They just had to leave her with him. As if things could not get worse they just had to leave Steven with her. Greg was away doing important stuff at the car wash. It was the babysitter's day off, so that left Steven in the care of the Crystal Gems. They had a mission to attend to but they couldn't leave the 11-month-old alone, so they nominated Pearl to look after him while they are gone. she knew it was not because she is a Pearl, but because they hoped that this would strengthen her bond with Steven. Amethyst saw him as a small brother the second he popped into existence, Garnet took time to re-adjust but eventually she started seeing him as the new Rose, but Pearl hated him. she couldn't understand why Rose gave up her physical form for a pathetic little creature. She hated him with all her heart.
She watched as little Steven danced to the music in a shirt that was way too big for him. It looked like a dress on him. He was developing surprisingly fast for a child his age. But Pearl felt nothing for him except hatred, hatred and more hatred. He could drown in the ocean, she wouldn't care, he could fall off a cliff, she wouldn't care, he could accidentally stab himself with a knife, she wouldn't care. But Garnet and Amethyst would. They cared about Steven more than they loved themselves.
When Steven got bored of dancing, he raced towards the picnic basket and took out some paper and crayons and started to draw intently. 10 minutes or so, passed and he gave Pearl the drawing. it was a poorly drawn Pearl and Steven holding hands and smiling. Pearl looked at Steven, he was smiling proudly at what he drew. Pearl just tore up the drawing and said nothing. she looked away from Steven.
Pearl examined babies before and they always had a tendency to cry if something went wrong, exactly what Pearl intended to do. But Steven just looked baffled. Then he did something Pearl didn't expect; he hugged her.
"What are you doing?!" she yelled at him and pushed him away. But he just walked up and hugged her again. "Get off me you little..." Before she could say anything she saw concern in his eyes. The same concern Rose had when Pearl was feeling very distressed. She pushed him back. "Go away." she mumbled.
Then Steven started to do funny movements with his mouth as if trying to speak."m-mu-mums-mama,Mama!"
Those words nearly knocked her down. "What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?" she said in a angry tone.
"Mama!" Steven yelled joyfully and started spinning and clapping his hands and repeating the word 'mama' over and over. Pearl got so angry and frustrated that she pulled out her spear and pointed at him.
"Pewl?" Said Steven moving out of the reach of the spear. "Mama?"
Pearl crumpled to the floor and started sobbing. She let the spear disperse. He acted so much like his mother, so caring, so forgiving. And yet she treated him like an outcast. Pearl felt tiny arms wrapping around her waist. It was Steven. She noticed something peculiar about his gem; it was glowing dimly. She picked him up and hugged him, she finally understood why Garnet and Amethyst cared so much about him. He was their last part of Rose left. She put him down and looked at the pieces of his drawing. She looked into the picnic bag and found some scotch tape. She taped the picture back and put the picture back in the picnic basket. In that moment she swore an oath never to let Steven get hurt.
"Steven what would you like to do?"
