Loved (Book Two In the Spiderman Series)

Thirty-Three

"Pete!" After hanging upside for awhile and ordering that Nat go out and get me cream cheese frosting, I ended up in the lab. I looked up from my work and smiled at Dad. "Yeah?" He limped toward me. He had been on crutches for a few days, but Cho ended up putting him in the boot before she left. "Wade's asleep upstairs and it was odd not seeing you with him." He pulled a stool next to my work station and sat down. "How are you?" I sat back in the desk chair at my desk and sighed. "Better I'd say. I think I really needed that breakdown and though I did threaten the life of my kid and punched Sam, I feel better." I played with my ring and Dad looked at me. "What's that?" I took off the ring and handed it to him. "We're engaged." I mumbled and he froze. "Wh-What? When!" I laughed lightly and leaned back in the chair. "Last night. He...He felt better knowing that I'd be his for as long as we can stand each other. He's agreed to wait until I'm officially 18 before we go through with the wedding." Dad rubbed his forehead and handed me back the ring. "I was skeptical the first time he brought you home. The day you went into the system. I really got to see him while you were missing. He came home and was just a mess. He was crying and covered in blood...he looked insane. He said you were taken and he looked so broken. It wasn't until I learned that he lost his fiance that I realized why. He loves you, loves your kid and I wouldn't want to see you with anyone else."

I smiled, "Thanks Dad." He shrugged and leaned forward ruffling my hair. "I wanted to talk to you about something." I motioned for him to continue. "The accords. They're...wanting you to sign it. They have suspected you were either killed in action or taking a break. Either way, I have been tasked with bringing you in." I huffed and shook my head. "I can't. I can't be under government control anymore. I won't risk my life, Wade's life or the life of my kids. I'd have to reveal myself to the public." "Kids?" I smiled lightly and played with the ring again. "With the X-Men, I met a warrior from the year 2068, he's stuck in our time and he told me that the year he came from, Wade and I have 6 kids. All of which are immortal." Dad laughed, "Creating an army?" "Something like that."

"Back on point. I figured you wouldn't want to sign the accords. But...and this is a but, what if we show the government who you are. Tell them you're a small town hero who joins in on the big stuff when shorthanded. Tell them you're starting a family and that you can't be on their beck and call." I looked at my hands and thought it over. "I'm willing." He smiled and put a hand on my knee. "There's also talk of a press conference. A debriefing of what happened to you. The media is worried Steve and I are lying and trying to keep you out of view. Especially with the sudden withdrawl...you were abused but they assume it's us." I chewed on my lip and looked up, nodding slightly. "I'll do one, but I have rights to not talk about the painful stuff. The baby will not be mentioned and neither will my relationship with Wade. I don't want the connection of Spiderman and Deadpool, which is heavily publicized, to be a red flag and an indicator. We've talked this over and our marriage is not going to be something the media will know about until necessary." He nodded and patted my knee. "I'll make plans, you might not be in school tomorrow." He stood up and steadied himself on the desk. "You need to eat and if Wade sleeps more, he will miss dinner and I know how grumpy he gets." I giggled and stood up, following him out of the lab.

I rounded the corner and grinned at my sleeping fiancee. I trotted over to the side of the couch and very lightly crawled into his lap, straddling him. I kissed his nose and he wrinkled his face. I put my hands on his chest and shook him lightly. "Wade." He groaned and a second later his bkiue eyes are staring into mine. "Hey sleepy head. Dad is ordering food." He smiled tiredly and pulled me into an embrace. "I love you." He mumbled sleepily. "I love you too handsome." I pressed a kiss to his chin and he sat up, situating me in his lap. "How's the little one?" I grabbed his hand and put it on my stomach. He gasped and grinned. "I felt that, what was that?" I laughed and put my head against his shoulder.

"I don't know much about mutant babies, but I think he either just shocked you or showed you a mental image. He's been doing it to me for 2 hours." "He showed me a picture of you...you were 8 I think." I closed my eyes and laughed through my nose. "I'm guessing it's the one of me at the Stark Expo in 2011. I had run from Aunt May and Uncle Ben, to face one of the robots. I had an iron man mask on and I rose my hand up to shoot a laser. Dad was behind me and shot one for me. That's the first time we ever met." "That was you!" I opened my eyes and turned my head to face Dad. "Yeah, weird huh." Dad laughed and hobbled to the couch diagonal to us. "Pepper was so pissed, she thought you were gonna die." He looked down and laughed again, sadly. I got up from Wade's lap and squatted down in front of Dad.

"Two marriages. Down the drain." He sniffled and wiped his eyes harshly. I put my hands on his knees. "He's not worth it. She wasn't worth it. I know you loved them, hell it hurts for Po-Steve to leave and not fight, but you can do better. Do better than someone who nearly killed you and do better than someone who couldn't handle your eccentric personality." Dad smiled and ruffled my hair. "How did you get so smart?" I shrugged and leaned back against the coffee table. "I had a great role model."