Later that night, while Ruby and Pearl and I are getting ready for bed, Garnet starts screaming at the top of her lungs through the baby monitor. I stop doing my bedtime routine for only a moment to make sure my baby is okay.

"Hold on, Garnet," I call out to her while rushing my way into her room. "Momma's coming!"

I make my way over as quickly as possible, and I see Garnet crying out for something. I pick her up, and she starts to quiet down a little. I hold her close to me, making sure she knows I'm here.

"It's okay, Garnet," I tell her. "It's okay. I'm here. It's going to be alright."

While she clings to me, I move for the rocking chair in the corner and sit down. As I lean back, the chair moves back with me. Garnet looks up at me with her two different-colored eyes, one brown and one blue. Even before she'd officially been diagnosed with Waardenburg syndrome, I already knew she was special. Her diagnosis didn't change that. Still, I wonder how I could know what her life will be like in the next ten years. Things might be great now... but will they stay that way a decade later?

Ruby comes in to see what's going on.

"Hey, Laffy Sapphy," she says. "Did I miss anything?"

I just chuckle. "Not really. Nothing exciting, at least."

"Phew." Ruby walks over and lowers herself to Garnet's level. "Hey, little girl. Are you okay?"

Garnet just stares at her while babbling.

Ruby can only laugh. "Oh, Garnet, you know how to make me laugh."

Garnet continues to stare at Ruby. It's as if she's sensing something, but she is utterly silent. It's as if she can sense uneasiness from her.

"What's going on in here?" I hear a voice ask out loud.

I turn my head to see Pearl walking into the nursery. Her turquoise sleep mask has been pulled up halfway towards the top of her head, and bags are already starting to form underneath her eyes. She just stares in annoyance.

"Oh, hi, Pearl," I tell her. "I was just trying to rock my daughter to sleep."

"Ah," she replies. "I see. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask me anything."

"Do you remember when you first had Garnet and Rose had said, 'Welcome to the planet Earth?'"

"What about that?"

"Well, I always thought that it was really special, especially for Garnet."

"Yeah, it's always special when a baby is born."

"Well, yes... but Garnet... she reminds me of how much hope there is in the world. She reminds me... of you guys."

"Aww, that's really sweet to hear. Thank you, Pearl."

"It's the least I could say. Well, I'm going back to sleep."

"Okay. Merry Christmas Eve Eve."

"'Merry Christmas Eve Eve...' I can't believe how silly that sounds."

Pearl amusingly shakes her head and walks out of the nursery to sleep on the couch. Meanwhile, Ruby and I just decide to stay in here for a bit until Garnet has completely gone to sleep.

Christmas has come at last. Ruby and I have just now gotten up and we're waiting for Pearl to do the same.

Pearl seems tired lately, and not just because of Garnet. I wonder if she's having trouble sleeping because of Rose? She did seem awfully jealous that Rose was spending more time with Greg than with her, even if she wouldn't say so. I guess she's still reeling from Aunt Petunia's death. They were the best of friends, after all. One minute, they were inseparable. The next, Petunia... was gone. Now, from her point of view, it seems like she might lose Rose as well.

Ruby and I just look at each other, wondering which one of us will have to wake her up.

"So... you wanna be the one to wake her up or not?" Ruby asks me.

I just shrug. "I don't see why not."

"Okay, good. I'm gonna go wake Garnet up while you get Pearl."

"Okay, thank you."

I get up from our bed and make our way into the living room where Pearl sleeps on the couch. I gently lay my hand on her shoulder and shake her awake.

Pearl comes to. "Sapphire?" she asks, a little groggy.

I smile and pat her on the head. "Yeah?"

She smiles back and sits up. "I guess you woke me up because you had to, huh?"

"Yeah. Merry Christmas. Did you sleep well?"

Pearl just yawns. "Not really. I couldn't stop thinking about Rose all night. Seriously, I think... I'm afraid of losing her."

"You really think Rose might leave you for Greg?"

Pearl is at a struggle for words. "I... I honestly don't know, but with all that time they spend together..."

"Pearl, don't worry about it. I'm sure that Rose wants to hang out with you, too. Just because she spends most of her time with Greg doesn't meant she won't make room for you, too."

"Easy for you to say when you've never had to worry about Ruby running off with someone else."

"Well, I did at first, but then once our relationship started to stabilize, I realized that she would never do that kind of thing. You just need to trust that she'll never betray you."

"Easier said than done."

I sigh heavily and start turning away. "Actually, maybe just forget I said anything. Why don't you just get up and join me and Ruby and Garnet around the Christmas tree?"

Pearl instantly perks up. "Wait, that's why you woke me up? Well, why didn't you just say so? I'd love to join you guys."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!"

Ruby, Garnet, Pearl, and I have just finished sorting through our Christmas presents. The next thing we have to do now is give out presents (some of which were purchased at the eleventh hour) to the neighbors. After that, it's just some household chores to finish up. We should be happy because we've had fun while Pearl is visiting. It's too bad we won't be able to spend New Year's Eve with her. She'll already be back in Delaware by then, but I don't know if she'll want to go back there when the day comes.

While balancing Garnet squarely on my hip, I practically tiptoe my way over to Pearl to ask her something.

"Yes, Sapphire?" Pearl asks back. "What is it?"

"So... what do you plan to do once you go back to Delaware?"

Pearl just shakes her head in frustration. "I don't know, to be honest. I guess I could have a talk with Rose about Greg. I don't know if it'll do much, though."

"Is that what you really want to do? Are you sure that will work?"

"Not really. I've just been pretending not to feel resentful about the whole thing."

"That's not really healthy, though."

"I know, I know. What else am I supposed to do, though?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Maybe talk to her like you were considering a moment ago?"

"Like I said, I don't know if it'll do much."

"You could always give it a shot."

"I guess you're right. I'll think it over later. So, uh... you said you wanted to give the Fowlers their presents first, right?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely. Ruby and I got some neat things for them a few days ago. Do you think Gideon and his siblings will want a Gamecube?"

Pearl shrugs. "I guess. Then again, I was never really into video games like you and the other kids were."

Ruby raises an eyebrow. "Did you and your sisters ever like Pokemon?"

Pearl shrugged again. "Possibly, yeah."

Ruby snickers a bit. "Okay, I thought you might have."

"What does that even have to do with anything, though?" Pearl asks, confused.

Ruby just smirks. "Nothing. Just wanted to see if you'd ever been into Pokemon."

I can't help but giggle at the banter. "Alright, you guys. We gotta get moving. These presents aren't going to deliver themselves."

And off we go to the Fowlers' house.