"I'm home," Max announced, entering the living room and finding it empty. Looking for Sheldon and his siblings, he made his way upstairs, finding the trio in the bedroom across the hall from his. "Hey, sorry I'm late. Stuart asked if I would stay and help him finish closing up tonight. He wanted to take Denise out. He said something about their anniversary next week and not having a babysitter then. I figured you wouldn't mind since it's the weekend and I'd still be home before curfew."
Sheldon looked up from where he was sitting on the floor with his youngest children. "That's okay. We're having a bit of a rough bedtime tonight."
Max took in the scene in front of him and saw Sheldon was positioned between the two beds in the room, with four-year-old Katie and almost three-year-old Leo looking like they had been crying. "What's wrong?"
"We want momma," his little sister replied between sniffles. "She always tucks us in and she isn't here tonight."
"You know what they need, dad. It makes everything better," the sixteen-year-old prompted his father.
Shaking his head, Sheldon disagreed, "No. That's only for when someone is sick. They aren't sick. They just miss Amy. We already FaceTimed her and that helped a little, but then the tears started again after we read their bedtime story."
The toddlers looked between their father and brother. "Please, daddy?" Leo whined, causing Katie to chime in with, "Kitty makes everything better."
"Fine, but only if that helps you go to sleep," Sheldon ceded before starting to quietly sing. "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur. Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr."
Noting the little kids were snuggling in under their blankets and clutching the monkeys he had gotten them from the zoo when they were born, Max grinned at Sheldon, "See. I told you it would work." Bending over to kiss Katie and Leo goodnight, Max was stopped by Katie.
"Did daddy sing you that a lot when you were little?"
Max sat on the edge of his sister's bed and shook his head, "Not nearly as much as he sings it to you, but I do remember the first time he sang it to me."
The little girl's green eyes lit up, "Really? I don't remember when the first time was he sang it to me."
"Yep. It was just before Christmas when I was four years old, so the same age as you. Momma and I were both really sick. We were supposed to go out with dad for the day, but mom forgot to let him know we were too sick to go out and he still came over to our apartment. He spent the day taking care of us. I woke up and mom was asleep on the couch. He got me more juice and took me back to bed. He read me a few books and sang Soft Kitty to me for the first time. I felt a lot better when I woke up."
Sheldon smiled at his son, "I remember that day. That was when I realized I loved your mother and you. It took me a long time to tell her, but I knew that weekend that she was the love of my life. I usually ran away when someone close to me was sick out of fear of getting sick myself, but I knew you and your mother needed me, no matter how much your mother insisted she was fine by herself."
"Why didn't daddy live you and momma?" Katie questioned between yawns, struggling to stay awake, while Leo was already snoring softly.
"That's a story for another day," Sheldon answered.
Katie looked at her father, "Will you tell me tomorrow?"
Chuckling, Max replied, "We'll tell you all about why dad didn't live with me and mom when I was little when you're older, like in a few years. It's a long story, but it's also the reason we're a family today."
"Okay," the little girl replied, closing her eyes.
Sheldon stood from his spot between the beds and kissed both children good night. "Good night, Leo. Good night, Katie Beth. I love you both more than you'll ever know."
The pair exited the little kids' bedroom and made their way downstairs. "Thank you for answering when Katie asked about why I didn't live with you and your mother when you were little. I wasn't sure what to say, but you gave her the perfect answer," Sheldon put his arm around his son's shoulders after they sat on the couch.
Max leaned his head against Sheldon's shoulder and shrugged, "I just told her the truth. I know I wouldn't have understood everything if you and mom told me you were my dad when I was four. I struggled to understand it when you did tell me and I was seven then."
"When your mom gets home tomorrow afternoon, I want the three of us to sit down and figure out what we want to tell Katie and Leo and when. They have a right to know, I don't want to keep anything from them. I hated the few weeks that Amy and I knew before we told you," Sheldon thought aloud.
"Okay, but I don't think we need to have some sort of family meeting to tell them. I think if we just answer their questions with appropriate responses for what they'll understand, everything will be fine. They'll learn everything in time."
Sheldon looked at his son. "I guess you're right. They're both smart kids. They'll get it if we tell them in ways they'll understand, but I still want to talk with your mom when she gets back about this."
Reaching for the remote, Max rolled his eyes, "She's going to say the same thing, dad."
