Chapter Text
It's Christmas Eve. It's Christmas Eve, and Arcadia and Hobie are running late. They were supposed to be at Peter and MJ's 20 minutes ago, but Cady hasn't been feeling the best today. Although her morning sickness has almost completely gone away, she's had some worse for wear days. Today has been one of those. Honestly, Hobie has been saying it's because she's stressing herself out. In her mind, tonight had to go smoothly. They were going to tell their friends about the news of Arcadia being pregnant.
"You sure you still wanna go?" Hobie asks, his hands busy holding Arcadia's hair back.
The aforementioned is hunched over the toilet, looking like she's gonna puke again, "Yes! Hobie, we can't miss this party! We've been planning for-"
Rubbing her back as she throws up again, Hobie hums, "Baby, you've been sick all day."
Heaving, Arcadia wipes her face with toilet paper as she calms down a bit, "We're going! End of story-!"
It's almost comedic how her body cuts her off again. Sighing, Hobie keeps his lover's hair pulled back while rubbing her back. They stay there for a little while longer, just long enough for Arcadia's nausea to die down. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a bit nauseous still. But she told herself that she had to pull herself together.
Standing with some help from Hobie, Arcadia fixes her hair in the mirror. She hasn't gotten all dressed up in months. Today was special. Today is important. She can't just turn up looking like a mess. Well, she can, but that was not happening. She wouldn't let herself go to the party if she was a mess.
Making sure she's okay, Hobie slips out of the bathroom to gather the Christmas presents. The couple made shirts for all of their friends that say random shit about how they're all going to be aunts or uncles. It was mainly Arcadia's idea, but Hobie added some embellishments and accessories to really sell it. They also had extra printouts of the ultrasound they got last month. Each present had one in it just to make the message extra clear.
After a bit, Arcadia joins Hobie after grabbing the sweet tray that they made.
"You have everything?" She asks, fixing her hair again in the hall mirror.
Hobie rolls his eyes, already a bit tired from the day they've been having, "Yes. Now, are you good to go?"
Arcadia glares in his direction as she hums, "I've been ready."
"Uh-huh," He teases as he opens the portal to the foyer of Peter and MJ's place.
Christmas music spills out the portal along with laughter and talking. There's the faint sound of Mayday squealing and Miles' voice chattering along with her. The couple steps through and out into the other universe. The entrance hall is all decorated with little trees on the side table and lights adorning the beige walls. The portal closes behind them as Arcadia adjusts her oversized sweater. It's just barely hiding her very noticeable baby bump, but it'll suffice for the time being. Hobie leads the way into the living room, where Miles is watching Peter and Mayday play on the ceiling.
"Happy Corporate Greed Day!" Hobie cheers, catching the trio off guard.
Scoffing, Arcadia elbows him, "Hobie, enough."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that you buy into this," He teases a bit, but cuts it short when he receives the death glare from his already exhausted partner.
"Enough," She repeats in a hushed whisper.
"'Obie!" Mayday shouts over this exchange, as she spots her favorite uncle. She makes a beline across the ceiling over to him.
Setting the presents aside quickly, Hobie catches the toddler as she falls off the ceiling and into his arms, "There's my little anarchist in training!"
"You see this, Miles!" Peter calls back to his mentee, "No loyalty!" He laughs and plops down to the floor to scoop up the presents and greet the couple, "Man, we were starting to think you weren't coming! Got caught up or something?"
"Or something," Arcadia is quick to answer as she watches her friend set the presents under the tree, "We've been busy all day."
"I've been busy," Hobie teasingly corrects as he bounces May on his hip, "You've been sick."
"Sick?" Peter and Miles both echo.
Silently cursing her partner, Cady smiles, "It's nothing contagious. 'Just like a 24-hour bug."
"Well, that's good," Peter says off-handedly before motioning to the couches, "But sit, please. Especially since you're under the weather."
Arcadia waves off the suggestion and heads towards the kitchen, "I wanna see MJ and drop these sweets off."
"Fine," Her friend huffs, "But you should really rest!"
"Believe me, I know," She calls back before slipping into the kitchen.
She hears Hobie talking their friends down and changing the topic as she spots Pavitr and Gwen helping MJ. Gwen is decorating some cupcakes, and Pavitr is mashing potatoes for MJ. Meanwhile, MJ looks like a mom during holidays. Partly because she is, but she's split herself between multiple tasks while talking to the younger pair.
Announcing her presence, Arcadia holds up the plate of sweets, "Where do you want these, MJ?"
Turning at the sound of her name, MJ smiles, "Over on the dessert counter!"
Following the brief motion, Arcadia sets down the plate and slides up to Gwen's side. Leaning over her side, the older of the two inspects the younger's work, "What flavor are these?"
Gwen shrugs and leans back a bit to ask MJ, "Hey, what flavor are these?"
"Strawberry and cream cheese frosting."
Taking one that isn't frosted yet, Arcadia takes a bite out of the cupcake and gets some protests.
"Aye, I didn't even frost that one yet!" Gwen yells.
Pavitr looks back at them with a look of pure cringe, "You eating a cupcake without frosting?!"
Shrugging, Arcadia takes another bite, "Yeah so? It's like a muffin."
Fake gagging, Pav shakes his head, "But it's a cupcake?"
"And?"
"You're weird."
"Nah, you are," She teases, finishing off the unfrosted cupcake, "Besides, I've never been a huge fan of frosting. No offense, MJ."
"None taken," She replies.
Meanwhile, in the living room, the guys are chatting up a storm while entertaining Mayday. With Mayday on the floor, the attention gets shifted to Hobie. Miles is the first to ask questions.
"Hey, is Cady okay?" He asks, eyes flashing between his friend and the toddler.
Replying, Hobie shifts a bit, getting comfortable on the couch, "Yeah, why?"
"We haven't seen her in months," Shrugging, Miles continues, "and every time we've asked about her, you avoid the question. Plus, she shows up sick?"
Sensing some justified tension, Peter hops in to mediate, "Miles is just worried about her. We all are."
It's obvious that Hobie's trying to avoid the answer, "It's not really my place to say anything."
"Is she sick or.. um.. Y'know," Miles asks, getting straight to point, wanting a clear answer. It's clear he's worried about his friends health.
"No!" The older of the two is quick to reply, his attention solely focused on Miles for a moment, "God, no. She's fine, I swear."
Miles looks at him with uncertainty as Peter takes over, "Alright, now that that's out of the way! Who wants to help me convince MJ that it's time to open presents?"
Miles eyes Hobie for a second, still sensing that he's covering something up. He can tell that Miles isn't convinced whatsoever but opts to just ignore that for now.
"Miles," Peter tempts, trying to have backup in his shenanigans, "C'mon."
"Fine," He sighs, giving into the tomfoolery.
The two of them slip into the kitchen. After a moment, Hobie gets up and nods towards the kitchen, signaling to Mayday, "I think they might need our help, May."
She looks up at him then to the door before nodding and giggling, "Up, please."
"Manners?" Hobie questions the toddler as he picks her up, "When did this happen?"
The toddler shrugs and shakes her head, "Dunno."
Hobie chuckles and heads into the kitchen with May on his hip. It's pretty chaotic already, despite the conversation only lasting for a few seconds.
"For the last time, Peter," MJ groans, "Dinner first presents second. You're gonna get the kids' hopes up."
"Awe c'mon, MJ," Hobie prods, "Why not vary from tradition? Might be fun."
Arcadia glares at him from across the kitchen island, "Hobie."
Without even thinking, he teases her, "What? It's not like you're keepin' much down anyways."
"Wait, what?" Gwen pipes up, looking at Arcadia, "Cady?"
"So, she is sick," Miles grumbles.
Arcadia sends a mean glare towards Hobie before smiling, trying to relieve some tension, "I'm fine, really."
"Are you sure?" Gwen asks, her eyes flashing over her friends frame.
"I'm sure," She gives her a reassuring smile and sidehug. After a moment, she tries to switch the topic of conversation, "But, maybe Hobie is onto something. It might be nice to switch things up this year," She peers over at MJ, "What do you say, MJ? Just this once? Please?"
A sigh escapes the aforementioned as she turns to see over half of the room looking to her expectantly. It's obvious that she's debating it internally, but after a moment, she groans and nods.
"Fine," She finally agrees, "But we aren't doing this again."
"Oh, we're totally doing this again," Hobie teases.
Peter shushes him, "Don't ruin this."
After MJ gets everything settled in the kitchen, everyone gathers in the living room. Hobie, Arcadia, and Pav sit on one of the couches, while MJ, Gwen, and Miles sit on the other couch. Peter is in charge of handing out the presents, and Mayday floats between her parents and her aunts and uncles.
"Okay," Peter announces as he stoops down to grab the first present, "First up is, Mayday!" He chuckles and shows the small present to his daughter, "Look, May," He glances at the label, "It's from Hobie and Cady."
Mayday eagerly reaches out for the present as Cady speaks up, "Actually, before she opens that, can we make sure everyone has their presents from us? It's kind of a group thing."
"Uh, sure," He agrees, kind of suspicious.
Turning to Hobie, Cady motions for him to get up and help. Luckily, after a moment, he does. As he's handing Miles his box, the couple get questioned.
"This isn't one of your pranks, right?" Miles asks, already suspicious as he takes the box from Hobie.
"No pranks, I swear."
He looks up at his friend suspiciously before Cady cuts in, "The presents are from both of us, so you're safe."
After a moment, Miles relaxes from the reassurance. Sitting back down, Hobie wraps an arm around Cady as they sit and watch. On the floor, next to MJ, Peter is helping Mayday open her present, while MJ opens her own. All the presents are pretty much the same, just an ultra sound, a shirt, and some homemade cookies. It's all mostly buried in ripped up newspapers as a form of confetti.
Gwen is the first to open up her present. And when she sees the ultra sound, she's initially confused. But when she realizes she's shaking Miles by the arm, egging him to open his present faster. As he does, Pavitr is to their right already laughing at the print on the shirt that his best friend made for him.
"God, this is so cheesy, man!" Pav laughs, turning the shirt to put it to his body and show the room.
Hobie is quick to respond, "Hey, it's Cady's idea!"
"Oh, like you didn't have a part in it!" She responds, giving him a playful backhand to the chest.
"Oh, he definitely had a part in it," Gwen pipes up as she pulls out her own shirt.
Finally, Miles gets his shirt out of the box after thoroughly inspecting the ultrasound. He mumbles the text on the shirt before hollaring, "Congrats, you're going to be a babysitter... Wait! Cady, you're pregnant?!"
Nodding, Cady smiles.
"I knew it!" Peter yells as he looks up to MJ, "I told you, honey! I knew something was up!"
MJ laughs as she pulls her shirt out of the box, "Fairy Godmother, huh?" She peers around the shirt to Arcadia and Hobie, "How far along are you?"
Humming in thought, Arcadia shrugs, "About 6 and a half months."
"And you're hiding your bump?" Gwen asks, very obviously staring at her friends stomach, "How???"
Arcadia stands and runs her hands over her sweater so it actually shows her stomach, "Oversized clothing is a lifesaver."
"You're huge," Gwen blurts out. She pauses and cringes while apologizing, "Sorry!"
Laughing, Cady sits back down, "Well, I am pregnant with twins."
"Twins?!" Miles shouts.
Laughing, Hobie says, "That's the same reaction Cady had when we found out."
"I mean, I don't blame her," MJ chimes in as she looks at the little 'cousin in training' shirt for her daughter, "One kid can already be a handful, but two?"
Peter glances up at the couple, "Do you think they'll be like us?"
"Maybe," She shrugs, "But that's up to the universe."