Chapter Text
Otto and Rosie ordered in Chinese food.
Awkward was not even a word to describe the kind of air that sat at their dining table. Otto has not even made eye contact with Peter at all. Rosie watched as Peter played with his food.
The woman finished serving her own plate and sat with a quiet sigh. As always; she's the automatic mediator. She looked between both of her boys.
"So..Peter. how were classes today?" Priding sweetly, she passed the salad to Otto. "You came earlier than expected, did something happen with your tutoring session?"
"Y-yeah...the tutor called in sick so I left early." Peter rubbed his neck. "And uh- classes have been pretty good. I aced my biochemistry test and got the highest marks in the class."
Rosie beamed. "That's wonderful to hear sweetie, you always work so hard in your academics." She glanced at her husband, waiting for him to say something. Peter tilted his head at him too, curious if Otto had a response.
Her husband kept a tight lip.
Oh, now Otto wants to be an opposite of a chatty box tonight. She knows what happened earlier was absolutely humiliating for everyone, but it would be great if someone else helped wrangle the big elephant in the room as well.
"Ahem," When she was met with no response, she narrowed her eyes and swiftly kick Otto's leg under the table, avoiding Peter's view.
"OW!" Otto hissed quietly and shook out of his trance. "What, woman?" He rubbed his head with exasperation.
Rosie raised a brow. "Peter excelled and aced his exam today," She said through slighty gritted teeth. "Highest score in the class, Otto. Isn't that great?"
"Oh, that's nice Peter, real nice." He kept his head low as he stuffed his mouth with noodles.
Rosie didn't miss the way Peter looked like a clubbed seal.
Fantastic help.
She softened her expression. "If I may ask Peter, if you're doing so well, why do you need tutoring?"
The boy poked his orange chicken with his fork, "Oh, it's not for physics. It's for astronomy. It's one of the electives I picked this semester." He sighs. "I'm just... having trouble focusing in that class."
Rosie nodded.
"I see. I actually remember taking astronomy back in college; the math was quite difficult for me. I'm sure you will get the hang of it soon." She reaches over to rub his shoulder. This poor kid was all stiff and tense! "Any interesting phenomenons you've learned in there?"
Peter perked up. "Oh! We've learned about the different stages of the moons, like the cycles. There's waning crescent, waning gibson..."
His face soured as he trailed off.
"And...full moon," he huffed with amusement, blushing. "Yep, learned about two of those today..."
Rosie choked on her wine as Otto's face flushed red, spreading across his cheeks.
The woman couldn't help but crack up!
"H-hey," Otto stuttered, one of his actuators fanning his reddened face with a paper plate. "That is not at all funny..."
"Oh, no?" She gestured towards Peter, who was trying not to giggle.
Otto narrowed his eyes in mock annoyance and pointed at Peter, "I should ground you for that little comment, you little imp!"
"What?," Peter ended up breaking into tiny hiccups. "It's true! I saw your..-," his face crinkles up as he turns away with laughter.
Rosie softened. She watched as her husband shook his head, eyeing Peter with a similar fond expression.
"Alright, alright, I was trying to avoid it, but the elephant in the room needs to be tamed," Otto cleared his throat, his actuators chirping intently.
"Peter. When a man and a woman love each other very much, they-"
Peter's jaw dropped. "Otto! I know how... sex works; I had the talk with Aunt May and Uncle Ben back in high school ya know." He crossed his arms, his ears tinted red. "And yeah, I saw a lot today."
The married couple cringed.
"Well, that doesn't explain why you broke down our door. Care to elaborate?" He asked firm, but not unkindly.
Peter bit his lip, looking both at Otto and Rosie. How is he gonna explain without looking like a total wimp? Or a creep?!
The college kid sighed, "I'm sorry you two, I...got home and I heard loud noises coming from upstairs. I honestly didn't think it was you guys; I saw Otto's car in the driveway, so I was thinking you guys walked to your outting."
He gulped. "I heard Rosie scream and I thought- my spider-man cover was blown," he grips the tablecloth a bit too hard. "I didn't know what tl think and I just acted. I'm so sorry." He tipped his chin down.
Otto and Rosie's looks softened throughout the boy's explanation.
"Oh, oh my dear boy. You thought we were getting hurt?" Otto got up from his chair and closed the distance with Peter with a hug.
He sighed in relief when Peter leaned in."I am so sorry we scared you. I honestly didn't think you would hear us; but...I should have remembered you got ears like a bat." Otto grinned at Rosie. "We're still getting used to having a kid around."
That made Peter snort. "I haven't been a kid in a while, Doc." The boy had an amused smile as Rosie got up and joined them in the hug. "Plus, I don't want to affect your guys' love life. Maybe I can settle on getting some earmuffs?"
"We will get you some earmuffs," Rosie chimed in, stroking Peter's soft hair. "We're a family now; we'll work on a solution that works for everyone. Okay?"
Peter looked up at the two with his big baby blue eyes.
A family.
He hasn't felt so...loved and cared for a while.
Maybe he really wasn't just a roomate after all.
Where would he be now without them?
"Thank you." His smile was wobbly. Otto used his thumb to wipe a stray tear from Peter's cheek.
"Now...it's Friday. Since Rosie and I decided to stay...why don't we do our honorary movie night? I can prep the snacks, Rosie can set up the couches and blankets. And you," He helps Peter stand from his chair, "Can go through the DVD and VHS case to pick our movie. How does that sound?"
"Sounds like a plan!" Peter gets excited; and cleans up the rest of his plate before heading to the living room. "Do we still have cookies?" He shouts out.
"We do dearie," Rosie leaned into Otto; the married couple sinking into the domesticity of their home. Sounds of Peter shuffling through the movies and already hooking up the DVD player fill the room. "You did good, Otto."
"Hm?"
"Imagine if you never invited him to stay for dinner the day, before the demo," Rosie adjusted his sweater collar, admiring the actuators, "We wouldn't have met our lovely Peter. I do not want to imagine a world where our little family does not exist."
Otto kissed Rosie on the lips. "Then I suppose you would be glad to know this is our only reality. The best one, of couse." Otto reached for her hand.
"Now, let's go see what the whippersnapper picked for tonight," The two walked into the living room hand in hand.
Their little family complete.