Happy Father's Day! Hope you enjoy.

The moment his wife returned from California, George Cooper knew something was different. There was a glint in her eye, a quirk to her smile even as she kissed him in greeting. But George said nothing. Just as he always said about his younger son, he's long ago learned that you have to take your time with Mary, wait for her to come around.

And come around she did, though she certainly made him wait for it. It was long after dinner, when they were curled up on the couch watching Family Feud that Mary leaned forward, sat her tea on the coffee table and said, "Shelly's in love."

Even the magnetic TV personality of Steve Harvey couldn't keep George's attention from a bombshell like that. "What? With who?"

"This girl named Amy," Mary explained. "It's why Leonard called. They had a fight and Sheldon bought two dozen cats to try and fill the hole in his heart."

George let out a low whistle. "Must be some woman."

Mary shifted herself on the couch. "Well… she's certainly something."

George turned his head to look at her. "Do you like her?"

Her wife sat in deep thought for a moment, then slowly a wry smile gathered her lips to one side. "I reckon she's the kinda person that'll grow on you."

George chuckled. "Sounds like someone else we know."

"Exactly," she said, leaning forward to take her tea again. "Doesn't matter what I think of her. That boy couldn't have found a better match if he had built one from scrap metal with his friends in the lab."

They both grew quiet as the television continued to blare in front of them. Then finally George gave up all pretense and shut the TV off. "You really think Sheldon's in love?"

"Not a doubt in my mind," Mary said.

"Did he say so?"

Mary pursed her lips. "No. But a mother always knows."

George sighed and sat back in his seat. The couch used to groan in protest everytime he did so, but ever since he's slimmed down it's never made a peep, something that he's still not used to even after all these years. "Then we've got a long road ahead of us."

Mary's head snapped back to meet his gaze. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is Sheldon is the most stubborn human being on earth. If he's refusing to admit his feelings now, it could be years before we see any real progress with them."

Mary stared at nothing in front of her, a look of horror crossing her face. "Oh, Lord."

"'Oh, Lord' is right. You better fall on your knees now, hon, 'cause we're in for one hell of a ride."

Mary grew quiet again, a pensive look that only George could recognize after thirty-five years of marriage. "Never thought I'd see the day that we'd be talking about Sheldon finding the one."

George couldn't help but smile. "Well, you know what they say," he said, pulling his wife into his side. "There's someone for everyone."

~0~0~0~0~0~

It had been decades since George had made use of the rocker that used to lull each of his children to sleep, but even now there was a familiarity to the movements he had performed countless times as a younger man. The creak of the chair, the thud of his feet to the ground, the fuss of the baby as he adjusted his hold in his arms; it all came back to him in an instant. But this time it wasn't his baby, it was the baby boy of his baby girl as she slept in the bed across from him, the monstrous snores she had never outgrown reverberating through the small room.

But even through all that noise, if George craned his neck and listened hard enough he could just make out the sounds of Sheldon skyping his girlfriend goodnight from the room next door. George has been a devoutly occasional church-goer his entire life, but nothing made him believe in God more than the existence of Amy Farrah Fowler. He swore she was an angel made flesh, sent down from above to love and guide his son through life. Sheldon would probably have refused to even be in the same room as the baby if Amy hadn't encouraged him to spend some time and be a role model to his new nephew.

Speak of the devil, the door creaked open and Sheldon tip-toed into the room. He nodded towards George in greeting, and as his eyes slipped down to the baby in his arms a vague look of terror crossed his face. He quickly shook himself out of it, though, and went to retrieve the phone forgotten on Missy's nightstand.

"Hey, Sheldon?" George said softly. Sheldon turned at his voice. "I'm proud of you."

Sheldon stared blankly at him. "For what? Nearly vomiting? Having to leave the room every ten minutes? Being here to help my sister through this and instead she has to help me through this?"

"No," George said simply. "I'm proud that you stayed, anyway."

He wasn't lying. Though it was true that Sheldon found the whole thing disgusting and took frequent breaks to complain to his girlfriend, when push came to shove he was there for his sister. According to Mary, when Missy was about to reach her breaking point, shaking with such heart-wrenching sobs that George had felt his heart clench from the next room over, suddenly Sheldon had been at her side with her hand in his. Together they brought Missy's son into the world, even if both were on the verge of passing out in the process.

Back in the present, Sheldon looked taken aback. "Oh. Well, thank you." Then he turned to go.

"Wait," George said, the rocker creaking with protest as he rose to his feet. "Do you wanna hold your nephew?"

George hadn't seen Sheldon so terrified since getting chased onto the roof of his pickup by the neighbors' pet pig. "I don't know how."

"I'll teach you."

He stepped forward, his grandson still in his arms, but Sheldon stepped back and turned away. "I don't think I can do this."

His hand had just landed on the doorknob when George called out again to him. "Don't you want to be able to hold your own kids one day?"

Sheldon stopped short, twisting his head to look at his father. He still looked terrified, but after one eternal pause he just barely nodded his head. George took him gently by the shoulder and led him back to the rocking chair.

"Okay, just rest him in the crook of your elbow… mind the head… put this arm underneath… and there you have it."

George pulled back to admire his work, and his breath caught in his throat. There was his son, his youngest, sitting in the same rocker that put him to sleep as a child, holding his nephew like it was the most natural thing in the world. The sight made his eyes burn behind the lids, and he had to look away.

Sheldon, on the other hand, couldn't seem to take his eyes off the baby in his arms, even if he still looked like he was rocking a live hand grenade to sleep.

"Uhh. Hi, Jackson." Sheldon glanced at his father, who shooed him on in encouragement. "I know you can't comprehend anything I'm saying right now, but speaking to an infant helps them learn vocabulary as well as human social skills that are unfortunately necessary for survival. And besides, if you've taken after me in any way, you'll be ahead of the learning curve and be able to process language much sooner than the average child. If that's the case, then I will take you on as a jedi master takes on a padawan, and together we will rule the galaxy for the betterment of humanity."

Jackson's only reply was a soft baby yawn, but George could swear he saw the tiniest of smiles on Sheldon's lips before regaining his composure of impassivity.

"This is a good look on you," George commented.

At last Sheldon broke his gaze from his nephew to look up. "What is?"

"Fatherhood."

The two gave each one long, meaningful gaze before Sheldon turned back to the child in his arms. "Just because I'm managing to hold a seven pound lump in my arms without dropping it doesn't mean I'm prepared for everything else parenthood entails."

"Maybe not yet," George told him. "But don't underestimate yourself. I didn't think I was ready either, when your mom told me about Georgie, but I like to think I did okay."

Sheldon looked at him again, and it was a look George sadly knew well. That mistrust, that hint of resentment that even twenty years later George couldn't seem to completely rid of. Things had gotten slowly better, but George feared that no matter how hard he tried the rift between them might never fully repair. For Sheldon it was damn hard to forgive, and impossible to forget.

"Where's my baby?"

Both men turned to see Missy gingerly sitting herself up, maternal instinct finally rousing her from her near-coma.

"He's right here, hon," George said, eager to turn away from the lingering disappointment on his son's face. "Your brother's got him."

"Can I have him back?" With the care of handling fine china, Sheldon stood with a drowsy Jackson and inched his way towards his sister to hand the baby off. Once the baby was secure in her arms, Missy looked up at George. "Has Dustin called?"

George felt the grimace he could never quite hide at the mention of his son-in-law, and he turned away. "No."

The room fell eerily silent, and not for the first time George wondered how a man could care so little for the birth of his own son. Motorcycle accident be damned, there was nothing that could keep George away from his children.

But Missy, ever her mother's daughter, remained strong and tried to lift the discomfort in the air. "Can't believe you trusted my son with the guy who roasted my hamster in the oven."

"It was for science," Sheldon protested.

"Science or not, you still turned my pet into a delicacy."

Sheldon scoffed and crossed his arms. "You were the one who made me come here, with your genitalia exposed and human body parts coming out of it. Because what kind of brother would want to miss that?"

"Well you're about to get another eyeful, buddy, 'cause I need to breastfeed."

And on and on they went, but George could only smile. Squabbles or not, the family bond was there whether they wanted to admit it or not. He just hoped that someday, the same could be said for him and his son.

~0~0~0~0~0~

After the award ceremony had finished, and Beverly had mercifully returned to her hotel, and Sheldon had kissed his girlfriend goodbye under his parents' watchful gaze, George watched him close the door only for Mary to pat the seat beside her in what looked like an invitation but they all knew was an ironclad order.

Dutifully Sheldon took his spot before the two of them, and George was sure the way they both stared at him with barely contained giddiness would send him running in seconds. It wasn't until Mary produced the diamond ring that he knew all too well, the family heirloom that spanned nine generations, that George saw everything click in his son's mind. And yet the fear remained locked in place.

"It's for you," Mary needlessly explained, cradling the ring box in her palm almost reverently.

George had always been a believer in letting his kids find their own path. He had seen firsthand that sometimes forcing your own point of view on a child is the one way to ensure that they do the complete opposite. But sometimes, every now and then, his wife was right to give someone the gentlest of pushes in the right direction. Especially if that someone was Sheldon.

He had seen it himself at the award ceremony, the way his son's tensed body immediately eased when his eyes met Amy's in the front row. The way his eyes slipped shut and head leaned against hers when she hugged him afterward. The way the four of them were back at the apartment, chatting amicably around a fresh pot of tea, and Sheldon grinned besottedly at just about every word that fell from his girlfriend's mouth. There wasn't a doubt in George's mind that Sheldon wanted to marry her, he just needed someone to tell him he did.

Mary was still holding the ring out to Sheldon, and he was still looking at it like it was a live hand grenade. "I didn't ask for it."

"We know," Mary said gently. "We just thought it might be time for you to start thinking about commitment."

"I am committed to Amy," Sheldon said shortly. "I don't need a manufactured fusion of carbon and gold to prove that."

George recognized the warning signs of an impending Sheldon meltdown and decided to step in. "We're not expecting anything from you. But… you believe in science, right?"

"Yes."

"And when you do your science, you need to be prepared for any possible outcome, right?"

"Yes."

"And you love Amy, right?"

"Of course I do."

"So think of this as a… precaution. For when you're ready."

Sheldon stared at his father for a long time. Then at his mother. Then at the ring. Then with hesitance still bleeding through every movement, he reached a hand forward for the little velvet box. "I'll think about it."

~0~0~0~0~0~

George had just stepped through the door when the landline rang. At this hour Mary was most likely asleep, getting some extra shut-eye for her morning prayer group, so George hurried himself to grab the phone before it woke her.

"Hello?"

"Dad?"

That one word sounded so small, so weak that George almost didn't believe it came from his younger son. His first thought was that he was injured, and George was just about to drop everything and hop on the next flight to California when he remembered what Sheldon had been going through these past few months. This was the other kind of hurt, which was the furthest thing from George's expertise.

"Let me get your mother."

"No wait," Sheldon said, his voice strangely tight. "I… wanted to talk to you."

George couldn't help but wince. A heart-to-heart with possibly the two most emotionally stunted people on the planet was not bound to end well, but still George sighed and sat at the kitchen table. "Okay. Shoot."

Nothing but static came through on the phone, and George thought the line had gone dead when Sheldon finally spoke. "When things at home were… bad, and Mom had kicked you out of the house, what did you do to get her back?"

Oh boy. Not only would he have to tackle Sheldon's heartbreak over Amy, but he was being asked to tackle his own. Not even just his, in fact, but the heartbreak of his wife, his children, his mother-in-law… a string of casualties from one man's stupid mistakes.

Even now, twenty-one years sober, George had to resist the urge to go to the fridge and grab a beer. But then again, there wasn't enough booze on earth that would make this conversation hurt less.

"That's a big question, son."

"There had to have been something. A word, a gesture, anything."

George leaned so far back in his chair it almost defied physics, and he ran a hand over his face. "This isn't one of your science experiments, Sheldon. You can't add a little vinegar here, a little baking soda there and expect the same result each time. Every person's different."

"No, I refuse to believe that," Sheldon said, a hint of vigor returning to his voice. "Love is only a load of neurochemicals, just as quantifiable as anything else. There's always a solution."

Out of nowhere, anger pricked at George's side like a thorn he hadn't been able to remove for decades. "Oh really? Then how come I've been able to fix things with your mom, your sister, your brother, even your grandmother, but you still refuse to let me back in?"

Sheldon grew eerily silent, so much so that George feared he had destroyed even the small bit of progress he had made with him. But dammit, he had given his son all the time in the world and he didn't know how else to make things better.

"The others didn't see what I saw, Dad," Sheldon said quietly.

George blew a slow breath out of his mouth, the anger seeping out along with it. "I know."

His other children didn't know about the affair. Even Mary hadn't known until well after George had broken it off with Jennette, when he had approached her as part of his twelve-step program to right his wrongs. But Sheldon didn't just know, he had seen it with his own two eyes, had witnessed first-hand the shame that George would carry for the rest of his life. And now Sheldon was carrying that burden into his own relationships.

"Sheldon," George said softly in the dim light of the kitchen. "Repairing a relationship isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. I had to prove my love to your mother over and over, in every way I knew how, to get her to believe in it again. I had to show her I was committed to our family, to staying sober, and to our marriage before she was willing to give me a second chance. And even after that, I made the choice to keep on proving my love even to this day."

"Really?"

"I just got back from AA before you called. Why do you think I keep going? It's not for me, it's for her."

Again there was silence, but for the first time George felt his son was truly listening, letting his message sink in.

"I tried to commit to her, too," Sheldon said at last, voice barely above a whisper. "I thought that was the solution. So tonight I took Meemaw's ring to her apartment and… I saw her kiss another man on her doorstep."

His voice broke at the end, and George's heart broke along with it. "I'm sorry, son."

"I just don't know what else to do, Dad."

George sighed. "The truth is, there might not be anything you can do. Me and your mom are the exception, not the rule. Most people who had it as bad as us don't turn out like we did. She'd call it God, I'd call it luck-"

"I don't believe in either of those things."

"Then call it… statistics," George said. "I know you love her, and I'd bet the world that she loves you back, but that's not always enough."

All he heard in response were a few sniffles, and it made George's heart clench. There had to be something he could do to help.

"Y'know, the first time I took your mom out after… everything, I brought her to the bar where we first met. I wasn't sure yet if we were gonna make it or not, but I figured maybe we could at least salvage the relationship enough that we could raise our kids together. Maybe we wouldn't be able to be a couple, but we could still be a family."

"What's your point, Dad?"

"My point is maybe one day you can still be friends with Amy. Take her to a science lecture or whatever, something you used to do before you started dating. Don't go in expecting more, but at least you've nudged the door open a little."

George could practically hear Sheldon thinking on the other end of the line, and when he spoke again he almost sounded like his old self. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome." And speaking of things left unsaid… "I love you, Sheldon. You know that, right?"

"I do." Another pause, and then, a miracle: "I love you, too, Dad. Even when I hated you, I always loved you."

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Mind if I cut in?"

Sheldon looked as though he minded, but Amy giggled as she broke from her new husband's hold. And George knew that was no small feat, considering how wrapped up in each other the bride and groom had been all day. It made his heart swell, being able to bear witness to their love. It was something that had been denied him when he and Mary had wed, and it had taken twenty years for him to rectify that. He was just glad it didn't take Sheldon quite so long to get his head out of his ass.

Sheldon was still looking glum, making George chuckle. "Come on now, Shelly. You're gonna have to share her now and again."

"I believe we signed a legally binding contract today that says otherwise," Sheldon said back.

But even her new husband's attitude wasn't enough to dim the smile on Amy's face. "It's okay, Sheldon, we'll have plenty more dances ahead of us. Why don't you go mingle? We've barely left each other alone all night."

The affronted look on Sheldon's face made it clear what he really thought about "mingling," but as he continued to gaze into his wife's eyes his expression softened. George watched in hushed awe as Sheldon leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Just save the next one for me."

"Always," said Amy, still beaming.

Sheldon walked away, and George quickly replaced him to take his new daughter-in-law into his arms. He could feel a slow grin coming on that could probably cleave his face in two, but he couldn't help it as he looked down on Amy's sweet, darling face.

"What is it?" Amy asked with a laugh.

"Nothing, nothing," he said, still smiling widely. "I just can't remember the last time I've been so happy."

"Really?"

"Really." George led her into a small twirl before bringing her back to frame. "The sun's shining, Penny put your mother in her place, my daughter's divorcing her dump of a husband, and I'm getting a second daughter to take his place."

Amy blushed and looked down, but George kept his gaze steady on her. "I can't thank you enough for what you've done for my son. I know he's not always easy, but he's a good man at heart and you're able to bring that out of him."

George glanced over at Sheldon, sitting across the room with a slice of cake in hand, conversing with Missy and Georgie. Though his face was stoic, there was an ease to his posture that few could get out of him as Georgie slapped his back and Missy giggled beside them. The sight of his three children, all together for the first time in a decade, moved something in a spot so deep within he couldn't even name it.

Amy looked up at him shyly. "He brings out the good in me, too."

George smiled at her, then his gaze shifted over to his wife, who was talking animatedly with Leonard. He saw her mime loading a shotgun as her companion fell into laughter, so he could only assume she was speaking about him.

"Love can really cause miracles, can't it?"

Amy gave one of those smiles that let George know exactly how his son had fallen in love with her. "Yeah, it really can."

They continued to dance to the end of the song, then George took Amy's hand into the crook of his arm and led her back to her husband. Sheldon's face lit up as he stood to greet them, but before he could take Amy back George took him by the shoulder.

"You picked a good one, son. I'm proud of you."

Sheldon was uncharacteristically quiet as he looked at his father, but George could see the unbridled emotion in his eyes as he nodded. He seemed to battle with himself for a moment, then stepped in to give a brief but utterly sincere embrace before quickly letting go and pulling Amy into his side, embarrassment etched into his face at the rare show of public affection.

The conversation soon resumed as if nothing had happened, but to George everything had happened. And as he felt a sudden pressure on his arm and turned to meet Mary's watery gaze, he knew that she felt it, too.

His family was here, together and happy against all odds. His heart had never felt so full, and like Amy had said in her vows he couldn't imagine it growing any fuller to fit the love that he had.

But he had a lifetime to prove himself wrong.