Amethyst didn't really like chores. Babies and houses came with tons of them – clean up the mud you tracked in, pick up your food scraps, and throw away nuclear strength diapers from the Ste-man.
Chores sucked – they're not fun at all. To be more than honest, she'd rather be doing anything else.
But there is one chore she doesn't really mind…morning duty. Morning duty is actually like ten chores rolled in to one, but it's way better than all the rest of her dumb chores put together.
Morning duty is basically just waiting for Steven to wake up and then getting him ready for the day.
Steven hates waking up alone – he screeches like a banshee when he realizes no one is there. Then sometimes she has to wake him up cause if you'd let him, he'd happily sleep till noon. Then it's changing stinky diapers, dressing him, heating up his weird chalky milk; blah blah blah - after all that boring junk they get to play.
When it's Amethyst turn for morning duty, typically Garnet and Pearl are in the temple – enjoying the brief break from baby duty. Which means Steven and Amethyst get to hang out – unsupervised.
Literally, the best time to do anything. Cause with Pearl busy in the temple with 'Pearl-y' things and Garnet wherever doing important 'leader-y' things, Amethyst can't do wrong. There's no fussing, no scolding, and no reprimanding. Steven doesn't mind her mistakes – he sees no faults in the style of her daily routine.
Amethyst had tons of plans for this morning. Now that Steven could crawl, they could totally start racing and playing and all sorts of new stuff that Pearl had explicitly banned from the house.
When Pearl had reluctantly announced that it was Amethyst's turn for morning duty, she had done her best to not seem too exciting. Pearl had a finetuned sensor for fun that she could potentially ruin.
Usually Amethyst didn't set anything up in the morning – (despite Pearl's constant nagging) but the faster they get through all the chores, the faster they can get to playing.
She had just started making Steven's bottle and digging around the fridge for some baby food when she heard Steven giggle.
"You up already, buddy?" Amethyst called, head still stuck in the fridge. "I'm getting your food ready so hold on!"
He didn't cry – which was good. He babbled and giggled, sounding delighted about whatever he was doing. Amethyst thought he was probably nomming on his toes – kid was flexible as heck.
"Okay, dude got your food, now let's change that diaaaappeeeeeeeer? STEVEN!"
…
Pearl paced along the fountain's edge closest to the door. She knew it was around the time Steven usually woke up. She had been calculating all night and she knew that Amethyst would need approximately forty-five minutes to complete the morning routine.
If Pearl came out too early, Amethyst would complain that Pearl didn't trust her and if she came out too late…who knows what Amethyst would do?!
Pearl trusted Amethyst – really she did. Sure, Amethyst was a little rough, but she knew how to take care of Steven. Sure, sometimes she gave Steven candy instead of fruit and she often left diapers in the oddest of places (like in the refrigerator). But those two together, unsupervised at that, was just asking for trouble.
But Pearl agreed with Garnet. It was important to make sure Amethyst knew that she was trusted. Pearl continued her pacing, resisting the urge to open the temple doors and assess the morning.
"PEARL! PEARLPEARLPEARL! GAAARRRNNNNEEETTTT!" Amethyst's voice slammed into Pearl, making her freeze before rushing the door.
"What is it! What'sssssssss wrong?" Pearl stood still, sliding into Amethyst. Her eyes follow Amethyst's purple finger and her jaw practically unhinges. "H-h…he-he, ho-how?"
"I dunno! I-I was just getting the ki-kid food and he wo-woke up and then THAT!" Amethyst shouted. "Babies don't do that right? They don't just wake up and start flying right?"
Technically, Steven wasn't flying. He was stationary on the ceiling, perfectly upside down. With every giggle, he would bounce an inch or two into the air.
"N-n-no." Pearl stuttered, stepping closer to Steven. He seemed perfectly happy as he bounced. He caught Pearl's eye and gave her a gummy smile. "It must be Rose's gem."
"Whoa!?" Amethyst gasped. "But…wait I thought Garnet said he might not ever develop any gem stuff."
"H-he can't stay up there!" Pearl shouted, completely ignoring Amethyst.
"But he looks pretty happy." Amethyst shrugged. Steven gave an affirmative giggle, clapping his hands.
"We can't bathe him or feed him or change his diaper upside down!" Pearl screeched, her knees beginning to knock as Steven began to wiggle his little limbs. He began to try to crawl along the ceiling. "OH! Goodness we have to get him DOWN!"
…
Garnet surveyed Steven, rubbing her chin thoughtfully while Pearl balanced on top of the crib trying to reach him.
"How long has he been up there?" She asked.
"Since he woke up, I guess." Amethyst mumbled, holding the crib stable.
Pearl made a lunge, finally catching Steven by the tips of his footie-pajamas. For a second nothing happened, then Pearl's weight seemed to take effect and they both dropped gently to the ground. Steven gurgled happily, reaching for Pearl's nose.
"Why did this happen?" Pearl stuttered, holding Steven tightly to her chest. "He's never been able to use any of Rose's powers to this extent?"
"None of us know how Steven is going to develop. Even me." Garnet's laid a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "There's not telling really what Steven will inherit from Rose. What I do know though, is that if we act frightened in the face of that development, then Steven will be scared too."
Pearl looked down at Garnet's urging and found Steven looking up at her. His lovely smile was gone and replaced by a tiny frown. He let go of her nose and patted her cheek. "Oh, Steven I'm fine. H about we get you some milk?"
Steven remained frowning, looking between them with furrowed brows before a quick snuggle from Pearl reassured him everything was fine. He was back to his smiling self within minutes, happily chugging down his formula and smashing baby food into Amethyst's face. Pearl and Garnet hung back, letting Amethyst resume her morning duty.
"What if this happens again?" Pearl whispered, keeping her face as blank as possible. Steven kept looking back at them, doing his best to lure them over with some of his breakfast. "He's not always going to be inside, what if he's outside next time this happens? Or he falls down when we're not around? He doesn't have her shield or her bubble, he could hurt himself."
"We'll need to be more careful." Garnet waved at Steven as he turned around again. "This could be just a momentary phase. It could happen again in a few moments or not until he's much, much older or maybe never at all. We can think up some preventative measures later, but Steven's going to cry if we don't join him."
Steven gave an affirming whimper, both of his fists usually full of food were now empty and he was beckoning them over with all his infant strength. He kicked the plastic tray above his legs, sending all the food clattering to the floor.
"Steven!" Pearl scolded, standing up and rushing over to pick it up.
"Nice one dude." Amethyst grinned, shoving all the floor food into her mouth at top speed, dodging Pearl's swipes expertly.
Garnet smoothed back Steven's curls with a quiet hum. He gave her a stunning grin. She couldn't say for sure if this new development would stick around for long. Steven rarely ever kept the powers that cropped up now and again. There'd really be no telling when his powers would come back – if they ever did.
"Don't worry, Steven." Garnet whispered, flicking mashed carrots away from her visor. "As long as we have each other, we'll be alright."
A/N: I've had this in my SU word doc since the Steven Floats episode, but I never knew how to end it. Hopefully this ending is alright.
Thanks for reviewing and reading!