Gems in Uncharted Waters

chapter 5

Pearl woke up early. She walked through the silent house and stretched her body. It had been about a month since Pearl found out she was pregnant. Nothing interesting had happened, really. The days flew by in a haze. She felt stuck in a rut, each day seemed almost the same as the last. She passed by a mirror and examined herself. Her baby bump was getting bigger. She smiled to herself. Things were changing... slowly.

Then, she stepped just outside the house, leaning on the wooden rails. She looked at the stars, and the rising sun shimmering off of the ocean.

Pearl took a deep breath and sighed. She hadn't left the house much this past month. She was busy thinking, worrying. She worried about the diamonds coming back, Steven, her baby, everything. She didn't leave the house because she was afraid someone would see her. She hated being the center of attention, she didn't like the thought of seeing the town people gawk at her. Suddenly, as she was lost in thought, she felt Garnet's hand on her shoulder.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Yeah..."

Garnet paused for a moment as Pearl leaned on her. "...It's going to be ok," she said, finally.

Pearl looked up at her and smiled. "I hope so..."

They stood there together for awhile, Garnet's arms around Pearl's. Garnet kissed her on the cheek. "So... feel like leaving the house today?"

"Uh... I don't know..." Pearl blushed. "I mean, look at me!" She pointed to the bottom of her belly. It was poking out of her top.

"Oh, don't worry too much." Garnet paused for a moment. "How about we go to Greg's? I'm sure he'll let you borrow some clothes."

"Alright..." she was nervous. Greg was still acting weird around her.

- - -

Garnet and Pearl walked to Greg's car wash. Surprisingly enough, he never ended up buying a house, even after he became a millionaire. He still ran a car wash, even though he didn't have to anymore.

Greg was inside, mopping the floors. Garnet knocked on the door.

"Come in." he said as Garnet opened the door. He looked at her as she walked in. "Oh, hey Garnet, whatcha need?"

Pearl stood behind the tall, sturdy woman. She was still embarrassed. Garnet took Pearl's hand and yanked Pearl to her side.

"Pearl and I were wondering if you had some shirts she could borrow," Garnet said.

"Oh..." Greg said nervously, eyeing Pearl. "I'll see what I have in the van."

He walked to the van and rummaged through it. He came back with two sweaters. One was light yellow, the other light pink.

Pearl tried on the pink one. It was a bit too big, it went past her hips and the sleeves were too long. But it was good enough.

Pearl, looking down at the ground as she spoke said, "Thank you..."

"No problem. And don't worry about bringing them back," He said as he returned to mopping the floor.

- - -

Garnet and Pearl walked around town, their hands locked together, it was still sunrise, so the town was almost completely silent.

Eventually, they sat on a bench near the ocean. Pearl fell asleep, her head pressed against Garnet's chest. Garnet smiled as she stroked her lover's hair. It was good to see she felt a least a little more calm. Garnet let Pearl sleep as she watched the orange tinted waves crash against the apricot colored sand. She felt the cool ocean breeze flow through her dark, frizzy hair.

They were sitting their for at least an hour, the sun was no longer slightly enveloped by the ocean, and the sky was a light blue. Pearl slowly opened her eyes and yawned.  She blushed as she sat up and turned to Garnet

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to use you as a pillow!" She let out an embarrassed laugh.

"It's ok, I didn't mind."

They continued walking through town. Sadie and the cool kids were sitting outside of Fish Stew Pizza, sharing a pizza. They glanced at Garnet and Pearl as they walked by, then continued chatting. Nanefua was making her usual rounds, walking around town, a body guard on each side of her.

Pearl sighed as they reached the beach. Things didn't go nearly as bad as she had thought.

Connie, Steven, and Amethyst were sitting on the beach building a sandcastle. Steven ran up to Pearl and hugged her. They went to the others and sat down on the sand.

Pearl looked down at the sand and nervously ran her finger through it. She hadn't seen Connie in more than a month. Before... everything happened. But Connie didn't say anything aside from a quick, polite hello. Steven must have told her already.

- - -

One day later...

Steven was acting a bit... strange. Not in a bad way. It was just obvious he was planning something. Steven was horrible at keeping secrets if it was something he was excited about. Early in the morning, a little bit after everyone woke up, he asked Pearl to buy him a doughnut. He had a huge grin on his face. Pearl decided to play along and left the house.

She came back, carrying a white paper bag with a doughnut in it. As she opened the door, she heard, "Surprise!"

It shocked her so much that she dropped the bag and her keys on the floor.

The living room was filled with townsfolk. The Barrigas, the Millers, the Frymans, Maheswarans, Uncle Andy, and almost everyone that knew Steven or the gems came.

Steven explained to Pearl that it was a "Baby Shower".

Pearl was flattered, even a little happy, but she didn't like crowds very much. Still, as the party progressed, she found herself having fun.