Greg had done his best to teach the gems everything he knew about babies. It hadn't been easy.

Pearl flat out didn't like babies. Even before Steven was born, Greg would watch Rose carry around babies and Pearl's face would silently twist in disdain. She just didn't enjoy the company of people who couldn't control their bowels or their saliva productions.

Amethyst had been mostly the same. She didn't mind kids, but she just wasn't interested. Sure, she would play with them, but she never touched them or tried even to hold them. On top of that, she wasn't very good at sitting still and taking instruction for stuff outside of fighting or eating.

Garnet…it's not that she didn't like babies…probably. Garnet was always hard to get a read on. Greg's pretty sure she doesn't mind kids that much though, cause she's the first one to warm up to Steven after his birth. Sure, she can't hold him for a while – she shook whenever someone suggested it, but she's spoils him with kisses until then.

It takes them all a long time, but eventually the gems are all on board to start learning. Pearl doesn't grimace when she sees Steven anymore and actively demands more information on how to make sure he's happy and healthy. Amethyst slowly but surely starts interacting with him – something that's both wonderful and terrible because even though Steven is remarkably durable for a baby, Amethyst really doesn't get that throwing him isn't a very good idea. Garnet rarely puts Steven down.

The lessons start off with the basics – how to soothe the baby, how to feed the baby ("Amethyst if you tilt the bottle like that he's gonna spit u-UGHH!"), and most importantly how to hold the little guy. Steven may be tougher than the average baby, but Greg would like to avoid any major tumbles (or concussions).

He had thought the lesson went pretty well. None of them left while he was talking, all eyes were glued to him while he demonstrated stuff and Steven hadn't even cried. Then not even two minutes after his lesson though, Amethyst is back to dangling Steven by his leg.

He really wasn't that surprised that his lesson on carrying Steven were basically ignored – at least they were getting food in his tiny tummy and making him smile.

…

"Garnet?" Greg sighed, sitting up from his crouch. His hands are coated in lubricant and soap – the little brushes are messing up again (he really can't afford to take an out of state trip to buy new ones). "Is Steven…laying on your head?"

Garnet turned toward him, holding the eighty pound box of washer parts as easily if it was the thirteen pound Steven. "Yep."

"Remember that talk we had, about how we carry Steven?"

"Yeah," The box slams into the ground next to his feet, making him flinch. "Hands were busy. 'Sides, he likes it up here."

Steven did indeed look happy. Garnet had tucked his little legs in just right, that even as she looked straight down at him, Steven didn't even budge. Steven was cooing happily, slapping his tiny hands against as much as afro as he could.

Greg lets it go though. Garnet always makes sure Steven is safe.

It's Amethyst that really worries him the most though. Even when she's carrying him 'properly', it's worrying. When he's in her arms, she'll rock him, roll him, toss him, upside down, right side up, every which direction that isn't correct. And that's when he's not in her arms.

Amethyst flat out refuses to wear the baby carrier or the little blanket sling and she's not tall enough to push the stroller. She just tucks him into her shirt, making sure his head is popping out at the front and then starts running. She shapeshifts her hair into something like a baby carrier sometimes, that turns Steven into a little baby kite – which Greg thought would be funny, but is really downright terrifying . One time she just duck taped him to her back and just took off.

"Amethyst…is Steven in your shirt?" Greg asked, watching as Amethyst's middle fidgeted and kicked. He'd been lugging up wood for the base of the couch for the past hour and Amethyst had been popping in and out of the mostly completed house - it's her turn to watch Steven. She's finally sitting down and unsurprisingly covered in chip crumbs and what looks like baby powder.

"Yep," Amethyst grunted, sitting up from her seat on the newly built porch and dangling a chip above her gem. "Hey-hey lookit this!"

Greg watched as Amethyst began to hum the 'JAWS' theme, watching the Steven shaped bob move in time with the music. At the end, Steven burst from the shirt, eating the chip with one giant bite before slipping back into his purple ocean.

"Cool right?" Amethyst snickered, rubbing Steven's back as he chewed. "I'm gonna teach him how to do it in the bath too! It's gonna scare the heck out of Pearl. She's gonna squawk so hard!"

"Aughma." Steven mumbled, crawling back up to smile at Greg, his two front teeth shiny. His damp hair is sticking to his shiny forehead and his chubby cheeks are an impressive shade of pink. "Dada!"

"Hey buddy," Greg chuckled. "Amethyst, how long has he been in there? He's all sweaty."

"We walked to the store, we were on the beach and then Pearl yelled at us for being messy and kicked us out here." Amethyst shrugged. "Your kid is really sweaty though, dude. Father like son I guess."

"Probably because it's like ninety degrees and he's inside your shirt." Greg rolled his eyes, holding his hands out. Amethyst stuck her tongue out and shimmied Steven from the top. He kicked his legs freely, accidentally kicking Amethyst in the nose.

"'s easier this way though." Amethyst shrugged, wiping her nose with a snort. Greg fanned Steven with his shirt, wiping the sweat off his little forehead. "He sucks at walking and we can't crawl to the boardwalk."

"The baby backpack-."

"Sucks!" Amethyst booed. "Too many straps! And I can't run like normal in it."

"Stop running on all fours when you carry him! That's why he keeps throwing up on you."

"Nah fair, Garnet carries him on her hair!" Amethyst fell from the chair, flopping dramatically onto the deck and shapeshifting her feet into little 'Crying Breakfast Friends' shaped puppets.

"Yeah but Garnet doesn't sprint when she carries him and he doesn't throw up on her. And he doesn't fall off her head either." Greg pointed out, grabbing the chip bag. "Last week he fell out of the bottom of your shirt."

"Yeah, but that's like character building junk, he was totally fine." Amethyst shrugged. "Right, buddy?"

Steven is too busy grabbing at the puppets to babble a reply. He seems conflicted with Amethyst's foot puppets. They stink pretty badly – Greg's pretty sure Amethyst's policy on soap is nonexistent. But they are Steven's favorite characters so despite that he keeps trying despite his grimaces.

He tried hugging one, but began gagging. "Okay, I'm not cleaning up any more throw up today, it's naptime. Say 'bye-bye', Steven."

"Bye-byugggh!"

"Ah come on!"

…

Pearl's the only one he really doesn't have a stress about. Pearl has three books, three, about how to properly hold a baby. She's read them all so many times that if you asked her to recite a sentence from a specific page, she could do it. She's textbook perfect. He only has to tell Pearl once and she does it perfectly.

He had bought the baby backpack for all of them to use. But Pearl's the only one who really uses it. She prefers carrying him in her arms though, often with a towel slung over her shoulder – even though he hasn't spit up in a while she's always careful.

She carries him so preciously that anything outside of snuggling is impossible at first. He's only eleven months now and she just upgraded to letting him rest on her shoulders (only when she's sitting down though).

Once when they're at the beach and Greg forgets the carrier, she fashions a sling out of their beach towel and explores the beach after Steven gets tired of crawling.

Greg wondered often, while watching the gems, how Rose would've held him. Rose's arms were always so soft and warm, constantly open for hugs. Greg had seen her carry a few babies throughout their relationship.

Rose just knew how to hold babies, people, animals – her touch was soothing. You could laugh in her arms, cry in her arms, or just sit and enjoy her presence. She didn't mind in the slightest.

It was so strange…how an alien could soothe babies faster than their own mothers could. She cradled babies in the palm of one of her hands, letting them lean against her chest or against her gem, and whatever bothered them would dissipate. She always made sure she was warm, regulating a perfect temperature – just a bit hotter than the average human. That simulated warmth radiated through you, like sitting in the sun on a warm summer day or curling up in front of a fire. Her skin was softer than a human's too, a strange, alien texture that was beyond comfortable.

Steven would never get to know just how sweet her touch had been. How much love every inch of her touch could convey, the way her dark eyes sparkled when she looked down at you, or the way her laugh felt as she hugged you, or the brilliant gleam of her smile as she squeezed the loves of her life.

Greg knew Rose wouldn't have minded the peculiarity of their son's upbringing - nothing about her or their relationship had ever been textbook perfect. As long as Steven received the love she'd never be able to give him, she would've been overjoyed. So Greg did his best to stop minding too.

Garnet's hair became Steven's primary mode of travel on outings. Amethyst stopped carrying Steven around in her shirt – after watching a nature documentary about pumas and their cubs, she started carrying him around in her mouth by the back of his shirt or diaper (much to Pearl and Greg's initial disapproval). Pearl lets him dangle from her arm, crawl under and over her and begins to really play with him.

It takes a little bit of time, his natural parent anxiety is incredibly resistant, but he stops lecturing so hard. He eventually stops lecturing altogether outside of the really dangerous stuff (it feels like he's raising three toddlers and an infant sometimes).

Greg knows that he or the gems might not ever be able to replicate Rose, but he hopes that they can be enough.

A/N: I'm so sorry about the lack of updates. My summer's been full of learning how to drive and getting a job - I've missed writing soooo much. "In too Deep" was awesome and now all my Ruby/Sapphire interactions are totally canon (they're incredibly gay and it doesn't stop even for missions). For some odd reason I really want to write about Opal playing with Steven. Anyways, thanks for being so patient and I hope you like it. As always thank you for your favorites, follows, and wonderful review that I should really reply more to but I'm a terrible anxiety-ridden person.

A/N: CGA is going to be a little late :( Literally had to scrap all my outlines for the chapter, but I'm hopeful to have it done soon.