Hi lovely readers!

Another huge thank you for all of the lovely reviews on the last chapter, it means so much.

For the first time I have combined two requests. The first one being from siloorjaswita and the second one being from a guest (to the guest that requested, I really hope this is okay, I didn't really know how to make your request into a whole prompt so have thrown it in to this one. If it isn't what you were after please just say).

Hope you all enjoy reading!

It seemed that all Sheldon ever heard was people asking Amy if she had mothers guilt, that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach at having to leave your children to go to work or not being one hundred percent focused when you were with your children because all you were doing was thinking about work. It really was a never ending cycle that Sheldon knew all too well about because at times, especially when the children were babies, it had rendered Amy to tears.

Yet, what about fathers guilt? Sheldon was the one that had to return to work just two months after welcoming their little babies. He had missed so many things, so many big milestones he hadn't been around for because he was having to work. Even now with both children at school, he was the one that would work late often not returning home until the children were getting ready for bed. He missed it. He missed them. Which was why, right now as he stood in the playground about to pick his children up from school for the first time in what felt like forever, he wanted to treasure every little moment.

Sheldon had already collected Arthur a few minutes earlier. Just three weeks ago, their little boy had started school for the first time and unlike his big sister, he had found the big milestone rather overwhelming. The first week and half, Amy would tell Sheldon how he had cried and begged her not to leave, that on the very first day the teacher had to prise her son off of her. Understandably, it broke Amy's heart and she would spend the majority of her journey to work sobbing at the wheel. He had eventually settled and was now much happier to go into school with all of his little friends, it made the world of difference to Amy's day knowing that she hadn't left her son sobbing at the school gates.

"Daddy!" Sheldon looked up as he heard the squeals of his eight year old daughter. Looking up, he saw his beautiful, blue eyed girl running towards him, her school bag flying at her side and the neat ponytail that Amy put in place this morning on its way to nearly falling out. She almost knocked the air from his lungs as she hugged him at force and rather tightly for a little person, he was surprised little Arthur was still standing. "You never pick us up from school" her voice muffled as she spoke into the fabric of his shirt. He didn't want it to but hearing her say that so matter of fact hurt, maybe he did need to promise himself to do this more.

"Have you had a good day?" he asked as she pulled away, pushing her bag up on to her shoulder. She kissed her little brother who looked at her unimpressed and quickly wiped his cheek. Emily had taken her role of being a big sister incredibly seriously. From the moment Arthur had been born Emily was like another parent, she would closely watch everything her mother and father did and although little at the time, would try her hardest to carefully replicate. Now they were that little bit older, Emily was just the same, extremely caring and fiercely protective.

"Yep" she nodded. "A really good day" Emily skipped ahead a little as they walked to the car. She wouldn't give much away, not yet anyway. Sheldon would be able to get dribs and drabs out of her throughout the evening but whenever he asked what they had been up to at school, the standard saying was that they couldn't remember. Despite the painting held in his hand that he was clearly proud, Arthur's answer was exactly the same. "Is mum not here at all?" Emily asked as she approached the car, seeing it empty.

"No, she's having to work late" his voice was strained as he lifted Arthur up and placed him in his seat. Under Emily's watchful eye, he buckled him, making sure and double checking that everything was in the correct place. The children being safe was something he naturally obsessed over. "You're all strapped in buddy, yeah" he asked, wanting to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

"Yeah" Arthur nodded.

"And you to?" he asked Emily, she was old enough to do it herself, Arthur probably was too but he just had to oversee everything. He wasn't sure when he would be able to let that go, he didn't know if he ever truly would.

"All good" she smiled enthusiastically. Satisfied, he closed the door and made his way round to the drivers seat.

"So, I was thinking because it's just the three of us tonight, we could go to that pizza place. Arthur loved it when we went there" he spoke as he started the engine. The three of them was a rare occasion and although it might not have been the best approach he wanted to make it fun and special. He didn't really know he would be able to do this again. "You don't look very impressed" Sheldon commented as he looked in his mirror at their little face, they didn't seem as excited as he had anticipated.

"I want you to cook" Emily pouted.

"You want me to cook?" he asked. Sheldon didn't know that it was possible for children to choose their parents cooking as opposed to going out.

"Spaghetti with hot dogs in it" Arthur cheered and Emily nodded in agreement.

"Sure" he smiled to himself. When he became a father, he didn't think that sharing his favourite food from his childhood with his children would bring him so much joy, but it did just that. It was comforting and brought back an array of memories from being young, he wondered if in years to come Emily and Arthur would look back on their childhood with the same happy memories.

—

"What's going on in here?" Sheldon asked as he poked his head round the doorway to the living room. He had been startled by a loud thud that he knew needed investigating. Cooking dinner, whilst trying to keep an eye on two small children was proving to be a very difficult task. Whenever he had moments like this, he was left in complete awe of his wife, how she was able to work, take care of the children and their home and make it all seem incredibly effortless. He really had no clue how she did it and loved the fact that after all these years she still amazed him.

"We're exercising" Arthur grinned. The cushions from the couch were laid out on the floor and from what he had observed for just a mere few seconds ago, it appeared that some kind of gymnastics activity was going on. It had Emily written all over it.

"I'm being Arthur's teacher" Emily smiled proudly. "Watch" she proceeded to get her brother into a position to perform a forward roll however, it didn't quite go to plan and before Arthur knew it, he was curled into a ball with what to Sheldon looked like the majority of his body weight pressing down on his neck.

"Oh good lord" Sheldon gasped rushing over and untangling the little boy from the mass of arms and legs that he had suddenly become. Thankfully, the little boy found his predicament hilarious. "Do you have to do this? Can you not just read or colour or do something nicely that doesn't involve the risk of someone breaking their bones" Sheldon asked, he was desperate. In the distance, he could hear the sound of something boiling over in the kitchen, a pot of water that he had left for far too long.

"We do it all the time" Emily reasoned. She had suddenly developed a love for all things gymnastics and would happily throw herself off anything and try her best to perform what ever skill she could whilst in the air. Her fearless nature was something that baffled Sheldon everyday, if she wasn't his double he would question whether she actually belonged to him.

"Well, I don't want you doing it anymore. Besides, dinners nearly ready so tidy up please"

It was in that moment when Emily looked up at him, her face somewhat amused by him and somewhat annoyed. She was exactly like her mother, he had received that look from Amy on numerous occasions and now it was like a mini her was forming.

"You worry too much dad" Emily sighed as she obeyed his instructions and began picking the cushions up off of the floor. She now even sounded like her mother and years older than she actually was.

"Well you might worry too if two of your most precious things in the world were at risk of getting hurt" it was moments like this when he heard himself saying those words that he realised just how much these small little people that changed his life.

—

After the pan of water had boiled over and he was sure he had burnt the sauce, dinner had turned out to be quite the success. Despite her being a very good cook, the children secretly told him that he made the dish better than Amy but Arthur was quick to tell him it wasn't as good as grandma Mary's. Sheldon couldn't disagree with him. Even now, as a grown man, his mother making him this dish was a great comfort.

As always Emily talked his ears off. Suddenly remembering her day at school, she reeled off all that she had done. She was a very creative person and loved reading and writing stories and creating artwork. She was currently reading Matilda, which she claimed to be her absolute favourite and even though Sheldon knew the story, he would never get tired of Emily telling him all about her adventures.

Although young, Arthur, much like his father, adored trains and cars and wasn't interested in much that didn't involve them. He was already showing a very good mathematical ability and they had been told by his teacher after his first day, that he loved building things and had been in their construction area all day.

Sheldon always thought that his children's academic success would really matter to him and to an extent it did. He wanted the best for them, he wanted them to be successful, be interested in everything around them and ask question, he thought he would be quite pushy on the subject. However, now that they were here and very much their own little people with personalities and interests, skills and talents of their own he simply just wanted them to be happy.

After dinner, bath-time came round rather quickly. Sheldon marvelled at how grown up Emily was, that she was simply able to get herself showered, wash and dry her own hair and go up to bed all by herself. Where had his little baby gone? Arthur on the other hand had soaked every inch of the bathroom, splashing and squirting his toys, he seemed to find it hilarious the wetter Sheldon became.

Although, most of the time, and particularly around people he didn't know, Arthur was very quiet and reserved but he possessed a rather playful and at times a very cheeky side. Since being really little Amy had called him her little monkey, not just because he was cheeky but because as soon as he was old enough, he would climb absolutely everything, giving both of his parents a heart attack. If they would go to the park, from the age of around two, Arthur would be trying to climb a tree or the tallest climbing frame he could find. He was quick too, giving the older children there a run for their money.

"Okay, time to get out" Sheldon announced as he held up the towel.

"No" Arthur whined, splashing some more. He really did love his bath time.

"Yes, come on. Story time, then bed time" he told him. "Which story are you going to choose tonight?" he asked.

"Zog" Arthur cheered excitedly finally clambering his way out of the bath. Zog had quickly become his favourite story and Sheldon could probably recite the whole story to him right now. It was about a little dragon at school who was keen to learn but very clumsy and often caused trouble when he didn't mean to.

"Okay" Sheldon smiled. "We can do that one again. Are you sure you don't want anything else?" he asked as he wrapped him up in the towel.

"Nope" he shook his head. "Zog is my favourite"

—

"Em" Sheldon called from where he was perched on Arthur's bed. "Em, mum is on FaceTime," he could hear her footsteps padding across the hallway. "She wants to say goodnight" he told her as she appeared in the doorway, there was something about seeing her in her pyjamas that suddenly made her look so little and tiny.

"How is my little monkey?" Amy asked Arthur who was trying his hardest to hold the phone properly in his hands, she currently could only see half of his face.

"Good" he answered, he was tired. Starting school had really taken it out of him and she could tell just by the look in his eyes.

"Did you have a good day at school?" she asked.

"Yeah, I made a picture" he told her, which is more than what Sheldon had managed to get out of him.

"Oh that sounds amazing. I can't wait to…"

"Hi mummy" Emily interrupted, as she clambered onto the bed and sat close to her brother, her whole little face filling up the screen.

"Hi darling" Amy smiled. Sheldon loved just watching them, even though Amy wasn't here, her presence was just as if she was. Naturally, their kids adored her and he loved watching the woman he loved be the most amazing mother in the world.

"When will you be home?" she asked.

"Oh not until late darling. I'll see you in the morning. I'll be there to take you to school" she explained. Even though, they always knew she would come home, they hated her not being here.

"Okay. Love you mummy"

After a few minutes the conversation wrapped up and Emily made her way back to her bedroom with Sheldon promising her he'd pop in after he'd said goodnight to Arthur.

—

The sight that met him when he arrived at Emily's bedroom was just the cutest thing, his tiny little girl sat up in bed reading one of her stories, probably feeling like she was so grown up. He knew he was biased but she really was the perfect mix of the very best of both him and Amy, both she and Arthur were. They amazed him every single day.

"Can I come in?" he asked. She closed her book and looked up at him, smiling she nodded her head. "Your brother is fast asleep" he told her, Arthur's always went out like a light.

"Do you think maybe you could pick us up from school again" Emily asked as she played with the blanket draped over her bed. "I liked it today."

"Yeah, you did?"

"Yeah, I like it when you cook dinner."

He needed to make sure he did this more often, he had told himself this many times before but something hit him tonight. They were growing up far too quickly, he felt like he had just blinked and now they were real little people. Everything was happening so quickly and he knew it was only a matter of time before the last thing his children wanted to do was to spend time and be seen with their dad.

"We're going to make sure this happens way more often," he told her, opening up his arms for her to fall into. He held her close to him and squeezed her tightly. He had to stick to his word because he knew better than anyone how precious life and these little moment together were.

—

Thank you so much for reading! As always reviews are always welcome and so appreciated.

Stay safe!

Lots of love