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Gwen Stacy was no stranger to tackling new things. As the Spectacular Spider-Woman, she’d gone up against more than her fair share of difficult tasks: saving people from burning buildings, stopping robberies, jumping into gunfights, and stopping the multiverse from colliding, to name a few. However, it was what was in front of her, her current task, that had her sweating.
“I swear,” she muttered, eyes focused on the task at hand, “I seriously don’t know how anyone in the history of any universe has been able to do this.”
Next to her, Gwen’s mother-in-law, Rio Morales, barely held back a laugh. “It’s just a diaper, mija.”
The two women were at Gwen and Miles’s apartment, less than forty-eight hours after Gwen and Miles had returned from the hospital with their first child, Charlotte Samantha Morales-Stacy. The new parents were in love-as well as overwhelmed-with the new addition to their family, which was why Charlotte’s grandparents were all visiting the Morales-Stacy household.
“Let me,” Rio said gently.
“I’ve got it,” Gwen said, shaking her head. “It’s this side, I can’t get it to…” The diaper suddenly came apart, causing Charlotte to cry and Gwen to sigh, frustrated.
“Let me,” Rio said again.
“But you did the last two, and…”
“And you’ll do the next three,” Rio finished. “Take a break, mi amor.”
As stubborn as she could be, Gwen didn’t have the energy to protest. Instead, she sat down on the couch as Rio went to work. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
Rio waved it off as she redid her granddaughter’s diaper. “It’s no big deal, sweetie.”
“Miles and I can swing from webs,” Gwen said. “We can travel to other universes. How has no one invented a device that does diapers?”
“They have,” Rio answered, finishing. “They’re called parents.” Picking up Charlotte, she said “Let’s go see mama.”
“Hey, baby,” Gwen said, taking her daughter into her arms. Glancing at Rio, she asked “Does it get any easier?”
“If I said yes, I’d be lying to you, mija.”
Gwen nodded, reluctantly accepting the answer as Charlotte cooed against her chest.
“It just takes time,” Rio said after a moment. “You’ll get the hang of being a mom.”
“I guess…”
“Trust me, Jeff was a walking disaster the first few weeks after we had Miles.”
Gwen looked up in disbelief. “Really?”
“Oh yeah,” Rio answered, nodding her head. “He didn’t know how to hold Miles, he kept wanting to cradle him like a football. And diapers? He cried more than Miles did.” Grinning, she said “Don’t tell him I told you.” Miles and the two grandfathers had gone down the street to get coffee.
Gwen chuckled. “I can’t imagine him helpless like that.”
“He wasn’t helpless, he was inexperienced, is all. Just like you, and just like Miles. You two may have spider-powers; but being a parent, being a mom? That’s a whole different set of powers. And you earn them over time.”
“I think Miles already has them,” Gwen said. Since Charlotte’s birth, Miles had been on his game, impressing Gwen with his dad skills. It was Miles who was able to rock Charlotte to sleep when she was fussy; it was Miles who volunteered to change the dirty diapers. And it was Miles who Charlotte seemed more comfortable with at times.
“He’s learning,” Rio said. “Just like you.”
“He had a great role model.”
“So did you,” Rio said. “I never met your mother, but I know how much your dad cares about you, and about his granddaughter.”
Gwen smiled; that much was true. George Stacy was over the moon about being a grandfather, and was already going on about how much he was going to spoil little Charlotte. Not to be outdone, Jefferson had already gone on a spending spree at the local baby store, stockpiling Charlotte’s nursery with stuffed animals.
It was both ridiculous and adorable at the same time, Gwen and Miles thought.
Rio seemed to be the only level-headed one, and for that, Gwen was thankful. The two women had become closer since Gwen started dating Miles. And now, ten years after they’d first met, they were as close as any mother-in-law and daughter-in-law could be.
“I wish she could’ve met her,” Gwen said, rocking her daughter. “My mom? I mean I barely remember her, but...from everything my dad has told me, she would’ve loved being a grandmother.”
“She looks like your mom,” Rio said. “From the pictures I’ve seen.”
Gwen shook her head. “She looks like Miles.”
“She looks like both of you,” Rio said.
Gwen looked down at Charlotte. She could see herself in her daughter-the tiny blonde curls that were beginning to show-but the eyes and the face were all Miles.
Gwen sighed, as Charlotte began to fuss. “Shh, shh,” Gwen whispered, slowly rocking her again. Eventually the fussing ceased, and Charlotte fell asleep.
“See? One step at a time,” Rio said.
Gwen smirked as she stood. “It was just luck,” she whispered. “But I’ll take it.” She carried Charlotte to the nearby bassinet. After gingerly putting her down, she made her way back to the couch, next to Rio.
“You’re being too hard on yourself, mija,” Rio told her.
“It’s just...so much. I mean, ask me to fight Kingpin, or Doc Ock, or Venom and I’m sure of myself, I’m confident. But with this? With being a parent? It’s hard. I’m always second guessing everything. Am I feeding her enough? Does she get enough sleep? And when do I get to sleep? And Miles is just...so good. I always knew he was going to be a good father, but he’s blown me out of the water.”
Rio reached over and took her hand. “Look at me, Gwen.” She smiled. “It’s like this for every new parent. Everything you’re feeling; the doubt? We’ve all been there.”
“Even you?”
“Even me,” Rio acknowledged. “But it passes. Charlotte is lucky to have you, Gwen. And any other children you and Miles have will be lucky, too.”
Gwen barked a laugh. “Other kids? Yeah, I don’t know about that. I’ve already got my hands full with Charlotte, adding another baby might be a little much.”
Rio smiled. “Well, just remember that I’m here if you need me. And so is Miles. And so is your father, and so is Jeff.” After a beat, she added “We’re all team Spider-Baby.”
Gwen raised an eyebrow. “Miles came up with that, didn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Rio admitted. “How could you tell?”
“Sounds like something he’d say.”
Miles, Jefferson, and George came home a little later, coffee cups in hand. “Where are my girls?” Miles asked as he entered the house. Rio was in the kitchen, washing the dishes.
“Sleeping,” she answered, taking the cup of coffee her husband offered. “What took you guys so long?”
“Miles,” Jefferson replied, taking a seat at the table with George.
“Mijo,” Rio began.
“I never said I was going to pay!” Miles exclaimed.
“You said ‘it’s on me,’ son,” Jefferson told him.
“And then we get there and he doesn’t have his wallet,” George said.
“I thought I did,” Miles said.
“Apparently, forgetting your wallet is a hidden spider power,” Jefferson teased, getting a chuckle out of George. “Better hope Charlotte doesn’t inherit that from you.”
“It was only one time, dad,” Miles said.
“Twice, actually,” Jefferson said. “Three years ago? The trip to Hawaii?”
“And the dinner,” George said. “When we went to The Capital Grille?”
“He’s a new dad,” Rio said, defending her son. “He’s got baby on the brain.”
“Yeah, exactly,” Miles said.
“Right,” Jefferson said, standing. “George, want to see if the game’s still on?”
When they left, Rio raised a skeptical eyebrow at her son. “Really, Miles? Forgetting your wallet?”
“It was an accident,” Miles said, shrugging.
“Uh-huh. Sit,” she said, pointing to the table. He did, and she took the seat across from him.
“What’s wrong, mami?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Rio answered. “We haven’t really talked since Charlotte was born. How do you like being a father so far?”
“It’s great,” Miles answered, a grin forming on his face. “It’s exhausting, but great. I love that little girl.”
“I know you do, Miles. You’re so good with her, I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, mom.”
“What about you and Gwen? How are you two?”
“We’re good,” he said, frowning. “Why, did she say something?”
“She didn’t say anything, mi amor,” Rio explained. “I just want to make sure you two are still a team. You’re so good together, don’t lose that. Your little girl is so lucky to have both of you, make sure you support each other.”
“I know, mom. We do.”
When he heard some noises coming from the nursery, Miles made his way down there to check on his girls. He found his wife holding their daughter, feeding her.
Gwen looked over her shoulder as he entered the room. “Took you long enough,” she told him.
“There was a...problem, at the coffee place,” Miles admitted.
“Sure. You know you left your wallet on the dresser, right?”
“Yeah, that...that was part of the problem.” He kissed Gwen’s forehead, and followed it up by kissing Charlotte’s head. “How is she?”
“Not hungry,” Gwen said, adjusting her shirt and handing Charlotte to Miles. He put her against his chest as he sat in a chair.
“What’d you and my mom talk about?”
“Nothing much; we sang a nursery rhyme to Charlotte, about the itsy-bitsy Kingpin.”
“I don’t know if he ever qualified as ‘itsy bitsy’,” Miles said.
“No, um,” Gwen began, sitting next to Miles. “We just talked about what it’s like being a parent. Your mom is awesome, by the way.”
“Yeah, I know,” Miles said. “What’d she say?”
“Just that parenting is like a super-power that you have to develop. And it’s hard, yeah, but it’s…”
“Kind of a good hard?”
“That...doesn’t sound good, but yeah, I guess.” Gwen smiled at her daughter. “I love Charlotte, and I love you, but....”
“It’s a lot.”
“Yeah. It’s a lot sometimes. And you’re so amazing at this, Miles. And I feel like I’m…”
“Spectacular,” he finished.
“Yeah, right.”
“Hey,” Miles said. “I mean it.”
“I can’t even change a diaper right,” she said.
“Maybe not yet, but I know you’re going to get there, Gwen. When you put your mind to something, you’re the best there is. And as much as you love Charlotte, I know you’re going to be the best mom she could have.”
Gwen lay her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Miles.”
“I love you too, Gwanda.”
They both snickered; even though it’d been years, that was still a go-to nickname. “You’re right, though,” she said.
“About Gwanda?”
“No, about me being the best. I mean, I am the better spider-person of the two of us, so…”
“Oh my gosh,” Miles said, smiling as Charlotte started to cry. “Your mom is delusional, mami.”
“No, just truthful,” Gwen said, kissing Miles before taking Charlotte again. “Round two, kid.”
Miles went to go order pizza while Gwen fed Charlotte. Once the baby was fed, Gwen stayed in the nursery and rocked her back to sleep. After putting her in her crib, Gwen grabbed the baby monitor and went to her and Miles’s bedroom to get something. She smiled, though, when she saw something on her pillow; Miles had left a sketch for her. It was a landscape view of the city, with Gwen in her Spider-Woman suit with what appeared to be a baby-Charlotte, obviously-on her back. The bottom read “Spider-Mom and Spider-Baby.”
“Pizza’s here,” Miles’s voice said. Gwen turned and saw him in the doorway.
“When did you do this?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Real quick, when you started feeding her.”
“I love it,” she said.
He smiled.
“But this whole ‘Spider-Baby’ nickname has got to go,” she said, giving him a quick kiss as she took his hand.
“We’ll talk about it,” he said, as the two went to eat.