I could never be
I could never be
I could never be ready for this

This episode is saturated in that sense of melancholy that this show does best, as we see how Steven’s guardians started to reconcile with the loss of Rose (and, you know, understanding the responsibilities that come with a baby).

In light of a snowstorm, the Gems have permitted Greg to stay over with Steven for a bit (since the heater in his van is broken), which leads them to recall another big snowstorm (and presumably Steven’s first Christmas, although they never call it that because I guess Christianity doesn’t exist in this universe?).

Steven: Don’t forget our arrangement.

Greg: Good gravy…

Steven: That’s what you get for raising me to love music!

Greg: Luckily, I have a song for this story already.

These two are adorable.

I could never be
I could never be
I could never be ready for this
I could never be
I could never be
I could never be ready.
Things start and things end
And isn’t it lovely in theory, but
I could never be
I could never be
I could never be ready.

It’s cute how Steven-y this song feels.

So in this snowstorm, Greg was able to crash at Vidalia’s place.  And we quickly establish that he was indeed Not Prepared for a baby, let alone being a single parent to an adorable hybrid abomination.

Greg: Does your Gem need to breathe?

And then these guys track him down.

Amethyst: Yo Greg, check it out! We brought gifts for little Rose! 

Garnet: Amethyst, we’ve gone over this. Steven is a…

Amethyst: Human baby.

Garnet: And Steven is?

Amethyst: Not Rose.

Greg: Can I get you guys anything? We’ve got water…old plates…uh, how about some tea?

Pearl: No. We’re just here to drop off these gifts.

It’s not all that surprising that Amethyst is the only one who brings an almost useful gift – Garnet gets him a razor, Pearl a dictionary, and Amethyst a box of diapers.

Greg: Wow, diapers! This is so practical! Wait…are these adult diapers? They’re way too big for him!

Amethyst: So tell him to make himself bigger! You can do that, right little Greg?

Greg: You can call him Steven. That’s the name Rose and I liked the most.

Then Greg demonstrates what baby Steven is actually interested in: Jingling keys!

Amethyst: Woah, he loves it! Hey little Steven!

Pearl: Hm. He’s certainly captivated with those things.

Garnet: Well next time we’ll just bring a big box of keys for Steven!

They’re all laughing and smiling together for the first time, and Steven is a very happy baby.

And perhaps Rose is happy too, as this is the first time Steven’s Gem glows…which is very confusing for poor Greg, even before the Gems start conjecturing about why.

Amethyst: Relax, y’all! I got it all figured out. Rose is trying to shapeshift back to her old self!

Greg: What?

Pearl: She can’t shapeshift, because she’s trapped in a baby!

Greg: Trapped in a baby?

Garnet: Rose hasn’t shapeshifted and she isn’t trapped. Steven is a fusion. Rose could be trying to unfuse.

Garnet, with you, everything’s fusion.

The Gems still haven’t really accepted the fact that Rose is gone (something that Greg has already been forced to accept as a fact of life, being the sole caretaker of her child for the last couple months).  It’s not hard to see why, though – for literally every other Gem in existence, the gemstone is the Gem.  Rose’s Gem is clearly undamaged, so they can’t wrap their heads around the idea that Steven could be a totally different person with the same Gem.

And then they run off with Steven while Greg is trying to figure out what to do when a baby glows.

Steven: You kidnapped me?

Amethyst: Yep.

Garnet: Some of our actions were a bit regrettable.

Pearl: At the time, we thought it’d be better to handle things our way.

Amethyst: Nah. We straight up nabbed you.

Come on, Steven, Pearl kidnapped you as recently as Season 1!

Amethyst is convinced that Rose is just shapeshifting (because of course she is)…except it’s been months, and if that were really what was going on, that would just be a very cruel joke.

Amethyst: It’s so easy [to change back], why can’t she do it?

Garnet: Because it’s not shapeshifting, it’s fusion. Steven, I understand Greg is part of you and you don’t want to unfuse in front of him. That would be very rude. But he’s not here. It’s just us. You can take a little break.

Something tells me Garnet learned a little about how human reproduction works and decided it was just a sort of fusion (which…kind of?).  But she throws that theory out the window when she unfuses and Steven starts crying.

Garnet: I’m here. You know me! You know them, too…I don’t understand.

Pearl: Everyone calm down. Look, we can all see her. She’s right there! She just can’t reform, because she has this…baby around her.

And this is perhaps the most horrifying theory of all, as it views Steven as some sort of parasite preventing Rose from being “herself”.

Pearl: Rose, I know you’re in there. I can let you out. We’ll be…together…again…

At this point in the story, you really understand where they’re coming from, why they don’t want to believe that “Rose” is now Steven, that she’s never coming back.

Pearl: I can’t! She wanted this so much. I just don’t understand why! Everything should grow, everything should change, and isn’t it so great how it comes so naturally to humans? Well it’s not natural for us! It’s not natural for me.

Garnet: It will be, for him.

Amethyst: What about Rose?

Garnet: This isn’t about Rose. From now on, everything has to be about Steven.

Then poor Greg finally catches up to them.

…wearing an obvious allusion to Mary, the human parent of the Son of God.

Greg: Hey, wait a minute! Why did you take Steven on a joy ride in the middle of a blizzard? What’s the big idea?

Amethyst: There wasn’t really a big idea…just a lot of small ideas that never really came together.

Garnet: My apologies, Greg. We thought we knew what Steven was. We didn’t.

Greg: Honestly, I’m not sure if I do, either.  I never glowed when I was a kid.

Pearl: We never were kids.

Greg: I don’t know how we’re gonna figure this out, but I think we’ll have a better shot if we do it together.

They’re all so much more chill now and it is beautiful.

Steven: Wow. You guys were wrong about everything.

Pearl: Well, that was a really long time ago, wasn’t it?

Amethyst: Cut us some slack, will ya?

Garnet: We couldn’t have known what to do. Even me.

Greg: Especially me.

Steven: No, I mean about changing and growing, and how it doesn’t come naturally to you? Like, look at you now! I know you’ll never stop missing Mom, but I bet she would’ve loved this. I do.

THIS BOY.

Until next time…