"Pearl!"
"Amethyst."
"Pearl!"
"Come on, kid, you've got to work with me here."
Steven simply smiled a wide baby grin at her. The purple Gem sighed. She'd been trying to get the little tyke to say her name since he'd started gabbering. Dada had been his first word, naturally, and since then it had become a personal mission for Amethyst to get him to say her name first. She'd even boasted that she would be first. However, that mission had been slightly thwarted when he'd said Pearl's name. Greg mentioned that it was probably due to the fact that Pearl was just the easiest to say.
The kid clapped, giggling before reaching up toward her. Amethyst smiled before doing as was requested, picking him up and bringing him to her chest. "You're impossible, little man," she started, poking him in the stomach and earning a gleeful shriek. "Okay, if you won't say my name, then what about we try getting you to say 'Pearl is a nerd,' can you say that?"
"Pearl!"
"Ugh." Amethyst surrendered, for now. "We'll come back to that later."
Steven gurgled and cooed, sticking his fist in his mouth, looking up at her with his big, adorable, black eyes.
"Greg says you're like a sponge right now. So let me set the record straight. I'm the most awesome person you'll ever meet. Garnet's pretty cool too, and she's actually a fusion of Ruby and Sapphire, but that's beside the point. Pearl's a nerd and really annoying sometimes." Amethyst patted his back, alternating between rubbing soothing circles and gentle thumps. Babies were fragile, she'd been told. The infant nuzzled his head under her chin, stilling gnawing on his knuckles.
"Your mother... Your mother was something else entirely. She wasn't perfect," she admitted. "I'm not Pearl, I won't tell you a fantastical version of what really went on. But she was kind and loved every creature fiercely. She loved me, after all. And that's no easy task."
Steven murmured as his free hand reached out and tugged on a fistful of Amethyst's lavender hair. It didn't hurt, she was tougher than that and Steven wasn't that strong. "She would have loved you, kiddo."
Steven's eyes briefly flickered up to her face before he continued on with her hair. With a heavy sigh, Amethyst laid back on the blanket spread out on the temple floor that sat in the middle of a playpen Greg had put together, Steven now resting on her chest as she hummed.
If I could begin to be
Half of what you think of me
I could do about anything
I could even learn how to love
She sang quietly, her raspy voice strangely soothing, lulling the toddler to sleep, his tiny hand still fisted in a strand of her hair. She continued to rub circles on his back, singing softly, until her own eyes started to drift closed too.
See? I'm not a complete downer, I can write something sort of cute and light. I was watching the extended intro and tiny Steven was just so cute I had to write something with a Gem and baby Steven. I mean...c'mon! And I took a shot in the dark and said that Pearl would probably be the easiest for a baby to pronounce somewhat.
Review? Please?
I'm out. Peace.