"Would you sit down?" Gabby complained to Max. "At least give me John, you're gonna make him sick pacing back and forth like that. I just got him cleaned up. The last thing I want is to him spit up all over his new outfit."

Max looked at his three-day-old son in his arms. "I just can't believe he's home. My parents should be here any minute. They were picking up Katie and Leo from school on their way. I told them it was okay to bring them, I guess I should have checked with you it was okay for them to come, too."

Smiling at her husband, Gabby commented, "They're your brother and sister. Of course, it's okay they come. I'm sure they're excited to meet their nephew."

"Is it weird that Leo is only twelve and is an uncle? I was twelve when Katie was born." Hearing footsteps and chatter outside their apartment door, Max grinned. "They're here. Take John while I let them in. I don't want them to overwhelm him the second I open the door." Passing their son to his wife, Max took a breath before opening the door. "Hi everyone."

"Can I hold the baby?" twelve-year-old Leo asked without returning his brother's greeting.

Gabby motioned for the preteen to join her on the couch, "Come sit by me, Leo, and you can hold him." The boy settled next to his sister-in-law before being passed his new nephew. "Leo, this is John. We've told him all about you and how you'll teach him everything he'll ever want to know about dinosaurs."

Amy watched her youngest child hold her first grandchild and fought back tears, which did not go unnoticed by Sheldon. Whispering, he asked her, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she nodded as Katie started asking for a turn holding the newest member of the family.

"You have to sit down, Katie," Max directed his sister while lifting the infant from his brother. "John, this is your Aunt Katie. I think she's been more excited about your arrival than anyone else." Stepping back from the couch, Max joined his parents in watching his siblings meet his son. "Penny asked when she and Leonard can come over. I told them you were stopping on your way home from work and they were welcome to stop anytime, but I wanted you to be the first to meet John."

"I can babysit anytime you want," Katie volunteered once her nephew was in her arms.

Gabby smiled, "Thanks, Katie. We won't be needing a babysitter anytime soon since we're both off work for a while, but we'll keep that in mind when we do need someone to watch him."

"I can babysit, too," Leo chimed in.

Looking up from her nephew, Katie made eye contact with her parents. "Do you want to hold him, mom?"

"I've been waiting for this moment since Gabby and Max told us they were pregnant," answered Amy, reaching for the newborn. She quickly snuggled her grandson to her chest. "Hi, John. I am so happy you're finally here. Sheldon, look at him," she looked up at her husband, who had been standing over her, watching the interaction.

Not taking their grandson from his wife, Sheldon placed his hand on the baby's head, "You've got the best Meemaw ever, John. She's going to spoil you so much. I will, too, but we'll keep that between us." Amy began to shift John to Sheldon, once he was situated in Sheldon's arms, the physicist's face softened. "Hi, John. I'm your Pop-Pop."

"Dad," Max interrupted the quiet that had fallen over the room, "There's something Gabby & I wanted to wait to tell you about John. Gabby's family always names the first grandson after one of the grandfathers. While Gabby's dad is a great guy, we weren't thrilled with the idea of naming our son Erwin, so we decided to name him after you. John's full name is John Sheldon Cooper. I felt there was only room in the world for one Sheldon Cooper, so we chose to use it as his middle name."

Gasping, Sheldon repeated, "John Sheldon. That's a big name, little man. I know you'll have no problem living up to it."

A knock on the door interrupted the moment between the new grandfather and grandson. Max opened the door to Leonard, Penny, and Rory on the other side. John made his way to Penny before growing fussy from the new people cooing over him. "I'm gonna feed him," Gabby announced, lifting her son from the blonde.

"We should head home," replied Leonard, motioning towards the door to his wife and son. "Don't forget. You can call us for anything. I know you've got Sheldon and Amy, but we're just down the street."

Amy noticed how tired her son and daughter-in-law looked, "We're gonna head out, too. Hopefully, John sleeps better than you did when I first brought you home. I'll stop by tomorrow. Let me know if you need anything."


The Cooper family returned home and spent their dinner discussing John and asking when they could see him again. Amy was finishing clearing the table after Katie and Leo had left when she noticed Sheldon was being quieter than expected given the events of the day. Abandoning the dishes, she took a seat next to him. "You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about John and how much I wish Meemaw and Pop-Pop and my mom and dad could meet him. They would all love him so much," Sheldon quietly thought aloud.

Amy shifted her chair closer to her husband and leaned her head against his shoulder while reaching for his hand. "He might never meet them, but you're right that they would love him so much. Think about how excited Meemaw was the first time she met Max, I'm sure she would be even more excited to meet John."

"My mom knew she was going to be a great-grandma. Max and Gabby didn't tell us she was pregnant until after mom's funeral, but she knew. One of the last things she said to me when I was with her in Texas was to spoil that baby. I thought she was confused at the time, but now I think she was talking about John."

"Do you think Max and Gabby told her before the rest of us?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Sheldon leaned back in his chair. "Maybe. I don't know. I don't want to ask them, either. I haven't told anyone what my mom and I talked about that week before now. Not even when Missy and Georgie asked me if mom was saying anything, I'd tell them she was just sleeping."

Pulling Sheldon into a hug, Amy smiled at him, "Your mom and dad may not have been able to meet John, but he's going to have the best Pop-Pop ever because of them."