Pleasant Surprise

Chapter 4 ~ Home

     Garnet put her chin on her gem embedded hand, Steven had told them that he was in Beach City, after a day of travelling back to his hometown. 

     The sound of soft banging at the door. "Garnet? Amethyst? I'm here! It's Steven!"

     Amethyst's face lit up when she heard the voice, and ran to the door. "Steven!" She yelled, picking him up and grazing her fist against his fluffy head of hair.

     "Hey! I'm home." He said with a short laugh, putting his hand against the back of his neck.

      "Hello Steven. Welcome back." Garnet uttered. She wanted to be happy, and she was! But her friend was in trouble, and nothing else could take the fusion's mind away from that. Sapphire was worried, which almost never happened. She was trying to use her future vision, but too many possibilities were present.

     Steven walked into the house, holding a small bag filled with a few of his belongings. "So uh; what's going on with this whole... situation?"

     "You mean Pearl getting knocked up?" Amethyst chuckled. Steven flinched, hearing that made him uncomfortable, to say the least.

     "Amethyst. This is a serious situation." Garnet expressed.

     "Sorry Garnet. Just copin'. Besides, I'm sure Bismuth is with her. She'll be good." Amethyst told Garnet, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall beside her.

     "So, was it, like.. planned?" Steven felt uncomfortable even talking about this, as much as he wanted to help. Pearl!? Out of everyone!? Pearl is the one to be in such scandalous condition?

     "Steven, she wouldn't be running from us if it was planned. She was in heat when it happened." Amethyst muttered, slapping her hand on Steven's shoulder.

     "Isn't that something that happens to animals? I didn't know gems went into heat!" Steven exclaimed, jumping up from his slumped position.

     "Okay first of all, rude. And second of all-" Amethyst was cut off by Garnet's quieter voice. "It couldn't have been planned. Pearl would have told us she was in a relationship."

     Amethyst rolled her eyes. "That's what I was going to say. Yeesh."

     "She shouldn't feel like she needs to hide anything. What's she afraid of?" Steven asked, shuffling his feet nervously. 

     The room fell into silence. Why was she hiding? Was she afraid of them?

     Steven broke the silence. "Look, we need to go talk to Pearl. We have to let her know that we're there for her."

     Garnet and Amethyst nodded. 

-

     Bismuth let the grass sink beneath her toes. She had been doing construction on multiple areas of the home, the most recent one being putting a fence around the house. Pearl had been gardening for the past week. It was a new hobby Pearl didn't think she would enjoy.

     She let the water hit the small root that was growing taller each day. "Are they coming along nicely?"

     Pearl tilted her sunhat up to see her lover. "Oh! They will look lovely once they bloom."

     Bismuth nodded. She could sense a hint of tense Pearl, which wasn't really unusual.

     "Is there something wrong?"

     Pearl stared at her watering can. "N-no."

     "I got the text from Steven too, doll. You want to go see him, so do I." Bismuth spoke softly, grasping her partner's hand.

     Pearl turned to face Bismuth. "I can't face them. T-they'll think I'm a slut and the-"

     "Pearl! They would never think that!" Bismuth yelled, while still maintaining her caring tone.

     "I'm scared! I'm scared of everything!" Pearl screamed back, no softness in sight. "I-I'm.. I'm scared that you'll get bubbled again somehow." Her watery gaze lifted up to Bismuth, looking for comfort.

     Bismuth gave a small chuckle. "That won't happen. I won't let it happen and I don't think you would either."

     "I can't do anything helpful anymore! My breath runs out just by standing up for an hour. I had to give up my entire dance training routine." She put a hand across her growing stomach. "I'm not even going to be able help them either way." Pearl straightened out her wavy pink dress.

     Bismuth huffed, sitting down with Pearl who was now sitting on the grass. "It'll all be worth it. I promise you." She weaved a hand to let it lay on her stomach.

     "Yeah..." She looked lovingly at the hand over her stomach. Who would've thunk it? The renegade Pearl. Stuck in this state.

     "Bismuth?"

     "Yes?" Bismuth responded still rubbing her palm against Pearl's exposed stomach, feeling the growing bump.

     "Do you love me?" Pearl questioned, holding her arm close.

     "Of course. I would never think otherwise." Bismuth laughed.

     "Are you.. in love with me? I know that we haven't been together for a long time an-"

     "I'm in love with you, Pearl. I have been for awhile actually." Bismuth explained. Pearl's wide eyes looked over at her, teal filling her cheeks. "W-what?! How long?"

     "Oh y'know, since the war." Bismuth said, smirking at Pearl's surprised face. "I thought I made it pretty obvious."

     "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" Pearl pleaded. She hoped Bismuth hadn't went through the mental torment that she had went through with Rose.. Her former lover, or at least that's how Pearl saw it. She would never know if Rose had truly felt the same.

     Bismuth knew that she was thinking about her former leader. "No, no. It's fine. It was never a big deal in the first place. Just a little crush."

     Pearl teased Bismuth, and they laughed along to the feeling of the breeze whisking through the sky. She looked over to her cellphone, that was set on a stone patch leading to the garden. It was blasting ever since she left with messages from Garnet and Amethyst, but she saw a message from Steven. She gave an optimistic smile, and finally faced what she had been avoiding this whole time.

-

     "Is she responding to you?" Amethyst pressured eagerly, looking over Steven's shoulder at his cellphone.

     "Not yet." Steven grumbled, tapping his foot angrily.

     "Damn Steve-oh. You're really shaken up over this." Amethyst commented.

     "Of course I am!" Steven yelled, Amethyst jumped backwards. "Sorry. I'm just worried about her.. I hope she's okay."

     "We all do Steven. It's  okay to-" Garnet was stopped by a loud message alert coming from Steven's phone.

     "One second, I got a message." He opened up his phone, and a grin immediately set across his face.

Dear Steven,

I'm sure you're worried about me, I think I'm ready to give you an explanation. I love you and I miss you.

Sincerely, Pearl.