A/N: In honor of Bruce and Sunita Williams, hoping they actually return in 2025

Adam sighed in frustration out of nowhere, high off a kite and half watching cartoons. "Oh, for fucks sake! This is a complete catastrophe!"

Steven's eyebrows rose in surprise at his clear upset. "Whoa, what's the matter?"

"NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams still don't have a return date!" He cried. "They've been stranded up there for over a month and a half, almost two."

Steven scowled, and his eyes turned an angry pink as his brows furrowed. "Have they?"

Adam eyed him bringing the phone up to his ear, curious who exactly he needed to talk to in the middle of their conversation. Steven sat in what they called Baby's Chair, because it was a recliner and the guy needed one badly for all the stress he fit inside of him.

"You told me a week two weeks ago," Steven snapped immediately, rocking back to elevate his feet. It was so out of character for him that Adam almost corrected his attitude. "You control NASA, don't give me that. We're going to get them."

Adam heard arguing on the other side and Steven turned pink. His hand dented the armrest and he rolled his eyes at Adam, like he was supposed to chuckle and sign that they were nuts. He'd never felt more disconnected or small.

"If you guys leave them up there and they die it's your entire presidency on the line, especially if you're already donating to the cause so openly like you have been. It's a very simple process: I have people who can make me a space travel vehicle, and we can go and get them. We're not giving you this technology, but we are really happy to save you with it. We came here to protect all life on Earth, and those two people belong on Earth, not in space. They have families relying on your cooperation here. We want to work on the same team."

He tipped his head and then stood. "Pleasure doing business with you, POTUS."

"POTUS is kind of a weird name..." Adam muttered nervously. "Was that—?"

Steven nodded awkwardly. "You've gotta be a dick to get anything done on this damn planet, and then an even bigger one in this country." He cautiously pulled him into a hug. "Please don't treat me different."

Adam squeezed and rubbed his back. "You're still my baby. Are you really going to space?"

He nodded gravely. "Yeah. I'll be back in a couple of weeks or so once I've recovered the astronauts." He tipped Adam's head to up to watch him cry silent tears in rivers. "I'll be back, I promise."

"It's so far away. Who's going to baby you? Who's going to protect my boy?" Steven shrunk so Adam could cover him in protective, yearning kisses. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"I'm glad you did, I forgot," He confessed lightly. "I'm not even worried. Remember I'm from space?"

"You're from here, and you belong here with us. With me," He stressed, squeezing him tighter. "You don't have to do this, it's not your job to pick up after this planet. You're just a man who belongs with his family."

Steven dissolved at Adam's words. The man was bossy to no end and a little silly sometimes, but his words ached so much Steven was surprised. Usually he was a little numb or devoid of emotion but the way he held Steven in that moment made him want to stay. Adam made him feel so human, he didn't ever freak out about his weird gem stuff, and he was so understanding and accepting of all the craziness he'd brought into their lives. He'd never been touched like this, never this protective and sheltering. It was...

It was so nice. He could've hidden from anything in Adam's arms, he almost wanted to regress.

"A-Adam..." He tried quietly.

He rubbed his head and kissed over his forehead lovingly. "I know you have to go... I just don't want you to."

*

Steven lugged his suitcase out into his truck and turned to poke his lip out at his polycule and wife. All of them were crying, but trying to look brave. Connie waved at him sadly, she acted like it was his first time going to space.

He spread his arms and she crashed into them, sobbing for no reason like she did every time and threatening to kill him if he died on her. He rubbed at the back of her head and tried to memorize their hug. "I promise. I promise. I know."

He'd say whatever he needed to just to soothe her a little bit. She was serious too, and he wasn't excited to find out how much.

He motioned for the rest of them to join, but after a few minutes he had to break their hearts. "I have to go."

They didn't let go.

"Guys, please. The longer I'm here the longer it takes for me to get back. Pearl is a good pilot, Garnets our captain and Amethyst will be helping me rescue. I have my bubble. It's just a little bit of space."

They let him go with a lot of tears but he departed confidently, mind now shifted back to a mode he was more used to: saving humanity.

It took him a long time to get used to the gems really demanding to have some sort of order system. It did make sense though, crime went up without authority, there were stubborn and emotional people on his planet too, and like humanity they all had problems. The "Do Whatever You Want" rule was never really a good idea to begin with, but Steven could admit that once he got back into the swing of things for a set list of actually solar emergencies and connected with the president as (and he really hated saying this) The King Ambassador of Earth, it wasn't so terrible.

After they'd become a patri-monarchy, they'd redivided the planets amongst themselves as where they'd have the most reign. At first Steven was sure it was a bad idea and since he had more power, he was often listened to for all of the wrong reasons.

But it worked amazingly.

Whites domaine was built on self awareness, more geared toward spiritual gems who yearned to exist as one. Funnily enough, fusion occurred a lot there, they were the highest demographic. Most of the crime came from there too, from the ones who got stuck because it was so rare to have a spacecraft leaving there. It had the most gems per planet, so it was kind of like a bunch of Empire City's on most of them.

Blue's was definitely a pot head region, as her clouds had a lot of the same rules and regulations just without borders. All planets had it in high amounts but for things like transportation or flying and whatnot, there was consequences for causing harm to property or others like on Earth. They lived in a sort of buzzed harmony, people were soft spoken though there were the passionate few planets among them. There was always incredible music coming from somewhere. So many gems with voices like honey sang songs of universal peace and acceptance.

Yellow owned the workaholic section, and it was all by accident. The gems that yearned to have something to really do often helped make new technology, run tests for scientific  advancement or made beautiful art or "meep morp" depending on the dialect. And that was another thing: Yellow's planets had a slight accent change among them, along with slang that varied depending on regions. Gems were evolving and it was incredible to see and notice.

When the decision came to be made, Steven only called Earth his planet. It was his mother's, and now it was his. That was one thing that had come to bite him in the ass but now it wasn't so bad. Sure sometimes he'd face panic attacks as they went into space and broke from the atmosphere, but most of the time he could sleep right through it. He did love this planet though he knew it was deeply flawed. But it was real and it was home, so when he wanted to keep it, he had to sacrifice a few years of therapy he'd done to let go of his fear of responsibility.

Pearl was there at the beach house door to hug him upon arrival. "You're going to have to sleep on the couch, Amethyst moved your bed to her room and lost it."

Steven chuckled, imagining the crazy parties Amethyst threw. She was definitely becoming looser again, but still the most emotionally intelligent gem he knew. "No worries, I can shrink. Mind if I sleep the rest of the day?"

"Not at all, I'll grab you some more blankets." By grab she meant summon a heap of beautifully piled blankets into his arms. They were soft and freshly washed, with a weight that told him she'd bought him a weighed blanket for him to use when he was with them.

"Thanks, Pearl." Steven crashed on the couch and imagined his polycule singing him a lullaby. It had been a while since Steven hadn't gotten to sleep with his wife or at least another partner. His body was lonely and he was feeling a little sad. The couch creaked underneath him and he sighed.

Then he was giggling because he was licked over the face by a fearsome warrior's familiar. His lion was sitting in his haunches just aching to play, and Steven wasn't tired yet so he got up and pulled one of his toys out of his mane. "You wanna play fetch?"

Lion nudged him onto his back and took off out the front door, skidding on the beach to throw him off. He chuffed playfully and pranced over the sand, ready and swishing his tail.

Steven laughed and let himself corrupt just lightly. His horns grew, so did his build and height. His eye sight was sharper now like that of a beast, and his sense of smell said Lion really needed a bath. He jumped off the ground and flew so he could get Lion charging for the ocean. He chucked it what was probably five miles and Lion took off. Steven fell, trained by Garnet and Pearl on exactly how to fall into the ocean. He arched his back and put his hands above his head so he wouldn't hit as hard on so many parts of his body. Worst case scenario was he hurt the balls of his feet and broke a few toes, but he'd take it to another head injury or back injury.

The water surrounded him and he spread out to slow his descent. He may have been powerful, but his healing powers worked horrifically slow on The Bends. He'd rather not experience that again.

His bubble surrounded him, he lifted it until his head popped above water, and there he floated, imagining the Red Eye in the sky again or another Ruby ship flying around. He hadn't visited the cluster in a while, it was getting smaller and smaller as the Diamonds worked on it, but he still liked to pay it visits.

His life had gotten so busy with seven partners, it was chaos all the time it felt but they worked together like a well oiled machine. He loved when they snuggled, he was used to many conversations happening at once, someone making out in the corner, and someone there but completely disassociating, with at least one of them high and someone a little buzzed.

But it was nice to get a small reset. A month was far too long, maybe a five hour reset would've been nice but it was part of his promise as a Crystal Gem to protect humanity. Rose may have been a chronic liar and a selfish brat (for the most part) but the one thing she'd really cared about was Earth.

And it was a pretty decent cause, if you pretended like every country wasn't a single wrong time wrong place joke from attempting to blow each other off the map.

Lion opened a portal next to him and sniffed at his face as if to say, "You okay, Dad?"

Steven snorted at the idea of Lion thinking he was his Dad and levitated to snuggle him against his chest just above the water. "I know we give each other shit, but you're a good boy, Lion." He scratched under his chin and ruffled his mane while he snagged the toy from the beast. "Alright, go get it!"

Lion leapt up to catch it and swatted it out of the air. He missed though and crashed into the water. Steven dove under without hesitation to see the feline struggling and coughing. Were there things that could kill his pet? He wasn't actually sure but he wasn't taking any chances.

He bubbled and brought him up. "Here, I'll make a platform so we can walk, buddy." It was easy, and Lion nuzzled into his chest as a thanks. The sun dried him off quickly, it was nearly a hundred degrees outside and it always felt hotter over the water.

They laid on the sand together sunbathing until Steven could no longer stand his stink. "Christ, you smell awful."

Lion huffed and nudged him off, so Steven super speeded to the hose to spray him before he could complain too much. He phased out and Lion plopped onto the sand with a pitiful sound like Steven was hurting his feelings. "Oh, whatever!" He laughed, tousling his fur and massaging him. Lion liked full body massages, he was spoiled to no end by everyone he met it seemed like.

Later he curled up around Steven and they slept together, attempting to find peace before Steven had to leave everything he loved behind.

*

"And so it begins again," Adam sighed against a weeping Hazel. "He'll be back."

He wiped at his face and sniffled hard. "I know, I'm just so emotional."

Adam was tempted to hand him a tampon but there weren't any in his house, and that'd probably be mean even if he laughed. "You know who really needs you right now?"

He nodded and clung to him harder until Adam flushed happily. "I know. I just need a minute with you. You make everything better."

When he was ready, Adam and Anna packed him a little bag, giggling that they were sending him very, very far away and they'd miss him so much.

In reality, his house would be a mere forty or so feet away and they'd probably see and be able to cuddle him every day. He just wouldn't be sleeping there. Hazel was acting like he thought he might never see them again but they could tell he wanted to be with Connie, they needed each other right now.

Connie welcomed him with open arms and he buried his head into her neck to tell her he was there. She nodded listlessly, sending a weak but grateful look to Anna and Adam. They were more than happy to help, even if they thought it was a little dramatic to act like he was going to war.

*

The next morning, Jacob made pancakes in silence, occasionally joking to keep the conversation going but mostly quiet. He handed them each a plate and ordered them to eat, then started making one with more pancakes than the other.

He paused for a second and braced himself against the counter to half laugh, half cry. "I-I made a Steven plate."

Jasmin hopped up to hug him and he wiped the tears away to hug her back. "I'm worried too."

He murmured something into her hair and glowed for her as he rocked her back and forth. "I feel..."

They waited with bated breath, hoping to the stars the empath wouldn't say something discouraging.

"I think we're gonna be okay," He finished with a confident edge past his tears. "Ugh, I also feel like I'm dying."

Hazel tried to feed Connie a bite of food but she just started to sniffle like he was being mean to her. She was straddling him, and hadn't let go since he woke up with her on top of him sobbing her thanks that he be there. Connie was so sweet, and so beautiful even with blood shot eyes and bags under them. "Please, eat something, NiNi."

She shook her head and flopped back to lay down on his chest. "I don't want to," She complained weakly. "I just wanna go back to sleep."

Adam turned his head slowly and Anna watched a concerned expression cross his face. "You okay?" She muttered.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed four times, then politely excused himself from the table. Most couldn't eat, they saved it for later and wandered off. It could be easy to forget Steven wasn't there but he was almost always humming or snuggling someone or encouraging someone. If someone was upset Steven would've already cheered them up with all the innocent adoration in the world, and no one would be hurting so deeply.

Hazel cupped Connie's cheeks and she broke out of her crying to kiss him back with a content sigh. "See? I do healing magic too, now." He was tempted to mention Steven said he kissed her with healing magic because it seemed to relax her, and he knew his high strung wife was almost never truly relaxed.

Instead he watched a little bit of a spark be relit in her eyes. "Thank you."

Anna slipped away quietly as one of the last at the table and went out her front door to circle the houses and meet Adam by the creek.

And there her trophy husband was: standing in direct sunlight being whiter than a snowstorm holding a cigarette with wisps of rich purple coming off of him. He'd only told her apparently, but Adam was discovering that Code Mistake had officially activated a couple of tiny, nearly irrelevant powers.

Adam could now dream talk to his Anna, and whatever one might call magic literally flowing out of him as he thought.

He sensed her presence and wiggled his fingers for her hand impatiently. Her husband loved to hold hands with her. "Come here, babygirl."

She darted over and clasped them firmly. "What's the matter?"

"Connie needs you, too," He asserted as he gazed over the tall grasses. "She's going to get depressed, and Hazel will get depressed too. You're my sunshine baby, and Daddy needs you to be their sunshine, too."

Anna sometimes wished she could show how much she adored how selfless her Adam was by exploding into glitter and confetti. She circled around front and shuffled anxiously before she kissed his cheek.

He froze and she felt his cheek tighten with a smile. "Are you getting shy on me, princess?" He asked casually.

She pulled away to nod. "So I can go cheer up Connie?"

Adam chuckled. "Go pack your things."

She departed and Adam threw down his cigarette. He didn't smoke them, he just thought the smell was soothing. The second hand buzz wasn't bad either but he had his own nicotine vape hidden in his pocket. He'd definitely caught multiple other polycule members with nicotine vapes and hadn't said anything because he was certain everyone knew who was vaping.

He suspected that topic would come up in Steven's absence rather quickly.

Anna packed her things and surprised Connie at lunch that she was coming to stay too, and then both wanted Jasmin since they had the ammo to have a long sleepover. Hazel could watch over them, and he seemed rather happy to have all the girls to himself.

Jacob carried the motion in Steven's absence and sent Jasmin over with multiple meals to warm up and a ton of Daddy'ing. He even made her promise to text him goodnight every night even if they'd already said their goodnight. Jasmin soaked it up with wide eyes full of love and nuzzled into his chest like she wanted to live in his heart. The display was adorable, the rest remembered a time when they weren't even on speaking terms or worse, hashing out their trouble only to dissolve into more of it.

Now Jacob kissed her passionately and she returned the favor before skipping off into Steven and Connie's house. Thank the stars Steven was so massive that they had an Alaska King Sized bed that could fit all of them and one more.

Adam felt his gaze on his cheek and tried to fight away the growing smile. His twin flame wasn't just staring, he could feel his smirk too. "Can I help you?"

Jacob jumped up to gather him in his arms on his knees. "I need help."

That was their trigger phrase, and Adam's head dropped to stare into his eyes adoringly. "Oh my stars, you just made me so happy. You're always making me so happy. I love you, Jack."

His eyes glossed over and he tugged him to the couch to watch cartoons while Adam played with his hair and showered him in love. A favorite episode of the show Jacob was currently third neurodivergent re-watch through came on and he started to sniffle. Adam could tell he was missing Steven because both could quote the whole damn episode taking turns.

When he officially started to fuss, Adam carried Jacob into his house and through his locked office door to keep their privacy while he put him in pajamas, choking back his own tears all the while.

*

Steven braced himself and grunted, the light speed G forces were literally never pleasant. He broke out in a sweat just as he could see the curve of the Earth from his window. Garnet and Amethyst were talking about the latest gem trend: tattoos. For a civilization that was largely without Earth technology and the things that came with it they sure were evolving quickly and even skipping the tedious stages humans were stuck on.

Pearl was doing a large needlepoint with her legs primly crossed. She was focused entirely, but cleared her throat. "So, Steven, how is your human relationship system going?"

He smiled. Steven was just not the kind of guy to correct Pearl. "It's going wonderfully, I've been meaning to tell you something."

She raised both eyebrows and set down her needlepoint. "You want to tell something to me?" When Steven started to roll his eyes and drop it Pearl laughed nervously. "I'm just kidding, I was attempting sarcasm."

He snorted. "That makes me feel more guilty, but I wanted you to know first: Connie and I are trying for kids."

A massive weight was lifted off his back. He hadn't told anyone, and the others in his polycule were trying too. It was such a magical feeling to think that right now Connie could be building a tiny human child of their own. Well, three quarters anyways.

Pearl gasped loudly and shrieked how excited she was, then lowered her voice. "Oh, Steven! I'm so proud of you, you'll be an excellent father!"

Steven bashfully scrubbed at his neck. "Y-you think so?"

She nodded confidently and worries melted away for the moment. "You're the most gentle person I know, and the strongest."

They broke through to space and Steven giggled as his hair began to float. "Oh stars, I think I missed space." He unclipped his seatbelt and high-fived Amethyst as he floated past her. "I'm starving."

Garnet chuckled and produced a large sandwich. "Oh no, I have this massive vegetarian sandwich and I don't eat food," She teased as Steven went starry eyed. "It's so packed full of proteins and vitamins. Woe is me." Steven was practically drooling by now, so she laughed and motioned him closer. "It's for you, Steven."

"It looks like we'll get to the international space station in three days based on its orbit," Pearl informed them. "Or a day and a half if we do it our way."

Steven cleared his throat. "POTUS said not to make it look like a rescue mission, so we can take the full three days if we really wanted to, but I don't think that wreck is going to last three days." He glowed to combat the space sickness and grunted, "Just do it fast."

*

Connie had found a comfortable balance, or at least a reasonable one. She and the girls spent their time looking at expanding the houses or adding more bedrooms. Anna was certain Adam would want two, and that was it, and Jasmin had giggled she imagined Jacob would want at least three.

She smiled a bit and scrolled through the cribs and bassinets. "I think Steven's going to have me pregnant forever if he can help it," She mumbled, tugging at her hair anxiously.

Anna brushed her hand away. "Sounds like Steven. I'm sure he'll want a big family."

Connie's eyes welled with tears and she pushed away from the desk to shove her head out the window and look up. "It's almost nighttime," She murmured wistfully.

They watched with concern as she opened the screen and leaned out as far as she could go. "He feels so close sometimes..."

Anna stood up slowly and reached out her arms. "Hey, Connie? You might wanna be careful, you're a little, uhm... out there."

Jasmin got up too. "Be careful, NiNi. You know we love you and need you."

Connie giggled and glanced back at them seriously. "Guys, I'm not going to kill myself! I'm just saying sometimes nighttime... feels like Steven. All warm and flowery. It's so pretty." Her eyes rose up to stare at the constellations with a dreamy smile. "He loves stars, he loves space in general. I guess I never quite understo—,"

The rug under her feet slipped backwards and Connie fell right out the window.

She screamed but it was drowned out by three someones calling out for her, and then just as the lush grass was becoming scarily close something caught her and flew up.

The wind was in her eyes so much she couldn't catch anything but glowing hair and... wings.

She gasped and panicked, her first thought was that a rogue gem had caught her and was going to take her away. They struggled and the mystery persons wings could only slow their fall as they fell apart.

Connie grunted as she was caught. "O-ow..."

Jacob started to cry and dropped her to pull her into a strong hug. "What is wrong with you?!" He screamed at her. "Have you lost your fucking mind, Connie?!"

She flinched but then she became angry. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Do you think I think you're stupid?" He snapped viciously, stepping to tip her head up with eyes so angry they burned into her. "You are not impenetrable. I know Steven's up there and you're down here and it sucks because you think as his knight you're supposed to go everywhere he does! That's not the case, use your head, NiNi!" Her lip started to tremble and he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks. "You're human, Divine. Plain and simple. That means you can't be doing reckless things like leaning out of windows even if you think you know what you're doing. You're not... you can still die."

Connie collapsed into his arms and cried. All she could do was cry and be angry and helpless. She was helpless without her Steven. No matter how many perilous gem battles she'd been through, she'd been through them with him by her side or nearby.

Jacob rocked and shushed her gently. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. It's not fair of me." When she didn't answer and instead started trying to compose herself, he chuckled tensely. "Are you cross with me?"

She laughed through a lingering sob and shook her head. "No. I get it. I was being reckless."

Jacob kissed her tears away and then her, sharing a knowing smile. "I feel... the same way about Adam."

And then everything made sense to her.

Jacob felt that Adam was powerful beyond his comprehension, and he longed to be his knight in the same way Connie was Steven's. Despite feeling so powerless, he longed to protect his hero like Connie wanted to protect her Steven, her hero.

She sniffled and rubbed her fingers over the shells of his ears as they spoke between reconciliation kisses. "I think you're right, you know. You see it because you're intelligent." They stared into each others eyes and then met into the most passionate kiss they'd ever shared. Both stomachs dropped as a new connection built between them: loving someone so much more powerful than themselves. "I think Adam will be something extraordinary like my Steven," She whispered surely. "And I think we'll all be the best knights any world has ever seen. Especially you."

He chuckled and scooped her up again. "I think you might be right. Let me show you why."

*

Adam had seen the whole thing. He was chronically nosy and maybe a little too brave, but when he saw Jacob grab his phone before taking off running and a back door slammed open and then shut, he took the opportunity to follow.

Connie was leaning out the window and just as he got close enough to see the full scene, she slipped. He cried out but Jacob was ahead of him, just barely getting there as she was around ten feet from the ground.

A bright, pure white glow burst from the upstairs window and as quick as lightning Connie was caught. Jasmin stuck her head out the window and narrowly avoided falling out herself as the light shot back up and Adam got a good look at it.

It was Anna, or an angel that looked exactly like her with beautiful iridescent wings. They were translucent and so beautiful he brought his hands up to his mouth in pure adoration.

It hit him again: what Steven had said was real, and happening more and more every day no matter how tiny the amount.

Granted, the hard light wings weren't exactly easy to figure out how to fly in when Connie was writhing with all of that experience getting out of traps. Connie pushed off into Jacob's arms and Anna spiraled to crash into Adam but he was ready to catch his baby no matter how unlikely it was that he would walk away without injuries. He wouldn't die even if he broke his neck, but they wouldn't heal either. Hazel would have to use his healing powers as Adam had none.

Adam was no longer as concerned about Connie now that Jacob was laying into her, his eyes were locked with his darling wife's. "My baby got her wings." He didn't know why but it made him emotional, maybe he was so proud he could only cry.

Anna was pale and wide eyed, eyes that were shimmering with the same rainbow colors as her tucked wings. Adam could feel their texture against his arms and fingertips, smooth and hard but feathered. "I'm... magic, Daddy," She whispered in awe.

Adam turned to take her into their yard with all of the flowers and kissed her. He put every drop of love into that kiss that he had. He was speechless, but he could show her how proud he was.

When he pulled away she was red, and they were in midair. His toes were resting on hers, and now her eyes were reflecting purple looking into his. He could feel the wisps of his own minor magic leaking from his skin but he was enamored. What could it possibly mean?

Emboldened for no reason, he let go of her hands and stepped back. They weren't that high up, he could take the risk.

Anna broke out of her trance and reached for him. "Are you levitating?" She whispered, glancing under his feet.

"I-I think it's you," He mumbled, taking her hands. "I tried to show it but now I have to say it: I'm proud of you."

They met in another kiss, aware of the other two watching as Adam felt his skin burning with power he wasn't used to. Halfway through the kiss, he felt himself losing consciousness as his adrenaline wore off.

When Anna fell, he did too.

*

Anna woke up to kisses and having her head rubbed.

She grunted, then instinctively reached behind her. No wings. She must have imagined the whole thing. Maybe her husband next to her had fucked her into a coma. She couldn't remember anything. "Ugh. I feel like I've been run over by a bus."

Connie chuckled as Hazel placed another kiss to her lips instead this time. "I'm working on it, I still haven't gotten around to asking how healing powers work."

Anna filled with a bubbly feeling and giggled. "Better. That's better."

Connie leaned down to kiss her, too. "Do you remember anything?"

Anna shook her head in frustration. "I remember you taking a nose dive out a fucking window."

Jacob quirked a brow. "Don't worry, she got a good talking to."

She smiled thinly at him and reached over to squeeze his hand. "Thank you. I still might get on her case though."

He returned his eyes to his task. "Of course, just don't fly up in the sky and drop her."

Anna decided to process that later as a bit of memory came to her, rendering her speechless.

Adam was still unconscious, in a deep slumber with deep breaths to signify he wasn't gravely injured. A small snore made Jacob chuckle. "That's what you get," He whispered to him. "It's quite alright, I'm here."

He placed a lingering kiss on his cheek, no magic involved like with everything he did. A late bloomer maybe, or just powerless. "Rest all you need."

Hazel scooted over and kissed Jacob until he was flushed and swooning. They stayed like that for a moment, then pulled apart to deepen it this time. When Jacob got too hot to the touch from blushing, Hazel moved his kisses to his cheek. "I love you. Thank you."

Jacob huffed a sound of content. "Wow."

Connie giggled as Hazel took Adam and she climbed on Jacob lap. "Are you okay?" She asked his blotchy face. "You maxed out with gayness, or can I baby you?"

Jacob's Adam's apple bobbed and he nodded curtly. "Please." Then he looked toward the kitchen. "Where's my wife?"

Connie snorted. "She's making tea laced with sleep aids in my kitchen. She's pretty mad at me."

He snorted and melted into Connie's heavenly touch. "I love you, Mine."

Her heart practically exploded from her chest as her eyes widened. "I-I love you, too, Jacob."

*

After Adam woke up, he flexed his fingers and sat up abruptly. He was without his Jacob, and without his Hazel or Anna. Connie wasn't there to tell him where Alex was, so he went to go find him himself.

Alex was tending to Anna when he found him, but surprisingly it was in his own house. He looked up when he heard him approaching. "I know we're planning on knocking this place down, but I brought her here to keep her away from the chaos. She's got a little fever and she's pretty lethargic."

He swallowed and sat next to him. "I haven't seen you at all in the past week."

Alex flipped the washcloth on Anna's forehead and burrowed into his arms. "I was emotional and shy. I... I also wanted to give you guys your time after the whole pancake thing two weeks ago. I'm sad, too. I felt like I wouldn't be... helpful." He breathed in a shaky breath and looked up at him briefly. "I miss Steven." He started to weep softly and climbed over Adam to press his nose into his neck. "Daddy, please comfort me. I'm... I have feelings. I promise."

Adam cooed at him and scrubbed his tears away gently. "Oh, Al. I know you've got feelings, baby boy. Of all of them, I think I understand that part of you the most."

Alex giggled and kissed his neck. "I know. Can you sing me one of Steven's favorites?"

Adam smiled and started singing Love Like You, rubbing his back and coaxing him to sleep.

*

A week later, they all laid under the stars together in a snuggle puddle.

Anna readjusted Jasmin's breasts to lie on. "It's not as warm without Steven."

Jasmin nodded and blinked the tears out of her eyes. "I know. I'm trying to— to pretend."

They lapsed into a silence before Connie sat up to cry. Soon the rest joined with her, all linked arms around each other and heads down.

They'd made sure to pick up housework again after Connie almost fell. They started eating meals together at the same time and held each other accountable to their bad habits. They all kept an eye on each other and tried to exist peacefully without Steven, they had to learn to rely less on the man the entire planet and another entire planet relied on so heavily.

It was a shitty learning curve, but after two more weeks and no Steven, no contact from Steven to the Diamonds, and no word from his father either, they started to think the worst.

Jasmin tried to compose herself, feeling a little guilty for jumpstarting the tears. Her eyes went up to the sky, to where Homeworld was. It made her feel a little better.

"My favorite memory of Steven was when we accidentally turned him into a puppy," Hazel chortled through his tears. "He was... so embarrassed. But so cute."

Anna laughed outright. "That was cute. I think my favorite memory of Steven was him taking me shopping." She looked up to the sky to bask in the moonlight. "He made me feel like the most beautiful girl in everything I put on, even when I started trying on the worst things ever. I called him a liar for one dress and he told me he said I looked beautiful, and politely chose to decline commenting on the dress."

"Smart ass," Jacob mumbled. He pulled in a tumultuous breath. "I think... I-I don't know why, but I think my favorite memory was writing Happier with him." He chose not to look at anyone, instead he watched the grass glisten with starlight reflecting off the dew. "He gave me so much hope. He... he gave me the best hug I'd ever had and told me with absolute certainty everything would be okay. And I believed him."

Adam grunted and cleared his throat. "I just remembered mine. Didn't think I had a favorite." He scanned the space above them and when he didn't see anything he was looking for, his eyes welled with tears. "The time he came to me after I accidentally hypnotized you guys. He just shrunk and climbed into my lap to be babied for a while. We were home alone that day and I just got to cuddle him. It was... so nice."

Alex snorted. "My favorite memory was probably when he outright asked if I had a crush on Jacob." He felt the rest turn to look at him, especially the gaze of his mortified wife. "I think he meant it to be casual but he caught me staring really, really hard while Jacob was up in a tree. I just kept staring across the courtyard and I didn't even know it until he told me love has a lot of different meanings. And I think I started to change right then."

Connie laughed and tried to feel at peace with the partners she had that were her favorite people in the world. "I think my favorite moment was proposing we get proposed because I knew he'd want to do it himself. At 3 in the morning I told him to come outside and played my violin for him to sing him I'd Rather Be Me With You. He glowed so bright I almost went blind. I've never met anyone who loved me that much. Not even my parents."

Jasmin sighed for a long time, long enough that they turned to look at her as she stared at Homeworld. "I think my favorite memory is—," She cut herself off and squinted.

Jacob nudged her. "Darling?"

She gasped sharply and shot to her feet with tears in her eyes. "Right now. The day he came back home."

They found where she was looking and gasped too: a single burning yellow and orange light was coming closer by millimeters, darting across the sky like it was making its way toward them.

Connie took off, and the rest joined to run behind her.

*

Steven smiled as Sunita looked out the window nervously. "Don't worry, we've turned off G forces for your safety. Being in space and being stressed weighs a lot on your bodies. I don't think you should go back out to space."

Bruce nodded listlessly. "I think I'm retiring after this."

Pearl smiled thinly. She couldn't imagine what humans could possibly want with space but she supposed it was another example of them trying to make their meaningless lives worth something that would be forgotten in two or three decades maximum. "I think that's a good idea."

Steven offered them another meal laced with healing magic. They opted for it and he just opted to not tell them exactly how they'd get it. He felt bad, but he was a little jaded with humans' ignorance of space and recklessness to get there.

Garnet adjusted her visor and smiled for no reason it seemed. "We just broke through the atmosphere."

Steven chuckled, still as enamored with her future vision as an adult as he was when he was a child. "That means we'll be back in around 15 minutes give or take, our equipment travels a little different than yours."

He watched the life seep back into them. When he'd found them they were so pale, hunkered together for warmth as they slept and visibly sickly looking. Their eyes were so sunken he couldn't even be bothered to wake them up, he bubbled them and had Amethyst pull him back to their ship with her whip.

Pearl went to clear the vessel of anything they might want that they'd left behind and Garnet made sure nothing bad would happen. It was complicated and took nearly two hours total, but then it was finished.

Steven disassociated the whole time, he had to have because he barely even remembered leaving their ship. All he could think about was not failing. He had so much to live for. It felt like the first time in his life he'd ever had that thought and it didn't make things worse.

He missed his polycule, the all around trip took a bit longer than expected, and then nursing Bruce and Sunita with hard light aliens wasn't an easy sell either. But after a bit of gentle coaxing, Steven got through to them. Still his mind wandered to what the others were doing, if they missed him or barely noticed his absence at all. He was sure his wife was worried, and he was worried for her. No matter how much of a stone hearted warrior she thought she was, he could feel her longing for him all the way from space the whole time he'd been gone. Sometimes his gem even glowed and it pulled his thoughts to his partners.

He missed their magical human existences.

Steven sighed and looked out the window at the approaching planet and the lights that shone from houses and streetlights. Nighttime from so high up was oddly beautiful, but then he spotted something even better.

"Oh my stars and Diamonds," He muttered in disbelief. "What is that?!"

Streaks of colored light moving slowly could be seen on the ground. It even looked like the weird little rainbow was headed for the landing pad at the barn.

He glowed as they got within minutes and the lights cut out. He felt strange with his hands against the reinforced glass like a child but something in him burned so hard to know what it was. His eyes dropped, his gem was glowing ferociously to the point where the skin around it was a little blistered.

Garnet put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Calm down, you'll burn yourself out."

Steven didn't want to move but he sighed and sat heavily to meditate with Garnet. It was one of his favorite pastimes lately, he couldn't just wander around on the ship doing nothing for weeks.

He came to at a slight thud and Pearl giggling, "Whoopsie! Sorry about that, we're here."

In all honesty, Steven forgot about everyone else: the gems, the astronauts, himself. He forgot everything and all but rammed the door open to look around. Sunita gasped but he didn't care.

The Earth around the barn had been flourishing for a while now. The grasses were lush and green, flowers of all different colors surrounded him. Fireflies were glowing, the moon was full and shining as hard as it could. It smelled so nice, the nature smelled like home.

But just in front of the barn, there was a grassy area flattened and empty looking.

"Yo, Steven," Amethyst called. "I think someone's here to welcome you home, Buddy."

His eyes filled with tears he hadn't known he was holding back for so long, and he turned to look to them in a silent ask.

Pearl smiled. "You're off duty, Steven. We'll take it from here."

"Go to them," Garnet urged with a thumbs up. "You've earned it."

He took off with a smile so big he felt it in his body, but skidded to a stop in front of them all.

They were dozing all snuggled up together, looking beautiful and so wonderful he had to snap a picture before he stared at them all to take everything in.

His wife was lying on Hazels chest with a soft smile worn by everyone else. He could tell they'd fallen asleep excited, so very excited that the expression was still on their faces. It was so adorable he almost didn't want to disturb it, so he sat in front of them to protect them while they slept.

Or he tried to.

Connie sat up like she was possessed and he turned, locking eyes with her.

He smiled with all his heart and waited for Connie to cycle through emotions. She'd either attack him, or fly into his arms like a sweet princess.

She looked at him blankly and to his surprise, reached for him adoringly, like he might not be real. When her fingers brushed against his arms she squealed and launched herself into him. "You're home!" She cried euphorically.

Steven fell back with her and rocked her back and forth, memories now making way for remembering this exact moment. He kissed her and pressed her head into his chest so she could hear his heart pounding away in bliss. "I'm home."

Then he was buried in love.

He grunted as someone's knees dug into his thigh and then squealed, they'd found a new ticklish spot. "Ah! Wait!" He couldn't stop giggling, so many people were kissing him and nuzzling him and he couldn't help the breath that escaped him when he glowed involuntarily because Hazel was scratching at his head like he loved him to do.

Steven blushed. "Hi."

Hazel laughed and pinched his cheek. "Hi, Puppy. Did you have fun?"

"No." And that was the goddamned truth.

Connie nipped at him and started swatting everyone back. "Where's Adam?"

Steven kissed Jasmin and then Anna and wrapped Jacob in his arms to squeeze the life out of him until he squeaked, "You're— gonna break me!"

He slackened but nuzzled into his neck to press a kiss there. "Sorry. I'm just so happy to be home."

Alex pushed everyone out of the way to kiss Steven, really kiss him, until he was breathless. Steven swooned and giggled as he faceplanted onto his shoulder. "Whoa."

Alex brought him up for bunny kisses and another nose nuzzle. "I'm so happy you're home."

Red faced and a little in shock, Steven did a headcount and pushed hair out of his eyes. "Is Adam okay?"

They cleared the way so he could stand and walk to him with his head tucked between his knees while he sobbed under his breath. "Adam?"

"I'm fine," He giggled through a sniffle. "I'm just more attached to you than I thought, which was already a lot."

Steven crouched to nuzzle into his chest forcefully until he was laying on top of him and muttering, "I missed having a Daddy around."

Adam stroked his head adoringly. "It's just not the same without all my babies." He cleared his throat and let his eyes shut to fall asleep like that.

They all crawled to lie next to them and Steven randomly grabbed someone to snuggle against for a while. When he got to Connie he all but wrapped himself around her and surrounded her just like she liked him to do when he came home.