A/N – Hope you're enjoying the story so far

Chapter VI

Blame Game

An exhausted Greg flopped onto the sofa, prior to placing an excited Steven into Garnet's lap.

"I tell you, juggling parent-duties and work isn't easy" He wiped his brow, "The little shnoo-ball was all over the place, he even nearly rolled under a car! Honestly…this kid"

The one mentioned babbled a few "dada's", giving his Father a grin with the few teeth he had.

"But customers loved him" Continued Greg, looking over at Pearl who gave Steven a small toy to play with.

"We do apologise for not being able to babysit" Pearl turned her attention to Greg, "But we had a corrupted gem lose in the warp stream. Who knows what would've happened if we hadn't caught it in time"

"Yeah, I understand. Besides, it made a nice change to have some company at work" He straightened up when Amethyst exited her room, "Hey Amethyst!"

"Hey!" Amethyst practically dive-bombed to the sofa and sandwiched herself between Garnet and Greg, "Hey Steven!" She gave him a quick hug.

"As you mentioned before Greg, is Steven still not crawling?" Pearl crossed her arms.

"Ah Pearl, he's only 8-months, he'll get it eventually" He replied, giving his son's hair a ruffle. "Besides, Steven's chunkier than other kids which means it'll take a bit longer - you never know, he might just skip and go straight to walking"

"Hmm" The gem sounded unenthusiastic, "But remember that Steven is half-gem, he should be excelling and exceeding his milestones far before any fully human child"

"Yeah, well" Greg hesitated, "Maybe his gem-side will come out later on, you shouldn't expect so much of him at such a young age"

Pearl sighed, fingers tapping her forehead, "But he has Rose's gem, she excelled at everything. Why isn't he like her?"

Amethyst shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, edging closer to Garnet, who held Steven closer to her.

Greg stood up to face the gem.

"Rose wasn't perfect, Pearl" He lowered his voice, "Nobody is"

Pearl looked disbelievingly at him, clenching her fists to her sides.

"Well- what do you know! I knew Rose better than you, longer than you!" She snapped, a deep blush covered her face. "Steven should have her capabilities, her talent! He hasn't shown any of her qualities yet –"

"STEVEN ISN'T ROSE" Greg thundered, his patience completely dissipating. The outburst surprised everyone, including Steven who began to cry.

Pearl shrank at that, tears glazing her eyes. "I KNOW, I'm just looking out for him" She faultered, "O-obviously you're not taking this seriously!"

"There's nothing to take seriously – you're completely overreacting! This is so typical of you Pearl, now that Rose is gone you think you know –-"

"Enough" Garnet stood between them, and they both took a step back.

Greg sighed, and with finality in his voice said, "I'm leaving, with my son" He took the from Garnet's arms.

"Fine then. Leave, just like she did!" Her voice cracked, making Greg flinch slightly. She turned and ran to her room.

"Greg—" Garnet began.

"It's okay Garnet…I'll give you guys some more space. I should've known this would happen…" He turned to leave, "Perhaps I shouldn't have gotten involved at all"