"Hello," Sheldon let his presence be known to his son while entering his daughter's room. "Can we talk for a minute?"
Max shrugged while keeping his attention focused on his little sister, who was sitting on the floor in front of him. "Sure. What's up?"
"Do you have plans for Thursday night? I'm not sure if you remember or not, but it's mom's birthday."
"I know," the twelve-year-old nodded. "I don't have plans. Are you planning something for her?"
Smiling in response, Sheldon explained. "Your mother and I haven't had a date night since before Katie was born. As you know, we have had a special date night on her birthday for years, and I was hoping you'd be interested in finally getting to babysit so we can continue that tradition this year?"
"Really? I get to babysit? You aren't going to do like when I stayed home alone for your anniversary and have Raj come to check on me, are you?" the boy grew suspicious.
"You know about that?"
Max grinned. "Yeah. Raj let it slip when he was here when Katie was born. He said that mom asked him to check on me and you had Leonard send Penny over, but he ran into Penny downstairs so she didn't come up."
Sheldon's face dropped. "Oh. Well, thank you for not making a big deal about it when you found out we did that. It was your first time staying alone for more than just a little while after school and we were both worried about you. If I promise to not have anyone come over to check on you, are you interested in babysitting?"
"Of course, I can babysit Katie for mom's birthday. Do you think she'll be okay with it if I say that's my birthday present for her? Or if I come up with something else, can I get paid for watching her?" Max excitedly asked.
"I'm sure we can work something out. I haven't mentioned this to her yet, so please don't say anything. I want to be sure she's interested in going out and that's she's okay with you watching Katie."
Sheldon was driving himself, Amy, and Katie to Cal Tech the next morning when he brought up Amy's birthday. "You don't have plans for Thursday night with the girls, do you?"
"Not that I know of. Why?" She glanced in his direction.
"It's your birthday. We've always gone out for dinner for your birthday and I was hoping you'd be interested in having a date night? Max is willing to babysit so it can be just the two of us," explained Sheldon as he continued to drive. "I suppose they could come if you don't want them to stay home. I was thinking we could go somewhere a little nicer than The Cheesecake Factory, but I can change the plan if you want to make it a family night."
"A date night sounds like the perfect way to celebrate my birthday. Max has been really helpful with Katie lately. If we're only going to dinner, I doubt we'll be gone more than a few hours. I think we can trust him to take care of his sister. We won't even ask our friends to check up on him like we did on our anniversary."
Sheldon chuckled at Amy's comment. "Did you know Raj mentioned that we asked him and Penny to check on him that night? He told me last night that Raj told him about it when Katie was born."
Amy hesitated before getting out of the car after Sheldon pulled into their regular parking spot. "Sheldon, do you think we'll be continuing our other birthday tradition? My doctor gave me the all-clear months ago."
"Oh," was Sheldon's initial response as this conversation took a turn he had not been expecting. "I wasn't sure if you were interested. My random schedule has come up a few times since then, but you've seemed extra tired those days, or Katie is being fussier than usual and will only stop crying if one of us is holding her, or she's gone down for the night easily and we both decide to go to bed early and enjoy the extra sleep."
"It's okay, Sheldon. I was definitely not interested for a while after the doctor said it was okay," she shared while watching his reaction. "It's only been in the past few weeks that I've started to think about it again. Maybe it was the anticipation, knowing my birthday was coming up, and knowing how we usually celebrate."
Grinning in response, Sheldon reached across the center console for Amy's hand. "We will continue to celebrate your birthday with our annual birthday coitus."
"I don't want this to be the end-all, be-all of my birthday, but I'd like to at least try. It doesn't have to be Thursday night, maybe we get up early one morning over the weekend. I'll get up and nurse Katie like always, put her down again, and come back to bed. Maybe Max would be willing to watch her so we can sleep in," suggested Amy.
"Just to be clear, by sleep in, you mean coitus?"
Amy laughed quietly at Sheldon's question. "Yes, but as far as Max knows, we're just wanting to sleep in. It just seems wrong to ask our twelve-year-old son to watch his baby sister so we can have a Saturday morning quickie."
"It's never quick when we do it, though."
"I'll explain what I mean later. We'd better get Katie to daycare before we're late for work."
"Say bye to mommy and daddy," Max waved the infant's hand at their parents as Amy picked up her purse and Sheldon zipped his jacket the day after her birthday. The couple had decided to put off Amy's birthday date night until Friday night rather than having Max babysit on a school night.
Amy hugged both her children at the same time. "I love you. She just ate and there's a bottle in the fridge to give her if we're not home before bed. Do you have any questions?"
"I've got this, mom," Max rolled his eyes over Amy's shoulder while she continued to hug him. As she released him, he continued, "I've helped take care of Katie since she came home from the hospital. I can change her diaper and heat her bottle. We'll probably just play and I'll read a few books to her."
"We need to go, or we'll miss our reservation. Call us if you have any questions, but I know you'll be fine," Sheldon put his hand on Amy's back and steered her towards the front door.
Max stood near the door, watching Sheldon and Amy get in the car and back down the driveway before turning his attention to Katie. "They're gone. It's just us now. I was thinking we could read a few books and play a little before going to bed. How does that sound?" A smile spread across his little sister's face. Overall, Katie was a happy baby, but her brother always brought out a big smile.
"I don't think I've ever read this book to you," commented Max while pulling a book from the shelf in the corner of Katie's nursery. "It was my favorite book when I was little. It's also the first book dad ever read to me. He wasn't my dad then; he was just Sheldon. I had never met him before, but he came home with mom because she was sick. I woke up when I heard her and he tucked me in again and read me a story. He came over to play trains with me for the first time a few days later. Trains are something dad and I have always liked to play together. Maybe you'll like trains, too, and can play with us when you're older."
As he read the book to the four-month-old, Max noticed Katie was starting to fall asleep. He finished reading the book and put it back on the shelf before putting her in the pajamas Amy had left on the changing table. "You're all changed and ready for bed," he commented while sitting in the rocking chair. "Dad says this song is only for when someone is sick, but I think it's okay to sing anytime. Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur. Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr." Max held his sister for a few minutes to ensure she was asleep and not going to wake up, he stood and gently placed her in the crib. "Good night. I love you, Katie."
Max returned downstairs, bringing the monitor with him, and was watching a movie when his parents opened the front door. "Hello, Max," Sheldon greeted his son. "How'd it go tonight?"
"Really good. We played a little and I read her a few books. She drank the entire bottle mom left and has been asleep for about an hour," he excitedly answered while turning off the television. "I'm gonna go to bed. I'm going to Noah's house tomorrow to work on our science project. He asked me while you were gone. I figured it would be okay since it's for school. I said I'd be there by nine. I'll ride my bike so you don't have to drive me."
"That's fine. Just let us know before you leave. We might try to sleep in if Katie lets us," commented Amy before Max left the room. She smirked while turning to Sheldon. "I'm going to check on Katie and maybe we can continue my birthday festivities?"
