Chapter Text
Chapter 1
That’s kind of how it all started for them.
Back when they were still in their Senior year of High School. They didn’t like each other that much then – or at least that’s what they thought, but pretty much everyone in their entourage knew better, of course. Peter and Ned decided they wanted to check this uni, and that they’d drive there over the break. Michelle decided to tag along for some obscure reason.
It started pretty great, they were mostly getting along. Then on the second day, Ned had this family emergency, and he had to fly back home while Peter and Michelle got stuck together. They couldn’t just abandon the car there, so they had to drive all the way back to New York just the two of them. They fought like two idiots over stupid stuff. Then they obviously got stranded some place in the middle of nowhere – classic right? They fought some more, she stormed out of their crappy motel room, and then he ran after her and they made out in the rain – against the hood of their stupid car, that had been pretty neat. After that – and other neat things for a couple of horny 17 year-olds – they went home, tried to pretend like nothing had happened for a week, failed miserably, and then finally decided to give it a try and got together under the pouring rain again. It was all very cliché really.
Somehow, it then became their thing.
Every year, Peter would set aside his friendly neighborhood Spider-Man activities for a few gorgeous days, and they would go on a road trip together. A lot of great things happened throughout the years, during these sometimes very planned, other times completely impromptu adventures on the roads. Once, their car broke down in the middle of Colorado and they saw a bear. Another time, they found a really great motel and stayed there for four days because they were both too tired to really go anywhere else. Eight years after their first road trip, MJ beats Peter to it and proposes in Houston – he was planning to ask her a couple of days later on their way back in New Orleans. The year after that one, they go on their honey moon at the Niagara Falls and then all around Lake Ontario. The year after that, they’re both very busy with the starting of their respective careers, but Peter still surprises MJ in late September with a quick road trip to Quebec to go whale-watching.
The year after that is a very special one.
x
“We’re not going on a road trip this year, MJ,” Peter deadpans, pointing his knife in Michelle’s direction with a stern look before going back to the post-patrol PB&J sandwich he’s currently making for himself.
Michelle has to bite down a smirk because of how ridiculous he looks and chooses to frown instead. “Why not?” she retorts, crossing her arms over her chest with an accusing stare that has Peter sigh in a comically desperate way.
“M, you’re 8 months pregnant!” he almost whines, like it pains him to state the very obvious reason why they cannot go on a road trip this year. He nods accusingly to the bump her tank top is barely covering, and it’s her turn to sigh.
She fights the giddy feeling that always overcomes her when someone mentions that teeny tiny life-altering fact. The little alien in her belly chooses this time to manifest itself with a soft kick in her sides, and her heart jumps in her chest. She thought she would hate it, before. It’s such a weird thing, to create life and have it move around in your stomach like this. Gross, she would say. Terrifying, she would think. Turns out she actually loves it. There’s absolutely nothing like it.
“So what? I’m pregnant, not dying.”
“M…”
“Come on, it’s the last one we can do just the two of us,” she practically begs, walking around him to lean on the kitchen counter next to him. “After that we’re gonna have an army of spider babies tagging along. We’re gonna need a bigger car by the way.” Peter just stares at her with a blank expression, before turning his attention back to his sandwich. She holds back a fond sigh at how absurdly cute her husband is and nudges him in the ribs instead. “I did tell you it was quadruplets right? Eight legs and everything.”
“You’re not funny,” Peter retorts, playfully pushing her elbow away with a fake frown that she knows is supposed to hide his amusement. She can always tell when she’s making him laugh, even when he’s pretending like she’s not.
“I’m not trying to be funny, just realistic,” Michelle counters as he puts the peanut butter back in the cupboard above his head. “Besides, I’m not funny, I’m hilarious.”
Peter doesn’t reply anything, shaking his head with the ghost of a smile on his lips as he puts the jam back in the fridge. While he washes the knife in the sink, Michelle considers the idea of stealing a bite of his sandwich, but then decides against it. She’s been having stomach cramps because of sugar lately, so it’s a wise decision, especially since it’s past midnight anyway. She’s pretty sure Peter knows, even if she didn’t specifically mention it, and that it’s why he didn’t offer to make one for her too like he usually does. Stupid caring idiot noticing everything.
She waits for him to lean on the counter next to her and take a bite of his sandwich before she tries again. “Come on Peter,” she says, moving to face him and subtly pressing her bump against his abs. Her bump isn’t that big, the little alien growing inside her apparently being on the lowest side of the growing curve. She hasn’t put on much weight as well, she thinks it’s pretty fun that looking at her back you can’t even tell she’s pregnant. Still, there is definitely something under her shirt, and she knows Peter loves it when she bumps him with her growing belly. Alright, she might be using some low manipulating techniques but well, she really wants to go. She’s not being too reckless either, she’s planned everything, plus she’s still five weeks away from her due date so there’s still time.
“These moments are our last ones with just the two of us,” she tells Peter quietly, “then we start this new adventure and it’s never gonna be the same ever again– and I’m not saying this as a bad thing by the way,” she adds, raising a finger in between them to emphasize her words, “I can’t wait to do all of this with our kids too.”
She hadn’t planned on saying that last part, the words slipping out of her mouth before she can hold them back, and Peter’s pleasantly surprised face makes her cheeks grow hot all of a sudden. “Kids?” he asks in an almost choked voice, and she suddenly feels very self-conscious.
Michelle shrugs, kind of avoiding his gaze, and Spider-Baby nudges her bladder as she does, as if to say it’s two against one or something. She never really saw herself with a kid, let along kids, and yet here she is, and she’s never been more excited about anything because she’s there with Peter of all people. Might sound very cheesy, and yet somehow it’s the truth. Pregnancy hormones probably making her all mushy or something. “I mean, we’ll see if this one doesn’t web itself out of me or something, but… yeah.”
The loving glimmer she witnesses in his brown eyes makes it all worth it. He leans forward, curving his upper body above her baby bump as he obviously aims for her lips. She doesn’t move, anxiously anticipating the sweet, delicious taste of his lips and tongue paired with PB&J. She sadly doesn’t get to taste any of that though, because when his face is barely an inch away from hers he stops and frowns deeply. “You’re trying to manipulate me into saying yes,” he says accusingly, his eyes boring into hers, and she bites down her smile.
“Is it working?” she asks innocently, and Peter shakes his head with a sigh. He doesn’t move away though, setting his half eaten sandwich back on the counter behind him and cupping her bump in his hands. She shivers when he leans his forehead on hers – or maybe it’s because of his hands, she’s not sure. The little alien kicks its dad’s left hand almost instantly, and they both smile fondly at the movement.
“What if something happens to you?” Peter whispers, running his thumbs over the top of her belly. “Or to that little one?” he adds, nodding down, and the concern is deeply obvious in his voice. “I would never–”
And Michelle appreciates the concern, she really does, but then again she’s pregnant, not dying, and she’s also not asking him to go camping in the middle of nowhere either. “Peter come on,” she sighs softly, bumping his nose with hers, “nothing’s gonna happen to either of us. I’m not due for another 39 days, it’s gonna be fine.”
His eyes are roaming her face intently, and she knows he’s looking for any sign of concern from her part. And there might be some, buried deep inside her brain – because who is she kidding, the prospect of going through labor and delivery is pretty terrifying no matter how prepared she thinks she is about it all – but she really does feel good about all this. She trusts herself, trusts her body, and trusts Peter too. They can do this.
They stare at each other for a moment, until Peter’s face subtly softens, and Michelle instantly knows she did it, before he even says the word. “…Alright.”
“Yes!”
“But not too far!” he tempers with a tired grin, raising a finger to catch her attention. His other hand slides along her hip to the small of her back and keeps her in place, flushed against him. “And close to a city with a good hospital, and–”
“I have our itinerary ready right here,” Michelle cuts him, nodding to the table behind her where her laptop is. Peter’s smile drops and his eyes widen.
“Oh my… M!” he whines, and she has a hard time not laughing at his antics. “You knew I would cave.”
“Well duh,” she shrugs, raising her arms to wrap them around his neck as he shakes his head in disbelief. There is a small smile on his lips however, and she knows he’s gonna kiss her even before he starts leaning forward. He presses a gentle kiss on her mouth, and she feels herself melt in it instantly. This, this is her biggest weakness, she thinks. She loves it. She loves him. It really doesn’t feel like a weakness at all, when she thinks about it, since it might be one of her favorite things in the entire world. Oh wow, pregnancy hormones really are something.
“You’re insufferable sometimes,” Peter whispers against her lips, and they both smile at that, their noses brushing in the process.
“Yeah well get used to it because soon there’s gonna be another one just like me,” she retorts with another shrug, and Peter shakes his head with a chuckle before kissing her again, more intently this time. His hands hold her close, steady and comforting on her back, and she kisses him back fervently, because she loves him and because that’s what they do.
Nothing tastes better than peanut butter and jelly on Peter Parker’s lips.