The next day, Amethyst asked Steven at the breakfast counter if there was anything in particular he wanted to do that day. He told her that he hadn't thought that far ahead, that he was probably going to play a video game after he finished eating. "Did you have something in mind?"
"I was just thinking that it'd been a while since we all went and did something together, like... anything."
"Yeah."
"We should do something to just... hang out. Relax," she said. "We could go to that buffet place you like. We haven't been there in a long time."
"Ooh, no, we haven't," hummed Steven. "I love their macaroni."
"Me, too! And there, I can eat whole buffet trays and they don't even kick me out! It's great that they live up to all-you-can-eat!"
Plans were made after breakfast. Greg would join them as well as drive after he closed up the car wash at the end of the day (which could be early since business was slow on week days in fall).
On the way there, as Steven looked around at everyone in the van, he figured that this whole evening was for him. He appreciated his family and loved them. He thought briefly of Peridot and Topaz, not for the first time that day.
At least, he felt it was briefly, but, by the time he quit, they had arrived to the restaurant.
(Steven still thought it funny that he'd been coming to this place for years when, all along, Connie lived, maybe, five minutes away.)
Dinner past by pleasantly (even though Pearl didn't follow everyone inside) and Steven stuffed himself with at least a day's worth of macaroni, never mind the other plates he cleaned. And Amethyst had at least a decade's worth fried mushrooms, never mind the other chafers she dump-trucked.
While Steven was in a food coma on the way home, his father said that it was nice having everyone together and that this should be done again sometime soon. "In fact, I was thinking of having Vidalia and them over for a BBQ one day. Connie and her parents can come, too, if they like."
"Tha'-sou's-greah-dah," gurgled Steven.
"Maybe the weekend after this, huh?"
"...Buh-tha's-pre'y-cloh'-tuh-Ha'owee..."
"Oh, yeah, Halloween's just around the corner, isn't it," Greg mused. "Well, maybe a pre-Halloween cookout. Whaddya think?"
"Ih'uh-'ee-'ahee..."
"I think it will be, too."
...