It was 6am in the morning. And Steven was surprisingly up. Not eating, playing his new video game, or playing with any of his toys. He was just sitting in the middle of his room, his focus on the giant painting on the wall above the front door.

They called her Rose Quartz. He was supposed to call her mom. She was beautiful. She had long flowing hair that sparkled and seemed to glow. Her eyes were closed, but Dad had told him that she had big, dark eyes-like Steven. Steven wondered what she sounded like, what she felt like to hug or what her kisses felt like. Was she soft? She looked soft in the painting; as though if she wrapped her arms around you, you'd be enveloped in a marshmallow. Dad once told him that she smelled like roses; that after she hugged you her scent followed you all day long.

He sighed heartily and laid down on the floor. He had woken up to go to the bathroom and hadn't been able to get back to sleep. He had been thinking a lot lately about mothers.

Though Steven wasn't officially enrolled in school (Pearl had nearly punched Greg when he had even mentioned kindergarten a year or two ago), he did know kids who did. Beach City wasn't particularly big. They had a single run down elementary school, but for upper grade levels parents had to bus their kids to other school districts. The elementary was home to only a handful of kids whose parents couldn't afford to bus their kids now.

It was laidback and pretty lenient. The few teachers who worked there knew Steven well enough and nobody really minded if he sat with them during class, as long as he behaved (he didn't tell Pearl that, only Dad). So when the teacher took them out on field trips, Steven was allowed to come with them. Last week the entire day had been filled with mother's day preparation.

Steven sat with the mixed class of first and second graders. The teacher, a small older lady, named Mrs. Song had been so very excited.

"Who can tell me what Mother's day is?" She had asked.

Ten kids' hands rose their hands. Mrs. Song chose a tiny blonde girl.

"Muver's Day is s'posed ta be da day tha' you celebrate yo' Mama." The girl squeaked, fumbling her words through a gap where her front teeth were supposed to be.

"That's right Emily. Mother's day is when we thank our mamas for being our mamas. Today we're going to make them some cards all right?"

Of course the classroom exploded with excitement. Coloring, glitter, markers, stickers, lace and scissors, there wasn't anywhere you could look without seeing something for Mother's day. Kids were boasting and bragging, insisting that their mothers were certainly the best. One kid had been so passionate that he had stood on his plastic table and shouted until Mrs. Song took him to the timeout corner-a place where Steven hadn't ever been sent before.

"Psst. PeeDee." Steven hissed. Steven always sat next to PeeDee. PeeDee and Steven where the only kids who only went part time to school. PeeDee because his dad needed all the help he could get at the fry shop and Steven because Pearl got suspicious when he was gone too long. Steven wasn't very good at lying, so Greg had been covering for him.

PeeDee looked up from his coloring. He wasn't coloring anything pink or red like the other kids, but yellow and blue. "Yeah Steven?"

"Well, what do we do?" Steven whispered nervously, leaning in closer, not wanting Mrs. Song to hear him. He really didn't want to have to explain to her his situation with his mother.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, about a mother's day card?" Steven said, looking down at his blank picture. "What if we don't got a mom?"

PeeDee shrugged. "I just write my mom a report on the fry shop and read it to her. Dad says she can hear us from heaven."

Steven sighed. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant for him though. His mother was…complicated. He was pretty sure she wasn't…dead? Pearl and Dad had said that Rose had given up her physical form so that he could live, but that didn't really make a lot sense. Where was she then? In heaven? Or somewhere hiding from Steven? What if she was hiding because she hated Steven or because he wasn't a good enough son? Did mothers do that? Just leave their kids because they were too bad?

Steven colored a picture of Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst instead of making a card for his mom. He also colored a really awesome picture of his Dad as a superhero. When he went home that day with PeeDee, snacks in hand, he had hurried home and presented his gifts. The gems had hugged him (Amethyst had thrown him in the air and been promptly scolded) and Dad had taken him to get a donut and hung the picture in the van. But Steven's mind wouldn't stop racing about his mother.

He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there just staring at the painting before the temple doors opened. He looked behind him as Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst walked in.

"Why do I have to be up too?" Amethyst groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"I know the mission won't take that long, but we're a team, Amethyst. It's important that you participate." Pearl sighed, rubbing her temples with a frown. "You don't even need to sleep!"

"Good morning to you, Steven." Garnet said, the first to see him.

Steven waved, but found his voice failing him. He turned back to the painting and laid down again, crossing his arms under his head. He heard light footsteps and then Pearl appeared above him.

"You're up early?" Pearl said, kissing his forehead. Steven shrugged silently and looked back up to the painting.

"Hey, where's breakfast?" Amethyst asked, jumping onto the counter and looking for scraps. Usually Steven left a wonderful mess of waffle rinds, eggs, or cereal behind. Steven didn't even look at her, he just shrugged, playing with the hem of pajama shirt.

"You didn't eat?" Pearl asked, she looked between the immaculate kitchen and Steven's straight face. There were no crumbs on his face or on the floor, which was very unusual. Usually if Steven woke up, he was ready to eat. If Pearl wasn't in the house to make breakfast for him, he knew enough how to make his own.

"Were you waiting for us?" Pearl asked. Steven shook his head and avoided her eyes. "Does your stomach hurt?"

Steven paused at this. His stomach didn't hurt, but it certainly didn't feel good. It felt all twisted up in knots. Kinda like the time he had lied to Garnet about playing on the warp pad-his stomach had felt so bad he hadn't eaten until he told her the truth.

"No." Steven said.

"Dude, that's like the first word you've said all morning." Amethyst noted, laying on the counter like a cat.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Garnet asked, squatting next to Pearl.

"No." Steven grunted, rubbing his eye.

Pearl and Garnet shared a quick glance.

"How important is this mission?" Pearl asked, looking between Garnet and Steven.

"I'll be right back." Garnet said. "Amethyst stay here with Pearl and Steven."

Garnet hurried to the warp pad and was gone in a flash of light. Amethyst begrudgingly removed herself from the kitchen counter and approached Steven.

"Are you feeling alright bud?" Amethyst asked, getting right up in his face. Pearl pulled her back a bit.

"Don't crowd him too much." Pearl instructed, standing up. "I think he's just tired and hungry. Humans need energy early in the morning to stay active the entire day."

Amethyst nodded in agreement. She'd never read any of those dumb books Pearl had given her, but she'd seen enough humans to know that they needed breakfast-or they were boring and useless.

"Can we watch TV?" Amethyst asked Pearl. Amethyst knew Pearl had a thing about Steven watching too much TV.

"Sure." Pearl murmured, already entering cooking mode. Amethyst excitedly grabbed the TV remote-she was barely tall enough to grab it-and turned it to a station she knew Pearl would approve of. It was of course insanely boring, but Amethyst was hoping it would wake Steven up. She picked him up and placed him between her legs on the floor. Steven stared glumly at the TV. It was a show about puppets. The puppets were trying to teach each other about kindness. Steven had been fine until a mother puppet had stepped in to break up a fight between the puppet children. He squirmed in Amethyst's arms and began to whine.

Amethyst opened her arms as though she had been shocked. Steven rarely whined like that. Pearl turned toward them with a frown. Steven ran up to his room and wiggled under the covers. Pearl looked at Amethyst, but Amethyst only shrugged.

"I think he was lying about his stomach hurting." Pearl whispered.

"Maybe, but he didn't feel hot though." Amethyst whispered, climbing onto the counter and pouring syrup on her finger. "I couldn't hear his stomach either."

Suddenly the room lit up as Garnet returned. She carried a bubble in hand before quickly sending it off into the temple. She surveyed the current situation. Pearl was pacing slightly in the kitchen, all of the ingredients and materials she needed laid out and ready. Amethyst looked slightly unnerved, still sitting on the floor next to the TV. And Steven was a lump on his bed.

"Steven." Garnet called. "Downstairs. Couch. Now please."

Steven sat up and grumpily made his way downstairs. He took his blanket with him and chose to wedge himself in the furthest chunk of couch from Garnet. Garnet hummed quietly at that, not used to seeing their happy boy so glum.

"Pearl. Amethyst." Garnet didn't say it like an order, but they both sat down on the couch, Pearl the closest to Steven.

"So, Steven do you want to talk about it?" Pearl asked, scooting closer to him,

"No, I'm not supposed to." Steven mumbled through his blanket.

"Not supposed to talk about what?" Pearl asked, leaning in closer, her hands near the blanket.

"About my Mom!" Steven popped out from the blanket. Pearl jumped backwards and fell of the couch. Garnet helped Pearl up and sat her next to Amethyst.

"What do you mean?" Garnet asked.

"I don't have a mom! And Mrs. Song says that soon it will be Mother's day and that we're supposed to celebrate our moms. Except I don't have one. PeeDee says that his mom is in heaven, but I don't know where my mom is! I'm pretty sure she's not in heaven, so where is she?" Steven shouted. "Did she run away? Did she not want to meet me? Is she hiding in the temple? Is that why I'm not supposed to go in there?"

"Oh, Steven. I knew we didn't explain this well enough." Pearl moaned. "Your mother gave up her physical-"

"I don't know what that means!" Steven shouted. "What does that even mean? So she isn't dead? So that means she's hiding from me!"

Pearl sighed and cupped her face in her hands. It had been seven years since Rose's departure and even though it had gotten easier to talk about her-it wasn't easy right now. Especially when her son was yelling at her.

"Steven, inside voice please." Garnet urged. "Sit down please."

Steven did as he was told. He shifted the blanket a bit, but refused to look up at Garnet. He hadn't meant to yell, but it had just burst out. He expected Garnet to admonish him-probably a timeout or having to listen to Pearl explain gem stuff instead of play time.

"Steven, I know it's confusing. Even we don't really understand why or what occurred to your mother. I'm afraid we don't have a lot of answers." Garnet said. "The best I can tell you is that your Mother isn't hiding from you. Trust me Steven, she would travel across the cosmos to see you."

"Yes, oh Steven she loved you even before you were born." Pearl gasped, clasping Steven's hands in her own. "I'm not even sure she could hide from you if she wanted to."

"Yeah dude, she never stopped talking about you. You weren't even here yet and every day it was 'Steven this' and 'Steven that'." Amethyst snickered.

"I guess you could say, that she's right there." Garnet lifted Steven's shirt up and poked the pink gem embedded in his abdomen.

"In me?" Steven asked, poking it himself for good measure.

"It's like basic human biology. The offspring receives both parents' genetic coding. In an essence every human being contains their parent's unique genetic code, therefore-" Pearl began.

"That's not what I meant." Garnet interrupted. "I meant that she's right there. Literally. Your mother's physical form may not be here. And I'm sorry that she can't kiss or hug you, or tell you stories, but she's always been with you. Supporting every step you make and every breath you take-she's in there loving you."

Steven looked in awe at his gem. So she wasn't hiding? She was really here the whole time. Steven knew that since his mother was a gem that meant she wasn't like most mothers. He hadn't known she'd be that different though.

"So…even though I can't see her. She's always with me?" Steven asked, inching himself onto Garnet's lap.

Garnet nodded with a hum.

"So since she's in there and doesn't have a body, can I just make you guys cards for mother's day?" Steven asked.

"Technically Steven we're not-"

"Cause Mrs. Song says that mothers aren't always the ones who gave birth to you. But the ones who raise you and put up with you. You guys put up with me all the time so that makes you guys my moms." Steven said.

He opened his arms as wide as he could and gestured for them to get close. Garnet grabbed Amethyst and Pearl and helped Steven complete his hug (his arms were a tad short). As they were hugging, Garnet wiped a tear from Pearl's cheek before it could alert Steven to her crying. Garnet knew that they were happy tears, but if Steven tried to make Pearl explain it; she probably would just start bawling. Pearl sniffled quietly and Amethyst couldn't stop giggling.

"So is that a yes?" Steven asked, his face still smooshed in their hug.

"Well of course," Pearl said. "We would be honored."

"Yeah dude, does that mean we'll get cake and stuff?" Amethyst asked.

"Amethyst this isn't about cake! It's about…uh…about-well Steven can you-?"

"It's about showing you guys how much I love you." Steven said with a big grin.

"It's about showing us how much Steven loves-" Pearl squeaked before she could finish and a luminescent blush appeared on her cheeks. Amethyst broke the hug, falling out of it with a roar of laughter.

"You got her to stop talking!" Amethyst guffawed. "I didn't even know that was possible."

"Garnet, do you like glitter? Cause they have red and black glitter! Not that I would use that on your card or anything."

"I do like glitter Steven."

"Good! Even though I'm definitely not using it or anything." Steven muttered. "And I'm not using those rhinestones on Amethyst's or those flowers for Pearl's."

Pearl sighed fondly. Steven wasn't very good at secret keeping. It was adorable. Pearl wrapped herself around Steven again, letting her head rest on Steven's fluffy bedhead. Oh, their little boy was growing up. They had all known that Steven would have questions as he grew and Pearl had tried her best to explain-but she wasn't very good yet at translating to 'Steven speak' (that's what Amethyst called it). She hoped one day she could truly convey to Steven how wonderful is real mother had been. How beautiful, kind, strong, and uplifting she had been. The glow she emitted when she stepped into the room. She knew she could never give these things to Steven the way Rose had been able to.

But she was happy that today, Steven had called her his mom nonetheless.