Names and gifts
Christmas was coming up. It’s spirit present in the Parker household. MJ had wanted to avoid the consumerist tendencies of the holiday so the whole family had agreed to only exchange sentimental gifts. Their apartment had a beautiful recycled tree in the living room decorated with many hand made ornaments. They had been hand painted by Morgan one night with the help of 3 year old Ben as she babysat him.
Peter walked around his apartment and all he saw was family. He saw it in the tree and its decorations, in the drawings that were stuck to the side of the fridge. He saw it on the many pictures that were hung up on their wall. Pictures of Peter and MJ on their wedding day. Of Happy, Peter and May on their own. There were pictures of Peter holding Ben after he was born and of Morgan holding him a few days later. And then, Peter’s favorite. It had been a birthday gift from his little sister, a collage of every single picture Peter had with Tony; in the lab, newspaper clips of Iron Man and Spiderman, Tony holding his internship certificate and so many more.
The thing was, that Morgan had a talent for giving presents. She was the best. She didn't need to spend a single cent and could find exactly what you wanted to receive, even if you didn't know what that was. And Peter, sadly, did not have the same quality. So when he got Morgan on the family’s own secret Santa, he hadn't known what to do. And the thought kept him up at night.
That wasn't the only thing keeping Peter up at night. MJ and him had been expecting, for the past 8 months. Another boy, the doctor had said. Peter had been so happy, a little brother for Ben to play with. But then they had found themselves laying in bed, talking about possible names. MJ was giving serious suggestions and Peter was merely humming along because he already knew exactly what he wanted to name this child, he also knew he couldn't. But MJ knew him well, had known him now for over 15 years, so she nonchalantly looked up at him and opened her mouth,
“What about Tony?” She said knowingly, and their hearts were so synchronized at this point that there was no way she hadn't felt how his sped up. “Or, well, Anthony.”
Peter sighed. “I can't do that MJ, that's for Morgan to do” And he knew that that was the right answer. Tony hadn't been his dad, as much as it felt like he had. They had shared a handful of years but no genes, no name. Morgan on the other hand, only had her father’s genes and name. If she ever wanted to name her child after him then it was her right. MJ understood, she knew it pained Peter to accept, but she also knew better than to press him on it. So she moved on, to new names, to new ideas. Peter stayed behind. Tony Parker. Anthony Parker. It just felt right.
They had been doing their Christmas Eve dinners at the Stark residence for a few years now. Peter loved it, spending a night surrounded by the people he loved most; May and Happy, Pepper and Morgan, MJ and Ben. They talked, they shared stories and they exchanged gifts. Peter had finally found after days drowning in thoughts, an idea for Morgan’s present. Now the only reason why there was a knot in his stomach was how she would like it. If at all.
Peter pulled up to the cabin and stopped the car. He grabbed the casserole they had brought as MJ woke Ben up. He watched as Pepper opened the door and Ben ran inside, straight past her and asking for Morgan. He helped MJ up the stairs and kissed Pepper on the cheek.
“Hey, Pep. Are we the first to arrive?” He asked as he stepped inside, going straight to the kitchen and putting the casserole in the oven.
“Happy and May are almost here, I just got off the phone with her. We are waiting on one more guest and then we’ll start” Pepper answered swiftly while she caressed MJ’s belly. “Have you chosen a name yet?”
MJ and Peter looked quickly to each other. Talk about touching a sensitive subject. “Um,no. Not yet” MJ replied quickly, swiftly changing the subject.
Both women started talking about motherhood, something about breastfeeding tips that Peter really didn’t think he wanted to hear, so he quietly made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Finding Morgan’s room quickly, he heard his son’s laughter through the door and stayed put for a second.
“So what did you ask Santa for, Benny?” Morgan seemed to be asking, he could hear the croaking of the mattress, knew that they were surely jumping up and down.
“Santa isn’t real, Morgan.” Ben answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world “He was invented by men who want to take my parents money.” Peter couldn’t help but giggle. He didn’t expect anything less from MJ’s son. But, alas, he was also his dad so he wasn’t surprised when he continued, “I asked for a new set of Legos anyway”.
He opened the door just in time to see Morgan laughing and putting Ben down on the floor. He almost caught them red handed. “Are you gonna say hello to your brother or is that not cool anymore?” Morgan turned around quickly. Her face lit up as she saw Peter and she quickly approached him and gave him a hug.
“It was never cool. But I’ll do it anyway” She answered into his shoulder. “Um, Benny, would you mind going downstairs and asking my mom if our guest arrived yet?” She adressed Ben, clearly wanting to be left alone with Peter.
“Mmm Okay” Ben replied quickly and left skipping down the stairs.
Peter looked at Morgan worriedly. “Everything okay?” He asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. Searching for anything that might be off.
“Yeah yeah” She answered quickly “I’m just nervous.”
“Nervous? Why?” He asked curiously
“Did my mom tell you who our guest was?” She asked sheepishly, avoiding his gaze. He could feel the tension and wanted to ease his sister.
“Oh my god if you invited Thor to have dinner with us I will lose it” He dramatically responded “Do asgardians even celebrate Christmas?”
“Pete.” She cut him off tiredly. “You’re right Morgan. I don’t think they do” Peter continued as if he hadn’t heard her. He kept on rambling, it was a talent. Until Morgan cut him off.
“My boyfriend is coming to dinner tonight” Peter’s heart stopped beating. He needed air.
“Your what?” He asked, he didn’t mean for it to sound as rude as it did so he quickly overcompensated. “That’s um- that’s great. My girlfriend came too…I mean, my wife. But you know her already. MJ? Ben’s mom” He was spiraling.
“Peter,” she held him by his shoulders, “Breathe” he started to calm down so he explained. “He is jewish so he doesn’t celebrate Christmas. And I thought this might be a good chance for him to meet the family. To meet you” she finished with a sigh, he could tell she was nervous.
“That’s really great Morgan. I’ll be on my best behavior.” And just in that moment, they heard Pepper’s voice coming from down stairs. “Morgan! Max is here”. And so it began.
Max was nice. He was charming and easy to talk too. Peter and him had a lot in common and Morgan seemed to be more relaxed now that dinner had started. There were several conversations going on at once, May was asking Ben about daycare and MJ was helping him with his answers and meal as Pepper dutifully watched on. She was asking Happy questions about Stark Industries but he was only half- listening, choosing to glare at Morgan’s boyfriend through the entire dinner. Peter was sitting by Morgan’s side and he kept asking Max questions. He liked science and Star Wars. And had recently been thinking about applying to MIT. Needless to say, Peter approved.
Dinner moved quickly and before Peter knew it they were sitting in the living room exchanging the secret santa gifts. The way they did it, was so that they all knew who had given each present to whom, they just liked to see everyone’s reaction. Pepper was in charge and she started by giving May her gift; a framed picture of Happy, MJ, Peter, Ben and herself. May had been so grateful. She had gone on to give her gift to Happy of all people, gave him tickets to a Mets game so that he could take little Ben to his first game. Happy had gotten Peter. He grabbed a small box and quickly delivered it, Peter took off the wrapping paper and found one of the nicest and weirdest gifts he had ever received; it was an album with all the schematics and plans Tony had made when making all of his suits, all of the things he had never gotten around to creating, and all the information he had gathered that had led them to meet. On the front of the book was a small engraved spider and, inside, what seemed to be different quotes that sounded like Tony. “This are all different things that he told me about you, different thoughts he had” Peter had let a few tears dropped and hugged Happy. He pretended to not enjoy the hug but, who was he kidding? They loved each other.
Peter knew it was his turn but he asked if he could go last, so Morgan volunteered to continue, she had gotten Ben. She gave her something that Peter knew he would love, it was a superhero coloring book; with Spiderman, Iron Man and all of the other avengers as well as a few blank pages to “design your own superhero suit”. Ben had been so excited. He moved on to give MJ his gift, a macaroni frame with a picture of the both of them and Peter standing by the ocean. MJ hugged him. She got up and approached Pepper , gave her a book on called “The inner workings of a boss’ mind”, she loved it.
Max understood that he wasn’t getting a gift, mainly because they didn’t know he was coming. Happy had told him that it was a right reserved for those who had spent at least a year in the family. He had laughed but Happy had kept a straight face. Peter got up and called everyone’s attention.
“Well, it’s my turn.” He started nervously, trying to keep his voice from trembling. “I got Morgan, clearly” He gestured to everyone else having a gift. “And this particular present is not just from me, which is a little bit like cheating, it is also from MJ” He pointed her out and everyone chuckled, found it funny that Peter was nervous enough to forget that they knew who MJ was.
“Morgan, I love you” Morgan nodded, smiling widely. “You are my little sister and I never want you to not be in my life. I know I missed the first five years of your life, and I regret that every day.” Everyone was quiet, staring with attention. “There is a question that I want to ask you, something to task you with.” He was getting more and more nervous. “As you all know me and MJ are expecting a baby boy, sometime next month.” They all nodded, Morgan’s eyes were glistening “You have proven to be one of the best babysitters in the world, if Ben’s reviews are anything to go by,” He chuckled, Ben gave Morgan his attempt at a wink, “And I have watched you grow into such a smart, kind and funny woman that when we found out we were having this baby, there was no doubt-“ he took a deep breath, approached Morgan to her seat on the couch and kneeled so he could look her in the eye, “Morgan, would you be our son’s godmother?” And he didn’t hear a response because she immediately jumped on him. Hugged him tighter than ever and everyone else started clapping. May and Pepper were crying, MJ was taking pictures and Ben was cheering, trying to get in on the fun. Everything was great.
They stayed at the house for a few more hours. Ben had fallen asleep on the couch 20 minutes ago and they were about to start heading home. May and Happy had left, May was on-call the next morning and MJ and Pepper were softly talking as MJ ran her hand through Ben’s hair. Morgan and Max had gone upstairs to her room an hour ago, Peter didn’t want to admit that he was a bit uneasy. He checked his watch and got up.
“Babe, I’ll say goodbye to Morgan and then we can leave,” he started heading for the stairs, “it’s getting late”.
MJ whispered “sure” as Pepper called after him, “Make sure you knock before you enter”, he heard laughing and cringed at the thought.
He got to Morgan’s room and knocked, opened it when he heard them saying so. He was not stupid, had been 18 once. He could tell exactly what had been going on. They were both standing by the bed. Peter swallowed.
“Um, we are leaving” he said hesitantly, “just wanted to say goodbye”.
“Sure, man” Max told him, approaching him and patting him on the back, “I’m going to the bathroom, see you soon” and he left.
He looked at Morgan. He had never seen her blushing so much. He decided straight forward was the way to go.
“Are you being safe?” He asked, never one to avoid subjects with her. She immediately looked at him, blushed deeper and looked back at her feet. She nodded slowly all the same. He sighed “Okay, good. He seems nice.” He sat on a small couch she had by her window, she joined him.
“He is” Morgan answered confidently, “I really love him”. Peter smiled, just as he was about to leave Morgan spoke.
“So, do you have a name for my nephew/godson yet?” He was sure she didn’t know. Couldn’t know the battle that Peter was fighting in his mind. He swallowed hard.
“Um, no.” his voice broke, his hesitation evident. “When we do, you’ll be the first to know”.
She stared at him for a second too long. Her face morphed into an expression that Peter knew she had when she realized something.
“What about Tony?” his head snapped towards her, his eyes left hers immediately after.
“I don’t think so” he replied looking down, not wanting her to see the sadness in his eyes.
“Why not?” She seemed to be genuinely curious, as if the thought of Tony being her father hadn’t crossed her mind. “Tony Parker sounds great. A bit pretentious maybe, but great”.
He laughed softly. “I think I’ll leave Tony to you.” He looked at her now, she raised her eyebrows, “he was your father, that name is yours to pass on”.
“Okay…” she was slowly piecing things together, “I pass it on to you then”.
“What?” Peter didn’t understand, didn’t want to get his hopes up.
“I give the name to you, I don’t want it” she stated it clearly and simply. Peter was sure he was missing something.
“Why?” He questioned slowly, “Don’t you want to have the chance of using the name?”
“Maybe, but you are older. You beat me to it I guess, had a child first.” She shrugged her shoulders, “It’s only fair you name him what you want.”
“Tony was not my dad, Richard was” he explained patiently, he knew she understood that.
“Well, yeah. But you were Tony’s kid too. And you are not naming my godson Richard.” She told him surely, “No offense, but that’s an old person’s name”. Peter laughed, he hadn’t realized that he had started to cry. “Pete, dad would have loved for you to name a child after him. And I love my dad, but I barely knew him. Naming my child after him would feel like placing a burden on my son, because I would never see anything but a child, I wouldn’t be honoring my dad, I would be turning his name into just another name” Peter thought he understood what she was saying, “But in the same way that you see Tony every time you look at me, you are the closest thing to him that I have. And I love your kids in the same way that you love me. Having a godson named after my dad would keep him alive, would allow you to honor a man that you loved, but most importantly, it would help me find meaning in the name again.” She sighed, tears running down her own cheek. “So yeah, I pass the name on to you. You better not waste it.”
He hugged her tightly, said goodbye and left. And all the way home he couldn’t help but keep thinking. Tony Stark had become the luckiest man in the world by getting a daughter like Morgan Stark. And Tony Parker would be just as lucky, having her in his life.