Raising Steven Chapter 10

Babysitter Lunacy (Part 3)

The babysitter slowly removed her cupped hands from her eyes, already preparing herself for one of the most extraordinary events that she will see in her life. Sooner, she saw a bright pink light and Steven frozen in place with a shield summoned in front of him. There she knew this would be a scene she would never forget. The gleam of excitement that shined through the young gem's eyes only brought a feeling of happiness to the girl's heart. His smile even was widely stretched across his face.

"It's so...pretty. When do I get to use the shield, dad?" Steven asked his father, who on the other hand was very cautious instead of celebrating this special moment.

Greg slowly took a step closer to his son, observing the shield's structure. It was glossy and made of crystal, which made it indestructible. It was decorated with a spiral thorn vine, centering a rose quartz gem in the middle. It was absolutely beautiful and stunning to see, but it was not a moment to remain calm. Any small move that the child makes could possibly trigger something. Greg finally approached his son who looked to him in excitement.

"Can you deactivate it, Steven?" Greg trembled with a husky voice, but was cut with a whimper from the gem. He guessed that Steven can't even make his shield disappear.

"No. I can't and I don't want to." The boy stated with a tongue stuck out. He then jumped up and down, and ran off. The shield however, would follow him.

"What do we do now?" Lula asked, but was hushed by Greg.

"Just calm him down. I seen how Rose would discard it, so I think I know what to do." He answered, then mumbled to himself, "Rose. He has Rose's shield...I can't believe it."

Lula nodded and took off after Steven. The boy would climb over tables, chairs, and stand on the counter and dance a victory dance of his babysitter not catching him; even while being completely naked making Lula shiver. While running away from her, Steven would break portraits containing precious memories and make glass cups fall, shattering them on the ground.

"Steven! Please stop running..." Lula begged while watching her step.

"No! I don't want to!" Steven triumphantly shouted back with frustration, stomping the ground in anger. For his age, it was perfectly normal for not wanting to follow others orders due to it ending their fun, but his attitude seemed as if it was getting out of hand. He was even breaking many items, including some gem gadgets.

"Leave me alone. You're all meanies." He shouted, until he triggered something that was uncontrollable for anyone to handle. While stomping, Steven accidentally made his shield bounce against the walls, causing even more destruction.

It shattered windows, made shelves fall or break apart, and tear many cloths. His shield was as sharp as a knife which putted three lives in danger. Lula hid herself underneath a chair at the kitchen counters while Greg ran for Steven's protection. Instead of being shocked and scared, the young gem found it quite enjoyable. He clapped his hands together while awing at the shield's process, but was tackled to the ground by his father when his weapon came to him just in time. The shield didn't injure anyone, but slice a strand of Steven's black hair.

"Make it stop!" Lula yelled until the shield did exactly what she begged for. The magical object slammed into the refrigerator, indenting the door of it.

"Well it stopped, you big meanies..." The kid answered with annoyance as he got up from his father's grip. The three looked at each other then back to Steven's weapon and processed toward it. Looks of shock and horror were shown from their faces as they saw the environment they were in. Everything was wrecked, causing them to be scared about what the gems are going to do when they return.

"Okay. We just have to get a broom, duster, tools, and a whole bunch of duct tape. We have about two hours before they return so we can do this….haha..." The teenage girl scout laughed in an insane way as she could feel her mind losing hope. She was even shaking intensively as well as sweating uncontrollably. "They won't notice a thing and we'll all live happily ever after."

"How are we going to clean all this up? It will take a couple of days to replace the shelves and glass, as well as fix the fridge." Steven's father choked out as he saw the crystal shield disappear. He then looked to his son who was looking to the ground in shame.

"I'm sorry, daddy...I-" He began until he was immediately taken by his father's glare.

"Do you know how much damage you costed Steven? You could even kill us all." Greg began, "Now the gems will be angry with us, especially if you're not a baby anymore."

The boy took steps back as his father continued to argue about his actions. Small teardrops fell from his little eyes as he held his breath.

"It's not my fault, daddy. I can't control my powers and I don't know what to do."

"It's all because you're a gem! Why can't you just be a regular human?" Greg growled at his small son. "Why do have to have your mother's powers? Sometimes, I even wish I never met your mother, Rose."

"But, daddy-"

"STEVEN!"

Steven wept as he ran from his father's glaring eyes that scared him. He couldn't handle it. The kid was even sobbing loudly as he went up the stairs and collapsed on Greg's torn bed. Steven looked down at his gem, hoping nothing bad will happen next. His little mind even dreaded his magical abilities.

Below the level, Greg was even crying, feeling his son's pain. His words were enough to make him instantly regret everything that he said to the child. Steven knew no better as his mind was exact of a five year old and he shouldn't take the blame. But somewhere deep in Greg's thoughts, he did actually wished for a regular human son as it would ease him. He wouldn't even have to worry about their dangerous destiny as well as losing them like his beloved wife.

"Mr. Universe. What are you standing around there for? We need to get to work." Lula stated in an abnormal way as she opened up broken cabinets, looking for cleaning supplies. After grabbing some items, she walked to the broom and grabbed it then threw it to Greg's way.

"Work, work, work! They're going to come and kill us if we don't leave everything perfect!" She crazily laughed.

Greg clumsily grabbed onto the wooden broom and swept the mess around him. He pushed his regretful actions aside as all he knew that he needed to worry about was the Crystal Gems when they return from their trip.

"Wahh….wahh..." A small cry echoed throughout the area causing the two humans to raise their heads. They quickly dropped their items and rushed to Greg's bed, knowing what could have possibly happened. Just as they knew, they were met with a baby gem. Steven cried as he fell onto his back and reached out for someone to hold him.

"Wahh...wahh..."

"Hooray! He's a baby again! That's one thing off our backs to explain to the gems." Lula scooped the baby up in her arms and cradled him, hoping he would fall in a deep slumber. However, he did the opposite of what she wanted. Steven kicked and pulled onto Lula's hair as he wanted nothing to do with her. Next, Greg decided to handle him.

"Steven...please stop crying. Okay, I'm sorry for everything that I said before. I don't regret meeting your mother. If I didn't met her, then I wouldn't have you. You're the reason why I still have hope and that I'm not falling into depression. I love you so much, Steven. I'd be lost without you."

There, a small miracle occurred. Steven finally stopped his crying. The gem weakly smiled up to him, seeming as if he accepted his father's apologies. The baby lightly giggled, making his tears and dripping snot disappear. He reached out to his father, but was interrupted when Lula spoke out.

"Very sweet, Mr. Universe, but we need to continue cleaning."

The man nodded. He kissed his son on the forehead and made his way to the baby's crib. Greg then placed Steven in it, feeling a longing to hold him for some more time.

"I'm so sorry, Steven."

...

Time was up before the gems could be back at the time they promised. The sun was nearly setting beyond the horizon, painting the sky in a purplish orange color. The warm beach breeze blew into the beach home which lessened the tense of the atmosphere.

"And there. They won't notice unless they touch it and I should know, they won't. They barely lay a hand on anything here, due to them claiming that it's my room and Steven's...unless it's Amethyst. That kid will touch anything that arouses her mind so let's try to make this unnoticeable." Greg explained while piecing a broken wooden piece using super glue.

"Okay. We cover the fridge door with a new table cloth. You said you'll replace it tomorrow morning. You glued the other stuff too, but what about the glass and picture frames? That is something they will surely notice." Lula asked. She was completely paranoid that any minute the Crystal Gems could come home. Before, she might be losing her mind, but this time she was calmer and more secure about her accomplishment with babysitting Steven.

She already could predict their reactions to the remaining mess.

Just a few things needed a quick clean or fix up, but some replacements needed to be made. Never had the two humans expected for Steven to go through one of his gem phases, which Greg assumed the boy was going through. But, now that he's a lovable recognizable baby, there's one thing off of their lists of errors to explain to the older gems.

"With the picture frames, we can always replace them with new frames. As long as the pictures aren't damaged. For the windows and glass, just hope for the best. I'll go and change the torn curtains and stuff..." Greg than speed walked to the kitchen. As he walked, he would make some displeased faces, completely unsure of which instinct to follow.

Lula gulped as she still wished the best for her friendship with Pearl as well as them approving of her job for her to earn her last badge of her level. Without any thought, the young girl scout made her way to Steven's crib to check him one last time. Drool was pooling over his chin as he gently slept. His eyes would flutter, but Steven would toss his head to the side, wanting no one to disrupt him. Lula smiled as she leaned onto the crib's side, completely adored by him.

"Aww...well, I think my job here is done. Oh, and sorry for wasting your time Mr. Universe. Pearl told me that you were going to come here for one hour then leave to a job interview. It turns out you stayed longer than you should have..." The teenager apologized as she turned around to face Greg.

"It's alright. Besides, I know I will never get the jobs that I want to apply to due to them saying I'm inexperienced. I've also been with these girls for six months even though I was supposed to stay with them for three months. But...Steven is the most important being for me right now. I promised my Rose, that I won't let anything happen to our son...and I want to keep my promise." He weakly smiled at her.

"Rose is his mother, correct? I was told that she passed away from giving birth to him."

"Yes, you're correct. When she was on the verge of labor, we took her to the hospital. The problem was that the doctors couldn't do anything for her since she was a gem or not a human. Not even an operation could be made since it would affect her gem that was on her stomach which would hurt Steven." Greg explained, feeling a bit of pain at his heart.

"Oh..."

"She naturally gave birth to him and Garnet and Pearl helped her with embedding her gem onto Steven's own belly so it can give him a longer life. They did an ancient gem ritual which helped the issue. After he was born and was already a gem, there I had a chance to see us together as a family. Rose was slowly dying and only had a few minutes of life left. Gems can't live without their gems at all."

"Sounds awful." Lula winced as she could picture the tragic scene in her head.

"I remember holding Steven for the first time as Rose kissed the both us goodbye and said how much she loved us. My wife died in my arm as the other arm was holding onto our newborn baby. She told me that I will be the most amazing father there could be for her son. You know, I vowed to protect Steven even though she asked her companions to protect him and act as his guardians. She would just laugh at me before, saying I will go through a lot of trouble, but that time she didn't say anything."

Greg flinched as he swore that he could feel Rose's soft hair against his arms, seeing her take her last breath and close her eyes away from the world.

"Rose then disappeared. She slowly turned into a sparkly dust and left us forever." By explaining this, the widowed man let a tear escape from his eye's corner. "Garnet told me an old gem belief. That every star there is in this whole universe was once a living gem that died heroically. The star shining is their gem, but I'm not sure how it works because Steven has Rose's gem. Garnet said that Rose is a star in the sky."

From noticing this, Lula decided the best she could do was give Greg a tissue as well as a pat on the back. "Please don't cry, Mr. Universe. I know that she is very happy with all that you have done for her."

She saw as Greg sniffed up his incoming tears and looked down at his sleeping son. Lula felt sorry for the man as she could feel the pain of a loved one passing on.

Just at the time promised, minutes after Lula's and Greg's conversation, a small glowing light surrounded the portal. Next, three magical girls appeared onto the crystal floor with tired eyes and worn out bodies. However, this didn't stop the second oldest gem to rush to Steven's crib until she was stopped by Lula and Greg.

"Look, Pearl...we did a good job of caring for Steven. Mr. Universe even stayed extra to help with the baby cause he's a handful." Lula falsely explained with a positive attitude which made the pearl embedded teenager giggle.

"I'm sure you did fine, Lula. But if you excuse me, I need to attend my little Steven because I'm sure he misses me tremendously." Pearl assured the human girl, earning a grunt of annoyance from Amethyst. She lightly pushed her way through the two humans to go to the baby's small crib. In just seconds her eyes filled with love and compassion turned into eyes of terror and emptiness. In Steven's crib, there was no one found.

"WHERE IS STEVEN?! HE'S NOT HERE!"

Garnet and Amethyst gasped as they ran to the scene and were met with no sign from the gem baby. They looked at each other with complete puzzlement then referred their confused looks to Lula. The poor teenager however, could feel herself fall apart like blocks of woods tipping over each other. Her nerves were rising which gave her goosebumps that caused her to back away from the three girls. Lula raised her hands and closed her eyes, preparing herself for any action they will take in order to avenge Steven.

"But he was just sleeping minutes ago and now he's gone! What? I didn't do anything, I swear. He just probably got up and decided to play a game of hide and seek." Her voice shook wildly as she let a small insane laugh escape from her mouth. "Steven? It's time to get out now...seriously, this is not funny."

Lula's question was answered with a small laughter from one of the room's corners. "Ahh...haha..."

Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst rushed towards the direction of the baby's silly cries, knowing it had to be him. Just as they thought, they all saw the young gem playing with a small wand like device. Steven gagged it in his mouth then took it out, observing the gadget until he looked over to his three guardians. A wide grin appeared from cheek to cheek and he instantly crawled their way.

"Steven. You learned to crawl." Garnet complimented the baby, taking him in her arms.

Amethyst grunted and crossed her arms in disappointment. She wasn't very fond of his new ability which was one step closer to walking on his two feet. The nine year old could already tell that she will be asked to care for him and clean him more since he would be walking on dirty floors.

"Great. Just another surprise of the day. First the dumb thing of planting the flower and using the rock and oil for its help then we have Steven crawling. He's gonna be a bigger problem now."

Instead of confronting Amethyst, the two older girls caressed Steven's face and sweetly talked to him.

Pearl smooched his face as she brought his head closer to her chest despite the fact that Garnet was holding him. "I missed you so much. I love you, Steven. You've been a good boy, haven't you?"

That compliment caused some nervous smirks from Lula and Greg. They rolled their eyes and grunted quietly at the same time, "More like a pain in the neck."

"Greg. I didn't think that you would stay longer. Did the interview went well?" The tall leader asked with a hand on her hip. Lula could tell that she was sketchy with Greg staying behind. She had to find an excuse as the older man was in the spotlight of their suspicious questions.

"Yeah you can say well. It did...hopefully. Just then Lula asked for extra help as Steven was err..."

"Having a horrible diaper rash! He would cry and scream, but we finally solved it with some baby cream and ointment." Lula jumped right in. The girl scout elbowed him and innocently grinned.

For a second, it seemed as if Garnet wasn't buying her excuse until Steven reached for her lip and pulled it. Luckily, the gem nodded and returned her attention to the baby in her grasp.

"I think someone deserves their babysitting badge. He's got no scratches, he seems healthy and most importantly he's happy." Pearl walked toward Lula and looked her deeply in the eyes.

Their friendship is very special to them. All the times that the gem helped her human friend remain strong with her struggling family. All the times that they had their little laughs and small study sessions, were memories that the two teenagers will cherish. Lula was even Pearl's first best human friend.

"Really? Thank you! You're such an amazing friend!" Lula exclaimed with excitement as she hugged her friend from behind. She decided to scratch the explanations of Steven's extraordinary events and just go on with the flow.

As the two friends and Garnet continued to pay all their attention to Steven, Amethyst decided to explore the wonders of what Lula did to the baby. She noted that Lula has feed him, played with him, and made him sleep; she even saw the note that she scribbled on was on the counter torn in half. Amethyst smiled at her drawing and decided to grab it for herself for a good laugh in the future. As she continued to observe the state of the place, she couldn't help but notice the items that Greg and Lula didn't want them to see. Broken windows and picture frames is what made her question what happened until she heard Steven cry for her to come to him.

"What exactly happened here?" Amethyst asked until she was scared by a large hop from the upper level.

"What was that?" Her head turned to the baby who clapped his hands in happiness.

"Craa..craa..."Steven spat in his sweet tone until the loud noise was heard again.

In the baby's hand they just decided to realize what he held. It shined as well as sparked as if it was freshly used. Made with a rare yellow gemstone, the rich deep color of it made it seem beautiful.

"What's your size changing wand doing here, Amethyst?" Pearl asked angrily. "Rose gave it to you so you can use it during emergencies, but you leave it around-"

"Aw, shut up! We have another problem in our hands because Steven did something with it..." The young girl growled as she snatched the wand from Steven's hand.

"What does it mean when he says craa?" Lula asked until she was disrupted by a loud chirp. They group slowly turned their heads and were met with a giant cricket at the foot of the stairs.

"Is that the cricket that he was playing earlier with? Wow..."

Its long legs smoothed their antennas and continued to hop their way. It's size was as big as a small dog, but it was strange to watch it bigger than it should be.

"Lula, hold Steven for me please and take him out to the beach." Pearl ordered her friend as she took Steven away from Garnet and placed him in Lula's arms.

"You too Greg. We need to get that thing away from here." Garnet mumbled under her breath as she took Amethyst's gem wand. "Or back to its normal size."

...

Bright ceremonial ribbons hung on the wall and many people were crowded around the a small stage. There would be a pair of two; one of a young girl scout while the other was an older representative. Smiles were shown on the girls faces and not a single speck of dust could be spotted on their uniforms.

A young woman wearing an outfit similar to the rest of the scout's uniforms cleared her throat as she tapped the microphone to grab everybody's attention.

"Hello everybody. I'm Mandy Woods, Beach City's Girl Scouts supervisor and today we are here to give these dedicated members their last badge of their level. These girl scouts helped our small community of Beach City and made it into a brighter place for all to be. Please applaud these young ladies."

Everyone clapped for the girls that were being awarded with hopefulness for their future.

"Luuuu...luu.." Steven's cry stood out from the crowd which made everyone awe. He bounced on Amethyst's lap and tugged her ponytailed hair that was held with little bows. However, she looked extremely displeased as she wiggled under her purple sundress.

I'm going to get you back Pearl...making me wear these stupid clothes... Amethyst mentally plotted her revenge as she could feel the mentioned teenager next to her take a pic of the two gems. Pearl was dressed in a tight blue dress with black flats. The pearl gem always claimed that when a special event happens, they should all dress their best for the occasion.

"First up, Sadie Gladwell. For earning her hiking badge along with her father, Troy Gladwell. Congratulations, Sadie. Welcome to the dedicated girl scout seniors of Beach City." Mandy handed a golden blue badge to a blonde short girl.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Sadie screamed excitedly as she reached for her new badge for her father to place the item on her vest.

"Next we have Lillian Mercans. For babysitting Steven Quartz Universe, she deserves her badge. Being represented by..."

"Garnet, ma'am. The requirements say the representative needs to be older than eighteen years old."

"Correct. Well, congratulations Lillian. Welcome to the dedicated girl scouts seniors of Beach City."

Mandy handed a red golden badge to the tall, well dressed woman in which Garnet happily accepted it in her hand. Next, she kneeled down to Lula's level and patted her vest which had only one spot left for her last badge of her level.

"Good job, Lula. I'm impressed with how you handled Steven." Garnet commented as she opened up the pin and placed it on Lula's vest.

"...even if he did cause a mess..." She smirked, but accepted what happened. This surprised the girl under she knew that Garnet had some psychic powers. This time, she felt accepted for her foolish attempts of controlling Steven.

Trying to look under her shades so she can have a deeper connection with the gem, Lula deeply bowed her head and hugged the leader of the Crystal Gems. From underneath Garnet's hanging arm, she saw Pearl, Amethyst, Greg, and Steven smiling at her and giving her a thumbs up. After the ceremony, the five had plans to go out and enjoy delicious ice cream sundaes. To celebrate one of Lula's happiest moments. Behind them, she saw her two little sisters with her aunt. They were as well as happy to see Lula accomplish something important to her.

Most importantly, the moment she met Steven's eyes, she felt a special feeling come to her. His eyes were beautiful and innocent. Lula could tell little Steven was a gift to the world. That he held an very important future ahead of him. But that's far and beyond ahead years, so she gently waved to him.

"Thank you, Steven; Future guardian of the world..."

To help edit this chapter was SpaceWonder368 and Rambling Productions, my besties here. Thank them for making this chapter flow better. :)

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed. It seemed as if Lula had her happy ending and isn't insane.

Thanks! :) (REVIEW/FOLLOW/FAV/SHARE THIS STORY PWEAASE, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY... :3)

-Gem Goddess (GG)