Sapphire watched as Ruby marched across the length of Steven's room. Her angry little warrior was pacing as quietly as she could-which wasn't really that quiet, but quieter that her usual romping and stomping.
"You're going to wake Steven." Sapphire scolded gently. She was currently sat on the couch, flipping through a random baby magazine Pearl had handed her before she and Amethyst had gone on a mission.
"He slept through a gem monster causing a literal earthquake a week ago." Ruby grunted. "He should wake up anyway. I'm not good at all this patience stuff!"
"Babies need their rest." Sapphire whispered, smiling quietly at Ruby's grumpy face. "He'll be up soon anyway. I'm going to get him-I would appreciate it if you at least tried to be quiet."
Ruby huffed angrily, plopping down onto the couch with a quiet growl. Sapphire gently picked Steven up from his crib, chuckling as his little limbs stuck out from her arms. It had only been a few months ago that he had fit perfectly into her arms. Now his fuzzy head would no longer nestle into the crook of her arm and his feet dangled when she walked.
"What is he wearing?" Ruby whispered, refusing to stand but scooting over to where Sapphire now sat on the couch. "Where did we get a pink, early twentieth century baby gown?"
"Pearl acquired it from somewhere in her pocket dimension. I personally like the bonnet." Sapphire cooed, fiddling with the string under Steven's neck that was holding the lacy bonnet to his fluffy head. Steven's usual onesie had been replaced with a long, excessively frilly gown that covered his feet and hands.
"He looks cute." Ruby murmured. "But he's not going to like all that material when we go for our walk. He's going to want to kick and chew his toes like normal."
"I know. But he's so precious." Sapphire pouted, kissing Steven's chubby cheeks. "Do you think Pearl will lend me the card thingy so that I can buy him a blue one with tiny gloves too?"
"If she gives it to us, then I want him to wear a headband. A red one."
"The red will clash with the blue."
"Fine, then a purple one." Ruby chuckled. "But come on, Sapphire. You know it's better to change him while he's sleepy."
Sapphire pouted, still kissing Steven's cheeks. She went back upstairs and grabbed a tank top. She quickly and reluctantly changed Steven out of his gown and into his shirt. Rubbing his belly to rouse him.
"Buhhh?" Steven gurgled, rubbing his fists into his eyes clumsily.
"Did you have a nice nap, little boy?" Sapphire asked gently, raising him onto her shoulder and gliding down the stairs.
"Bgwauhh." Steven hiccupped, grabbing some of her hair sleepily. "Uhg."
"Hey there little man." Ruby greeted, letting Sapphire place him on her lap. Sapphire floated away in search for sun screen. "How you doing?"
Steven stretched his limbs as far as they would go and jammed a fist into his mouth. He nodded and looked around.
"Mmmmuh? Puurrr?"
"Amethyst and Pearl are out." Ruby said rubbing his warm cheeks, thankful that Garnet had become entirely proficient in baby talk, so therefore she was too.
"Gaaa?"
Speaking of Garnet.
"Um…Oh look Sapphire's got your sunscreen buddy." Ruby chuckled nervously, sitting him up so that Sapphire could begin applying it. "Sapphire, take him, I'm going to go find a helmet."
"A helmet? Ruby we're going on a walk."
Ruby pretended not to hear that and went in search of a helmet anyway. She knew they had plenty because Pearl had gone on a shopping rampage when she had seen Steven begin crawling and trying to lift himself up to stand. Pearl had been talking along the lines of clumsy little humans and their incredibly soft skulls while she stocked every storage space in the house with safety gear.
"You never know, Sapphy." Ruby said, jumping down from the loft instead of taking the stairs. She had found a red helmet decorated in purple stickers. Pearl had written on the top in her perfect cursive: Be Safe Please. She eased it onto Steven's head, buckling it at his pudgy chin.
Ruby stood back to admire her handy work with her hands on her hips. She rubbed under her chin and cocked her head a little.
"Do you think he needs protective padding too?"
"Ruby,"
"I'm serious, Sapphire." Ruby teased. "What if he falls out or something?"
"The stroller is basically a strait jacket on wheels, Ruby." Sapphire said, rolling her eye. Steven was feeling his head curiously, marveling at his brand new skull. "And even if he fell, I would have sufficient time to warn you and so nothing would happen."
"You said future vision isn't always reliable."
"In all of the centuries, that we've known each other, how often would you say that this unreliability occurred?"
Ruby groaned, realizing Sapphire was aiming to win-the little blue gem always won. "Fine, no pads."
"Thank you." Sapphire said, kissing Ruby's cheek. "Would you go get the stroller please?"
Ruby did as she was asked, hauling the giant stroller over one of her shoulders easily. She effortlessly unfurled it, lowering the handle to Sapphire's height and adjusted the seat so that they could both see him while they walked. Sapphire nestled him into the fluffy seat and Ruby strapped him in. Steven giggled happily as Sapphire stuck her tongue out at him, distracting him from the tasking process of being buckled in.
"Okay, he's in." Ruby muttered, putting her hands on her hips. Rather proud of her accomplishment.
"Ruby, the strait jacket thing was a joke." Sapphire chuckled, noticing that Ruby had managed to use every single straps provided to secure Steven in. "You're not even supposed to use these belts after they turn four months. And that belt is way too tight."
"How is it too tight?" Ruby asked with a frown, watching as Sapphire used a finger to pry it away from Steven's tummy.
"If his gem wasn't there, it'd be crushing his little belly." Sapphire sighed, easily loosening it. Steven's pudgy belly, liberated from its constraint, expanded with a happy sigh.
"But what if the crotch strap fails, then what'll keep him up?"
"Perhaps these extra shoulder straps, you've so kindly added?" Sapphire was grinning as she said it, her little hands readjusting each strap.
"But, Sa-aph, what if he falls out? Babies are super weak, what if he breaks?" Ruby whined, grabbing at Sapphire's billowing skirt and clenching it nervously in her large hands.
"Babies despite their size, are actually quite durable." Sapphire hummed. "Besides, the stroller isn't even a foot of the ground. If, and I'm emphasizing the 'if', he falls out, he'll only fall about seven inches."
"That seems like a lot to me." Ruby huffed, her cheeks puffy with displeasure.
…
Sapphire had hoped that once they got outside that Ruby's sudden overbearingness would fade away. Steven usually distracted them all quite efficiently, always able to dispel any and all of their negative thoughts without even trying. Even the littlest actions were entirely mesmerizing.
Steven had taken to attempting to eat his toes. He had first discovered that he had toes some time ago and had taken to exploring them in the only way he knew. Garnet could watch him bend his limbs and nom on his pink, teeny toes until the sun went down. Sapphire particularly liked it when he laughed. Everything was absolutely hilarious to him and if you found the right thing, you could get him to laugh so hard he turned the loveliest shade of red.
But it seemed even Steven's adorable antics couldn't dispel whatever was on Ruby's mind. The minute they had stepped outside, Ruby had thrown a blazing rock at a seagull that had made the unfortunate mistake of landing too close to them. She had been contemptuously glaring at any tourist or animal that dared get within three feet of the stroller. She had even been glaring at the ocean, a quiet growl rumbling in her chest as Sapphire suggested they walk on the sand.
"Never mind, let's walk on the boardwalk." Sapphire sighed exasperatedly, leaning against the stroller with a roll of her eye.
"Uh, no! There are too many people there!" Ruby snapped.
"So, let's walk on the beach?"
"The beach? What if the ocean-."
"The ocean somehow produces a freak tsunami? Really, Ruby, a freak tsunami?" Sapphire asked, stealing the words from Ruby's mouth.
"You never know? Don't tell me that isn't a possibility!"
"Ruby, maybe we should just go back to the house?" Sapphire groaned.
"What? Why? Steven's having so much fun though?" Ruby said, pointing to Steven who was currently dancing in his seat. He had found Ruby's antics quite hilarious and had been shaking his tiny fist mockingly at the sky.
"Well where do you suggest we go then?" Sapphire asked, arms crossed.
"Let's…goooo…to the car wash." Ruby decided with a clap of her hands.
"Oh, but what about all those unsafe cars?" Sapphire asked mockingly, a tad frustrated.
"Shoot. You're right."
"No. No, no I was jokin-."
"Then we should head tooooo-."
Sapphire resisted the strong urge to smack her forehead for her own stupidity. Of course Ruby wasn't joking, she rarely did even when she wasn't in such a state. Ruby really didn't think the boardwalk or the beach was safe. Sapphire wasn't exactly sure as to why, seeing as it that neither presented any dangerous futures that Sapphire was aware of. But she was about to find out because if she didn't they would be stuck here all day.
"RUBY!" Sapphire interrupted, Ruby's musings.
"Sapphire, why are you yelling? I'm right here." Ruby said, turning back towards them, still rubbing her chin in thought. Sapphire resisted the urge to tell Ruby that the only futures where she actually got a response required that she either yell or got physical.
"Is there something that's bothering you?" Sapphire asked, steering Steven's stroller to a bench, where she began to unstrap him.
"What are you doing, Sapphire?!" Ruby asked, her voice shaking nervously as Steven's bare feet briefly touched the ground. He wobbled in Sapphire's arms and giggled happily at the new sensation. She floated onto the bench and planted him squarely on her lap.
"Is there something wrong? Something perhaps you need to share with me?" Sapphire asked knowingly.
"N-n-no. Let's just finish our walk." Ruby stuttered, looking away from Sapphire. Not that that helped the icy glare Ruby could feel assaulting the back of her head.
"I don't want to finish our walk, until you tell me what's bothering you." Sapphire said firmly, her voice hardening.
Ruby turned back with a frown and crossed arms. "Nothing is bother-."
"Let me stop you right now. Seeing as it, that you seem to forget that as your partner in fusion for the past several millennium, that I know you sometimes better than you know yourself." Sapphire interrupted with a pointed glare behind her bangs.
"It's nothing! It's MY problem and I don't want you to worry about it. I'm handling it!" Ruby shouted, tiny white puffs of steam coming from her flared nostrils with each breath.
"It doesn't seem as though you are." Sapphire sighed, letting Steven take a chunk of her hair and stick it in his mouth. She didn't really like when he did so, but it distracted him perfectly from their current argument.
"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Ruby yelled, her voice cracking as her frustration and worry bubbled to the surface and began to leak from her eyes.
"I mean, that glaring and growling at any and every living creature in our path isn't 'handling' it-whatever it may be." Sapphire said simply and quietly. "If you're worried, then I'm worried as well. I would appreciate it if you talked to me about it, rather than attempting to glare away the world."
Ruby sniffled angrily, wiping her eyes roughly before stomping to the bench and hopping up next to Sapphire and Steven. Steven released Sapphire's hair and grabbed one of Ruby's fingers instead.
"I-I…don't know you d-do it." Ruby whispered quietly, avoiding Sapphire's gaze.
"Do what?"
"See. See all that bad stuff all the time." Ruby shuddered. "All that bad stuff that could happen to us or….S-Steven. Even when we're not Garnet, I-I can still see all those thing we saw and I never know what's around the corner. What if he does fall down and never wakes up? Or what if the ocean swallows him alive or a car swerves into us?"
Sapphire sighed, letting Steven crawling into Ruby's arms. Ruby hugged him hard, nuzzling their faces together. "I don't want anything to ever happen to him and the world is just full of dangerous scary stuff. I-I-I'm scared I won't be able to protect him."
"The future holds all sorts of paths and opportunities, downfalls and prosperities." Sapphire said calmly. "Future vision is supposed to give sapphires, the ability to wade through these thousands of possibilities to make measured, calculated choices. We use this knowledge to guide us and our masters, to the best future-and in essence best outcome for their lives. Everything we see isn't always what's going to be though."
"I know that." Ruby huffed. "I remember what you remember."
"So you know, that in our training to ensure that we were prepared for the mental devastation of our careers, our final test was designed to be an absolute failure."
"No matter what you did, gems would die. They…made you watch it all unfold." Ruby shivered, her hand taking Sapphire's unconsciously.
"I get scared too." Sapphire said strongly, seemingly unfazed by such a horrid memory. "There are millions of possibilities and not all of them are nice. But we can't let the daunting future ruin our present. We're the ones who control our own destinies, no one else. If we're frightened, we can only lead frightened lives and futures. There are some things that can't be stopped, inevitable horrors that are long determine even before the day we're even made, but Steven doesn't have any of those today. So let's just enjoy today-be happy that we have today."
Sapphire's free hand cupped Ruby's cheek tenderly. "How do you do it?"
"Do what?" Sapphire asked, pressing a kiss against a tear that had avoided evaporation.
"Sound so confident about everything." Ruby purred, Sapphire's hand cold against her cheek. "I've always loved that about you. You know how to make me feel strong even when I feel weak."
"Well, it may be that I was the only sapphire to beat that no-win test." Sapphire sighed, flipping her hair with a teasing smirk. "And I trust not only in my abilities, but I also trust in you, Pearl, Amethyst, Rose and Steven. Even if something bad must happen, I know I'll never be alone."
Ruby grinned and began to giggle. Steven looked up at her, a line of drool falling down his tank top, and he laughed with her, looking between Sapphire and Ruby enthusiastically. Sapphire wrapped her arms around Ruby and Steven with a quick smooch to both their cheeks.
"Now, do you think we can go walking down the boardwalk now?" Sapphire whispered, peppering Ruby with more kisses.
"Yes, I think we can." Ruby sighed, kissing Sapphire's lips finally and scooting off the bench with Steven in her arms. Steven kicked his legs happily, pointing at a seagull and looking expectantly at Ruby. "Don't worry kid, I'll get him as soon as you're safe and sound."
Ruby had begun snapping the many buckles to contain a wiggly Steven when a flash of blue zoomed past them. Sapphire had slipped from the bench and with a flash of ice had sent the curious seagull hauling tail-feathers.
"I thought we weren't going to scare off the world?" Ruby snorted.
"How can I say no to that face?" Sapphire cooed, turning around to see the starry delight present in Steven's big eyes. He clapped happily, waving bye-bye to the seagull and puckering his lips for a kiss. Sapphire quickly complied, dragging Ruby in with her with a giggle.
Yes, everything was going to be quite alright, Ruby thought with a sigh. She brought Sapphire and Steven closer for a few more kisses, their laughter music to her ears.
A/N: No clue as to why they're unfused, but Steven doesn't mind so neither do I. Also Pearl forgot to do laundry this week (She may or may not have bought that in a show of reluctant support for Rose before she knew the baby in question was not a girl-not that Rose or Greg really cared.)
So...we're about to hit 300 favorites. And I wanted to do something special-other than mentioning the 300 people who made it possible. The Real Peridot suggested that we do like a 300 Special Week. So in celebration of reaching 300+ favorites, follows and review, I will be asking for one-shots, AUs, crossovers ideas to write for that week. We're breaking all the rules, doesn't have to be relatively canon or anything, and it doesn't necessarily have to be "baby Steven" either, but it does have to be SFW (Safe For Work). Out of all the suggestions I receive, I will choose the top ten. Then during some week of next month or most likely the one after that(cause this is going to take me a while), we'll be able to celebrate this momentous occasion. Still kind of working on all the details, so expect some minor changes in the future (this is the first time I've ever done something like this before, so please be patient with me) If you have a suggestion, send a PM or leave a review.
And as always, thanks you for the favorites, follows and reviews.