Pearl couldn't stop shaking. Even when she pressed her palms together, they still shook. Her chest rose and fell at such an erratic pace, that she knew she must look and sound ridiculous. She lay splayed on top of one of the fountains in her room. She had been crying for the last few days (or was it weeks)? Or so since…Rose had…had…

Pearl's stomach gave a lurch and an awful feeling climbed up her throat. Pearl tried in vain to cover her mouth and force back the feeling, but it came out anyway. A heavy, lonesome sob slowly and quietly forced its way out of Pearl and begin to fill her room. The brief reprieve from crying she had been granted was replaced with wailing once again.

Why couldn't she stand up? Why couldn't she be strong? Amethyst had run off, somewhere far away probably. She had burst into something with feathers and gone racing off into the empty sky. Pearl wondered vaguely when she would be back. Garnet had been here and there. Garnet had been going off on missions, visiting Pearl and even hanging out with Greg and the child.

What had Rose named him? Her mind was filled with very little of the past few months of Rose and instead with dread for the future. She could barely remember anything Rose had said to her before the child had been born.

But Rose had said something to her. Something that despite the flood of grief that had taken over Pearl's life, still nagged her. Every moment of thought not shrouded in sadness, was being dedicated to figuring out what Rose had told her. It must've been important, though everything Rose had said in her last few months had been important.

Pearl sat up. She couldn't think if all her limbs were flung about or if she was curled into herself. This was really bothering her. Usually something like this wouldn't really be so irritating to her, but she hadn't felt anything but sadness for some time-it was strange to feel anything but grief.

What had it been? Something related to the child? Oh, how her head ached. Pearl stood up suddenly and promptly fell onto her hands and knees. How long had she been sitting there again? Ten days? Twelve, or was it two weeks? Three weeks? She couldn't remember. She usually was aware of the passing of days; her internal clock was always precise, but she must've been deeper in her grief than she remembered.

Pearl stood up again, a little wobbly, but made her way out of her room. She stood silently in the cave of the temple. It hadn't changed in the slightest. The warp pad sat dormant, the ocean gently rocked in the beach's arms, and the moon sat idly in the sky.

How did the rest of the world seem so unchanged? Pearl's entire room had darkened and grayed, the fountains weaker and the entire temple seemed to mourn. Garnet, despite her strong appearance, was struggling to stay together. It wasn't very obvious-Amethyst; if she had stayed that is, wouldn't have noticed. The slight tremor in Garnet's voice, how sometimes her voice shifted from higher pitch to lower, even the random shivers that indicated how hard she was trying not to unfuse. Amethyst, before she had gone off, had looked like a wild child. She had been covered in filth from head to toe, foaming at the mouth and making noises unlike any language Pearl had known.

Pearl sat down on the edge of the temple's cave, her feet resting on the sand. She looked out the ocean woefully. She felt like a failure. How often had Rose entrusted her with information? All the time! She was Rose's confidant and able to remember anything Rose may have forgotten. Now Rose wasn't here and Pearl had forgotten. Pearl gripped her hair tightly in her palm, tugging at it as she struggled to remember. She was nowhere near the cusp when she heard the noise.

Footsteps. Slow, but steady footsteps coming from the direction of Beach City. Pearl froze. Maybe it was Garnet, but Garnet rarely went and interacted with humans-except for Greg. Or Amethyst, who was finally returning from the (days? weeks?) she had been gone. Pearl didn't really want to see either of them. She knew she looked a mess and didn't really want to talk.

But it wasn't Garnet or Amethyst who was dutifully walking to the temple, but Greg and a bundle and a wagon.

Greg looked different. He was still wearing the clothes he always wore, but his face looked haggard. There were violet rings under his watery, red eyes and he looked significantly pale. He was lugging something behind him-what looked vaguely like a red wagon. It didn't seem very heavy, but Greg couldn't move very fast. What was really strange though was that he was smiling and talking to someone she couldn't see.

"So, this is the beach where I met her. Well, actually we met at the concert over where we were before. I met Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet here though. They stuck with your mother through everything." Greg whispered, his head ducked down into his chest.

Pearl wondered briefly whether or not Greg was perhaps going insane. She knew how he was feeling though. With Rose gone the whole world seemed to have shifted everyone out of frame.

"She really wanted to meet you. I think she was a bit worried though about how the gems wou-" Greg stopped and squinted. "Pearl is that you?"

Pearl didn't say anything. Her eyes were focused now on the bundle strapped to Greg's chest. It was little and it squirmed every now and then-she could just barely make out the shape of a tiny head with curly dark hair. Pearl's breath froze.

Steven. That was what Rose and Greg had agreed on. Little baby Steven.

Despite not having verbally acknowledged him, Greg walked up to Pearl and sat down next to her. Usually Pearl would scoot away, not wanting to ever touch him, but she only had eyes for Steven.

"Hi, Pearl," Greg tried, looking at her from the side of his eyes. Pearl didn't say anything, struggling to tear her gaze away from Greg's chest.

"Me and Steven got bored after he ate so we decided to come and see the temple." Greg said, patting Steven's back. Pearl tensed up when Steven made the tiniest coo.

"I-I guess you didn't really get to meet Steven." Greg said, shifting the bundle in his arms. "You left after…after"

"Rose died." Pearl finished the sentence for him, her unused voice hoarse.

Greg stiffened and gripped Steven a little harder. Pearl looked away finally, returning her gaze to the vast ocean.

"Rose really loved this planet." Pearl whispered. "She loved you too. I knew that."

Greg sighed. "She didn't really tell me Pearl. That she was going to…die when Steven was born."

Pearl cradled her heavy head with her hand and said shamefully. "I think I hate Steven."

Greg, who Pearl had expected to throw a fit, remained quiet. Pearl only looked over when he sniffled. Greg's eyes were brimmed with tears and hugged Steven fiercely.

"At-at f-f-irst I did too." He moaned, crying uncontrollably. "I must be the worse father on the planet. Hating my own son for taking R-R-ose away. But it isn't his fault-he didn't ask for any of this."

Pearl glanced down at Steven, he was moving more and more.

"If Rose saw us now," Pearl said beginning to laugh. She couldn't help it. The ridiculousness of this entire situation made Pearl feel as though she had walked into the wrong temple door. As if she just hoped enough then Rose would come through the true temple door and greet her warmly.

Greg, looked at her with wide eyes. He wondered briefly if gems could go crazy. Then he also began to laugh. Hysteria and sleep deprivation had a little something to do with it. They laughed so hard that tears leaked from Pearl's eyes and Greg choked on his own spit.

They could've remained like that forever. Anything to escape the pain. They would've gone on for some time-maybe even until Greg passed out, but Steven let out a piercing wail.

Pearl slipped on onto the beach with a flinch. Greg gasped, unwrapping Steven as fast as he could. Once released from the swaddle, Steven only proceeded to cry harder.

"What's wrong with him?" Pearl asked, setting her legs down from their ridiculous pose from her fall.

Greg brought Steven's backside to his face and took a big sniff.

"What are you doing?" Pearl exclaimed, sitting up in disgust. "Why are you smelling his-his bottom?"

"I'm checking his diaper!" Greg said.

"For what?" Pearl asked, aghast and leaning backward even further.

"For you know poop and stuff!" Greg shouted. Pearl made a retching noise and scrabbled further away.

"Why would he poop on himself? Humans have facilities for that!" Pearl gasped. She watched as Greg waddled over to the wagon, Steven still in tow.

"He's a baby, Pearl." Greg rolled his eyes. Pearl didn't really understand what that meant-she had very little experience with infants. Back in the day, the small children she'd seen didn't wear diapers and their mother's taught them early on how to…use it.

Greg was rummaging through a duffel bag covered in ducklings. He pulled out a tiny bottle filled with a white liquid.

"I think he's hungry?" Greg shrugged, sitting down and cradling Steven. Steven was having none of it though. He wiggled wildly, flailing his tiny pink limbs every which way. He was much bigger than Pearl remembered. He wore a huge diaper, mismatched booties, and an open onesie decorated in clouds. His entire little head was covered in dark curls and his eyes were tightly shut as he cried.

"Maybe he wants his binky!" Greg said, putting the bottle down and looking through the bag. "Oh, darn it! I think I left it in the van. Pearl hold Steven."

Pearl's jaw dropped. Hold him? The tiny little, fragile thing that Rose and Greg had made? No. She would break him? Or hurt him somehow? Hadn't she promised Rose…to…to never hurt him? No that wasn't it.

"Pearl, hold him real quick. I gotta go get his binky! Or the gas drops. He gets gassy at night so be careful." Greg said, hauling Pearl onto the temple's floor and cradling her arms. He gently placed Steven in her thin arms and ran off.

Pearl froze. She wanted to call Greg back. How could he just leave her with a crying baby! Wait, Steven wasn't crying. She hadn't realized it, but he had slowly stopped crying. He let out the occasional whimper, but he finally seemed content. Pearl took a moment to look him over.

Despite having grown since she had last seen him, he was still a bit scrawny. He had a nice round belly though and pudgy little cheeks. Steven blinked his big eyes and dragged his tiny fist over his eyes. He looked up with big dark eyes. Pearl couldn't help a quiet gasp. He was looking right at her. Steven then smiled brightly at her.

"Oh, Rose." Pearl whispered, pressing her hand against her eyes. If only Rose could see Steven. How big he was and how cute he was. All this time, Pearl had been wondering how Rose could do this to them. She got it now.

Rose hadn't done this to them. She brought Steven to them.

Pearl raised a trembling finger to Steven's face and stroked his chubby cheek. Steven's eyes grew ridiculously wide and he began to kick his feet excitedly. He let out a small giggle and Pearl felt tears running down her face. He even sounded like her.

Suddenly, it came to her. What Rose had asked of her a few days before she had given birth.

'Pearl, I know this is going to be hard for you all.' Rose had said, resting her hand on her belly. 'Human babies aren't easy, but I want you to promise me something Pearl.'

Pearl had been tightly embracing herself, trying not to cry or rock back and forth. 'Whatever you want, Rose.'

Rose had stroked Pearl's hair. 'If…something were to happen to me. I want you to promise me that you'll love him. Steven will need a lot of love to grow up healthy. I want you to promise me you'll take care of him, protect him and love him-as fiercely as you can, no matter what.'

Pearl hadn't understood what Rose had meant by 'if something were to happen to me'. Rose was a gem warrior, a leader of a revolution-what could happen to her? But now it all made sense.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to meet earlier." Pearl whispered, rocking Steven in her arms as she had seen Rose do before. "I made a…a promise to your Mother."

Pearl couldn't help the tears now. They dripped down her nose and onto Steven's onesie. He watched curiously.

"I promised yo-your mother that I-I would protect you and l-love you no matter what. I'll do everything in my power to love you S-Steven. Rose loved you so much-so I'll try to love you just as much as she would've!" Pearl cried.

Steven cocked his head to the side and when Pearl lightly kissed his forehead, he giggled. A sudden beautiful, bright feeling coursed through his tiny body. Steven's onesie began to glow. Pearl sat up and watched in amazement as a bright pink light began to shine. She delicately lifted the fuzzy fabric and looked in awe as Rose's gem sparkled.

"S-Steven, your gem it-it has power?" Pearl stammered, holding the laughing baby in awe.

Greg rounded the corner, seeing the tail end of the humongous glowing light. He dropped the plastic baggie of binkies and rushed toward Pearl and his son.

"Pearl!" Greg gasped, skidding on the sand just as Steven's gem dimmed back to normal. "What on earth just happened?!"

Pearl looked up at him, her eyes still watery and her cheeks still flushed. She looked up and down at both Universes. She didn't know. Pearl knew everything there was to know about gem culture and history, but she had no clue what Steven's gem had just done.

"He's really a gem." Pearl whispered. "He might have power! Or even a weapon!"

"What!" Greg shouted. "How is that even possible? Wait, what does that mean?"

Pearl stood up, still cradling a curious Steven. "What it means is, is that he needs to live with us!"

Greg's eyes twitched and his face went red. "NO! You won't take him away from me!"

Greg snatched Steven away from Pearl and began to stuff things back into the duffle bag on the wagon. Steven didn't cry, but he pouted quietly as he was placed gently on the duffle bag.

"You can't take away from his culture, his history or his powers!" Pearl squawked. "What are you going to do when his powers manifest? It could be Rose's shield or her sword or her bubble-we don't know how this is going to work"

Greg paused swaddling Steven on top of the duffel bag. "What do you mean manifest?"

Pearl rolled her eyes. She aligned her body and activated her gem. Flawlessly, her weapon appeared from her gem and landed easily in her hand. She twirled it easily in her palm and stabbed the sand.

"Like this Greg! He might summon his weapon one day soon!"

"And maybe he won't ever!" Greg snapped. "You don't know, you said it yourself."

Pearl sighed and her shoulders drooped. "I know Greg. We don't know and that's what scares me. Please, let's just ask Garnet-we need to be prepared for the future. If Steven does get powers, then we need to be there to teach him how to control them."

Greg stroked Steven's face and he sighed heavily. "I know. I-I need help to do this and that Rose would want Steven to be safe and for you guys to be involved, but how are we going to make this work?"

Pearl let her weapon dissipate and sat down next to the wagon, watching Greg interact with Steven. Steven, happily awake, looked from his father to his new friend with gusto. He gurgled happily and when Greg handed him his binky, Steven sucked on it contently.

"Babies can't live in vans Pearl. I've been doing my best, but he needs a real house to live in-with a crib, air-conditioning and a room to grow up in." Greg muttered. "I can't give him that. I need help so that I can get a job and provide him with these things."

"Garnet and I could watch him." Pearl suggested, looking back at the daunting cave. "Perhaps though we need to make some accommodations to the cave?"

Greg nodded. "And I could give you all the books I have on babies. I tried giving one to Amethyst but she kicked it out into the ocean. She left before I could show her Steven"

So Amethyst had gone to see Greg and Steven before disappearing? Pearl would have to tell Garnet about that.

"I'll do anything to ensure that Steven is healthy, happy and safe, Greg." Pearl said strongly, looking down at the infant in question.

In all the times that Pearl had known Rose, Rose had needed very little help to be strong. Rose had been a natural leader, one who grew every time she faltered or failed. If she didn't have the answer or if she was scared, no one would be able to tell. Pearl needed to be strong like Rose for Steven.

Pearl had loved to see Rose relax and laugh. It was the most beautiful part about her. Steven would never get to fall in love with Rose like the rest of them had gotten. He would only have their memories and their promises.

Rose had taught Pearl that love was more complicated than she ever imagined. Pearl knew that Rose's happiness would be her own. Steven had made Rose so impossibly happy, that she had been glowing every day of her pregnancy. So Pearl would try to make sure Steven was raised to be as happy, kind, strong, and as beautiful as his mother had been. She couldn't bring Rose back for Steven, but she would make sure he knew of Rose's legacy. He deserved to fall in love with her too.

She had pledged her service and love to Rose and she would do it for him too.

A/N: I absolutely love baby Steven-hoping we get to see him this season. Until that fateful day, I will write baby Steven fics galore.