~i*Q*i~

MiscellaneousSoup, this is dedicated to you.

It's been just short of forever since I uploaded a story, and I've never done one for Steven Universe before. But I've been going through a crazy obsessive Universe phase for a few days and I need an outlet. Plus, my beloved brother Soup won't stop bugging me about posting SOMETHING. Even better, I saw that there were exactly 299 SU stories currently on the site. Why not shoot for #300?

~i*Q*i~

"Our child will be beautiful, Greg. I know it." A kiss. "I love you."

Rose's last words were still ringing in Greg Universe's ears.

They both had known the risks, of course. Or at least Greg thought he did. As far as they knew, no Gem had ever had a child; that hadn't stopped Rose Quartz from trying. And she hadn't told Greg that this would happen - that alarmed cries would echo from the operating room, and a doctor would rush out to tell Greg that his lover was simply...gone. Just as the baby was born.

Greg had already cried all the tears he could. Memories of the last few months - the happiest of his life - were racing through his head, accompanied by an earworm of a funeral track. It just. Wouldn't. Go. Away.

The other Gems had known about their relationship, of course. How could they hide it? Rose acting more distant and dreamy than ever, showing up in disguise in random spots around town with some hippie guy who had barely a speck of money to his name. And that was before the baby bump showed. The Crystal Gems had made Rose Quartz stay home on missions after that, despite the protests. But that meant she spent her time nearly twenty-four/seven with Greg. The latter had no complaints.

Was being blinked out of existence a normal symptom of childbirth? Had anyone known this would happen? Something told Greg that a certain pregnant Gem had had an inkling of the idea, but he wasn't ready to be angry at her just yet. He utter grief was still in the denial phase; he was just looking for someone to blame

The doctors - they seemed like a good option. They refused to let anyone come into the maternity ward. What, would that make the situation somehow worse? At the moment, Greg was sitting outside in the waiting room, doing what the name suggested - waiting. In this case, waiting for the doctors to stop checking under the bedsheets and confirm that Rose Quartz was really, truly gone.

Part of Greg hoped that Rose was simply hiding, that she would magically reappear once Greg came in, that Rose was simply too ashamed to show her face to her child. But it wasn't true, of course. First and foremost, Rose was beautiful. And second, well, she had hinted it herself on the last night they spent together…

"Any day now, Greg! No, no, I'm fine, it's just - The anticipation is unbearable, I almost feel like I'm fading away...!"

No. He still wasn't ready to blame her.

The door creaked open. Greg jumped and banged his head against the low ceiling, though he was too numb to feel any pain.

A doctor materialized. "Mr. Universe?" he stammered.

Greg grunted an affirmative.

"Your, er, wife?" the man continued, wringing thin, sweaty hands. "She's, ah, er…"

"Missing, right?" the 'husband' said wearily.

A quick, guilty nod.

"We're so sorry sir, we have no idea what went, ah, wrong. Rest assured, your medical insurance will cover the cost of…"

Greg stood up to his full height, impressive in comparison to the doctor's. "Can I see my child?" The ferrety man looked him up and down, doubt scrawled on his face, and Greg realized belatedly that perhaps he shouldn't have worn an old undershirt and ratty trousers to the single most important event of his life.

"Well, sir, we're not allowing people to come in yet...something might happen, you see - "

"My CHILD is in there!" Greg roared, followed by a lot of profanity.

"...Maybe just twenty minutes."

The doctor, so help him, scurried out of the way. Greg strode inside.

Strangely enough, the other doctors had left the room already, perhaps dealing with the other crises that pop up when a mother disappears into thin air. But the baby was still huddled in blankets on the bed.

A son. Rose was right, he was absolutely beautiful. Tiny, wrinkled, pale, with a tuft of black hair already on his tiny baby head. The part of Greg occupied with minute details wondered where in the family he had gotten this from. The other 97% didn't even care.

He dropped onto the bed gently and took his son into his arms. The baby didn't even stir.

The tears began to flow again, and Greg lowered his head so they wouldn't drip onto the child's blanket. Rose. Dear God, what had he done?

The door flew open. Greg looked up, about to unleash all his rage on whatever doctor unfortunate enough to enter -

It was a Gem. Pearl.

Greg barely hid a shudder. Rose never bothered him, but her sisters, with their freaky magic and unnatural looks, they borderline terrified him.

And then he realized he was alone in an empty room with a baby in his arms, as a Gem - one whose fellow Guardian had been killed, inadvertently, by him - icily stared him down.

"P-Pearl," Greg began. "I-I-I - "

"I know," hissed Pearl, bluish tears dripping off her nose, "I know what you did. Rose Quartz is gone. And it's your fault."

The Gem advanced and slapped Greg, hard. Greg had tanked plenty of hits in fistfights back in the day, but this one bruised half his face in an instant. He cried out, and the baby began to wail.

Pearl noticed him for the first time. She tried to take the child, but Greg turned away and clutched the bundle of blankets tighter. He was going to keep his son if it killed him, dammit.

Something purple slipped through the frosted doors behind them. Another Gem, Amethyst. She was a little less abnormal than Pearl, but Greg was still unnerved by the way a nigh-immortal, nigh-invulnerable being could act like such a modern bratty teenager.

"Pearl, we took care of the doctors - " Amethyst began, before glancing at Greg. "Woah, dude. What happened to your face?"

"Me," Pearl said coldly. "Where's Garnet?"

"She's comin'. Hey, that Rose's kid? Lemme see!"

Amethyst climbed onto the bed and took the boy like Greg was nothing. "Aww, so kee-yuuuute!" She tickled him, only causing the dark-haired baby to cry harder.

"Amethyst!" scolded Pearl. "Give him to me. We're taking him back, now."

"Hey, that's my son!" Greg protested.

"You don't deserve him!" Pearl snapped. "You deserve to get bubbled and melted by Centipeedles for all I care!"

"Rose would want me to care for him…"

"Don't you dare talk about what Rose wants!" Pearl screeched. "You should have known Gems can't bear children. She lost her physical form because of you! And now all that's left is a fat tramp of a father who - "

"Enough, Pearl."

Garnet had arrived.

Honestly, the leader of the Gems was the one who scared Greg most of all. Did she have to act so inhumanly emotionless all the time? And those sunglasses - Rose described to him what was underneath one time, and he had nightmares for two days.

"Garnet," Pearl said immediately, "can we please get this good-for-nothing Gem-murderer out of here?"

"Lighten up, P," Amethyst murmured. She had managed to lull the baby boy back to sleep, and was stroking his soft head like a puppy's. "He's the dad. I'm sure Greg didn't mean it."

"Yeah!" Greg squeaked. The Gems looked at him. "I-I mean...Rose and I loved each other, I swear. If I had known this would happen, I would have left Rose right away." Bad choice of words.

"You cared about her that little?" Pearl demanded.

Despite himself, Greg looked the Gem straight in the eye. "I cared about her that much," he said softly. "I don't think you understand, Pearl. I would never do this on purpose. Rose Quartz was my...my…"

Girlfriend? That didn't describe it at all.

Lover? Suspiciously advantageous.

Wife? They were never married.

"She was my Rose," Greg finished gently. "She was everything to me. And now she...it's my fault, I know it. Rose Quartz is gone."

He began to cry again then, and Pearl put a thin arm around his shoulders, as if she had never been mad to begin with. "I...I know, Greg. We're all going through this."

"Rose," sniffed Amethyst, finally handing the baby back to his father. "I can't believe it, guys. She's really...I mean…"'

"She's not completely gone," said Garnet.

"What?" Pearl choked.

Amethyst punched the other Gem lightly. "Way to keep us in suspense, G! How do we get her back? Good ol' fashioned monster-hunting trip through the Underworld?"

"No," Garnet said, and approached Greg. "Baby, please."

The man looked up into Garnet's mirrored eyes, swallowed, and handed his son to her.

Garnet held him tenderly for a second, like she was testing his weight. Then she slid his blanket cocoon off his head.

"What are you do - " Greg started, but his words died as the woman revealed the baby's pudgy chest, then his bellybutton - or lack of. Because right where it should have been was a gem, a reddish-pink gem that seemed too big for the young boy's frame.

"It's Rose Quartz's!" Pearl squawked, voicing what they were all thinking.

"Rose…?" Greg said in wonder.

"Awesome!" Amethyst jumped up on the bed and punched the air. "Guys, it's Rose reincarnate! The Fearsome Foursome lives again!"

"You're not taking my son into battle, are you?" Greg protested.

"Not for many years," Garnet said gravely, handing the baby to him. "But, Greg, your child is a Crystal Gem. Only half of one, granted, but we must raise him and train him to use him powers properly."

"Which is why we're taking him," Pearl cut in. "We can take him straight to the Temple, let him have Rose's room."

"Listen, he's my son," Greg said. "You can't be saying you'll take the boy away from his father, will you? Do you know how messed up that makes the kids in the movies?"

"He does have a point," Amethyst noted.

"But, Greg," Pearl insisted. "Do you even have any place to live? How are you going to raise the money to take care of a child?"

"The music business is about to hit the curve, I can feel it," Greg said weakly. Nobody was convinced.

"There is another option," Garnet said. "We can build a house right here in Beach City, along with a warp pad and a portal to the Temple. That way you'll still be close enough to keep an eye on him."

"I'll be able to see him whenever I want?" Greg said slowly. In his heart, he knew there was no arguing with Garnet.

"Absolutely," Amethyst promised. "He'll still totally love you. He'll just have three cray-cray big sisters lookin' after him too!"

"'Big sisters?'" Pearl repeated in a clipped tone. "Excuse me, Amethyst, but I believe the boy will be in need of some close motherly guidance."

"Boring," Amethyst snorted. "Garnet?"

The two Gems looked at their leader, who shrugged. "Three rather eccentric aunties."

"Sure, sure," Greg interjected. "But...but, Rose? Is she gone for good?"

The mood sobered. The three gave Greg a sad nod.

Greg cuddled his son closer, wiping his eyes, as the four spent a moment of silence. All they could do was remember.

"Well," Pearl said, voice quavering slightly, "we should take little Onyx to the temple now. I'm sure we can build a good house in a matter of - "

"Wha?" blurted Greg. "Uh, what did you call him?"

Pearl looked at Greg in confusion. "Why, Onyx, of course. It matches his hair so well - "

"We're not naming him after a piece of jewelry! My son shall be a man!"

"But Greg, the naming of Gems after earthly minerals is a time-honored tradition - "

"Well, isn't he only half Gem?"

"I suppose."

"There, it's the human half naming him this time."

Pearl gave a little huff. "What do you have in mind?"

Greg looked at his son. He and Rose had discussed names, but not very much…

"I've always liked the name Steven," he said fondly.

"Steven?" Amethyst said incredulously. "Why not something kickass, like Tiger's Eye? Or Pink Puma? Or - "

"Steven Quartz Universe," Garnet said thoughtfully. "I like it."

And Steven Quartz Universe it was.

~i*Q*i~

Hope you enjoyed. Remember, not only do I not own Steven Universe, but this oneshot has been written just after episode 27; i.e, before any convenient flashbacks of Steven's birth came along. So if, in the future, this exact thing turns out to be canon, hooray! Otherwise, well, it's AU. Don't let it bother you.

Anyways, I feel a lot better now. Review if you're amazing! Can we shoot for the world record of...one?

~*Akirys*~