"So how's it going at home?" May asked as she sat on the couch beside her nephew. They ordered a pizza for lunch and turned on the TV for the background.
"Which one?"
"You know which home I mean," she replied, slightly annoyed, and handed him a plate with a triangle of pizza.
"Well, it's Saturday, and I'm here. Again," Peter murmured the typical response he gave May whenever she asked him that question.
"I shouldn't be surprised, should I? I saw them for the last time at Ben's funeral," she said with a sigh, "I don't know, I am probably just waiting for change. When you were little, they did not work so much."
"They're scientists, these always work a lot," he said, shaking his shoulders. "And when I was a kid, they didn't work that much, but Ben and you were often watching me," he added, reaching for another piece of pizza.
"How much time did they spend with you this week? Or at least Mary," she asked in concentration. Peter might have been a local hero, but still, he was just a teenager and needed his parents. Not to mention the fact that Mary nor Richard knew that Peter was Spider-Man. She really had to get Tony to talk to Mary.
"We had three family breakfasts and one dinner together," Peter replied. "But it's okay. Monday starts the week with my dad. Which reminds me... How's your shift next week? Pepper wants you to come to dinner. "
"That would be great, I haven't seen her in a long time!" May said brightly. "I could on Wednesday, I end up at four."
"Great! I'll tell her, and I'll call you," he said with a smile on his face. He really loved May and was grateful for her. Richard was not his father, so neither Ben nor she had any connection to him. But they both regarded him as their nephew and even formed a family relationship with his father and Pepper.
They watched the TV for a moment and ate pizza. Just as they finished eating, Peter's phone was beeping, announcing him an incoming message. He read the message and tried to ward off the anxiety that had begun to rise in him.
"May, do you think I could stay here tonight? Mom just wrote to me that they are staying in the lab for the late-night," he murmured, trying to sound like it was nothing.
But May knew him too well, so she knew it was bothering him. "You know you can stay anytime."
"Thank you, I larb you, Aunt May."
"I larb you too, Pete."
***
"Are you sure you don't need help with anything?" Peter made sure before standing up. It was Monday and he had just arrived at home. On Mondays, he used to come to Pepper's office to hug her after a week they hadn't seen each other. And she always kissed his forehead and told him how much she was missing him. His mom never did that. But she was a woman of science. Her relationship was totally different from the one Dad had with Pepper. Richard and she talked mostly about science. Sometimes it seemed to him that they weren't even dating at all.
"Yes, I'm sure, but thank you," Pepper said with a smile. "I have a meeting this afternoon that is about to go through, so please tell Tony that we need to postpone dinner a bit."
"I'll tell him. See you at dinner," he said and left the office. He went to the penthouse with a lift and stopped for some snacks in the kitchen before continuing to the workshop where his dad was, how Friday told him.
"I'm home, Dad!" he yelled as he walked into the lab, attracting attention.
"Pete! Finally," Tony said with a big smile and waited for Peter to come and hug him. He was glad for some time without an enhanced teenager, but he always missed him the week he was with Mary.
Peter hugged his father and then sat beside him. "Pep tells you we'll have dinner later today," he told him before he could forget. Having dinner together was something his father had insisted on since his childhood. He wasn't with Pepper before, so most of the time they were just two, but sometimes Happy, or Rhodey or Pepper joined them. From Monday to Thursday they dined together in the dining room, and from Friday to Sunday they dined in the living room, usually with some movie on TV. Peter liked it a lot. Both Pepper and Tony were busy people, but he never felt abandoned or lonely with them. He never felt left behind.
"Okay, no problem. How was school?" he wondered as he briefly read something on the holograms.
"Fine, nothing interesting," he replied, unwrapping the protein bar he had taken in the kitchen.
"What about Mary? How was your week?"
"It was okay," he mumbled the answer Tony was used to. Peter never talked much about what he was doing in the week he was away from him. And if he did, it included only Ned or May.
"Did you ask your mom about the spring break?" he asked, giving him a look. By the expression of his son, he already knew the answer. Well, he'll probably have to call Mary.
"It completely fell out of my head, but I don't think it should be a problem. She'll be at work anyway, maybe we don't even have to ask her. Maybe she won't even notice I'm gone," he answered dryly. The spring break was the week he was supposed to be with his mom, but Dad wanted to take him to Malibu. And he really wanted to go, but he didn't have the opportunity to ask Mom.
"I don't know what this was about, but I'll ignore it," Tony sighed, having an idea of what it was. May told him Mary and Richard were often at work and Peter was home alone, but his son never said anything, so he didn't think about it. "I'll call her. Pepper needs to know if we're going and if she needs to take a vacation."
"Wait, Pepper would go, too? That's great! I thought she wouldn't get out of work," he said with a smile.
"She wouldn't miss a family trip, she has a weak spot for you," Tony chuckled. "After all, like all of us."
"Aw, I love you too, daddy. Anyway, May is coming for dinner on Wednesday."
"Great. Do you have any homework before we start preparing dinner?"
"Something from physics, but it's easy. I can probably do it from sleep," he laughed, pulling his notebook out of his pack so he could get to work.
"That's my son," Tony said proudly, and then they both started to do their task.
***
Peter loved family dinners, even more, when someone else joined him and Dad and Pepper. Usually, that someone was May, as today, but Uncle Rhodey stopped very often too. The problem was that he couldn't enjoy dinner tonight, as always, because MJ's words were still playing in his head. He was talking to Ned about Dad's plan to go to Malibu during the spring break and that he might go with them, but that he had to talk to Mom first because it's a week he should be with her. Ned reacted as Peter did and said that if he left without telling her, she wouldn't know because she was rarely home. MJ looked up from the book she was reading and said she didn't understand why he wouldn't stay with Dad permanently when his mom didn't show interest in him. And it hurt. He knew his mom loved him. And he was proud of her research. She was so smart. She just had a lot of work to do. He wasn't a little kid anymore. He didn't need her attention all the time.
But now, at a family dinner with Dad, Aunt May, and Pepper, MJ's words didn't leave him alone. Even though he loved Mom, he felt happier here. With his dad. And he felt bad because he loved both his parents equally.
"Tony, you should tell Mary the truth about who Peter is," May said, pulling Peter out of his thoughts.
"You haven't told her yet?!" Pepper asked in disbelief.
Tony glanced between May and Pepper, swallowing hard. The two women he was really afraid of sometimes watched him with a blank expression. He was a dead man. "There was no opportunity!"
"Tony," Pepper sighed.
"What? I don't even remember the last time I saw her, and that's not something you would say on the phone," he said in his defense.
"Then make an appointment with her," May said simply. She knew it was hard to reach Mary, but she really had to know.
Peter sat there quietly and ate dinner while the adults talked about him as if he were not there. To be honest, he was a little scared. He knew his mom and Richard wouldn't hurt him, but what if someone else in their lab learned his secrets and decided to experiment on him? That would be scary.
"Could you tell her?"
"Tony! Peter is your son, you should tell her," Pepper objected.
"Besides, I haven't seen her since Ben's funeral, so I'm no better than you," May said.
"Do we have dessert?" Peter asked suddenly, who had already finished eating and desperately wanted to change the topic of the conversation.
"Of course we do, honey," Pepper said with a smile, and got up from the table to bring the dessert.
"I'll bet with you about what you want, it will be cinnamon rolls, Peter's favorite," Tony grinned. Pepper's love for his son made this woman more unique and he couldn't wait to get married to her.
"Of course it's cinnamon rolls," May laughed. It was a kind of tradition. Whenever she came to dinner, Pepper baked cinnamon rolls.
"Hey, I love cinnamon rolls," Peter said, already looking forward to them.
"We know, underoos, we know," Tony smiled.
***
It was Saturday and Richard and Mom were going to work. Peter already knew he would spend the weekend with Aunt May again. But first, he had to talk to Mom about the spring break.
"Mom, do you have a moment?" he asked as he found her in the kitchen, making coffee on the way to work.
"What is it, Pete?"
"I wanted to ask-" he started, but was interrupted by incoming Richard, who asked his mother some scientific questions. That was just typical.
"That would work, but what if it doesn't react as we suppose, it could explode."
"It won't be the first or the last thing to explode in the lab," Mary replied, taking the milk out of the fridge. Peter knew he had only a moment because once her coffee was finished, she would go to work.
Richard left them alone and Peter took the opportunity. "As I said, I was wondering if I could go to Malibu with my dad and Pep during the spring break," he asked, watching a reaction that was not what he expected.
"Spring break? But that's my week," she said, and Peter was surprised that she even knew it was her week.
"I know, but you'll work anyway, and I'd be here all day alone," he murmured. He thought she would allow it without blinking.
"I don't know," she sighed, closing the mug and Peter knew it was too late. She goes to work and doesn't let him go to Malibu. He was beginning to feel anxious.
"Mom, please."
"I will think about it, okay? But now I have to go to work," she said and walked away from the kitchen.
Peter knew she didn't realize it, but he knew her well enough to know she wouldn't think about it. She will be carried away by work and the spring break falls out of her head. And he'd be home alone all week. He was really starting to panic now. "I want to live with Dad and Pep permanently," he blurted out before even realizing what he was saying.
"What?" Mary breathed in shock, turning to face him.
"I'm not happy here," he sniffed. He didn't want to hurt her, but when it was out, he couldn't keep it inside anymore.
"Peter," she breathed and sat down at the table.
"Mary, we have to go." Richard peered into the kitchen.
"I'll come later," she said, not even looking at him. And Peter was shocked.
"Mary, you're the leader-"
"I said I'd come later, Richard," she gasped in frustration, tears in her eyes.
Richard looked them over but then did as Mary said and went to work without her.
"Mommy, you must know I still love you," Peter croaked, sitting down opposite her.
"Then why do you want to leave?" she asked, her voice cracked.
"Because you are almost never home! I know your work is important, but I am too."
"Oh, Pete, of course, you're important. Did Tony tell you that?!"
"No, Dad doesn't even know about it. It's all me. I just want to feel like I'm part of the family and I'm not that here. Not with you and Richard," he tried to explain to her. It was painful, but it was true. He needed to say it out loud and she needed to hear it.
"I never wanted children. Tony didn't want them either. But then I find out I was pregnant, and neither of us wanted to give you up when we created you. You were ours. And we loved you from the first moment we learned about you. I guess Tony's parenting role fits him better than me. But that doesn't change the fact that I love you and I don't regret having you," she said gently.
"I know all this, Mom," he said, wiping away tears from his face.
"So you must know that it is most important for me to make you happy, and if I can't give you the happiness, I have to let you go," she said with a sob.
"Mom.." Peter sighed desperately.
"It's okay. We'll still see each other, won't we?"
"Of course we will! I told you, I still love you. You're my mom, and it will never change."
"I love you too, Pete. Let's go," she said, wiping her tears and standing up.
"Go where?" Peter asked, puzzled.
"To Tony."
***
"Remember, be home for dinner, okay? Rhodey's in town," Tony said as he watched his son put on his shoes. He would pick him up, but he was avoiding Mary. He told her Peter was Spider-man and she was pretty mad at him.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to miss Uncle Rhodey."
"Great, enjoy your day with Mom and write to me when you get there, okay?"
"I will write, we will work in the lab today!" he informed him enthusiastically. It has been half a year since he lived with Dad and Pep permanently and things improved a lot. He was happy, and he and his mom liked it better this way. They met regularly every Sunday when Mary set aside time for her son. Everyone was happy.
"Just don't blow anything up."
"It won't be the first or the last thing to explode in the lab," he laughed.
"Yeah, I'm not surprised, just remember that engineering is much better than biochemistry!"
"Don't worry, physics is still my favorite, but now I have to go, Happy is waiting for me," he blurted and got into the elevator. "Take Pep for lunch, she recently complained that you haven't taken her anywhere for a long time."
"Thank you, son, but I don't need your dating advice."
"Whatever you say, dad," he chuckled before the elevator door closed.