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Chapter Text

Steven and Connie stepped off of the warp pad and into a lush forest. The two teens wore backpacks, Connie carried her violin case, and Steven had his ukulele. Dry leaves crunched under their feet as they made their way to the crashed spaceship in the distance. Steven reached the door to the ship first. He reached out and placed his hand on the control panel, opening the door.

“Centi? It's me, Steven,” he called, stepping into the ship with Connie following close behind. “I brought a surprise.”

Steven shrugged off his cheeseburger backpack and pulled it around to rummage through it. High above him, Centipeetle and her crew had woken up. Centi let out a delighted shriek and climbed down to Steven. Connie let out a gasp of surprise at seeing the huge corrupted gem. Steven had told her about Centipeetle when he suggested bringing her along for a visit, but hearing about and actually seeing were two different things. Centi stopped coming towards them and looked at Connie, tilting her head to the side.

“Ah, I found it!” Steven exclaimed as he held up a large bag of original flavored CHAAAAPS. “I also brought Maximum BBQ CHAAAAPS, Chee-Z Chaps, and Chip Chaps. Enough for everyone!” He noticed Centipeetle's inquisitive gaze and looked back to Connie.

“Centi, this is Connie. She is my best friend,” he said, waving the bag of CHAAAAPS in her direction.

“Hello, Steven has told me so much about you,” she said. Connie placed her violin case on the floor, took off her backpack, and unzipped it. Inside were several large plastic bowls stacked together. She pulled them out. She and Steven opened the bags of chips and poured them into the bowls. By the time they had finished, Centipeetle's crew had joined them.

Connie spread the bowls out so it would be easier for the crew to reach them. Centi grabbed a mouthful of original CHAAAAPS and chewed. She shrilly chirped the CHAAAAPS jingle and motioned for her crew to eat some too. Soon the ship was filled with the sound of crunching chips and delighted shrieks.

Steven grinned at seeing Centi and her crew enjoying the snack. He grabbed his ukulele and strummed, making sure it was in tune. Connie opened her violin case and made it ready to play. After Connie warmed up by playing the C Major Scale, Steven started strumming their Jam Buds song and Connie joined in.

Centi and the two crew members stopped eating and listened to the teens play. After a second run-through of the song, the Centipeetles chirped along to the music. Steven and Connie sang along as Centi swayed to the music. The teens played until they were tired. Steven and Connie put their instruments away and cleaned up the bowls and chip bags. Soon they were ready to go back to the Beach House. On his way out, Centi nuzzled against Steven to thank him for visiting. Steven gave her a quick kiss on the head.

“I’ll be back to visit soon,” he promised, waving as he followed Connie back to the Warp Pad. Centi waved back, wriggling her fingers, but Steven had already turned to watch where he was going.

Chapter Text

Steven trudged through the sand, making his way to the Big Donut. It was mid-morning on a Sunday in early June. The door buzzer chimed as he opened the door. The smell of freshly baked donuts hit him and he hummed along to the store’s background music. He made his way to the sales counter. Sadie had been leaning against the soda cooler behind her, but straightened up when Steven entered.

“Hey, Sadie. Where’s Lars?”

“Taking a nap in the break room,” Sadie explained, rolling her eyes. “What can I get you?”

“The usual, but double it. I’m going to surprise Dad,” Steven explained.

“That’s nice, Steven,” Sadie said as she placed four donuts in a small box, “That’ll be $4.19.” Steven handed her two $3 bills. She handed him his change and Steven put it in the tip jar beside the register.

“Bye, Sadie,” Steven grinned as he grabbed the box of donuts. He walked out the door and turned to head down Thayer Street towards It’s A Wash. He finally reached the car wash and saw the lights were off and the CLOSED sign was still in the window. Greg’s Van was parked in its usual spot.

“Dad?” Steven called as he knocked on the van’s back door. After waiting a few moments, Steven pulled out his cell phone and tried calling Greg. He heard his Dad’s cell phone ringing from the van. Steven jumped up to peek in through the back window. The van was empty. Steven walked around towards the back of the car wash and noticed the Dondai was gone. Where was his dad?

Steven thought about using his bicycle to go look for Greg, but he remembered he left it in the car wash office the last time he rode it. ‘Wait,’ Steven thought, ‘I can just use my jumping powers. Why didn’t I think of that before?’ Steven frowned. Where should he look first?

Steven decided to try Funland first. He jumped down Waterman Street, waving at Lars’ parents when he passed their house, until he arrived at the turn to Funland. He jumped straight up and looked at the Funland parking lot. No Dondai, which meant no Dad. Probably. Steven floated back down. Where to next?

Steven turned left to go south on Chesapeake Street. Mid-jump he spotted the Dondai and turned to land beside his Dad’s car. Steven looked around. He knew this house. Steven sprinted to the front door and knocked.

Barbara Miller opened the door. A startled look appeared on her face before disappearing into a smile. “Steven!” She yelled, louder than normal. “This is a surprise.” She glanced behind her. “Uh, how can I help you?”

“I was looking for my Dad. I got donuts. He wasn’t at the car wash or Funland. I went looking for the Dondai and here I am.”

“Come on in,” Barbara said, moving aside so Steven could enter. She went into the kitchen and Steven followed. Greg was standing at the stove making breakfast.

“Hey, Steven,” Greg said as he stirred a pan of scrambled eggs.

“Dad! I got donuts. I looked for you at the car wash. You weren’t there so I looked around Beach City. You left your cell phone in the van.”

Barb reached into a cabinet and brought out another plate to join the two on the table. “You want some toast, Steven?”

“Yes, please.” Steven thought for a moment. “Um, I’m not uh… intruding on anything am I?”

Greg’s face turned even redder. “Um, well.”

Barb grinned, putting two slices of bread in the toaster. “It’s okay. We were going to tell them soon anyway, right, Greg.”

Greg chuckled uncomfortably. “Yeah. You see, Steven. Barb and I have been dating. For a few months actually. We just didn’t want to tell you kids until we knew it was serious.” Greg ladled out the scrambled eggs onto three plates.

Steven thought for a moment. “Are you happy?”

Greg smiled, “Yes. Very.”

Steven nodded, “Okay.”

Barb smiled, “That went over better than I expected.” The toaster dinged as the bread popped up. She grabbed the toast and added it to the pile of already-buttered toast on a plate.

“Hey, does this mean Sadie is going to be my sister?”

Chapter Text

A loud cry from across the room woke Steven. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and glanced at the Cookie Cat clock on the bedside table. 2:43 AM. Steven felt the bed shift beside him and heard a low groan.

“What time is it?”

“A quarter to three. Go back to sleep, I got this,” Steven whispered before leaning over and kissing Connie.

Steven rolled out of bed. The room was bathed in a pale pink light as he activated his gem. He padded over to the bassinet where his old television used to be.

“Hey, Lisa” Steven cooed. “Daddy’s here.” Steven reached down and carefully picked up his two-week-old daughter. “Come on, let’s get you changed.”

Steven took her to the bathroom below the loft to use the changing table there. He turned the light from his gem off when he reached the bathroom. After cleaning Lisa and himself, Steven placed Lisa in the bassinet on the coffee table and went to the kitchen. He took out a bottle from the refrigerator and put it in the bottle warmer. Steven threw a towel over his shoulder and hummed softly until the bottle was heated.

He picked up the bottle, checked it, and retrieved his daughter. While Lisa drank a little, Steven sang to her, making sure to burp her when needed. When she was finished, he burped her again and let her settle on his chest. Lisa looked up at him and Steven smiled at her.

Steven heard the soft footsteps as Connie came down the stairs and the soft click of Connie’s cell phone taking a photo. He looked up at his wife.

“I couldn’t resist,” she smiled before heading to the bathroom. When she returned, she settled down on the couch beside Steven. He handed Lisa and the towel over. Lisa began to fuss a little and Connie tried letting her nurse. Steven rested his arms around Connie as she leaned back on his chest.

“We are the Crystal Gems,” Steven sang.

When Pearl walked through the temple door and into the living room two hours later, she found Connie and Steven asleep on the couch with Lisa in the bassinet.

Chapter Text

Connie glanced up from the computer when a moving shadow crossed her vision. A woman was herding three young children- two boys and a girl- up the sidewalk. The woman had blonde hair and the children had varying shades of light brown. There was a rush of air when the woman opened the door and the kids filed in.

“Hello,” Connie smiled brightly. “Welcome to Buddwick Public Library. My name is Connie and I’m the librarian. We just opened and you are today’s first guests.”

“Hi, Connie, I’m Amanda and these are my children,” the woman said motioning to her kids.

The tallest child spoke first, “I’m Tyler and I’m seven.” He was wearing a T-shirt featuring the main character from the recently rebooted animated version of DogCopter.

“I’m Alana and I’m six,” she stated. She was wearing a bright yellow shirt with different cat breeds on it.

“I’m Mike. I’m free,” the youngest boy said, holding up three fingers. He was wearing a shirt with a robot on it.

“We just moved to Beach City and the kids couldn’t wait to come to the library,” Amanda explained. “So, what do you need to do to get a library card?”

While Connie explained what they needed, the kids started getting antsy. “How about I show you the children’s area?” She led them to a room in the back of the library. Instead of walls separating it from the main library, there was what looked like thick glass.

“Wow,” Mike exclaimed. “This place is cool.”

“Mike, inside voice, please,” his mother admonished.

The children’s room had a little bit of everything a kid could want. Built into one wall was an honest to goodness fort made of book cases. A ramp took kids to the second level where there was a seating area. There was an area below that was like a cave. There was a puppet theater, a blocks table, and a table that held a play set that looked like Beach City.

“Summer Storytime starts in about thirty minutes, so there will be more kids arriving soon,” Connie said. As if on cue, the main library door opened.

Chapter Text

Steven strolled into the Buddwick Public Library. He was wearing a black shirt with a yellow star in the center, blue jeans, and his usual sandals. He had his acoustic guitar case strapped to his back. His hair flowed down to his lower back, softly curling at the ends. He looked around for Connie and spotted her in the children's room with a woman and three kids he didn't know. He made his way over to them.

“This is Steven. He is in charge of today's storytime. Steven, meet Amanda, Tyler, Alana, and Mike. They just moved to Beach City.”

“It is nice to meet you,” Steven said. “Are any of you allergic to cats?”

“Umm, no?” Amanda replied.

“Oh, good,” Steven said, relieved. “Lion is coming to storytime.”

“Lion?” Amanda paled, surely he didn't mean…

“Yeah, I have a lion. Don't worry, he is tame. He should be here soon.”

“I thought you said this morning you were going to ride him here with Lisa.” Connie paused and narrowed her eyes. “Steven, where is our daughter?”

“She's fine,” Steven assured her, “I was going to ride Lion, but Sadie brought the twins over saying they were swamped at the bakery and she wouldn't be able to bring them over here. Then Padparadscha said you met four new friends, so she wanted to come and Lisa wanted Amethyst to come as well. There wasn't enough room for everyone even though Amethyst and Padparadscha formed Ametrine and I tried shrinking.”

There was a flash of pink light by the book fort and suddenly there was a large pink lion carrying three children and one tall woman standing in the library. The woman, who had purple and orange skin as well as four arms, hopped down from the lion’s haunches. Another bright light filled the room and the woman was gone. In her place were two smaller women, one peach colored and the other purple.

Tyler, Alana, and Mike cheered in awe while their mother wondered what kind of strange town they had moved to.

“I predict we will arrive at the library shortly,” Padparadscha said. “Oh, look, we are here.”

“Yo, Connie.” Amethyst said as she and Padparadscha made their way over. “Hey new people.”

“Mommy! Daddy!” A little girl waved from the front of the lion. Her black hair would have usually rivaled Lion’s mane, but today it was wrangled into a braid that reached her waist. She slid off and ran to her parents. The other two children - an older boy and girl, the twins Steven had mentioned, dismounted and joined the adults. The girl looked a little sick to her stomach.

“Stephanie, dear, are you feeling okay?”

“I’m okay, Aunt Connie, just not used to portals.”

“Hey, Uncle Steven, our library books are still in Lion,” the boy said.

Steven walked over to the lion and stuck his hand into the mane- Amanda wondered if it really was glowing or if her eyes were playing tricks on her- and pulled out a handful of books. “Here you go, Connor.” Steven handed the books to the boy and reached into the mane again. This time he pulled out a large cardboard box. Connor took the books to the book return cart and returned. The lion walked into the cave underneath the fort and laid down.

Connie noticed Amanda’s wide-eyes. “You want the long version or the short?”

“Uh…”

“Magic,” Connie replied, nodding.

Lisa had noticed the three new kids and was busy introducing herself. “Hi, I’m Lisa. I’m four-and-a-half. This is Steph and Connor, they’re six. That’s Amethyst and Paddy, they’re magic.”

“There is still a little bit before Story Time starts, kids, so why don’t you play while we wait for the others,” Steven said as he carried the box over to the empty table.

Chapter Text

Steven gently placed the cardboard box on the table, opened it up, and began to take out the contents. The table was soon covered in craft supplies and assorted junk. Steven put the empty box on the floor. Lion perked up his ears, stood up, stretched out with a low groan, and leisurely walked over to the box. He stepped into the box and sat; he fit inside, but just barely. Lion huffed contently. The kids giggled at the sight of a lion acting like a domesticated cat.

Another family entered the library and Connie excused herself to go to the front desk. Amanda stood near the table where Steven was sorting the craft supplies, unsure of what to do.

Steven noticed her uneasy stance. “Sorry, I forgot this could be a little much for new people.” Steven hummed. “Amethyst, Padparadscha, and I are Gems. Well, I’m half-gem and half-human. The Gems are from another planet but the Gems living on Earth have sworn to protect it. We used to protect the world from other Gems that wanted to do harm, but now we help with natural disasters and stuff like that. Gems have different special abilities depending on their type. Amethyst and I are Quartzes which were intended to be soldiers and Padparadscha is a Sapphire. Sapphires are able to see the different outcomes possible for future events, but Padparadscha sees events that just happened.”

While Steven talked, more kids had arrived and were meeting the new kids.There was a gasp followed by cheering as Amethyst transformed into DogCopter and flew around the room.

“Amethyst loves shapeshifting. All Gems can do it, but some like to more than others. The Gems are just projected light with mass. Well, I’m different because of being half-human. You’ll meet more Gems around town. Lapis Lazuli, she's blue, comes to the beach by the boardwalk on Saturday mornings. She can control water and uses her power to make waves for the surfing club.” Steven paused, “Oh, and Gems can combine their forms to make completely new Gems or bigger versions of themselves if they are the same Gem. That was what happened earlier. Amethyst and Padparadscha together form Ametrine, but if Amethyst combined with another Amethyst, they would make a larger Amethyst. Any questions?”

“You said you were a Quartz.”

“My Mother was a Rose Quartz. I inherited her gem and powers.”

“Powers?”

“I protect and heal,” Steven explained. He summoned a small version of his shield and held it out. “It won’t bite.” Amanda reached out and touched the shield, surprised that it felt warm. Lisa and some of the kids came over and Steven passed the shield to his daughter who let Amanda’s kids touch it as well. Steven deactivated the shield and it disappeared in a flash of light.

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Garnet, she is a fusion between a Ruby and a Sapphire.” Steven paused, “Just before I left the house, she said it would be best to tell you everything. She didn’t elaborate why.”

Steven took the guitar case off from around his back, opened it, and took out his guitar. He strummed it and checked to make sure it was in tune.

“I need to start storytime. Connie can answer any other questions you might have.”

Amanda went to the front desk to talk to Connie.

“I still haven’t given you the grand tour,” Connie said as Amanda approached her. “Our checkout system is self-serve. You put the items you want to check out on the mat beside the computer, scan your library card, it reads the RFID tags in the materials, adds them to your account, you click done when all the titles on the screen turn green, click if you want a receipt or not, and then click done and you’re good to go. There are book and media drop off bins to the left of the front door and another set at the checkout desk.”

“We have Wi-Fi if you have your own device and there are computers if you don’t. Black ink print-outs are ten cents a page, twenty cents for color. Books checkout for three weeks, everything else is one week. We have movies, magazines, and music available for checkout. If there is something you want that we don’t have, just ask and I’ll get it. There are several small quiet rooms available if you need to work in silence. We have several events going on, there is a calendar on our website and at the checkout desk.” Connie showed her where everything was located and how to use their computer system to find a book.

“In the event of an emergency, the library is the shelter for Beach City Citizens,” Connie said. “The people of Beach City help and protect each other. If you need help, just call,” Connie reached around the desk she was standing at and picked up a business card. She held it out and Amanda took it.

Chapter Text

Jamie lifted the last cardboard box out of the moving truck he was renting. Juggling the box, he pulled the cord that closed the back and made his way into his childhood home. His parents had decided to spend their retirement traveling the world and offered him the house.

Jamie had spent the last ten years living in Empire City, making a name for himself on both stage and small screen as well as starting a family. His wife had grown up in a small town near Queen City, Carolina and had moved to Empire City with dreams of being an actress in a musical. They had met while auditioning for the lead roles in the musical Diamond in the Rough and dated during rehearsals. The musical had been a breakout hit and they both signed on for a second season. They had performed during the Perry Awards and both were nominated for best lead actor/actress in a musical. Jamie had won but his wife had lost to Susan LuPone from That’s A Lot of Cows! After the final curtain-call on their last performance of Diamond in the Rough, Jamie had proposed.

Life had been a blur since getting married, having three kids, rehearsing, performing, and touring. He found he had grown tired of the hustle, the congestion, the noise, and longed to go back to where he grew up. His wife had found she preferred to direct and teach the performing arts. When Jamie’s parents offered the house, Jamie and his wife agreed that moving there would be best for their family.

After making his way up the stairs and into his daughter’s room, Jamie sat the box down and fished his cell phone out from his pocket. His wife had taken the kids for a walk while Jamie finished the last bit of unloading. He sent a text to his wife letting her know he was finished and asked her where she was so he could meet her.

Amanda had joined the other parents in watching Steven animatedly telling a story about a boy who played a guitar and a girl who played a violin teaming up to win a music contest. Amethyst had gone to watch the main part of the library and Connie came in with a violin. She played a duet with Steven. After the duet, the kids made noise with simple instruments they had made out of junk earlier during storytime. Amanda felt her phone vibrate signaling she had received a text. She read the message, typed out a reply, and hit send. She put her phone back and focused on the end of the story. Steven signaled the end of storytime by singing a song about saying goodbye. .

Jamie read the reply from his wife. He made sure he had his wallet and keys before leaving the house. Jamie took deep breath. After living in Empire City for ten years, he had forgotten how clean the air was in Beach City. He decided to just walk since he didn't have to go very far. He picked up his pace and jogged.

After a few minutes, Jamie reached the sidewalk in front of the Buddwick Public Library and paused, taking in the changes the building had undergone during his decade long absence. It was no longer the building he had spent most of his youth in. The new library was much larger and now two stories tall.

The library door opened and a family carrying books and craft projects spilled out into the sidewalk. Jamie ducked his head and walked in. He waved to Amethyst and a peach colored gem woman whose name he had a had forgotten as he passed the main desk. He followed the trail of people to the children's room. A tall woman with long dark brown hair was talking with his wife while his kids were playing with a familiar looking man, a pink lion, and three other kids. One person saw him step into the room.

“Daddy!” A small form barreled towards him. Jamie caught his youngest son before he crashed into him and swung him up to carry him on his hip.

“Jamie!” Steven exclaimed.