This one takes place while Amy is at Princeton, leaving Max and Sheldon in Pasadena for the summer.

The sound of thunder woke Sheldon a few hours after he'd turned in for the night. Growing up in Texas, Sheldon was familiar with these types of storms. He hated them growing up, but found them comforting now. Rolling over, Sheldon quickly dozed off again until he felt movement on the bed next to him. "What's going on?" he groggily asked Max.

"I don't like the storm. Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" the nine-year-old asked.

Sighing, Sheldon replied, "if your mom were here, what would she say?"

Max continued to get situated on Amy's side of the bed. "She would say I'm too big to sleep in the bed with both of you, then come back to my room until I fall asleep again. But before we moved, she would let me stay in her bed."

"Fine. But just this time. Next time I'll sit with you in your room until you fall back to sleep," Sheldon ceded while helping Max get under the blankets.

"Morning, Sheldon," Penny greeted her neighbor as she let herself into his apartment. "We're out of milk. Can I steal some for my coffee?"

"Uh, sure. It's in the fridge."

Penny added some milk to the coffee cup in her hand and returned the carton to the fridge before turning her attention back to her neighbor. "Are you okay? You seem distracted this morning."

Shrugging his shoulders, Sheldon glanced down the hallway before replying, "The storm scared Max last night, so he asked to sleep in my bed. He said Amy would sit with him until he fell back to sleep in his bed, but before they moved, she would let him sleep in her bed. Should I have had him go back to his room? Is this going to make him think it's okay to sleep in our bed now?"

"Oh, sweetie," Penny sat on a stool at the island. "I doubt this is going to be an all-the-time thing now. Amy's been gone for six weeks. You've done an amazing job with Max by yourself during that time. Things have been different without Amy here, and I'm sure they'll either go back to how they were before, or you and Amy will talk and decide what you found works better while she was gone."

"I guess you're right. I didn't even know Max gets scared during storms until last night. When he said Amy sits with him until he falls asleep again, it made me think. What else don't I know about my son?"

Penny sipped her coffee while smiling, "I'm sure Amy never thought to tell you what she does during storms because we don't get bad ones very often. You're still relatively new to parenting. Amy had years with Max before you took a more active role in his life. Some of those kinds of things just become second nature and you don't think about them when talking to another person. Kind of like when Amy and Max moved in with you, there were things Leonard and I didn't tell her about living with you because we'd gotten so used to it and didn't notice how odd it was."

"Good night, Max. I love you," stated Sheldon as he reached to turn off the light in Max's room before closing the door partway. Sheldon proceeded to get ready for bed himself and was just climbing into bed when he heard a quiet knock on his door. He stood and opened the door, "Is everything okay?"

"Can I sleep here again?" the boy on the other side of the door asked.

"Why don't we go back to your room? I'll sit with you until you fall asleep, just like your mom does. There isn't a storm, nor is it forecast to rain tonight. Do you want to talk about why you want to sleep in my room again?"

Max turned around to retreat to his room as Sheldon followed him. He got into bed as Sheldon sat next to him. "I miss momma. I miss her more at night. I didn't miss her as much last night because you were right there."

"I see. I miss her, too. How would you feel if we try calling her? It's been a few days since you talked to her," suggested Sheldon as Max nodded. "I'll be right back. Let me grab my phone."

Before returning to his son's bedroom, Sheldon tried FaceTiming Amy, knowing it was after midnight for her. To his relief, she answered after a few seconds. "Sheldon, what's wrong? It's late."

"Everything's fine. Well, not really, but it will be. We had a storm last night and Max got scared. He asked if he could sleep in our bed with me. I agreed, but he asked if he could again tonight. It's not storming tonight, but he said he misses you and it's worse at night. I was hoping you could talk to him?"

"Sure. Where is he?"

Sheldon was already entering the boy's room while holding his phone out for Max to take from him. "Hi, momma. I miss you so much."

Amy wiped the sleep from her eyes as she smiled, "I miss you, too. What's going on? Did something happen that you're missing me more lately?"

"No, just sleeping with dad last night made me miss you more and it made me miss when you'd let me sleep in your bed when I got scared. I'm sorry for waking you up."

"Hey, it's okay to miss me and you can call me anytime you need, day or night. I will always answer the phone for you. I'm still here for another month. How about this? You can call me or Skype or FaceTime every day when you and dad get home from the university. It will be after dinnertime for me so you won't be waking me up."

Max looked at Sheldon, who had been listening to the conversation, and noticed he was nodding, "I like that idea. I think I'll be okay for tonight. Good night, momma."

"Good night. I love you and can't wait until I can hug you again," stated Amy as she ended the call.

"Let's get you back to bed. Do you want me to stay until you're asleep?" Sheldon asked while fixing Max's blankets.

"I'll be fine. Thanks for letting me talk to mom."