It had been about a month since the three geodes had hatched, their guesses being correct, they had two Rubies and a Blue Sapphire. Though the Sapphire had the smallest geode, she was actually the biggest of the three even if it wasn't by much. Her Gem was located on her chest. Out of the two Rubies, one of them was obviously a runt, and she was paler than her sister as well. Her Gem was located on her right hand, and her sister's was located on her left arm. They had decided that things would get confusing having now three Rubies and two Sapphires around, so Steven suggested that they give the gemlings nicknames. They agreed that was a good idea, so with his help the Gemlings now went by Scarlet, Cherry and Icing. The runt's name was Cherry, the other Ruby's being Scarlet and of course the Sapphire being Icing. Sapphire had thought it was cute, like icing on a cupcake.
The Gemlings were very active for their young age, and had been since they hatched. The trio were quite the handful, always managing to get away when their parents (or whoever happened to be watching them) were not paying attention. They were all very healthy, too, even the runt which they had been worried about. Ruby and Sapphire got tired easily from taking care of them though, so sometimes they had one or more of the other gems watch the babies for a bit. Now was one of those times.
Currently, Pearl was sitting on the couch, reading something. Amethyst was in her room most likely and Steven was with Connie, out, and Ruby and Sapphire had just gone out. The pale gem's eyes shifted to the words of the book to the table in front of her, hearing a little noise of a Gemling awakening. They were each in three separate little beds asleep, at least until the one woke up. It was the runt, Cherry. Pearl set her book down, gently picking up the Gemling who squirmed a little before relaxing again. Her brown eyes peered up at her 'aunt', before stubby little arms reached up at her. Pearl smiled some at the baby, lifting her up a bit to be closer to her face. She was greeted with a tiny Gemmed hand on her nose.
"Hi baby.. Are you hungry, hm?" She spoke to her, getting a squeak in response as her nose was pulled. She had gotten rather good with the Gemlings, if she did say so herself. Pearl took the squeak for a yes even though she knew the little gem had no clue what she was talking about. She stood up, going to the fridge. Gemlings' gems were not powerful enough to fully support their forms when they are young, so they have to eat and sleep like organic beings to gain strength. Pearl pulled a bottle from the fridge, filled with milk courtesy of Sapphire. She put it in the microwave, heating it up more than a human infant would take it. She was a Ruby after all, it didn't necessarily have to be heated up more but that's what they had decided she and Scarlet liked. Pearl made sure the milk wasn't too hot, before putting it to Cherry's lips as she started walking back to the couch. She sat down, the Gemling beginning to drink.
Pearl leaned forward a little to look at the other two Gemlings. Icing was awake, her deep blue eye wide and staring straight up at Pearl. She seemed to be content laying in the nest of blankets, though now that she knew she had the adult Gem's attention, she started to whine raising her arms up and waving them looking rather distressed.
Pearl frowned, shifting Cherry so that one of her hands was free. She reached into the little bed and gently picked Icing up, she could feel that she needed a diaper change when she did so. She grimaced; she really hated diaper changing. Maybe she could get Amethyst to do it… She sighed and tried to keep Icing from being too upset while she fed Cherry, she couldn't exactly do both at the same time. Luckily while Cherry was finishing drinking her milk, Icing didn't do much more than squirm and whine. Pearl gently set Icing back into her bed, lifting Cherry up on her shoulder to gently burp her. She summoned a rag from her Gem, placing it on her shoulder first of course. She pat the Gemling's back gently, and she was glad that she had the rag as Cherry spit up a bit but not much. After that was done, she set her down in her bed and folded the rag so that the spit up was in the center, concealed. Just as she was doing this Icing was starting to sound like she was going to cry.
Pearl was quick to pick her up, comforting her so that she did not cry, not wanting her to wake her other sister who was still asleep. "Okay, okay.." She soothed, sighing as she went to deal with her diaper to hopefully stop her whimpers and whines. Lucky for her she only found quite a bit of urine, rather than the other distasteful thing it could have been. Lifting the tiny Gem up once she had finished that, she gave a smile to the little Sapphire.
"All better!" She cooed in a light voice, going to set her back down in her bed before returning to the kitchen to wash her hands thoroughly. Quickly, she returned to the Gemlings, seating herself on the couch. Looking to Scarlet, she saw the Ruby was still sound asleep. She wondered how long that would be for… Pale eyes shifting back to the other two, they both looked restless now wanting attention. Pearl scooped the duo up, bouncing them a bit which erupted in a few giggles.
"Alright you two, since you're up now, what do you want to do?" She spoke, mindful of her volume due to the other sleeping Gem, though. She got more babbling in response, and couldn't help a small smile that formed. They were just so precious… "Maybe when your sister wakes up, we'll go to the beach." She suggested, even though she knew they couldn't know exactly what she said. They could only register a few keywords so far, but not yet speak them. They did start to get excited at the word 'beach', though, definitely knowing that one. They enjoyed playing in the sand very much.
"Bababa!" More jumbled sounds came from them, and she wasn't sure which one was being louder at this point.
"Okay, okay, shhh." She tried, stroking both of their heads, which were full of hair. She looked back to the third Gem, to see she was beginning to move and whine. No sense in keeping the other two quiet, now. She carefully placed the other two into her lap, reaching over to pick up Scarlet. The Ruby huffed and whined as she was picked up from her cozy bed, blinking her eyes open to look up at the pale Gem. She didn't look very happy to have been moved, which made Pearl chuckle.
"What's a matter grumpy pants?" Pearl teased her, poking her belly lightly in a tickle, which got a few giggles out of her. She was trying so hard to stay upset though, kicking her chubby legs at her current caregiver. Ultimately the tickling won, as she started to laugh a cute little laugh. Pearl smiled at this before stopping, having mercy on her. Icing and Cherry were both curiously watching as their sister was tickled, quiet.
"Are you hungry? You didn't drink before your nap, neither did Cherry and she was hungry when she woke up." She needlessly asked, only getting a chirp out of Scarlet. Though, her body answered for her as her stomach rumbled softly. "I'll take that as a yes." She spoke, moving the other two now onto the couch, as she stood to go get a bottle for her.
The Ruby was quiet in Pearl's arm as she opened the fridge and repeated the process she'd done earlier of heating up the milk. Putting it to Scarlet's mouth she walked back to the couch, making sure she did not sit on the other two as she lowered herself onto the couch.
Scarlet was reluctant at first, before giving in and suckling on the nipple of the bottle. Pearl held her while she drank, occasionally having to stop Icing or Cherry from wandering off or falling off the couch completely, usually it was Cherry. Icing was never THAT big of a troublemaker, but she too had her moments.
Soon enough, Scarlet had finished up her bottle and Pearl went to burp her as she had Cherry. Using a rag this time, too. Once that was done, she set her on the couch with her sisters and went to quickly grab a thin blanket and an umbrella. With these items under one arm, she took their carrier basket, placing the trio inside as she scooped it up. Peeps of complaint sounded, which simply made Pearl chuckle. As she started to the door to go outside, she stopped hearing the Temple door open, turning her head she blinked at Amethyst, before offering,
"Would you like to go to the beach with us?"