The bathtub is big. It's so big that Steven idly thinks that Rose would easily fit into it and still have some room to move about. Now that's he's upright and his vision is no longer swimming, its hugeness is even greater. He sidles into it fully clothed, rolling around and enjoying the blissfully cool touch.

At the apartment, the water is never hot. It runs from freezing cold to lukewarm-that-will-be-freezing-in-a-few-minutes-hurry-up! At Nanefua's house, the bath is broken. The faucets only squeak when you turn them and Nanefua has to get hot water from the kitchen sink to wash him. In the van, there are no faucets or sinks, only basins. They bathe with hoses that deliver water so cold it stings his skin. He's only ever had one bubble bath and that had been at a dinky motel his Dad had taken him to once.

So when he runs the golden faucet of the bath and hot water easily flows and quickly pools, he can't help but giggle excitedly. He grabbed one of the fluffy towels the staff has provided, some strawberry scented soap and to his grand delight he even finds a box under the sink full of toys.

Bright yellow rubber duckies that honk and wheeze, several toy boats and even a shiny submarine. He scooped them all up and threw them into the water. He swishes the water around with the soap until tiny soap bubbles have blossomed. He strips his soiled uniform and quickly jumped in.

He splashes and plays wildly, like he's never had the opportunity to do before. He probably played more than cleaned, but it didn't matter because his Dad and Nanefua had begged him to have fun.

'Don' foget to have fun, babee boy.' Nanefua had whispered, hugging him so tightly that he thought his bones would surely split. 'I tink you will haf fun. Lots ov fun, tis is posed to be ah-purtunitee of yo lifetime. Don' foget.'

'Yeah, studies are super important and stuff, but don't forget to have fun too.' His Dad had added with a doleful smile. 'I heard they have a swimming pool. And it's not like a normal one, but with slides and gravity weirdo thingies. Make sure to tell me all about it.'

Oh! Steven sat up from the water, a bubble beard slowly dissipating from his chin. He forgot, he needed to call his Dad. He had promised to call as soon as he got settled in. He had totally forgotten, with everything that had been going on.

He hurried out of the bath, slipping on his soiled bundle of clothes and quickly slid into his room. Rose hadn't been lying, every single article of clothing, every school supply and personal artifact had been put away neatly. He found his tablet tucked away in his desk and powered it on with hasty fingers. He had memorized the number all by himself, even though his Dad had assured him that it would remain in his contacts (Steven like Nanefua, was weary of gem-tech and preferred their old-fashioned human devices).

It only rang twice before his Dad picked up.

"Steven!"

"Hi Dad!"

His Dad must've just woken up. A guitar like print had been pressed against his Dad's face and he's vigorously rubbing at grit in his eyes.

"How's my little man."

"Dad, I thought you were gonna stop calling me that." Steven whined, pressing his face against the cool screen, it was almost like hugging his Dad.

"Oh right. Sorry buddy, I forgot you're a grown up now." Greg chuckled. "So how did everything go? Was it scary? Was your guide nice or mean? Cause I can call up there if she was mean!"

"Dad, she wasn't mean. Everything went pretty well, I was a little scared though of flying though."

"Ah, don't worry dude. I was scared the first time I rode on a plane, makes sense you would be scared too."

"I had two guides. One was this gem named Jade, she helped me get to the ship we rode on. She was nice. And then my second guide is really super nice and she let me have ice cream and she wanted to talk to me and she gave me all these hugs and-and-."

"Whoa slow down there." Greg laughed, grinning with relief. He had been anxious that Steven's guide might've been scary or rude. "You haven't told me her name yet?"

"Well, just don't tell anyone I told you her name because I'm really not supposed to be saying it and stuff." Steven whispered, looking this way and that as though a gem would pop out from under his bed to run and report him. "Her name is Rose, but we're supposed to call her Pink Diamond."

For a moment, Greg was absolutely silent and still, so still that Steven though the feed had frozen. He poked his dad's face a few times with a frown.

"Dad? Can you hear me? I think the-."

"Pink Diamond was your guide? The Pink Diamond, one of the four leaders of the free-gem world?"

"Yep. She's really-."

"Wait, what did she do? What did she say to you?" Greg snapped, suddenly sitting up from his sleepy daze. Steven could now see that his Dad had been sitting in the van, his old blow up mattress sitting dilapidated in the corner.

"Um…what do you mean?" Steven asked quietly, worried suddenly about his Dad's change in demeanor.

"Did she…what she…must've said something to you. Why would she do that then? Come to see you at the station? S-she just said….wanted to…no she promised." Greg muttered frantically.

"Well she said because she wanted to be friends." Steven whispered. "She's really nice Dad. She decorated my room and everything. D-do you wanna see it?"

"Oh yeah, yeah show me." Greg muttered distractedly, biting on the ends of his fingernails. Steven swirled around the room, pointing to his most favorite parts, providing a constant chatter of praise on Rose's part.

"She even got me a bunch of stuffed animals, plus some toys for the bath too." Steven giggled. "Guess what Dad, she also got me a doctor. Also we can eat ice cream and pizza together when she has free time. And she has this security guard named Ruby who has a daughter who's going to be in my class too."

"So Rose has been nice to you?" Greg asked. "She hasn't told you anything. Anything that maybe made your heart hurt a little?"

"Nope." Steven said, popping the 'P'. "I think maybe I make her heart hurt a little though."

"What do you mean?" Greg asked.

"Well, I told her about home and stuff. She got sad and it made her tummy hurt." Steven mumbled guiltily. "I gave her a hug though. She likes hugs, they make her smile. I think maybe she doesn't get too many of them."

Greg sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly. "Well she might not. Being a Diamond all."

"Is being a Diamond hard?" Steven asked, sitting down on his cookie-cat rug. Rose did always seem busy, always having to go someplace or talk to someone.

"Being a Diamond is really hard. They have…responsibility and duties that mean sometimes…they're not always happy. Sometimes their responsibilities mean that she…has to leave things…things that bring her joy for the will of all gemkind" Greg muttered sadly. "Does…was-was she really happy to see you?"

"Yeah Dad! Haven't you heard me? She's really nice and she likes giving hugs. She likes to laugh and smile too." Steven exclaimed happily. "She said we could be friends and everything."

"I'm happy to hear that son." Greg sighed, still looking a little worried, but nevertheless more relaxed. "Have you made any other friends, other than associates of Pink Diamond?"

"Yep, this gem named Amethyst. She's fourteen and…and…Dad can I tell you something?" Steven whispered suddenly, leaning closer to the screen. "That you can't tell anyone, even if Pink Diamond was to call you and ask, you can't tell her."

Greg sat up a bit from his slump and focused. "What's up buddy?"

"Well…when I had to go on the sonic rail to get to the school – which was really cool because we were in the clouds and then I met Amethyst there. But before we could talk, these big ol' gems came in and they totally beat her up. She said I couldn't tell anyone, especially not Rose, because administrators and stuff don't care for gems like us. She said Jasper - one of the gems who beat her up, thinks th-that people like me are bad." Steven said, fumbling as he tried to get it all out.

"What do you mean like you?" Greg said, gritting his teeth as he thought of this 'Jasper' character.

"An unclaimed half-breed." Steven whispered shamefully, lowering his head. "Is that what I really am Dad? Am I bad?"

"NO! No don't ever say that!" Greg yelled. "Those aren't nice words and they certainly don't apply to you. You're my Steven, nothing less. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Steven mumbled, weakly chuckling. "Dad…why didn't Mom claim me, you know before she died?"

"That's…really complicated stuff, buddy. I'm sorry I don't have all the answers. Just know that she really loved you even before she met you, she wanted to give you the world." Greg assured him. "Ah, buddy I wish I could just give you a big ol' hug."

"Me too Dad. I know it hasn't been that long but I miss you sooo much." Steven nuzzled his face against the screen with a quiet whimper. "Tell Nanefua I miss her too!"

"Don't worry bud. She's waiting down at the restaurant for me now." Greg laughed, getting up and rummaging around for his discarded pants. "She's been worried. I kept telling her that there would be plenty of food, but she didn't believe me."

"Don't worry Dad, there's plenty. Rose made sure."

"Yeah, I'm sure she did. Well, I'm glad you're having a bit of fun, hopefully that Jasper character will realize bullying isn't the answer. I hope you and Amethyst can become better friends too, buddy." Greg said, a tired smile on his face.

"Me too Dad! I'm gonna learn how to make my weapon appear and maybe I'll be able to protect her." Steven laughed, spinning around on the tips of his toes happily.

"You do that buddy. And i-if Ro-I mean Pink Diamond says an-anything uh-…weird, just call me…as soon as possible." Greg grinned weakly. "Well, I gotta go. If I'm late to Nanefua's she gonna totally rip the rest of my hair out."

"Okay Dad, I promise to call you tomorrow. I'll tell you about the ceremony and Sapphire and all the cool stuff I do I promise." Steven said. "I love you."

"I love you too, Stu-ball. You can call me for anything, good or bad, this gem pad thingy isn't leaving my side!"

"BYE DAD!"

"BYE SON!" Greg yelled with a chuckle.

The screen of the tablet flickered back to the app and Steven collapsed onto the rug with a happy sigh.

Talking to his Dad had made him feel awesome. His Dad always knew how to make his heart feel better. Maybe it was a Dad thing? Steven sat up with a big smile and hurried back to the bathroom - maybe the water was still warm and he could play a little while longer?

A/N: UUGGH! New Year's is brutal, I'm so tired. No updates for a while, like maybe not until after Stevenbomb for other stories. CGA update at the end of the month. I am not happy with this chapter, but I never am with rushed work.

Hope you enjoy the Stevenbomb and hope you had a good first day of 2016!