him?"
"Exactly, I suggested he take some time to himself this morning. He doesn't like to talk about it, but he is always a little quieter this week. I've learned to not pester him if he wants to talk, just like with everything else, he'll talk if he wants to. I have to go to the grocery store this morning. Do you want to come with me or stay here?"
Glancing down the hallway for signs of Sheldon moving, Max thought for a moment before answering. "I'm going to stay here. I got a new book at the library at school and I'm almost done with it."
Not long after Amy left, Max set his book on his nightstand, exited his bedroom, and looked at the still-closed door to his parents' bedroom. He made his way back to the kitchen, filled a mug with water, and placed it in the microwave. When the microwave ended a minute later, Max placed a teabag in the cup and headed back down the hallway. "Dad? Can I come in?" He asked while knocking. Hearing Sheldon's agreement, Max opened the door.
"Hello," Sheldon stated as he sat up.
"Mom told me why you're sad so I made you tea. I used the microwave since I'm not allowed to use the stove without you or mom and mom is at the grocery store."
Giving a small smile to his son, Sheldon reached for the mug that was being held out to him. "Thank you. I was just about to get up, see what you were up to for the day."
"I just finished my new book and I remembered something Leonard told me about that might make you feel better. Can you come with me? I can't reach it unless I stand on the chair, but mom doesn't like when I do that."
"I don't know, Max," Sheldon hesitated between sips of tea. "I'm not really in the mood for any surprises today, especially something Leonard came up with."
Max left the room and Sheldon could hear him in the living room, it almost sounded like he was getting something from the wall safe. Returning to the room a few minutes later with a VHS tape in his hand, he smiled as he showed it to Sheldon. "It's the pep talk you made for yourself when you were my age. Leonard told me you were saving it for when you needed it. It might make you feel better about your theory and missing Grandpa George. I can't reach the VCR for it. It's on the top shelf in the closet. If you get it down, do you think we could watch this?"
Sheldon looked at the tape in Max's hand. "I don't know why I ever saved that. I tried watching it a few years ago, but found either Georgie or my dad recorded a high school football game over it. I remember everything I said, it would mean more coming from me, but I guess we can watch the few minutes that remain."
The pair made their way to the living room, where Sheldon retrieved the VCR and helped Max connect it to the television. Amy returned just as Sheldon was about to press the play button. "What are you guys watching?" she asked.
"A tape dad made when he was my age. Do you want to watch it with us?"
Amy nodded, "Can you help me put away the groceries first?"
Max quickly helped put away the groceries and the family settled on the couch as Sheldon pressed the play button. Max commented as the video started, "You look like me." As the young Sheldon started to speak, the room grew silent. "Sheldon, never forget, no matter how bad things seem, you..." the screen cut to static for a second before the image switched to a high school football game.
After a few minutes, the action of the football game on the screen changed to a locker room. "Is that your dad, dad?" Max asked, seeing the man in a maroon polo shirt gather the players around him.
"It is."
Amy smiled. "I've only ever seen pictures of him."
The family's attention turned to the screen again as they watched George Cooper attempt to rally his team. "I know we're down, by a lot. And if I'm being honest with you, we're probably not gonna win this one. In fact, we're definitely not gonna win this one."
"Do you want us to turn this off, Sheldon?" suggested Amy, glancing at her husband.
"No!" exclaimed Max. "I want to watch Grandpa George."
"But we're not gonna quit, either. And if we do lose, you need to know that doesn't make you losers. You learn as much about who you are and what you're made of from failing as you do from success. Maybe more. So, you can spend the next half feeling sorry for yourselves, or you can get out there and give 'em hell."
Max stood from the armchair and wedged himself between his parents on the couch as Sheldon paused the tape. "Can you tell me more about Grandpa George?"
"I resented him when I was a kid. I felt he was a bumbling fool who was more interested in football and beer than his family, but I've come to realize he was doing the best he could for us. He may not have understood everything I was always talking about, but he was always my biggest supporter in my education. He pushed my mom to let me skip ahead to high school and start college when I was eleven."
"I wish I could have met him," Max leaned against Sheldon, resting his head against his arm.
Lifting his arm to put it around his son, he replied, "I wish he could have met you, too. He would love you so much. When I think about all those years that we didn't know I was your dad, but I was still spending time with you, I realize I was doing the same things with you that he did with me. He didn't play trains with me, but he helped set up my train table in the garage, and he didn't read with me, but he'd ask me about what I was reading and help me get whatever book I was interested in reading next." Sheldon suddenly sat up straight, surprising both Max and Amy. "It's interesting. I've always thought that my father's journey and my own were so different, but he also faced failures and setbacks. Maybe our lives mirrored each other more than I thought."
"So, from one viewpoint, you and your father's lives are asymmetrical, but from another vantage point, they're symmetrical," Amy started to pace between the living room and kitchen. "Sheldon, what if symmetry and asymmetry are observer-relative? That would mean the Russian paper was right."
"But only from one perspective. If we look at it from a deeper view in more dimensions, our theory still stands," Sheldon was growing more excited with each word he said.
Amy looked at Sheldon, who was now also pacing, "Not only stands, but it might be an even bigger idea than the one we were originally proposing. We have a paper to fix."
"Thanks, Dad," Sheldon said, glancing between George Cooper's face, frozen on the television screen, and his son. "We're gonna give 'em hell."
I think this was the hardest chapter to write for this story. I knew I wanted to include George's pep talk and have Sheldon tell Max about him, but couldn't get it right. This is the 3rd version of this chapter I wrote, but I'm finally happy with how it ended up.
There's only one chapter left after this, which should be posted Saturday. I'm starting to work on some one shots in the Max universe, so if you have ideas of things that weren't included, feel free to suggest them & I'll see if I can come up with something.