A Night at the Lake House
After graduation, Peter moved in with Pepper and Tony. Tony ended up calling MIT and pulling a few strings so Peter was readmitted. I didn't see him for most of the summer. I understand we both needed time but I missed him.
The next time we saw each other was his eighteenth birthday party. We didn't speak but kept stealing glances from across the room. That night when I got back to the tower I cried for the first time in months.
A few weeks later, I started college. Since I already lived so close to campus I didn't live in the dorms. The tower was my home and I wasn't quite ready to leave it quite yet. I needed my family. They were my constant.
It's been a whole year since I found out I was pregnant. A whole year since I told Peter. A whole year since our lives changed forever. It's been six months since we lost Luke. Tony and Pepper invited us to have dinner that night. I didn't know if Peter was going to be there or not. I hoped so. I wanted to see him. I tried to text him many times but never got the courage to do it.
I was in the car with Wanda, Vis, Sam, and Nat was driving. Steve, Bucky, and Bruce were in the other car.
“Why do you think they invited us over? It seems random”. I asked.
“You never know with Tony”. Nat said.
“Statistically speaking he usually calls the team together when there is something important to tell”. Vis spoke.
“Do you think they set a wedding date?”. Sam suggested.
“Maybe. It would be plausible”. Nat said.
“Maybe they miss us”. Wanda said.
“That's definitely not it”. Nat pulled into the driveway of the house.
Tony and Pepper greeted us on the front porch.
“Iris it's good to see you”. Pepper pulled me into a hug.
“Good to see you too”.
“Hey kid”. Tony patted me on the shoulder.
I smiled. Memories of the last time I was here flooded into my memory. That day I sat in the living room staring off into space as people handed me random plates of food and an assortment of beverages. I couldn't move that day. I didn't want to move. I was exhausted. Emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted.
“You ok”. Wanda whispered, coming up behind me.
“Yeah”. I said back.
I went to the bathroom and tried to calm down. I couldn’t spend the whole evening reliving that day. I wouldn't let myself. When I left the bathroom I saw him. He was standing in the doorway with his duffle bag. The team surrounded him asking him about MIT. Our eyes met and he gave me a small smile which I returned.
He looked good. He looked happy. He had a baggy MIT sweatshirt on and the same old pair of converse I'm pretty sure he's had since before we met. His hair was getting long and fell in his eyes a little bit. He wiggled out of the circle the group had built around him to go and put his bag back in his room. He stopped in front of me and dropped his bag before pulling me into an embrace.
“I've missed you so much”. He whispered in my ear.
“I've missed you too”.
He pulled back and went back to his original task. I couldn't help but smile. That hug was a comfort that was missing from my life for the past six months. We all sat down for dinner. Peter sat across from me. About halfway through Dinner shit hit the fan.
“Tony, will you finally tell us why we are here”. Nat said.
“I don't know what you're talking about. I can’t have my friends over for a nice dinner”. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“No you can't. It's not in your nature”.
“Did you call us friends?”. Sam smiled.
“You got me. Miss Potts and I actually do have an announcement to make”, He grabbed Pepper's hand and she smiled, “We’re gonna have a baby”.
The room erupted in congratulations. People got out of their seats to congratulate the couple. I sat still. I had flashbacks to the past year. I looked over and Peter seemed to be going through the same thing. I felt like I couldn't breathe. This was supposed to be us. This was supposed to be Peter. He was supposed to come through that door with a little four-month-old baby, not a duffle bag. Instead, here we sit trying to find one ounce of happiness for the people who are going through the same thing we were going through a year ago.
I looked back up to see that Peter was gone. No one seemed to have noticed his disappearance. I doubt they would notice if I left too. I walked into the other room and let a few tears fall. Life really loves to find ways of pointing and laughing at you. Just when you start to feel ok again it knocks you down. I glanced out the window and there Peter was standing in front of Luke's tree.
“Hey”. I said coming up next to him.
“Hey”. He had obviously been crying.
“I'm sorry”.
“I'm sorry too”.
“You don't have to be sorry for me. Luke was your son”.
“He was yours too Iris. You know that. You cared for him just as much as I did”.
“I really do miss him, Pete”. My voice broke.
“Me too. I keep waking up from nightmares of seeing you limp and bleeding and being rushed to the medbay and they always end with Helen and Bruce coming out and telling me we lost him. And sometimes I lose both of you”.
“I have nightmares about him breaking in and shooting me. I've had nightmares about going into labor and they tell me to push and I do and then he isn’t crying. I never had nightmares before that”.
“I did. I will never understand why it happened”.
“I know. And saying "well maybe it just wasn't meant to be" sounds like a load of shit”.
“Or you're so young you have more time”.
“It's like fuck whatever you went through right”.
“You know it's been one year to the day since you told me”.
“Yeah. I will never forget that day”.
“When I heard the heartbeat when I hugged Pepper I thought I was just reliving the day over and we were sitting and eating it felt like it was haunting me”.
“When we got here I was reliving the day of Luke's memorial cause that was the last time I was here”.
“Why are we like this?”.
“Cause we've been through too much shit”.
“Why us though”.
“Somebody thought we could handle it”.
“Do you ever want to stop handling it? Just make it all go away”.
“All the time but I know I can't”.
“I know how you feel”.
Peter wrapped his arm around me and we stood underneath the tree until Nat told us we had to come in or we would get sick. Peter stayed at the tower that night. He told Tony and Pepper he just needed a little time. We rode home together with Bucky and Steve. When we arrived Peter went straight up to his room but stopped at Luke's door. He hadn't been back at the tower since he moved out. At that point, no one had touched his room.
“I packed up his room before I started school. Wanda and I did. I put everything in storage and Ben's chair is in your room”.
“Thank you”. He said before going in and shutting the door.
At about 2 in the morning, I woke up from a nightmare. This was one I had never had before. It started with Peter and I in a cute little apartment dancing in the kitchen and a little boy comes running in and starts hugging Peter's legs. Peter picks him up and we are all now dancing. It was bliss. Happiness that felt so real. Then the scientist showed up and was going to shoot me but Peter got in the way. He was lying there bleeding out and another shot rang out and little Luke was now still.
I woke up in a cold sweat and burst into tears. There was a knock on my door and there stood Peter with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.
“Can I sleep in here with you?”. He croaked out.
“Yeah. Nightmare?”. He nodded.
“Same”. I sniffed.
I started walking to my bed thinking Peter would follow but he started making a bed on the floor with some of the blankets I had in my room.
“You can sleep in my bed ya know. It wouldn't be the first time”.
“I know. I just didn't know what you would be comfortable with”.
“Come on”. I pulled him off the floor.
I snuggled up in my sheets and tried to go back to sleep but was having some trouble. I turned over to see that Peter was too. He was staring at the ceiling completely spaced out. I scooted over to him and nuzzled into his side and he relaxed slightly before putting his arms around me pulling me closer. We fell asleep shortly after that and didn't wake up again till morning.
“Peter. Peter wake up”. I whispered, nudging the sleeping boy next to me.
“Just a few more minutes and I'll be down”. He said back.
“It's 10 o'clock and Steve made breakfast”.
“Mm, I haven't had a home-cooked breakfast in months. Thanks for letting me sleep here last night”.
“No problem”.
“Maybe we could do it again sometime?”.
“Are you asking me out, Peter Parker?”.
“If you want me to”.
“Yeah, I would love to”.