Author's Note: I go back to school next week, so since I've got more days per week to attend classes, I might not get to work on my fanfics as often as I want. Anyway, I still haven't figured out which chapter I'll end this on but it may be either very near the late teens or the early twenties.

Oh, did I mention I'll be 20 next month?

Enjoy!

~Voltalia

After Zoisite had left with Diamond, Greg Universe went over to his aunt and uncle's the next few miles over in Eureka. He wasn't alone, though. Rose Quartz and Zirconia decided to tag along as well. For the pink Gem, it was because she wanted to see what his family was like and for the synthetic Gem, she just wanted to be by her buddy's side. When the three made their way over to the place, Aunt Carole was the first to make her presence known.

The first thing that drew the two Gems' attention was her short ash-brown hair. It was cut neatly at the base of her neck and managed to make a nice frame for her diamond-shaped face. The rest of her consisted of a pretty gaunt figure (not as gaunt as Pearl's, though), dark chocolate brown eyes, pencil-thin lips, a thin miniscule nose, and an almost-tan complexion. This did not make her look like the aunt of a would-be rocker, but it did give off the appearance that she was indeed a mother of three children, albeit a bit younger than initially supposed.

"My goodness!" was the first thing to come out of Rose's mouth. "You must be so patient having to put up with someone like Greg."

Carole shrugged awkwardly and said, "Well, when you've got children as rambunctious as mine are, you'll know when people like my nephew start feeling like a walk in the park to get along with."

"Well, if you have to know, you can't just walk through a park like back at home. How do you even get by such places without having animals pop out and try to kill you?" Zirconia asked while scratching the back of her head, confused by the "walk in the park" comment.

"No, I didn't mean a literal walk in the park." Carole explained. "It was just a metaphor."

"Metaphor, huh?" Zirconia tilted her head at this. "I can't say I've ever heard of one before." Then she coyly said aside to her friend, "These humans must have the strangest conversations ever if they're using these 'metaphors.'"

"Hey, Mom!" a thirteen-year-old girl's voice called out. "Who are you talking to?"

"Just some friends of your cousin, Gwen!" Carole called back. "Get out here so you can meet them!"

"Yeah, okay! I'll be right there!" Gwen yelled once more.

A few seconds later, she left the living room and joined her mother and the guests.

Thirteen-year-old Gwen had just had her birthday last month, and yet it didn't look like puberty had set in yet. However, she looked remarkably healthy and fair-sized and she also dressed modestly. She had her mother's ash-brown hair and diamond face, her father's gray/blue eyes, his arched nose, his pale complexion, and a wine-colored heart-shaped birthmark along the right corner of her lower jaw.

"So these must be his friends? Let me guess, he snagged them from his concert?" Gwen snarked.

"Gwen, please." Carole hushed her. "Your cousin is not like that. They're... uh, what are you two exactly?"

"We're Crystal Gems, ma'am." Rose spoke up. "We only live a few miles away from here."

"Right." Carole muttered almost a bit out of disbelief. She then spoke up, "Why don't you two come inside and join us for dinner?"

"A-Are you sure?" Zirconia asked uncertainly. "You don't think your husband and the other kids'll freak out when they see us, do you?"

"Of course not." Carole said with a nervous laugh. "They're your biggest fans. Well, Johnnie and Parker are; I'm sure Jared could care less, really."

"So could I." Gwen deadpanned. "But... I guess it wouldn't kill me to have you over."

"What did she mean by...?" Zirconia was about to ask again before Carole cut her off. "Metaphor, right."