"Uncle Sheldon! Aunt Amy!" Came a scream in the middle of the night. The couple bolted out of bed and across the hall to the room their nephews shared.

Wide-eyed, the couple flipped on the light, and took in the sight that met them. Levi was standing in the middle of the room while Theo sat on his bed, crying. "What's wrong?" Sheldon asked, approaching the older boy with Amy stepping towards the younger.

Levi pointed at his brother, "Theo threw up."

Amy was already peeling the vomit-covered pajama top from the two-year-old. "Let's get you cleaned up. Does your tummy hurt?"

"I don't feel good," Levi suddenly blurted out. Sheldon scrambled to grab the small garbage can from next to the door, getting it to his nephew in the nick of time.

"It's okay," he reminded the boy, rubbing his back as he heaved. Levi's retching slowed, prompting Sheldon to look across the room at Amy, who had changed Theo into clean pajamas and was in the process of stripping his bed. "What do we do?"

Shifting Theo on her hip, she shrugged her shoulders, "He's burning up. I'd guess Levi is too, right?" Sheldon felt the six-year-old's forehead, nodding to confirm Amy's suspicions. "Looks like we might be up for a while."

As Amy was standing with Theo still in her arms, he began to push away from her. "I want mommy," he mumbled while still crying. Levi made eye contact with Sheldon at his brother's request.

"I know I'm not mommy, but I'm right here. Let's find something to help your tummy feel better."

"No," the toddler protested. "Mommy."

Levi approached his brother, "Aunt Amy is almost as good as mommy." Theo shook his head, continuing to cry and push away from Amy. "What about Uncle Sheldon?" This suggestion caused Theo to snap his head around, searching the room for the physicist. He immediately reached his arms toward him.

"Come here, buddy," Sheldon accepted his nephew into his arms. "Maybe Aunt Amy can find something to help your tummies and we can try going back to sleep for a little while?"

"I don't think I can sleep," Levi yawned. "Can I watch TV?"

Sheldon looked at Theo, already almost asleep in his arms, before agreeing. "I guess that would be all right. Let me put Theo back to bed first. Grab your pillow. You can sleep on the couch in my office tonight." He was in the middle of settling Theo in Levi's vomit-free bed when Amy reappeared in the doorway. "Levi asked if he could watch TV until he falls asleep. I sent him to sleep on the couch in the office. Theo's asleep again, but I think one of us should stay with him in case he gets sick again."

"Okay. I can stay with him if you want to stay with Levi. I found ginger ale and crackers," she held up the items in her hands. "See if you can get him to eat a few before he goes to sleep."

Crawling over the once again sleeping toddler, Amy bent her elbow on the pillow, propping her head on her hand. "I'm sorry you don't feel good, sweetheart," she rubbed his back. "And I'm sorry your mom isn't here when you want her the most. I would do anything for you to be able to snuggle with her when you're sick."

Down the hall, Levi arranged his pillow on the end of the couch after turning the television on. Sheldon brought the crackers and ginger ale Amy retrieved from the kitchen, setting them on the small table next to the brown couch that had been brought to their house from apartment 4A. He pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa, draping it over the boy. He looked around the room, spotting the waste paper basket under his desk, he grabbed it and set it on the floor next to Levi. "Aunt Amy is with Theo in your room. I'll be in my room. Try to get some sleep and don't stay up watching TV all night."

"No. You have to stay with me. Mommy always stayed with me when I was sick," Levi stopped his uncle from exiting the room.

"Oh, okay," Sheldon turned on his heel and eyed the couch, calculating the best way to join his nephew on the couch. Shuddering at not sitting in his spot, Sheldon lowered himself to the other end of the couch, pulling the end of the blanket to cover himself while shifting to find a comfortable position.

Following a long night with very little sleep, Amy snuck out of Theo's room and found her way into the office down the hallway. "Hi," she whispered after seeing Sheldon was awake with Levi clinging to him in his sleep.

"Morning," he returned her greeting.

Amy twirled the desk chair around to sit across from the pair on the couch. "I couldn't sleep anymore. Theo was sick a few more times throughout the night, but he's asleep now. How's Levi?"

"He threw up again and got it on his pajamas," shared Sheldon, adjusting the blanket over himself and his nephew.

"Is he wearing one of your t-shirts?"

Sheldon nodded. "Yes. I couldn't let him stay in the pajamas that he vomited on, but I didn't want to try getting him a clean pair and risk waking you and Theo. He kept asking to take a bath, he said Missy always had him take a bath when he was sick and he'd feel better. I told him he could take one in the morning, but helped him wash up a little in the meantime." The physicist rested the back of his hand against Levi's forehead. "He doesn't feel as warm. I think his fever broke."

"He can't go to school today, even if he is feeling better. I'll stay home with them if you want to text one of the guys for a ride to work," suggested Amy.

"I can stay home, too. It might be easier for both of us to be here. This is the first time they've both been sick with anything more than a cold since they've been with us. What if Theo is crying and Levi throws up again? The divide and conquer method seems to work well for us."

Smiling at Sheldon, Amy stood and opened her mouth to speak when Theo started crying from his room again. She scurried out of the room to the toddler's side. "No!" he yelled when Amy appeared in the doorway. "Mommy."

"Let's go see your brother and Uncle Sheldon," she ignored the boy's request for his mother. Lifting him to her hip, she brushed the hair back from his forehead, checking for a fever. "Are you feeling better? Do you want to try eating some crackers or having some juice?" Theo perked up a little when they entered the office and he saw his brother asleep, still clinging to their uncle. Amy set him on the couch next to Sheldon and said, "He's still asking for mommy and doesn't want me. I'm going to make coffee and bring crackers and juice for them. Do you want anything? Coffee or tea, maybe a few pieces of toast?"

"I'm good for now," Sheldon shook his head while adjusting the blanket to cover Theo next to him.

Amy started the coffee maker and leaned against the counter, waiting for it to finish brewing. Glancing at her phone in her hand, she quickly typed a text to Bernadette, hoping she was awake and the blonde wouldn't be upset with her for texting at the early hour. "What do you do when both kids are sick?" The message quickly showed as read, with the response bubbles appearing, then disappearing before Amy's phone began to ring. "Hi, Bernie."

"You need to get Sheldon out of the house now before he catches whatever the boys have. The last thing you need is two sick kids and one sick Sheldon," Bernadette said without greeting her friend.

Reaching for a coffee mug, Amy replied, "Too late. Levi has attached himself to Sheldon. Theo usually clings to me whenever he's even slightly not feeling well, but he wants nothing to do with me. They're all piled on the couch in the office upstairs. I don't think Sheldon's going anywhere anytime soon."

"Sounds like there's not much you can do besides keep your fingers crossed that Sheldon doesn't get sick, too."

"Thanks," she tiredly sighed, taking a sip of her coffee before pouring sippy cups of juice to take upstairs.

Sensing there was something else on Amy's mind, Bernadette prompted her, "Aside from the boys being sick, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," Amy glanced toward the stairs to double check for little ears listening. "Theo's been calling me mommy more often than not recently. Whenever he was sick overnight, he'd start crying and asking for mommy, but as soon as he saw me, he'd cry even louder and start pushing me away. It was the first time he hasn't wanted me when he asked for mommy. I know I'm not his mother and I've never referred to myself as mommy to him, but it still hurt that he didn't want me."

"You know what I think you need?" Bernadette asked, prompting Amy to silently shake her head. "Penny goes back to work next week. It's been months since we've had a girls' night and she's itching to get out for a little while. Do you think Sheldon can manage the boys on his own sometime this week? Once they're feeling better, of course?"

"I'll talk to him and get back to you."

Amy quietly made her way upstairs to the office again. Stepping into the room, she found the three occupants of the room awake and watching something on the television mounted to the wall. "Morning. I brought you juice," she held the cups in her hands out to the children resting on either side of her husband.

Eagerly accepting the drink and beginning to suck it down, Levi shared, "I feel better than last night. I don't think I'm going to throw up anymore."

"That makes me happy to hear. What are you watching?"

"Nemo!" Theo excitedly said.

Sheldon relaxed with one arm around each of his nephews. "They both seem to be doing better. Must have been a quick stomach bug, but I think we're going to be spending the day right here, watching Disney movies all day."

"I talked to Bernadette," she joined them on the couch, squeezing in next to Theo. "She mentioned Penny's going back to work next week and they want to go out before then."

"Okay. Have fun. We'll be fine for a few hours; you can go out tonight if you want."

Amy glanced at him to see he was watching her, "Oh, okay. I think they meant later this week, but I'll let them know we can go tonight if they want."

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