Honestly at this point, I’ve lost count. Sorry this took so long, but here it is! Prepare yourself for the fate of the jaspidot gemlings below! AO3!
The coughing fits had started at barely a day old. Data, all fluffy hair and little toothless nips, had started coughing after Steven had carefully helped her feed the little ones. A small cough really, but for a small body, it was large and racked her to the point that she had become hoarse. She shook and quaked with each little cough, and it hurt Peridot to see her little one so messed up. Data was obviously in pain when the fits started up, but there was nothing she could do for her.
Pearl had been helping her care for the little one the best she could. However, there was only so much they could do for her. None of the human medicines seemed to be working, and her coughing had only gotten worse. It had been a week now, and she was still coughing herself to the point she was almost impossible to care for. On the rare occasions they could get her to try eating, she would often start coughing in the middle of it, and choke. Quite a few times Pearl had taken the choking gemling from her with nimble fingers and whisk her away, fretting over the little one and the formula inside her.
Thankfully, none of the other gemlings seemed to be affected. At least, not that she could see. It made it easier at least, knowing that she could care for all of them- including her runt, who was much healthier than Data it seemed- without risk of them starting up coughing spells that would wake them from naps. However, this meant that her sick gemling required quite a bit of doting on, since she couldn’t seem to sleep peacefully and was always fussy. It was no surprise for those in the house to be bombarded with coughing noises at any period during the day, unless Peridot had taken them to the temple. What was a surprise was when the coughing stopped.
Mixing the different proportions of the correct ingredients into the blender, Peridot couldn’t help but feel so desperately alone in the house then. Steven and Amethyst had run off to the boardwalk from her understanding of their excited chatter, while Pearl had slipped into the temple earlier with the fusion to check on the geodes wrapped up inside near the temple’s heart. Around the working peridot, crying filled the air, desperate gemlings begging her to feed them. Crying for four, and coughing for one.
“I’m working on it, please stop crying,” she begged the little ones for the millionth time since they had awoken. Though they hadn’t opened their eyes yet, they had seemed to grasp that she was their mother and responded to her begging with louder cries for attention. A quick glance at the basket perched on the bar and she could see little flailing arms, grasping for her she assumed. Not having the time to reassure them, she turned on the blender, knowing their cries would at least be quieted. Over the last week, the gemlings had come to associate the sound with the knowledge that food would be forthcoming, even if it took a little while as their mother struggled on working the piece of technology.
With a relieved sigh, she turned off the blender and found the room completely silent. No crying. Good, that meant they were placated. She rushed to fill four bottles with the mixture, pouring the rest into the container that Pearl had given her to store the leftover milk. Instead of this being blended each time, it simply had to be shaken, and while this was greatly appreciated, she had run out during the last feeding time and hadn’t had the time to make more until then. Byte still had formula in her own container for now, and she shook it up before pouring a bottle for the runt. Carefully, she carried the five bottles over to her quiet clutch, and started feeding them.
Byte was first, to make sure that Peridot didn’t mix up the bottles, and the little one clawed at the small bottle as she suckled, drinking it down eagerly as if her entire life had been spent waiting on the liquid inside. Unable to help herself, Peridot started purring and got a soft purr in response as Byte drank it down. The bottle was soon emptied and the gemling replaced in the pile of her sisters, put atop so not to be squished.
Next was a growling little Streak, her face scrunched up angrily as she held onto the bottle the best she could with her unsteady fingers. Peridot purred to her as well, though she knew that Streak wouldn’t purr back until she was satisfied and the bottle drained. It came soon enough and the bottle was set down, while Peridot took a moment to simply look over her largest gemling. Streak was now purring back, though her face was still scrunched up as if in pain. Just as her mother began to wonder what was wrong with her, her eyes cracked open slowly. A bleary blink and the gemling started chirring, her yellow eyes unfocused as she stared.
“Oh, you… You opened your eyes,” Peridot gasped, amazed at the sight of Streak staring at her, the first gemling of hers to open her eyes and be introduced to the world. Pride flooded her, but a chirr from the basket reminded her that she had other gemlings to attend to, so Streak was put back in the mostly quiet basket. Dottie was fed next, purring but otherwise quiet in her grip as passively as possible for the gemling. She lightly held onto the bottle, no where near as aggressive as her sisters had been. Dottie seemed content with simply being held.
Last was Smudge, holding onto the bottle and purring happily. Occasionally, the gemling would spit out the nipple and chirr at her mother, seeming to be wanting attention. Peridot was quick to supply it by rubbing her thumb lightly over her head, effectively petting the gemling as she coaxed her back into finishing the bottle off. By the end of it, Smudge was put carefully back into the basket, and Peridot smiled at the sight of her four gemlings curled up in the basket together.
Wait. Four?
A quick count confirmed that, yes, only four gemlings resided in the basket. She looked to the bottles she had made and noticed a full bottle staring back at her. A fifth bottle. Panic filled her, and for the first time, she noticed that there was no coughing. Her heart thudding, she carefully lifted and shifted the now aggravated gemlings to check and see if maybe Data had been somewhere where she simply couldn’t see her, only to find a small and green little gem under Byte. Every thing seemed to come to a standstill as she picked up the tiny gem, careful not to crush it between her fingers. In the next moment, she realised exactly what it meant, and her entire world came crashing down around her in a wail of despair.
And, for the first time since it had started, Peridot missed the coughing.