Peter totally wasn’t crying over the fact Miles was starting his first day at Preschool and he totally wasn’t secretly hoping school would be canceled so the kid didn’t have to grow up. He spent relentless months with MJ trying to get Miles into a good preschool since the one he used to go too was way too far from the current place they lived. When Miles was accepted into a preschool, it was a big moment for not only Peter but for the kid himself. When Miles heard the news he was going to school for the first time he was off the charts. To finally go to a normal kid school was something that excited the child. Something new to experience and (hopefully) enjoy.
Peter had off put sending Miles to school for a while since he still had some trouble controlling his powers, especially when he’s feeling strong emotions. It wasn’t his fault, he was still young and growing which means so are his powers.
It was hard for Peter, who was a teenager at the time, to get a grip of his powers so he didn’t expect for a child at the age of four to really have any better luck at controlling them.
It wasn’t until Miles’s fourth birthday did Peter realize he couldn’t hold it off any longer. Unless he wants to cripple the kids future by leaving him uneducated. Which was the complete opposite of what he wanted for the boy. So he decided to take a leap of faith with this.
Which brings him to today.
Miles’s first day of school.
Miles was filled with excitement when he barged into Peter’s room and jumped on his bed. The adult let out a loud groan as the child shook the bed exclaiming, “Get up daddy! Get up! It’s my first day of preschool! We have to get ready!”
Peter slowly peeled his eyes open, already feeling a headache come on. You’d think a hero like him who’s been raising a kid for four years now would probably be used to be woken up early.
Peter glanced at his bedside clock and he felt his whole body scream when he read the time. It was six in the morning and his body was begging him to go back to sleep.
“Miles...it’s six in the morning. Preschool doesn’t start until nine,” Peter told the bubbling child. Part of him wished the kid would go back to bed just so he could. However another part just wished Miles would just go back to bed so Peter could have a small moment where he reminisced about when his kid was a baby.
He had never understood why his mother (or any mothers) cried the day the first day of school, until now. It was a big moment that showed the parents that their kid was growing up and Peter (mentally) isn’t ready for that. He wasn’t ready to let go of the little baby he grew to know and love.
“Yeah but we have tah get everything ready!” Miles explained as he jumped off the bed before making his way around to the side so he could look at Peter face to face. By just getting one good look at the enthusiastic expression the little boy wore he knew there was no convincing him to go back to bed. Which meant Peter need to get up and face the reality every parent goes through at some point.
“Alright alright I’m up,” Peter yawned as he forced himself up from the bed. He stretched his arms before letting his feet hit the cold wooden floor.
Miles, satisfied with Peter’s cooperation, ran out of the room while telling his father to hurry up.
Today was gonna be an….interesting day.
“Miles slow down, you’ll choke on your breakfast if you keep eating like that,” Peter told Miles, who was currently inhaling his pancakes.
The kid looked up, somewhat surprised, before swallowing the food in his mouth. “But I don’t wanna be late!” Peter rolled his eyes. The kid had been practically jumping off the walls in the morning so to hear that was no surprise to the older webslinger. Kid excitement was so pure and from experience wouldn’t last long. Especially when kids hit the Middle School years.
Peter shivered at the thought of middle school.
How he wished to forget those times.
Anyways, despite being woken up and bossed around by a four year old on what to help with they left the apartment pretty late which meant they had to get breakfast on the way. Which is why they were currently in booth in McDonald’s eating breakfast.
“Kid, you’ll get sick if you keep eating like that and then you’ll have to miss your first day. Now would you rather be late or not go at all?” Miles gasped in horror, as if he was told the worst news in the world. Luckily his words of Parker wisdom worked, and the four year old slowed the pace. Mentally he counted it as a win.
Peter took a sip of his coffee before glancing at his watch. They had exactly thirty minutes before they’d be late. Man where did the time go?
“We’re gonna be late!” Peter warned.
Suddenly Miles shot out from his room and ran across the living room, while struggling to put on his uniform shirt right.
Peter, who was getting Miles backpack ready, eyes widen. “How did that happen?!” He exclaimed.
“Help! I can’t see!”
Then the two proceeded to play a game of cat and mouse as Peter chased Miles around the apartment, trying to catch the four year old.
Oh yeah.
Never let a four year old tell you that they can change themselves. It was a recipe for disaster.
“I’m done!” Miles announced proudly, snapping Peter into reality, showing his empty tray.
The hero gave the four year old a small smile as he took the tray before getting up to dump it.
“Now are we going to school?” Miles asked as they exited the McDonald’s.
“Yup. That’s our next stop.” School was inevitable. He couldn’t stall anymore. It was gonna happen. Little Miles was gonna grow up and go to preschool. Soon he’ll be all grown up and he’ll have to send the kid off to college! Which was a weird thought since he was barley about to graduate from college.
Growing up sucked.
When they reached the preschool, they were imminently greeted with probably one of the most scariest people he’s met. “Hello Mister Parker,” The woman barely glanced up, looking at Peter then to Miles who instinctively hid behind him. “I couldn’t help but noticed Miles hasn’t changed his shoes.” The tone in hero voice was enough to make the hero want to hide. It was filled with judgement towards the two and a strictness that kinda reminded him of MJ when she would lecture him on being safe during his patrols
“H-Hi...um I’m sorry but who are you?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt like a complete idiot. The look on the woman’s face harden. “I’m the principal Ms. Harding,” It took everything not to laugh at the irony of her name, “we haven’t formally met. I’m usually busy caught up doing other stuff.”
Miles grip on his hand tightened, he could tell he was starting to get nervous by the woman’s stuck up attitude judging by the fact he was starting to tap into his spider strength. Which would have any normal human screaming. Luckily he wasn’t normal.
He was just extremely used to it at this point.
“As I was saying Miles hasn’t changed into his indoor shoes. It’s a policy every child has to follow,” Miss Harding explained. “It helps keep the floor clean and teaches the kids responsibility. It was stated clearly on the student handbook that we give.” Peter felt his face burn up slightly in embarrassment.
He knew he should’ve read the school handbook like MJ said. Dumb Pac-Man. Keeping him distracted and stuff. “I kinda...didn’t...read the handbook,” Peter told her honestly.
“I can see that.”
Suddenly out of nowhere Peter hears, “Miss Harding! You’ve got a call in your office!” He couldn’t help but recognize the voice. The adult turned his head to see a short woman making their way towards them. Her smooth looking black hair was straightened completely down and reached her shoulders. Her dark chocolate brown eyes met Peter’s giving him an apologetic look before meeting Miss Harding.
“But-“
“Don’t worry, I’ll take Mister Parker and his son from here.”
That’s when it clicked. He saw her during the tour of the preschool a few months prior. She was extremely nice when she showed him around and told them about their place.
After a moment of hesitation, Miss Harding walked off in the direction of her office leaving them alone with the nice teacher. “I’m sorry about her. She can come off a bit threatening at times with new parents,” The woman apologized.
“No problem Miss….uh…”
“Oh! Miss Kim!”
“Miss Kim! Yes. Thanks for that. I’m still kinda new with the whole parent thing,” Peter told her. He wasn’t completely lying. He’s had Miles for three and a half years but was still unsure about the whole parenting thing. It was always a new experience everyday. “It’s alright,” Kim looked down to Miles who was still hiding behind Peter’s leg, “Hey there! I’m Miss Kim! I’m gonna be your teacher!”
The teacher held her hand which resulted Miles rejecting it and trying to hide even more. “Um I’m sorry he’s just-“
Miss Kim waved it off. “It’s alright! Soon he’ll get used to me!” The adults both let out a laugh. When both laughs died out Miss Kim let them to another room. “....So for today we’ll provide Miles with indoor shoes but we expect the parents to get them. Usually you’d take them off by the shoe cubby in the front and you aren’t allowed to pass the yellow line if you don’t have the proper shoes,” Kim explained as she walked over to the reception desk and pulled out a box that already had a pair of white indoor shoes. “Also I don't know if you know this but we only wear the uniform if we’re going out on an outing.”
Again Peter couldn’t help but feel like a bigger idiot. He should’ve know it was weird to take a kid in uniform to preschool…..okay maybe he couldn’t have known but still.
Miss Kim began to go over the rules and everything the two need to know as she led them into the common area where a few other kids were while playing around. “So all you need to do is sign him in and you’re free to leave. We promise to take good care of Miles while you’re gone,” Miss Kim told him as she handed Peter a clipboard. He could hear a small gasp from behind him as he took the board into his hands.
On the board was a paper clipped in that had four separate columns on it. One for the kids name, date, time, and his signature.
It kinda felt like he was signing Miles away to grow up, which essentially was what he was doing. Or what it felt like at least.
Peter began to fill in the columns but half way through it he felt a small tug on his sleeve. He glanced down to find Miles looking up at him with his huge frightened puppy eyes. It was a sudden change from the hyped up child earlier. It felt like a punch in the heart and gut.
Peter gestured for Kim to give them a second, which she thankfully did, before he bent down to Miles height. “What’s up bud? What’s with the sad puppy eyes? I thought you were excited!” Miles glanced around the room before looking back down at his feet with almost a look of shame plastered onto his face. “What’s wrong Miles?” His voice turning a bit more serious. “Look at me bud.”
Peter tried to get a good look at Miles’s face, which proved to be harder than expected. So he eventually decided to gently make the four year old look at him, using his hand to raise the boys head.
Tears flooded Miles eyes. “I don’t want you to go!” Suddenly the kids arms wrapped around him, giving him a tight bone crushing hug. Small part of him was nervous with the fact Miles was showing so much emotion. In this state he could accidentally reveal his powers then they could have a huge problem on their hands.
However a huge chunk of him didn’t care about the other part. He was just concerned for Miles who began to cry onto his shoulder.
“Miles it's only for a few hours. I promise to pick you up as soon as this is over. Plus you’re gonna have a lot of fun here,” Peter tried to reassure. However that only seemed to make things worse. “Please daddy! I don’t want you to go! Stay here and we can have fun together!” Miles pulled back from the hug and looked into Peter’s eyes with pure desperation.
If it wasn’t for the fact Miles need to attend preschool, he might have just caved in and took the kid home.
“Miles as much as I want to have fun with you, I don’t think the teachers will let me stay. Plus I’ve got lots of st-“
“Then I can stay with you! I can help you do big boy stuff!” Hope filled Miles large brown puppy dog eyes. Hope that Peter would say okay and they would leave.
However that was the opposite of what he was gonna do and it killed him.
“As much as I’d love to have you as my little helper while I’m in class, this is more important. You have to go to school like how I do so one day you can do something great!” Peter was a bad example when it came to school. Sure he was gonna graduate but his plans afterwards didn’t really exist. At the moment he was still taking photos for the Daily Bugle (surprise, surprise), however after he gets his degree it he has no idea what’s next for him.
He has yet to do anything great.
But he knew Miles would one day.
“Plus you were so excited! You woke me up during the no no hour and told me that you couldn’t wait to come!” Miles sadness seemed to fade into confliction. “Preschool is gonna be fun! You get to meet other kids and play around all day while I’m stuck in a boring classroom! You don’t want to be stuck somewhere boring do you?”
Slowly, the four year old shook his head.
“That’s why you should stay here. I promise I’ll pick you up as soon as I can so we can both have some fun together before I drop you off at Auntie MJ. Deal?”
Miles began to contemplate what Peter offered, trying to decide whether or not it was a good deal to take. It was clear the kid was still scared but didn’t say anything.
“Look Miles. I need you to be brave for me alright? Just for a little bit.”
“But I’m scared.” Peter almost missed what he said. It was barely a whisper.
“I know bud, but sometimes you gotta be brave even when you’re scared. Cause somebody might count of it someday.”
The fear painted on Miles face was suddenly wiped away completely and replaced with a determined one. It was obvious the boy took what he said to heart. He could see it in his eyes.
“I’m gonna be brave!” The four year old announced.
“That’s my boy,” Peter ruffled Miles’s hair, with a hint of pride in his chest. He gave his four year old a once over before he finally signed the papers. He was about to stand up to hand the clipboard when Miles suddenly tackled him into another hug. Only this time he said, “I love you daddy.”
Peter hugged back saying, “I love you too kiddo. Try to have some fun while I’m gone will ya?” He could feel Miles nod before pulling back.
“All ready?” Miss Kim asked as she walked over cautiously.
Peter gave her a thumbs up, signaling everything was okay as he handed back the clipboard. “Alright!” Kim smiled as she turned to Miles. “Come on, let’s get you in the right shoes before we introduce you to the class!”
Miles gave one last hesitate glance at Peter, who in return gave him a small nod. That seemed to give the kid the confidence boast he needed since he took Miss Kim’s hand and let himself be led away.
Peter watched for a moment as the two walked away before turning around and making his way out. He found himself glancing back multiple times until he made it to the door.
For a moment he thought what would happen if he went back for Miles and took him back. Would that whole moment they had about bravery be destroyed by his selfishness.
He took a deep breath.
It’s about time he takes his own advice. For Miles’s sake.
“Class this is Miles! He’s our new student!” Miss Kim introduced as they prepared for brunch. Every kid sat at a table, waiting for their meals to be served. There wasn’t a lot of students so Miles felt pretty okay.
“Hi Miles,” The whole class said altogether.
Miles gave them a small wave before Miss Kim led him to a seat. He was seated with a bunch of random kids, in a small table more in back since most seats upfront were taken.
The four year old plopped down in his small chair and looked at the other kids, unsure of what to say.
“Miles is a weird name.”
Miles turned his head towards the voice to see it was the boy who sat next to him that spoke. “What’s your name?” He asked.
“Ganke.”
“That’s a pretty weird name too,” Miles suddenly shot back. Sure there was no anger behind the words but that seemed to get the other kid worried. “I’m s-sorry!”
“It’s okay!” Miles turned his body to face the other kid, flashing him a smile. “We both have weird names! So it’s okay!”
Ganke seemed relieved, since he gave a smile back. “Wanna be weird name friends?” Miles asked, holding his hand out.
“Sure!” Ganke took the hand and shook it.
Little did the two know, that this would be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Who knew worrying about your kid while trying to sit through a lecture was a bad combination. He’s pretty sure he missed half of what the teacher was trying to teach. Oh well. He could make up what he lost next class.
Right now he was relieved when he walked into the preschool, he imminently went to the front to ask for Miles when he heard a familiar giggle.
Peter looked around to see Miles sitting in the other room as he spoke to another kid. The two seemed to be hitting off as they spoke about whatever four year olds speak about.
Imminently he felt stupid for being worried. Miles was just fine and having a good time. He should’ve known the kid would be okay. He was a tough cookie for a four year old.
Suddenly Miles head turned towards Peter, and almost immediately the kid’s eyes lit up. It wasn’t long until Miles was running into arms, giving him a tight huge. “I was brave today! Just like you asked daddy!” Peter chuckled. Of course that would be the first thing the kid would say.
“I know bud! Great job! You did so good!”
Peter proceeded to sign out Miles as the kid rambled on about his day while changing shoes.
“Today we played with a bunch of sand and blocks! We also learned a bunch of other stuff! I made a friend! His name is Ganke! We had lots of fun! Also Miss Kim heard me speaking Spanish today and asked me if I speak it flu-flu-“ Miles began to stutter as he tried to pronounce the word.
“Fluently,” Peter finished.
“Yeah! She said she gonna teach me Spanish!” Peter a tug at his lips as a smile broke into his lips. He knew Miles somehow managed to pick up some Spanish, how he did was still a mystery (not really. It was totally from their secret telenovelas night). “That’s great! I’m glad you had a fun time today!” Peter and Miles returned the indoor shoes and grabbed all their stuff before they walked out the front doors.
“What about some ice cream since you were such a good kid today?” Peter offered as they began to make their way down the street.
“YES!”