Priyanka sighed as she watched Greg run up the stairs. "Dr. Maheswaran! Steven called me while you were with Twoie. Is he okay? I figured it was just a cold or something."
She held her hands out in a placating manner. "Everything is fine. I was called because Twoie had some unusual bruising on his hand that didn't seem to go away. It looks like a normal bruise, but I don't know what to make of it, so I'm going to keep an eye on him. His fever was from exhaustion and stress. I've already scolded the gems for their role in his condition, but you have some explaining yourself to do."
Greg raised a brow in confusion. "Okay? Go ahead. I'll answer the best I can, but any gem stuff is probably better waiting until you talk to the gems again."
She blinked at his wording. "You mean you don't keep up with everything your son does if it involves the gems?"
The worried father nodded. "Steven tells me about his adventures, but I'm generally not involved in them. I don't understand any of that magic stuff, and I do my best to keep out of it. It's why Steven lives with the gems. Since he's half gem, I figured they would be able to help him with his powers." The weary lady sat down on the porch chair again. Greg looked startled as she rubbed her eyes with her hand. "Uh, are you okay? You seem really stressed out."
Priyanka just gestured to the empty chair across from her. "Why do you all have to be so difficult?" The man wasn't sure what to make of her statement. With a deep sigh, Priyanka steeled herself for the headache-inducing discussion. "Okay. The first issue I want to talk with you about is Steven's medical record."
The dad smiled, "Oh, there must be a mistake. Steven's never been to the doctors. I'm not sure who's record you saw, but it wasn't Steven's." He flinched when the doctor glared at him.
"That's exactly the problem! Why have you never taken Steven to the doctors? Children need to be given check-ups, physicals, vaccinations! Necessary medical details that depict if Steven has allergies to any foods, medications, or supplies. Do you at least remember the hospital he was born in?" She was doing her best to reign in her anger. Unlike the gems, Greg knew about human health and should've known better.
Greg nervously rubbed his arm. "Uh, actually… Steven wasn't born in a hospital." He brushed a hand through his hair when he saw her hands clench into fists. "I couldn't just take him to the doctors when his mom was an alien! Do you know how hard it would've been to explain the large glowing woman who disappeared and left behind a baby with a gem in his stomach? Who knows how they would've treated him?"
Priyanka wanted to yell at him, but she it was hard when she understood his thought process. Greg wanted to protect his son, so he did what he thought was right. "You could have brought Steven to the doctors as a baby who was born at home. They could've made sure he was healthy for a baby. You took a big risk, Greg. What if there had been any complications with being part gem? Or if he got sick because he'd never been vaccinated?" She froze, then facepalmed. A sudden realization made her even more stressed. "He doesn't have a birth certificate… does he…" Her companion's silence was only the confirmation she needed.
"Greg! This is serious! Your son is missing important documentation! He doesn't have a social security number, no birth certificate, he won't be able to get a license or get a job or anything without it!" She stood up and opened the door to the house. "Your son has a laptop. We are going inside right now, and you are going to fill out all of the necessary forms for him to get the documents he needs. And in the future, he will be getting seen regularly by me at the hospital I work at." The man nodded and followed her inside.
When Priyanka entered the beach house, the first thing she did was check on Steven and Twoie. The older brother was still asleep while the younger was chatting quietly with Peridot and Connie. They all turned to face her when she climbed up the stairs. "Hi, Dr. Maheswaran!" Steven jumped off the bed so she could see Twoie better. She nodded a thank you to him as she gently placed the back of her hand on his head. Twoie was still a little warm, but it seemed like his fever was getting better.
"Has he gotten to a stage where he was warmer than he is right now?" Steven and Peridot shook their heads no. Priyanka sighed and looked worriedly at Twoie. "Sometimes, fevers can go down for a bit and then spike in temperature before finally going away. Hopefully, that won't happen with Twoie, but I want to be prepared for the possibility."
Peridot excitedly squealed from the bed. "Does that mean you'll teach us the proper methods of treating fevers in humans?" Her excitement to learn made Priyanka smile.
"If you really want to learn, then, of course. If you're that interested in medical techniques, have Twoie remind me later to bring over some of my old medical school textbooks. I'm sure those would be an interesting read for you." When a smile bloomed across the green gem's face, Priyanka knew she would need to dig up her old books.
Peridot looked at the doctor with starry eyes. "That would be amazing!"
Priyanka then noticed the time on Steven's Cookie Cat alarm clock. 12:46 pm. "Have you guys eaten yet? I hope I didn't interrupt lunch for you."
Steven shook his head. "Not yet. I actually didn't realize it was lunchtime. I was too worried about Twoie."
Priyanka nodded and stood up. "Well, then! How about I make something for us all? Do you kids want to help me?" She chuckled at Steven's and Connie's vigorous nods. The group headed down into the kitchen, where she could see Greg sitting at the couch, working on Twoie's laptop, and the gems were quietly chatting at the counter.
Pearl perked up when she saw Steven walk into the kitchen. "Steven! Are you hungry? Do you want me to make you something?"
Steven smiled as he shook his head. "I'm going to help Dr. Maheswaran make us lunch! Thank you, though!"
Pearl smiled at his enthusiasm. "Twoie's cookbook is still out if you want to make something from that."
Priyanka looked at her in surprise. "How often does he use it?"
Garnet hummed in thought. "I'd say, Twoie uses it about three times a week. He'll make a lot of leftovers, so Amethyst has something to raid the fridge for."
The purple gem laughed in embarrassment. "Yeah, guilty as charged."
Garnet shook her head at her fondly before continuing. "He switches out the cookbooks every week."
The mother smiled at knowing how often Twoie used it. "Well, that's nice to hear. I didn't think he'd have time to use it since you guys have been at the barn for a while." She pulled out a recipe for spaghetti and instructed the kids on what ingredients to get.
While grabbing some cans from the pantry, Steven piped up, "Twoie often came back to the house early in the morning to make some meals. We have a fridge at the barn and a microwave, so all they had to do was reheat it." Priyanka nodded as she began boiling a large pot of water.
"Hey, Dr. Maheswaran? I need your help with this for a sec." She sighed as Greg called for her and looked at Steven and Connie.
"Can you guys watch the water for a moment? I'll help Greg and come right back." They nodded, and she went to assist Greg.
When she came back, she was surprised to see Steven had the noodles in the pot and was stirring the sauce while Connie read aloud the instructions. "Steven, you know how to cook?"
The kid looked at her with a big smile on his face. "Yeah! I used to cook for myself a lot before Twoie arrived. I don't really cook by myself anymore, though. Usually, Twoie or Pearl cook, and I get to help them when I want to." The gems flinched when Steven admitted why he learned how to cook.
Priyanka had to take a deep breath but gave none of her emotions away. She forgot Twoie had told her that. "You did a fine job, Steven. You too, Connie" The two glowed at her praise.
"Why don't I grab the dishes and silverware then, and you two chefs can plate everything." She grabbed out several bowls and forks and set them out on the counter. Connie added noodles to each plate before handing them to Steven for the sauce. Greg smiled when Steven brought him a bowl of pasta and ruffled his hair in affection. While they were passing out the food, Priyanka grabbed some leftover veggie noodle soup from the fridge and poured it into a bowl.
"How come you're getting soup?" Priyanka set the bowl in the microwave and turned to Steven, who was staring at her curiously.
"Well, when people get sick, there are some foods that can make them feel worse. He needs something light since he probably doesn't feel like eating." She pulled out a glass and filled it with water. "The spaghetti is fine for us, but it's probably a little too heavy for Twoie compared to veggie noodle soup. Soup broth also has a lot of vitamins in it that will help Twoie get better." The microwave dinged, and Priyanka took the bowl of hot soup out. She brought it up to Twoie with a spoon and a cup of water. When Peridot saw her come up with the meal, she decided to take a break from watching Twoie and left to go finish her earlier conversation with Steven and Connie.
Twoie was still sleeping, so Priyanka set the water down on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. "Twoie, time to wake up for a bit." She shook his arm when he groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. "Lunchtime! You've gotta get up." Twoie grumbled as he finally pulled the blanket back down and sat up. He drowsily stared at Priyanka and then at the bowl of soup as she passed it into his hands.
"Do I have to?" He slurred slightly while yawning.
The doctor chuckled. "Yes, sweetheart, you have to eat it. Once you're done eating, though, you can go back to sleep, okay?" He mumbled something she couldn't hear and then slowly started eating the soup.
Once he finished the bowl, she took it from him and helped him lay down in bed again. "Alright, Twoie. If you need me, I'll be downstairs, okay?" Twoie closed his eyes and nestled into the warmth of the bed.
Priyanka brushed a hand through his hair before she stood up. "Thanks, mom." Her eyes widened, and she turned to look back at Twoie, but he'd already fallen asleep again.
She smiled fondly at him. "You're welcome, sweetheart."