"Surprise!" The room erupted when the guest of honor entered the room.

Putting her hands to her chest, Mary Cooper remarked, "Oh, my. What is all of this?"

"Happy birthday, grandma," eight-year-old Leo stated, looking back at Amy who nodded. "Momma had me practice that."

"Aw, I love this," Mary hugged the boy and looked around the room at her family who put together a party for her eightieth birthday. "Did you guys know you'd be back so soon when you were here for Christmas? That was hardly two weeks ago when you left."

Missy handed her mother a beverage. "Amy and I got to talking about your birthday when they were here for Christmas. I mentioned how I wanted to do something special for you. It was Amy's idea that they come back and we have a small party for you. Georgie was on board as long as he didn't have to do anything besides show up. Shelly, on the other hand, took a bit more convincing to come back out here after they were just here, but we eventually wore him down."

"Max, didn't you start classes again earlier this week?" Mary noticed her oldest grandson had been standing off to the side of the room.

Max smiled and approached his grandmother to hug her. "Yeah. I flew in this morning and I fly back tomorrow afternoon. Mom and Aunt Missy said you'd understand if I couldn't make it, but I wanted to be here. Don't worry, me being here now doesn't change my plans to come visit with Gabby over spring break," he referenced his girlfriend of a year. "She wanted to come now; it took a bit of convincing that she would have a better time waiting until spring to meet you."

"Well, thank you, everyone, for coming to celebrate me being an old lady," joked Mary. "Now parties usually have cake and I would love some right about now."


Following cake and the opening of the few presents Mary received, the family relaxed around Missy's house. Sheldon and Amy were sitting near the food spread on the counter between the kitchen and living room, watching the interactions happening around them. "I love how well Leo is getting along with Matthew," Amy mentioned, taking note of her youngest son playing with Missy's youngest, who was a year younger than Leo.

"Missy mentioned he'd been asking when he can play with Leo again since we left after Christmas. I told her she can always bring the boys to California. They've never been. I think they'd like it. We could go to Disneyland and Legoland," Sheldon thought aloud.

Amy tilted her and studied her husband's face, "Really? You want her to bring all four of her boys to visit us? That is something I never thought I'd hear you suggest."

"Yeah," he shrugged his shoulders, attempting to brush off Amy's disbelief at his suggestion. "Leo and Matthew love playing together. Aiden is seventeen now and was asking Max about college at Christmas. We could show him around CalTech; Max can tell him more about San Diego. Besides, Missy loves spending time with Katie. I think she wishes she'd had a girl instead of all boys. Look at the two of them," Sheldon motioned across the room, where Katie was sitting on the floor while her aunt played with her hair.

"I guess you're right. I'm sure we'll figure something out for them to all come visit. I know your mom doesn't like traveling alone anymore, maybe she can come, too."

Amy and Sheldon's conversation was interrupted when Katie ran over to them, "Dad, I want you to take me out for dinner."

"There's plenty of food here, Katie Beth. Help yourself to whatever you want," the physicist answered.

"Not right now, dad," the nine-year-old rolled her eyes. "Aunt Missy was telling me about the time she and grandpa George got all dressed up and he took her to Red Lobster. I want to do that with you. It sounds fun."

Sheldon let out a sigh, shooting his twin sister a look from across the room. Seeing his sister grin and wave in response, he answered his daughter. "Sure. We can pick a night when we get home to go out to dinner, just the two of us."

"Thanks, Dad," Katie threw her arms around him in a hug before shouting across the room, "It worked, Aunt Missy."


Two weeks later, Sheldon was straightening his tie in the mirror when Amy entered the bathroom behind him. "You look good. Thank you for agreeing to do this with her."

"When she was born, you told me that she had me wrapped around her little finger the moment I saw her and that I would do anything for her. You were right, Amy," Sheldon bent to kiss his wife on the cheek. "Is she ready to go?"

"Yep," Amy nodded as she spoke. "She insisted on putting on one of her nicest dresses. She wanted me to buy her a brand-new dress, but I was able to talk her out of that. You better get going, you don't want to keep your date waiting."

The pair made their way to the restaurant of Katie's choosing and were enjoying their meal when Katie began questioning Sheldon. "Dad, why do you always call me Katie Beth when everyone else just calls me Katie?"

Sheldon smiled at the girl's question. "Before you were born, I was insistent that you not be called anything besides Kathryn. You were about a month old when I went back to work after you were born. I was holding you that evening and your mom pointed out that I'd been calling you Katie Beth a lot, considering I wanted you to only be called Kathryn. That's when everyone else started calling you Katie, but I was the only one to call you Katie Beth all the time."

"Oh, okay," the girl took another bite of the pasta in front of her.

"Do you not like when I call you Katie Beth?" Sheldon questioned his daughter.

Katie shook her head, "No, I was just wondering. There's something else I was wondering about. I have a question about Max."

"What do you want to know about Max?"

"How come Max is twenty-two, but you & mom have only been married for twelve years? Are you not Max's real dad? Or does he have a different mom?"

Sheldon choked on the water he had just taken a drink of. "Oh, Katie Beth. Your mom and I knew it was only a matter of time before you or Leo asked this and we wouldn't be able to brush it off like we did when you were little. I think this is a conversation your mother should be there for. What do you say we order dessert and head home to talk with her?"

A grin spread across the girl's face. "Can I get the lava cake?"


"We're home. Can we talk with momma now?" Katie excitedly asked, entering the front door of the Cooper house.

"Go upstairs and get ready for bed. We'll be up in a few minutes to answer any questions you have," Sheldon nudged his daughter towards the staircase as Amy looked on. Setting down her tablet, Amy questioned her husband with her eyes. Knowing what she was asking, Sheldon sat next to her in the living room. "Katie asked about our relationship and Max at dinner. Specifically, she asked why Max is twenty-two, but we've only been married for twelve years. She asked if I'm not his real dad or if he has a different mom. I thought you should be there to help me explain everything to her."

"I'm sure you would have been fine. You've always answered her questions well in the past. We knew she or Leo would ask about it eventually," Amy put her hand on top of Sheldon's thigh. He placed his hand on top of hers, intertwining their fingers as Amy continued to speak. "I guess we should get up there before she comes asking what's taking us so long."

Amy knocked on her daughter's bedroom door and the couple was quickly invited in. The nine-year-old was settled on her bed, with her favorite blanket spread over her and her Spock monkey within reach. "Hey, your dad mentioned you had some questions about him and I and Max. We've always said we'll answer any questions you have, so what's on your mind?"

The girl played with the hem of her blanket as she spoke, "I was thinking how come Max is twenty-two, but you and dad have only been married for twelve years. Aren't you supposed to be married before having a baby?"

Glancing back at Sheldon, who sat on the side of the bed, Amy took a breath. "That's what daddy told me you asked about. I guess we should start at the beginning," she shrugged, knowing this could be a long conversation. "I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but then a lot of the people I went to school with were getting married and having babies, while I wasn't even dating anyone. Grandma was so worried about my lack of a dating life, we made an agreement that I'd go on at least one date a year."

"Is that how you and daddy met?" Katie asked, looking between her parents.

"No," Sheldon simply answered the question. "Momma really wanted to be a mom and I wanted to help someone have a baby, so we both went to a doctor that helps people have babies. I filled out a bunch of information about me that mom saw and decided she wanted me to be the one to help her have a baby."

The answer to Katie's question was not as simple as she thought it would be. Sighing, she asked, "Did you meet at the doctor's office?"

Amy shook her head. "No, we didn't meet at the doctor's office. I didn't know the name of the person I chose to be Max's dad. While I loved being Max's mom, my mom still encouraged me to try dating and would watch Max if I wanted to go on a date. I signed up for an online dating site when he was about two. Raj and Howard decided to sign daddy up for the same site and that's how we met."

"I didn't even really know about Max until we'd known each other for a few months," Sheldon interjected.

Katie interrupted her parents' story, "Did she lie to you about Max?"

Shaking his head, Sheldon continued, "No, she mentioned him in her online profile and when we'd been talking on the phone, but we didn't have a serious conversation about her being his mom for a few months. We'd known each other for almost a year before I finally met Max, and it was even longer before I started to spend a lot of time with him. After a few more years, I shared with your mom that I once went to the doctor to help someone have a baby. We figured out we went to the same doctor and she asked if we could find out if I was the person she had picked when she had Max."

"And you were?" The little girl's eyes grew wide as a smile spread across her face.

"He was," Amy smiled at her daughter and husband. "And that's how we became a family. We got married a few years after we found out he was Max's dad, and a few years after that, we had you, then Leo."

"I love that story," Katie beamed at her parents.

Returning his daughter's smile, Sheldon commented, "I do, too."

The trio sat quietly on Katie's bed for a few minutes until Amy broke the silence. "It's way past your bedtime. I think it's about time to turn off the light and say goodnight."

"Okay," Katie snuggled down into her blankets and clutched her monkey tight to her. "Good night. Thank you for telling me that story."

"Good night, Katie Beth. We love you," Sheldon replied as Amy kissed their daughter's forehead.