Standing on the deck, overlooking his backyard, Sheldon smiled to himself as he observed his friends and family who had gathered to celebrate his youngest son's high school graduation. "Stop, Auntie Katie," he heard his five-year-old grandson John squeal, trying to escape his daughter's tickles. Spotting Sheldon nearby, he ran towards the physicist, "Pop-Pop, help!"
"What do you need help with?" He asked, scooping up the boy.
"Auntie Katie is tickling me," John replied, still laughing while his aunt ran towards the pair.
Katie had just finished her second year of college at the University of Nebraska and was home for the summer. Sheldon wasn't sure how many more summers she would be spending at home and was loving having her home again, even if only for a few months. "I missed you while I was at school, John. I was just making up for all the tickles I couldn't give you while I was far away," she stated before turning her attention to her father. "Is it alright if I borrow your car later? Some friends and I want to go out. Mom said Leo's party will probably be wrapping up sometime early evening."
Nodding his head, Sheldon set his grandson next to him and answered his daughter, "Anything for you, Katie Beth. Just…."
"Be careful, I know," the young woman interjected. "No drinking. Wear my seatbelt and fill the gas if it's going to be less than a quarter of a tank left. Same rules as I've had since I got my license. Do you think Leo is ever gonna get his license?"
Sheldon shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe? I don't know. He asked if he could get it a few weeks ago, but he hasn't mentioned it since. Mom and I are okay with it; we told him he just has to tell us when he wants to learn and mom will teach him, just like she taught you and Max."
Katie noticed Halley across the yard and made her way towards her best friend, passing Amy who was making her way to the trash can with an empty plate in her hand. "Hey, what are you doing up here?" She asked, noticing Sheldon had resumed his position of leaning against the railing surrounding the deck, with John standing next to him.
"Pop-Pop is watching, so I am, too," their grandson answered.
"And what are you watching?"
The boy started listing what he saw, "I see mommy and daddy and baby Grace," he mentioned his new little sister, "I also see Uncle Raj and Uncle Howard and Aunt Bernie. Uncle Leonard and Aunt Penny are over by Rory and Michael. Katie just went back by Halley. I don't see Aunt Missy or Uncle Georgie."
"You can see just about everything from up here, can't you?" She asked the boy. "I think your mom has the rest of your food. I heard there's going to be cake in a little while. You better go finish your lunch if you want cake." After their grandson ran towards his parents, Amy turned her attention to her husband. "You needed a minute, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I was bringing my plate to the trash and saw it was pretty full, so I finished changing it out and was watching everyone before heading back to the table," Sheldon pulled Amy close to his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Thank you, Amy." Seeing her questioning expression, he continued, "For this. For my family."
Leaning into her husband's side, Amy looked up at him, "I should be thanking you. I wouldn't have any of this if it weren't for you. You gave a single mom a chance and ended up giving me a family. I was happy to just have Max, but you made me want more. I love you."
"Mom!" Amy turned her attention to the voice yelling at her from across the yard. "Can we have cake?" Leo continued to yell.
"I'll start cutting the cake and passing it out. Take another minute, then come join us," Amy stepped away from Sheldon and made her way across the yard.
Following the passing out of cake, Sheldon joined his family and was sitting near the end of the long table that had been set up in the backyard. Max vacated the seat next to his father to take care of his newborn daughter, Grace. Spying the empty chair, Missy quickly moved in. "Hey, Shelly."
"How many times do I have to ask you to not call me that?" The man rolled his eyes.
"Sorry, Sheldon," she apologized to her twin brother. "You've been quiet all day. Care to share what you're thinking about?"
Looking at his sister, Sheldon sensed she was genuinely curious. "Do you remember the graduation party we had? I had graduated high school and you were finishing elementary school? Tam was there, and Meemaw invited Dale."
"And he wanted to pray before we had the cake," Missy reminisced. "Who does that? Who prays before cake at a party?"
"That's exactly what I thought that day. I thought that was the best graduation party I had ever been to, granted I had never been to any graduation parties before that, but mom was so happy that day."
Chuckling, Missy continued to think back on the day. "That was a pretty good day. One of the last times I can remember all of us being together and everyone was getting along. Dad and Meemaw weren't bickering. Georgie wasn't saying anything stupid and pissing off mom and dad. I have to agree that that might be the best graduation party ever."
"Mine's better, though, right, dad?" Leo interjected into the conversation, having just heard the last few sentences.
"Yes, Leo, your graduation party today is even better than mine and Missy's. I promised you would have the best graduation party ever at Max's graduation party and that's exactly what we're doing," Sheldon smiled at his son.
This is the end of the Max Universe. Thanks for following along and reviewing. What started as an idea from ShamyShenanigan's Big Prompt Theory has turned into 3 stories and over 100,000 words. I definitely did not expect it to turn into this when I started an idea I couldn't get out of my head last year.
