Blue had been suspiciously quiet since she'd gotten into the room and while Pearl wanted to bury the woman in questions, her mind just wasn't up to the task and so she sunk deeper into the sheets, cradling her stomach almost instinctively. But when Jasper's mother finally did speak, Pearl had most assuredly not heard her correctly. "Preg... nant?" Pearl shot up in the bed, immediately recoiling from the head rush and mix of nausea it gave her. "That's a cruel joke, especially from you, Ma'am..." The dancer reached up to grip her oversized tshirt, staring down at the sheets as she mused quietly. There was no way she could be pregnant right now. Sure, the two of them never used protection, but that was because Pearl had always been on birth control and she'd been told long before that she was unable to bare children. If it<i>was</i>true, it would have explained a lot of the symptoms she'd been feeling lately... Pearl glanced up at Blue with a deep frown on her face. Jasper's mother also had trouble having kids, though Pearl had never been able to tell her she did the same. Blue had almost carried a child to term, though, and so she had a better inkling than Pearl did on what it felt and looked like to be pregnant. Already feeling the faint happiness building up in her, Pearl slowly squashed it down and crawled over to sit in front of Blue. The dancer looked exhausted and at the end of her rope as she knelt there, staring at Jasper's mother like the woman was Mother Theresa herself, or something. The hope this woman threatened to give her was going to tear her apart. With tears forming in her eyes, Pearl stared at the older woman with a serious gaze before asking again: "Are you sure I'm pregnant? Because I have been able, just as yourself for the longest time and I know you of all people would understand just how cruel it would be to lie about something like this..." Even saying the words hurt, to imply the woman would lie to her when she and her own had been nothing but accepting of her ever since they'd met her. Blue just nodded solemnly with a small smile, placing her hand on Pearl's stomach as she did so. "You are with child..."<br/><br/>Pearl crumbled over Blue's arm, clutching onto the woman as she burst into tears. It was an overwhelming happiness that caused it, though there were still some lurking thoughts in the back of her mind that she was possibly being lied to. Honestly, though, it had been such a tough few weeks holding in the information she had that this small miracle shifted everything. For better or worse. Pearl hiccuped in her crying, pulling back to dry her eyes, but it didn't matter when the tears wouldn't stop. She was worried. Pearl had seen Jasper's rage and although Blue quelled her fears over that for a time, even Jasper's mother hadn't known what happened those few years she lost touch with her child and the sheer violence her loved one,<i>their</i>loved one wrecked havoc with. The happiness Pearl felt over the small miracle possibly growing inside of her just got tainted with more uncertainty. There was nothing to stop Jasper from turning into that girl she was years ago. At least, until Mala had come into her life. Mala had changed everything for Jasper, better or worse. Would this child change everything again? There was a brief wonder of whether Jasper would even accept this child, but that thought was immediately dashed. Jasper loved her. And there was no way she'd hurt her or just run away from her problems. There were still seeds of doubt buried in the scars of Pearl's mind, wounds left by past lovers that current love only ever seemed to glaze over, but never heal. For now, Pearl was just happy about the pregnancy and the look on Jasper's face when she told her. The dancer looked over at Blue and gave the woman a small smile. "I was distracted, yes. But... I'm better now. Much better. And we have cause to celebrate! But, I want to tell Jasper first, before the family knows. Can you please keep it a secret?"<br/><br/>The ski trip ended with Pearl on a rather high note. The gifts had been exchanged and while Jasper finally received that terrifying motorcycle, Pearl wanted to make sure she had the proper alone time to tell Jasper everything. And while telling her about the pregnancy during Christmas seemed like a good idea, she still wanted to talk to her about the file as well and the fact that she and, probably Lapis, had a copy of it. Jasper needed to know, as did Peridot. When they'd finally made it home, it was actually a message from Peridot that had made the woman cry again. It was getting towards the end of the month and Pearl needed to pay on her loans, but when she had attempted to do so, the bank refused her. For a sheer moment of pure panic, the dancer had assumed it was due to the account being taken over by collections or something, but the bank teller just smiled and handed her a note, saying it was from the woman's lawyer who had paid off the rest of the loans. "She must love you a lot." It was true, the accounts were all closed, having been fully paid off even before they went on the ski trip. Jasper had done this for her. The urge to run home and spill out everything to Jasper was the only reason Pearl didn't collapse into tears right there at the bank. There was no doubt in her mind at all that Jasper was the right one for her. She'd done so much good recently to outweigh all the bad she'd done in her past and Mala's continued growth into an amazing woman was even further proof of how much Jasper had changed from past mistakes.<br/><br/>"I'm home!! Jasper, where are you? I have to speak with you, my mischievous little tiger..." Pearl chuckled, placing her bags down and peering around the corner into the kitchen. It was odd, the whole house was quiet. Even Mala didn't run up and say hello even though she was clearly out of school by now. Growing a little more concerned, Pearl started checking the rooms and calling out again, even checking the door to make sure the lock was still functioning. It wasn't until she'd gotten into their bedroom that things started to make sense. Sort of. The bedroom was a mess and someone had clearly been having a few issues. Terror gripped tightly at Pearl's heart as she wondered if there really was a break in somehow? And then her eyes fell on the file strewn across the bed. All of Jasper's dirty past was laid out and reveal and Pearl found her hand covering her mouth before the bubbling of choked sobs had even reached her throat. Jasper must of been getting ready to wash their gym clothes or something. She couldn't think of how else the papers would have been seen. The terror that choked her heart now had it in its vices' for another reason entirely: Jasper had no context. her lover didn't know why those papers were in her bag or how they got there and even though Pearl's mood had improved towards her lately, there were still those few weeks where she hadn't wanted to be touched. Jasper was going to blame herself if things weren't resolved quickly. Pearl pressed her hand to her stomach, softly, as she hoped with all her aching heart she didn't just ruin the good future she'd made for this unborn child by being so stupid.