This one takes place a few days before Max learns Sheldon is his dad.
Sheldon turned the corner in the biology building and knocked on the open door of Amy's lab, when she turned her attention to him, he smiled as he began to speak, "Our anniversary is next week and we haven't made plans yet. Do you think you'll be able to get someone to watch Max? I'd prefer it to be on our actual anniversary on Tuesday, but understand if it needs to wait until our regular date night on Thursday."
"Yeah, my parents should be able to watch him for the night. What did you have in mind?" Questioned Amy before explaining, "Just so I can tell them what time I expect to be home."
"I'm not sure," Sheldon fibbed, not wanting to tell his girlfriend of five years what he was planning. "Can I let you know tomorrow what time to tell your parents?"
Amy set down the lab tools in her hand and reached for Sheldon's hand, "How about I ask if Max can spend the night with them so you don't have to worry about what time we'll be home?"
Quiet for a moment to process Amy's suggestion, he nodded, "Alright. That would be perfect. I'll get back to you later this week with specifics, but I can guarantee it will be special."
"I'm looking forward to it. I hate to cut this short because I love when you visit me at work, but I've got to leave early today and I really need to finish this. I have a parent-teacher conference for Max at four."
"Is everything okay?" Sheldon grew concerned.
Nodding, Amy explained, "His school likes to have a parent-teacher conference the last few weeks of school to discuss the progress he's made throughout the year, his class placement for next year, and anything extra to work on over the summer. I doubt there will be any concerns and they'll just say to have him keep reading during the break." Amy noticed the look on her boyfriend's face. "I'm sorry for not telling you about this. You have a right to know what's going on with Max. I promise we'll find some time in the next few days to talk about everything and figure out a way to tell Max."
"Okay. I'll let you get back to work," Sheldon placed a quick kiss on Amy's cheek, "I love you."
Sheldon arrived at Amy's apartment promptly at five-thirty the following Tuesday; he had requested they start their date night earlier than usual, given it was a special occasion. He knocked on the door and heard Max exclaim from inside the apartment, "Sheldon's here! Can I let him in?" Within seconds, the door was open and the seven-year-old greeted him. "Hi, Sheldon! I'm sleeping over at grandma and grandpa's tonight. But they're stuck in traffic which is why I'm still here. I don't like that they're late, but it means I get to see you, so I guess it's okay."
"I'm glad to see you, too," replied the physicist as he sat on the couch after setting a bouquet of daisies on the coffee table.
Max eyed the flowers suspiciously. "Are those for momma?" When Sheldon nodded, the boy continued his questioning. "Why did you bring her flowers? You don't usually bring flowers. It's Tuesday, but you have date night on Thursday. Why are you changing your schedule this week? Since you're having a date night tonight, are you still going to have date night on Thursday?"
Sheldon smiled, seeing so much of himself in the child. "They are for your mother. I got her flowers because tonight is our fifth anniversary. It's been five years since the first time we met and I thought it'd be nice to do something special for her. She and I hadn't discussed if we're still going to have date night on Thursday. How about instead of your mom and I going out, the three of us have dinner together on Thursday?"
"Really? I like that idea," Max was interrupted by Amy entering the room, "Momma, Sheldon got you flowers cuz it's your anniversary. He said we can have dinner together on Thursday since you're having a date night tonight."
"That sounds like fun. Is your bag ready to go? Grandma just called. They're two blocks away." Ten minutes later, Max had been picked up by his grandparents and Amy turned her attention to Sheldon. "I'm sorry about that. They were supposed to pick him up at five, but there was an accident on the highway, so they were stuck for a while."
Sheldon motioned for Amy to join him on the couch, "That's okay. Seeing Max helped calm some of my nerves. Since we don't have to worry about Max tonight, I was thinking we could order take-out and have an evening in. I hope you don't mind?"
Relaxing next to Sheldon, Amy grinned, "That sounds wonderful. I know it's our anniversary, but as long as I can spend the evening with you, I don't mind what we do."
An hour later their dinner had arrived, which they enjoyed in comfortable silence. "Do you want to watch a movie?" Amy asked while helping Sheldon pick up the containers from the table to put the leftovers in the refrigerator.
"We can put on a movie, but I'm not very interested in watching it," Sheldon suggestively raised his eyebrows.
It was only then that Amy noticed Sheldon had left a bag near the door. "What's in the bag, Sheldon? You rarely bring a bag on date night and that's not your regular bag."
"Let's sit and talk," he took her hand and led her to the couch. "You can say no and I'll go home, no questions asked."
"What are you talking about?" Amy studied his face, unable to read his expression.
Sheldon leaned in and kissed Amy. "Since Max is spending the night with your parents, I was thinking maybe we could have our first sleepover? If you're not interested, we can stay here on the couch and make out like a couple of randy teenagers before I head home in plenty of time for bedtime."
Pulling Sheldon to her, Amy answered his question by returning his kiss. Needing to come up for air after a few minutes, Amy pulled back, "I want to make sure we're both on the same page. By sleepover, you mean?"
"I would like us to be intimate tonight."
"Sheldon, I've been waiting for you to say those words for a very long time. Before we do anything, I'd like to talk about it. You're suggesting this because you want to, not just because we found out you're Max's dad, right? I only want to do this if you really want to."
"I knew you'd bring that up," commented Sheldon. "I've been thinking about this for some time, before we ever did that test. While part of me does want to do it because we have a child together and have never had coitus, a bigger part of me wants to spend the night with you to show you how much you mean to me. You've been incredibly patient with me the past five years and I'd like to do this for you."
Amy leaned in to kiss him again, "Let's just take our time and see where things go tonight. Neither of us knows what to expect."
"We'll find out together," Sheldon stood from the couch and extended his hand to Amy, leading her into her bedroom.
The couple was awoken the next morning by the sound of Amy's phone going off. "Hi, mom. It's okay. I should be getting ready for work anyway. I decided to sleep in a few extra minutes since I didn't have to get Max ready this morning. See you soon," she ended the call while rubbing the sleep from her eyes and reaching for her glasses. "Sheldon, you need to get up. My mom broke a tooth during dinner last night so she's going to the dentist this morning and can't drop Max off at school. I'm not sure why my dad can't drop him off, but they'll be here in twenty minutes."
"Max is going to ask why I'm still here. I've never spent the night before. What do we do?"
"For starters, you either need to leave in the next five minutes so you're on the bus before they get here or you need to stay in here and not make any noise until I can get Max out the door, but we definitely don't want my mother to know I asked them to take Max for the night so you and I could have a sleepover," Amy was starting to panic while quickly getting dressed.
Sheldon stood from where he was sitting on Amy's bed and walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Thank you for last night," he stated before placing a kiss on her cheek. "I'll wait in here until you're gone. Maybe once we tell Max, we can have more frequent sleepovers. Just for sleeping, though, I'm not sure when I'll be ready to have coitus again."
Glancing over her shoulder, Amy smiled at him. "Last night was amazing. I'm glad we waited and I'm okay waiting until you're ready again." Looking around the room, Amy commented, "I should be in the living room when they get here. Just lock the door when you leave. I'll see you at work."
Amy opened the door before Max and her mother reached the door as she heard Max's chatter from down the hallway. "Hi, Amy. I'm sorry for doing this last minute, but the dentist was only able to get me in at eight-forty-five. There's no way I'd be able to drop him off and make it to the dentist on time. How was your date with Sheldon? You seem happy this morning," her mother noticed.
"It was great. He knew I've had a busy week and suggested we order take out and watch a movie rather than going out. Between that and not having to worry about Max, I slept better last night than I have in weeks. It's no problem to drop Max off on the way to work. Good luck at the dentist," Amy practically pushed her mother out the door before turning to Max. "We're running a little late. How do pop tarts in the car sound for breakfast?"
"Really?" Max excitedly asked while setting down his overnight bag, but still keeping his backpack on. "Sheldon forgot the bag he brought last night. Should you take it to him at work?"
Amy spied Sheldon's bag sitting on the floor next to the couch. "It's okay. He knows it's here. He's going to stop on his way to work to pick it up. We need to get going so you aren't late for school, mister." The pair exited the apartment and Amy pulled out her phone to text Sheldon that Max had noticed his bag.