Chapter 23
PETER
He ignored his little brother’s recant of whatever happened last night in favor of sipping on the hot coffee he had poured himself. He watched the younger man prepare some burgers and fries for them, offering his thanks by not asking him to stop talking - even though he couldn’t care less.
He was still pissed at Wade, and wondered how long he could avoid going back home to his husband and children.
While the burgers were sizzling and the fries were baking in the oven, his little brother asks if he can ‘handle the rest’. Pete throws a glare his way before waving the teen off, not a fan of the smug look the brat gave him.
Plus, Miles had been acting a little weird. Seemed like he could use the privacy anyway.
His thoughts are interrupted by the sounds of his parents joining him in the kitchen. The blonde walked over to the stove before turning back to the arachnid.
“Where’d Miles go?”
“Dunno, he asked if I could handle the rest then left.”
“So,” his Dad began as Peter turned around to face him, “you wanna talk about the fight you had with your husband?”
“Tony!” his Pop snapped, shooting the shorter man a glare. “We agreed to let him bring it up.”
“Well, honey, I lied,” the brunette said with a simple shrug of his shoulders.
“Peter, ignore nosey-rosey over there. You don’t have to talk to us about it if you don’t want to,” the blonde said pointedly as he brought out plates for everyone. The arachnid shook his head fondly, long since aware of his darker-haired father’s antics.
“It’s fine, Pop, just more people to be on my side, right?” he asked as he started making himself a plate. “I am right in assuming you’ll both be on my side, right?”
“Of course honey, just don’t feel obligated because of your ridiculous father,” his Pop chided at the man before he went back in their pantry to grab more ketchup.
“You sure you don’t wanna talk about your marriage, old man?” Pete teased the other brunette.
“Ha! Your Papa loves me.”
“Hey, I love Wade too! He just...drives me crazy sometimes.”
“If it’s any consolation,” his Pop said as he rejoined them, “your father does nothing but drive me crazy. But continue, Pete.”
“He’s just!” the younger man grumbled before taking a bite of his burger. “Infuriating,” he said around the food in his mouth.
“Cause he wants another kid?” his Pop asked gently, ignoring the offended scoff from his husband and his muttered “ now who’s being a nosey-rosey? ”
“No, it’s...he doesn’t understand. Those two all day every day...I don’t think I can handle another.”
“Bullshit,” his Dad muttered, though loud enough for the other two to hear as they sharply turned in shock to the man. “Petey, you can handle anything.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad. But you haven’t watched the twins solo.” He took the opportunity to eat more of his fries before his Dad responded.
“Yeah, well...I’m not you. I need your Pop to even attempt to rangle those toddlers,” the other brunette said sincerely. “You’re a great dad, Petey-pie.”
“Is that what this is about?” his Pop piped in with a sad expression on his face.
“When I told him that’d be stressful,” he said a little louder, trying to get his point across, “he said we should just hire a nanny!”
“Oof,” the blonde said in offended agreement.
“What’s wrong with a nanny?” his shorter father asked in confusion. Peter scoffed as loudly as he could before his other father spoke up for him.
“That’s not the point, Tony. Peter - though he’s doing a great job as a stay at home dad,” his Pop emphasized, “is struggling with the twins and his husband didn’t acknowledge that.”
“Bingo!” Pete said in triumph, ever thankful for his Pop. “And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with nannies, but I don’t want to hire one.”
“Yeah, but…” his Dad said before trailing off in thought. He stared at his shorter parent for a long moment before asking.
“But?”
“I just don’t think you’re being entirely truthful, Petey. Like I said, you can handle anything . I think you’re a little... intimidated to take on a kid with such…baggage,” the man finished carefully. And yeah, okay maybe he was reading his mind a little.
“Oh, okay. I see where you were going,” the blonde said absently as the older brunette shot him an offended glare. As his two ridiculous parents began arguing, he took their three empty plates to the sink to start cleaning them.
His Dad had a point, even if he wasn’t willing to admit that out loud.
“Okay guys, I should probably get back to my kids. And yes I’m including my husband,” Peter said with a smile as he turned back to his dads. The two stopped arguing in favor of pulling the grown man into a group hug.
Which, if Peter was being honest with himself, he’d never get tired of.
Gave him the courage to go yell at his stupidly generous husband.
Wade apologized, which was a start. He also promised to temporarily hang up the suit to help out more around the house.
It wasn’t that Pete didn’t want any more kids. He did. It just feels so soon after adopting the twins to adopt one like Leo.
Leonardo Rodriguez, a ‘troubled’ seven year old who was recently taken by the state away from his father. His abusive, drug addicted, violent motherfucker of a father. Which in turn, unsurprisingly, made Leo a ‘violent child’ according to his case files. He’d never hold that against the kid, but he had two babies (and honestly, his own mental health) to consider.
If his husband had met the kid before they adopted the toddlers, then yes - it sounds like something he could handle. But he had two little people to worry about now. Which meant putting their safety first.
Wade reassured him several times ‘everything will be okay’ which the arachnid always rolled his eyes at.
How the hell could he know that?
But then that sneaky devil of a husband of his sweet talked him and now he was sitting at their home, coloring with the twins, waiting for Wade to bring the boy to his new foster home.
“Papa?” Isaac asked as he moved to climb into the man’s lap.
“Yeah, baby?” he returned as he ran his hand through the boy’s blonde curls.
“Where Daddy go?”
“Well, remember Daddy and I talking about how you might have a new foster brother?”
“New brudder??” Isaac said excitedly.
“I has a brudder...” Lilli piped in, causing the man to laugh as his ridiculous babies.
“Daddy is bringing a boy home that needs a safe place to stay. We don’t know how long he’ll be with us...so we’re all going to be extra nice to him and make him feel welcome here, okay?” Just then they heard the sounds of keys jingling that had his toddlers sit up in excitement.
The door opened as his husband came into view, followed closely by the child clinging to the back of Wade’s jacket. He had a mop of black hair, the bangs hanging in his eyes barely covering the remnants of a black eye.
“Daddy!” Isaac cried as he crawled off Peter’s lap and toddled over with his sister to their other father.
“Izzy-bee! Lilli-bear!” the vigilante said in equal excitement as he squatted down to accept the hug from their toddlers. Peter remained sitting as he looked at the scared boy glancing around their house, as if to expect it all to come crashing down around him any second.
“Isaac, Lillian, this is my friend, Leo. Leo, this is Lilli and Izzy,” Wade introduced the three as the twins enthusiastically waved at their new friend. Leo nodded to the two, though Pete could see the beginnings of a smile forming on the little boy’s face.
Pete took that as a sign to stand up and introduce himself, instantly freezing when the boy startled back in fear.
“Leo,” Wade said quietly, still squatting down as he gently grabbed the boy’s hand. “This is my very sweet husband, Peter.” The arachnid took that opportunity to squat down as well, accepting the hug from his girl as he offered the boy a small wave.
“Hi, Leo,” he said, smiling when Leo offered a small wave back. They stayed silent like that for another moment before his girl spoke up.
“Wanna color, Leo?” she asked the boy while pointing to the table. Leo looked hesitantly over to Wade for confirmation as the man smiled brightly back at the boy.
“Up to you, kiddo. You can color for a bit while we fix you guys a snack, or we can do the tour and then color and eat a snack, or we can do snack first, that’s always a fabulous option,” the man said as the toddlers giggled and an actual smile appeared on the boy’s face.
He was definitely a cutie, Pete couldn’t lie. And dammit if he couldn’t help himself suddenly feeling protective of the small child looking anxiously between the two men.
“Come color!” Isaac decided for him, grabbing the boy’s hand as he followed the toddler to the coffee table. Peter stood up, taking a step back when the boy eyed him wearily. He felt his husband’s hand grab his, squeezing reassuringly while leading him into the kitchen.
“We’ll be back guys,” Wade called to the three as he released the man’s hand in favor of copping a feel once they weren’t in eye sight.
“Hey!” Pete said in mock offense, rolling his eyes fondly when the man simply waggled his eyebrows back at him.
“So?” Wade asked as he started washing and chopping some fruit up, the rest of the question implied.
“He’s cute,” Pete admitted quietly, not enjoying the giant smile spread across his love’s handsome features. “But I’m going to need more convincing than his looks. I learned my lesson from you,” he sassed the man who smiled mischievously back at him.
“Careful, you’re a-hankering for a spanking there my friend,” the vigilante said as he waved the knife in Peter’s general direction.
“Keep waving that knife in my face and you’ll be the one facing punishment, pal.”
“I’m not your pal, guy.”
“I’m not your guy, buddy.”
“Wrong,” Wade said immediately before leaning against the island and planting a quick kiss on Peter’s lips. “You are my guy.”
“Oh my god,” the arachnid said fondly, “you are such a cheeseball.”
“Yeah, but I’m your ball of cheese, pookie-bear.”
“Pookie-bear?”
“Snookums?” the man asked sincerely as he put the knife down and slowly walked around the counter to him. “Love muffin? Monkey? Snufflekins?” Peter was already laughing but burst with the sound as that ridiculous man of his dug his fingers into his ribs.
Alright, maybe they could get through all of this .