Dropping a laundry basket on the end of the couch in the living room, Amy sighed. "Have you seen Levi's Green Lantern shirt? He wants to wear it to school tomorrow for Saint Patrick's Day."

"It was in his dresser when I put away laundry over the weekend. He hasn't worn it since, so it should still be there." Sheldon moved his computer from his lap to the coffee table, "I'll help him double check for it." Having taken the first few steps up the staircase, Sheldon stopped in his tracks at the sound of the doorbell. "I've got it."

Sheldon opened the door to find a young man standing on his porch, "Dr. Sheldon Cooper?"

"Yes. And who are you?"

"I'm from the department of children's services. You've been served," the man held out a large brown envelope, disappearing as Sheldon took the item and stared at it in his hand.

Amy joined Sheldon in the foyer, curious who was at their door at seven-thirty on a Tuesday night. "What is it?"

Hands shaking, Sheldon slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the stack of papers that were inside. Scanning over them, his breath hitched. "Ricky terminated his parental rights."

"What? That can't be right," Amy snatched the papers from her husband. Glancing through them, she brought her hand to her chest. "Ricky terminated his rights. What happens now?"

Sheldon directed Amy back into the living room, where they could look through the papers more thoroughly. "These look legit, but it doesn't seem right. I'll text him and ask what's going on. We knew he was going to do this, but I thought he'd at least give us a head's up before doing it." Sending a quick text, Sheldon put his arm around Amy's shoulders. "Let's look at this more after the boys are asleep. I'll help Levi find his Green Lantern shirt and read the boys a bedtime story. Try to not freak out too much about this and don't look at it until I get back, okay? I'm sure there's a misunderstanding somewhere."

Nodding in response, Amy agreed, "You're probably right. I'll be up to say goodnight to Levi and Theo in a few minutes."

"Good night," Sheldon said, stepping toward the door.

Amy stood from the side of Theo's bed, "We love you."

Sheldon was reaching for the light switch when the small voices from the beds replied, "Night night mommy and daddy," and "Love you too."

"It's Ricky," Sheldon pulled his ringing phone from his pocket after closing the boys' bedroom door behind them. He hurried downstairs so his nephews wouldn't overhear the conversation. "Hello, Ricky. Amy and I got a packet of paperwork from children's services. You terminated your parental rights for Levi and Theo?"

"Shit," came the man's voice through the phone as Sheldon placed it on speaker and held it between himself and Amy. "I am so sorry you found out that way. I only signed everything this afternoon. I didn't realize they were going to send you anything right away. I thought it would take a few days so I'd have time to call and explain."

Sensing something bigger was going on in Texas, Amy calmly asked, "Did something happen? We thought you weren't going to do anything for at least a few more months."

Ricky sighed, knowing what he was about to tell the couple would change everything forever. "I went out last month with a few friends. I was drinking and decided to drive home. I got stopped and was arrested for drinking and driving."

"That doesn't mean you have to give up your rights to Levi and Theo. You'll probably have to pay a fine, right?" Sheldon questioned.

"Something I never told you was that I've been on probation since the end of last May," the man sheepishly admitted. "That's why it looked like I was making such an effort last summer and fall. My probation officer was checking on me weekly, so I had to keep a job and have a place to live."

Amy's eyes went wide, "What were you on probation for if you don't mind me asking?"

"A buddy of mine left his drugs in my car and the cops found it when I was pulled over for speeding last spring. He admitted it was his drugs, so I didn't have to do any jail time, but I was technically in possession since it was in my car, so I got probation. Because I'm already on probation, there's a good chance I'm going to jail."

"I don't know anything about drunk driving consequences," admitted Sheldon. "How long could you be in jail for?"

Ricky paused before answering, "It could be as few as three days, but because this wasn't my first DUI and I'm on probation, it could be up to ten years. If I get ten years, Levi will be a teenager by the time I get out. I don't want him and Theo to spend the next decade waiting for me. I want them to have the life Missy wanted for them when she asked you to take them, and that life shouldn't include waiting for me to get out of the slammer."

"Wow," Amy whispered after a minute of silence.

"I don't want Levi and Theo to be living in even more uncertainty than they have been for over a year. And with you having a baby, it's not fair for me to put that stress on you, either. I think this will be best for everyone."

Still processing the massive amount of information he'd been given over the past several minutes, Sheldon inquired, "When will you know if you have to go to jail or how long you're going for?"

"My court date is next week. I don't know if I'll be able to let you know how things turn out. You might be able to check the case online to find out. I can send you that information."

Amy began to wrap up the call, not knowing what else to say, "That sounds good. Let us know if there's anything else we can do for you."

"I will," Ricky hesitated again. "Would it be okay if I wrote a letter to Levi and Theo explaining why I'm doing this? I don't want them to think I bailed on them. You don't have to give it to them unless they start asking when they get older."

"Of course. Even though you're no longer their dad legally, you'll always be a part of their lives," Sheldon quickly answered.

"Thanks. I'll text you that information so you can check my case after the court date. Thanks again for taking care of Levi and Theo when I wasn't able to. I know I don't have to worry about them when they're with you."

"Holy shit," was the only thing Amy could think to say after the call with Ricky ended.

Sheldon had immediately leaned forward and was looking through the papers that had been dropped off earlier in the evening, not replying to his wife's comment. "It looks like Ricky named us as the boys' permanent guardians. We've been their legal guardians for over a year. Is there even a difference between legal guardians and permanent guardians? Does this mean we can adopt Levi and Theo without Ricky signing anything else?"

Gently placing her hand on Sheldon's forearm, Amy pulled his attention away from the papers spread across the coffee table. "I don't know what all of this means for us, but we'll figure it out. Levi and Theo don't know this was even delivered, so they won't be asking about it. Let's take some time, read through everything, call the social worker and maybe a lawyer, and see what this means."

"What if Ricky goes to jail? How do we tell Levi that his dad is in jail? Will Theo even understand what that means"

"We wait and see how Ricky's court date goes next week. If he only has to go for a short time, maybe we don't tell them right away. We wait until they're a little older and can better understand everything. It's not like they see or talk to him all the time," Amy pointed out. "They might not notice a month or two without hearing from Ricky."

Starting to organize the papers to slip back into the envelope they were delivered in, Sheldon sighed, "You're right. I think we take tomorrow off to read through everything; perhaps that will help us figure out what we need to do next."

"Okay," Amy quickly agreed. "But tonight, we sleep and don't discuss this until after Levi goes to school tomorrow."

I know this chapter was a lot, but I think it was needed. I finished the last chapter/epilogue over the weekend, so there's only about another month worth of story since I'll be trying to bump up my posting to 3x a week.