A New Life for Us All
Peter 1 is 14
Peter 2 is 20
Peter 3 is 17
It has been 2 years since the Statue of Liberty, leaving Otto, his Peter, and the one they dubbed Peter 3 stranded on this other earth.
It wasn't all that bad, with the technology of this world and the three Peters, Otto was able to make the actuators retract all the way, giving him some freedom to go out, and they made a special pair of contacts to help with the lights inside, although he still needed the sunglasses when he went outside. After figuring that out, Otto decided that as the adult, it was his job to provide for the boys, and after getting fake papers, he became the legal guardian of the two youngest Peters. The oldest Peter felt left out, so they had to go back and get guardianship papers for him, too.
He got a job in the police force using the name Ricardo Morales. He wanted to do some good with his second chance, helping people feel safer. The three boys had decided that only one of them would patrol at a time so as not to draw attention to themselves, although some said Spider-Man seemed shorter or taller at some points.
Things went smoothly for a little bit with the boys picking new names for themselves instead of having three Peters in one home, and since they couldn't decide on who would keep the name, they figured a clean slate for all of them would be nice.
Peter 1 chose Thomas, but everyone called him Tom. Peter 2 chose Toby, and Peter 3 chose Andrew, and to Otto's great delight, they all took the last name Morales. Toby still called him Otto, and Tom and Andrew referred to him as Dock. He couldn't help thinking of them as his sons, but he wouldn't dare say it out loud.
He hadn't even told the people he worked with about them, it was his way of protecting them.
Life as a cop was nice, and it helped that Harry, Larry, Flo, and Mo thought that being a cop was the best thing ever, although they were still learning that he couldn't just arrest anyone he wanted to, although it never stopped them from trying to get him to.
All was well, he even managed to get promoted to detective after a year. Toby had gotten a job as a photographer for the paper, Tom was in high school with college plans, and Andrew hadn't been quite sure what he would do; he was the one who took most of the Spider-Man patrols.
After the first year, Andrew had come up to him after work. He said he was going to try and get a job so he could go to college. He decided to be a forensic scientist. Otto had been so proud of him, but he also knew that Andrew had a way of biting off more than he could handle, and with Spider-man, a job, and College, he would burn himself out, so Otto told him to get his GED first and if he still felt strongly about college, he would pay for it.
Andrew was shocked and protested a bit, saying he could find a way to make it all work, but Otto was determined; he had been setting money aside for both younger boys for this very situation. However, he thought Andrew would be debating about it for a little longer, and after a few sleepless nights, he came up with a plan.
Otto spent the next few weeks studying law. Harry, who was a bit darker than his siblings, wasn't happy about leaving the action of being a detective for a courtroom, that was until he found out what happened to the people they convicted, which made him a bit happier.
After passing the bar, Otto went to work for the city. Between his IQ and the AIs in his head, he managed to excel, moving up quickly and putting away enough to at least get both boys started at college.
Otto sat in his office, trying to finish up some loose ends from his last case. It was another late night; he's been DA for almost a year now, and he can't seem to ever leave work on time. The actuators were whispering in his mind about the verdict of the case he had just finished.
Harry- “Justice fails again; he should have gotten the death penalty.”
Larry- “He robbed a gas station.”
Flo- “Yeah, it's not like he killed anyone.”
Mo- “We should have let him go; he was just trying to feed his family.”
Harry- “That was a lie for sure, and for that alone, he should die.”
Otto slowly shook his head, trying to drown them out. It was always a bit harder after a long day. He shut the file, turned off the lights, and headed home. Something felt a little off on the way home, but he just chalked it up to the actuators being at odds about the case.
When he got home, all three boys were sitting at the table playing cards. He had told them more than once that they didn't have to wait for him to eat, yet every night when he got home, there they were waiting.
Otto took off his coat and hung it up, then turning to the boys, said, “Dear boys, I told you, there is no need to wait for me.”
All three of them looked over at him with a look that made him feel a little uneasy. The younger two looked at their older brother for him to start.
Toby then turned to Otto and said, “Hey, Otto. Everything go smoothly today?”
He sounded concerned, and in turn, that made Otto feel uneasy. Hesitantly, he said, “Everything went well... how was your day?”
Andrew spoke up, looking and sounding a little frazzled, “E-everything was good.”
Tom, who had avoided direct eye contact, turned and looked him straight in the eyes. he looked like someone had threatened to kill his best friend, and in a rather nervous tone, said, “It's just later than usual, and we were worried about you.”
He looked at them, unsure of what to say. He was only about 10 minutes later than usual, and this reaction was a bit over the top. The actuators had fallen silent after seeing how nervous the boys were, but he could feel a strong level of concern moving up his spine before they started talking to him.
Flo- “Father, are we in trouble?”
Larry- “Do we have a curfew?”
Harry- “Are we to be punished for this?”
Mo- “It will be ok, we are a great lawyer, and we will make our case, and get off free and with an extended curfew.”
Otto in his head- “Calm down, it's OK, we don't have a curfew, I make the rules and I didn't make that one.”
He looked over at them, realizing he hadn't said anything, cleared his throat, and tried to sound reassuring, saying, “I was just finishing up some loose ends, that's all.” I'll try not to stay out so late in the future.” He smiled at them, trying to relieve some of the tension in the air as he went on, “Is that all that's bothering you boys?”
Toby jumped in, seeming to realize they were blowing the whole thing out of proportion and sounding a bit jittery, “No…Yes, everything’s fine, we were just worried you hadn't called and we just....” He trailed off, looking at the ground as Andrew picked up from there, looking a bit uneasy and almost whispering the next part, “Afraid that you wouldn't come back.”
It suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks, too many times had these boys watched someone they relied on leave and never come back. He thought it must be the anniversary of someone's death or something like that. He stood there for a minute and then, making a gesture for them to come over, he brought them into a hug and with as much love and understanding as he could muster, he said, “I'm so sorry I was late, and next time I will call to let you know.”
He paused for a second, trying to decide what to say next. he knew what he wanted to say, but he kept it to himself, not wanting to rock the boat, and instead went for something safe, saying, “I will always be here for you boys, no matter what.”
He felt them grip tighter as Tom said in a shaky voice, “And we will always be here for you, too.” He felt the other two nod their agreement, and he felt his heart swell up with joy and love as he gripped just a little tighter.
After dinner, they moved into the living room to watch a movie, and as Otto drifted off to sleep with Andrew and Toby on either side of him and Tom lying on top of him, he didn't even register the small feeling in the pit of his stomach, saying something wasn't quite right.