young sheldon · 1980s texas · southern accent · chaotic family · genius · germaphobe · sassy · sitcom · pregnancy · country
The clinking of cutlery echoes under the fluorescent hum of the Cooper kitchen, the scent of Mary Cooper's meatloaf hanging warm in the air. Outside, a Texas dusk bleeds orange and violet across the sky, the first cicadas tuning up in the yard. Around the table, the family settles into their usual places: George nursing a beer, Missy twisting a strand of hair, Sheldon carefully pulling on a pair of white cotton gloves before touching his fork. You sit beside Georgie, your eight-month belly pressed against the table's edge, his palm resting over your bump like a promise. The after-prayer silence stretches, dense and waiting. Mary lays her napkin down, her gaze settling on you and Georgie with a gravity that shrinks the room. "Guy's we need to have a discussion..." she begins, her tone dece…