Wow, thanks for the favorites/followings/reviews! I wasn't expecting that much! I really hope you'll like this third chapter. It's the last one I'll translate for now, I have to write more in french before I can update this version. I'm answering your reviews at the end of this chapter!

In the meantime, enjoy :)

"Ready dad?"

"More than ever! Go ahead!"

Steven took a deep breath and flipped the chest's cover. His eyes were shut from the effort, and he hesitated a few seconds before opening them again.

A stone. A single black stone, the size of his fist, was at the bottom of the chest. There was nothing else.

"That's it?" Greg asked, disappointed.

Steven reached out to the stone and took it in his hand. It was cold and perfectly smooth.

"It certainly has a use of some sort." the boy stated "Maybe there's something to do with the screen."

He went around the screen to face it again. There still was no picture on it, but something did appear on its right, a small figure floating above the ground. As he was coming closer, Steven realized it was a hand, white and shiny like it was made of ivory, wide open akin to a beggar's. Without further thinking Steven walked up to the hand and cautiously placed the stone in its palm. The white fingers curled around the stone, clenching it tightly.

"Hey, something is happening" Greg remarked.

Both of them took a few steps backwards ; indeed, the screen was now displaying something else, like a multicolored, abstract painting twisting randomly.

"How did you know that you had to do this?" Greg asked.

"I don't know" Steven answered, scratching his head "I just, kinda, did it."

"Ah well, I'm not judging: you know better than me how you solve a magic enigma. Sometimes it's better to just follow your gut!"

The whirl of colors persisted for a few seconds, then slowed down and turned progressively into a single image. Steven watched the outlines becoming clearer, and suddenly his mouth shot open.

"Dad!" He exclaimed, pointing at the screen now displaying what looked like an old photograph "That's you!"

"What?"

Greg narrowed his eyes. It was indeed him on the picture, sitting on a beach, facing the ocean.

"This is... weird." he admitted with a confused look in his face.

"It's a start!" Steven replied happily "At least we got an important clue."

"Which is?"

"It's all about you! I was afraid that dream would be about me, or the Gems, or other stuff but apparently it wants to send you a message. It's the same that the one with Kiki: we have to find out what the problem in your life is, and solve it."

"Uh, well... I don't think I have any problem kiddo. I mean, yes, I had one, but I'm good now."

"Kiki thought she didn't have any problems too." Steven explained "And then we dig deeper and we eventually found something. Trust me, we'll sort this out!"

"I do trust you, but..."

"But what?"

Greg's eyes met Steven's and, seeing his son's questioning look, the man suddenly felt complete disarray.

That evening hadn't been exactly peaceful: after Steven and the Gems left, during the few hours he had spent alone waiting to finally fall asleep, he got the time to ponder these weird new thoughts coming to his mind. These thoughts, and also the prospect of living temporarily with his son, were filling him with a chaotic flurry of contradictory emotions ; he was impatient, confused and scared at the same time.

At the end of the evening, after he was finally done meditating, Greg came to a conclusion, a realization that made him tremble with fear. He tried hard to deny this fact, because stopping lying to himself would have meant turning his whole existence and way of thinking upside down, and change was not something he was especially fond of. But all the denial in the world couldn't do anything ; when tonight he closed his eyes to meet his son in his dreams, it had become an inconvenient truth:

Greg Universe, despite having a simple and peaceful life, wasn't exactly a happy man.

But how could he tell his fourteen year old son about this? Steven had already been through so many hardships... but after all, not telling him about his heart problems had been a mistake ; lying to him twice might not be a very wise thing to do. And maybe Steven was right: maybe this dream could be the occasion to explore this horrible truth, and get something useful out of it.

Greg nodded mentally. Yes, he would tell him everything – but not now. And progressively.

"You're right Steven." he finally declared. Maybe this dream can help me know myself a bit more. Let's try to figure out the deal with this picture!"

Steven approved with glee, and Greg's eyes focused on the screen.

"The photo looks old." he remarked "Do you see it? It's worn around the corners."

"Do you think Mom could have taken this one?" Steven asked.

"That's totally impossible, son."

"Why?"

"Because your mother always saw me with all my hair."

The boy looked closely. The top of his father's head was indeed as bald on the photo as it currently was. But something else caught his attention.

"Hey dad!" he exclaimed "you're much... thinner!"

Steven was right: the Greg on the photo seemed to have lost a lot of weight. He still had a sturdy look with muscular arms and broad shoulders, but his belly was much less prominent. His shirt was not stretched by his body anymore, and overall he looked stronger and healthier. Even his cheeks were a little less round.

"Wow, you're right!" Greg recognized with a smile "I'm looking good!"

"That'd be great if you were actually like this... Ooooh, wait a minute!"

Steven's face brightened suddenly.

"The Gems decided you'll be on a diet! Maybe you'll look like this afterwards! Dad, what if this screen was showing the future?"

"The future? I don't know, Steven. Why would the future look like an old photograph? And what's the point in seeing the future in a dream? If I want to know how many pounds I'm going to lose I can just ask Garnet. I thought we would be discover more important things, to be honest."

Greg was obviously disappointed. Steven came closer and took his father's hand.

"Oh, don't be upset dad. I'm sure we'll find something else! We just have to put our heads together."

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

Steven woke up with a start, screaming in terror. He darted his eyes everywhere to find out where the noise was coming from: an ancient, purple alarm clock was vibrating wildly on his bed, producing an ear-splitting ring. Despite still feeling sluggish the boy spotted the violet gemstone at the top of the device.

"Amethyst!" he screamed in irritation "Stop it!"

The alarm clock disappeared in a bright light and Amethyst took back her usual shape.

"Rise and shine buddy!" she exclaimed happily "We have to go get Greg!"

Steven rubbed his eyes and looked around: Garnet and Pearl were downstairs, waiting next to the door. Pearl's eyes were squinted in annoyance.

"Amethyst" she scolded "I asked you to wake him up, not to terrorize him!"

"Oh, it's fine, he'll survive!"

"We're ready to pick up your father from the hospital, Steven." Garnet announced "We are just waiting for you."

"Oh!" the boy replied "Okay, I'm coming, gimme a minute!"

He jumped from his bed, rushed downstairs, rummaged through his wardrobe to get some clothes and quickly went to the bathroom.

Greg was glad to leave the hospital: the atmosphere was unsettling, the beds uncomfortable and the food pretty bad. But when all of them returned to Beach City and Pearl parked the van on the beach in front of the house, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. The last time he actually lived with his son and the Gems was a long time ago, just after he lied about a broken leg, and back then his presence hadn't been tolerated very well. And even if now he was all clear and he was hoping things could be different, he was still wondering if a long stay could lead to another conflict.

He was also a bit worried about this diet thing. Greg never had that much money (at least until recently) but food was the one thing he never deprived himself of: he had a weakness for copious meals since he was a child – his mother was indeed an exceptional cook. And Rose always encouraged that behavior ; she loved to discover new flavors, or simply doing eating contests with him (she won almost every one of them). Greg had amazing memories of him and his lover lying on the beach on their backs with their bellies completely full, foreheads sweaty and mouths gaping, painful consequence of their unreasonable feasts.

Nobody ever forbade him eating whatever he wanted, and he already had noticed he could become kind of... cranky when he couldn't eat his fill. He wondered what kind of diet the Gems were planning for him, and what consequences it would have on his mood.

"Come what may." he thought, getting out of the van and starting to unload his belongings.

The big benefit of living in a van was how easy it was to move house: everything was already packed and there was no furniture or heavy stuff. Greg just took some clothes, toiletries, and more personal objects like a sketchbook, the framed picture of Rose and him and, of course, his guitar. He piled everything up in an empty box then carried it upstairs to the front door with difficulty.

Entering this house always filled him with mixed feelings: although he had built it himself it never truly was his home. Despite that fact, he managed to put himself at ease quite quickly and, after he finished unpacking, he took a seat on the couch next to his son, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace into which Garnet just had put a new log. The Gems soon joined them and the rest of the morning was nothing else but the group chatting by the fireside, without any game nor special activity. It was simple, yet Greg found it surprisingly pleasant.

The conversations were about various subjects more or less related to recent events: the hospital world, the appropriate behavior while driving, the Gems adventures... Greg noticed that everyone was avoiding to talk about his diet or his future stay: he chose not to ask any question for the time being. When it was almost lunch time he negotiated to order a pizza "as a last farewell to my former unhealthy eating habits" he said. His proposal was accepted, though reluctantly: after a heated debate Steven managed to convince the Gems than a single pizza wouldn't do much harm.

After lunch Garnet took the warp pad to go on a lone mission, Amethyst went out to hang around only-she-knew-where, and Pearl went to town with Steven to buy Greg's medicine and healthy food. Thus the man stayed alone for a while, but he didn't mind much: he was used to solitude and knew at least this one wouldn't last. To kill time he discovered a series of books that belonged to his son, relating the adventures of two young penniless boys living a peaceful nomadic life. He was in the middle of the third chapter when he heard knocking on the door. He got up and went to open, then looked down, a bit startled, on the little brown haired girl standing at the entrance before him.

"Connie, what a surprise!"

"Good afternoon Mister Universe. I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"You're not, you're totally not... but Steven isn't there. Actually there's nobody here but me."

"Oh I know that" the girl assured "I called Steven before coming. But he told me he'd be back soon so I thought it would be okay for me to come now and wait for him, you know, to surprise him."

"Uh, alright. Come right in!"

Connie entered the house and went to sit on the couch, looking around shyly. After a short moment her eyes stopped on the open book on the coffee table. She immediately took this opportunity to avoid an awkward silence.

"Are you reading the No Home Boys?" she asked.

"I was just looking for something to pass time until everyone comes back" Greg explained, heading towards the kitchen.

He took a pack of apple juice out of the fridge and filled a glass.

"But I gotta admit this story is really interesting" he continued, getting back to the living room "I think I'll finish this one, and take a look at the other volumes."

He offered Connie the glass of juice. She accepted it with a polite nod.

"In my opinion only the first book is worth reading" she stated "When you read the others you realize the author only cares about making money and just doesn't try to write well. If you like adventure I'd rather recommend you Unfamiliar Familiar. Many adults think these books are for children just because there are talking animals and the covers are pretty and colorful, but that's not the case at all. The story actually deals with mature themes and I think fantasy is a genre that everyone can appreciate! What I like in particular is that..."

She suddenly stopped talking, and blushed slightly.

"I... I'm sorry." she mumbled "You're probably not interested in what I'm saying. When I talk about something I really like I can get a bit... chatty."

"Hey it's fine, there's nothing wrong with being passionate" Greg assured "and I'm interested. I'll ask Steven if I can borrow the books you're talking about, and I'll give you my own opinion."

Silence then filled the room. Greg observed the little girl sipping her apple juice: her eyes darting everywhere and her neck retracted into her shoulders were making her look like a scared squirrel. It seemed like she was trying to say something: she was opening her mouth every now and then, about to talk, then changing her mind at the last moment. After a few minutes the man thought maybe he had to get her started.

"What's the matter, Connie?"

Connie sighed at the question. She put the empty glass on the table and stared at him with a saddened look.

"My mother told me about your health problem. It makes me sad, you know. Steven cares about you very much and I wouldn't like anything bad to happen to you."

Greg looked at her in stupefaction. He knew his son's best friend was a kind child but he would never have thought her compassion could expand to him. He felt a warm sensation in his heart, knowing that this time it's wasn't due to a disease.

"Don't worry about me." he told her softly "I'm much stronger than I look! Besides your mom did her job well, I feel way better now."

Greg never knew exactly what pushed him to speak again:

"And between us... what happened to me actually has its bright side."

He instantly regretted these words. He bit his lower lip, afraid of Connie's reaction, but to his great surprise she didn't seem shocked at all: she rather nodded slowly, with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Steven told me about the time you had to live with him and the Gems, after the incident with Lapis Lazuli." she mentioned "He told me you were really happy to spend time with him."

A new, short silence fell into the room.

"You're happy now too, right? To be with him again? To not... to not be alone anymore?"

Greg's face lit up a bit and he let out a sigh – not a sigh of regret, but curiously a sigh of relief. He was sincerely touched by Connie's concern, and realized he had no reason to feel ashamed, especially not in front of a child who, despite being young, knew what loneliness was like.

"Yeah, you're right" he admitted with a genuine smile "I'm really happy to spend more time with Steven."

He suddenly felt in a good mood, like when he was ending a serious talk with his son and was concluding by a joke or a hug. He felt like this conversation too could use a lighter ending.

"You know, just because I told you that you could talk to me anytime doesn't mean you have to return the favor!" he pointed out "As far as I know I'm the adult here!"

"Yes, I'm sorry." she answered, chuckling "I hope I didn't disturb you too much."

"You're forgiven. However, if you could avoid telling Steven about all of this. He's been through a lot lately and I'd like to spare him for a little while."

"Of course Mister Universe, I won't say anything!"

Greg smiled again, then presented his open hand to her.

"Human beings?"

Connie didn't hesitate to give him a high five with her tiny hand.

"Human beings!"

Suddenly her eyes widened.

"Oh, I just remembered!" she exclaimed "I brought you a Get Well gift! I wanted to give it to you at the hospital but you were already gone."

"Really? You didn't have to, you know..."

Connie grabbed her backpack, opened it and searched for a few seconds, then she pulled out what looked like a pink book with a hard cover and a small, golden padlock attached to it. She held the book out to Greg: the man took it cautiously and flipped through the empty pages with a confused look.

"It's a diary." she explained "You can lock it so nobody else can read it - you see, the key is in the padlock. I figured you'd like something to write down your thoughts. Unless... maybe you're already doing it.

"Nope, I never wrote anything – beside songs, of course!"

Greg examined the diary. He wasn't exactly convinced of its usefulness but decided not to show it: he patted the young girl on the shoulder.

"Thanks Connie, it's really nice of you. I'm sure it'll be helpful."

"You're very welcome Mister Universe... But, now that I think about it... I bought one with a pink cover. Does it bother you?"

This time Greg laughed heartily.

"If it bothers me? From whom do you think Steven got his fascination for this color?"

"Um... from his mother?"

This response startled the man for a moment, but he quickly regained his joyful expression.

"Touché." he admitted in a happy tone "But I love pink too!"

"I don't think taking Brussels sprouts is a good idea, Pearl."

"Why not? It's healthy."

"Yeah, but dad hates them."

Pearl stared at the packet, a bit hesitant, but eventually put it back on the shelf.

They were almost done shopping: the cart was full of fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen fish, lean meat and low fat yogurt. Only a small empty space was remaining in the front: Steven was standing inside of it, shivering from the cold coming from the freezer department.

"I guess it's a good thing that you came with me." the Gem admitted "You can tell me what Greg likes or not."

"Of course I'd come with you! What we're doing now is very important. Plus it was more convenient to come here with Lion: we travel faster and we can put the groceries in his mane."

Steven scanned the cart's content once again.

"The problem is, dad doesn't like vegetables in general..." he said "But I suppose we can avoid the things he really, really dislikes."

"He'll have to make an effort anyway. His condition is serious, Steven... I don't understand why he didn't warn us that he wasn't feeling well."

"Maybe he didn't want to bother us. And maybe we should have watched over him a little bit more too."

Pearl looked uneasy for a brief moment, but then her expression turned neutral again and she cautiously looked around her.

"Well, it seems like we have everything we need" she declared "let's get out of here, you'll catch a cold if we stay in this department."

"What? No, no, I'm okay."

"Steven, you are trembling for several minutes. And your toes are blue!"

Steven looked down: he was only wearing sandals and his feet were indeed a weird color. Pearl pushed the cart until the end of the department and they ended up in a large, empty aisle leading to the checkouts.

Suddenly, Steven started to shake again – out of excitement this time – and turned around, his expression both pleading and playful. Pearl was confused at first, but then quickly understood what he wanted.

"Out of the question!" she said sharply.

"C'mon Pearl! Pleaaaase!"

"I said no! That's completely ridiculous... and dangerous. We could run into someone!"

"Naaaah, it's safe! There's no one!"

"Don't insist, Steven."

The boy pouted, then mumbled loud enough for the Gem to hear him:

"Amethyst would have done it."

Pearl knew he was saying that on purpose, but it affected her anyway. She stamped her foot in annoyance, frowned, and finally conceded defeat:

"Alright, I'll do it... but just this once!"

"Yaaaaaaay !" Steven exulted with a triumphant smile.

"Hold tight."

Steven nodded and gripped the front edge tightly. Pearl started pushing the cart, slowly first, then faster and faster, until she was finally running at full speed.

The cart zoomed along the aisle, its wheels trembling, its content rattling and producing a high pitched noise that, despite being quite loud, was almost entirely covered by Steven's "YAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!". They were going so fast that the boy was feeling wind on his face and everything around him went blurry. They rushed past several others customers and a security guard who were staring at them with dropped jaws. The race was as intense as it was short; when arrived at the checkouts Pearl pulled the bar vigorously and the cart stopped in an elegant 90 degrees controlled skid.

Ecstatic, Steven took a few seconds to pull himself together before exclaiming:

"Haha, that was amazing! We'll have to do it again sometimes!"

"Then you'll do it with Amethyst. Come on, get out of here, it's time to pay for all of these."

Though, while Steven was climbing out of the cart, Pearl couldn't help but smile slightly.

The groceries paid, they both left the supermarket and went to the parking lot where Lion was waiting for them, lying on a spot. Seeing them approach, the feline yawned, stood up and lowered his head so Steven could enter his mane with the heavy bags. Once he came back out and caught his breath, the boy just stood still, frowning a bit. Pearl noticed his hesitation.

"What's wrong, Steven?"

Steven looked up to meet her eyes, scratched his head, and finally asked:

"Pearl, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"My dad living with us... do you think it bothers Garnet and Amethyst?"

The Gem's eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, uh, I doubt it." she answered carefully "But you should probably ask them. They would be more able to answer this question than I am."

Steven nodded, then shyly continued:

"And... what about you? Does it bother you?"

Unease was once again visible on Pearl's face, but she just shrugged.

"I don't think my personal feelings matter that much. Greg needs our help, and we'll do our best to make him feel better."

"You know that's not what I meant."

Pearl sighed deeply.

"Yes, I know... To be honest, Steven, I don't know how to feel about this. It's likely Greg will stay with us for a long time and... believe me when I say I don't hold any grudge against him anymore, we're getting along a bit better today – mostly thanks to you. But tolerating someone visiting you from time to time is one thing, sharing your everyday life with them is another matter. If he actually lives with us, things will change for the most part. And I don't know if you noticed it already, but change tends to... not suit me very well."

She pronounced this last sentence with a shaky, small voice. Steven put a comforting hand on her forearm.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it will be just fine. We had a great time this morning when we had that chat by the fireplace... I think my dad really enjoyed it. There will be more good moments like this one, I promise."

The Gem nodded with a feeble smile and stroke the boy's hair. Then, without adding any word, they both mounted Lion and, when Steven lightly patted his shoulder, the pink feline ran up the parking lot's aisle, let out a roar and disappeared in a magic portal with his two riders.

I don't exactly know when the fourth chapter will be wrote/translated, but I'll do my best to finish it quickly.

Now for the reviews:

TheBlade17: Thanks a lot! I see you also reviewed the french version... I hope this one is easier to read for you!

Master of the Boot: Thank you soooo much! It really means a lot, since writing huge texts in english like this one is something I've never done before. Glad to know I'm doing it decently :D And thanks for the fav/follow!

Guest Gem: Thanks! Though the reason why I used the "family/friendship" tags is just because it's the main genre of my story: that means if there's anything else not related to this theme (like action, drama, romance, suspense or anything else) it will be "minor" to the story, as subplot for example (don't read between the lines though, that doesn't mean there will be any of these things either, I'm not spoiling my own story :D).

Lola: Because I have to :(

KimDWil71: Thank you! And thanks for the fav/follow!