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“What?! Are you serious?” Peter screeches into the speaker in his mask. He was on his way back from patrol early because it’s date night with MJ and he definitely missed the last one and was late to the one before that. He’s desperately trying to swing along the quieter roads so he doesn’t run into any crime that might make him late for dinner.
He’s so unreasonably lucky that Michelle loves him regardless of his sloppy timekeeping skills but he knows she deserves better than someone who lets the dinner get cold while they get beaten in the street. He knows she worries while cooking - which is often why they order takeout.
But tonight he hasn’t been stopped by any criminals. He’s been called specifically because they’re running late and need help decorating the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. It’s a dream he didn’t even know he had. But he misses Michelle - hasn’t seen her since yesterday morning and he knows she’s been practising making Loukoumades for him all week. He’d choose Michelle over anything every time.
But it’s the Rockefeller Tree - Ben used to take him every year. ‘Just because we’re Jewish doesn’t mean we don’t love a fairy light, Pete’ he used to say as he forced Peter into three coats to make the trek to midtown Manhattan. One of his favourite photos is him on Ben’s shoulders attempting to line up with the top of the tree - they didn’t get it right. Disposable cameras not allowing for multiple chances but he loved it all the same - both of them smiling as they fell to the ground. He barely remembers the fractured wrist - having had a multitude of injuries that make that seem like a scratch since then. But he does remember the night - a wonderful night.
MJ would understand - she’d tell him to go - she’d try to hide the sadness that laced her voice whenever he called her this close to any event, already knowing he wasn’t going to be there.
Sighing he says, “Can I call you back, Mr Mayor?” and hangs up quickly before he can persuade him into swinging around the tree with baubles tied to himself.
He starts swinging again but with less momentum. He’s annoyed at himself more than anything. If he didn't mess up all the time, this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. But he does, and Michelle doesn't deserve it.
He's pulled from his thoughts when Karen tells him MJ is calling he's equal parts ecstatic and mad that that probably means he's late.
"Hi, loser." He hears her say through his mask and he misses her so much he forgets to note whether or not she seems mad at him. To be fair she always tries to hide it if she is - never truly mad, only ever disappointed, which is worse. She knows he’s Spider-Man, and has known since junior year of high school when she asked him to his face and he was so distracted by the fact she had her hair down that he told her the truth.
“Hey, Em.”
“So I see on the news that you’re decorating the tree? Are you super excited? Did you take a jumper because your suit heater is good, thank you Karen, but you know you do not deal well with the cold?”
Is there ever a time of day where he isn’t completely bowled over by how much he loves her? How lucky he is to have her in his life in any way.
“Yeah - but it’s fine, I could probably help out if they still need me tomorrow.” He says a little breathless because he’s picked up his swinging speed because he misses her, and she’s right - it’s cold.
“What? They’ll be done by tonight, dork. Isn’t swinging around the tree the one thing you try and convince me to let you do every year?”
He laughs at her as he swings around a corner, imagining it has green pine needles sticking out of it at awkward angles - she’s right, she always is.
"I miss you and I’m hungry so -”
“I love you - meet me on the roof, okay?” She hangs up on him before he has the chance to tell her he loves her back, she knows so it’s okay.
He picks up speed again, not realising he slowed down when talking to her. He doesn’t want her to have to wait on the roof for him for long. Surely she doesn’t wanna eat outside? He’ll do it - if she wants, but he’ll probably shiver through the whole experience.
He smiles widely when he sees her silhouette - laughing when she sees him and flips him the finger. He lands on the roof with a stumble, never managing to be smooth around her. She’s bundled in clothes on her top half and she looks adorable and he loves her. She’s got a bag next to her which he assumes is full of food, and hopefully, a blanket if she wants him to sit outside.
“Hey,” he says as he pulls his mask off and leans forwards to kiss her smile. She grabs his face with her gloved hands when he pulls back and kisses him again - he pulls her as close as possible when she’s wearing at least five layers.
“Hey,” she replies between quick kisses. “How are you? Patrol okay?” she carries on with her arms around his neck. He hums a yes against her lips.
He huffs when she moves away but is ultimately happy when she passes him a jumper out of the bag.
“Oh, thank you! You wanna eat up here?” he says with his head in the jumper - he knows she can only understand him because she’s so used to talking to him through the mask.
“Are you insane, it’s baltic! I got us subs from Delmar’s which I figured we could eat while swinging.” His head pops through the neck of the jumper which he realises is one of her Christmas ones, it smells intoxicatingly like her and he smiles about it.
“You don’t like to swing with me?” She rolls her eyes like he’s being a dumbass.
“Not just to go to the corner shop, Pete - it’s a four-minute walk. But to decorate the tree?! I have supplies so we can go until the morning.” She replies leaning down to bring two Santa hats out the bag and he beams at her. Michelle has never let him down, not once and he’s always blown away by how much she loves him. He’s not sure what he ever did to deserve someone like her.
“I love you,” he says when she puts the hat on him. She squints at him and he’s not sure why but it’ll make sense soon, Michelle is never wrong. She taps her fingers against his chest as she figures it out and her eyes widen and she takes the hat back off.
“Mask first!” She puts the hat back on when he rolls his mask over his eyes and nose leaving his lips out in hopes that she’ll let him kiss her. She does. It turns from a light peck to complete filth in no time at all and he’s pulled out of wondering how she manages to keep her lips so soft all the time when she pushes his chest and murmurs something about a tree.
He groans against her neck and stops attempting to undo her third hoodie. When he looks back at her, slightly panting against the roof door and her nose is red in a way that makes his heart soar - he’s not sure he’s ever seen her this beautiful.
“You’re so pretty, Em - all the time. This might be the prettiest you’ve ever been.”
“Therefore, I have -”
“Don’t start with me,” he rolls his eyes but presses her back into the door, “It doesn’t have the same effect if you say it every time,” he says with what he means to be the last kiss. She hums against his lips and replies, “your eyes widened, I saw it.” She’s right, she always is.
“Let’s go! I wanna put the baubles on! I have some Spidey ones in my bag I’m hoping to sly on there.” She says with a wink that doesn’t fully work because she’s flawless in every way but she cannot wink to save her life. Still makes his heart flutter though.
She puts her hat on, throws her backpack around her shoulders and jumps on his back in record time. She plants one last kiss to his cheek and rolls his mask down, “Come on, the sooner we are finished the sooner we can continue my very slow strip show.”
“Wait, it’s freezing out here! Let me in!” She says trying to fit her hands down the neck of his suit and he laughs with her while pulling her hands away to press kisses to her palms. She huffs but settles onto his back ready for him to leap off the building.
Swinging with Michelle is something he will never tire from. It brings the two things he loves most together and the edge of loneliness he sometimes feels as Spider-Man is non-existent whenever he even thinks about her - let alone having her on his back. She whoops when they turn corners and tightens her legs around him like a vice when he does a flip. She trusts him, and he loves her.
They’re coming up to the tree and he can feel MJ vibrate with excitement and he wishes that he could take her on patrol more often - that this was the level of work he had to do. He’d never risk injuring her by taking her out on a standard trip but God he misses her when she’s not around. His thoughts are always drifting back to what she’s doing at home. Is she reading? Does she miss him the way he misses her?
“Pete! Over there!” She says with a level of enthusiasm he rarely hears her use in public -she uses one hand to point towards the large collection of decorations, while the other one loosely hangs around his neck and he’s so proud of her. Would never say so in fear of being patronising but she hates heights, and the thought that she trusts him enough to do this with him has him choking up under his mask.
“Okay - what should we do first? I think they did the lights already but that’s a boring job so it’s fine. Baubles, right?” Michelle says hugging him close. He goes to put her down so he can carry the decorations and hears her grunt from behind him.
“Nooo - I know you can pass me things while I’m here. I missed you, don’t put me down please.” She says into his neck and he adores her. He passes her a bag with decorations that she ties around the loop she sewed into his suit so he’d stop losing his keys when he was on patrol and he jumps them to the lower branches.
“Where do you think we should start, Spidey?” she whispers at him and it’s rude how easily she can turn him on.
“Er - erm, we can go. Michelle -” he says in polite warning when she rubs her thumb over the base of his throat. It’s innocent to any bystander but he knows her, has loved her for years, will love her forever - so he knows she’s messing with him.
“Let’s start from the bottom and work our way up.” She replies with a kiss to his cheek which gets some cheers from some small onlookers and his heart soars and plummets because he doesn’t want MJ to be nervous.
“Awwww! You have fans! Do you want to go say hi? They’re so tiny! Who wants to stand in the cold to see your nerdy ass?”
“You - on the roof earlier, literally.” He says as he lowers them to the ground to run over to say hi.
“Yeah, but I married your dumbass.” She says with a kiss to his shoulder. He pinches her lightly, and she laughs loudly against his neck and squeezes his shoulders in happiness. He strokes where he pinched.
Michelle offers to take photos for all the children standing around and slyly flips Peter the finger when an older child appears to want a photo with her instead. Peter’s identity has been out for years at this point, New Yorkers barely care who he is, and everyone was enamoured with Michelle when they found out who she was so it’s not surprising. He still gets nervous around large groups of people, but MJ has taken more self-defence classes than him to try and settle some of his nerves. He’s always close when they’re out like this though.
She springs onto his back the second he’s finished signing random pieces of paper and they’re back away from the children that make him slightly nervous, and onto the thin branches of the Rockefeller tree.
He’s nervous that the fame side of Spider-Man is gonna put Michelle off doing anything that requires them to go outside. She’s a private person and doesn’t enjoy being in the spotlight in the way that Spider-Man demands. She’s been quiet since they started decorating and he can feel her shiver every few minutes.
“Em-”
“Don’t let the fact that I’m freezing my ass off out here fool you; I’m having a great time.”
"Are you sure? We can go home."
“Yeah - don’t worry about me. Unless you’re gonna give everyone a show and give me your suit, I miss Karen and the heater.” She’s joking, but she’s shivering and he doesn’t want her to get sick. So he jumps down to the floor, apologising when she yelps because he didn’t give her any warning.
She protests when he lifts her off her back but her eyes widen in excitement when he presses the emblem on his chest and his suit sags off his shoulders.
“I was kidding!” She says around a laugh and he’d do anything to see her smile so he motions for her jackets. Thankfully, in the winter months, he wears a set of thermal leggings under the suit. His chest is already pretty cold though - but the way MJs eyes rake over him makes him feel warm from the inside out.
She takes off three coats and hands them to him, he gives her one back. He pulls the coats on and strips down to his socks - immediately regretting that he doesn’t have spare shoes until MJ throws some converse and a pair of jeans at him, dropping the backpack back to the ground.
He looks at her in surprise when she pulls the suit over her own leggings and jumper.
“You giving me the suit was always a high possibility.” She says with a smile and a shrug. Pressing the emblem the suit moulds to her body and he’s thankful he’s in baggier pants because he can see every curve of her body and he misses her.
Michelle winks at him like she knows where his thoughts have gone and jumps on his back when his last coat is done up. He kept his web-shooters because obviously, and it feels weird to swing in civilian clothes but MJ laughs in his ear every time he accidentally makes a thwip noise, so it’s worth it.
They spend a lot of time placing baubles and homemade decorations on the edges of the branches - occasionally asking passers-by if they’ve missed a spot. If anyone ever says yes, MJ tells Peter to ‘yeet her over’ so she can fix it - but she never loosens her grip on him.
While they place decorations all over the tree, MJ asks him questions about Ben and all of the ways he made the holidays special. He’s told her millions of times, but her face lights up whenever he mentions a tradition he’d love to carry on with her or anything new he’d like to try.
Michelle makes up stories about the people she thinks makes the decorations and he can’t remember the last time he laughed so hard he fell down seven branches of a tree. He didn’t hit the ground or anything - would never do anything to endanger Michelle’s life like that. He does tell her to stop saying jokes though, and she presses kisses to his temple until he’s calm again - whispering over and over that she trusts him.
The tree is covered after a couple of hours and he’s tired and happy and in love. He watches as the crane gets ready to place the star on top of the tree and yells at them to stop.
“Can I do something quickly?” He yells at the Mayor in what is probably a disrespectful way - but he gives him the okay with an eye roll and a wave of the hand.
“Pete?” Michelle says as he starts climbing the tree at record speed. “What are you doing? We didn’t miss any spots!”
“Do you trust me?” he says as they near the top. He feels her eyes roll and she replies, “Yeah, Aladdin.” He lifts her off his back and she shrieks at him and he places her standing on the tallest branch - her head ending higher than the top of the tree. He watches her eyes as she figures out what he’s doing, while he webs her in place.
“Peter. Pete, this is not -” he let’s go slowly, knowing his webbing will keep her safe for at least an hour unless he rips it off himself, but it’s Michelle, so he has to check. She’s glaring at him when his gaze lifts from his hands to her face, God she’s beautiful.
“I love you, please forgive me.” And he swings himself to the bottom of the tree. Running back to climb up the crane so he’s the same height as Michelle but across from her, he takes his phone out of his jeans pocket, snapping far too many photos of her glaring at him. She doesn’t look scared though so he thinks it’s okay.
“You’re my angel, Michelle! -” he shouts at her and she rolls her eyes like she knew it was coming, “you’re New York’s angel.” He says it with too much heart for it to be jokey, but she laughs at him anyway. He’s smiling when he brings his phone back up to take photos and she gives him what he wants, she always does.
So now his phone is full of photos of her grinning from ear to ear and doing Spider-Man poses in the suit and he’s not sure what on earth he ever could have done in a past life to deserve the one he has right now. With Michelle who doesn’t let anyone see her emotions if she can help it, who is currently doing ridiculous poses he knows will end up in a newspaper tomorrow - she must know it too, but it makes him smile - so she’s doing it anyway.
“I love you.” She whispers at him knowing that he can hear.
“Are you done, lady?” Someone says from the ground and hey.
“That’s my wife!" He shouts down, "Don’t speak to her like that.” He says flipping himself to the ground. “Sorry, we’re done.” He continues because really it’s not the worker’s fault Peter wanted a photo. The guy rolls his eyes at him and tells him to ‘go get his wife’.
“My wife,” Peter says for no reason other than to say it out loud. He beams at the worker who looks as though he might try and kill him, Spider-Man or not. He throws him a lopsided grin and thwip. He reaches the top of the tree in seconds - he missed her.
“Hey, Spidey.” He says as he tears the webbing off of her and manoeuvres carefully so she can jump on his back.
“Hey, wifey - get any good photos or will I have to see them all in the Times, tomorrow? Oh, or maybe I’ll see a picture of you abandoning your wife on the front cover of the Bugle -'' he groans because she’s correct “- what do you think, ‘Menace Peter Parker leaves wife to freeze to death” She says on the descent.
“I gave you the suit!" He grumbles while she laughs. "And good photos! As if you’ve ever taken a bad photo, Em but these are definitely Christmas card worthy.” He passes the backpack to her once they're on the ground and holds his arm awkwardly around her back so she doesn’t have to get down to put it on.
The swing home is much more chill, both of them conked out from all the work it took to decorate. He’s so grateful MJ came with him and that he got to remember Ben in this way. She knows he is without him having to voice it because she keeps pressing kisses to the back of his neck. The wind chill when he doesn’t have the suit on is on another level - MJ did give him the gloves back and he’s still wearing two of her coats.
He realises Michelle has been speaking to him for a few minutes but he was too in his own head thinking about how grateful he was for her to be paying attention but he does catch the tail end of her question and barks out a laugh.
“No, you can’t change your name to Santaman.” He smiles all the way home as he listens to all the reasons she should change her name to Santaman - many of which he will follow up on in the near future if only to see her smile.
The night ends with Michelle asleep on his chest, his stomach full of homemade latkes and a number five from Delmar’s, and hundreds of photos of his wife to choose from to make his phone background.
Decorating the Rockefeller tree was one of the best nights of his life - but as he smiles at one of the photos on his phone, he knows it's all to do with her. It always is.