Girls/Girls/Boys
"Tony?"
"Tony?"
"Pepper go get a cloth - Tony?" He blinks blearily. May Parkers face swims into his vision.
"May?" He garbles, and then he's leaning over the carpet and vomiting.
"Shit, Tony-" He groans in response and lets himself fall back onto the floor, his head feels like it's pounding, and slowly the events come back to him.
"Pep?" He rasps.
"Tony! Tony, oh my God, are you okay?" She moves in front of his face so quickly he has to swallow back another bout of nausea.
"Pregnant?" He asks. There's silence, and his eyes readjust. Pepper and May are both in front of him, and Pepper has a crooked smile.
"Yeah," She says. May smiles as well.
"I already knew." She says.
"Wow." Tony breathes, a dopey smile coming over his face. Then he blinks and it vanishes. He eyes May. "How'd you get here so fast?" He asks. May and Pepper both laugh.
"I was coming to collect some of Peters laundry," She says. Tony makes a face.
"Better be careful." He says. "I don't know-"
"What's Peters and what's Harley's?" May guesses and laughs. "Me neither. I really don't know how we went from one teenager to two." Tony chuckles.
"Me neither," He says, and the dopey smile returns. "Oh and now a baby too. My baby. My baby and Peppers baby. Wow."
May and Pepper help him into the living room, and May makes him something to eat while Pepper cleans up his mess in the bedroom. His head is still swimming, but among it; there's calm. Then Pepper comes back and answers all his rapidfire questions.
"How old is it?"
"...it's not anything old Tony. It isn't even born yet." Tony's eyes bulge.
"I'm gonna kill this kid," He breathes. "I know nothing about babies." Pepper laughs.
"I'm eight weeks. About two months."
"What is it?"
"I don't know yet; we can't find out until they're sixteen weeks."
"Do the boys know?" Pepper makes a face.
"Tony, do you really think I would tell Peter and Harley before you?"
"Not really." He swallows. "So what do we do?" Pepper smiles warmly at him.
"May set up an appointment with her friend Harriet for us next week," She says. Tony nods and looks to May, who's been watching them with a mug of tea and a warm smile.
"Thanks," He says, and May beams.
"It's all self-indulgent." She teases. "I already have an advantage as the only Aunt; I'm aiming for favorite extended relative."
May returns home within the hour, and decides to make a lasagna for her and the boys to have for dinner. She turns on some old Avril Lavigne album as she works, and she smiles to herself. A baby. She hasn't been around one of those since Peter was born, and she's filled with warm nostalgia. She puts the lasagna in the oven and sets a timer, turning down the music as she wanders into Peters closet. There's a forgotten Rubbermaid bin stuffed behind old clothes. She digs it out and drags it out to the living room when she discovers it's too heavy for her to lift. She double checks to make sure she set the timer, then sits down on the couch and opens the bin. Her heart catches at the first item. It's the most recently added item; Ben's old jacket, brown leather. Peter had never wanted it, opting instead for Bens watch; which had a faulty hand he refused to fix. May lifts it out gingerly and smiles sadly at it. She folds it in her lap and keeps it there as she shifts through the rest of the stuff.
Peter and Harley come home when she's about a quarter through it, cheeks streaked with tears and a smile across her lips. Peter drops his bag at the door and hugs her shoulders. Harley moves around the couch to sit next to her.
"What is this stuff?" He asks. May sniffs as she answers. Peters arms leave her shoulders and he moves around the coffee table to sit opposite her. He kneels on the floor and looks in the bin, grinning brightly.
"Mostly stuff from when Peter was a kid... among other things." Her hand moves back to the jacket as she speaks, unknowing. Harley's gaze follows her hands and his eyes bulge.
"Is that genuine brown leather?!" He exclaims, and both May and Peter are taken aback. May's heart hammers in her chest suddenly, and Peters eyes are wide. Numbly, May nods. Harley only looks more excited. He stares at the jacket and flicks his gaze back to hers.
"May I?" He asks. Peters jaw drops, and May is quick to follow. She nods wordlessly once more, not quite knowing why. Harley whistles as she passes the leather into his hands.
"Damn - this is damn fine." He says, and catches Mays eye as he traces the seams. "I haven't seen leather like this since I came to New York; and lemme tell ya', this leather came from one thick cow." May blinks at the appearance of Harley's accent. Almost numbly, she nods, though she doesn't actually know.
"You can try it on," She says, and freezes as soon as it slips from her lips. Harley doesn't seem to notice, and his eyes widen with excitement. Peter looks just as bewildered as Harley jumps from the couch and slips into the jacket. Mays breath hitches the same her heart first did, and her eyes trace Harley's torso. The sleeves are a perfect length, and the upturned collar barely brushes Harley's jawline. He smooths it out with a small grin and looks up to May. His grin falls.
"Ms. Parker?" He asks. She gasps a little and lifts her hand suddenly, wiping feverishly at her eyes.
"Just May, sweetheart," She breathes, and looks back at him with a watery smile. "It looks really good on you." She says. Harley is already moving to inch out of it.
"You should keep it." Peter says, and when May looks at him; Peter looks unperturbed. Harley looks between the two of them again.
"Are you sure?" He asks, and Mays heart wants to break all over again. She smiles and nods.
"Yes; it's doing no one any good being stuck in a box," She says, and Harley nods awkwardly.
"Oh my God." Peter breaks the silence. Harley and May look back to him and May sputters out a sudden laugh. Peter looks absolutely elated. He's squeezed his hand into a toy gauntlet, and is holding a childrens Iron Man helmet in the other. Harley cackles.
"Holy shit Parker!" He wheezes. "Does Tony know about those?" Peter's face turns stoic.
"No."
"He should," Harley says, grinning, and then he's leaping over the coffee table. Peter yelps and scrambles away, haphazardly arranging the mask on his face as Harley chases him around the apartment. May laughs, and the apartment feels more alive than it has in years.
They eat lasagna and talk about school before Happy collects Harley.
("MJ called us obnoxiously codependent." Peter says.
"Are you saying she's wrong?" Harley deadpans.)
The next week, May is seated in the waiting room of the OB office in her hospital. Her navy scrubs set her apart from everyone else in the waiting area, and she flips through a magazine halfheartedly. She looks up at the sound of a door opening and jumps to her feet. She meets Pepper and Tony before they reach the waiting room.
"Well?" She asks, looking between their faces. Pepper grins.
"He cried."
"I knew it."
"Hey!" Tony admonishes, and if May looks now, she can see the dried streaks. He loops his arm through Mays like he has Peppers and leads them both past the waiting room and into the hall. May just laughs. They stop near a vending machine at the end of the hall and Pepper reaches into her purse. Tony unloops his arm from Mays and she turns to face them. Pepper is holding out a two by three black and white photograph, and May feels as though she could melt. She flicks her gaze to Tony before taking the outstretched photo, and she let's out an 'oh' noise. The baby can just barely be made out this early, but her trained eye finds it easily, and she moves her fingernail over it.
"Who's crying now," Tony mocks, and May laughs.
"Fuck off, Stark." Pepper laughs.
"Ooh, you kiss your nephew with that mouth?" May laughs again as she shoos them down the hall. She looks back to the photograph once they've turned the corner and smiles again.
Yes, she decides. A baby will do this family good.