"Steven Universe and the Baby Gems"

MINI-SHORT: "The Bedtime Dilemma"

She then added herself to the top of the pile. Both Baby Pearl and Toddler Garnet felt the small purple gem suddenly crawl her way on top of the both of them. Baby Pearl would have gotten mad at her for this, but since she did disrupt Toddler Garnet as well, she couldn't exactly do that. So, she had to let it slide as she allowed her to join them in what was As a triple stack of Baby Gems, they presumed their sleep throughout the night. The brand new creation they made would soon be called… THE BABY STACK.

While they continued sleeping, Baby Steven suddenly began to feel a little bit of twitching. This was followed by a VERY unusual sound.

“Hicc! Hicc!” His little body went, causing him to suddenly wake up as he realized what he ended up coming down with. “Oh… Hicc! No… I have the… Hicc! ups!”

Because of that, he didn't want to wake up the others around the crib he was in, especially since Baby Amethyst, Baby Pearl, and Toddler Garnet DID manage to get themselves back to sleep. So, he had no other choice, but to find a way to get rid of these hiccups... by himself and on his own, which could be VERY tricky for a little baby like him.

“Alright… Hicc!… Steven.” He whispered to himself as he sat up on his bottom. “Now, what can I… Hicc!... do to get rid of these… Hicc! ...hiccups?”

Baby Steven just looked around the crib. All he could see was his special toy, M.C. Bear Bear, his star-shaped pacifier, the Baby Gems in their stack, the soother toy strapped to the bars of the crib, and… his special bottle of warm milk his dad makes for him every night. 

“My bottle!” Baby Steven gasped quietly. “That’s… Hicc!... it!”

And so, without any hesitation, Baby Steven proceeded to get his special bottle after a bit of crawling. As he got on his back, he started to drink every single drop before he slowly went back to sleep and softly snored while his belly rose up and down. He then rolled to his left side and sucked on his thumb while curling into a little ball, for a very adorable sight. 

Fortunately, the problems on the left crib were now solved. The Baby Gems were all stacked together and Baby Steven’s hiccups were now no more. Luckily, to make it even better, the right crib wasn't having any trouble as well! Baby Peridot, Baby Lapis and Baby Bismuth were all still fast asleep! Because of this, their night was now all nothing but calm and quiet again.

But… it would, unfortunately, not last for very long again. Baby Amethyst was still fast asleep. But with her nose being nestled in Baby Pearl's hair, she began to feel a bit funny. This was accompanied by a few sniffles, meaning that something was coming. And sure enough…

“A… Ahh… AHH-CHOO!” Baby Amethyst sneezed eruptively, which caused the whole Baby Gem Stack to collapse.

Luckily, none of them, as well as Baby Steven, who was still fast asleep, were hurt. But Baby Pearl and Toddler Garnet did feel startled by Baby Amethyst’s sudden sneeze.

“Sorry…” Baby Amethyst whispered.

“Are you okay, Amethyst?” Toddler Garnet asked calmly.

“I… think so.” Baby Amethyst guessed while sniffling a little and wiping her nose with her arm. “What about you, P?”

“I'll… be alright.” Baby Pearl softly replied as she was brushing herself off before clearing her throat. “We better get back to sleep now.”

“Should we make our stack again?” Baby Amethyst asked them.

“We should skip it for the rest of the night.” Toddler Garnet suggested while she was rubbing one of her eyes. “We don't want to hurt ourselves if we stack again and one of us sneezes. And, we also don't want to disturb Steven and his slumber.”

“That is true.” Baby Pearl nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later, Toddler Garnet, Baby Amethyst and Baby Pearl were all now sleeping in separate spots in the crib instead of their stack, in hopes of not causing yet another ruckus or any injuries. Toddler Garnet was peacefully resting on her two gemstone-shaped pillows, Baby Pearl was wrapped up in her blanket, and Baby Amethyst was lying lazily on her stomach while her mouth was open, letting a little drool salivate.

However, Baby Pearl started to shiver and whimper. But this time, not because of the wind getting chilly. Instead, she began to have… a NIGHTMARE. She was having a very sad and scary dream about what would happen… if she was all alone after what Little Pink Diamond advised her to do. It was something that she NEVER wanted to know… but the tragic nightmare did otherwise.

Due to it being very frightening, it caused her to squirm left and right, mumbling in fear and even getting teary as she was trying to fight through the terror she was experiencing.

“No… No… No!” Baby Pearl grumbled in her sleep before she ended up waking up and started to softly cry. “Don't leave me alone!”

Toddler Garnet, Baby Amethyst and even Baby Steven eventually woke up to her scared sobbing and knew that something was wrong. So, they all crawled over to her to see if she was okay.

“Pearl?” Baby Steven called as he scooted himself right next to her. “Are you feeling okay?”

“N… No…” Baby Pearl stuttered while she was wiping her eyes constantly and clutching her blanket close to her.

“What’s wrong?” Toddler Garnet asked politely, placing her hand on her shoulder and lifting her chin to her face.

“I had a bad dream!” Baby Pearl cried sadly while there were more tears rolling down her cheeks. “I began to see myself being alone after I came to Earth! And none of you were there!”

“Oh…” Baby Steven sadly understood, feeling bad for their friend after what she witnessed in her sleep. “That sounds… really sad.”

“It is.” Toddler Garnet nodded in agreement as she held the scared Baby Pearl close to her body, embracing her with a comforting hug. “There, There, Pearl. It'll be okay.”

All that the very sad and tearful Baby Pearl could do was to snuggle with Toddler Garnet while trying to make her scary dream go away for good. Baby Amethyst and Baby Steven decided that it would be best if they joined in to help Baby Pearl feel better as they embraced the two with a warm and safe hug. Baby Pearl slowly began to feel better as her eyes slowly closed, followed by everyone else as they all fell asleep, still wrapped in each other's arms.

As they were fast asleep again, they started to dream a GOOD dream this time instead of a nightmare like Baby Pearl did just a few minutes earlier. In it, they were in a land filled with… wait for it… lots… and lots… AND LOTS… of cuddly stuffed animals! It was a much lighter and happier tone to their dream as there were lots of hugs, snuggles, and kisses all around as they embraced all of the stuffed animal plush toys around them!

When they woke up the next morning, as the rising sun shined through the windows of their playroom, they felt MUCH better after having both a good rest and a very happy dream, which was something that they truly deserved after a hectic night filled with crazy events.