Pearl was scared of thunder. Well, thunder and lightning. She had barely gotten any sleep that week, due to the storm that had rolled into Beach City and decided to stay.
She had drifted off into a no so peaceful sleep, absolutely exhausted.
Lightning struck, shaking the beach house. Pearl jolted awake, the crack of thunder scaring her. Lightning streaked again across the early morning sky. She pulled the blankets higher over her, silently counting the seconds between the lightning and the deafening thunder.
"Five miles," she breathed. Next to her, Amethyst rolled over, her snoring ceasing.
"Wha's tha', P?" she asked, half asleep.
"Nothing, Amethyst. Go back to sleep," Pearl said, kissing her girlfriend lightly.
"M'kay, love ya," Amethyst responded, falling asleep seconds later. Pearl watched her sleep, silently counting between thunder and lightning as it got further and further away. Eventually, the only sounds were rain hitting the tin roof and Amethyst's snores.
Soon light crept through the curtained windows. Pearl was absolutely exhausted. The alarm clock rang, and Amethyst rolled over to hit it.
"Mornin' Pierogi," she breathed, kissing Pearl's bare shoulder. Pearl muttered a reply, barely able to keep her eyes open. "Are you okay, P?"
"M'fine. Just tired. Thunder…" she dropped off, falling asleep. Amethyst felt bad that she was able to sleep through the storm when Pearl hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep in almost a week. She kissed Pearl's shoulder again before slipping out of bed and leaving the room. She walked to Steven's room and cracked the door enough to poke her head in.
"Hey, buddy," Amethyst called, looking at the Steven sized lump in his bed.
"Uhn," the lump replied. Amethyst strode into the room and pulled the blankets off of the grumpy four year old. He grumbled "Amethyst! 'M sleepy."
"Alright, if you're so sleepy, I guess I'll have to make together breakfast for Pearl by myself," she turned to exit the room and was quickly followed by the excited patter of tiny footsteps.
"Together breakfast!" Steven cheered as he followed her down the hall, taking her hand to walk down the stairs.
"Yeah, little man! Pearl's super tired, though, so we gotta be extra quiet and we've gotta be real careful not to make a mess," Amethyst said in a stage whisper. Steven gave her a serious look and nodded, placing a finger over his mouth. They crept almost silently into the kitchen.
"What does Pearl want for breakfast?" Steven asked after Amethyst had situated him on top of a pot on one of the bar chairs. Amethyst leaned on the countertop, fingers laced together in faux deep thought.
"Hmmm, I dunno, Steven," she said. "What do you think she wants?"
"When I don't feel good, Garnet makes me choc'late choc'late chip pancakes," Steven said, mimicking Amethyst's pose.
"That's a good idea. Maybe fruit, though. Pearl doesn't like chocolate very much."
"Blueberries?"
"Now you're talkin', Steven."
"I been talking."
"It's a figure of speech, Ste-man. Like, that was a really good idea. Understand?"
Steven nodded. Amethyst smiled at him and pulled his tiny apron off of its hook. She handed it to him and helped him tie it on.
"Alright, let's get cookin', good lookin'."
hr
Tiny footsteps, hushed whispers, and a sudden shift of the mattress woke Pearl up.
"Surprise!" Steven said, grinning ear to ear as Amethyst sat a bed tray of pancakes down on their bed.
Pearl smiled and sat up, reaching a hand out to fluff Steven's hair.
"Did you do this for me?" she asked, leaning in to kiss his forehead. "Steven, your hair is covered in flour."
"I'll wash his hair later," Amethyst promised, "but first-"
"Together breakfast!" Amethyst and Steven said together. Pearl smiled again.
"Well, then, we should get started, shouldn't we?" she asked, taking a plate for Steven and cutting his pancakes up before handing it to him.
"Thank you," he said and sat with his legs crossed before tearing into his pancakes.
"You didn't happen to make any-" Pearl began to ask, but was cut off by Amethyst handing her a cup of tea.
"Yes, I did. Yes, it's Earl Grey. It's was steeped for the appropriate amount of time, and contains no sugar. Ya freak," Amethyst teased, beginning to eat her own pancakes.
Pearl sipped her tea and smiled.
"Is the rain gonna stop today?" Steven asked, gladly accepting the milk Amethyst passed to him.
"I don't think today, but I think it's pretty to watch," Amethyst said, pointing to the window. "I like to imagine that the little raindrops are racing."
Pearl leaned against the headboard and watched two of the most important people in her life race rain drops. And the thunder and lightning that kept her up all night didn't seem to matter so much.
"I love you," Amethyst said after she "lost" the race, reaching back and squeezing her hand.
"Me too!" Steven said, flashing a toothy grin.
"And I love both of you."