"Sheldon, you sure you don't need a hand?" Mike asked one last time, watching Sheldon hover over the fridge as if he were performing open-heart surgery. "If you've got it under control, I'm gonna head back and start on lunch."
After all the back-and-forth, it was definitely getting to be that time.
"Mike, are you making lunch?" Missy asked, her eyes lighting up. She skipped over to him and gave his arm a little tug. "Can I come? I want that scrambled egg and tomato dish you make..."
Ever since Georgie started helping out with the Sparks' chicken coop, neither the Coopers nor Meemaw had been short on eggs.
Mike had taken advantage of the surplus to introduce them to a classic home-style comfort dish: scrambled eggs and tomatoes. It was simple, savory, and had just the right amount of tang.
To his surprise, that sweet and savory combo had become an instant hit with the family.
"Sure, come on then," Mike said, ruffling Missy's hair. He looked over at Georgie. "What about you? You in?"
"Actually, I wouldn't mind some of those eggs myself," Georgie said, not needing a second invitation.
Given how close Mike was with the Coopers, crashing at his place for a meal was no big deal.
As for Paige, she had likely called Mike over in the first place just to spend more time with him. She certainly didn't have any objections to heading back to his place to cook.
Just as the group started to head out, Sheldon—standing solo in front of the dismantled fridge—suddenly blurted out, "Wait, Mike!"
"What's up, Sheldon?" Mike asked, suppressing a grin at the boy's mixture of desperation and stubbornness.
"If you insist... I suppose I could invite you to assist me with the repairs," Sheldon said, a few beads of sweat forming on his brow as he maintained his haughty posture. "On the condition, of course, that you don't charge a service fee."
In reality, with Georgie's mechanical talent and Sheldon's brain, the two of them probably could have fixed it ages ago if they'd worked together.
The main reason Sheldon hadn't asked Georgie was that Georgie wanted to be paid.
And unfortunately, Sheldon's current budget was exactly zero dollars.
Mike looked at Sheldon—who was clearly pleading through his pride—and laughed. "We're friends, Sheldon. I'm not gonna send you a bill."
Sheldon let out a visible sigh of relief and stepped aside to make room.
"Manual... tools..."
Mike took over the job and shifted into work mode. With his and Paige's combined brainpower, it took no time at all to decipher the refrigerator's technical manual.
Georgie hopped in to help with the heavy lifting and the actual mechanical work, while Missy played the role of the helper, handing them tools as needed.
Ironically, Sheldon—the guy who started the whole project—found himself standing on the sidelines watching.
[Repair Experience +10]... [Repair Experience +10]...
Half an hour later, thanks to everyone's teamwork, the Cooper's small fridge was fully reassembled.
In Mike's skill menu, a new Level 2 Repair skill appeared.
Sheldon, who hadn't really contributed much to the final phase, plugged the fridge back in. He pressed his ear against the door for a moment, listening to the hum, and then cheered. "I knew it! My calculations were correct. I fixed the refrigerator!"
The annoying high-pitched whine was gone, and Sheldon was beaming with a sense of accomplishment.
"Shut up, Sheldon. If it wasn't for Mike, you'd still be staring at a pile of screws," Georgie interjected, rolling his eyes at Sheldon taking all the credit.
Paige and Missy both gave Sheldon a "really?" look.
Strictly speaking, during the actual repair, Sheldon hadn't done much besides get in the way and narrate the process.
"Well... I suppose Mike provided a small amount of assistance. But I believe I would have reached the same conclusion eventually on my own," Sheldon argued, doubling down.
His lack of shame successfully annoyed everyone else.
"Forget it, it's fine," Mike said, calming everyone down. "Since the fridge is fixed, I'll just make lunch here."
"Awesome! I'll help!" Missy said, her mood immediately shifting at the mention of food.
"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like a bowl of beef stew..." Sheldon said, realizing he was hungry now that the stress of the broken fridge was gone.
Before he could start placing his full order, he caught a fierce glare from Missy.
"Actually... whatever you make is fine," Sheldon mumbled, retreating to the corner.
With Missy and Paige helping out, Mike had lunch ready in no time.
Scrambled eggs and tomatoes, beef and potato stew, two bowls of garden salad, and some fluffy toasted bread.
It wasn't a fancy feast, but to the hungry group, it was better than a five-star meal.
After lunch, Mike and Paige stayed over at the Coopers' to hang out for the rest of the afternoon.
---
Toward evening, when George came home after a long day of work, Sheldon practically sprinted to meet him.
"Dad! Can you tell what's different about the house?" Sheldon asked, fishing for a compliment.
"Oh? Did you do a deep clean today?" George guessed with a smile.
Everyone who knew Sheldon knew that when he was stressed out, he would go on a cleaning frenzy to cope. George actually quite appreciated this particular "quirk" of his son's.
"No," Sheldon said, shaking his head. "Listen closely. Notice the lack of acoustic pollution?"
Sheldon kept cutting his eyes toward the refrigerator, hoping his dad would catch on.
"Is that so? I don't really hear anything," George said. Being a pretty laid-back guy, he had never even noticed the fridge noise in the first place, so he couldn't tell the difference now.
"It's the refrigerator's hum! I told you about it," Sheldon said, laying his cards on the table. "I fixed it."
Even though George still didn't quite understand the gravity of the situation, he saw the "please praise me" look on his son's face and played along. "No kidding, Shelly? That's great! You're the man."
As long as it wasn't a matter of life or death, George was never stingy with a "good job" for his kids.
Sheldon beamed, looking thoroughly satisfied.
Just as he was about to launch into a technical explanation of how he did it, Missy decided to blow his cover.
"Dad, Sheldon's lying. If Mike hadn't stepped in, he never would have gotten that thing back together," Missy said, her big eyes blinking as she looked at her dad. "And Paige, Georgie, and I all helped too."
George finally got the full picture. But after a long day, he didn't feel like getting into the middle of a sibling squabble.
"Well, you all did a great job. And Mike, Paige—thanks for the help," George said, making sure everyone felt included.
Once Missy was satisfied, George cracked open a beer and sank into the sofa to enjoy a rare moment of peace.
You could tell the start of the new year had been weighing on him.
It had been nearly six months since he lost his job as the head football coach. In that time, without a steady, "respectable" career, George's quality of life and his status within the household had noticeably taken a hit.
---