Connie hummed softly in the barn with Priyanka and Doug by her side as they picked out music together for the usual dance. Lapis and Meowlon were preparing more food.

The woman suddenly gasped at grabbed a record out of Connie's hands. She turned wistfully to the man. "Remember this song? They always played it at these parties, often more than once!"

"Of course I do, it's our dance song."

Doug said weakly, putting the record on the gramophone and letting it play.

Priyanka closed her eyes for only a moment, taking in memories. She suddenly got up and offered Doug her hand.

The man looked mystified at the chance to dance with her once more, and Connie had to place his own into her palm in order for him to accept.

Connie watched with a smile as the two waltzed around the barn, laughing at how clumsy they both were after years. She knew Doug had loved her mother, Yellow Diamond. It was clear as day though that he had once been in love with someone else, this somewhat bossy, but overall kind doctor. She wondered why they had gotten out of touch, they both seemed to care very much about each other, no words needed to say that.

"I miss them too, you know." Doug whispered to Priyanka. "My family, I mean. I'm sorry I haven't had a party in years, and reunited everyone, but we all know it wouldn't be the same without… without my mom."

"I understand why. You had your own life to attend to, you lived your dream, and had a wonderful daughter, I would give up all the future parties in the world to have dons just one of those things." The doctor answered. They slowly parted as the song ended, smiling sadly at each other. Priyanka suddenly nervously leaned in, taking his hand. She closed her eyes and went in to kiss him.

Doug suddenly started to shake and pushed her away. "N-No… No. Don't do this, please don't do this unless you really l-"

A sudden honk alerted them that the Temps were back.

"Ahem! Ms. Priyanka, we gems wanted you to feel comfortable and so, we bought all sorts of human-like things, for celebration, like this cake!" Pearl cried, kneeling before the woman and showing her a beautiful wedding cake with many men and women toppers, all arranged in couples but one woman that had fallen in the making.

"Pearl, can I tell tell the big news?" Peridot asked, popping up beside her with Jasper and Amethyst.

"But of course!"

"Ok…. We're all married to each other, surprise! Isn't it great?!" Peridot cried.

"What?!" Priyanka gasped in confusion, backing away. "That's not right at all! This is supposed-!"

"And that's not all! We also added in some human birth!" The small gem announced announced, Jasper accidentally popping a pink ballon announcing a baby girl.

"Dying was a must too!" Amethyst suddenly handed Priyanka a tombstone with the doctor's name with a happy smile. "We're very sorry for your marriage!"

"No need to thank us!" Peridot sniffed, crossing her arms proudly. She then smirked. "If you would like to though, we won't stop you!"

Connie, Doug and Priyanka all stared in utter surprise while Lapis gave a whoop in joy, "This is gonna be the best party ever!"

Soon enough, they were all in the barn. They played horseshoes, pin the tail on the donkey, twister, even hit a piñata since Peridot had grabbed one from the store.

Then, it was time for the dancing to begin.

Connie realized she loved the party, and her grandparents tradition was a success with everyone so far, all they had to do after this was eat! Then, perhaps Priyanka would feel better about leaving the barn. But the girl was also angry that the woman had come on to her father…

Jasper and Lapis danced with Doug in a sort of freestyle of their own while Amethyst was showing off her own sweet moves to Pearl, who was blushing hard, pretending to cover her eyes.

Peridot twirled the girl who laughed. Connie then noticed Priyanka was sitting alone on a bale of hay, watching them with a sad smile. The doctor hadn't played the games either, Connie realized. She probably didn't feel comfortable anymore after what had happened between her and Doug.

The girl knew she had to fix it, somehow.

They were all gathered around the blanket soon and had a beautiful spread of food.

"Since this whole day has just turned my world upside down, why not desert before dinner?" Connie suggested with a smile, nodding to the cake.

"That sounds like a great idea, Connie." Doug smiled. He was interrupted by a sharp cough.

"Doug, I want to talk about what happened earlier." The doctor looked around to see all the gems staring at her. "Um...alone…"

"If you have some secret, you should tell all of us. That's how trust is built." Jasper grunted. She then narrowed her eyes. "To be honest, I don't think I trust you right now."

Connie tried to come to their rescue. "Jasper, really, this is for them-!"

"A secret! What is it!?" Amethyst cried, looking excited. Pearl gently took her hand.

Pearl smiled as calmly as she could. "We shouldn't ask! The truth can hurt, you know!"

"Yes, let's let them handle this!" Peridot said, clapping her hands together.

"No."

They all looked at Doug, surprised.

"Say what you want to, to all of us." The man said softly. "They all need to know about us."

The doctor narrowed her eyes. "No, they don't."

"Why are you always the one to end us?"

Priyanka froze, everyone did.

The doctor turned to Doug, his face sad.

"I didn't want to ask, I didn't Why did you even come back?" The man whispered, tears coming to his eyes. "You got my hopes up again, so why don't you do it again, hm? Say it."

"Doug, please, don't-"

Doug suddenly yelled through tears. "Eighteen long years it's been in my head, and I still couldn't stop caring about you! Maybe if you say it again I'll get it through my thick skull!"

"Dad! Stop it, please!" Connie cried, running up to him.

"Calm down, Doug." Jasper muttered, trying to hold his shoulder but the man shoved it off.

"Say it… say you don't love me."

The field went dead silent, even Meowlon didn't meow for scraps anymore.

The adults just stared at each other for a few moments.

"That's why I came back, I had to tell you the tr-!" The doctor was cut off by Peridot suddenly, who now had anger coursing in her.

"Leave, now." The small gem hissed. "I will not let you lead him on like this. It's better that he knows now than never."

"I'm… I'm sorry." The doctor whispered. "But… I will leave if you want. Goodbye, Connie, Doug."

The other gems and Connie all watched with slight sadness as the car roared to life before driving out of the field and their lives forever.

"Did you really love her?" Lapis suddenly asked to Doug. "She's really difficult…"

Doug stared after the car and gave a single nod. "I was certain she felt the same until one day she just came to my house and… said she didn't love me."

Connie glanced up in surprise. "But, that doesn't make any sense! She clearly likes you, why else would she come up to see you?"

"To give me back my jacket." Doug answered matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but that jacket means a lot! Would a person who didn't care bring you back something you love? Think about it, why would she be upset that you had a daughter if she knew she didn't love you? And she said something about telling the truth… what truth was that do you think?"

Doug stared down at his daughter, thinking. "But… why?"

"I'll find out." Connie grunted. She twirled around to Lapis. "I need a ride!"

Tears were going down Priyanka's face now that she was alone. The road was lonely, as it always had been. She glanced over at the picture hanging from her mirror. Usually, the black and white picture of her around Connie's age along with Doug and his family would make her smile, especially the fact that Doug was jealous in the picture because his own mother was hugging Priyanka as a joke. His mother always said she had been a part of their family…

There was a sudden knock at her window and she jumped, glancing out to see Connie waving to her, she was somehow not in a car, and the woman quickly rolled down her window.

"Connie! You cannot ride you a bike on the-" The doctor paused, seeing that Connie was instead on Lapis' back. She gave a groan. "Of course, you just had to bring along one of your magical mothers!"

"Priyanka, we need to talk!" Connie cried. "I'm going to crawl through the window, alright?!"

"No! You aren't! I don't want to talk about what happened between your father and I!"

Connie pouted her lip. "But you have to! All I want is you to be honest with your feelings, then I'll go!"

The doctor glanced ahead and gasped in horror, seeing an enormous truck barreling straight towards the women. "Leave me right now or you'll be killed!"

"I'm not leaving! And I've lived through worse!" Connie yelled over the wind. "Lapis, throw me!"

"Okay!" Lapis called, and threw Connie through the open window.

Priyanka screamed in terror, Connie's entrance making her swerve a bit before finally gaining control.

Connie crawled off her quickly and brushed her hair and sweater of dust, checking to see if she didn't have any stains.

"What was that!?" Priyanka boomed, making her flinch. "I nearly had a heart attack! If you had gotten hurt, I-I wouldn't know what to do! That was so reckless and irresponsible and-!"

"Thank you."

The doctor stopped and turned to see Connie smiling at her. "F-For what?"

"For caring about me. You hardly know me at all." The girl answered. She then glanced down at the floor. "... Do you really not like my dad?"

Privyanka bit her lip, but then sighed. "I like him, more so than I should… Connie, I loved your father's family because… I never had a good one myself. My father was out of the picture and my mother had control over me as a child, physical, emotionally, mentally… She had me convinced that she was always right, and knew what was best for me, so I obeyed her… But… then I met your father, someone clumsy and awkward and wonderful."

"Did you love him?" Connie asked softly.

Priyanka smiled. "More than anything. But, as the years went by, my mother began to notice that I was getting distracted from my studies. She had no idea I often snuck out my window to see Doug and his family. One day though, I found her waiting for me and she forced me to tell the truth at once. She demanded I go and tell him I didn't love him."

"But you did love him! How could you give up like that?" Connie cried.

"One day, you may meet someone like my mother: a manipulator who only uses you for their own goals. You always have to say no to them, even if you know deep down they love you in their own way." Priyanka muttered. "Mother convinced me that Doug was only going to throw me away when he met someone new, someone better. It's really ironic when you think about it now. Soon after telling the love of my life I didn't care for him, I realized what my mother was. I moved out after about a year of therapy and started my own life, I stayed as a doctor because I already had the degree. I still have to talk to people about it, because it was so toxic. I finally got up the courage to come back and tell the truth. My mother shouldn't be my excuse, I was still the one to say it."

Connie sat in silence for a moment and then took the woman's hand. "You know… if you're looking for a family, you could always be apart of ours."

Priyanka stared in shock.

"I mean, you'll never replace my mother in anyone's hearts, but I don't think you'd really want that anyway. I-I know, we're really weird and kinda unstable, but hey, isn't every family?" Connie laughed. "If you just tell Dad why you did it and how you really feel, I'm sure he'll understand."

Doug stared in shock.

"Well? Are you going to say anything?" Priyanka huffed, having told him everything.

"Geez, that was heavy." Jasper muttered. "And long, really, really long."

Connie hushed her, waiting for her father's response.

"... It's okay if you no longer feel the same, but I do… I do still love you, if you'll have me…?"

Doug took her hand suddenly, making the woman blush. "How about for now, we just try and start over? No thinking about what happened between your mom, unless you want to. You're Dr. Sharma, I'm Doug Universe. We are different people now it seems."

"I'd like that very much." Priyanka whispered softly.

The gems watched contentedly as the two sat down on the picnic blanket and started to talk.

The gems sat down and Lapis' poured some juice for all.

"Aren't you mad your dad's picking someone else than your mom?" Jasper asked Connie, taking a sip of her cup.

The girl shook her head. "She isn't going to replace mother, dad knows that."

"You're really selfless for doing that, Connie." Peridot smiled, hugging the girl.

Pearl cuddled Meowlon and sighed in content, lifting her glass. "To loved ones, new and old!"

"Cheers!" They all cried.