Chapter III
Well here we are again. Welcome to the third chapter of As the Stew Simmers. I hope you all have enjoyed the story thus far.
Pearl struggled to finish the first bite of her stew as Steven watched her in confusion. He raised a brow and stated "What's wrong Pearl?" The gem looked as if she was about to sob but after she finishes chewing her first spoonful, and tears stream down her face once she actually swallows. Upon hearing Steven's question she releases a high pitched laugh which almost sounded like a scream. She then grins at him and states "Wrong?! Nothing's wrong! Why would anything be wrong! It's just a bit of food after all!"
Steven glances down at his bowl and takes another bite out of it. He then glances over to Pearl and watches as she struggles to devour another spoonful. He places his spoon back in the bowl and states "I'm not sure that I'm hungry right now Pearl." The gem blinks at Steven and places her spoon back into the bowl before she takes a moment to regain her composure and states "Why don't you eat a bit more Steven? You've barely touched your stew. I'm sorry if I scared you there, I'm just not feeling at my best right now. The...Steam! Yes Steam! Which comes off of the pot when I cook generally throws off my apatite."
Steven glances at her with that same confused look for a moment before he simply shrugs off Pearl's odd behavior. He spends the next few minutes quietly eating the rest of his meal before he looks at Pearl who was watching him from across the table. He then shows her the empty bowl "Now can we get back to the story?" Pearl smiles and states "Yes...But let me do the dishes first, you can get ready for bed while I take care of that. Oh it will be just like when you were younger!"
Pearl couldn't help but grin as she thinks back to telling Steven stories in his crib. Steven nods and runs out of the dining room leaving his plate behind. Pearl shakes her head and chuckles at the boy's antics, she retrieves his dishes and silver wear. She then patiently waits for the sound of the shower starting up before she calmly walks back into the kitchen.
She glances at her unfinished bowl of soup and shivers "Be more careful next time Pearl. He won't always be that understanding. Why he might even start asking questions!" She throws the contents of her unfinished bowl of stew into the trash bin. She then starts cleaning the dishes with a sponge. She quietly hummed to herself before she let out a sigh and thought to herself 'Tomorrow I'll get that dishwasher installed.' Once the dishes were clean she covers what remained of the stew in the pot with saran wrap and tucks it away into the fridge for Steven to consume later on. Pearl then surveys the kitchen for any remaining garbage and takes a broom through the place for good measure.
Eventually Steven emerges from the bathroom in a set of yellow pajamas. He wanders over to the kitchen and Pearl looks down on him before she asks "Did you brush your teeth?" Steven nods although he kept his mouth closed, and glanced away from Pearl. The gem smirks and thinks to herself 'You can't hide from me that easily.' She raises a brow and states "Come on now Steven you know the rules, you can't go to bed unless your teeth are brushed." Steven frowns and opens his mouth showing off the little bits of stew which remained "But Pearl! I was good tonight! I even shined my gem see!" He raises his pajama shirt showing the pink jewel embedded into his stomach which he had shined to the point where if you looked into it one could clearly see the kitchen, and themselves reflected back at them. Pearl lets out a light sigh and states "Steven as I said before. You know the rules of this house. I want you to follow them. Now brush your teeth mister!"Steven huffs and heads back into the bathroom.
Several minutes pass until Steven emerges once more and Pearl states "Let me see them again." Steven opens his mouth wide showing his white teeth and Pearl gives a content nod. Steven grins and states "Can we please get back to the story Pearl!?" The gem nods and leans the broom against a nearby wall before Steven takes her hands and pulls her towards his loft. Pearl jogs to keep pace with the young boy before she states "Whoa now Steven slow down! There's no need to run!" Steven releases her hand and heads up the stairs before he trips knocking his head on the hard wood of the steps. He whimpers as he holds his head and Pearl rushes to his side "Steven are you alright? Did you hurt yourself? Come on now don't hide what happened from me. Let me see it!" Steven sniffs and moves his hand out of the way which shows a light bruise forming.
Pearl gasps and states "Let me go get something for you...Hang tight Steven!" She then rushes off of the steps and heads into the bathroom. Panicking she grabs bandages, rubbing alcohol, and ice. She then rushes back to her baby.
Steven glances at her and sniffs again before he puts on his best smile and states "It's alright Pearl. It doesn't hurt that much! Why I doubt you can even see it!" The boy smiles at her and shows her his face. The bruise on his forehead had already started to turn to a deep grey shade. Pearl covers her mouth with her hand and states with fear in her voice "It looks terrible. At least let me..." she closes her eyes for a moment and quietly contemplates what she will do. She then fills a bag with some ice and holds it against the bruise. Steven grumbles and states "Pearl it's to cold!" Pearl rolls her eyes "Steven this is for your own good, just give it a second!"
Several thoughts crossed Pearl's mind and she thinks to herself 'Why must Garnet always be away at the worst of times. She would know what to do about this, her future vision could have prevented this. She could have distracted Steven long enough for me to get rid of that meal and I wouldn't have had to eat that vile stew.' The thoughts brought on by her failure continued to worsen until Pearl couldn't help but think 'What was Rose thinking leaving him with me? I'm just a Pearl."
Steven glanced up at Pearl and took note that the gem who obviously had something on her mind. He tugs on the bag of ice and states "Pearl you promised me that you'd finish that story." Pearl took a moment to return to reality until she finally stated "Hm? Oh...That's right isn't it!" She pulls the ice away from him and gets up before Steven takes her hand and heads back up the stairs. He hops onto his bed, and crawls under the covers before he yells "Story for Steven!" Pearl laughs and states "Oh hush...Now where were we?" She takes a moment to recall just where they were as she enjoys the distraction from her self doubt.
And so ends the third chapter of our story. I might have turned Pearl's motherliness up to 11 with this one. See yall next time.