Pearl was nervous, a flitting type of anxiety that fluttered uncomfortably in her chest. She was restless, pacing Steven's room in its entire length back and forth. Amethyst was idly watching her from the coffee table, a half-eaten pineapple on her stomach as she shoved prickly piece after prickly piece into her mouth. She wasn't supposed to be eating it, but Pearl was too distracted to notice and scold her. Garnet sat lounging on the couch, her feet propped up on the table and her arms hanging lax by her side.
"Pearl, why don't you sit down?" Amethyst asked through a mouthful of pineapple chunk and getting some on the floor.
"She won't be able to." Garnet said, adjusting her visor.
"She's right, Amethyst. I can't just sit down and do nothing. Aren't you worried?" Pearl whispered, crossing her arms tightly over her middle. She was trying to calm her rapid unnecessary breathing and failing miserably.
"We've taken care of Steven before." Amethyst yawned, nibbling on one of the pineapple leaves. "It's not like we're going in blind or anything."
"Yes, but Greg has never been this far away before!" Pearl hissed through her clenched teeth.
Though over the past six months they had all taken care of Steven and had become incredibly proficient at it, Greg had never been far away. If Pearl had a question that a book couldn't answer, she would go find Greg and ask. Most of the times that Amethyst watched Steven, Greg had been there to help. Garnet didn't really need to ask too many questions, but when she did Greg had been eager to help. In the very short amount of time that Steven had been alive, Greg had never been more than a city away.
But not tonight. Tonight Greg had to drive up to Keystone to get plumbing and wiring for the bathroom Steven would need. The house was mostly completed, but they had stopped renovations when the majority of the house had been completed. A personal bathroom hadn't really been necessary at the time. Steven couldn't use a toilet and wouldn't fit on a full size one until he was around three or so. Steven didn't need a tub, because he fit in the kitchen sink. But Steven was getting bigger and bigger every day. In seven or eight months, he definitely wouldn't fit into the sink anymore.
"I'll install a bath and shower. He'll need a toilet and a sink and a mirror." Greg had ticked the list off with his fingers. "He is going to need this stuff eventually guys. I know he's super small now, but kids grow up really quick."
Since Greg had to drive so far and had to stay in Keystone overnight, Steven would be staying with them. Greg would be arriving any moment now to drop off Steven. Pearl had stocked up on formula, rice cereal, fruit, vegetables, diapers, diaper rash cream, wipes, extra sunscreen, and bibs. She would've bought more, but Garnet had assured her that there was no way Steven could possibly go through four boxes of diapers in 36 hours.
Pearl had vigorously cleaned the house; dusting, mopping, washing Steven's sheets and all his clothing. She had Garnet check all the safety gates twice that day and made Amethyst cover the plugs and wrap up the sharp edges of the coffee tables. Greg had informed them that Steven was nearly strong enough to crawl now and though Pearl had been initially excited-she began to panic once she remembered the parenting guide she'd read.
Babies weren't very intelligent or logical beings. Steven didn't yet know the dangers of the home and could seriously hurt himself. Humans of course had developed technology to heal wounds and they had a designated place where injured humans could go to be healed, but Pearl didn't want to go there. Especially if Greg wasn't going to be there to guide them. Greg had been there guide when it came to human things-like grocery stores, takeout and television.
Pearl stopped as they heard the familiar sound of Steven's car seat bumping up against the wooden stairs. Pearl rushed to the door, letting Greg in. Greg was laden with Steven's duffle bag and his stroller.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm a little late. I packed some extra clothes, baby aspirin, and wrote down all the emergency numbers and stuff. I also went and bought a mobile phone." Greg huffed, handing Pearl the car seat with Steven inside it. Steven was content with his hand in his mouth and smiled as Pearl unbuckled him.
"Whoa, we get a phone?" Amethyst asked, swallowing the rest of the pineapple whole. She jumped off the coffee table and tried grabbing the tiny plastic thing with her sticky hands.
"Yes, but it's for emergencies only Amethyst. I put two hours on it, so don't go blowing the minutes." Greg instructed, holding the phone out of Amethyst's reach. Garnet stood from the couch and grabbed the phone before Amethyst could shape-shift to get it.
"I'll make sure." Garnet promised.
"Okay, good. Well I brought some of his stuff from the van. If you needed to take him on a walk or something. There's extra clothes-he's been better with spitting up but you never know. I got his blanky, his bear and his gas drops." Greg rambled. "I packed bandages, his rattle, extra socks-he's been trying to eat them so be on the lookout. And here's one hundred dollars and one of my credit cards just in case."
Greg made sure to hand the money to Pearl. The last time Greg had given money to Amethyst to go buy diapers, she had come back with a hamper full of clothes from the sixties and a box of erotic books written in Korean.
"You guys think you'll be okay?" Greg asked, setting down the duffel bag.
"We'll be fine, Greg." Amethyst groaned, rolling her eyes as she collapsed on top of Steven's duffel bag. "We're not the babies, you know that right?"
"We have this under control." Garnet said calmly.
"P-perhaps though you can go over how to call the 911 again?" Pearl stammered, cradling Steven close to her chest.
Greg handed Pearl the list and showed them once again how to operate the cellphone and how to call 911. He instructed them on how to state their emergency and what counted as an emergency worthy of calling 911.
"If you don't think its '911 worthy', then go to the Pizzas' shop. Nanefua will help. Her number's on the list too."
Pearl wouldn't let Greg leave until she was certain that she knew how to work the phone. After he was certain that the gems and Steven were situated, he kissed and hugged Steven good bye and quickly made his way to the van. He needed to be in Keystone by eleven to make it for the last check-in time at the motel he planned to stay in.
"Okay, we can do this!" Pearl gasped, still holding Steven. "We can do this. We can do this."
"Pearl, calm down. Everything will be fine." Garnet assured her, resting her hand on Pearl's shoulder. Steven immediately grabbed her fingers and rubbed his cheeks against them.
"I know." Pearl mumbled, snuggling Steven a little closer.
Pearl decided to start making Steven dinner. She handed him off to Garnet and began taking out everything she needed. Steven's diet was radically changing. He no longer was satiated with just formula, he had begun eating solids three weeks ago. After watching Amethyst regurgitate a jar of baby food intended for Steven, Pearl had taken to personally making Steven's baby food herself. Steven liked it much more than he did the jar food from the store. Greg had stopped buying it and just bought Pearl fruits and vegetables instead.
Garnet held Steven, letting him explore the gem on her left hand while Amethyst set up the play mat the Fryman's had given them. It was a very large brightly colored mat with cartoon characters all over it. It used to be PeeDee's, but he was no longer interested in playing with it so now it was Steven's. Amethyst laid it out, rolling on the protective plastic cover lazily. Garnet placed Steven on the edge of the mat.
"G. you should put him in the middle." Amethyst said. "He's gonna love this texture."
"Lie in the middle and call him." Garnet instructed. "Greg says we have to encourage him to crawl."
Amethyst rolled to the middle and upside down she began to clap her hands to get Steven's attention.
"SteeeeVeeEen!" She wooed. "Don't you want to play with me?"
Steven cocked his head to the side. He was beginning to recognize more and more words. He already knew his name, so he was aware that Amethyst wanted something of him. He began kicking and waving his arms, not really sure yet how to move without someone's help. He grabbed at the play mat, struggling to pull himself closer. He tried supporting his weight to crawl, but he kept falling onto his chest. Garnet sat next to Amethyst and began to call to him too. She presented both her gems-Steven who loved Garnet's gems gasped. He began to try to wiggle towards them even harder. He tried to lift himself once more, but his arms collapsed underneath him and he smacked his head against the wooden floor-missing the cushion of the play pad entirely.
Amethyst and Garnet froze. Steven blinked once then tears filled his eyes. He whimpered quietly and put his hand to his red forehead.
Garnet rushed over just as he began to cry and carried him to the kitchen. "Pearl he hit his head."
"What? I thought you were just playing with the mat thing?" Pearl gasped, checking for a bump where the redness was. "I don't see a bump."
Steven burrowed into Garnet's chest, crying quietly as Pearl rubbed his forehead with her thin thumb. He sniffled quietly as the pain from his head faded away, to distract himself he grabbed one of Garnet's fingers and stuck it in his mouth.
"Oh, Steven you're supposed to be using your pacifier." Pearl sighed, turning back toward the stove to turn the fire down. "Amethyst can you get one from the bag."
Amethyst got up and began rummaging through the bag. "I don't see why we can't just give him our fingers still. I don't mind."
"Greg says Steven has tried putting other people's fingers in his mouth." Pearl shuddered. She really didn't like that at all. Humans weren't very clean after all. "What if he gets sick or something from other people. We may not carry bacteria, but others do. We need to normalize his pacifier."
Amethyst found a baggie full of pacifiers and she jumped up on the counter. She searched through the baggie until she found a purple pacifier and offered it to Steven. Steven, Garnet's fingers still in his grip, looked at the pacifier without much interest before turning away.
"He doesn't even like these things." Amethyst grumbled, sneaking a slice pumpkin quarter from the cutting board and shoving it sloppily into her mouth.
"He likes the one with the star." Garnet said, picking it easily from the baggie and presenting it to Steven. Steven took it with the hand not holding Garnet's and eventually released Garnet to stick the pacifier in his mouth.
Amethyst and Garnet decided that tickling was the safest game to play until Steven's dinner was done. Pearl had expertly made a puree of pumpkin and squash, some steamed carrots, and peach yogurt (dessert was supposed to have been mashed pineapple, but Pearl couldn't find it anywhere).
Dinner went wonderfully. Steven managed to only get the puree in thirty percent of his hair and none in his diaper this meal. They all liked watching him eat and feeding him. Amethyst mostly liked Steven shoving food in her mouth. Pearl was fascinated at all of Steven's faces as he tried each new food and Garnet was always amazed at how Steven could eat so much. Amethyst 'cleaned' up Steven's highchair while Pearl bathed Steven and Garnet prepared his pajamas.
As Amethyst ate the leftovers of Steven's meal, she chuckled. Pearl had been worried for nothing. Steven was fed, getting cleaned and about to be put to bed, she had wasted all that energy being worried for nothing. This is was going to be a piece of cake.
A/N: Sorry this is kind of late. I've been working on a bunch of stories I plan on publishing for 'Growing Up With Steven' and this one I finally was able to make something of. I planned on posting the whole thing but I don't feel comfortable with the second part yet until I look it over again (I'm too tired to do it properly right now).
Anyways, thanks to all of you who favorite, follow and review. It means a lot to me to know that despite my drowning you in fluff and cuteness, you come back for more. All of your kind words really help when 'writer's block' attacks as well. I don't think I can explain how happy I am that you guys like this.