She should have known the second she tried to sneak out of the front door that Steven would notice. In retrospect, she guessed she must have wanted to be caught since the warp pad was out the back doors. He was sitting on the couch the long ways, scrolling through his phone tensely.

"Where you headed?" Her brown eyes met his pink ones long enough that the silence grew as pregnant as she.

He was having a day. It was not a bad day, but it certainly wasn't a good one either. Diamond eyes meant strong emotions, and she could safely guess with his clear effort in making his voice sound light (which wasn't working) that it wasn't that he was horny or ultra excited.

"I was going to go..." She steadied her voice, hating that the anxiety of what he would think about where she was going would translate as her as being afraid of him. "I'm going to Roses Fountain."

He was on his feet and by her side immediately, pulling her into a kiss before running his gaze and hands over her body. "What's wrong? I can't feel anything broken. Are you sick? How's our baby?" His brows were furrowed in concern. "And why Mo–," His face twitched so quickly she almost didn't catch it. "Why Roses Fountain?" The hatred was dry ice freezing today, so cool it burned.

Yes, that must have been it. As if the slip up wasn't confirmation enough, his gems light spread over his skin and he let out a perturbed breath. "Son of a bitch."

'Are you okay' could set him off sometimes, especially regarding his mother. Sometimes he needed to brood, which is kind of along the alley she was looking for by going there. "It's just peaceful there is all. Quiet. Serene."

He sunk to his knees, kissing her stomach rapidly and gently. Steven's mind was elsewhere for a moment before he started nodding slowly. "Yeah."

"I need to brood," She chuckled. "Is baby making things better?"

"You both make everything better. And you? Brooding? My, how the tables have turned." The flat sarcasm at the end there was concerning, but definitely not world ending.

She ran her fingers through his hair. "Hey."

He sighed heavily and took his attention off of her slowly growing abdomen. "Hi."

"You're gonna be a fantastic dad. You're..." Would finishing her sentence make it worse? Or better? She would have to take a gamble and hope for the best. She cupped his cheeks and smiled grimly. "You're not her. You're you. And everything I know about you says you're going to be the best dad this world has ever seen."

He opened his mouth to say something cynical she was sure, the slight quirk of an annoyed eyebrow said it all. But he caught himself and closed his eyes. After a long few moments, his head settled into her touch. "Some days like this you tell me you're not a mind reader, and then you go and pull shit like that." He turned his lips into her palm and kissed. "Go brood. I need time, and you need your exercise for the day. You got your warp whistle right?"

She nodded.

"Good. Please come home to me safe." His arms wrapped around her and squeezed before he let go and stood. "If you can't find me, head for the lake."

She didn't need to bring anything but her mind and body with her, but she felt like maybe she took even less than that. She was static as she finally made it to the trickling source of healing for so many.

The water was oddly warm, though she supposed tears were warm, and if that's what this was then why wouldn't it be? A shiver coursed through her as she sat down entirely in it, trying to lose herself in her thoughts. Or at least find a place to start.

Roses Fountain worked differently (and mostly not at all) for humans. They couldn't be healed by it in any way. But it worked like water, it gave the sensation of being wet, her hair was stringy at the ends now. Being submerged in it muddled the outside world and its sounds similar to how water did. The only way she could tell it wasn't water was by witness of its healing lacrimal essence, and the fact that if she laid back all the way...

It always took a moment to get used to. One's mind had built in survival instinct, and most people's minds don't tell them to breathe underwater until they absolutely have to. It took a lot of self soothing, something she and Steven had learned about in therapy.

'I'm not going to drown.'

'I'm okay.'

'I'm safe.'

She took a deep breath and just as she had suspected, nothing happened. It felt like breathing air, if not a bit thicker. She couldn't stay under here forever by any means, she'd have to come up for actual air at intervals, but it was warm and comforting.

At first she stared up at the shimmery image of the sky, and Roses statue crying into the mini pool elegantly. Rose was always elegant, but too many found out just why and how she was so elegant all the time far too late.

"Itz zou peacfubl hereb [Its so peaceful here]." The words bubbled up from her mouth to rise to the top in front of her eyes. How beautiful, the bubbles popping at the top to spill her musings to and about the world in such a whimsical way. "Babbe en marrieglb en bboodingb, zish ib zuh lieb [Babies and marriage and brooding, this is the life]!" She giggled to herself and rested a hand on her stomach. Everything was once again changing, but she wouldn't change that change for the world. She wasn't like Steven, she was terribly selfish about her happiness.

"Bablee comblet [Baby Comet]," She murmured intently. "Isglb ib weirb I lige zat [Is it weird I like that]?" It was a cute nickname sure, one Steven had given their soon to be child but there was so much pressure to pick the perfect name. "Imbl pugltding too muge preggzure om byzelf [Im putting too much pressure on myself]."

The rushing of the water brought her back up to the surface to take in a few fresh breaths of air, very welcome air. The crisp, cool difference was satisfying. But not nearly as satisfying as just being underwater. No expectations, no world, just focusing on herself and processing everything that had happened and that would.

Speaking of which.

She readjusted so she was on her hands and knees before submerging herself again in a very familiar position: face down, ass up. Her cheek pressed against the stone and marble on the floor of the fountain as a silly grin spread of her features.

"Stegben [Steven]." His name alone sent quivers of pure unadulterated delight through her. Her future husband, her best friend, her liege. She felt she was far too old for the fluttering of a heart, but that's what he did every time to her. It made her nuts about him, and she supposed she made him feel the same.

Her smile dropped as she remembered their last confrontation earlier in the day. "Hegb loogebd zo aunteb [He looked so haunted]." There was something he hadn't told her yet, a reason why he had that expression plastered on instead of his normal boyish grin. "Is zo rogb bud eben when hez grumby hez zo hambzomb [Its so wrong but even when he's grumpy he's so handsome]." A faint blush flooded her face and the rest flooded to her pussy. "Gink sez. Ibz beb amobt zrapeudik for hib. Ebem tobay he wabent ab ambry az heb morbaly gebs [Kink sex. It's been almost therapeutic for him. Even today he wasn't as angry as he normally gets]."

A memory played in front of her eyes, the powerhouse fucking her with all the passion in the world, and all the pain in his heart a couple months ago. It broke her heart, it always broke her heart when he cried, but that night still somehow ranked as one of her favorites. "Hegb fugbs ebeb arber wheb hegb ubzet. Amb hegb abwaybs feelgz bedderb absterwerbs [He fucks even harder when he's upset. And he always feels better afterwards]." That was her other favorite part, coaxing him back to reality. The reality being that he was the sweetest, most deserving person in the universe and she loved him more than anything.

Her brain wandered a bit further, as hormone addled as she was with her shockingly easy pregnancy. "Mmmb [Mmm]..." The warmth of the liquid around her heightened with the sun now directly overhead. She turned over and watched her hair lift like it was natural flora of the ocean in the crystalline not water. It was oddly beautiful, so beautiful. "Ib wigsh dat Ib cub dibstagt himb frubl hiz trubgls [I wish that I could distract him from his troubles]..."

She would walk up to him and cup his cheeks, nuzzling his nose for a split second. His hand would fall in hers to follow her into the bedroom where she'd spread her legs for him so he could drown himself in his home. She always thought it was silly he called it home, but if that's how he felt she definitely wasn't going to stop him.

Her fingers traced her pussy lips for an agonizingly slow minute. Even in frustration and feeling lost he was always gentle with his touch there. Her other hand fondled her breast a little rougher. She loved when he grabbed them, they thankfully hadn't started to hurt quite yet and the touch there was wildly pleasurable no matter that he did. Her finger dipped in finally to find wetness slightly thicker and slicker than the stuff around her and she let out a bubbling moan. Her body was becoming hypersensitive to touch, everything felt overwhelmingly blissful when she was touched like this.

His thick fingers always knew where to fuck inside of her, just how hard and how deeply as he spread her open in preparation for a shaft God had to have handcrafted himself.

Her fingers hooked and she groaned. "Ohhh ffugbt [Ohhh, ffuck]!" That spot was extra easy to hit now. The sloshing of the water around her hips while she rode her hand felt so naughty, and in turn pushed her closer. The come hither motion quickened as her pleasure grew thinking of him ramming into her harder, fiercer. Steven was a passionate, loving man, and why wouldn't that translate into intense and explosive sex? He was never truly violent (though he might perceive himself that way), only wildly passionate and even more now that they were exploring kink together. That shot another thrill to her clit. Her other hand fell to rub at it. Steven and those glowing pink eyes smoldering at her would nearly break her mind, it revved her up the way he looked like he wanted to eat her alive. He thought she was sexy, his eyes were only for her.

"I-Imb zo globse [I-I'm so close]!" Her body convulsed once, then again as she strained for it. His voice crooned in her mind to relax and let go, and a rush of liquid shooting out between her legs made her gasp. She was squirting, it felt too good to contain and she let a watery shout escape before she shot out of the fountain to gasp for air.

"Oh my stars!" She breathed. Anxiously she looked around to see if anyone was near, but no one was. A breath of relief came from her as she snatched her towel to pat down the length of her body. "Can you stop making Mommy hormonal?" She asked her tummy. No response, only another tingle that made her groan.