After spending the morning at the zoo, Sheldon, Amy, Levi, and Theo returned home before making the trip to the Wolowitz house for dinner later that afternoon. Sheldon was cleaning up Theo after most of his snack ended up on his face and shirt. Finding Amy in the kitchen, Levi climbed on one of the stools next to the counter. "Can I call my dad? It's Father's Day and I haven't talked to him in forever."

"Um, yeah," Amy's head shot up from what she was looking at. "Give me a few minutes, then Uncle Sheldon or I will try calling him for you. He might not answer his phone, but we'll try, okay?"

The boy hopped off his seat, ran to the other side of the counter, and threw his arms around Amy. "Thanks, Aunt Amy. I'm gonna play with Theo until you call dad."

"Okay. Tell Uncle Sheldon to come downstairs once Theo is cleaned up."

Sheldon appeared at the bottom of the stairs minutes later, "Levi said you needed me down here?"

She nodded, "He wants to call Ricky. I told him we would try, but he might not answer. I can call, but I thought you should know first."

"No," he replied after a moment. "I want to call him. If he answers, I have a few things I've been wanting to talk to him about since he said the boys were only supposed to be with us until the end of the school year. Levi's been out of school for two weeks and we haven't heard anything from him."

Amy cautiously approached her husband. Slipping her arm around him, she enjoyed his embrace for a moment before suggesting, "It might be best to ask him if you can talk about that later in the week. We don't want Ricky to be upset by whatever you say and refuse to talk to Levi, especially today. We have to be at Howard and Bernadette's for dinner in less than an hour. I think you should call him before we go. You know we always stay a lot later than we should and the boys fall asleep on the drive home."

Retreating to the guest bedroom off the living room, Sheldon sat on the side of the bed and scrolled through his phone before holding it to his ear. For the first time in months, Ricky answered the phone when he or Amy called. "Hello, Ricky," Sheldon greeted the man on the other end. "Levi wanted to say Happy Father's Day. We told him we'd try calling, but weren't sure if you'd answer. It's okay if you're too busy right now. But maybe we can arrange another time for him to talk to you this week?"

"It's okay, Sheldon," chuckled Ricky. "I'll talk to him. I was going to call you this week, so your timing worked well."

"You were going to call us? You've never called us. Is something wrong?"

Ricky let out a sigh, "Georgie talked to me a few months ago. He heard about the conversation we had on Missy's birthday. He told me I need to get my life together or figure out what I want to happen with Levi and Theo in the long run."

"Oh, I told Amy about talking to you. I'm guessing she told my mom and Georgie."

"I love the boys, but I've been struggling to stay sober for more than a month. I'm still crashing with my brother. I've had a job for a few months, but it's only part-time and not enough to support myself, let alone Levi and Theo, too."

Sheldon was silent listening to Ricky's situation before inquiring, "Is there anything my mom or Georgie could do to help you? Georgie might still have a job open he could offer you, I'm not sure. I know my mom would be willing to watch the boys when you need help. She did all the time for Missy."

"I know we originally said they would be with you until the end of the school year, but I need more time. More time to get my life together to take care of Levi and Theo or decide if I want them to stay with you and Amy for good."

"For good?" the words caught in Sheldon's throat as he confirmed what Ricky was saying.

Across the country, Ricky nodded to himself, "Yeah. It sounds like they're doing really well from what you and Amy have sent me about them. Missy wanted you to raise them if we weren't able to. I just need more time to figure out if I'm able to. I talked to the lady at children's services who helped us after Missy died. She said it's not a problem for the boys to stay with you longer as long as everyone is okay with it. That's not a problem, is it? I can figure something out if it's not."

"No," Sheldon struggled to comprehend the direction this conversation was taking. "We love having the boys with us. How long are you thinking you might need?"

"I'd love to be able to say the end of the summer so Levi doesn't have to change schools in the middle of the year again, but I have a feeling it might be closer to the holidays."

Smiling at the possibility of having his nephews for longer than originally thought, Sheldon replied, "Let us know if you need anything. I'll get Levi for you. Do you think you can not mention this to him? It might be best if Amy and I sit him down to explain he won't be going back to Texas as soon as we originally thought. We'll cross the bridge about the school year when it gets closer and you have a better feeling of how you're doing."

"Yeah, no problem."

"And Ricky, if things don't work out for you and you decide Levi and Theo should stay with us, we hope you'll still be interested in being a part of their lives in whatever capacity you want."

"I'd like that," Ricky quickly agreed.

"You were right, Amy," commented Sheldon, slouching onto the couch after returning from dinner and putting Levi and Theo to bed late that evening. When she gave him a questioning look, he elaborated, "We always stay too late and the boys fall asleep in the car."

Joining her husband on the couch, she snuggled against his side, something he wasn't always a fan of her doing, but had become more welcoming to in recent months. "You were on the phone with Ricky for a while earlier. What did you say to him?"

"I wanted to see how he's doing. Find out if he's got a job or his own apartment yet. He was the one who brought all of those things up before I had a chance to ask. He said he was planning to call us sometime this week. He said he needs more time to either get his life together to be a good dad for Levi and Theo or decide if he wants them to stay with us long-term."

Amy looked up at Sheldon, "Long-term? Like how long-term?"

"He asked if we would keep the boys until the end of the summer, but more likely the holidays for him to decide what's best. He actually said for good, so it sounded like he might be thinking forever. I didn't push him for more details, but I let him know we love having Levi and Theo here and to let us know if he needs anything from us or mom or Georgie. It sounds like he's finally trying to do what's right for them."

"Wow," was Amy's only reply before a comfortable silence fell over them for several minutes. Suddenly, she stretched and placed a kiss on Sheldon's cheek. "I know it's not official or anything, but Happy Father's Day. You've been exactly what Levi and Theo have needed the past six months."

Sheldon squeezed Amy's shoulder, pulling her closer to his side. "You've been exactly what we've all needed."

I know I said I was only going to be updating once a week for the foreseeable future, but I've got an extra day off this week because of Thanksgiving, so I've got a little time and decided to post an extra chapter this week.

Not related to this story, but I had a notice on my fanfiction account that I had to go into the settings and opt-in again for email notifications and it would reset again in 6 months. If you haven't been getting emails about new chapters being posted, check your settings, you might need to opt-in again.