"Was she crying all night because she misses mom?" Max sleepily asked Sheldon one Sunday morning when Katie was about nine months old.
Sheldon looked up from the infant in his arms, who was finally asleep. "I think she might be getting a new tooth. She had a slight fever and hasn't been interested in her pacifier at all, which she usually loves. I finally got her to take a bottle and fall asleep, but now I'm afraid she'll wake up if I put her down."
"When does mom get home?
"Sometime this afternoon," Sheldon rubbed his hand over his face, attempting to wake himself up. "I don't understand why Bernadette wanted them to all go away for the weekend for her birthday this year. She's never wanted to do anything in the past."
Max watched his little sister sleep in their father's arms while eating the bowl of cereal he made himself. "They've only had a few girls' nights since Rory and Katie were born. Maybe they wanted to make up for lost time? I can take care of her if you want to try to go back to bed for a little while. You look really tired."
"Thanks. I think she might be asleep for a while. Do you hear her snoring?" His daughter was the only person Sheldon didn't mind listening to snore. "I should be good for the day if I can get even an hour of sleep. If she wakes up and is fussier than usual, or is feeling like she's got a fever, wake me up right away." Sheldon carried Katie with him as he exited the kitchen. "I'll bring the monitor down once I put her in the crib."
Sheldon got a few hours of sleep and Katie was feeling much better when Max suggested going for a walk late that morning. Sheldon groaned at the idea, but relented and the Cooper family headed outside. Katie was in a much better mood, looking at everything, and enjoying the time out of the house. As Max pushed the stroller back up the driveway at the end of their walk, Sheldon hesitated. "Do you want to stay outside? It's a nice day and Katie seems to be enjoying herself."
"Sure?" Max agreed, having never heard this suggestion from his father. "What do you want to do outside?"
"I don't know? Why don't you go inside and grab a blanket for her and a few of her toys? No stuffed animals, though. Plastic ones that we can wash if they get dirty." Sheldon was already working on unbuckling Katie from the stroller while Max made his way into the house. Max quickly returned with an armful of things to keep his sister entertained.
The group settled on the blanket and watched Katie reach for handfuls of grass and whatever she could grab before being pulled back to the blanket. "Max, can I ask you something?" Turning his attention to Sheldon, the thirteen-year-old nodded. "Do you feel like you missed out on something by not having a dad until you were older?"
"Not really," Max shrugged his shoulders as he moved a toy closer to his sister. "Like I've said before, I don't really remember a time I didn't know you, even if we didn't know you were my dad. Whenever I asked why I didn't have a dad, mom would always tell me how not everyone has a dad and not everyone has a mom, but I would always have everyone I needed in my life. She'd say that I might not have a dad, but I had a lot of people in my life who I could look up to and go to if I ever needed anything. Why are you asking me this? We don't usually talk about before we knew you were my dad."
Sheldon avoided eye contact as he spoke. "It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. How you and Katie Beth are going to have very different childhoods because I'm here for everything for her. Seeing Katie do something new every day makes me think about the things I didn't get to experience with you, like staying up all night because you were cutting a new tooth."
Shifting closer to Sheldon, Max leaned his head against his shoulder. "You might have missed those things with me, but I wouldn't be here if you and mom hadn't done what you did to have me. Mom might not have signed up for that dating site when she did if grandma didn't offer to babysit me, so you and mom might not even know each other, and you wouldn't have Katie, either. Missing those moments with me means you get to have them with Katie."
"I guess you're right," Sheldon wrapped his arm around his son's shoulders. "Sometimes I forget how smart you are when it comes to all of this."
"What can I say, my parents are Nobel Prize winners, you had a pretty good chance at having a smart kid," smirked Max.
Amy returned late that afternoon and was greeted by her son. "Hi, mom. How was your trip?"
"It was good, but I missed you and Katie," she answered kissing the top of his head. "Where's dad?"
"He said he was gonna get Katie up from her nap. That was a while ago, though."
"Okay. I'll go see what he's up to," Amy headed upstairs to her daughter's nursery, finding Sheldon standing over the crib, watching her sleep. Walking up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Max told me you were getting Katie up from her nap. How was your weekend?"
Sheldon reached back and pulled Amy next to him, continuing to watch their daughter sleep. "Katie Beth and I had a bit of a rough night last night. I think she's teething again. She was fussy all night and wouldn't take her pacifier. The last time she refused it was when she was getting a new tooth. I didn't feel anything trying to poke through her gums, but I know she'll feel it before we notice anything. We both got a few hours of sleep this morning and she's been out for a while now. I just feel bad waking her up, knowing she didn't really sleep last night."
"I'm sorry she was up all night," commented Amy as she reached to lift the infant from her crib.
"It was one night and it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Max suggested we go for a walk this morning and we spent quite a while sitting in the yard with Katie when we got back. Max and I had a good conversation. I forget how bright that kid is sometimes."
"Care to share what the two of you talked about?" Amy's curiosity was getting the best of her.
Sheldon shook his head. "Not really. Just one of those father-son conversations. There is something I've been thinking about that we should talk about. It can wait until after dinner, though."
Crossing the room to the changing table, Amy laid Katie down and reached for a clean diaper. "We've got time now. What's going on?"
"Okay. I know Katie's not even a year old, but I want us to talk about having another baby. I've always wanted three kids and the two we've got are pretty great; I think a third would be no different."
"Okay," was the only word Amy said in response to her husband's suggestion of having another baby.
Sheldon stared at Amy as she lifted their daughter to her hip. "What does that mean? Okay?"
"It means, okay. We can try. I've been thinking about it, too. I always thought if we still wanted to have three kids, the last one would have to be pretty close in age to Katie. I'm not getting any younger, so we can't wait forever," she shared, stepping closer to Sheldon and looking up at him.
"Really? I thought for sure you'd call me crazy for even suggesting this," Sheldon pulled Amy into a hug.
Wrapping her free arm around his back, she replied, "Just remember, it might not happen as easily as it did with Katie. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I don't want this to become something you obsess over."
Sheldon looked down at Katie, who was content between her parents in their hug. "How do you feel about being a big sister?" His question was met with a slobbery smile from the nine-month-old. "I think she's okay with it."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here. Let's wait until I'm actually pregnant before we start referring to her as a big sister," commented Amy, pulling away from Sheldon.
