Just as Meemaw thought her investigation had hit a dead end, Missy suddenly spoke up. "I know exactly what's going on with Dad and Mom."
"Oh? Do tell, Missy." Meemaw turned her attention to her granddaughter.
It was true that when it came to emotional intelligence, Missy was miles ahead of Sheldon.
"Mom wanted to confiscate Dad's secret stash of 'emergency money,' but Dad wasn't having it. He went out and used the cash to buy a ton of beer instead. Then they had a massive blowout..." After sharing her findings, Missy added, "And that's why a pissed-off Mom dragged Sheldon and me over here."
After hearing the reason behind the Coopers' spat, Meemaw's gut instinct was that Mary was being way too controlling with the housework and family finances.
In the past, Mary's "my way or the highway" approach might have worked, but George had been dealing with a lot of professional setbacks lately. He was in a sensitive place and needed a little more grace and understanding from his wife.
Clearly, Mary hadn't realized that. If anything, her new job at the church had given her an extra ego boost, and she was unconsciously trying to take the driver's seat in their relationship.
If this lack of communication and power struggle continued, they were going to explode eventually—with or without the secret cash. The money was just the spark that lit the fuse.
Having seen through the issue, Meemaw wanted to go talk some sense into her daughter immediately. However, seeing how upset Mary looked, she decided to wait until after dinner when everyone's nerves had settled.
With the interrogation over, Meemaw headed to the kitchen to prep dinner, while Sheldon and Missy crowded around the computer.
At that moment, Mike was busy playing a game.
Watching the little pixelated guy jumping around and hitting blocks on the screen, Missy asked curiously, "What are you playing, Mike?"
"Super Mario Bros. It's a classic. Want to give it a shot?" Mike asked with a smile.
For Mike, these old-school games were more about nostalgia than anything else. Once the novelty wore off, he didn't find them that engaging.
Just as Mike was about to hand over the controls, Sheldon cut in. "Mike, has Dr. Ronald emailed us back yet?"
In response, Mike pulled up the email inbox. It was empty.
"He probably just hasn't seen it yet," Mike explained.
"No, it's been a whole day. I'm calling them." Without another word, Sheldon marched over to Meemaw's landline.
Sheldon had spent every waking minute of the last twenty-four hours waiting for that reply. Seeing his hard work being ignored made him beyond frustrated.
Meanwhile, Mike started teaching Missy the ropes of Mario.
By the time the little girl had burned through her third life, Sheldon came stomping back, looking absolutely livid.
"What happened? What'd they say?" Mike asked.
"The NASA receptionist told me to stop prank-calling them..." Sheldon answered gloomily.
The person on the other end had clearly guessed from his voice that he was just a kid and hadn't been very professional about it.
Hearing about the unfair treatment, Mike frowned. "Let me try and see what's actually going on."
Mike pulled out his cell phone and dialed the Houston Space Center.
"Thank you for calling NASA, how can I help you?" a woman's crisp voice answered.
"Hi, I'm checking on an email we sent to Dr. Ronald yesterday. Did he receive it?" Mike asked.
"Could I have your name and title, please?" The receptionist was strictly following protocol.
NASA's public inbox gets flooded daily. To protect their researchers from spam or malicious files, dedicated staff sort through the mail first. They only pass things along to the actual scientists if the content is deemed valuable.
"My name is Mike. I'm a student at Medford High. Dr. Ronald recently gave a guest lecture here," Mike said honestly.
"I see. Thank you for your call. We will process your inquiry according to our standard procedures. Please be patient." Hearing he was just a high schooler, the woman politely but firmly hung up.
Listening to the dial tone, Mike felt just as deflated as Sheldon.
"Well? What'd she say?" Sheldon asked impatiently.
"She said they'd get to it, but she was basically just blowing me off," Mike summarized.
It was obvious. The NASA staff dealt with Ph.D.s and high-level engineers all day. A high school kid calling wasn't exactly at the top of their priority list.
"I knew it. We should have asked Dr. Ronald for his personal cell or a private email address..." Sheldon muttered, looking genuinely dejected.
Seeing him so down, Mike patted his shoulder. "Give it some time. Maybe Dr. Ronald will see it soon and reach out."
"No. I can't just sit here," Sheldon said with renewed determination. "I've decided: until I get a response, I'm going to call them every single day."
Clearly, this had become a personal mission for him.
"Yes! I got the mushroom!" On the other side of the room, Missy cheered as her Mario doubled in size.
Apparently, not everyone shared Sheldon's existential dread.
A little while later, Meemaw called them for dinner. After eating, Sheldon managed to forget his phone-call trauma for a bit as he and Missy explored the computer.
Missy, being full of energy, loved the fast-paced action games. Sheldon, on the other hand, was much more interested in logic puzzles and strategy. The two of them immediately got into a heated debate over which was better.
Meanwhile, Meemaw pulled Mary aside to a quiet corner for a heart-to-heart.
"Mary, honey, I think you need to learn to cut the man some slack," Meemaw said, handing her daughter a beer. "George has had a rough time at work lately. He's allowed to be a little moody. It'll pass."
In Meemaw's eyes, minor friction in a marriage was normal. As long as there was some mutual grace, life would keep moving forward.
"No, Mom, it's not just a mood. It's like he cares less and less about this family every day..." Mary started venting about everything that had been bothering her lately.
Ever since George started working at the sporting goods store, he'd been working long hours and barely spent any quality time with her.
More importantly, the paycheck George brought home was struggling to cover the family's rising expenses. To Mary, the fact that George was spending more time drinking beer while they were falling behind felt like he was checking out on his responsibilities.
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