I feel like I haven't updated in years. School has been crazy these past few weeks. And due to some serious writer's block, I couldn't finish the previous chapter, which is terrible because I left it on a cliffhanger. I promise I would finish it; I just don't know when. I have dozens of half-written one shots that I would try to post soon.
Marie and Stephen age 5
Amelia age 2
"I wish you were here" Sheldon mumbled
"I know. But I'll be back soon"
Sheldon made a face, "You'll be back on Sunday, it's Thursday"
"I'm sorry. It just wouldn't have been right to bring the kids and you to New Jersey for a conference"
"I just don't know if I could handle another day of doing hair"
"It's easy. You could always ask Penny for help." She squinted as Sheldon moved his head, "Are you using headphones?" she asked
"I had no choice" he said.
Before Amy could ask why, he moved the phone so she could see the bed. Stephen was sleeping haphazardly on the other end one of his legs across Marie's midsection, who somehow still managed to be sound asleep with her teddy bear clutched to her chest, and Amelia who was half on Sheldon and hallway on the bed. Her hand tightly holding a fistful of his pajama top.
Amy chuckled softly, "I was wondering why you were whispering"
Sheldon ran a hand on his face and sighed, "It's just that Amelia was crying so I brought her here and then Marie didn't want to be left out, so she woke up Stephen and dragged him here and now I'm lying on the edge of my own bed"
Amy's face fell, "She cried again?"
Sheldon mentally hit himself, "It wasn't crying really, more like umm fussing."
Amy buried her face in her hands, "God, I'm a terrible mother. This is the second night she cried. Maybe I should just come home early"
"Amy, no. I'll be fine. We'll be fine. And you're not a terrible mother because you had to work"
"I know, but she cried because I wasn't there"
"You'll be back soon and then-" Sheldon stopped and held his breath as Amelia shifted. She turned and buried her head into his chest
"I should let you go to sleep" Amy said, "It's late and I have to be up early"
"Okay. I love you" Sheldon whispered
"I love you too" she said before she ended the call.
Sheldon sighed and tried to lean over to his bedside table to put his phone to charge, only for Marie to turn and grab his arm. 'This is going to be an uncomfortable night.
"Momma" Stephen squealed when Amy called the next morning
"Hey baby. Why do you have daddy's phone?"
"He's giving Lia a bath. Look I dressed myself" he said with a toothy grin before moving the phone to show Amy his outfit
Amy raised her eyebrow as she took in her son's outfit of choice; a green and yellow shirt and purple pants. "That's a lot of colors Stephen"
"I know. Daddy said I look great"
"I'm sure he did-" Amy's sentence was cut off by a high pitched squeal followed by Sheldon shouting "Amelia! Get back here!"
Stephen ran out of his parent's room to see what was going on while still holding the phone, giving Amy the view of his feet. From the angle Stephen had the phone she could see Amelia run past still screaming happily.
'Was she? Yep. She's naked' Amy concluded after seeing her run past again. Sheldon was running after her holding an open towel, and Marie running after him "Lia! Stop running!"
Amy shook her head as Stephen cheered when Sheldon tripped and fell and Marie fell on top of him. Amelia came to a stop in front of the phone in her brother's hand.
"Momma?"
"Hey Lia" Amy said with a laugh as Stephen straightened the phone so she could see better, "Why are you running?"
She just giggled in response causing Amy to laugh. Sheldon sneaked up behind her and wrapped her in the towel, "Gotcha"
Amelia pouted and looked at her father with big, pleading eyes, "Don't look at me like that. You need to get dressed. We're already 10 minutes behind schedule" He said before carrying her to her room to get dressed. He didn't realize that Amy was on the phone.
"Stephen" Amy called out, "Go help daddy like how you usually help me" Stephen nodded before running in the direction of his father. He dropped the phone on the bed and entertained his younger sister, so she could stay partially still while Sheldon dressed her.
Sheldon turned wildly when he heard his name being called. He looked down to see Amy's smirking face on the phone next to him. "Were you there the whole time?"
"Yep. Saw the whole thing. Next time close the bathroom door, it gives you a few seconds before she runs out"
"I will take that into consideration next time. Did you send Stephen in here?" he asked and Amy only nodded in response, "I thought you had an early morning presentation?"
"I do. I was just calling to see how things were going"
"It's going as expected. I have no idea how you do this almost every morning. I didn't even get a good night's sleep"
"I'm sorry. I'll try to come home as soon as possible"
Before Sheldon could respond, Marie came into the room, "Daddy, you have to fix my hair"
"I know but I'm-"
"We're going to be late" Marie said before stalking out the bedroom
Amy chuckled, "she gets that from you. I better get going before she has a meltdown. I'll talk to you later" she said before ending the call
Marie stomped back in the room, "Daddy! My hair!"
"I'm coming" he sighed standing up from the bed
"How are we doing this?" Sheldon asked looking at Marie's reflection in the mirror
"You gotta brush it, then part it and put the hair clip in"
The brushing was successful. The parting could have been done a bit better, but he still tried his best. The hair clip was a different story, he couldn't get it to stay no matter how hard he tried, it kept falling.
"Daddy" Marie whined, "Why can't you do it"
"I'm trying Marie, I'm trying"
"Just leave it" she huffed, "we're late, you're still in your pjs" she said taking the clip out of her hair and leaving Sheldon alone in the bathroom
Sheldon glared at the hair clip, "Two doctorates and I can't even get this thing to stay" he grumbled. By the time he got out of the bathroom Amelia had somehow stripped to her underwear and was running through the rooms.
Sheldon groaned. "How did Amy do this every morning"
"You're late again" Leonard commented as he watched Sheldon try and fail to get Amelia out of the car
Sheldon glared at him, "You don't think I know that" he turned back to Amelia, "Amelia, we have to go, Daddy has to unlock the secrets of the universe."
"No" she shrieked kicking her legs, causing Sheldon to groan again.
Leonard felt sorry for his friend, he opened the car door on the other side, "Hey Lia, wanna go play?"
She nodded, so Leonard helped her out of the booster seat. He scooped her onto his shoulders causing her to squeal. Sheldon grumbled and grabbed hos bag and Amelia's bag and followed his friend and daughter.
"I bet you can't wait for Amy to come home"
"I've been wanting her back since she left Wednesday night"
"She'll be back soon buddy"
"She will be back on Sunday. That is not soon"
"I know. I don't know what I would do if Penny left for that long, and I only have one"
"That's not helping" Sheldon grumbled.
"Daddy are you going to make us smoothies?" Stephen asked when they were finally home
"Smoothies?"
"Yeah. Momma makes us smoothies every Friday" Marie added
Sheldon rubbed his forehead. He was exhausted and really frustrated. "Do you know how to make it?"
"Yes, we help momma all the time"
"Fine, how bad can it be?"
Amy paid the cab driver and took her bag from the trunk. She was able to shift some presentations around and come home earlier than planned. She could see lights on, so she knew they were still up.
She opened the front door and was met with silence. "Sheldon?" she almost went upstairs but there were no lights on up there, but there was a light on in the kitchen. "Sheldon?"
A drop of liquid fell and hit her arm. She looked up. Was that smoothie? What is it doing on the ceiling? She walked closer to the kitchen island, where the open blender still rested. She looked at a partially cut banana covered in red. Is that…blood?
"Sheldon?!"
Amy rushed into the emergency room. "I'm looking for my son" she said to the nurse at the front desk
"Name?"
"He's Stephen Cooper, I'm Amy Fowler-Cooper"
"You're alive?" the nurse asked with disbelief
"Last time I checked"
"I'm sorry, she just made it seem, never mind" she stepped out from behind the desk, "I'll show you where they are. Stephen only needed about 2 stitches"
"Stitches? What happened?
"I think your husband is conscious now, he should be able to explain"
Amy was struggling to keep up with the nurse, "What the hell happened?"
"I'm not too sure myself. Something about smoothies" she said stopping at a door, "I guess they'll be happy to see you" she said before leaving.
Amy pushed open the door and saw Stephen reaching for a crayon, his index finger on his left hand covered in a bandage. Sheldon was sitting up in bed looking at them through half opened eyes. Amelia was the first to notice her
"Momma" she screamed rushing towards the door and wrapping her arms around Amy's legs. The twins were not too far behind.
Amy stumbled through the door checking the kids for any additional cuts, "Sheldon, what happened?"
"We were supposed to make their weekly smoothies" he said tiredly
"Weekly? I make it when they behave well" she said turning to look at the twins. Stephen hung his head, "But we did behave good. I even helped with Lia" he muttered
Amy shook her head, "Making smoothie did not bring all of you to the hospital. So what happened?" She asked Sheldon again
"We were going to make smoothies" he said again
Sheldon put the blender closer to the edge of the island so the twins could reach it. "What kind of smoothie do you want?"
"Pink" Amelia said from her place near his legs
"She means strawberry" Marie said
"I'll get the bananas" Stephen said before moving to the other part of the kitchen.
"The strawberries are on the 2nd shelf in the freezer daddy" Marie said while trying to plug in the blender
"Let me do it" Sheldon said taking the plug from her. Stephen gave the bananas to his father so he could rest it on the counter and climbed onto the stool. Sheldon brought over the strawberries and a knife to cut the bananas.
"I can cut it" Stephen said reaching for the knife
Sheldon pulled it back, "I would rather you not cut yourself. You can put the strawberries in with your sisters" he turned to see Marie trying to climb on another stool with a carton of milk. Sheldon helped her pour it into the blender and she and Stephen put strawberries in.
"Where's Amelia" Sheldon muttered. He turned to see her climbing onto the counter trying to reach the cookies "Amelia! No!" he shouted the same time as Marie turned on the blender – without the cover, causing pink liquid to spray all over.
Sheldon scooped Amelia in his arms and handed her a cookie, this was going to be a terrible mess to clean. "How about you go watch tv, while I clean his mess." Sheldon offered
"Umm daddy" Stephen whispered holding up a finger that was dripping blood
Sheldon paled and had to grip the counter to stay upright
"I was trying to cut the bananas. The knife slipped"
Sheldon grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Stephen's finger, "We're going the hospital now" he said rushing them toward the door, "before I faint" he muttered to himself
He burst into the ER carry Amelia, with the twins behind him. "I-I… need a doctor" he told the front desk nurse
"What happened?" she asked
Stephen lifted his hand to show blood soaking through the towel. She pulled the nearest doctor to attend to Stephen.
"Sir, I need you to fill out this paperwork" she said handing over a clipboard to Sheldon.
"C-can it wait?" he asked setting Amelia down next to her sister, "I-I…I've been meaning to" he muttered before collapsing to the floor
"Can I get a gurney over here?!" the nurse called behind her. Doctors and nurses came, taking Sheldon to an exam room leaving Amelia clutching Marie. "How about I carry you two someplace quiet?" the front desk nurse said with a friendly smile. She took their hands and led them to the break room.
"My daddy doesn't like blood" Marie said when they were finally in the room, "He fainted the last time he cut his finger and mommy had to help him"
"Ah, I see. Do you know how it happened?"
"We were supposed to make smoothies and Venny tried to cut the banana"
"Okay. Did your daddy call your mommy already? Or should we call her?"
"Momma's not here anymore. She went far away and Daddy said she couldn't take us with her" Marie explained
"Oh"
"Yeah, and daddy told Uncle Leonard that he misses her and Aunty Penny told me I have to be a big girl and help daddy now that mommy's gone"
"And are you helping daddy?"
"Yep" Marie said popping the p, "I helped get Lia dressed this morning" she said pulling her sister closer
"Let me get you guys something to color" the nurse said getting up
The nurse watched the girls color for a few minutes, 'Such a hard thing losing a mother at that age' Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, "Dad's awake" a doctor said sticking in his head
After helping Sheldon sign the discharge papers, she situated Amelia properly on her hip, "Hold hands please" she said to the twins as she ushered them out. Amelia nuzzled her neck, "Tired" she mumbled
"I know baby" Amy said rubbing her back. "Walk. Don't run." She called after the twins before waving to the nurse.
"Next time you have to go away, don't leave us" Sheldon pleaded
"I promise" Amy said leaning over to peck his cheek.