Two months had passed since the two Diamonds' argument. They hadn't said a word to each other since, and quite frankly, the gems that served them were sick of it.

Obviously, the Amethyst guards, as well as the skinny Jasper and the Carnelian, didn't care. If anything, they were happy that there was no one to tell them what to do. That included Holly Blue.

She hadn't been instructed to do anything, so she thought it was best to wait until she was given some instructions. And that was going to be a very long wait.

"Hey, Holly hasn't been around, like, at all," 8XL said. "I like it."

"Yeah," said 8XJ. "That fight must've torn Blue Diamond apart or somethin', cuz Holly hasn't spoken to us in forever."

"Are you guys complaining about it?" Skinny asked.

"Of course they aren't!" Carnelian butted in, doing a handstand for no reason whatsoever. "Besides, now we can actually chill."

"Exactly," 8XJ nodded.

Blue looked at her gemlings on the screen of the new machine. She noticed that that strange, other blob was still there, the one that the machine couldn't recognize.

"Well," Chalcedony said, squinting. "It certainly isn't the machine, we know that. This one is new."

"It still can't recognize it, correct?"

"That is an unfortunate 'yes,' my Diamond."

"Well, what now?"

"There's only so much left that I can do, my Diamond."

"I'm only worried that this can harm the gemlings, somehow."

"Well, the scanner says they're doing perfectly. I know you can feel the bump from them. Can you feel whatever this is?"

"Um..." Blue Diamond felt around. "...I think so. I—Yes...Yes, I feel it! It...It feels like another one of them."

"That's not—Wait."

Blue Diamond became puzzled when she saw her Chalcedony start typing frantically.

"Chalcedony? Is something the matter?"

"My Diamond, you were supposed to have triplets. However, the conception process didn't affect her until after it affected the other two. That's, basically, how a 'runt' is created."

"Pardon me?" Blue was confused. She was very intelligent but was not created to act as a sort of nurse for gems. This lead to Chalcedony breaking down the conception of a "runt" as simply as possible ("For demonstration purposes, I will call Yellow Diamond's cells Y cells and your cells B. You understand that to create a gemling, a Y cell, in a sort of race against other Y cells must latch onto one of yours. Three Y cells got here," she put her hand on Blue's abdomen, "but two latched into a B cell. The remaining one latched on later than the others, even though all three Y cells, and therefore all three gemlings, were conceived at the same time. The runt Y cell had enough contact with the B cell but without latching on, meaning it was there but not quite. Now we see it.").

Blue Diamond unknowingly strengthened her grip on her stomach. "So, what does that mean for them?"

"The two that you can see the most prominently, they will be born in five months, as normal. This one, however, she will be born in...at least eight months."

"Will...she be alright?"

"Well, she has high chances of being born early. If that's the case, she will be frail and her gem will be fragile. If she makes it to full term, it will only be so much better."

"Can...Can anything be done about it?"

"I'm afraid not, my Diamond."

"Well...she will make it?" she asked, making it sound like more of a statement than a question. "She can't—I'm sure you know the rest."

"About that, my Diamond. As long as she's in the womb, she's fine. But whether she's born early, on time, or even late, the birth could harm her. Or...or worse."

Blue Diamond let her tears fall fast and violently. She sat up, her arms wrapped defensively around her stomach. "No..." She weeped, saying the word over and over and over, getting faster and faster each time.

"My Diamond, I understand your feelings about this, and I cannot at all blame you for feeling them, but please know this: the more stressed you are when you're in labor with her, the more you'll hurt her. Remember that, my Diamond."

Blue squeezed her eyes shut, for the sake of getting the tears to slip out. She nodded. "I will." Her eyes widened a bit at the feeling of two things rolling around inside of her. The gemlings—she could see and feel them squirming around. Even on the ultrasound screen she could see them moving.

"Chalcedony...should they be moving like this?"

"Do not worry, my Diamond. They're energetic; they're fine."

"Of course.."

"Well—" Chalcedony shut down the machine. "—it looks as if I'm done here. Aside from the late gemling of the three, there's nothing else to be concerned about. Just rest up and try not to stress too much."

"Of course. You are dismissed."

"Take care."

Blue took in a deep breath then let it out quietly. Her Pearl stood by the door, silently listening to everything, her eyes glued to the floor so she wouldn't see things, like her Diamond crying.

"Pearl."

"Yes, my Diamond?"

"Inform Yellow about everything you've heard. About the late one. And be sure to tell her that I do not want her to come to me when she's ready to talk about it, but rather I go to her when I'm ready to talk." She sighed, "Let's see how she likes waiting, just like I've been doing."

"Yes, my Diamond."