╭ ╮
━━━━ " 📂 "
𝘼 𝙋 𝙊 𝘾 𝘼 𝙇 𝙔 𝙋 𝙎 𝙀
╰ ╯
"I'VE TAKEN JACK TO get a new shirt," MJ announced into her phone as she wandered around the store, her eyes on her younger brother in front of her as he did the same thing.
"A new shirt?" Peter's voice echoed back in her ear. "Well, me and Aunt May are pretty lucky then. A new shirt. Aren't we lucky?"
"Shut up." MJ grinned, her fingers slipping along the many hangers upon the long metal racks. "We... well I realised that he doesn't have anything remotely formal or not stained to wear, so I thought I might try to get him something new. I've found brand-new shirts with the tags still on in thrift stores before, and I was hoping to get him other things as well."
It was quite an important night for MJ and Peter - not that the multitude of nights that encapsulated MJ waiting for her boyfriend to appear on her fire escape alive and well in time for pizza and a bit of homework before swinging away wasn't as important - but instead more major than most because the promised meal between Aunt May, John Watson and their children was finally taking place.
Of course, it had been postponed due to the awful incidents that occurred on the Williamsburg bridge, but eventually, after correspondence between MJ's father (who was now a little less of an alcoholic now that he had Stephanie to focus on) and Peter's aunt, they had rearranged the date and were set on having a homecooked meal on the Sunday an exact week following the unfortunate events.
And, much to MJ and Peter's disbelief, John had invited Stephanie to join them, assuming that she would be around for a much longer time than Valerie had been. Apparently, it had been going on for a while, John was just struggling with it developing slowly and worrying turned to drinking and keeping it hidden from his oldest daughter.
Which put a little more pressure on them to all look presentable. After all, neither MJ nor Jack had been in a formal environment with Stephanie that wasn't pressured by outside influences such as her work break coming to an end.
And had ultimately led to MJ ushering Jack out of the playdate she had picked him up from with a speed unusual for anyone picking up their child - usually, they'd accept a drink or chat, but Margot was in and out of there like a jack-in-a-box, pulling Jack along and jumping the barriers at the station while the younger ducked under it (it was important to teach him typical New York ways for later in life, so he could learn the art of it and not getting caught) and hurried him through a Target clothing section and now into a thrift shop before they needed to get to the Parkers.
Peter had called to check that she was on her way as soon as they had stepped through the doors, and had listened as MJ delivered her brother a twenty-dollar bill and her own calculator (which was way too advanced for a boy of his age) and to pick out a few things he liked. She was picking out some of her own, as she always did whenever she entered any store which potentially had nice clothes in, but with a small pile on her arm, she had turned her attention to the kid's section because she suspected that Jack wouldn't exactly be what she had in mind.
"And you have a stack of things for yourself? A shopping trip right before our important dinner." Peter tutted, shaking his head. "I should've expected it. You're not supposed to be here for another fifteen minutes."
"I'm about five minutes away, so that won't be a problem." MJ hummed a reply. "Anyway, I'm only returning the favour. I found you a few things you might like. A couple of t-shirts, a hoodie, and I'm planning on making you a superhero cape."
"You aren't."
"Of course, I'm not, but you sounded so terrified it was funny. I just had to try it out." MJ giggled into her phone, ignoring the stares she got from one of the workers as she attempted to find her short brother amongst the rails. "I found a dress you might like. I'll show it to you later."
"Boo!" Jack shouted as he jumped out from behind a rack of woollen jumpers. Margot jumped, her phone slipping from her hand and clutching it to her chest as she laughed, reaching out to pull him into a hug. "Look what I found!"
"Is that a Harry Potter top?" MJ gasped. "It's perfect - you'll look amazing in it. And I can order you some matching glasses later on. But... we still need to find you a nice shirt. I think I'll have one you'll like - oh crap." There was a fumble and she lifted the phone to her ear again. "Sorry, Pete. See you in fifteen?"
"More like ten. Tell Jack I have some old pyjamas he might like if he's that big of a fan of Harry Potter." Peter replied.
"Will do," MJ promised. "See you soon, love you." She blushed only slightly as the phrase slipped out of her lips and she clamped them shut, ending the call and slipping it into the pocket. She and Peter were practically attached at the hip, so much so it was almost unhealthy, but she could bare the small gap in time when they weren't talking to each other as she helped find a shirt that Jack liked.
It was unusual for him to be so concerned with what he was wearing, but oh-so-sweet that he was so bothered with it. It was a miracle he hadn't recognised Peter during the accident considering how much he liked his sister's boyfriend and he, just like her, would stop at nothing to ensure that they looked presentable and nice in front of him.
Which meant a nice shirt, and folding the Harry Potter top away with the rest of MJ's purchases whilst they went to dinner.
🕸
Stephanie and John were waiting in the temporary replacement car the Watson man had received after his own had fallen into the East River when MJ and Jack approached, the latter having been buttoned up into a blue shirt over the Harry Potter top and his hair done with some water and his older sister's compact mirror. It didn't do much, only slicking it down against this head neater than it usually was, which was Jack's desired effect.
"There you are." John pushed the door open and stepped out, Stephanie surveying the neighbourhood as she did the same, eyes landing on the door of Number 36. "It's been a while since I was last here."
"So you lived in that one?" Stephanie pointed at number 37, at which MJ nodded. "It's a lovely area. I can understand why you'd want to have a family here. And your boyfriend lives here?" She turned to the younger girl.
"Yeah. We knew each other when we lived next door, didn't speak for a while and then started again." MJ grinned, Jack jumping up and down as he showed his father his new favourite t-shirt. "Hey - it takes at least five minutes to button that up, stay still." The older sister ordered as she crouched down. "I fell off that tree once, it's where I got this scar from. I used to fall on the sidewalk all the time too, Peter tried to teach me to skateboard."
"And it never stuck?" Stephanie examined the country-shaped scar on MJ's lower thigh, revealed by the skirt of her dress - this one looked like it was straight out of the 70s, in a beautiful burnt orange colour with floaty sleeves and a skirt that flared out at her waist and completed by a denim jacket, the necklace Peter bought her and a pair of dark brown Mary-Janes. Margot shook her head. "Huh, maybe he can try it out with Jack next."
"Yes please!" Jack was already in a clearly excited mood, but the suggestion had him bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet like he was at a high point of a sugar rush. "Can you ask Peter, MJ? Do you think he'd let me?"
"Let's just try and get through the front door first." MJ suggested, turning to her dad. "You got the wine and locked the car?"
"I brought some dessert. My mom was a pastry chef so she taught me a few things." Stephanie held up a decent-sized Tupperware. "That should be fine, right?"
"I think so." John nodded, pausing before reaching to take Stephanie's hand and leading them up the porch, MJ and Jack following behind her. This was the first time the half of the group had even been there, and although John had been there several times before it was years ago, and... well MJ was a regular visitor.
The doorbell was rung and the four waited diligently until Aunt May bustled forward and unlocked the door, pulling it open and welcoming everyone to the house in a chorus of greetings and hugs, accepting gifts as they all came in, finding their way into the living room and taking a seat.
"MJ." May beckoned her towards the kitchen after everyone had settled. MJ obliged by her commands, a smile on her face as she retrieved several wine glasses on the way from one of the higher cabinets. "Damn you teenagers and your utter lack of ability to stop growing." The woman muttered under her breath, but turned to Margot with a smile. "Peter's in his shed working on some Chemistry project. Can you go fetch him? He'll probably respond better to you asking for him."
"You got it." MJ nodded and slipped out of the back door, heading across the small garden until she reached the door to the shed. She didn't hesitate to lift her hand and knock on the door, hearing only a murmur of acknowledgement before pushing the door open and entering.
It was pretty dark, only lit by a singular hanging bulb that was most likely an electrical danger, but MJ didn't mention it as her eyes grazed over the small landscape in front of her. There was a computer set up in one corner - one of those with the really old monitors that didn't work for more than a second at a time, as well as a table of lab equipment and drawers of chemical components for him to use.
Peter didn't seem to have noticed her entrance, eyes too focused on the small conical flask in front of him, which he was mixing something within by holding the glass rod at the very top with only millimetres of his fingertip hanging on. But this theory was proven wrong when his chair rolled backwards slightly and he spread one of his arms out, encouraging her to join him.
His legs sat separated from one another, and ensuring that her skirt folded underneath her MJ perched on his thigh, feeling a distracted kiss be pressed to her clothed shoulder and his hand come to rest on her waist.
She watched, curious as the mixture continued to be stirred until it thickened, and Peter rolled his chair, and subsequently her on his knee, even closer to peer over it. "What are we making?" MJ asked.
"Wanted to see if I could make some web fluid with a greater tensile strength," Peter replied. "But I think I just made it thicker and therefore less stretchy."
"It wasn't any good before?" MJ asked. "I mean, it holds up cars and cars with two people in them as well. Even if one of those people is a little kid."
"How is Jack, by the way?" Peter hummed, busy trying to scrape out the sticky concoction he had created. "Did he get his Harry Potter shirt?"
"He's wearing it under his button-up," MJ replied, a grin spreading across her cheeks. "He loves it. I'd show you my dresses but my bag's in my dad's car out front. Speaking of, everyone's inside waiting for you."
"Waiting for me? I feel so honoured."
"Jack wants to learn how to skateboard." She said, hands closing around the fabric of his shirt to hold onto as she reached down to grab the small trash can in the corner, just in time for Peter to free his conical flask of the attempt at web fluid. "Do you think you could teach him?"
"I already tried that with you," Peter replied, his arm tightening around her waist and lifting her up as he stood up, intensified strength from the bite making it easy. All the same, MJ let out some kind of surprised noise between a gasp and a squeal and clung to his side, wrapping her legs around his waist. "I failed miserably. You had to go to Hospital to get the gravel out."
"And I've been terrified ever since, destined to never try it again. But that doesn't mean you can't help Jack, right? Please? I'm pretty sure he likes you more than he does me, he's desperate to show you his new shirt." MJ smiled as his attention moved back to the mess on the desk and tidy up with his only free hand before looking up at her. "Please?"
"I can try," Peter promised, and his girlfriend leant down the small distance needed to press a multitude of butterfly-like kisses to his face, before eventually landing on his lips. "Mhm, might lock myself away in here more often if I get this instead of a knock on the door and a scramble to hide what I'm doing. Doubles as a darkroom as well."
"And as much as I would love to ask you more questions about your little home lab and try to help with your web fluid - which I will help with later if you remind me - I did come here to retrieve you, as asked by your Aunt, and I think someone will come and fetch us next," MJ replied, allowing her body to move a little more pliantly as Peter adjusted her position on his waist. "You're just throwing me around like a ball here, Parker."
The boy grinned and kissed her again before placing her back down on the floor, hand still on her forearm to steady her as she readjusted. "You're an angel. Let's go. I want to meet Steph, by the way."
"Now - that woman is an angel." MJ left the shed first, Peter turning off the light and locking it behind her, the two of them traipsing through the twilight-lit garden hand in hand. "Time and time again people in this city find a way to surprise me."
"In what way?" Peter reached in front of her and laid a hand on the door handle, but waited for a reply before pushing it down and letting them in.
"Just that my dad managed to find another woman who would deal with him and the fact he has two kids and a complicated relationship with his kid's mom." MJ shrugged, her words accompanied by a smile on her face as Peter lead her in, pressing kisses to her knuckles before he dropped her hand and they rejoined the group in another flurry of greetings and introductions.
🕸
"Well, I think I'm stuffed, May," John announced to the table, leaning back in his seat with his hand on his stomach and a content smile on his face. "I don't think I've had a meal like that in a long while."
"I'll be the first to admit my cooking skills aren't up to par. I stick to fancy baking." Stephanie raised her hands as though she was surrendering to the police. "That was amazing, really." Her compliments were paid to the chef, who only smiled and accepted them as quickly as she could.
"I live off of the basic recipes, so I have to agree." MJ nodded. "Hey - Jack - you wanna pipe in here?" She nudged her brother beside her, Peter looking up to meet her eyes over his head before returning to Jack, who was staring straight ahead and not paying attention at all, jaw still moving up and down as he finished his mouthful. "Jack?" MJ nudged him again.
"You have a lot of books. Have you read them all?" Jack asked, Peter stifling a laugh through a cough as he saw the second-hand embarrassment flair up on the older Watson child. "It's a lot of books, MJ - more than you have!"
"A lot of them were Peter's father's." Aunt May replied without hesitation. "Peter's mom had a lot too, now Peter tends to read them when he's not busy with school. There might be a few you will enjoy, Jack."
Jack didn't say anything, looking confused. "You're not Peter's mom?" He asked. MJ's eyes widened and a hand moved over her mouth. Across the table from them, John went to speak but instead Stephanie's hand appeared on his elbow and stopped him.
"No, no - that's my Aunt May. My parents passed away in a plane crash." Peter replied. "But hey - the spaghetti was good, right? They're homemade meatballs."
"Yeah, they were good." At Jack's compliment, May shook her head and smiled. "Is there any more?" He questioned.
"Jack, you've already had dessert." John pointed out. The dessert was almost as amazing as the spaghetti and meatballs that May had put together for their dish, MJ was certain that Peter had informed her of her love for proper homemade garlic bread because that was also on the table. She was pretty sure that Stephanie had made them mille-feuille, and that had been polished off after the hearty meal like they had never eaten before. And it was obvious enough that Jack's never-quelled hunger was shining through, no matter whether they were guests at a house or not.
Although... it oddly didn't feel like they were first-time guests. MJ wasn't, not was John, but he hadn't been there in so long that it appeared that way, and Stephanie and Jack had slipped in like there had never been any other alternative to the cosy scene before them. Of course, there was one that MJ found swam forward in her mind and made her feel oddly sick to think about; the image of her father and mother sitting across the table from herself and Peter, that Aunt May was joined by Uncle Ben and the man and woman from the old picture pinned up on Peter's wall. Thinking of it made her feel inexplicably sick and she forced the mirage from her mind, never to be thought of again.
MJ and Peter had risen from the table to help Aunt May with the clean-up process, standing in front of the kitchen sink, side by side and elbow deep in warm water filled with crisp-smelling lemon bubbles and having their own murmured conversations filled with innuendos and sarcastic remarks, each which ended up with bubbles being flicked at each other until May passed beneath the archway again and ordered them to stop before they covered the entirety of her kitchen. Meanwhile, the adults sipped on coffee and Stephanie entertained Jack with her seemingly endless bank of Harry Potter knowledge.
They had eaten early, taking into consideration the fact that Jack was too young for late nights and it was a school night for half of the party, and when the young Jack Watson climbed the stairs up to Peter's room, where he and MJ had taken refuge after their washing up debacle, to ask him to go out skateboarding now the sun was only just beginning to set. Peter had agreed and MJ had disappeared out onto the street whilst Peter dug out half his old stuff.
Although he tried his very hardest, Peter had been unable to find his beginner's board from all those years ago (he knew it would be somewhere in the house; it had been a present from his parents before the incident had happened and would most certainly have been kept as a keepsake) but he had managed to find some knee and elbow pads and his old helmet, which would fit his head with a little tweaking to the straps.
Soon enough, as the sun set over the New York borough, and Jack was wobbling through his beginnings of a newfound obsession, MJ watching from the steps of the porch as he babbled onto Peter about the t-shirt now on full display behind the open button-up that MJ had so carefully found.
"Try and get used to it now - no, don't try any of the things you've seen at the park - get used to going back and forth for a bit, I need to speak to your sister." Peter excused himself only after Jack began swotting his hand away and tried it himself, crossing the short distance to come and sit next to MJ, hand coming to rest on her knee, glancing momentarily upwards towards his room before swallowing and looking away.
They didn't say anything for a moment, just taking in the moment of calm they had with the sounds of the city playing in the background, as well as the music drifting through the open front door and the clatter of Jack on the skateboard. MJ's eyes drifted down to the hand on her knee, studying the bruises across his knuckles with ease.
"You're good with him." She commented on that instead of the bruises, but her expression was distracted. "I sometimes think he would have preferred an older brother to do stuff like this with, but I think he can deal with his sister's boyfriend instead."
Peter's gaze flickered upwards for a mere second before dropping to meet her eyes. "I've always liked kids. They don't seem to bother me with their whining or crying and I can get them to sleep easily."
"Hypothetical question." MJ said.
"Shoot."
"First - this is completely hypothetical," MJ noted how his eyes darted upwards again, although she couldn't quite figure out why just yet. "It doesn't mean anything, just a random thought after what you just said. Completely hypothetical, no meaning at all."
He narrowed his eyes, suspicious. "Okay... got it."
"Say if you were to have children-" Peter rose his eyebrows, "- this is completely hypothetical. It doesn't have to be with me, or, or anyone if that's what you want, just say that you were."
"I know - I didn't expect it, that's all." Peter shrugged. "But why all the stuff about it being hypothetical?"
"No matter what age, you mention kids to a guy and they bolt. At our age, they usually think you're plain weird for thinking about the future, and others can just not be looking to settle down - you start saying the word pregnant and you'll only get through the first syllable and they'll be gone in a cloud of dust and tumbleweed."
"An apt analogy." Peter nodded. "But don't worry about me being like that..." He would be lying if the thought of MJ being 'the one' hadn't crossed his mind, but in the same way, she was so opposed to freaking him out, and he didn't bring it up. "So what's your question?"
"If you were to have kids, would the powers be passed down?" MJ asked, a pretty little frown forming on her face. "Because it's technically in your blood right? Would your kids inherit it?"
"I guess.. it could be something like how I have brown hair and you have brown hair so the kids would probably have brown hair." Peter breezed past the fact he quickly narrowed it down to just her, itching to take notice of the quiet buzz he could hear in his ear.
"There's loads of red hair in my family, just warning you." MJ hummed. "My dad has like four siblings and they're all ginger, it's on my grandma's side. She came over from Ireland in the 1960s."
Peter was looking upwards again, and moments later it clicked in MJ's mind. He could still hear the machine that intercepted the police radios. "Is it anything to do with Dr. Connors?" She asked quietly.
"No.. no." Peter still found himself amused at how quickly she understood him. "He's been lying low for a little bit. I guess to keep the rumours down and he has to adjust to living as a weird lizard hybrid."
MJ hadn't mentioned it much since then, but he supposed it was odd for her considering how well she knew Dr. Connors. He had been her mentor and boss, but also her friend. He hadn't forgotten how easygoing their conversation had been when he posed as an intern. "It's working." She confirmed. "Nobodies mentioned it in the papers since Tuesday. Do you know what you're going to do?"
"No idea." Peter shrugged. "I guess I'm glad it's not him and just a load of stuff I couldn't... necessarily help out with." he was lying through his teeth and she recognised it easily. "Don't look at me like that. I needed a night off every once in a while, and I'm enforcing this on myself."
"Good. Keep it that way." MJ didn't say anything more, but her thumb was tracing the bruises on his knuckles and her actions spoke volumes. Instead, her head came to rest on his shoulder and she slipped her palm below his, fingers intertwining.
There was a moment of silence before Peter shifted. "I have a present for you, by the way." He announced, digging into his pocket and extracting a small glass bottle, stoppered with a cork and containing the dead spider which had bitten him.
"It looks so... normal." MJ took the bottle and held it up to her eye. "That's terrifying. I can't believe we just have these things locked in a room and you got bit with them."
"To be fair I did sneak in there after someone else left. As in, moved very quickly across the corridor to keep the door open. My dad was working on them, I saw the symbol in one of his folders."
"I was wondering how that did happen." MJ nodded. "I guess it makes sense that it happened to you. A perfect example of your dad's research."
"I don't think he was researching what would happen if a human got bitten." Peter pointed out. "I don't think that was supposed to happen to anyone."
"I'm glad it was you though." MJ looked up at him as Jack passed by on the skateboard. "Anyone else and New York could have ended up with another villain. I'm just really glad this one doesn't turn you into a hybrid spider."
"Oh yeah - that's the best bit." Peter hurriedly agreed, a smile breaking out on his face as MJ laughed. It wasn't entirely false, but there was an element on untruth to it; he was forcing it, and in the background of his conversation all he could hear was the reports of crime in the nearby area.
But he wouldn't leave MJ for that, didn't want to mix her up in his problems. She didn't deserve it, and he would try to keep it that way. But not even Spiderman could control fate.
❛ AUTHORS NOTE ━━ randomly kinda wanna do another peter fic but this is after gwen and it's college and shit and it's cute friends to best friends to lovers but it's a little more slow burn than this one
like the type where he gets invited to a group and it's just cute and fun with a little angst but they become close and it's just adorable i'm obsessed with the thought already
it is 2.45am and i have a plan this shit might probably happen and i am excited for it (do i just send gwen to london or wherever the fuck she was supposed to go before she conked it or do i stick to canon for that angst that could also make it complicated???)
<3