6: Lovely In Theory

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Blue asked.

"Y-yeah," Greg said, voice catching a little. But it was beautiful. A soft summer's day, the sun half-hidden by clouds so that it wasn't too hot, but the landscape around them was still clearly lit, the green of the grass and the colors of the flowers as bright as could be.

Blue smiled as she stared out at it. "I'm glad our child will be born here."

Greg, personally, still kinda wished their kid would be born inside a hospital, with lots of professional doctors and nurses around, just in case something went wrong. But he knew why they couldn't do that— probably best to keep any half-alien babies outside the eyes of the medical community. So he nodded.

They stood there for a while, hand in hand, just staring out across the landscape. Watching the clouds drift through the sky, shadows dancing across the hills as they passed.

Blue grunted with pain.

"Dear?" Greg said, turning to her, holding her tight.

"It's fine," she said, clutching her swollen belly. Her voice was kept deliberately light, but couldn't completely hide her tension. "Just— a contraction."

Greg nodded. "Time to— to get you ready, then."

They'd already prepared as much as they possibly could. Blankets and towels were laid out, covering enough space that it was practically a tarp. It was probably overkill (Blue certainly thought so) but Greg wanted there to be as much space as possible in case the Gem lost control of her shapeshifting and returned to her normal size. There were piles and piles of books on birth and childcare. They'd been read cover to cover, but Greg still had them there, just in case. There were buckets of water from the nearby spring, all of it boiled by some magical heating device. There were sterilized knives and scissors, silver nitrate, a suction pump, warm bottles of prepared milk formula… everything the baby would need when they came out.

No painkillers. They didn't work on Blue. Maybe they'd work on their child, but even if it did, and even if they were necessary, there was no way Greg was going to be mucking around with dosage on a newborn.

Blue laid herself out, propping herself up on a pillow. She was breathing fast, even though she didn't need oxygen. Greg clutched her hand, offering what comfort he could.

"Where's Pearl?" he asked, looking around.

"She will not be coming," said Blue.

"Oh." Greg bit his lip. Not that he could blame Pearl— it had to be so hard, losing her oldest friend— but still. He wished she could be here.

Contractions started coming faster, and Blue spread out her legs, getting ready. She was clutching at a pillow so tightly that she'd popped it open. There was a reason she wouldn't hold his hand

"Greg," she said, between ragged breaths. "Greg, it hurts."

"I know, love, I know," Greg said.

Pearl wasn't here, but they weren't alone, Greg noticed. They were surrounded by animals. Birds of all kinds perched on the tree branches, there were deer staring out from the bushes, and boars and raccoon-dogs and even a lynx!

Greg felt pinpricks spread down his skin, but he didn't shout out. Freaky as it was, it wasn't entirely unexpected. A couple years ago, Blue had realized she could understand what some animals were saying. She said it was very hard to make it out, and required a lot of focus, and much of what they said seemed nonsensical— but nonetheless, she'd persisted, and every managed to become friends, of sorts, with them.

And now they'd come to say goodbye.

Greg's eyes burned with tears.

Blue was moaning and moaning now, and the baby was coming, and Greg felt almost completely useless, flailing around—

Maybe this had been a bad idea. It was too dangerous, too risky. And even if it was successful, he wasn't sure if…

"I love you, Blue."

"I love you too, Greg Universe."

Blue Diamond was crying. It wasn't an unusual sight. But it looked different, this time. Despite the pain, she was smiling.

Greg smiled back. They'd worked too hard at this to give up now. He wanted it. Blue wanted it. They wanted it together.

Blue rested a hand on her belly, and said, "Take care of them."

And there was a flash of blue light. It left Greg blinded, from the brightness and the tears.

By the time he'd finally blinked both away, there was a little child lying naked on the blankets, crying, crying, crying.

Greg rushed to the baby, picked them up, held them to his chest, even though they were bloody and messy. He looked up and around, suddenly fearful of predators. But they were gone. It seemed they'd left with Blue.

Greg cleaned their child off. A blue diamond sparkled in their chest, making up almost their entire torso. Even so, it was much, much smaller than Blue Diamond's had been. Must've shrunk during the— the birth.

Magic.

Same reason the baby had an adorable belly button tucked in just beneath the point of the gem, despite never having an umbilical chord to snip.

Blue and Greg had picked out two names for their child. Steven for a boy, Stella for a girl. Maybe one day, the kid would choose something different. But for now…

"Hello Steven," Greg crooned. "Heya. I'm your Daddy. Nice to meet ya."

Steven wailed, his eyes clenched tightly shut.

"Shh, shh. None of that now," murmured Greg. "It's alright. It's alright, Daddy's got ya..."

Greg grabbed one of the baby bottles. He checked the temperature of the milk on the back of his hand, just like the books said. He thought it probably felt about right. No way to be sure, not yet.

If it was off, little Steven didn't seem to mind. As soon as the bottle was in his mouth, he settled, clutching at it and sucking hungrily.

"That's right..." Greg pressed a kiss to the baby's forehead.

He was so adorable. Absolutely perfect. He wished Blue could've seen him.

The baby finished the bottle remarkably fast. He squirmed a little, and Greg was afraid he might start to cry again. Before he could, Greg started to rock him, and grasped around in his mind for a song to sing.

Greg intended to start out with one of his own pieces, or one that he'd written together with Blue. It seemed fitting. But his mind was tired, and what came out instead was this:

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are… "

Steven sighed in Greg's arms, and pressed his soft face into Greg's chest.

"Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky…"

Still humming the lullaby, Greg and Steven left the Palanquin behind, and set off for home.

oOoOo

Authors' Note: And that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed it.

Though, of course, Faded Blue itself is still continuing with weekly updates. And next Friday we'll begin our second prequel: 'A Gem, a Human and a Baby', giving some of Blue Pearl's perspective on all of this.