"Goodnight," Sheldon pulled the blanket up around Levi after settling Theo in his bed.
The six-year-old clutched his favorite stuffed animal close and snuggled into the blanket when he quietly asked, "Am I staying with my dad or coming back here after we go home next week?"
"I don't know," the physicist lied, turning his face to hide any possible twitching. "Aunt Amy and I can try to find out, though."
"If I stay with him, can I take my toys with me? What about Theo?"
Sheldon brushed his nephew's hair back from his face. "You'll be able to take all of your toys and clothes with you if you stay with him, same for Theo. We'll find out how your dad is doing and let you know what the plan is, okay?" Levi nodded his head. "But it's bedtime now, so close your eyes and get some sleep. I love you."
"Love you more," the boy replied with the same phrase he'd been saying for several weeks.
Amy entered the house a little while after Sheldon tucked in Levi and Theo. Taking note of the quiet house and her husband standing in front of the whiteboard in the living room, she apologized, "I'm sorry for not making it home for bedtime. Did they go down easy for you?"
"Yes," Sheldon capped the marker in his hand and turned around. "Levi asked if he was going to be staying with Ricky or coming back with us next week. I told him we didn't know, but we'd find out for him. I didn't want to have that conversation with him alone and not right before bedtime. I think we should talk to him before we leave."
"I agree. I know everyone is coming over for dinner tomorrow, but maybe before? Penny and Leonard are picking up food on their way. We'll have a little time after work before everyone shows up."
Placing the marker still in his hand on the lip of the whiteboard, he sat on the couch, placing his head in his hands, "What if Levi gets upset before everyone gets here? He knows the plan was for him and Theo to go back to Texas once school was out for the summer. Now we have to tell him he might be here longer, and we don't know if that will be the end of the summer, the holidays, or possibly forever. This is a lot for me to process, I can only imagine what it's going to be like for Levi to process."
Amy joined Sheldon on the couch, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him close to her, "I know. It's a lot for me, too, but I'm glad we get to go through this together. Levi's been super receptive to everything since Missy died, let's not stress over how he might react until we have the conversation with him tomorrow. Oh, your mom texted me today, Ricky said he'll be there for Theo's birthday dinner at her house next weekend. We can tell Levi when we talk to him tomorrow night."
"You're right." Amy dropped her arms from around Sheldon as he shifted to move from the couch. "Let's go upstairs."
"You want to go to bed early? You're just going to lay there, complaining about how you can't sleep."
Winking, he replied, "I never said anything about going to sleep, but I'd like my wife to join me upstairs for the night."
"I'm gonna go pick a game to play with Halley tonight," announced Levi as they entered the house the following afternoon.
Amy quickly called after him, "Can Uncle Sheldon and I talk to you first? We promise we'll be quick and you'll have plenty of time to pick something to play with Halley."
"Okay," he paused at the bottom of the stairs, turning back to join his aunt and uncle in the living room.
Sheldon assumed his regular position at the end of the couch, with Levi next to him and Amy resting against the edge of the coffee table. "Sheldon talked to your dad on Sunday before you talked to him. We want to tell you what they talked about."
Silently, the boy looked between the adults, while also watching Theo play across the room. Sheldon began to speak when he felt they had the boy's attention. "Your dad told me he's been trying really hard to be the best dad he can for you and Theo to be able to live with him, but it's a lot harder than he thought it would be."
"Does he need help? Can we help him?"
"He's getting help, but doesn't know when he'll be able to be the best he can be like your mom would want," Amy gently explained. "Uncle Sheldon and I talked with him and we all think it would be best if you stay with us longer than we originally thought. At least until the end of the summer, but it might be closer to Christmas, or even longer."
Levi was quiet for a moment before asking, "Are me and Theo going to be here forever?"
This was going a lot better than Sheldon imagined when he answered, "We don't know. Your dad said he needs more time to find a place to live and get a good job to be able to take care of you and your brother."
"Okay. I know Theo sometimes calls you mommy and daddy. Would I have to call you mommy and daddy if we stay here forever?"
Sheldon and Amy exchanged a look before Sheldon spoke, "That's something you can decide for yourself after we know how long you're going to be here."
"But no matter how long you're with us or what you decide to call us, we're never going to stop loving you. You know that, right?" Amy quickly interjected.
"Yeah," Levi slid off the couch. "Can me and Theo play upstairs?"
Sheldon nodded, "Sure, we'll let you know when everyone gets here for dinner."
Levi and Theo weren't upstairs for very long before the rest of the group began to arrive for dinner. Halley didn't bother greeting the adults before asking for her friend, "Where's Levi?"
"Hi, Halley. I'll let him know you're here. I think he wanted to pick a game to play tonight," answered Amy. "Levi," she called out while climbing the stairs. Getting no response, she approached the open door of the bedroom the boys shared. That was when she heard Levi talking to his brother, getting small excited responses from him.
"Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy want us to stay here. Daddy needs more time to be a good daddy. We might be here forever and never live with daddy again. You can call Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy mommy and daddy if you want. I promise I won't get mad when you do it. Can you keep a secret? I like living here and don't know if I want to live with daddy. I'll miss everyone here."
Amy turned the corner and knocked on the door, "Halley and Michael are here. Leonard and Penny should be here with the food soon."
Abandoning the toy cars he'd been playing with, Theo clamored to his aunt, "Mommy!"
"Hi!" Levi jumped up and rushed to Amy's side, wrapping his arms around her.
Having lifted Theo to her side, Amy smiled to herself while running her fingers through Levi's hair, "Let's eat."
Getting ready for bed that evening, Sheldon pointed out, "You were quiet tonight. Is everything okay? Did Penny or Bernadette upset you?"
"No, nothing like that," she didn't elaborate.
"Um, are you, um," Sheldon stumbled over his words, buttoning his pajama top, finally finding the word he was looking for when he noticed the glare Amy was giving him. "Are you pregnant?"
Amy let out a chuckle, "No, I'm not pregnant." She moved around the foot of the bed to be standing in front of her husband. "I overheard Levi talking to Theo when I came up to tell him it was time for dinner. He was talking about what we discussed with him."
"What did he say? Does he hate that he's not going back to live with Ricky?"
"No, he said he likes living here and doesn't know if he wants to live with Ricky because he'll miss everyone here."
Jaw dropped, Sheldon pulled Amy into his arms, "He said that?" Amy nodded against his chest.
"He did. He also told Theo he wouldn't get mad if he calls us mom and dad. That was when I let them know it was time to go downstairs. Theo called me mommy and Levi hugged me before we went downstairs."
Sheldon whispered, "We can't let Levi know what you heard."
"I agree," Amy shifted and Sheldon dropped his embrace. Pulling the blanket back on the bed, she spoke again, "Why did you ask if I was pregnant?"
"You weren't acting like yourself all of a sudden. I thought you were trying to figure out how to tell me. I know we decided to wait a while because of the boys, but I think it would be okay if it were to happen now."
Having both climbed into bed, Amy shifted close to Sheldon, "I think we should wait until the end of the summer. We'll have a better idea of what the future will look like for Levi and Theo. Let's give them an amazing summer, take them to Disneyland and the zoo and spend as much time together as we can."
"Okay."
"And for the record, I'll tell you as soon I suspect I'm pregnant. I won't even buy a test without you knowing."
