Lapidot: Anniversaries
>Lapis Lazuli: Contemplate the gift you got your mate and if it is really good enough.
You can't help but stare at the new prosthetic covers you bought her, wondering if they'll be what she wants. Her last ones were old, though not as old as Aventurine and Amazonite. Those covers had long since been thrown away, but the ones she had now were starting to fray and tear; even taking that into account, you feel like they aren't enough. The two of you have been together since she got infected, and that was so long ago. Your lifespans haven't diminished that much by being made organic, though your five kids are supposed to have shorter lifespans. Some say you'll even live past them, but you don't want to think about that right now. You're more interested in the lime green covers before you. They match her skin to the best of any that you had seen, but it still doesn't feel like it's good enough.
Peridot has been with you for over sixty years now- aside from that brief break-up over nineteen revolutions ago, before the first set of twins were laid- and your youngest children just turned fifteen a few months back. You've been together for so long, and getting her covers for her legs doesn't feel like a very good gift to give her. You know she'll be happy with it, she'll say that she'll love it, but that doesn't feel like it's enough. Together, you have five wonderful children, and she's tried to do so much, even after the company went bankrupt. She lost her accounting job, and now you live in an apartment building with a bunch of other gems and some humans, and it feels so wrong to give her the covers, but the two of you can't afford much else.
Your job doesn't pay much, and neither does hers. No one wants first gen gems working for them anymore, more interested in the younger gems like your children. Which is great for them, and you're glad they're getting ready to leave the nest soon, because it's getting harder and harder to support the kids. Turquoise and Variscite will be eighteen in next year, and they'll be graduating soon after. It's hard to think so, but at least your children don't have children of their own. You hope. They could have very well gotten another gem to carry their young by accident and didn't tell you, but you have confidence in them that they didn't.
Just as you begin contemplating on your children, your oldest walks in. Variscite is only a few minutes older than her sister if you count laying-wise, and though a couple hours younger if you go by hatching time, but to you, she's the oldest. She walks over to where you stand beside the bed and peeks at the cover laid out on it, and you glance at her. She's not one to ruin surprises, and you know you can trust her with the secret of what you got her carrier.
"Hey Mom L. Mom P's gift?" she asks curiously, and you nod, causing her to nod in response as she looks over them. "Looks nice. Her others are getting kinda torn, and I think she burned a hole in one last week when she was with Amazon in that silly area in the basement they use for practice."
"How is their band going? Is it still just them, or did they ever get anyone else to join?" you ask, rubbing the back of your head. You hate that you can't keep up with it, but Amazonite is just so energetic and lively, that it's impossible for you to track what they're doing at any given point in time. You're actually surprised they're still trying to make the band, given their normally short attention span for these things.
"Ah, they got Rainbow to sing vocals and that little orange gem to play the drums. I think they said Citrine was her name, but I can't remember if that's right or not." You nod, furrowing your brows as you stare at the covers. Are they really going to be a good gift? Peridot has been acting weird lately, and you don't want to get her something that she doesn't like, even though she'll say that she loves it. "Heeeellooo? Taerrie to Momma L? Are you there?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, Vari. I was just... Lost in my thoughts again. So Citrine, Rainbow Quartz, and Amazonite?" She nods, bobbing her head up and down slowly as you talk. She smirks a bit and you raise a brow at her, questioning what in the world your daughter could possibly be thinking about right then.
"Yeah. Rainbow found it cute, and wanted to humour her, and Citrine liked the idea. What were you thinking about?" The smirk tips you off before she says a word about it, and you roll your eyes at her, before shrugging. There's nothing to hide, so you don't try. Variscite is a good kid, and wouldn't tell a soul, even if it was something to hide.
"Just... Whether or not I got her the right gift," you sigh, and Vari's arms wrap around you in a tight hug. She's a little taller than you, but not by much, and you rub your affectionate daughter's back as she holds you for a moment, before pulling back.
"I'm sure Mom's gonna love it. She said something about wanting new ones, so she'll be grateful you got her some. They look like they'll match pretty good too." You nod, smiling as your child talks. She's good with finding stuff out like that, and you're grateful for it, because without her, you probably would have worried yourself into a frenzy.
"Yeah. I thought so too. I'm gonna go ahead and wrap them. Anything you need?" You're not kicking her out, but you know she wants something. Either precious time spent with you, gathering information, or she's wanting something out of you. You hope it's the first of those options, but you can never be sure with her.
"Just one thing," she hums, and you raise a brow. Her grin is precious, and you want to hug her tight, like you used to do when she was your little ankle biter, leaving a puddle of drool on your ankle when she slept on you. "What do you want for your anniversary?"
"Are you snooping?" you ask, grabbing a small box and tucking the covers inside of it. You grab the wrapping paper from under the bed and look up at her as you set it on the bed, and she flushes. Seems you've caught her, and she knows it. She looks away, not wanting to give herself away, but you're both aware that she already has. With her being your little girl, you know all of her tells from when she's hiding something from you, and that is certainly the look you know well.
"Well... Maybe. I wasn't sure what you wanted, and... Er, I wanted to get you something?" she tries, and your eyes narrow, but you let it slide. You go back to taping the box shut and wrapping it up, not sure what to tell her yet. You think about it as you fold the paper, hissing softly when you can't get it to do what you want. Damn wrapping paper. You hate wrapping.
"Just a new filter for the aquarium would be nice. Or a new fish. Thomas is getting old, and I think he's going to pass away soon, so one of those half breeds with the human suckerfish and the golden-tailed streamer. You know the ones?"
"Yeah. So you either want a five dollar filter or a cheap fish? Why not a full breed of each?" You glance up at her and manage to tear the paper, growling at yourself. You hate wrapping, you hate it so much that it almost hurts. Variscite snatches it away from you and wraps it up in seconds, putting your horrible wrapping attempt to shame.
"Thanks. Yeah though, the filter or the fish. Half breeds between fish from here and Earth tend to live longer and they're cheaper, and my old filter is getting pretty useless." She nods a bit before handing you back the wrapped box. You stick a bow on it and tuck the paper back under the bed, almost surprised that she had got the wrapping paper cut so perfectly with just her nails. She smiles you that smile that says she's hiding something else from you, and you narrow your eyes. "What? What is it that you're hiding from me?"
"Nothing." She's lying, and you want to point it out, but you're almost scared to know. You end up sighing and running a hand through her hair. You need to trim it soon, it's getting almost too long for your liking, and Peridot probably won't mind doing a quick trim too much, but you don't want to inconvenience her. Maybe Pearl will cut your hair for you? You aren't sure. She has taken in that little half-gem recently when his dad lost his house, and from what you can tell, Steven's a handful.
"Don't lie to me." She swallows and looks down, picking at her nails. It's a bad habit, but you won't say anything about it for now. She shakes her head, and she's out the door before you can say another word, leaving yourself alone in the bedroom with Peridot's gift. Great, she's hiding something from you and doesn't want to share it. Now you're worried about something else instead of whether or not you've got the right gift for your lover.