Senioritis 3

Epilogue

By the time Peter had fully rolled out the pizza dough, his hands were completely coated in flour. He'd become used to accepting that the kitchen was always going to be a mess and he'd have time to clean up later anyway.

It was still pretty warm for Chicago evenings in early September, and the wooden sliding doors that overlooked the patio had been open all day to let in fresh air. It was weird having all this space, Peter thought. He still knew he would never get used to it.
Being able to afford everything and more, being comfortable. Even when he landed his first job out of college. Even when his tech start up made its first million in a matter of months. It would never feel real.

"You deserve it, Peter." MJ had said.

He had been so nervous taking the leap to start his own company. He'd lay awake on his back next to MJ, coming up with various disastrous scenarios. They'd go broke. He'd have to fire all his college friends and colleagues that he hired. He'd have to stay working for someone else forever - at a job that paid him pretty darn well, but didn't fulfill him.

"This is bullshit, Peter. You're gonna be doing what you love." MJ had said. And of course she was right.

When Peter looked behind him now, he saw Keoni laying on the grass next to the trampoline. She'd been distracted by her 86-piece Lego gear set and had almost put the entire thing together since she'd started a couple hours ago. It was her Christmas present from Ned and Betty, and MJ had said it was way too boring of a toy for a three-year-old. Keoni didn't seem to mind it, though.

He'd just finished laying out all the toppings in small glass bowls around the table when he heard the sound of her footsteps approaching.

"Daddy, I finished my Lego." Keoni said, putting her arms around his leg and peering over the counter.

"Yeah, I saw you." Peter smiled, dusting his hands on his shorts. "Good job, squish."

That was Peter's nickname for Keoni, and it had stuck from the first time he held her in the hospital. He thought she was literally the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and May had been there to agree with him. Okay, maybe all parents were slightly biased, Peter thought, but there was something about knowing that a tiny human with a beating heart was his.

Keoni was born at 6:34p.m; Peter still had vivid memories of MJ laying on her hospital bed and him sitting down next to her, carrying Keoni close to his chest. As MJ dozed in and out of consciousness, Peter had just stared at his daughter, and thought about how he'd found someone else that he needed to protect forever.

"She looks like you, Parker." MJ had mumbled.

"She does?" Peter smiled.

And MJ hadn't replied because she'd fallen asleep again. She had always said she'd had a 'mini Peter'; except for MJ's loose curly hair, Keoni had Peter's wide brown eyes and lips. They had the same mannerisms, the same ability to concentrate on anything for a long time and liked and hated all of the same foods.

When Peter wasn't working, he'd spend practically every minute with Keoni, especially when MJ was pregnant with Nari. They'd build forts in the garden together, bake and ice cookies, and make slime and do puzzles, to name a few things.

Keoni talked a lot for her age and asked a lot of questions. Peter had gotten better at being patient enough to answer them all. He wanted to be there for her in a way his dad and Uncle Ben couldn't. Because if there was anything he'd learnt...it was that time was really precious.

She was his best friend.

"Should we put the toppings on our pizza?" Peter asked Keoni as she nodded.