Hey, I'm back! Don't worry, I haven't given up on this story or its translation, just been enjoying the holidays... and also lost a bit of confidence in my writing skills which caused me to procrastinate. Sorry for the wait, I hope you like this chapter!

"Dad! Dad! There's new stuff!"

Greg raised his head, then got up from the velvet armchair.

"Really?"

"Yeah, in the chest!" Steven replied with glee "There are more rock... ball... thingies!"

The boy came out from behind the screen that was still displaying the same picture they seen during their second dream - the one with Greg on the beach - his arms loaded with stones similar to the one the marble hand was still holding.

"Wow, that's a bunch of 'em!" the man observed.

He could see them clearly under the screen's blue light as Steven was coming closer. Most of the stones were black like the first one, but some of them had different colors: Greg's eyes stopped on several bright pink stones glowing on their own, that irremediably reminded him of the quartz set in his son's belly.

"There's probably a picture in each of them" Steven said "Which one do you wanna see first?"

"You really want me to decide?" Greg said in a hesitating tone.

"Sure! It's your dream!"

"Uh, yes, but you are the one used to..."

His son's laughter interrupted him.

"Dad, I'm asking you to make a simple choice, not to fight an acid-spitting dragon!" Steven remarked, his eyes narrowed in amusement. "And I'm as clueless as you are here so go ahead, pick one!"

Steven noticed his father was staring intently at the pink stones, and he himself was curious to see what their color could mean, even though he had his own theory about it. That's why when he saw the man finally reach out to take a black stone he couldn't help but open his mouth slightly in surprise... and disappointment.

"See, it didn't bite you!" he assured, trying to hide his negative feelings behind a cheerful tone.

"You can never be too careful." Greg answered with a smile "And since you forced me to chose, just know that if that stone actually bit me, I would've grounded you from TV for a thousand years again!"

"Ah, y'know, now that I discovered the wonderful world of books that threat as much less power on me. You'll have to try a little harder than that to scare me, old timer!"

The boy stuck his tongue out mischievously.

"Is that a challenge?" Greg asked, faking a threatening voice.

"We're in a dream! You can't do anything to me!"

"We shall see that! C'mere!"

After putting the stone he picked safely on the closest chair, the man rushed towards his son and tickled his sides. Steven did his best to resist, his cheeks puffed from the contained hilarity and tears gleaming at the corner of his eyes, until he couldn't take it anymore and exploded in a howl of laughter, letting go of the other stones that fell around him, rolling and bouncing everywhere. He collapsed on the floor, vainly trying to protect himself with his arms and legs against his father's merciless tickle attacks.

"HAHAHA, alright, alright!" he articulated, his voice interspersed with laughs and hiccups "You won, dad! Now stop, HAHAHAHA, I'm gonna die!"

Greg stopped and picked his son up before ruffling his hair affectionately.

"See?" he exclaimed "Your old man still got it!"

"It doesn't count, we're in a dream!" Steven replied with false bravado.

"Still, I taught you a lesson... But now that you mention it, I admit this is quite nice to be able to carry you without having those backaches!"

And I'm not hungry all the time, like when I'm awake, he thought.

Steven immediately felt the change of atmosphere: his father's chest going up as he was letting out a sigh, his embrace loosening a little. The boy broke the hug and set foot on the ground, looking at him cautiously.

"Dad, is there something that makes you sad?" he asked.

Greg raised his eyebrows. His son did formulate a question, but the clairvoyance and seriousness in his eyes indicated it wasn't really one. It reminded him of the time when Garnet stated he had a problem instead of asking him, and as he was thinking about an answer, he also remembered what he wrote in his brand new diary.

"I should try to be more transparent about my feelings. I can't just let Steven worry about me all the time and wonder what's happening. The truth is harsh but I must find the courage to tell it, little by little."

Those were his exact words, the words he wrote as a conclusion of long paragraphs about his son, the Gems, his diet, his own desires, and many other things. It was probably about time to make something out of this ideas, other than a waste of ink and paper.

"Things... Ain't exactly going the way I expected." he articulated slowly while looking away.

Steven scratched his chin.

"Are you talking about your diet? Or something else?" he asked.

"Both, I guess."

"Hmmm..."

Steven had no idea what to answer. He wasn't really surprised: he had noticed his father was looking down for a long time, and even if moving at his place allowed them to spend more time together, the boy knew something wasn't right. Notably, there were all the times he frowned at the Gems' behavior who had the unpleasant tendency to patronize and scorn Greg, but only now did he interrelate their cold and disdainful comments with his father's bad mood. The boy reprimanded himself for not realizing sooner that of course, cohabitation between beings who were different in every ways, including their species, could only generate miscommunication, and that as a human/Gem hybrid it was his job to be the intermediary.

"I think we should talk it out with the others when we're awake, dad." he finally said "If you have a problem you have to tell me and the Gems, and we'll do our best to help you."

Seeing Greg's absence of response as well as the unconvinced and guilty expression on his face, Steven doubted once again. Maybe an open discussion wasn't actually the best idea: even if he didn't have future vision he could easily foresee the divergence of opinion and the differences between these four leading to a large-scaled argument - they could even say words that they would regret afterwards. Acting with more subtlety, on a longer period of time, would more likely be preferable to a single, big confrontation.

"...Or we can figure out what's wrong by ourselves. Maybe make a list."

This time Greg nodded.

"I'm already doing this." He explained.

He then told his son about the diary Connie gifted him, with details on how he used it and how great he felt when writing in it.

"Connie always got the best gift ideas!" the boy stated proudly "It was when she gave me books that I realized I really loved reading. I think she understood how much I needed something else after being grounded from TV. I'm so glad to have her as a friend, she's always there when I..."

He stopped. As his father was smiling to him, easily noticing how affectionate he sounded when talking about his best friend, Steven's cheeks turned pink for a moment.

"Well, whatever!" he exclaimed in a hurry "How about we forget about all this stuff for now? We have something to see, the reason why we're in this dream in the first place!"

He walked up to the black stone Greg had chosen and put in the armchair moments ago, grabbed it and watched his step as he headed through the other stones on the ground towards the floating hand.

"Hey buddy, you're really gonna let all these things just lying there?" the man asked, maneuvering through the mess as well.

"I'm not cleaning up in a dream!" Steven answered with a chuckle "I don't even clean up my own room!"

He removed the stone that was already in the hand. Once pulled out it turned from black to white and on its surface appeared a golden symbol: upon examining it, the boy realized it was the number 0. Keeping this change in a corner of his head, he placed the new stone in the marble palm. Once again the fingers clutched it tightly.

"Let's see..." he said as both of them sat comfortably on the armchairs.

The first picture disappeared in a flow of colors that reorganized after a few seconds to form something new, a dark scene where the high shapes of what looked like mountains could be distinguished.

"I think I found you!" Steven remarked.

He was pointing at a small humanoid figure in the down left corner of the picture, who seemed to watch the landscape in front of him. After a more meticulous observation, the boy noted that the 'mountains' were actually piles of garbage and various damaged objects that, compared to the tiny Greg on the photo, were looking abnormally big. There were mattress-sized books with torn pages, a cracked bowl so large an adult could have stood inside, moth-eaten clothes that could be used as tents and giant moldy donuts that even Amethyst couldn't eat all by herself. Greg quivered when he spotted a huge syringe at the top of one of the piles, its needle as thick as a sword pointing towards the sky. The whole scenery looked like a junkyard cursed with a dark, twisted magic spell.

"That is... surprising." Steven whispered.

"No, not really." His father answered, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?"

"Dreams are often made of things we experienced before, son. And from what I see these objects are related to things that happened to me in the last few days. The books, for instance... since I started to live with you and the Gems I read books to pass time when you guys are not there. I think this bowl is the one you ate these macaroni cheese in, the first night... wasn't a very pleasant evening for me. The clothes remind me of that sweater Garnet gave me, and Pearl mentioned syringes yesterday (oh by the way, did I ever tell you I was like, REALLY scared of needles?). As for the donuts..."

He stopped. Steven still didn't know he secretly went to the Big Donut, and he preferred not to tell him for the moment. Luckily, the boy didn't notice this hesitation - unless he was deliberately ignoring it.

"So all of this stuff is related to a moment when you felt something?" Steven asked after thinking for a few seconds. "You read because you're bored, syringes scare you, the mac and cheese dish frustrated you because you couldn't have it... actually it reminds me of... me!"

As Greg was staring at him incredulously, he continued:

"My powers are linked to my emotions as well. When I'm angry or sad I have a hard time using them. If all of this means that your head is as messy as this picture is, maybe we should... clean things up?"

"That's deep, buddy. But we sorta talked about that earlier already."

"True. We'll have to dig a little deeper. So, how about we watch another one?"

"Huh? Another what?"

Steven jumped from the chair and gestured at the stones on the ground. Greg's eyes widened a bit.

"But we didn't even solved the mystery of the first one." he observed with a perplexed look on his face.

"We can use our awake time to figure those things out." Steven explained as he was gathering several stones of various colors. "But we're in this place for a limited time. We have to make the most of it and watch as many pictures as we can! Come on dad, choose another one!"

He presented his full hands to his father. He had deliberately taken a good amount of pink stones... that's why he frowned when the man grabbed another black stone.

"Dad..." Steven said with a slightly annoyed tone.

Both of them exchanged a meaningful look. Greg winced a little.

"Yeah, I know." he answered sheepishly, looking down "But I don't want to pick one of these."

"But why? Aren't you curious to see what they're about?"

"Not really. To be honest... I'm scared, son. I'm scared they could be related to..."

"To Mom."

Greg froze. This time, his son's last words were a statement, not a question. Steven walked slowly to the chairs, sat on one of them and pressed the stones he was holding against his chest.

"You know, when I realize I'm dreaming I always think about her." the boy admitted "The Gems told me she'll always be a part of me. They told me that sometimes I'll be able to feel what she feels. I don't know if it already happened without me noticing, I don't know if I'll ever notice it. And since I can enter people's mind in my dreams, since I can talk to them... After all I did talk to the Cluster, and it wasn't even a full Gem... Well sometimes I wonder 'what if she's trying to send me a message? What if I can actually talk to her in my dreams?'. So I always pay attention. I listen, I look for signs of her, I call out to her... Doesn't matter if I scream, doesn't matter if I cry... She never responds."

Greg sat on the other armchair. His son's eyes were gleaming and his shoulders were shaking, but his face was showing an impressive determination.

"Steven..."

"That's why I don't understand, dad... If you get the chance to communicate with her, why not seize it? Why don't you want to know?"

The man let out a deep sigh and his hands gripped the armrests tightly.

"Maybe because I regret nothing." he said, looking straight ahead "I miss your mom everyday, and I understand you want to know her more, but... as far as I'm concerned I enjoyed all these years with her to the fullest. I want to remember what she actually told me, not interpret signs wondering if they're coming from her or not."

Greg turned his head to his son, a kind smile on his face.

"But if it's that important to you, which I can totally understand... after all, you have the right to know more about your mother... then I choose this one."

He reached out to take one of the pink stones Steven was holding to his chest, then stood up and approached the marble hand. The black rock laying inside changed color when he removed it but instead of turning white like the first one, it turned gray and a golden number "1" appeared at its surface. Without paying attention to this difference Greg placed the pink stone and went back to sit beside his son. Once again, the picture of the huge junkyard disappeared in a whirl of bright colors.

"Are you sure you want to do this dad?" Steven asked, his face growing pale.

"Certain." his father replied, watching the screen reveal a long beach of white sand.

"Greg, there's another one!"

"Really? Where?"

"At the giant rock, right next to that empty can of soda."

"Oh, yeah, I see it now!"

Rose ran joyfully, her powers making her soar with every step. Greg couldn't help but admire the way her white dress and pink hair were floating in the wind, but a chill was still running down his spine. He hurried to catch up with his lover at the foot of the rock ; she was leaning forward, contemplating the lovely seashell she had spotted from afar.

"Honey, are you sure it's safe for you to run around like that?" Greg asked shyly, staring at Rose's round belly. "And... to lean as well?"

"We're okay, Greg, don't worry about us." she answered with an amused smile.

"I... I'm not worrying."

But the way he was biting his lower lip proved otherwise. Rose just pretended not to notice it.

"Look at this one!" she said, pointing at the seashell at her feet with a thrilled expression. "It's beautiful! I think it's the biggest I've ever seen so far. What species is it?"

"Uh, gimme a second."

The man opened the book he was holding and quickly browsed through the pages.

"Let's see... I believe it's... yeah, that's it: it's a Lobatus gigas, see? There are the same spiky things on the picture. Also known as Queen Conch."

"Queen Conch." Rose repeated in a delighted tone, like she was pronouncing the name of a refined dish. "Fascinating! I wish I could see what the animal inside looks like. But this one seems empty."

She picked it up and was about to put it in the basket she had under her arm when her partner stopped her.

"Wait, I'd like to show you a cool trick you can do with it."

"Oh, Alright!"

Both of them sat down on the sand. Congratulating himself for finding something to distract Rose from running and bouncing on the beach, Greg let out a discreet huff of relief.

"When you put a shell like this one to your ear, you'll hear the ocean" he explained.

"Really? I want to try!"

Rose promptly pressed the shell against her cheek. Greg chuckled.

"No Rose, you have to put the hole against your hear!"

"Oh, I see. Like this?"

"Yes."

Rose waited for a few seconds.

"I don't hear anything."

"You don't?"

Surprised, Greg took the seashell and placed it against his own hear. The roar of the waves was perfectly audible.

"Weird, I can hear it." he said "Maybe it doesn't work with Gems."

"Humans are really lucky if they can hear the ocean's song even when they're far away from it."

"Er... yeah I guess."

Rose smiled, then took the shell back from her lover.

"Maybe he wants to hear it to." she murmured, placing the queen conch on her belly."

Greg looked at her tenderly. He doubted that the baby could hear anything, but seeing her doing this was warming his heart.

Both of them just relaxed for several minutes, not exchanging a word, appreciating the caress of the wind on their faces, the warm sand between their toes, and the view of the waves rolling onto the shore. Roses's eyes were closed as she was inhaling the sea air, her chest moving up and down in a regular rhythm. The man remembered what she once told him: despite the Gems not needing oxygen to survive, living among humans for centuries taught Rose about the benefits of breathing, how useful it was to relax, focus, or just appreciate a pleasant scent. Greg's heart sank when he thought that this was probably one of the last times they would sit on the beach side by side, but quickly forced himself to drive away this thought: he had to enjoy every minute, every second, to his fullest. It wasn't time to be sad. Not yet.

Suddenly, a strange and subtle sound filled the air: a soft, melodious whistle the likes of which he has never heard before.

"What's that?" he asked with a mix of curiosity and concern.

Rose pulled the seashell away from her belly: the whistle stopped, and started again when she put it back.

"I've never heard any seashell do that kind of noise." Greg said gulping.

"It's not the shell" Rose replied softly "It's me."

"It's you?"

She put the queen conch on the sand and reached out to take his face between her hands. Greg expected her to pull him to her for a kiss but instead she gently made him lean forward, towards her stomach. The man followed the movement until he felt the cold, hard gemstone adorning his lover's navel against his ear, then listened carefully. After a few seconds he heard the sound again, very faint but still pleasant and musical.

"I can't believe I'm just discovering it! What on Earth is that?" he asked.

" 'That' is called telluric resonance." Rose explained with a smile "On my world we also call it Gemsong. It's not very easy to hear most of the time, I believe it resonated in the shell while it was on my stomach, and that's why you were able to hear it."

"Wait a minute... every Gem has that?"

"Yes, but the sound is different for every type of Gem. For example, every Rose Quartz has the same sound as me, subtle differences aside."

"How subtle?"

"Too subtle for a human ear to perceive."

Greg frowned a bit at this answer, but kept listening to the otherworldly whistle.

"It's really beautiful" he whispered. "That could do well as a background for a song, though I don't think there's any mic powerful enough to record this... HEY!"

The man straightened up all of the sudden: he just felt a slight bump on his cheek. Rose looked at his questioningly.

"The... the baby kicked me!" he exclaimed.

His face was faking outrage but his laughing eyes were betraying his joy. The Gem laughed heartily.

"I bet he just wanted to say hi." she answered, caressing her belly "Oh, I'm so impatient! I just can't wait for him to take his first steps into this world."

"Or her." Greg added, putting his own hand on his partner's "But it doesn't matter to me if it's a boy or a girl: I just want them to become a rockstar like their dad!"

"And all I want is for them to be a good person. I want them to be compassionate, caring. I want them to love Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl... and you."

Greg felt like he just got stabbed in the heart. He knew Rose didn't put herself in the list on purpose. He knew what was going to happen the day his son would be born. He knew he had to take care of the baby alone, maybe with the help of the other Gems (if they actually accepted to assist him). What he didn't know however was if it was really worth it. Was it selfish of him to ask himself that question?

"Greg..."

Tightening his grip on Rose's hand, the man forced himself to meet her eyes and smile. He looked at her intently for several minutes, as if he wanted to sate his own eyes with the sight of her beautiful face for the years to come. But he knew it was vain. How much time would pass before he would forget the sound of her voice? Her perfume? The taste of her lips? The sensation of her pink curls between his fingers?

"Greg, I know that you're..."

"Don't worry, Rose, he said in a voice that was not shaking. I'll do everything I can to make them a good person. I'll be the coolest dad in the cosmos!"

Rose smiled and changed position to be on her knees before him.

"I know you will." she murmured.

"I'll... I'll sing and play guitar for them." he continued as tears were starting to gleam in his eyes.

"Certainly."

"I'll teach them everything I know about the Earth... I'll show them how wonderful this planet is..."

"Without a doubt."

"I'll... I'll love them, Rose. I'll take care of them. I promise..."

Unable to contain them much longer, he let the tears flow on his cheeks and into his beard. He lowered his head, his body shaking from the silent sobs, but Rose once again grabbed his face and this time, actually pulled him in for a kiss. Greg tried to enjoy every second of it but his lover's lips left his too quickly to his liking. He rested his forehead against hers, his head spinning, a knot in his stomach as Rose's whisper resonated inside him like an echo.

"Greg, don't forget to take care of yourself as well."

Steven suddenly opened his eyes. Nothing disturbed him, he wasn't particularly well rested but still there he was, perfectly awake, as if he has just been kicked out of his sleep. He took a quick look around: an indigo light, characteristic of the few hours preceding dawn, was filtering through the shut windows.

It hasn't been a picture this time. The pink stone contained a video. A memory.

The boy heard a quiet sniffle downstairs. Still shocked by what he has just seen, he pushed away his blanket and despite his urge to return to the comforting warmth of his bed and go back to sleep, forced himself to set foot on the cold wooden floor and get up. Then he walked downstairs yawning: his father was awake too, sitting on the edge of his makeshift bed, a blank expression on his face and his eyes slightly moist.

"Rose..."

"Dad, I'm so sorry," Steven whispered taking a few cautious steps towards him "I shouldn't have insisted on seeing that thing. It was exactly what you didn't want to see."

Greg wiped his eyes and looked at his son.

"It's okay buddy" he said with a weak smile "You couldn't know. And it was actually... quite nice to see that again."

He patted the mattress beside him to invite Steven to sit. The boy complied, then wrapped his arms around his bent knees.

"The other pictures we saw were random," he observed "but this scene on the beach really happened, right? It was a memory of you and mom?"

"Yes, it was... I had completely forgotten about this telluric resonance thing..."

The man's eyes were full of tenderness. He then put a hand on his son's arm.

"It shook you up quite a bit too, didn't it?"

"Yeah, a little." Steven admitted, turning his head towards his mother's portrait above the front door.

"That's understandable. This is the first time you actually see her. The first time you hear her voice."

The boy frowned and got up all of the sudden.

"No, it's not the first time." he said.

He quickly went upstairs, rummaged through his room's drawers and came back with a video tape he handed to his father. Taking a closer look, Greg noticed a label 'For Steven' on the side, and his jaw dropped in stupefaction.

"Oh boy... I'd never thought I'd see this again." he murmured.

A lot of questions were piling up in his head. How did his son get this video tape? Why didn't he tell him about it earlier? Were the Gems aware of its existence? However, Greg didn't ask any of them.

"Dad, once again I'm sorry." Steven said. I shouldn't have forced you to see these pink stones when you didn't want to."

"You apologize too much, son. We both agreed to see what this dream was all about, remember?"

Greg stretched as much as he could and the boy shivered when he heard his father's joints crack.

"Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep after all this." the man said, scratching his head.

"I could have a few minutes ago, but now I don't really want to." Steven admitted "Hey, I have an idea! I'll do what the Gems always do to comfort me when I have a nightmare!"

"Which is?"

"You'll see! Close your eyes!"

Amused, Greg obeyed, then heard his son getting up and heading towards the kitchen. He then recognized the noise of cupboards getting opened and closed, ceramic objects bumping into each other, and the whirring of the microwave. After a few minutes, Steven asked his father to open his eyes and as he did, he saw two cups of steaming hot cocoa on the counter, each of them topped with a little mountain of whipped cream sprinkled with tiny marshmallows.

"Tada!" Steven exclaimed happily, gesturing towards the cups.

"Uh, Steven, you know I can't have sugary drinks." Greg remarked.

"We can make a little exception every once in a while. And this time you have my blessing... unlike the time you went to the Big Donut!"

The man's eyes widened and he felt his ears burning a little.

"H-how do you know that?!" he stammered.

"You really think Sadie wasn't going to tell me?" Steven asked in a mischievous tone. "But don't worry, I'm not mad at you: I know she wouldn't have sold you anything. Come on, let's drink this before it gets cold!"

Slightly ashamed, Greg sat on one of the bar's stools and put his hands around the cup to feel its pleasant warmth; the fireplace had run out of fuel for a long time and the whole house was a bit cold. Steven sat as well and dipped his nose in the cup gluttonously.

The man, on the other hand, took his time: lately all he had in mind was getting the tiniest bit, the tiniest piece of candy to sate his painful hunger, and normally he would have guzzled the whole drink just like his son did, but seeing this memory with Rose shook him up so much that he forgot about his stomach for a while. He listened to the silence that was only troubled by Steven sipping his cocoa: the atmosphere was strangely peaceful, the darkness and the cold air as the morning was drawing near were making this moment unique and singular, like it was frozen in time. Greg realized he wanted this to last as long as possible, and that's why he waited, thinking about his lover's words and the happy days they spent together, until the enticing smell of the hot cocoa was to hard to resist any longer. After all this waiting, the first sip was even more divine than everything he ever dreamed of during his fasting: the rich, sweet taste numbed his disaccustomed tongue, and chills of pleasure ran through his body as the hot drink descended into his empty stomach.

"Wow..." he whispered.

Steven raised his head and gave his father a questioning look, a chocolate mustache under his nose.

"It's incredible how much more you enjoy things when you couldn't have them before." the man explained, eating a spoonful of whipped cream and marshmallows.

He let the sugary bit melt in his mouth before continuing:

"For example, drinking hot chocolate is normal for you. For me though, it's an experience... Maybe that's another advantage of going on a diet... aside from getting healthier, I mean."

"If drinking or eating ordinary things become an experience, maybe I should go on a diet too!" Steven answered.

It wasn't even sarcastic: he had a fascinated look on his face. Greg shook his head with a smile.

"Nah, believe me, it's not worth it at all!" he stated.

Joy disappeared from the boy's face. His father immediately regretted saying those words.

"Hey, It's alright, buddy!" he said with a less spontaneous smile "It's not as harsh as it looks!"

"I don't like seeing you suffer, dad." Steven replied, clenching his fists.

"Steven, I assure you, I'm fine! Yeah of course, it's not easy being hungry, but I've been told your stomach shrink when you eat less, so I guess I'll feel better in a few weeks."

"But it's not just that! I know it, I saw it! It's... the..."

Steven was all tense on his stool, droplets of sweat running down his temples. It seemed like he was trying to stay calm as a venomous scorpion was skittering under his shirt. Suddenly, he exploded:

"The... The Gems are mean to you!"

Another silence fell in the house, but it wasn't peaceful and gentle like the first one: this one was heavy and awkward. Greg kept his eyes on his half empty cup.

"They're trying to help me." he simply said.

"But they're doing it wrong!" Steven insisted, frowning.

"You can't really blame them for that. It's hard for them to understand... All they see is that I had an accident and they have to do everything they can to prevent me from having another."

Steven was convinced this wasn't the only problem, that there was something else far more concerning, but he was unable to decipher his father's expression right now. He decided not to insist: that was enough emotions for the night. Still, despite the atmosphere turning relaxed and pleasant again (the awkward moments between the two never lasted for too long), the boy's brain was boiling: he was trying to mentally put together the pieces of the complicated puzzle that was the actual situation, deducing his future plan of attack. If he really had to be a mediator, he would have to proceed with caution and discernment.

As he took his stool closer to his father's so the man could wrap his arm around his shoulders and keep him warm, Steven smiled on the inside.

He knew where to begin.

Master of the Boot & Cartoonicaddic2: Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your own experience as well! As for me, I never had to go on a diet before so I had a hard time figuring out how that feels, I'm glad to know it sounds realistic for someone who actually experienced it. And I'm also happy to know it resonated with you, I hope I can keep this up for you guys!

He Who Seeks The Joy in Life: Thanks for your compliments, but please no forgetti ):

KimDWil71: Thank you, I hope you'll like this one as well!