Light in the Dark | PETER PARKER

twenty-nine

Delray walks in with a little girl at his side. He's in casual clothes—jeans and a flannel—instead of the guard uniform Alani is used to seeing him in. The little girl holding his hand has the same kind eyes and pointy nose as Delray, but instead of black hair, she has short light brown hair.

Delray looks up and meets Alani's gaze. It takes him a second for recognition to flash in his eyes. When it does, he grins.

"Alani," he exclaims, walking up to the counter with the little girl in tow. "It's good to see you, kid. How have you been doing?"

"I've actually been pretty good," Alani replies honestly.

Delray seems genuinely happy to hear it. He notices Alani's eyes flickering to the girl at his side, so he reaches down and plucks her from the ground. He sets her on his hip and says, "This is my little girl, Cecelia. Say hi, Cece."

She curls into her dad's shoulder and hides her face in the crook of his neck. Shyly, she says, "Hi."

"It's nice to meet you, Cecelia," Alani says with a warm smile. She shifts her gaze to Delray. "How's she doing?"

Delray runs his hand over his daughter's back as she wraps her little arms around his neck. If possible, his smile brightens. "We actually just found out the other day that she's cancer-free."

"Wow, that's—that's amazing. Congratulations." Alani cant hold back her grin. She can't count the amount of the times she has worried about ruining Cecelia's chance of being cured of her cancer by exposing Scandoval's illegal experiment. This is yet another weight that has been lifted from her shoulders. "What are you getting? It'll be on the house."

Delray's brow pulls forward. "You don't need to do that, it's okay."

"No, seriously, I want to," Alani assures him. "Take it as a thanks for helping me out a while back, and as a congrats."

Delray eventually caves. A grateful smile tugs at his lips. "I appreciate it, thanks."

"Don't mention it."

He orders two sandwiches, and as Alani prepares them, she asks how his road construction job is going. She asks if it's still boring, to which Delray denies with a laugh. He then asks how school is going and if she's going to college in the fall.

"Don't know yet," she says, wondering how she never even thought about life after high school. She was always too caught up in her secret identity and taking care of her family that she never applied to any colleges or anything. Maybe she'll take a gap year and just work. "I'm still taking it a day at a time."

"Take your time, you have plenty of time to figure out what you're going to do with your life," Delray advises. "As long as you stay out of trouble, you should be fine."

"Trust me, I'm not planning on getting into anymore trouble any time soon," Alani says, letting out a small laugh. She slides the bagged order across the counter.

Delray takes the bag with his free hand, the other still supporting his daughter on his hip. "It was nice running into you. I'll make sure I pop in every now and then."

"Yeah, it was nice," Alani replies with a polite smile. She glances at the little girl and gives her a little wave. "It was nice meeting you."

She smiles and waves back. "Bye."

When Delray exits, leaving Alani in the shop with only one other employee and two customers, she is left with a feeling of contentment. She didn't think she'd get to see Delray again after he helped her and Peter escape Scandoval's lab, but now that she did, she feels like it's all full-circle; his daughter is better and he seems happy.

Something rubbing up against Alani's calf makes her jump back and let out a small yelp, instinctively kicking. Murph hisses and bats at her foot with his claws out. Everything changes, right? Maybe one day Murph will lose his irrational hatred towards Alani and learn to love her.

Alani sighs and rubs her temples. "Stupid cat."

____

So I was doing some math and found out that this book is about 89,817 words, which is about 320 pages long. Just thought it was cool, idk.

Also, yes, this book is done. Thank you everyone for reading and giving Alani's story a chance. I can't believe the support and love I've gotten from this book and my other books. It makes me feel very thankful for the community and friends I've made on this platform. Y'all are amazing and I love you ♡

P.S. I hate to end this book on the prime number twenty-nine, but I can't possibly stretch it for another chapter without it seeming forced. Hope y'all understand.