Author's Note: I wrote most of this chapter while I was in Vegas, and I just now got this over with! :D

Well, I think I'm going to finish this two or three chapters from now. But first, I'm going to continue working on Destiny's Child And Her Bridegroom as well as start typing out Could I Have This Kiss Forever?

Alright, so I'm gonna get off right here. Ciao!

-Voltalia

For the next several weeks, as Amethyst began to show more and more, she secretly began to name her child Capri. She didn't really care what it was ultimately going to turn out to be, but she knew there was an 87.5% chance it would be a girl. There had always been a disproportionately high number of women among Crystal Gems, which by now had become a very commonly known fact; in fact, for the longest time until the last two centuries or so, the Gems were thought to be an all-female species like the mythical Amazons.

Still, regardless of the statistics, she wanted to make absolute sure that this child made it into the world safe and sound.

Amethyst happened to be fidgeting with the straps of her maternity bra outside the Big Donut one morning when Himika Suzumiya, who had been Mayor Dewey's widow for four years now, suddenly approached her.

"Where'd you come from?" Amethyst asked, slightly annoyed.

"I could ask you the same thing..." Himika inquired. Right away, the Japanese-American caught sight of the violet Gem's large, distended egg-shaped abdomen. "Oh, I can see you look pretty fertile. Good luck to you and the baby."

"Thank you!" Amethyst beamed. "I'm naming her Capri."

"Oh, is it a girl?"

"Well, I don't know. I just have a feeling it'll be one."

"Ah. By the way, 'Capri' sounds like it'd be a good name for your child. Do you know what it means?"

"No, what is it?"

"It's Italian for 'whimsical.'"

That last part seemed very intriguing, at least for the pregnant Gem. At that moment, Steven suddenly showed up.

"Oh!" Himika was caught totally off-guard by his appearance. "Are you with this woman?"

"Yeah?" Steven asked, slightly unnerved. "Why?"

"I was just telling her about how fitting the name 'Capri' sounds for her child." the former mayor's widow answered. "Hopefully, it'll grow up to be whimsical like you are."

That seemed fair, at least to all three parties present. It was fairly obvious by now how childlike he was, especially as he was coming of age. It was always something to be admired how hopeful he was, no matter what obstacles may've been tangent or not.

"I sure hope so, because I'm pretty sure I won't be around much longer." Amethyst said.

"What do you mean?" Steven and Himika asked simultaneously out of concern.

"Steven, didn't Pearl tell you how Gems have to give up their forms to have their children?" Amethyst asked her mate.

"Well, yes, but..."

"But what?"

"I thought it was just a strange euphemism for dying."

"So has everyone else. I'm just a bit surprised you took it differently, is all."

That afternoon, Himika invited Amethyst and Steven over to her house for lunch. Her three daughters Rumiko, Atari, and Hitomi and her son Daisuke would be joining them; as for her stepson Buck and her youngest child Juno, they were noticeably absent since they'd gone out with Jenny and her sister Kiki for a "special" occasion.

"Hey, guys!" eight-year-old Daisuke greeted the couple enthusiastically.

Daisuke's jet-black hair had grown out a bit in the last four years and gained a bit of a sheen in the process. He'd grown a bit taller, too; now he was just about four feet tall.

"Hi, kiddo." Amethyst giggled as the kid hugged her belly.

Normally, she was somewhat hesitant about letting people touch her there, but Daisuke seemed like a well-behaved kid for the most part.

Next up to say hello was fifteen-year-old Hitomi. She was always pretty popular among her peers; on top of that, she and Steven had only been pretty good friends for a couple of years. Her naturally straight ink-black hair was done up in curls, which offset her steel braces rather well, and she had on a whole bunch of makeup that would've been overdone even by '80s standards.

"Ohmygosh, Steven!" Hitomi spoke with such joyous energy in her inflection. "Ican'tbelieveit! You'regoingtobeadaddy! Ijustknowthebaby'sgoingtobesocute!"

"Calm down, Hitomi." brainy seventeen-year-old Atari spoke monotonously. "Or are you jacked up on caffeine pills again?"

The comments about the caffeine pills made Amethyst cringe just a bit. She never wanted to be reminded of her own experience with them again.

"I'm sorry." Hitomi calmed down after a while. "Why don't we just eat right now?"

"Okay!" Daisuke perked up.