"Hey," Amy knocked on the open door of Sheldon's office. Holding up the item in her hand, she explained her visit, "You didn't come to lunch, so I brought you a sandwich. What are you working on?"

Snapping his head up from staring at his laptop, Sheldon shook his head. "I've been trying to check the outcome of Ricky's court date this morning, but the stupid site isn't updating. He told us he had to be there at nine o'clock this morning. It's almost three there and it's still showing pending for his case."

Amy walked around the desk, set the sandwich in front of Sheldon, and closed his laptop before leaning against the arm of his chair. "Maybe they only update the site at the end of the day. I thought you said you weren't worried about this?"

"Well, I lied. Ricky might have given up his rights to Levi and Theo, but this still affects them. We agreed to wait until after his court date to say anything to them. Whatever that site says when it updates will dictate what we tell the boys."

"Regardless of what that site says and what we have to tell them, they're our boys now and always will be. Do you want to take a half day? Let's get Theo from daycare and spend the afternoon with him until Levi's done at school," suggested Amy, running her hand over her husband's shoulders.

Sheldon slid his chair back, "Okay. But as soon as we find out what happened with the court, I want to tell the boys that they're officially with us forever."

After collecting Theo from the university daycare, the couple returned home. Amy made Sheldon leave his laptop upstairs in an attempt to keep him from refreshing the court's website to check for an update on Ricky's case. This did not stop him from sneaking checks on his phone, "I understand you're worried about this, but you need to relax. Give me your phone," Amy held out her hand, waiting for her husband to hand over the device.

"But, Amy," he began to protest, only to stop speaking when he noticed Amy's expression. "Fine. When can I get it back?"

"After Levi gets home; he will keep you distracted from constantly checking. I'll keep an eye on it for any calls or messages," Amy offered, knowing Sheldon wouldn't tolerate being completely off the grid. "It's a nice day. I was going to walk to get Levi from school. Do you want to go with me or stay here with Theo?"

Sheldon nodded, watching Theo play across the room, "I guess I'll go with you. Do you want me to get Theo in the stroller?" Amy agreed, prompting Sheldon to make his way to the garage with the two-year-old to get him strapped in the stroller.

"Sheldon!" Amy came running outside, holding the physicist's phone in front of her. "It's Ricky."

Quickly taking his phone, Sheldon answered, "Hello, Ricky. How'd it go this morning?"

"It went a lot better than it could have," the man on the other end of the line sounded relieved.

"So, you're not going to jail?"

"No jail, but I'm not free, either. I have until six pm to report to an inpatient rehab facility. Sorry for not calling you sooner, but I was getting some last-minute things sorted so I still have my job when I get out."

Sheldon stopped pushing the stroller, having started the walk to retrieve Levi from school. "What does that mean? It sounded like you were sure you were going to jail."

"He's not going to jail?" Amy questioned Sheldon's side of the conversation, only to be met with a wave of his hand, hushing her.

"Because I'd been making progress since last summer, my lawyer was able to convince the judge to give me three months in a rehab facility instead of going to jail. I'll have to go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings every day and my license has been revoked, so I can't drive until a judge says I can get it back. I'll have four years of probation when I finish the rehab program. This is my last chance. If I screw up again, I'm going directly to jail," Ricky paused. "Don't worry. This doesn't change anything about the papers I signed. You and Amy are still Levi and Theo's guardians and can adopt them if you want. I have no rights to them."

"Wow," gasped the man who had begun pushing Theo's stroller again. "Are we able to call you if Levi wants or can you call us? How does that work?"

Ricky shook his head, "I don't know, but I can let you know once I get there and find out what happens with that. Listen, I need to leave soon and I still have a few calls I need to make. Thanks again for everything."

Glancing at the now dark screen of his phone before slipping it into his pocket, Sheldon spoke before Amy could question what the outcome of the morning was for Ricky. "He's not going to jail. His lawyer got the judge to cut him a break because he'd been doing so well while he was on probation last year. Ricky has to go to an inpatient rehab program for three months. This doesn't change anything for us, though. He still signed over his rights and the boys are ours."

"Okay, so, um, we're going to tell them that they're not going back to Texas to live with Ricky?"

Sheldon made a conflicted face, pondering what he felt they should do. "Maybe we wait a little? Let the dust settle?"

"Sheldon," Amy scolded him as they approached the elementary school. "Levi will be out in a minute and once he is, we can't continue this conversation. There is no dust to settle. Not for us, anyway. Nothing more is going to change for us than it did when we got that envelope last week. We've kept this from them for long enough. I want Levi to know so he can have the entire weekend to process it before going back to school on Monday."

"My teacher said you were picking me up and I wasn't staying after school. Jackson and me were going to see who could go higher on the swings," shared Levi, slightly pouting as he approached the couple.

Running her fingers through Levi's hair, Amy apologized, "I'm sorry, buddy. We finished work early and thought it'd be a fun surprise to pick you up early. Maybe Jackson can come over to play this weekend and you can see who can go higher on the swings at home."

Throughout dinner, Amy and Sheldon exchanged frequent glances with one another, which did not go unnoticed by Levi. "Why do you keep looking at Uncle Sheldon like that? And why does he make a weird face every time you do?"

"Uncle Sheldon talked to your dad this afternoon. That's why we were able to pick you up from school; we left work early because of that, not because we finished work early today," admitted Amy.

Levi looked between the adults on the opposite side of the dinner table, quietly asking, "Oh, are we going back to live with him?"

"No," Sheldon shook his head. "In fact, your dad was calling to tell us that he doesn't think he'll ever be a good enough dad for you like your mom would want for you and Theo. He has decided it would be best for you if you didn't go back to Texas and you stayed with Amy and I forever." He paused to give Levi time to process this information.

"Does that mean we won't see gramma or Meemaw if we don't go back to Texas?" the seven-year-old finally asked.

Amy quickly answered, "No, we can still go back to Texas for you to see gramma, Meemaw, and Uncle Georgie. You just won't be going back to live with your dad like we'd been hoping you'd be able to. This doesn't have to change anything for you unless you decide you want it to."

"Oh, okay," Levi replied after a moment. "Can I still see my dad or call him?"

"Not right away, but yes, you can still call him and he can call you and you can see him whenever we go back to Texas," explained Sheldon to his nephew, who had abandoned his dinner.

Poking his fork at the food left on his plate, Levi looked up, "What would change if I want it to?"

"Well," Amy started, glancing at Sheldon, who reassured her with a quick nod, "We don't have to, but this means we could adopt you and Theo. If you don't like that idea, that's fine. We don't have to do anything right away. There isn't a time limit for when we have to do anything. Uncle Sheldon and I will still love you forever if you decide to wait until you and Theo are older."

"Nothing's going to change if you adopt me and Theo?"

Sheldon shook his head, "The only thing that would change is that we'll have a piece of paper that says we're your mom and dad."

"I know you don't always call us mom and dad and that's okay" interjected Amy, sensing Levi's hesitancy, "you don't have to, even if you want us to adopt you. This would just mean that we don't have to tell your teacher that we're your aunt and uncle like we did when you started school."

The boy was quiet again, watching Theo eat more of his dinner, before speaking, "If that's all that's going to change, I say we do it. I don't like telling my teacher and the kids in my class that you aren't my mom and dad."

Eyes wide, Sheldon gasped, searching for Amy's hand under the table, "You really want this? You want us to be your mom and dad forever?"

"Yeah," Levi shrugged his shoulders, "You pretty much are already. If nothing is going to change except for getting to say you're my mom and dad, I want to do it." The boy started to continue his thought, but couldn't get a word out before Amy and Sheldon rushed around the table, engulfing him and Theo in a hug. As the group hug relaxed, he questioned with a smirk, "Can we get ice cream tonight?"

Letting out a chuckle, Amy agreed, "Absolutely. Your little sisters like that idea," she reached for the boy's hand and placed it on her stomach for him to feel the babies move.