Chapter Text
The very next morning, Peter had awoken with a surprising bounce in his step, eager to see all of his new friends again and May and Ben had been equally eager to speak with Miss Vasquez about the five children on their list. Their enthusiasm made getting ready incredibly easy and they stepped out of their apartment a full ten minutes early, Peter’s bulging backpack securely held in his uncle’s hands. In his excitement, Peter had tried to pack everything he thought his new friends would like to see but a quick intervention from May had ensured that his extras were limited to a single picture book that Peter was positive Michelle would like, a second pack of fruit snacks to share with Abe, one of his dolls so that he could play with Liz at recess, and – tucked carefully into his folder so that it wouldn’t be crinkled – a picture of the brightest dinosaur May had ever seen that Peter had lovingly dubbed “Lavie” for some reason she couldn’t discern that was meant for Ned. Peter had tried to find something to bring to show Betty but May had put her foot down at bringing an additional pillow so the little boy had settled for bringing something the next day.
May and Ben were just as prepared – May had looked up Peter’s class roster to get the full names of his new friends and had done some – probably a tad creepy - internet sleuthing to find out about the families, which she sent to Ben to look over during his break at work. Peter’s “recess-friend” Liz’s full name was Elizabeth Allan-Toomes; her mother, Doris Allan, worked as a paralegal in a medium-sized law firm located in Brooklyn and her father, Adrian Toomes, owned a construction and clean-up crew based in Queens. From what May had been able to tell from their sparse Facebook accounts, the Allan-Toomes were a lovely but private Queens-native family who doted heavily on their only child. Peter’s “in-class” friend, Michelle was Michelle Jones. Michelle’s parents, from what May could gather, were both heavily involved in civil rights activism and social justice – May had actually met her mother, Madeline, at a Women’s Rights rally just a few months back and her father Philip had written an op-ed on police brutality that Ben had shared with her. They were good people, from what May could tell. She would be happy with either of the girls being a major part of Peter’s life.
There was barely any information about Peter’s “lunch-friend” Abe’s family online. His full name was Abraham Brown and his mother, Abigail Brown, was the only one in the family who had an active Facebook. The sparse information on it showed that Abe was the youngest of three boys, the entire family immigrated from Ghana the previous year, and that his mother worked in the technology department at the newly formed New York division of Stark Industries. May had shared that information with her excitable nephew, knowing how much he loved Tony Stark, and the boy had been ecstatic at having another thing to talk with Abe about.
His “naptime-friend” Betty Brant was nearly the polar opposite of Abe. Her family had a massive media presence, given that her mother was a senior editor for the Daily Bugle and her father worked as an anchor for a local morning show. She had a significantly older brother who – according to a first day of school post their mother had made – was starting his first year of high school. They seemed nice over-all, but May was a little hesitant about anyone who worked for the Bugle, which in her opinion was only a step or two above the unsavory gossip mags that one could find in the seedier bodegas around the borough. She would have to work to keep her thoughts on the matter quiet, if Betty turned out to be Peter’s soulmate.
The last boy – Ned - May couldn’t find anything at all about, besides that his full name was Edward Leeds and that his parents were named Althea and William. Neither had a Facebook or any other social media account that May or Ben could find. All they had was the information provided by the Leeds on the short survey all parents and guardians were encouraged to fill out for the school. The family had moved from Hawaii at the beginning of the summer and they enjoyed trying out local restaurants as a family. No other information was available although Peter had happily told them that “Ned’s daddy works with computers!” when prompted. May was hoping to find out more information when they arrived at the school.
None of the parents who had an online presence – all of whom May had sent friend requests with the excuse of them all having children in the same class – had written anything about their children’s first day, apart from the obligatory “first day of Kindergarten/growing up so fast!” posts. That was to be expected – May and Ben had done the exact same, careful as always to preserve their nephew’s privacy as much as possible online – but May couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that her search wouldn’t be that easy. Ben had just laughed when she had admitted that to him but she knew he was just as eager to get to the school and try to find their future nephew- or niece-in-law.
Which is how they found themselves arriving at Peter’s school a full twenty minutes early. Peter had craned his neck at every glimpse of yellow – in an innocently excited way that had May’s heart clenching and her fingers itching to get her phone out and take a million photos – and the line of glossy yellow school buses parked neatly in front of the school was enough to completely set him off on an excited tangent.
“Look! Look Aunt May, Uncle Ben! It’s so pretty!” Peter’s hand slipped from May’s and he pointed at the nearest bus. “They’re all so pretty!” he added, his eyes tracing the line of buses. “Can we go see, please?” He glanced up at his aunt then, brown eyes wide and hopeful. May gave in immediately.
“We have some time, let’s go see the buses, sweetheart.” Peter cheered and began quickly dragging both adults towards the buses. Children were milling around, chatting with or waiting for friends to arrive, but Peter ignored every one of them as he made a beeline for the nearest bus. With a little gasp of happiness, Peter slipped his hands from his aunt and uncle’s and pressed them gently onto the bright yellow side of the bus.
“I love it!” He whispered, rubbing small fingers across the bus. May made a mental note to add a toy bus to Peter’s birthday list even as Peter turned back to them. “Aunt May! Take a picture of me with the bus! Please?” He added when May just lifted a single eyebrow at him. She smiled fondly at him as she pulled out her phone. There were a few children – mostly older ones who were already accustomed to and saw nothing special about the buses – staring at them curiously but May ignored them all as she bent low to take a picture of Peter with the bus. He smiled widely without prompting and May snapped several photos before standing up straight. Immediately, Peter was jumping at her.
“Can I see, please?” He asked and May handed him her phone.
“Do you like it, bud?” Ben asked, a fond smile on his face. Peter nodded excitedly.
“Aunt May takes the best pictures!” He gushed, waving the phone precariously as he rushed to show his uncle.
“What about me?” Ben asked, tacking on a wounded tone to his voice as he took the phone from Peter’s hand. Peter didn’t even hesitate.
“You always stick your finger in it!” May couldn’t help but laugh even as Ben began to pout exaggeratedly. “It’s okay, Uncle Ben! You play dinosaurs better!” Peter added, reaching out to grab his uncle’s free hand. Ben immediately dropped his pout in favor of reaching down and quickly picking Peter up. The boy’s loud squeal garnered a few more glances but May didn’t pay them any mind as she watched Peter automatically wrap his arms around his uncle’s neck, giggling wildly now that his surprise at the sudden movement had faded.
“Hear that, babe? I’m the best dinosaur player.” He told her teasingly as Peter’s giggles subsided. May raised an eyebrow at him.
“I didn’t hear Peter say you were the “best.” She told him, adopting her most unimpressed tone. Ben just grinned.
“Oh, he certainly did. Didn’t you, Peter?” Peter nodded agreeably from his perch on Ben’s hip.
“It’s ‘cause you roar the best!” He declared and Ben’s grin grew. May couldn’t help but smile at that, dropping all airs of being unimpressed.
“I’ll give you that. Now, come on my boys, we have to get to class before Miss Vasquez thinks a dinosaur ate us.” Peter giggled again.
“She’s not going to think that! Dinosaurs are extinct!” He informed May as Ben gently placed him back on the ground and slipped his hand into his.
“Oh, they are?” May humored him as they began walking again.
“Yeah! They all died in the cretaceous period!” He told her, fumbling only slightly over the long word as he snagged her fingers into his free hand. Peter always liked it best when he was holding hands with both May and Ben and both adults were more than willing to oblige him. He wouldn’t be this little forever, as the discovery of his color reminded May all too well, and their days of swinging their arms and making him giggle each time his feet left the ground would be over all too soon.
Peter continued prattling off facts about dinosaurs the rest of the way to Miss Vasquez’s class, only stopping when he caught sight of his teacher greeting parents and students outside her door. “Miss Vasquez! Hi!” He called out, somehow managing to wave his hand while still firmly clasping May’s. Miss Vasquez smiled widely at the small family.
“Hello Peter! Are you ready for your second day?” Peter nodded enthusiastically. “Go on in, then. I have a new puzzle set up that Eugene and Cindy have already started working on.” If Peter was daunted by the name of the one student he didn’t seem to like, it didn’t show on his face. He was still beaming when he turned and gave quick hugs to Ben and May.
“Bye Uncle Ben, bye Aunt May! Love you!” He told them, already darting away to turn into the room.
“Love you too!” They both called back. “Be good!” May added to Peter’s retreating form.
“Already out of sight.” Ben said when Peter had completely disappeared into the brightly colored room. His voice was a mix of amusement, pride, and a little sadness that May knew all to well. She was so proud of him for taking to school as eagerly as he did but there was always a little sadness mixed in with each of Peter’s milestones, both because he was growing so fast and because his own parents weren’t around to see it all.
“Peter’s adjusting quite well, isn’t he?” Miss Vasquez’s voice, soft and sweet, called May’s attention to her rather than the classroom. May turned and offered the other woman a small smile.
“He really is. We were a bit worried because he didn’t do so well at the beginning of pre-school and he’s younger than the rest of the children.” She admitted. Ben coughed slightly beside her in a way that suspiciously sounded like “a bit?” and she elbowed him. Miss Vasquez’s smile grew a little more amused but she didn’t comment, instead choosing to keep the conversation on Peter.
“He’s a little quiet, but he gets along well with the other kids and he’s quite bright. You really can’t tell that he’s the youngest in the class.” She told them and May beamed slightly, always pleased when other adults saw in Peter what she and Ben did. Normally, May would have absolutely loved to continue talking about Peter and how he was doing, but Miss Vasquez had offered her the perfect opportunity to steer the conversation to her mission at hand.
“Speaking of the other kids, were there any that seemed to click really well with Peter?”
“What do you mean?” The confusion was clear in Miss Vasquez’s voice. May debated for a moment on whether she wanted to try and be discreet about it or go ahead and outright say what she was looking for but before she could come to any decision, Ben – as blunt as always – stepped up to answer.
“Like soulmate clicking.” He stated. Miss Vasquez’s eyes widened as May hissed his name between her teeth. Even had she chosen the more direct route, there was no reason to be that upfront.
“You don’t think…?” Miss Vasquez’s voice trailed off, her confusion and surprise evident. She probably thought they were insane or imagining things and May couldn’t blame her. Her late-night internet searches hadn’t just been dedicated to Peter’s classmates – she had also spent a great deal of time researching young soulmates. There had been less than twenty cases of childhood soulmates reported in the United States in the last fifty years and not a single one had been earlier than the fourth grade. Had it not been happening to May’s own nephew, she probably wouldn’t believe it either.
“I know, it’s really strange,” May rushed to say, keeping her voice low as other parents showed up with their own children. “But Peter’s never been able to see yellow and now all of a sudden he can. There’s no other explanation.” She willed Miss Vasquez to understand. She needed the teacher on her side, to help her narrow down the students. Miss Vasquez’s expression softened from outright shock and disbelief as May fumbled for her phone. “Peter was ecstatic at seeing the buses today and yesterday he hardly acknowledged them.” She pulled up the new photos of Peter outside the bus and showed them to the younger woman in front of her, hoping beyond hope that they were convincing enough.
“He really saw his color?” Surprise was still evident in the teacher’s tone but it was obvious that she was beginning to believe them, judging from the softness in her expression as she took in Peter’s beaming expression. May wondered for a moment if Miss Vasquez had seen hers yet – she was quite young for a teacher, after all – but she pushed the thoughts aside. It was incredibly rude to ask someone you didn’t know well about their color and May needed to focus on Peter and the other little child whose world had suddenly changed so much.
“Yeah.” That was Ben again, rejoining the conversation now that May had successfully done some damage control. Judging by the slight smugness May saw in his eyes when she glanced his way, it was highly possible that he had specifically planned for this. May tamped down the fond exasperation that realization awoke and returned her attention towards Miss Vasquez as Ben continued speaking. “We were hoping, since he must have met the other kid here, that you might have noticed something. Peter gave us a couple names and we tried looking up the other kids’ families but there wasn’t anything concrete.”
Miss Vasquez seemed to think for a moment. “Well, he seemed to get along very well with Liz Allan-Toomes – they played together at recess. But he also talked with Michelle Jones a good deal and –“
“Ate lunch with Abe Brown, took a nap next to Betty Brant, and he sits next to Ned Leeds.” Ben interrupted gently. Miss Vasquez nodded. “Peter told us all about them. You didn’t see anything – special about how he acted with any one of them?” Miss Vasquez shrugged apologetically.
“No, I’m sorry. Peter’s a sweet boy and he got along with most of the class.” May couldn’t help but let a bit of her disappointment show on her face. She had hoped, perhaps unfairly, that Miss Vasquez had seen something that neither Ben nor May had been around to capture. Miss Vasquez must have caught her expression because she hastened to continue. “But none of those kids or their families have shown up yet, if you have time you are more than welcome to stick around and talk with them as they come in?”
May had been hoping to avoid making such a scene – the idea of having to discuss such a personal matter with five separate families was nerve-racking, especially given how unusual the whole situation was. But she had always known it was a possibility and her and Ben had talked about it last night. They would do anything to find out who Peter’s soulmate was and they were certain the other parents would feel exactly the same. It wasn’t ideal, but it surely wouldn’t be too difficult to ask a few discreet questions and find the right family. As long as May ensured that Ben didn’t shock them all with his bluntness. “That would be wonderful,” She told Miss Vasquez. “Thank you so much!”
“Oh, don’t mention it! A soulmate, I can’t believe it!” Miss Vasquez was smiling now, a sweet but wistful expression. “They’ll be able to share so much together,” May was fairly certain, then, that Miss Vasquez had not yet seen her color, but the other woman didn’t offer the information and May was absolutely not going to pry. “I’m going to go check in with everyone in the classroom –“ a few families had come with their children as Ben and May had spoken to the teacher and had slipped into the classroom without disturbing the group. None of them had been who May and Ben would be looking for but it was Miss Vasquez’s responsibility to touch base with all the parents who wanted to discuss things with her. “The Allan-Toomes and the Brants shouldn’t be too long now; they got here around this time yesterday, anyway.” She told them before turning and entering her classroom.
Her words proved true. Before May had done more than turn towards Ben, another family – a man and woman with a small, curly-haired girl between them - was walking down the hallway, one May recognized nearly immediately from her Facebook-stalking. “Hello!” May was careful to keep her voice cheerfully polite as the family came into hearing distance. “You must be the Allan-Toomes, yes?” She hadn’t realized how imposingly tall Adrian Toomes was until he was glancing down at her, a confused frown on his face. He had a pleasant enough face but there was something in his expression that made May glad Ben was beside her in a way she hadn’t been in years. The expression passed into a welcoming smile quickly though, once his wife beside him recognized May. The switch happened so fast that May thought she must have imagined the whole thing.
“That’s us. May Parker, right?” Doris Allan smiled as she held out a hand for May to shake as her husband did the same to Ben. “You friended me on Facebook last night, I think.”
“That’s me!” May chirped back, laying on her cheerfulness purposely a little thick as she took in their expressions. Both seemed unassuming and polite and very much not like their worlds had been shaken a little the previous day. Still, it didn’t hurt to fish a little bit. “And this must be Liz?” May smiled down at the little girl between the two adults. Liz was holding her father’s hand tightly but, unlike Peter, she seemed completely unafraid of strangers, judging from the bright, toothy smile she shot May as she held out her free hand expectantly. May bit back a surprised laugh as she took the little girl’s hand and gave it a gentle shake.
“You’re Peter’s aunt and uncle.” Liz stated, proud that she recognized their names. “Peter’s the boy I told you about last night. He’s really nice!” She told her parents, both who smiled indulgently at her.
“The little one who played dolls with you and the other girls, right?” That was her father, then, who spoke. May and Ben both bristled at the words, accustomed to people’s thinly veiled comments about Peter not being “like other boys”, but they were quickly softened by a smile from the other man. “Liz’s been talking non-stop about how sweet he was.”
“Peter’s told us about Liz, too.” May added. “I feel like they’re going to be good friends,” she added a bit of emphasis on the last words – just enough that, had Liz seen her color, the Allan-Toomes could’ve gotten the hint but not enough that would seem strange to them if she hadn’t. The two other adults smiled, Adrian politely and Doris happily. “Peter actually brought one of his own dolls to show you,” she added, addressing Liz again. The girl beamed in response.
“Why don’t we go in and see it, Lizzie?” Adrian Toomes told his daughter before looking back up at May. “We’d stay and chat some more but we want to speak with Miss Vasquez before class begins,” his voice was politely apologetic but May could hear the slight dismissal in his tone. She had the distinctly unpleasant feeling that the man didn’t like other people much, although he continued to be amiably polite.
“Of course, of course! It was nice meeting you both in person!” May told them. Ben quietly echoed her sentiment.
“You as well!” Doris responded cheerfully. Unlike her husband, she seemed to legitimately mean it. “We’ll have to plan a time to meet up again; Liz’s birthday is in a few weeks and I’m sure she’ll have an invite for Peter!” She told them, staying back a bit as her husband quietly took Liz into the classroom with a simple wave goodbye.
“We’ll look forward to it!” May told her, giving her one last smile before the other woman followed her daughter and husband into the classroom. “Definitely not Liz.” She whispered to Ben the moment Doris was out of earshot.
“Thank God for that,” Ben muttered back. “I did not like her father.”
“He was perfectly polite!” May protested half-heartedly, inwardly glad that Ben had also felt some weird vibes coming from the other man.
“Polite doesn’t equal nice.” Ben responded mildly and May had to acquiesce the point. “And I didn’t like how he talked about Peter.”
“Her mother was very nice though.” May responded and Ben shrugged in agreement. “And even if he isn’t the most out-there guy, you have to play nice. Peter and Liz might turn into really good friends.”
“I will be perfectly nice. Up to and until he says something bad about Peter.” There was a finality in his voice that May wouldn’t question. Ben was more vocal about his disagreements, but neither of them much liked it when other parents – sometimes because they were more experienced or because they somehow thought that because their children had come from them they were more naturally gifted at raising them – thought it appropriate to comment negatively on Peter or their parenting style. She wouldn’t ever fault Ben for sticking up to Peter. Especially since, although Ben did it more often, he tended to be far less explosive during his arguments with other parents. May had only actually lost her temper with someone once but she and Peter still weren’t allowed to attend the “Mommy and Me” book club at the local library.
“Are those the Brants?” Ben asked her, effectively pulling May away from her thoughts. A tall blonde woman in a well-tailored pants suit was approaching the classroom, her heels clicking faintly on the tiles, with a small equally blonde and equally well-dressed girl clinging to her hand. “You’re up, again.” Ben murmured to her. He seemed content at remaining quiet, apart from polite greetings, and letting May handle the parents. They always worked best that way. Ben was perfectly sociable and very friendly once he had gotten to know someone but May had always been best with strangers.
May was about to call out a greeting when the other woman beat her to it. “Hello! May Parker, right?” May fought back her surprise at the cheerful greeting as Becca Brant held out a perfectly manicured hand for her to shake, the other still holding tightly to her daughter. May felt her heart skip a beat – the other woman seemed oddly eager and knowing her name was certainly a good sign. Perhaps they would be lucky. “And the husband, Brad, right?” Becca went on, holding out her hand for Ben the moment May dropped it.
“Ben,” he corrected, taking her hand politely. Becca wasn’t fazed.
“Of course, of course. Patrick’s parents.” Perhaps May had gotten her hopes up too soon. Surely Becca would have learned Peter’s name, if she thought the boy was her daughter’s soulmate.
“Peter!” A small voice corrected, annoyance clear. Becca didn’t even blink at her daughter’s interruption.
“Right, right, of course. You friended me on Facebook last night.” She continued cheerfully. “Normally, I ignore new requests because I get so many from people who read the Bugle –“ May highly doubted that – the Daily Bugle was hardly a big newspaper – but she bit her tongue as Becca continued obliviously, “it’s where I work and you wouldn’t believe the amount of people who friend me in the hopes that I drop the latest gossip early,” May’s polite smile became a little more fixed as Ben beside her cleared his throat softly, “but I recognized your last name from Betty’s class roster – Betty really went on about your Pietro –“
“Peter!” Betty corrected again.
“-and I realized you must be his mother, so of course I had to accept!” Becca beamed as she finished speaking and May politely smiled back, privately hoping for a quiet escape from this conversation. With every word out of Becca’s mouth, it became less and less likely that Betty was Peter’s soulmate, a fact which May was becoming more and more grateful for.
“I’m his aunt, actually.” May corrected, careful to keep a soft smile on her face.
“Oh!” Becca blinked in surprise. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.” The question of where Peter’s parents were went unsaid, thankfully, but May could see the desire to ask in the other woman’s eyes. At least she was polite enough not to ask, half the people Ben had fought with in Peter’s preschool had not had the same hesitancies.
“That’s quite alright.” May told her, although she was careful not to provide any more information. May and Ben both were firm believers that no one was entitled to Peter’s life story and she wasn’t going to share it with Becca now. “Peter and Betty really seemed to hit it off yesterday,” it wasn’t a smooth transition, but it was a pointed one; which May felt was all the more important in situations like this. She smiled down at Betty as she spoke and the little girl smiled back.
“Peter,” Betty put enough emphasis on the name that May had to bite back a laugh, “is really nice. I liked his pillow.” It was amazing how simple things brought children together; May would probably never get used to that.
“Peter really liked your pillow, too.” May told her and Betty’s smile widened with pleasure.
“Well,” Becca spoke up again before her daughter could say anything else. There was a bit of tensed awkwardness in her voice that May was all too familiar with. Many parents were thrown off-kilter when they were first introduced to an unorthodox family unit – it was unfortunate but something May was accustomed too. Becca Brant was a nice, if somewhat over-talkative, woman though and May was certain she would rally back quickly. “I have to be off. It was really nice meeting you two, though.”
“You too,” May agreed, Ben echoing her words politely. They watched quietly as Becca and Betty said their goodbyes with a quick kiss and hug before both went away – Becca back down the hallway and Betty into the classroom. Ben waited until both blonde heads had disappeared from view before he spoke up.
“We’re going with no on that, right?” He whispered.
“Most definitely.” May responded. “Thank God.”
Ben laughed. “She wasn’t that bad.” He told her, nudging her with his shoulder. “She didn’t ask, at least.” He added.
“She’s good people,” May agreed. “But she’s a lot.”
“She is a lot.” Ben agreed affably. “I still would’ve taken her over that Adrian Toomes, though.”
“Yeah.” May responded a little half-heartedly. Ben shot her a concerned look.
“What’s wrong?”
“We went through two families and neither of them were the right ones.” May responded. “And I know that means that at least we’ve narrowed down the field, but now I’ve got to leave if I want to make it to work on time and I worry about not finding the family. What if it wasn’t actually someone Peter’s friends with but one of the other families? What if it comes out Peter found his color and the other kids make fun of him?” Normally, such a thing wouldn’t happen as soulmates were such a fundamental part of human society, but all the children were so young that May doubted any of them were able to grasp the importance yet. They could very well decide that Peter was too weird to be friends with and the very thought was enough to get May’s heart clenching.
“We talked to Peter about it, already. He knows to keep it a secret. And besides, I trust Miss Vasquez to handle it if it comes out. She’s very eager to help.” May nodded halfheartedly in agreement. Her uncertainness must have showed because Ben put a comforting arm around her. “Remember, there’s another child and family who’s going through the same thing. Peter’s not alone in this and neither are we. We didn’t find them this morning but that doesn’t mean anything. I’ll ask around this afternoon when I come to pick Peter up and you’ll be the first to hear if I find them. It’ll work out.” May allowed herself a moment to feel comfort in her husband’s words before she nodded.
“You’re right. I just thought it’d go by faster. I thought the other family would be here, just as eager as we are.” And that was the crux of the issue, she realized as she spoke. It wasn’t necessary that they hadn’t found the family yet, but more so that they seemed to be putting more effort into finding Peter’s soulmate than the other family was in finding Peter. May knew that statistically speaking, very few soulmates ended up rejecting each other, but that didn’t ease the concern in her chest for Peter. If the other family wanted nothing to do with a soulmate this early on, May wasn’t sure what she would do. She didn’t know how to get Peter through a rejection he wouldn’t be able to fully understand.
“I’m sure they’re just as eager as us.” Ben told her, squeezing her waist gently. “Something probably just came up or they live further away and couldn’t be here early. Now, let’s get you to work before the other nurses steal all the good children.” May couldn’t help but laugh despite herself; Ben always had that effect on her. He was able to make her forget her worries, even if it was just for a moment.
“I’ve told you that’s not how we get assigned patients.” She told him as he slipped his hand from her waist and interlocked their fingers together. She allowed herself to be gently tugged down the hallway as she continued speaking. “We’re assigned to a pediatrician and we work with whatever patients they are given.” She’d told him this before, but Ben had a way of pretending not to know information when it suited him.
“Seems unfair. Why don’t the pediatricians get assigned to a nurse? The nurses do more work anyway.” May laughed a little at his air of offense.
“Because that’s how it works.” She told him as they began walking down the hall. Ben scoffed theatrically.
“That’s the worst excuse for anything ever.” Ben told her and she couldn’t help but laugh in response. They continued bantering all the way to the subway stop and May felt a lot lighter when she pressed a quick kiss to Ben’s cheek before going down into the bustling station with one last promise that Ben would ask around in the afternoon.
May’s day passed incredibly slowly. With school having officially started, the amount of appointments had drastically fallen as only parents with children too small for school and the stragglers who had yet to get their children’s last shots came in. They would pick up again in a few weeks’ time when parents deemed it excusable to take their children out of school, of course, but for now there were only a few patients May was responsible for Her skin prickled with nervous energy as she helped measure a three-month-old baby girl and held the hand of a toddler getting his second set of shots. When her lunch break finally rolled around, she spent the entire half hour spamming her husband with texts about Peter. She knew, of course, that Ben didn’t know anything yet – wouldn’t know anything until he went to pick Peter up at two – but it helped to expend her energy on talking about it anyway. It also helped to keep the other nurses – curious about what had happened to send May away early the previous day – from asking too many questions.
May’s afternoon was spent assisting the pediatrician in removing the cast off a rambunctious three-year-old, helping show the family of a newly diagnosed diabetic child how to properly check blood sugar, and filling out paperwork for various patients. May was a good nurse and she threw herself into the work, but she still thrummed with enough nervous energy that her coworkers kept glancing at her and speculation about Peter’s soulmate was never far from her mind. When two o’clock finally arrived – and May cursed herself and Ben for agreeing that all-day kindergarten was the best fit for Peter and their work schedules – her fingers began itching for her phone. She held out for nearly forty-five minutes – there wouldn’t be any news at first anyway, she kept telling herself – before she excused herself for her afternoon break and slipped into one of the unoccupied patient rooms to check her phone.
There were a couple texts from Ben but no missed calls and May’s heart fell a little even as she opened the messages. Ben would have called her immediately, she was sure, if he had found Peter’s soulmate. She tried to bite back her disappointment as she began reading the messages. The first was sent right before two and it was just him telling her that he had left to pick up Peter and to expect messages to follow. She skimmed it quickly and scrolled to the next, longer text.
Met Abe and his dad. Not soulmate, but very nice people. Peter and Abe shared lunches today and Pete fell in love with Mrs Brown’s cooking so the family invited us to a traditional Ghanaian meal next Thursday. Didn’t see the Leeds at all and the Jones came and went while I was talking to the Browns. See you at home, love you.
May was at least happy that Peter was making friends more easily than expected – he’d really come out of his shell at school, it seemed – even as she swallowed her disappointment. She quickly typed out a message – that dinner sounded lovely, she was so glad Peter was getting along so well with his classmates and that she loved them both – before leaving the quiet room and heading back out to the reception area.
The rest of her shift passed quickly, now that she was no longer waiting for news, and she was out of the door and heading to her subway stop in what felt like half the time her morning had taken. Her commute, rather surprisingly, also went by fast. For once, the train was on time and the stops between her work and her apartment building passed quickly. Before she knew it, she was sending her customary text telling Ben she was just a few minutes from home as she headed out of the subway stop and up into the busy, sunlit street that her apartment stood on.
Ben must have relayed her message to Peter because her nephew jumped on her the moment she’d opened the door. “May! I missed you!” He declared loudly as he stubbornly attached himself to her waist. May felt all her disappointment fade away as she laughed and wrapped a balancing arm around Peter so that he wouldn’t fall as she turned to close the door behind her.
“It’s only five, sweetheart. It’s the same time I get home every day!” She told him, mirth still in her voice as Peter tried his best to cling to her.
“Nuh-uh! You were home early yesterday!” It was hard to argue with that but May wasn’t about to tell Peter that she had rushed home because she thought something had been wrong. Instead, she swooped him up into her arms as a distraction. Peter’s peal of surprised giggles brought Ben into the room and the sight of her husband, dressed in her apron and covered nearly head to toe in some sort of red sauce set May into her own laughing fit.
“Uncle Ben’s trying to make dinner. You got to save me!” Peter whisper-yelled and May laughed harder.
“Nice to see you too, honey. Hope you had a good day at work, honey.” Ben said from across the room, an annoyed tone in his voice. He was smiling slightly, though, so May knew he wasn’t actually upset.
“My day was fine,” May answered, humoring him. “I can’t say it’s nice to see you though, when you seem to be wearing dinner.” Her words sent Peter into another fit of giggling as he wrapped his arms around her neck and shifted so that he was situated comfortably on her hip. He didn’t seem as though he was letting her put him down anytime soon and May couldn’t say she minded the affection.
“I was trying to make spaghetti.” Ben informed her. “I may have put the sauce on a bit too high. There was a minor explosion.”
“An explosion?” The humor was out of May’s voice and replaced with worry as she did a full up-and-down look at her husband, checking for any signs of blood or burns.
“A minor explosion.” Ben insisted, his slight smile turning rueful.
“The sauce went ka-boom!” Peter informed her, moving his arms from her neck so that he could mimic the trajectory of the sauce with his own hands.
“Did either of you get hurt?” May asked, turning her gaze to scour down Peter’s body. He, unlike his uncle, seemed to have remained completely spotless during the ordeal.
“We’re both fine. Most of the sauce landed on the apron. Got a few drops on my hands, but not enough to cause any harm. And Peter was out here waiting for you so he didn’t get any on him.” Ben told her, stretching out his hands to show her that there was no harm done. “The only victims were the stove and the dinner plans.”
“Why don’t we order something?” May suggested, wrapping her arm securely around Peter as she walked over and gave a gentle kiss to Ben’s cheek, mindful not to get any of the sauce on her or Peter.
“Pizza!” Peter suggested immediately. May looked at Ben who shrugged noncommittedly.
“Pizza sounds good.” May decided. “Why don’t you go get washed up and I’ll order? It should be here before you have to leave.” She told Ben, who nodded and began to untie his apron. “What do we want on it?” May asked the boys as she pulled her phone from her pocket, careful not to dislodge Peter.
“Pineapples!” Peter suggested enthusiastically. Ben immediately made a face. It was just about the only thing the two didn’t agree on and they both tended to get rather passionate about it. May hid a smile behind Peter’s brown curls, knowing exactly where this conversation was about to go.
“Fruit doesn’t belong on pizza, Peter!” Ben told his nephew as he wiped excess sauce off himself with the apron.
“Yes, it does!”
“It does not.”
“Tomatoes are fruit!” Peter replied, his face scrunching up stubbornly. May, recognizing the beginning signs of frustration, decided to intervene before the argument turned from playful to a fit.
“He’s got you there, sweetheart. How about I order two pizzas and we forget the conversation? One with pineapples and –“ She trailed off, playfully bouncing Peter on her hip to let him know she was talking to him.
“Just pineapples, please.” Peter responded immediately. Then he looked at his uncle. “Extra pineapples.” May bit back a laugh at the playfully scrunched-up face Ben made in response.
“Okay. One small with extra pineapples for Peter. And how about a medium with pepperoni and olives on the other?” She directed her words to Ben who nodded agreeably.
“Sounds good to me. I’m going to jump in the shower. Leave the stove, I’ll clean it when I’m out.” He answered, bunching up the apron in his hands to drop into the laundry hamper before turning to head down the hallway towards their bedroom.
“Leave the apron out so I can soak it!” May called to his back as she dialed their favorite pizza place. “Do you want to order this time, Peter?” She asked the little boy in her arms. Peter seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding, reaching a hand out for the phone. May smiled and gave him the phone, pressing the speaker phone button so that she could hear the conversation.
“Hello! Maritelli’s pizza, what can we got for the Parkers today?” A female voice called from the side. It belonged to the store-owner, Mrs. Maritelli. She was a Sicilian-born elderly widow who had worked the phones since May herself had been a young girl and had made a habit of memorizing all the regulars’ phone numbers and greeting them individually. Peter smiled at the phone.
“Hello, Miss Maritelli! Can we get a small pineapple pizza with extra pineapples and a medium with pepperoni and olives, please?”
“Of course, Petey.” Mrs. Maritelli responded. She had always had a soft spot for Peter and May could hear the cheerfulness in her voice. “I’ll throw in some breadsticks, too. Just for you. Give your phone to your auntie now, so we can talk business.” That was code for the cost. Mrs. Maritelli never talked money with children, not even her own, if she could help it.
“Okay, buh-bye!” Peter passed the phone back to May easily and May spoke briefly with Mrs. Maritelli, agreeing to the cost and thanking her before hanging up and putting her phone back in her pocket.
“Mrs. Maritelli is sending her fastest delivery guy to bring it just for us,” she told the little boy still in her arms. Peter hummed approvingly. “It’ll be here in twenty minutes. What should we do to pass the time?” She asked, shifting him so that he would be comfortable as she walked to the couch to sit down.
“Mmmm,” Peter mumbled, clearly thinking as he laid his curly-haired head against her shoulder. It was obvious to May that, now that the excitement of his new school had worn off some, kindergarten was taking its toll on her little boy. He seemed more content to just lay on her than actually do anything, a stark contrast to his normal post-nap bouncing off the walls attitude of the early evening. She couldn’t help but pull him a little closer as she sat down on the couch and made them both comfortable.
“Tired, baby?” She asked him, running a hand softly through his curls.
“Nuh-uh.” Peter denied but May could hear the heaviness in his voice that always came when he was about to sleep. Peter could sleep anywhere and at any time, so it didn’t surprise her that he had nearly crashed in the time it took to order the pizza and sit on the couch.
“Are you sure?” She asked, her voice lightly teasing as she continued to play with his hair.
“I’m sure,” he replied stubbornly even as he closed his eyes and cuddled closer to her. “But my eyes itch, so I’m just going to rest a little,” he told her. May smiled softly as she pressed a gentle kiss to his curls.
“Okay, sweetheart.” She whispered to him, more than content to let him rest cuddled up against her. That was how Ben found them just a few minutes later, his hair still dripping wet from his shower.
“He out?” Ben whispered, his lips curling into a smile as he took in the sight of his nephew dozing on his wife, tightly curled onto her lap. May nodded, not daring to speak at risk of waking the little boy. Ben’s fond smile grew as he walked over to his family and placed a gentle kiss against his wife’s lips.
“Hello,” he murmured to her as he sat down. “You feeling better than this morning?” May nodded again and shifted so that she could lay her head against her husband’s shoulder. Ben wrapped an arm around her, resting his hand on Peter’s back. They didn’t speak anymore, content to lie together in a companionable silence.
They remained in that position until, at exactly the fifteen-minute mark, Mrs. Maritelli’s teenage grandson knocked on their apartment door. Ben rose to answer the door as May gently shook Peter awake. Peter groaned and shifted away from her hands until May whispered that dinner had arrived.
“Dinner?” Peter asked, his voice groggy from sleep as he blearily blinked his eyes open.
“Dinner!” Ben called in answer, carrying a small stack of boxes in hand as he walked back from the front door. The smell of cheese and tomato sauce wafted into the room with him and Peter shot up, all traces of sleep and tiredness gone.
“Yay!” He jumped off his aunt and ran towards the kitchen. “I’ll get the plates!”
“Don’t climb on my counters, Peter Benjamin!” May called out as she stood up from the couch. “Get the napkins, I’ll get the plates!” She turned back to her husband, shaking her head slightly. “Asleep one minute, running full sprint the next.” She marveled. Ben chucked in response as they began heading into the kitchen.
“He better take advantage of it while he can. At our age, we’d need drugs for that.” May lightly slapped her hand against his chest as she laughed.
“Speak for yourself, old man.” She told him as they followed Peter into the kitchen. Peter had listened to his aunt and had busied himself setting napkins down at the small dining table.
“Can I have the dinosaur plate, Aunt May?” Peter asked as he looked up from his careful arrangement of the napkins.
“What’s the magic word?” Ben asked teasingly as he set the boxes of food down in the center of the table.
“Pleaaasssseeee?” Peter asked, turning to May with pleading eyes.
“Of course,” May responded, briefly ruffling Peter’s hair as she passed him on her way to the cupboard. She smiled at his loud cheer and pulled his dinosaur plate out with her and Ben’s regular plates. “So now that you aren’t resting anymore, why don’t you tell us all about your second day?” she asked as she turned and placed their plates on the table. Peter scrambled to sit next to her as Ben began pulling out pieces of pizza and breadsticks to put on everyone’s plates.
“It was super good! Miss Vasquez brought out this really cool blocks that stick together to do counting with and Liz really liked my doll –“ Peter stopped briefly as Ben placed his plate in front of him. “Thank you!” He said happily as he immediately set to tearing his breadstick apart methodically. It made it cool faster, he had told his aunt once, and he had been doing it pretty much since he was old enough to feed himself. May tried not to cringe at the tomato mess on his fingers as he moved on to doing it to his slice of pizza. Bath time was going to be interesting, at least. “And MJ really really liked the pictures in the book I showed her! And Ned said he loved his dinosaur picture!” Peter continued his story as he finished tearing his pizza and began poking his breadstick pieces to see if they were cool enough for him.
The rest of the evening continued with Peter sharing stories from his second day of kindergarten between bites of food and May and Ben contributing their own stories from their day. It was a lovely, warm evening that helped keep May’s mind away from the prolonged mystery of Peter’s soulmate. By the time Ben was leaving for work, making sure to give Peter extra hugs to make up for missing bedtime, May hadn’t thought about the soulmate for several hours but all the worries came rushing back the moment she laid Peter down after his story.
She knew it had only been a day and that her concerns were so far unfounded but she couldn’t help the way her heart clenched at the idea that Peter might be being rejected. It was ridiculous even to think that, after only a single day of searching for his soulmate and their family, but May couldn’t stop the fear. It certainly didn’t help that she spent several hours after Peter had fallen asleep looking up stories about the rare soulmates who had been rejected. None of the situations remotely came close to Peter’s, of course, but the fact that rejections occurred at all was enough to set her more on edge. Peter was only four – if he was being rejected, he wouldn’t even be old enough to remember what his soulmate was like. The possibility that he could go from being someone who had known their soulmate their whole to life to someone who had lost them before he’d even realized their importance was terrifying and May couldn’t get it out of her head.
She fell asleep with the lights still on and her laptop in her lap, open to the testimonies of people who had left or been left by their soulmate and awoke to Ben lightly lifting it off of her. “Babe?” She whispered groggily as Ben looked at the screen.
“This really has you worried, huh?” Ben asked her, his eyes moving from the screen to his wife. May fought to sit up fully, her body stiff from sleeping awkwardly. Before she had gotten up fully, Ben slid onto the bed, still in his uniform, and slipped his arms around her. “Peter isn’t being rejected, May. He’s not going to be one of these stories.” He told her, his voice low and soothing. May felt herself melt into his arms.
“How do you know that?” She whispered, turning so that she could face him fully.
“Because no one could reject our Peter.” Ben told her. It wasn’t the words that finally calmed her fears, but the surety of his tone. The absolute certainness that no one could reject their nephew, sweet and smart as he was. That he would be loved by his soulmate and their family simply because he was Peter and Peter was easy to love. “We missed them, but we’ll find them tomorrow – or today rather –“ he paused briefly to grimace at the alarm clock on their bedside table - “We will find them even if we have to stay in Peter’s class all damn day, alright? We’ll find them.” He repeated as he pulled May in close to him. May allowed herself to relax into his arms and laid her head softly against his chest. “But now we sleep.” He whispered, voice already becoming heavy with sleep. May laughed slightly – there was no wonder where Peter got his love of sleep from.
“Don’t you want to change or turn the lights off?” She asked, although she didn’t bother moving away from his warmth. Ben responded by pulling her closer.
“We have approximately four hours before we have to be up. I put all the dangerous things away, I’ll change when it is actually an acceptable hour for humans to be awake. Now be quite and sleep with me.” May laughed lightly at her husband’s choice of words which prompted a full-on grumble from Ben. She laughed a little again even as she closed her eyes. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her just by the presence of Ben and his unflappable faith in Peter and sleep came easy to her.
A few blissful but short hours later, May was awoken by her alarm clock and she struggled to slip out of Ben’s embrace. He grumbled at her and turned away when she finally broke free but May paid it no mind. She knew that, with Ben’s new schedule, he needed all the sleep he could get and she did not begrudge him the few extra minutes he would get while she showered and got ready for the day. She especially didn’t mind it when she emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed and ready for work, thirty minutes later, to the sounds of a giggling coming from Peter’s room. As Peter’s room was at the very end of the hall, May could clearly see Ben sprawled on the floor with Peter on top, playfully hitting him with his favorite stuffed dinosaur, Rexie.
“May, save me!” Ben reached out a hand theatrically as he caught sight of his wife emerging from the bathroom.
“No! You can’t save him, Aunt May!” Peter told her, twisting himself around to stare at her imploringly. “He’s a bad guy! Rexie told me!” Before May had a chance to respond, Ben took advantage of Peter’s distraction and quickly sat up, wrapping his arms around Peter’s small form so that he would not fall from the sudden moment.
“Hah! Got you now!” Peter shrieked in delighted surprise as Ben began tickling him. May couldn’t help but laugh as she watched Peter, giggling like mad, struggle to escape from his uncle’s hands.
“No more, no more! Please!” Peter cried out breathlessly after a few moments of attempted escape and Ben finally relented.
“Now that you had your fun,” May said as Peter caught his breath, “you have to get ready for school.” She adopted a stern expression as she spoke and both her boys jumped up in reaction, Peter running to his dresser to grab his clothes and Ben to help straighten up the mess Peter’s stuffed animals and blankets had made in the play scuffle. “I’m going to start breakfast, if you two will behave?” She continued, although she was sure to add enough humor to her voice so that Peter knew he wasn’t in trouble. Ben was very good at determining when she was being playfully serious or annoyed serious but Peter tended to worry more that he had actually upset her unless she made it clear that she was teasing.
“Yes, ma’am!” Both chorused, Peter’s voice muffled somewhat by his pajama shirt he was pulling over his head and Ben’s more than a little cheeky. She couldn’t help but laugh a little again as she turned from the hallway towards the kitchen. She began making breakfast to the sounds of Peter scampering about as he readied himself for school and by the time she was piling scrambled eggs onto three plates, Peter was sliding into the kitchen in sock-clad feet.
“Slow down, please!” May asked without looking up as she carefully cut Peter’s toast into triangles, just as he liked.
“Sorry!” Peter told her, not sounding the least bit apologetic. He was absolutely bouncing this morning and May was happy to know that he was still excited about school on his third day. She looked up from the toast she was buttering for her and Ben to tell him that when she finally caught sight of her nephew and felt the words escape her in surprise. Peter, who would dress in cotton shorts and t-shirts everyday if she allowed it, had dressed himself in one of his nice pair of pants and one of the few short-sleeved button downs he owned - a navy blue one with dark and light green dinosaurs printed all around. He normally would have never chosen such an outfit for himself but May could tell that Ben hadn’t helped him because the buttons down the front of his shirt were mismatched, leaving his shirt hanging an inch lower on one side.
“You look nice,” she told him, catching her surprise and bottling it up so that she wouldn’t make Peter feel self-conscious. Peter, shockingly enough, actually blushed. May just about melted at the sight.
“It’s the only shirt I have with green!” He told her, pulling on the ends of his shirt. May knew that was true – Peter hated green with a passion and he had gotten rid of every single shirt with green on it just a month ago when they had purged his closest in preparation of school shopping. He had only agreed to keep the one he wore now – a personal favorite of May’s – because it had dinosaurs on it. What she didn’t know was why Peter was adamant about wearing green now. Unless –
Her eyes widened as an idea hit her. Could green have been the color his soulmate saw? She and Ben had instructed Peter not to mention seeing his new color to anyone, but what if his soulmate hadn’t been told the same thing and had shared with Peter the color they saw when they met him? The idea that Peter, who still only had the most basic explanation of what a new color meant and really no idea about soulmates, purposely dug out the only shirt he had with his soulmate’s color on it had May’s heart clenching. It was such an honest, sweet Peter-thing to do and May found herself fighting the urge to gush about it. She was almost tempted beyond reason to ask Peter a thousand questions – if green was his soulmate’s color than Peter must know who his soulmate was, and if he was blushing then he must like them and oh goodness, how adorably perfect was it that Peter’s first crush was his soulmate? – but she and Ben had agreed to not tell everything to Peter without first meeting the other parents and discussing what they should do with them and she couldn’t very well ask who he was wearing green for without sparking a million questions from the little boy in front of her. So she bit her tongue and smiled widely as she set the breakfast plates on the table.
“You look very handsome in green,” she told him, bending down so that she could quickly fix his buttons. Peter’s sudden and surprising bout of blushing and self-consciousness faded and his bubbly excitement – which, May realized quite abruptly, must be about his soulmate – returned full force as he grinned up at her. “Sit and eat your breakfast, I’ll be right back with your uncle,” she told him as she stood up and Peter nodded before turning and climbing up onto his dining room chair.
May wasted no time turning and hurrying towards the bathroom, where she knew Ben was getting ready. She barely wasted anytime in opening the door, only pausing to give a perfunctory knock, before swinging it open and immediately speaking. “Peter knows who his soulmate is.” She whispered without preamble as Ben turned to her in surprise.
“Wha?” Ben asked, his voice muddled by the toothbrush in his mouth.
“He’s wearing green.” She told him, not at fazed as she watched him turn and spit into the bathroom sink. “He hates green. And he blushed when I asked him about it. Peter’s soulmate’s color must be green and they must have told him about it. Why else would he suddenly want to wear it?” May continued, careful to keep her voice quiet so that Peter couldn’t overhear. Her excitement was palpable, however, and she was smiling brightly when Ben turned fully to her, his mouth finally clear of toothpaste.
“Okay, did you ask him who it was?”
“Of course not. I didn’t want to have to explain how I knew it was about a person.” She answered immediately. “But that’s okay, because it makes finding them and their family much easier.” She continued. Ben’s eyebrows shot up in confusion.
“How, exactly?” He asked.
“We just have to watch how he is with the other children!” May told him. “Yesterday we spent all our time talking to the Brants and the Allan-Toomes and you to the Browns without Peter because we thought we’d be able to tell by the way the other parents were acting when we should have been watching the way Peter interacts with the other children!” In hindsight, May realized this would have been a much better plan. Even if Peter had made good friends with several children, he would still instinctively be more drawn to his soulmate. Now that she knew that he must know who it was – even if it was just that he knew their color – it would be even easier.
Ben seemed to be catching on, the confusion fading from his face. “So we watch out for the Leeds and the Jones and see how he interacts with the children. Whichever one he is closest to –“
“Must be his soulmate.” May told him, grinning. Slowly, Ben’s own smile bloomed across his face.
“Brilliant.” He told her. May beamed at him and opened her mouth to speak more – about how excited she was, about how all her fears had faded away because Peter couldn’t have been rejected if he was taking the time to wear his soulmate’s color, even if he didn’t fully know what it meant – but Peter’s voice rang out from the kitchen, interrupting their conversation.
“Aunt May! Uncle Ben! You gotta hurry or we’re going to be late!” There was real worry in Peter’s voice, as though the idea of missing even a minute of his kindergarten class was unfathomably terrible, and both adults scrambled, realizing belatedly that their conversation had lasted longer than expected.
“We’ll be ready in just a minute, sweetheart!” May called as Ben turned to run the faucet, rinsing the remnants of his toothpaste down the drain. Both adults rushed from the bathroom and into the kitchen. Peter had already finished his breakfast and had pushed his chair over to the sink so that he could reach the kitchen faucet to rinse his plate off.
“Hurry!” He told them, brown eyes big and admonishing as he turned to look at them from his perch.
“We’re hurrying!” Ben told him, reaching for his plate of now lukewarm breakfast and eating it as quickly as he could. May did the same as she gestured for Peter to get his lunch bag from the fridge where she had placed it the night before. They weren’t running late, per say, but they were fast approaching the point of not having time to scout out for the Leeds and the Jones. May didn’t think she would be able to handle having to wait for the afternoon to finally meet Peter’s soulmate, so she easily went along with Peter’s urging.
The adults scrambled to rinse their dishes and slip into their shoes as Peter stood at the door, squirming with impatience, and they were out the door just a few minutes after they had left the bathroom. Peter’s impatience melted off him the moment they were out the door and he grabbed both their hands as he happily began chatting about all the things he planned to do at school. May made sounds at all the right moments but she admittedly paid very little attention as they made their way to Peter’s school. All her focus was on the very real, very exciting possibility of meeting Peter’s soulmate today and the walk passed by in a blur.
Peter didn’t stop at the buses this time, although May did see him glance at them, and instead led his aunt and uncle straight into the school and towards his classroom. Miss Vasquez was in the hall again, greeting all the students and their parents, and she positively beamed at the sight of the Parkers.
“Hello Peter!” She greeted first, “You look dashing today, don’t you?” Miss Vasquez added, taking in Peter’s outfit. He smiled back up at her, a little shyly. He didn’t full on blush, the way he had when May had commented on it, but a faint rosy pink did spread across his cheeks.
“It’s green.” He told her, as if that explained it all. Miss Vasquez just nodded understandably.
“Green is a fantastic color. Especially on dinosaurs.” She told him knowledgeably, flickering a brief, amused look up at May and Ben. “I have a new puzzle out, since you all keep solving them so fast. Do you want to go check it out?” She asked as she straightened up. Peter, rather than running into the classroom as he had the day before, craned his neck to look into the room as though he was looking for someone specifically. May had very little doubt about who he was looking for and it brought a small, knowing smile to her face.
“Are you looking for someone, Peter?” She asked, keeping a teasing tone out of her voice with effort. Peter’s cheeks reddened as he nodded, speechless for one of the first times of his life. May’s smile grew. “Me and Ben are waiting for someone too, you can wait with us.” She didn’t tell him that they were most likely hoping to see the same person but that didn’t matter. Miss Vasquez, at least, seemed to have caught on.
“Are you going to be out here?” She asked, trying and failing to hide her excitement. She wasn’t able to be much help, as she couldn’t divulge any private information beyond what she had given them the day before, but she still seemed highly invested. May supposed that being the kindergarten teacher of the youngest soulmates known would do that to someone. She had no doubt that she would be utterly thrilled too, if the roles were reversed. “Do you mind watching for the other students, then? I just have to step in for a moment and get something ready for class.” It was an obvious excuse, unlike yesterday, to give them some privacy as they tried to meet with the other two families but May appreciated it all the same. With a final smile at the small family, Miss Vasquez slipped inside the classroom.
“Who are you waiting for?” Peter’s voice seemed to come back as his teacher left. “Aren’t you going to be late for work if you stay?” He continued as he lightly tugged on his aunt’s hand. May smiled down at him.
“I already messaged work that I might be a little late.” She answered. “And I don’t know yet,” Peter’s face scrunched in confusion but before he could ask anymore, he caught sight of something behind May.
“Michelle! Hi!” Peter began waving as May turned to see another family walking down the hallway. An imposingly tall man was walking toward them, a girl – Michelle, May presumed, - beside him. She was tall for her age and seemed rather reserved even as she smiled slightly at Peter from the down the hall.
“Hi, Peter.” Michelle called back. “I brought a new book, today.” She told him, dropping her father’s hand to pull her backpack strap off her shoulder, apparently ready to show Peter immediately. Peter’s face brightened even more.
“Awesome!” He said enthusiastically as Michelle and what must have been her father came to a stop in front of the Parkers.
“It seems our children know each other quite well,” May said to Mr. Jones as she held out a hand towards him. Mr. Jones gave her a small smile, remarkably similar to his daughter’s, as he took her hand and gave it a firm shake.
“It does seem so.” He responded lightly, dropping her hand and offering his to Ben. “I’m Philip Jones. You must be the Parkers, then? Michelle’s talked about your son quite a bit. They share a love of dinosaurs; in case you hadn’t noticed.” May laughed lightly as she looked down at the two children. Peter and Michelle seemed to be getting on well, judging by the way they held Michelle’s book – titled rather aptly The Big Book of Dinosaurs - open between them as Michelle used her free hand to point out various pictures she liked.
“Aunt and uncle actually,” Ben, to May’s surprise, spoke up, offering the other man his own smile. He must have felt the same hope that May did, then, that this little girl in front of them was Peter’s soulmate. His actual, true-life soulmate. “I’m Ben, this lovely woman is May.” He continued, drawing May’s attention away from the children.
Philip, to his credit, didn’t falter over the correction. “It’s nice to meet you Ben, May. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. Michelle has already asked if Peter can come over to visit. She wants to show him her collection of dinosaur toys.” May tried hard to contain the burst of hope Philip’s words gave her. Perhaps it was her imagination but she could almost swear that Philip was feeling them out in some way, much the same as Ben and May were doing to him. And there was no doubt that Peter and Michelle had a strong connection. Judging from Ben’s slight fidgeting – a nervous tick he’d mostly abandoned – he must have felt the same.
May opened her mouth, about to throw caution to the wind and outright ask Philip, when a very loud child’s voice cut through the hallway.
“PEETTTEERR!” May looked up, startled, to see a small dark-haired blur running towards their group. Peter, much to her surprise – he had been just full of surprises since starting Kindergarten – dropped the side of the book he’d been holding and ran towards the other boy, skirting around Philip’s legs with the dexterity only small, excited children could muster.
“NEEEEDDD!” He yelled and threw himself onto the other boy in a rather impressive tackle-hug. They fell to the ground together, giggling wildly. May was speechless for a moment, staring at the pile the boys had become. Ben and Philip both seemed equally shocked, although it looked like Philip was holding back laughter.
Before May could go forward and separate the two boys – and scold Peter for running in the hallway – she caught sight of two other adults, a woman and a man, standing on the other side of the boys, also staring in surprise. Although theirs didn’t last as long.
“Edward Leeds! You get up from there this instant! You know better than to run inside!” The woman - who must have been Ned's mother, Althea - said angrily as she stalked forward. Her voice was softly accented, although May couldn’t quite place it, and she was rather small for how menacing she looked as she waited for the boys to disentangle themselves.
“Oh my,” and that was Miss Vasquez, coming out from her classroom along with the majority of the children who had already arrived for school and several parents who had been in the room. She seemed torn between disapproving at the commotion and incredibly amused at the spectacle sweet little Peter Parker and this other boy seemed intent on making. May herself was far less amused as she stalked forward to join the other woman in berating her little miscreant.
“Sorry, mama!” The other boy – Ned – said as Peter sheepishly got up off of him and helped him to his feet. He was dark haired, with large chocolate eyes a shade or two darker than Peter’s own, and a sweet face that hadn’t quite lost all of its baby fat yet. He was utterly adorable, May had to admit, but it wasn’t his cuteness that had her stopping a few feet before her intended spot next to Peter. No, it wasn’t the imploring way he stared up at his mother with the biggest pair of puppy-dog eyes May had ever seen or the sweet, cheerful sound of his voice – it was the fact that he was dressed in the brightest, most yellow shirt May had ever seen. It had what looked to be the face of some cartoon character in the center but May was too distracted to recognize it.
It was clicking into place now, as she looked down at the pair of boys. They were standing close to each other, nearly touching, and although they both looked suitably contrite, there was an unmistakable air of excitement around them, as though they were just waiting for the chance to finish greeting each other. And they were wearing each other’s colors, May was absolutely positive. Peter must have told Ned – at the moment, she couldn’t even be mad that he had disobeyed her. She was too caught up in the realization to even maintain her anger at the way they had acted in the hall.
This was Peter’s soulmate, she thought, looking at the dark-haired boy next to her nephew. This exuberant, cheerful boy with a cherubic face and a soft accent. She tore her eyes away from the two boys who had begun shifting nervously at the silence to look at Ned’s mother in front of her. She wore an identical look of surprise as she met May’s gaze but it only took a moment for a smile to break out on her face. All of the doubts May had had over the past two days disappeared at the sight of Althea Leeds' smile. It was equal parts relief and excitement, as if she had understood and dealt with the same fears May had, and May knew without a doubt that her own smile, blooming across her face, mirrored it.
“We’re really sorry, Missus Leeds, Aunt May. Mister Leeds, Uncle Ben “Peter spoke up as both Ben and the other man - Ned's father, William Leeds - moved forward to join the group, his voice a little wobbly with uncertainty as he stared up at the adults. “Are you mad?” He added as the silence surrounding the four adults continued. The bit of fear that had found its way into his voice jolted May from her stupor. She dropped down to make eye contact with her nephew. Beside her, Althea did the same to Ned.
“Oh sweetie, no. We aren’t mad. We’re just really surprised. And really, really happy.” She told him, running a hand through his disheveled hair. Ben dropped down next to her and clapped a hand on Peter’s small shoulder, smiling softly at the little boy. In that moment, May forgot they were all standing in the center of the hall. It didn’t matter, anyway. All that mattered was her family and the one next to them. All that mattered were the two little boys in front of her who would spend the rest of their lives together. The two little boys who would have the unique privilege of saying that they had known their soulmates all their lives.
May’s smile grew as she leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Peter’s forehead. “Really, really happy.” She repeated softly as the worry faded from Peter’s face, replaced with a bright smile. She looked over Peter’s head, at the boy who was the other part of her nephew’s soul and smiled at him as well. Tentatively, Ned smiled back. May knew, without a doubt, as she looked at that energetic little boy, that her baby would be in good hands. Energetic, possibly downright wild, hands, but good nonetheless.