Greg hummed a familiar, but half-forgotten ditty as he steadily hammered the window frame into place. A recent storm had dislodged some of the cheap wood and made the screen crooked. When the wind blew, it shook the screen so hard it had woken Steven up in the middle of the night-much to Pearl's grand dislike. When Greg had found out, he promised Steven and Pearl that he would fix it as soon as he could.
It was an easy enough job, nothing too hard. He had some free time from the carwash and since the gems were on a mission today-he had some free time with his son too.
"Agbwha!" Steven informed him, pointing to his own plank of wood. Greg had recently bought him a plastic tool set. Since Greg was always fixing things around the house, the van and the carwash-Steven had been actively attempting to use Greg's tools too (Greg had found him about swing a hammer into the van's hubcap once). The plastic set was cheap, but Steven didn't seem to mind. He had been pounding away at his sole piece of wood with a very concentrated expression.
"Are you done over there bud?" Greg chuckled, fixing the screen for the window in with a heave.
"Des." Steven said, sitting up and wiping his brow. He was wearing a pair of overalls and a donated tank top from the Fryman family. One of his little flip-flops lay dejected at his side as he kicked his feet in certainty.
"Well Daddy's…iiiss done now too!" Greg exclaimed, hearing the faint click of the screen as it locked into place. That should stay in place even if another storm came through. "Let's get some lunch."
Greg picked up Steven, kicking his tool box to the side and leaned against the screen door to open it. A welcome air-conditioned gust ruffled both their hair and they simultaneously sighed in relief.
"Let's make us some bagel sandwiches." Greg hummed, setting Steven down next to the coffee table. Steven gripped the table's edge with a strong grip and wobbled unsteadily as he nibbled the laminate wood.
Greg shuffled around the kitchen, balancing food in his arms as he hummed. Steven harrumphed along, his hum halting as he learned his way around his growing vocal chords. Eventually Steven grew bored of balancing and eating away at the table, he let himself fall onto his padded behind. He crawled his way into the kitchen, his baggy overalls snagging onto the counter as he tried to go and play with his dad.
"Hep!" Steven cried, wiggling around uselessly trying to free himself. Greg turned around and quickly freed Steven of his overall prison.
"Whoa there bud. What is it? I'm trying to get your noms ready. I promise." Greg chuckled, holding his son's an arm's length away. Steven kicked his freed bare legs before blowing a slobbery raspberry.
"You makin' fun of your old man?" Greg grinned deviously causing Steven to giggle. "You sure you wanna do that little man?"
"Deeeesssss!" Steven squealed. "Ismagadoo!"
"Well, then. I think lunch will have to wait." Greg whooped, throwing Steven into the air and catching him with a firm kiss on the cheek. Steven happily slobbered all over Greg's neck and he giggled as Greg spun them towards the couch. He playfully laid Steven down and rubbed his hands together teasingly.
"Kisses for Steven!" Greg roared, blowing a raspberry on Steven's suddenly exposed tummy. Steven squealed, his voice high pitched as his ticklish stomach was playfully attacked. Steven was laughing so hard, his entire face was flushed a deep red and his legs kicked wildly. Greg took a dramatic deep breath of air before ruthlessly tickling again.
"Are you gonna make fun of your father again?" Greg growled playfully.
"Des!" Steven clapped, flapping the hem of his shirt with a gleam in his eyes.
"Oh, you're gonna give it. No mercy for Steven!" Greg bellowed, shaking his shaggy head as he blew another raspberry. Steven was giggling so hard that neither of them noticed when the warp pad activated and out stepped Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl.
"Oh my goodness, Greg what are you doing!" Pearl gasped suddenly swooping a bright red Steven from Greg's clutches. Greg wiped his mouth, still laughing.
"Tummy kisses." He huffed with a weak chuckle.
"What the heck are 'tummy kisses'?" Amethyst asked. Garnet shrugged.
"They're like kisses where you blow air-uh they're also called raspberries. Babies love them."
"Well, you shouldn't do it on his gem!" Pearl growled, patting Steven's back as he regained his breath.
"What? Why not?"
"Because our gems are sensitive." Garnet explained. "Stimulation can be extremely overwhelming on the senses."
"Really?" Greg asked standing up with a groan. "Cause Rose loved it when I kissed her gem."
Pearl turned a greenish blue and Amethyst cackled, falling onto her knees.
"I didn't need to know that." Pearl muttered into her palm, Steven copied her, burying his head in his hands with a giggle.
"It's a rather intimate action is all." Garnet sighed.
"Steven kisses your gems all the time though Garnet." Greg said with a stretch. "He drools all over yours Amethyst-and if he could reach Pearl's gem he would probably try drooling and kissing on that too!"
"That's different he's a baby and he doesn't know any better." Pearl snapped. "But if you keep doing these 'tummy kisses' he's going to expect us to do them too!"
"I don't get it." Greg mumbled, returning back to the kitchen so that he could finish their lunch. "You guys kiss him all the time."
"I-I just don't think it appropriate to be kissing Rose's gem is all." Pearl stutters, flushing from the tip of her gem to the bottom of her neck. She looks away from Greg and glares at a picture on the wall with a furious concentration. Steven drools onto her shoulder, hiccupping slightly as Garnet wipes at his chin.
"Yeah, that would be really weird." Amethyst shivers. "Like what if she can like still feel and junk?"
"It would be rather uncomfortable." Garnet adds with a dismissive shrug.
"Well then I won't do tummy kisses anymore." Greg sighed heavily. "We can just do something else I guess. But don't be surprised when he gets upset. He really likes tummy kisses."
…
Garnet smoothed out the fabric of Steven's pajamas, unsnapping the buttons of his footie pajamas. Garnet loves these pajamas, because of how they soft they made Steven. These were purple and dotted with cookie cats, they were especially warm too.
"Steven, come here please." Garnet called. Steven sat only in his diaper near his crib, he was playing with one of toys rather sulkily. He had been sulky throughout his bath, dinner and playtime. He hadn't wanted bubbles, he didn't even smile when he got half of a cookie cat for dessert or even when Amethyst shapeshifted into a tiny dinosaur and did a little dance. Greg had stopped doing the tummy kisses after lunch, much to Steven's grand disappointment. No amount of pouting or crying would convince Greg to resume their game and Steven was now in a horrible mood. When Pearl had receded into the temple for a break, he had refused to give her a goodbye kiss, instead simply crossing his arms and glaring at his toes.
"No." Steven grunted.
"You just wanna wear your diaper to bed?" Garnet asked.
"Des." Steven grunted again, continuing to make MC Bear Bear and Sir Bearington kiss rather forcefully.
Garnet scooted closer to him, laying down next to him and watching him play. In the light, the pink gem settled in his tummy shone slightly in the light.
"You don't even want to wear these cookie cat pajamas?" Garnet asked. Steven froze, tensing up and turning around to look at Garnet and the PJs in question. He seemed torn between remaining grumpy and ignoring Garnet or putting on one of his favorite sets of pajamas.
"No!" He grumbled, turning around with a snap and forcefully slapping Sir Bearington into the wooden floor.
"Are you angry?"
"No!" MC Bear Bear went flying over the safety rail.
"Are you sure?"
"DES!" Sir Bearington's limbs were stretched to their limit.
"Why don't you tell me all about why you're so angry while I put on your jammies?"
Steven looked down at his foot, squeezing his toes while in intense thought. He eventually nodded and crawled onto Garnet's lap with a slight grumble. Garnet began to shimmy the sleeves on and tucking his legs in when Steven began to rant.
"Daddy no kiss 'Tven!" He exclaimed, flinging his little arms into the air. "Tven want da blasberry kisses! Why no give?"
"I'll explain it to you when you're older." Garnet mumbled, buttoning him in, trying to avoid snagging the plastic of his diaper.
"Tven do bad?" Steven whimpered, sniffling suddenly. "Tven in twouble?"
"You're not in trouble baby." Garnet mumbled, kissing his forehead.
"Sowwy." He whimpered, bring Garnet's hand to his face and rubbing it against his damp cheek. "Tven sowwy Ganet."
Garnet sighed heavily. Of course Steven would think he was in trouble when he hadn't done anything wrong at all. He was always quick to blame himself and punish himself (he often put himself into timeout more than any of them did).
"Steven, sweetie, you're not in trouble. Really, your Dad isn't mad and you didn't do anything wrong." She insisted, squeezing his doughy cheeks. "We're just being…dumb."
Rose Quart had been a powerful warrior, a brilliant leader and a kind friend. Never, ever in Garnet's entire existence had she ever dared kiss Rose Quartz's gem. It was an entirely intimate thing, to kiss someone's gem. Long before Pearl or Sapphire or Ruby had been alive, it had once been custom to do so to higher authorities, but the practice had fallen out of grace. It had later become a stigma amongst their society-as well as any romantic gestures at all really. Even touching another gem accidentally was met with harsh social repercussions-Garnet didn't even like thinking about the punishment Ruby and Sapphire could've faced by even hugging back then.
Pearl had been raised in an environment that spurned any and all intimacy and despite her reeducation with Rose Quartz, it was obvious that she still had those shunning mannerisms. Ruby and Sapphire still found it slightly embarrassing to kiss one another's gem, despite their intense hatred of Homeworld and its backwards teachings. Even Amethyst, who had been born unto a world asunder, found it awkward.
Garnet had thought that by agreeing with Pearl, they were respecting Rose, but now she knew they had only been reinforcing Homeworld into Steven's life. That was a bigger disrespect to Rose than kissing her-now Steven's gem.
"Perhaps, maybe we can play tummy kisses?" Garnet asks shyly unsure if Steven would still be upset.
"Des! Des!" Steven screeched, fumbling with his buttons and eventually letting Garnet do it for him. He flapped the fabric excitedly, resting his soft head on Garnet's thigh and grinning.
Garnet took a deep breath. 'Just like kissing but blowing air.' She bent her head, hesitating at the pristine pink gem. His gem, not her gem; this wasn't Homeworld and Steven wasn't Rose. She took a deep breath and blew it out.
A ridiculous noise that sounded like a diaper change in the waiting sounded and Steven began to giggle gleefully, his little legs kicking. She smirked and did it again, this time under his neck and along his ribs. Steven began to laugh so hard that tears leaked from his tightly clenched eyes. His little legs squeezing her face as he laughed, his fingers hot against her forehead as the tickles became too much for his senses.
When he laughed he sounded so much like Rose. He scrunched his nose the same and the action seemed to vibrate his entire being. When he had been much younger, when he had been overcome with such joy his gem would glow a bright and nostalgic pink.
Garnet captured one of his tiny feet and blew a raspberry with a grin. Steven squealed wiggling out of her grip and stumbling onto the floor with a huffing giggle.
"Top it, nomo!" He gasped, wiggling on the floor, his hands wriggling across his tummy. Garnet could only laugh laying back down next to him and kissing his forehead.
"Steven, tomorrow we'll go down and see your dad and you can play tummy kisses." Garnet promised. "For as long as you like."
"Yay!" Steven cried, kicking his feet excitedly before freezing.
"What's the matter?" Garnet asked, sitting them both up to make sure she hadn't hurt him somehow.
"I tink I wen' pee, Ganet…"
A/N: Thanks guys for all the favorites! This story is currently fifth in line for the most favorites of all the Steven Universe stories written in English. This story is literally right next to one of my favorite stories ever- United I Stand by CaveDwellers! It's literally freaking me out cause it's such a good fic and somehow this shamble of drabbles was deemed worthy to sit next to it. Go read it if you haven't! Couldn't have done without you guys so thanks so much! Thank you for all the follows and reviews as well.