AN: This is an all-human AU, so I had to take some license with how the house worked and where Peridot and Lapis lived. I hope you enjoy it!
A Family Christmas
"Come on, we can have a tree in the house, right?" Steven asked.
"We don't have enough room," his aunt Pearl pointed out. "We have too many people, and the main part of the house is small enough as it is."
Steven sighed, as he knew she was right (as usual). Their oddly-shaped beach house in Beach City had always been a little full with Steven, his father Greg, Greg's sisters-in-law Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst, and Garnet's twin daughters Ruby and Sapphire. Now, however, they had taken in Lapis, a poor 20-year-old girl who had been in a severely abusive relationship, and an 18-year-old named Peridot who had recently been kicked out by her parents, so they had nine people staying in a four-bedroom house. Steven had always stayed in the loft area above the living room since he was old enough to want his own space, and he decided to remain there while Lapis slept on an air mattress on the floor nearby. (Since he was the first person to notice her problem and convince the others to take her in, Steven was the only person Lapis really trusted.) Meanwhile, Peridot slept on the couch in the living room proper. With the dining table and the small kitchen factored in, not to mention seating for the large family, the living room was fresh out of space.
"Aw, come on!" Amethyst said. "We can squeeze a tree in here somewhere!"
"Yeah, Amethyst's right!" Steven quickly agreed. Technically, Amethyst was Steven's aunt, but she was only eight years older than him, so he just referred to her as Amethyst.
"Where could we possibly fit a tree?" Pearl asked.
"Uh…" Amethyst looked around, her eyes sweeping over the couch, the window seats, the chairs, the tables, and all of the other assorted, necessary furniture.
"It doesn't have to be a big tree," Steven suggested. "It can be a desk tree on the coffee table."
"Go big or go home!" Ruby yelled. The tiny redhead ball of energy ran into the room from the bedroom she shared with her mom and her sister. "We should get a big huge tree and put it right here in the middle of the room!"
Sapphire followed her sister far more calmly. The little black-haired girl placed a calming hand on her fraternal twin's shoulder. "It wouldn't be very practical to get a really big tree; however, we should get a smaller tree, like a four-foot-tall one. That would fit here just fine." She turned to her mother, who had followed the twins out there. "Don't you think?"
Garnet ran a hand through her fluffy black hair. "We can fit one there," she replied with surety in her deep voice.
Pearl looked hesitant, but she didn't want to argue with her older sister. "I suppose a small tree could fit there…" she conceded.
"Yes!" Steven exclaimed, high-fiving Ruby. "We should all get in the van and go pick one out!"
"Count me in!" Amethyst yelled before finishing off a rather large sandwich with a slightly disturbing mix of toppings. How she had assembled a sandwich in the short time since she had last spoken, Steven did not know, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know.
"Amethyst, we're supposed to have dinner together in a bit! You shouldn't snack all day!" Pearl chided. Amethyst simply shrugged in response. "In any case, dinner will be soon," Pearl continued. "We can get a tree tomorrow."
"Aw, okay… but I'm going to go tell Dad!" Steven said, running into his dad's room. The room was decorated in white with light pink trim, since Steven's mother, Rose, had decorated it, and Greg had never had the heart to change its design at all since her death.
"Hey Stew-Ball," his dad said, seeing Steven come into the room. "What's up?"
"Aunt Pearl agreed that we can get a tree tomorrow!" he replied enthusiastically.
"That's great, Steven," Greg replied, smiling at his energetic son.
"Can Connie come with us?"
"I suppose so, if not too many people want to come along. The van only has room for eight people."
"I don't think Lapis or Peridot will come," Steven speculated. "They don't usually want to do fun stuff if it involves leaving the house and being around people."
"Then we should have enough room."
"Sweet! I'm going to go call her!" Steven ran out of the room, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Greg shook his head a little while smiling at his son, who had a not-so-secret crush on Connie, which ensured that Connie, and sometimes her whole family, was involved in every holiday and activity.
The next day, Greg drove the car as the others minus Lapis and Peridot piled in. They swung by Connie's household to pick her up. The group arrived at a tree lot and looked carefully for a nice, small tree. Once they'd picked it out, they tied it to the top of the van and rode back. Ruby had jokingly volunteered to be tied to the top instead of the tree, but her mom had just laughed and ruffled Ruby's frizzy hair while her sister shook her head and pulled Ruby into the van.
Once the group got back to the house, they set up the tree right in the middle of the room and started decorating it. Even Lapis pitched in to help. Peridot, however, stood to the side looking equal parts amazed and confused.
"Do you want to help?" Steven asked.
"I don't know how," Peridot replied.
"What?" Steven questioned in disbelief.
Peridot shrugged. "My family never celebrated Christmas. I've seen Christmas trees before, of course, but I've never tried to decorate one."
"Here, I'll help you," Steven offered, showing her how to wrap garland around the tree and hang ornaments in a way that ensured that they wouldn't fall down and break. Peridot enjoyed every minute of it, even though she was still pretty confused.
At the end, they were ready to put the star on the top. Traditionally, they had Ruby and Sapphire work together to do it, since they were the youngest, but they all agreed that Peridot should, since she'd never done it before. "How do I do that?" she asked.
"Just settle it on the top of the branch that's sticking up!" Steven not-so-helpfully explained.
It took her about three tries, but Peridot finally managed to get the star settled. She stepped back with a smile. "That was… fun," she said softly, almost unwilling to admit that she'd had fun with such a childish activity.
"Of course it was! It's almost as fun as taking it down after New Year's!" Steven exclaimed.
Steven, Connie, and the twins took off to go play together, Lapis sat down in the loft to read a book, Pearl started cooking dinner, and Amethyst, Greg, and Garnet started playing a card game together, but Peridot just stood there for a while, staring at the over-decorated tree and wondering just how much childhood she had missed out on. She felt a rush of gratitude toward the Quartz/Universe family for not just taking her in, but helping her to really be part of the family.
Steven woke up in the middle of the night before Christmas for some inexplicable reason. If he was any younger and still believed in Santa Claus, he would have freaked out, since he knew that Santa didn't visit houses where the children were still awake. Since he was fourteen, however, he knew better. Still, he wasn't sure why he'd woken up until he heard soft sobbing from the foot of his bed. He crawled across the bed to peer over the end, where he saw Lapis quietly crying into her pillow. "Did you have another nightmare?" Steven asked as quietly as he could. The sobs immediately stopped, and Lapis turned her head up toward him to give him a death glare, though her eyes were bleary and red-rimmed. "…I'm going to take that as a yes," Steven said. He got off of his bed and walked around to Lapis' air mattress. He carefully kneeled down next to her and started rubbing her back in slow circles, calming her so that she could go back to sleep. "Do you feel better?" he asked.
Lapis shrugged in a non-committal fashion. "Yes, but I'm not sure that I can go back to sleep. Nearly every time I close my eyes…" she trailed off, shuddering slightly.
Steven innocently lied down on the floor next to her mattress and put a hand on her shoulder. The gesture was so simple and sweet that it calmed Lapis a little more. She didn't protest as he gently came onto her mattress and snuggled up with her, reminding her of when she was a little kid, cuddling with her older sister for warmth on cold winter nights. "When I have nightmares," Steven said, "I like to hold a stuffed animal." He smiled at her a little sheepishly. "I'm not quite a stuffed animal, but I am stuffed…" He poked his round tummy. "And I'm kind of like an animal."
Lapis laughed, and the simple act of laughing pushed away the last of the fear. "You are an animal," she joked.
Steven grinned, delighted to see her smile, since it was such a rare occasion. He decided that seeing her smile was better than any Christmas present he could possibly be getting in the morning.
As the little kid drifted off in her arms, Lapis felt relaxed enough to sleep with another person in her bed for the first time in over a year. It was a small step, but it was a step to recovery, and she knew that Steven would be supporting her as a little brother every step of the way.
In the morning, Steven was surprised to find that Lapis was still asleep, since she usually slept very little, restless from nightmares. As he looked over at her, though, he saw that she was perfectly relaxed and that her expression was free from its usual worry lines. I guess Christmas miracles do happen, he mused.
AN: I hope that everyone enjoyed this! I wrote this over a year ago, but I forgot to post it last year, so I just kept it tucked away in my files until now. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, and Happy New Year to one and all! :)