Chapter 2: "Jamie"
"Steven….Steeevvveeen…..," Pearl whispered as she gazed down upon him. Steven opened his eyes, and when he did, he saw Pearl staring back at him. He smiled, as he started to stretch, then he let out a yawn. "Goodmorning Pearl," Steven said. "Whoa, your breath Steven!" Pearl exclaimed, as she pulled her body back, then pinched her nose with her fingers. Then she continued, "Goodmorning to you to, Happy Birthday! Please brush your teeth when you get a chance!" Steven smiled as Pearl leaned in close to give him an embrace. As she was holding him she whispered, "What would you like to do today Steven? It's your birthday, we can do whatever you'd like."
"Yeah Birthday Boy! What's the plan for today?" Amethyst asked, as she was standing next to the bed. Steven leaned back from Pearl's embrace, then smiled at both of them as he said, "Maybe you guys could form Opal and give me a piggy back ride down stairs? That would be an awesome start to my day!" Amethyst laughed when she heard Steven's request, and all Pearl did was sigh as she replied, "Steven, I know it's your birthday, but you know we only fuse in deadly situations. And the answer is, NO!" Steven held his head down in disappointment, when suddenly Garnet reached into the bed and picked him up.
"Happy Birthday Steven," Garnet exclaimed, as she placed him over her shoulders, then headed down stairs. Steven had a large grin on his face, as he buried his face into Garnet's hair, then said, "I love you guys! Thanks for remembering!" "We love you too Steven," Garnet replied. As the four gems headed down stairs, there was a knock at the front door. "Who could that be? It's too early for visitors!" Amethyst asked. Suddenly, Pearl ran past Garnet and Amethyst, then shouted, "I'll go get it! I know who it is!" As she opened the front door, she was greeted by a "mailman" standing before her.
"Good morning Ma'am, my name is….." As he was conversing with Pearl, Garnet quietly whispered underneath her breath, "Jamie…." While they were standing on the stair case, Amethyst looked up at Garnet and Steven, then asked, "Jamie? How do you know that's his name? Are you having one of your future vision things again?" But Garnet ignored Amethyst and remained silent, as she continued to stare at the front door where Pearl was standing. "Good morning to you to sir, my name is Pearl. Now I'm assuming that because you came to the front door, you have a package for me?"
Jamie smiled at her, as he replied, "Why yes ma'am, I in fact do. I have a package addressed to a Pearl, I'm guessing that's you?" Pearl began to blush a little, as Jamie continued. Now if you'll please sign for it, I'll be on my way…" As she was giving her electronic signature, Pearl began to converse with him. "You know, this is my first time ordering anything from online. I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about doing so, and didn't really know what to expect. But I am very pleased with the mail services! You've arrived at the exact date and time that was indicated on my invoice receipt, thank you for doing that!" Jamie sighed as he exclaimed, "Well that's my job. I wouldn't be performing to the best of my abilities, if I didn't deliver mail on time. I'm glad the post office could be of service to you! Have a wonderful day Ma'am!"
As he was about to leave, Pearl extended her hand out towards him and said, "Please, call me Pearl." Jamie shook her hand, then replied, "Alright then, nice to meet you Pearl. Have a wonderful day!" As Jamie walked off, Pearl continued to stare at him, as she quietly thought to herself, "What a pleasant man, very polite and respectful…." Amethyst and Garnet both looked at each other, then looked back at Pearl. As they did, Amethyst said, "Well this is different. I've never seen her talk to anybody before, let alone a guy other than Greg or Steven." Garnet looked down at her and replied, "People can change…" Suddenly Steven yelled with excitement, "Hey Pearl, what's that in your hands!? Why do you have a package!?"
Pearl caught herself from staring, as she closed the door, then turned her attention towards Steven. "Oh I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, as she began briskly walking back towards them with the package in hand. "This is for you Steven, Happy Birthday! I'm sorry I didn't have time to wrap it." Garnet set him down, as Steven began shaking with excitement. While he was opening the box, Amethyst looked at Pearl and said, "You got him a birthday present!? I thought we agreed to take him out today to celebrate, and then let him pick out a gift!?" Pearl kneeled down beside Steven and began caressing her fingers through his hair, as she said, "Well, this is something personal that I wanted to give Steven. It's my gift to him. We can still go out and celebrate today, but I wanted to give him something special."
When Steven opened the box, he pulled the object out from the tiny pieces of Styrofoam, then raised it into the air. "Wow Pearl! This is amazing! This is so cool!" Steven exclaimed with excitement. "Another backpack! What's he going to do with another backpack!?" Amethyst asked angrily. "It's not just any backpack!" Steven exclaimed, then continued. "It's a novelty Cookie Cat Backpack! There was only a few ever made!" Pearl stood up with her arms folded, and looked up towards the ceiling. With her eyes closed, she had a smile on her face as she said proudly, "I like to plan ahead! With a little research, it's amazing how you can find different things on the internet." Steven lunged towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He held her tight, then looked up at her as he said, "Thank you Pearl! You're so awesome! I love you so much!"
Pearl began to blush as she responded, "I love you too Steven!" She leaned in close to give him a kiss on the forehead, then said, "Now go get ready, your dad's meeting us on the boardwalk." As Steven ran up the stairs to change, Amethyst looked over at Pearl and said, "I swear, could you coddle him anymore!? You're making us look bad!" Pearl quickly responded, "Hey, it's not my fault you didn't prepare Amethyst! Besides, I don't see Garnet complaining about my actions. And if I want to give Steven a gift, I'll do so on my own accord! I'm not coddling him! I just love him!"
Amethyst replied, "Yeah, Steven's not the only dude who you're in love with…" Pearl stared at her, and had a bewildered look in her eyes as she asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" Then Amethyst exclaimed, "It means!..." But Garnet stepped into the conversation and said, "That's enough you two. Today is Steven's Birthday. Let's not ruin it with the constant fighting and bickering." Steven stood at the top of the stair case and shouted, "Alright guys I'm ready! Let's go!" Steven ran down the stairs, and out through the front door, as Amethyst followed. Garnet began walking towards the door, when suddenly Pearl stopped her.
"What exactly did she mean by that?" Pearl asked, as she began looking up towards her teammate with concern in her eyes. Garnet smiled as she hugged her friend, then said, "Nothing. She meant absolutely nothing by that. Great idea on the gift for Steven! I know he loves it!" Pearl smiled as she began walking towards the front door, then exited the house. As Garnet followed, she looked up towards Rose's painting that was hanging over the doorway and said, "I guess it's already begun…." Garnet took off her visors to wipe the tears from her face, as she whispered to herself,
"Please take care of our friend, Rose…."
"I know she'll be with you shortly…."
