A alarm on Steven's phone went off, and he reached over to grab it. He yawned and stared at his dimly-lit screen, "Alright Little Homeschool, what's on the agenda today?"

He scrolls down the list he needed to do, and he lets out a sigh, "... You can do this. You're grown up now."

Steven finished pouring in his protein shake, hearing Spinel scolding, "Amethyst, stop that. That's really disgusting."

The purple Gem ignored her friend, popping up next to Steven, two fried eggs on her eyes, "You really gonna skip the most egg-ssential meal of the day?"

The hybrid didn't even chuckle at the pun as Spinel pulled Amethyst away, revealing her cooking some bacon and eggs, "Amethyst, quit it!" But when she turned to her son, her tone lightened with love, "Hey sweetheart, want some breakfast before you go?"

Steven shook his head, trying to be polite, "No thanks, I've already got enough nutrients in my protein shake."

He walked over to the front door, not acknowledging Spinel's concerned look, but Garnet stood up with his old cheeseburger backpack, "Steven. I packed everything you're gonna need for today in your cheeseburger backpack."

Steven frowned a bit, "Garnet, you know I don't need that anymore. I packed my own bag."

"At least pet this cat."

Clementine popped her head out of his backpack and mewed at him.

Steven rolled his eyes, standing at the door, only for Pearl to intercept.

"Hold it," she said, showing him her phone, "According to my weather application, it's going to snow all day and overnight. You're going to freeze if you don't put on a puffer, a hat, and two scarves. Better make it th-" But before Pearl could add another scarf, Spinel rushed over to snatch it away.

"Leave him alone, for stars' sake!" Spinel yapped, pushing her partner away. Once she straightened up Steven's single scarf, she smiled lovingly, "Go do you best, Steven. Love you."

"Love you too, Spinel." Steven replied before opening the door and leaving.

Spinel froze for a moment. He... called me by my name? He hasn't done that since he was fourteen. Why... No, it's fine. I probably misheard. Besides, he'd tell me if he had any problems...

Steven sighed as he finally finished his errands, noticing Spinel was pulling something out of the oven. She turned to see her son at the door, almost covered in snow as he closed the door.

"Hey sweetheart!" She warmly greeted, approaching him to help him take off his clothes, "Jeez, you're freezing to the bone!"

Steven groaned, pulling away from her, "I'm fine! I can take off my own clothes, Spinel!"

There it was again. Spinel stood there while Steven took off his winter attire. He did notice her blank stare, but her eyes had a glint of sadness in them. Frowning with some regret for what he said, Steven wrapped his arms around her. Spinel was nearly squeezed by his strong arms as he hugged her tightly. Sure, Steven was half-Diamond, but he never hugged her this tight before...

"S-Sorry, Mom. I'm just a little tense today."

Spinel relaxed, "I-It's alright, love. We all have those days." Despite what she said as Steven left upstairs, she knew something was... off. She just couldn't put her finger on it. And of course, she didn't want to bombard Steven with questions, but she tried to think too much about it. Maybe she was already getting too worried. She knew Steven can tell her anything.

Anything.

The next day changed everything.

Steven and his family saw that the ground outside was layered in thick levels with snow. Even the warp pad was unavailable to use. So, Steven was forced to stay home for the day, Pearl sending out a max text to all the Gems attending Little Homeschool, though this heavily worried Spinel to the point where she had to check on the flowers and plants in her flower shop and wanting to take Micah and Coralie home for the day.

The hybrid was sitting at his desk, changing the schedule for the third-quarter. However, Amethyst appeared in front of him.

"Man, you had a better work-life balance when the Diamonds were trying to destroy the planet."

Steven sighed, "Amethyst, can you leave me alone? I'm trying to do some responsibilities here."

The purple Gem leaned back and groaned, "You're no fun... ... Hey wait, do you know what we haven't done in a long time?" She then shapeshifted into 14 year old Steven and jumped on the table, taking Steven aback by surprise.

"Steven Tag!"

Spinel closed the door behind her, placing the clothed cage on the side table near the door, "Thank the stars I was able to save you two before-"

"HELP!" Steven frantically called out while three tiny beings were pursuing him.

Spinel gasped, watching Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl chasing her son around the house, all shapeshifted into younger Steven. The sight alone made rage boil within her gemstone as she ran out and tried to block the three Gems from chasing her precious baby.

"ENOUGH!" She shrieked in anger, "QUIT THIS GAME RIGHT NOW!"

Garnet and Amethyst stared at her. She was briefly confused until a hand touched her leg, which belonged to a smug Pearl. Steven had fallen to the floor, looking up in shock.

Spinel fell to her knees as Pearl backed to stand near her teammates. They all began to chant, "Shape-shift! Shape-shift! Shape-shift!"

"You can do it!" cheered the pale Gem.

Amethyst grinned, "We know you wanna!"

Steven yelped, afraid his mother was going to listen to them. And his heart sunk and their hopes rose as Spinel began to glow white.

... That all changed when her form grew larger and larger by the second. The Gems' excited grins faded away as, standing in Spinel's place, was a large, dark pink grizzly bear. Spinel snarled at the trembling Gems and gave a loud, angry roar at them. The three of them screamed in fear and ran out of the house.

Spinel sighed, shape-shifting back into her normal form and turned her head to her son, "...Steven? Are you alright?"

Steven, slightly stunned from what just happened, nodded and slowly got up to his feet, "Y-Yeah... thanks Mom."

"That outta keep them out for the while," Spinel commented, "But not forever. It might be best if we hide in my room. It's not accessible to the Burning Room."

Steven smiled, "T-That... That sounds great."

For the next few hours, Steven was able to work his schedule in peace. No interruption, no games. Just working out the new schedule for Little Homeschool. But as he was finished, he just realized Spinel was... very quiet behind him.

"Hey Mom?" Steven turned his head, "Are you-"

He caught his mother holding what looked to be a tiny pillow swaddled in one of his old blankets and she was cradling it in her arms, looking purely content until she saw him looking and she hid it away.

"F-Finished already, sweetheart?"

"Spinel...?" Steven's brow furrowed, "What was that?"

"I-It's noth..." Spinel tried to smile, but noticed the look in Steven's eyes and gave in, "A-Alright alright, no more lying or hiding." She brought out the swaddled pillow. "It's just... something that calmed me down. Well, sort-of. When you got to that age where you didn't need to be held anymore, I... I tried recreating that feeling of holding you in my arms for several years. I-I can't help it, holding you was such a wonderful feeling. And it still is. Kinda silly, huh?"

Steven stood up from his chair, appearing conflicted.

Spinel stared back at him for what felt like an eternity, "... Steven?"

The hybrid blinked, "O-Oh? Oh yeah, kinda silly, not..."

"Not what?"

Steven flinched, "Nothing. All is good, Mom."

Spinel stood up, "Steven? Are you sure everything's good? No problem whatsoever?"

"Of course, Mom, everything's fine."

But the way Steven wasn't looking at her convinced her otherwise. "Steven, buddy, you know you can tell me anything. If you're dealing with any issues, or anything you want to discuss with me, that's fine. You just gotta tell me."

Steven turned away, picking up his book and notes.

"Young man, are you listening to me? Is there something wrong?"

"... No. There isn't."

"There seems to be one. You've been acting off recently. Not that there's something wrong with that, it's just... I'm worried that you... hate us or-"

Steven's body flashed pink, "I DON'T HATE YOU!" He shrieked, "I-I mean! I just- I wanna grow up, like everyone else is!"

"Grow up? By acting weird around us?" Spinel took a few steps towards him, "Steven, that's not-"

"M-MOM! Please get away from me!" Steven backed into the corner of the room, dropping his book. The pink aura around his skin seemed to light even more, and this time, Spinel noticed the canines in her son's mouth.

"Steven...?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME, MOM! NOTHING'S WRONG!"

"No, you don't look okay. Come on, sweetheart, I know you're not gonna hurt me. Just let me-"

"GET AWAY!" Steven screamed, his voice ringing in her head as he used his powers to send her back, crashing into something. Steven heaved for air, but gasped at what he did.

Spinel groaned and sat up, noticing what she was sitting on. Her heart seemed to crack as she stood up and stared at the broken remains of her rocking chair. Tears fled down her cheeks when she fell to her knees, left speechless as she wailed out.

Steven's pink aura and canines faded as tears filled his eyes, "M-Mom... I didn't-"

"Get out."

"N-No Mom, let me help-"

"No. GET OUT." She whipped her head around to glower at him, the door to her room opening at last.

Steven didn't want to make what he had done to his mother worse as he grabbed his items and ran out of the room. When the door closed, Spinel instantly felt deep regret for yelling at her son like that. She choked on her sobs as she clutched the pieces of her old rocking chair, the oldest memory back when Steven was a little baby in her arms.

But now, everything was different. And Spinel knew everything was going to change even more.

Yep.

I'm going to hell for hurting Spinel like this.