"Do you think the boys had a good weekend?" Sheldon questioned, climbing into bed next to Amy.
His wife rolled her eyes in response. "They just spent two days at Disneyland. They definitely had a good weekend. Although, I think they might have enjoyed the pool at the hotel more than going on the rides and meeting the characters."
"I think we should take them to Legoland next."
"I think," Amy started to reply before a small knock on their bedroom door interrupted her. "Come in?"
Slowly, the door creaked open and Levi appeared in the crack, poking his head in. "Hi."
Amy waved him to enter the room. "Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream? Do you feel sick?"
"No," Levi shook his head. "Can I come up?" He motioned to the bed. Sheldon patted the space between himself and Amy, inviting him to join them. The six-year-old took a minute to get comfortable between his aunt and uncle.
"Is something wrong? You've never done this before," pointed out Sheldon.
Looking between the adults on either side of him, Levi took a breath and shared, "I talked to my dad at Theo's birthday. He said we won't know until Christmas if we get to go live with him."
"That's right. Theo's birthday was almost a month ago," Amy pointed out after a moment. She placed her hand on the boy's back and asked, "Have you been thinking about that a lot since then?"
"Yeah," he nodded, relaxing into the hand on his back. "I think I want to live here forever. I love my daddy, but it's been a long time since I lived with him. I'm scared I'm going to miss you too much if we go live with him."
The adults were silent, Sheldon shifting his hand on the bed behind Levi, searching for Amy's to grasp. Amy cut the silence before Sheldon had a chance to form words. "We love to hear that, but we still have a long time before anything gets decided. In the meantime, we're going to love you and Theo every day and have so much fun, so you'll have lots of fun memories from living with us. And you'll always have a place to stay here."
"So, I can come back to live with you if I don't like living with daddy?" Levi looked up at Amy with his bright blue eyes.
"I think Aunt Amy means you'll always have a place here for school breaks, summer vacations, or anytime your dad says it's okay," clarified Sheldon. "Come here." He reached for the boy, pulling him into his lap while shifting closer to Amy.
Sheldon wrapped his arms around Levi, squeezing him tight as he asked, "Really? Theo, too?"
"Theo, too," Amy joined her husband in hugging their nephew. "No matter what happens, you'll always have a home here." Dropping her arms from embracing the pair, she offered, "Do you want me to tuck you in again? How does another story sound?"
"Okay," starting to pull away from Sheldon, he was stopped by his uncle tightening his grasp. "Uncle Sheldon," he giggled, "Let me go."
Releasing the boy, Sheldon smiled at him, "Good night. I love you."
Amy returned to the master bedroom a few minutes later, joining Sheldon in bed once again. He opened his mouth, but was cut off by Amy pointing her finger at him, "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't get excited about this. The plan is still for the boys to go back to Texas and live with Ricky. If we let Levi get his hopes up at the possibility of staying here forever, not only will he be devastated when the day comes for them to return to Texas, but so will we. Unless Ricky decides otherwise, we must continue operating under the assumption that Levi and Theo are here temporarily."
Waiting for his wife to finish speaking, Sheldon was silent for a moment before responding. "I know. It's so hard, though. They've been here for seven months and we've been taking care of them for over eight months if you include the time we stayed at Missy's apartment in Texas with them." Sheldon was now sitting fully upright in bed, watching Amy pace at the foot of the bed. "I know they're not our kids, but it's going to feel like we're losing our kids when Ricky can take care of them."
"I feel exactly the same way, but we knew this when we agreed to take them in. They're not our kids and they never were. All we can do is love them and care for them and support them when the day comes that they go back to Texas."
"Come here," Sheldon crawled to the foot of the bed and held his hand out to Amy. She grasped it before joining him on the bed.
"You don't want them to leave, either, do you?"
Breaking down, she rested her head against Sheldon's shoulder. "Of course, I don't. I have loved those kids like they're my own for eight months. But we have to hold up our end of the agreement that this is only until Ricky can be a good father to them."
Sheldon held his wife as she sobbed into his pajama top, silently letting tears roll down his own cheeks. "I love them so much."
Sheldon sat silently in his office the next morning, not having said much to Amy or either of his nephews before leaving the boys at the university daycare and parting ways with his wife to go to their separate work locations. He mindlessly scrolled through his phone, holding it to his ear. "Good morning, Sheldon," came the voice at the other end.
"Hi, mom," he quietly replied.
Back in Texas, Mary tilted her head, unsure why her son was calling her at nine o'clock on a Monday morning. "Is something wrong, baby?"
"No. Yes. I don't know."
"Tell me what's going on. Is Amy okay? Is it the boys?"
Sheldon took a breath and ran his hand over his face, "We're all fine. I think. I'm sorry for calling. I'll call you for our regular call later this week."
"Sheldon Lee Cooper," Mary's voice boomed through the phone. "You've got something on your mind. Now, what's the matter?"
"We took the boys to Disneyland this weekend. After we tucked them in last night and were getting ready for bed ourselves, Levi came into our room. He crawled up on our bed and told us Ricky said they might stay with us forever and that if he gets to choose, he thinks he wants to stay with us."
"Is that something you and Amy were aware he told Levi?"
Shaking his head to himself, he replied, "No. He mentioned that being a possibility to me when we spoke on Father's Day, but I asked him to not mention it to Levi. The plan is the boys will stay with us until the end of the year and we'd re-evaluate the situation then based on how Ricky was doing."
Mary knew Sheldon's affection for his nephews had grown exponentially over the past eight months. "And you feel terrible knowing Levi wants to stay with you, especially with the possibility that he and Theo won't be with you for longer than a few more months."
"Yes," he agreed with his mother. "We told him it's still a long time until anything gets decided and that he and Theo will always have a home with us. He asked if he could come back if he doesn't like being in Texas. Amy and I couldn't stop crying at the thought of losing them after she took Levi back to bed."
"Oh, baby," she gasped, learning her son's pain.
"I don't know what to do. I know the plan has always been to give Ricky time to get a job and a place to live to take care of them, but I didn't think it would actually happen. He's got a full-time job now. He is moving into an apartment next month that's big enough for Levi and Theo. It seems like he's really trying to do what's right. I know this has been a temporary arrangement, but I'm scared for what's going to happen come the end of the year."
Mary listened to her son begin to cry over the phone. "I know, baby, but remember that you're their uncle and you'll always be a part of their lives, even after they're no longer living with you. Levi and Theo have thrived since they've been with you and Amy. You've been an amazing father figure for them and I couldn't be more proud of you. Missy knew what she was doing when she asked you and Amy to care for them."
"I guess you're right."
"Sheldon, it's okay for you and Amy to be sad over the possibility of the boys going to live with Ricky. You wouldn't feel this way if you didn't love them as much as you do."
The physicist's breath hitched as he struggled to control his crying. "I guess last night was just hard after spending the weekend at Disneyland and seeing how happy the boys were. I knew Theo was getting attached to us by calling us mommy and daddy. I didn't realize how attached Levi had gotten until he asked to stay with us instead of living with Ricky."
Quiet, sensing Sheldon needed a minute, Mary questioned, "Do you want me to come out for a few days? Maybe you and Amy need to take a little trip. Get away for a weekend."
"We'll be okay. I'm sorry for calling like this and worrying you," he apologized. "I should get back to work."
"Okay. I love you. My offer stands if you want me to come for a few days."