Marie and Stephen age 5
Amelia age 2
A rumble of thunder woke Amy up from her restless sleep. She tried to bury her head in the pillow to drown out the noise of the storm outside, but she had no such luck. She looked at the clock on her nightstand, 12:58, and rolled over to face her husband. "Sheldon" she hissed poking his side, "You awake?" she asked
"The correct way of asking is are you awake. But yes, I can't sleep with that God-awful thunder." He said turning to face her
"It's sounding kinda scary" she said moving closer to him
"Amy" he chastised, "you're a scientist you know that thunder is nothing more than the rapid expansion of air caused by increased pressure and temperature from lightning" he said with an arrogant tone. After he finished the dark room was momentarily filled with a bright flash of light followed by a cracking sound.
"Sheldon" she whimpered moving to bury her face in his chest. He placed an arm around her to pull her closer to him. "It's alright. Sheldon's here"
She pulled back to look at him, "Are you seriously telling me this isn't the least bit frightening"
"I already told you Amy, I'm a scientist. I know the cause and effect of thunder and lightning. It's not that scary-" he couldn't help but jump at the next flash of lightning.
"Thought you weren't scared?"
"I'm not, it just caught me off guard"
"Maybe you should check on the kids. Well the girls, I'm sure Stephen's still fast asleep. That boy could sleep through an earthquake."
"I wonder where he got that from" Sheldon teased getting out of bed, "Aren't you coming?" he asked
"Oh no. I'm going to wait for you to come back" she said pulling the covers up to her chin. "Fine" Sheldon sighed shuffling out of the bedroom.
He pushed the door to Amelia's room open. "Daddy!" she shouted her green eyes wide. He walked closer to her bed, "Are you scared Amelia?"
She shook her head, "Teddy" she said lifting up the bear to Sheldon. He took it from her, "Is teddy scared?" he asked. She nodded her head.
"What about you?" he asked. Another flash of lightning brightened the room. In the moment of light Sheldon could see tears running down Amelia's face, "How about daddy holds you and teddy" he offered lifting her out of bed. She buried her face into his neck. "We have to go check on your brother and sister" he said walking out the room.
"To be honest daddy's a little scared too, but don't tell mommy" he said opening the door to Stephen's room. Just as Amy predicted, he was fast asleep, his covers pooled at his waist. Sheldon softly closed the door and moved towards Marie's room, mentally cursing the day they decided to put the twins in separate rooms.
Marie met Sheldon at the door clutching her Ewok bear, a gift from Wolowitz to celebrate her Star Wars birth date. "What are you doing out of bed?" he asked
" I heard voices"
"Are you scared? You can come back to bed with me and momma" he offered
"I'm not scared" she said hesitantly
Sheldon raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"
"Yes daddy" she responded clutching the bear tighter to her chest.
"Alright well good night" he said closing back the door and going back to his room. He left the door open just incase. Lightning brightened the room again. "Mommy" Amelia squealed wiggling out of Sheldon's arms to run towards the bed. Amy lifted her up and cuddled the toddler to her chest.
"The twins?" she asked
"Stephen's asleep and Marie said she wasn't scared" Sheldon said climbing into bed
"Really? Was she just doing her tough act again?" Amy asked. This wasn't the first time any of the kids did that, like Sheldon they hated to admit feelings.
"Daddy scared" Amelia said from her position between her parents
"That was supposed to be between you and I young lady" Sheldon complained as Amy giggled.
The sound of thunder had Amelia burying her face in her mother's chest. "Maybe you should just go get Marie" Amy suggested
Before Sheldon could respond they heard a soft "Daddy" coming from the doorway. They both turned to see Marie standing there still clutching her bear with one hand, her other hand gripping her half-asleep brother. "Stephen was scared. So I brought him here" she said
"Really?" Amy asked
"Yeah" she said walking into the room with Stephen stumbling behind her, "He woke me up. He was crying a little" she said as she crawled in bed next to her mother. Amy could see tear marks on her face in the dim light. "Well it's a good thing you brought him before anything happened" Amy said running her hand through Marie's hair.
Sheldon glanced over at Stephen who looked like he was 2 seconds away from falling back asleep on the floor. "Stephen" Sheldon called out while snapping his fingers trying to get his attention, "come to bed"
He walked to his father's side of the bed and crawled in. He shifted and wiggled for a few seconds trying to get comfortable, before finally going back to sleep on his father's chest. He looked over to see Amelia had fallen back asleep as well, with Amy and Marie not too far behind. His shifted under Stephen. 'This will not be comfortable for me' he thought as lightning filled the room again.