"A boy," stated Sheldon as he and Amy got ready for bed a few months after announcing her pregnancy.

Amy plugged her phone into the charger and set it on the nightstand before climbing into bed and noticed Sheldon's tone. "I can't tell. Are you excited about it being a boy or scared about it being a boy?"

"Excited. Definitely excited," he confidently answered. "I'm just thankful the doctor didn't give us a hard time when we asked for the 3-D scan to confirm after what happened with Katie and they said she was a boy initially."

"Max didn't seem excited about getting a little brother when we told him it was a boy during dinner. Katie doesn't understand what's going on. She was just happy to be eating."

"I talked to him while you were giving Katie a bath," Sheldon rolled on his side to face his wife. "You know how he is; he needs some time to process what's going on. Give him a few days, but I'm sure he'll come around, just like he did when you were pregnant with Katie. He did offer to babysit so we can go out for your birthday in two weeks."

"I don't know if I want to go out for my birthday this year, Sheldon. I'd kind of like a quiet evening at home with my family. Maybe it's time for a new birthday tradition?"

Sheldon placed his hand on Amy's stomach, waiting to feel their son move like he did every night since Amy felt the first movements. "It's your birthday. If that's what you want, that's what we'll do."

"Thank you," Amy smiled, feeling their son move and Sheldon removing his hand. "Good night."


"Thanks for suggesting lunch, Bernadette," Amy said while studying the menu in front of her.

Bernadette sipped her drink. "It was Penny's idea. We haven't been able to have a girls' night lately and with your birthday coming up, we wanted to do something. I suggested we reschedule when she told me Rory was sick and she had to stay home with him today, but she insisted you and I still go. We'll pick another day all of us can go."

It wasn't until after the waitress had taken their orders that Bernadette noticed Amy had been uncharacteristically quiet. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," sighed the neurobiologist. "Can I ask you something?"

"What's going on?"

"Multiple people pointed out that we're going to have two kids under two when we announced I was pregnant, but I brushed it off. I don't know why, but that's been on my mind a lot since we found out the gender last week. Is it really that bad, having two kids less than two years apart?"

Quiet for a minute to think of what to say to comfort her friend, Bernadette finally spoke, "I'm not gonna lie, having two little kids can be a lot to handle at times, but it can also be a lot of fun. Howie and I both had doubts about it when we found out I was pregnant with Michael, but we love the way our family turned out."

"Has it gotten easier as they've gotten older?" questioned Amy as the waitress brought their drinks.

"Halley will be five next week and Michael is almost four," Bernadette answered between sips of her drink. "Sure, they have their moments of pestering each other, but they're also each other's best friend."

Amy smiled at her friend. "That helps. Thank you."

Bernadette could tell Amy was starting to feel better about this, but felt the need to reassure her. "You're an amazing mother. Max and Katie both adore you. I'm sure this baby will be no different. Just wait until you bring them home and Katie tries to help you by giving you a toy or something when they're crying. Seeing Halley's reaction to meeting Michael showed Howie and I that having two kids that close in age can be a good thing."

The waitress brought their meals and the conversation took a lighter turn. "You mentioned you found out the gender. Is it a boy or a girl?"

Amy finished chewing the bite of food she had just taken before answering her friend. "As you know, the doctor said Katie was a boy when they did the first scan, then we had to get the 3-D scan after the second one. Sheldon insisted we get a 3-D scan right away before we told anyone that it's a boy."

"Aw," gasped Bernadette. "Just wait until the first time he sprays Sheldon during a diaper change. Howie screamed like a little girl the first time it happened with Michael."

"I've already warned him about that. It only took one time of that happening with Max for me to quickly learn to cover him up."


Max looked over his shoulder when he heard the front door open. "Hi, mom. Hey, Katie," he greeted the people who entered the house. "Where's dad?"

"He's staying late to work on something with Leonard, so it's just us for dinner tonight. What do you feel like?"

"I know what I want," the thirteen-year-old stood from where he had been playing on his laptop. "I'm going to make dinner tonight."

Amy smiled at her son, who seemed more grown-up each day. "That'd be nice. Thank you." She settled at the kitchen table, watching Max pull items from the cabinet while Katie busied herself at the play kitchen in the corner of the room. Max filled a pot with water and was working on adding the hotdogs he had cut to the pan of spaghetti sauce before Amy spoke again. "How's school? How are your friends?"

"School's school. There's a dance in January. I think I'm going to go. A lot of my friends want to go, so we're all going together. No one's having dates or anything like that. I don't think dad would be able to handle it if I were to start dating, besides, I'm not ready for that yet," the eighth-grader shared while stirring the food on the stove in front of him.

"I don't think I'm ready for that, either," Amy rested her head on her hand.

Max accepted the play food Katie handed him and pretended to eat it before handing it back to the toddler. "Are you okay, mom? If you want to go to bed early, I can get her ready for bed tonight."

"I appreciate the offer," Amy pulled her daughter onto her lap from where she was standing next to her. "But, I'm okay, just tired. I had lunch with Bernadette today and I had a lot to catch up on when I got back to still be able to pick Katie up from daycare on time."

Setting the table, Max watched his mother's face before saying anything again. "Okay, well my offer is still available if you change your mind."

"I think a nice evening with my kids is exactly what I need. I'm sure I'll feel much better in the morning." Amy looked at the plate of spaghetti with hot dogs her son had placed in front of her. "This looks good. Thanks again for offering to make dinner. I don't know how I got so lucky with you being such a great kid."


This is about the halfway point of this story. I've got it outlined for 43 chapters and have several ready to go right now, but I'll still continue updating every few days like I have been. I'm still working on the one shots for The Max Moments, so if you have ideas for one shots, let me know (I know all the one shots have been with just Max, but I've got a few ideas for ones including Katie and the new baby, so I'm open to suggestions including them.) Thanks again for continuing the read.