Amy and Sheldon came up with a divide-and-conquer plan for getting Levi and Theo ready for bed. Amy was going to take care of the baths, while Sheldon helped them into their pajamas and read their bedtime stories. "The end. Good night. Amy and I will be in the living room if you need us. Do you like the little lamp on at night?"
"Yeah." Levi nodded his head. Quietly continuing, he asked, "Can you stay with me again?"
Sheldon glanced at the crib before flipping the light switch, seeing Theo was already asleep, he agreed, hoping Levi would soon join his brother in sleep, "Sure." The physicist settled on the bed next to the six-year-old, who quickly rested his head against his uncle, clutching him in the same fashion he had the previous night. Unlike the night before, Sheldon was able to slip out of his nephew's grip after an hour and didn't have to spend the night in the child-size bed. "What is all of this?" Stacks of boxes in brightly colored paper met him in the living room.
"I went snooping," admitted Amy. "These were already wrapped in the closet. There are two bags of clothes, but they need to be wrapped first. Can you look around for more wrapping paper or gift bags or something to put them in?"
Entering his sister's bedroom, a room he had not entered in the two days he'd been staying in her apartment, Sheldon quickly forgot what he was looking for. He made his way around the room, taking in everything exactly the way Missy had left it the morning prior. Smiling at the framed photo on her dresser, the family photo from the graduation party his parents had for himself and Missy, he took it in his hands and ran his finger over his sister's face smiling up at him. "Give dad a hug for me," he instructed her, sitting on her bed. "The same goes for you, dad. Take care of Missy for us."
"Did you find anything yet?" Amy asked from the next room.
"Not yet. Give me another minute. I'm sure she'd got something around here." Sheldon placed the picture back in its spot and opened the closet. Shaking his head, he mumbled to himself, "This would be much easier if you organized your closet, Missy. Mom keeps wrapping paper in a box under her bed, maybe you do, too." Kneeling next to her bed, he flipped the bedskirt up to see underneath. "What's this?" He pulled a few more wrapped boxes from under his sister's bed. Gasping when he saw the labels, he called for Amy.
Rushing into the room, Amy was confused to find Sheldon sitting on the floor, surrounded by five more presents she hadn't found when she looked. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Starting to cry, he motioned to the boxes in front of him, "I found the gifts she'd gotten for us. There are ones for mom, Meemaw, and Georgie, too. What should we do with them?"
Amy sat on the floor next to her husband, lifting each package. "I guess it's up to us if we want to open them. We can let your mom, Meemaw, and Georgie know what we found. They can decide for themselves, too. She did take the time to find something for each of us, I don't think it'd be so bad to open them."
"You're right. But I think we should open them on our own. I don't want to make a big deal out of this." Sheldon reached for the box with his name on it. He carefully peeled the tape from the end of the package. Opening the box, he let out a chuckle after turning around the mug that was inside to read what was on the other side.
"World's best rocket scientist? But you aren't a rocket scientist," Amy was confused why her husband was laughing at the gift. Sheldon's laughter suddenly turned back into tears, prompting Amy to pull her husband into her arms. "It's okay."
Between his sobs, Sheldon managed to get out, "I don't know how to live in the world without my twin sister. We weren't very close, but she's my sister. She was my sister." The tears only grew louder at this revelation.
"It's okay, Sheldon. Let it out." Amy held her grieving husband. "Do you want me to have your mom come over?" Sheldon shook his head, letting Amy continue to soothe him. "Let's go to bed. The boys have more than enough presents under that tree. What kid wants to get clothes on Christmas morning?"
"Santa!" a small voice woke Amy the next morning.
Rolling over on the pull-out couch, Amy sat up to see who had found their way into the living room. "What are you doing up?" She smiled when she saw Theo had climbed out of his crib and was the early riser.
"Santa!" He repeated.
"Come here," Amy pulled him between her and Sheldon. "We have to be quiet so we don't wake Levi or Uncle Sheldon. Why don't we try going back to sleep for a little while?" The one-year-old didn't take long to settle between his aunt and uncle, but another small human soon woke the occupants of the living room.
Bouncing onto the end of the temporary bed, Levi announced his presence. "It's Christmas!"
Sheldon was smiling before his eyes were open, "Did Santa come?"
"Yes! Can we open our presents?" squealed Levi, clamoring from the bed to the gifts under the tree.
The couple crawled from the bed and took spots on the floor near the children, who were already destroying the packages that had been left for them. They wasted no time opening their gifts, showing off each item Missy had chosen for them under the guise of Santa. Amy took plenty of pictures to send Mary and their friends. As Sheldon was collecting the discarded gift wrap, Amy suggested, "How do pancakes sound for breakfast? My dad used to always make pancakes on Christmas morning."
Levi's eyes went wide and his head nodded like a bobblehead, "We love pancakes. Do we have blueberries?"
"I'm not sure, but we can check. Do you want to help with breakfast or keep playing with your presents?" Amy knew the answer, but felt like asking, just as she was asked every Christmas morning.
"I made a present for mommy at school. When can I give it to her?" Levi inquired between bites of pancakes an hour later.
Sheldon and Amy exchanged a look, prompting Sheldon to sit next to the six-year-old. "When my dad died, they asked if we wanted to put anything in the casket with him. Do you want us to find out if you can put your present with your mom so it's always with her?"
"What's a casket?"
"You said you buried your cat in gramma's backyard, right?" inquired Amy, figuring out the best way to approach this conversation. Levi nodded, prompting Amy to continue. "When you buried him, did you put him in anything first?"
Levi nodded again, "We put him in a box."
"Okay," Amy was relieved they had a starting point. "A casket is a big box that people get buried in. It's usually made out of wood or metal, it's a lot nicer than the box you put your cat in. There's usually a pillow and the inside has a fabric lining. It will be open before the funeral, but they'll close it before your mom is buried."
Sheldon watched in silence as Levi slid from the chair and ran to his room, "I'll go talk to him. Help him get dressed for church."
"Sheldon, wait." Amy lifted Theo from his high chair onto her hip. "You've been taking care of your mom and Meemaw and the boys since we got here. You need a few minutes for yourself. Go take a shower. I'll get them ready."