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May watched Peter hang on every word Tony was saying while he told a story about an Avengers mission from a time in Peter’s life that he wasn’t Spider-Man. He laughed at all of the right moments. He would stop Tony to add in inside jokes about the team—A team May only knew in passing but would seem to be a huge part of Peter’s life now.
Pepper caught her eyes with a soft smile. May hoped she wasn’t wearing her feelings on the outside.
After Tony finished his story he cleared his throat, “Well I guess you should go grab your stuff to go home, Roo.”
“Aww. Can’t I stay another night? It’s summer!” Peter whined, “Before we know it I’ll have school and homework and coming over will become difficult.”
“That’s not my decision, Kid.”
May didn’t want to be the bad guy. She also didn’t want to admit that she missed her nephew. She saw the hope in Peter’s eyes when he glanced her way.
“Please Aunt May!” He begged.
May smiled and hoped it looked genuine, “Sure. But you need to come home tomorrow. You and I need to go shopping for school clothes and shoes.”
“Oh, I can help with that if you need!” Tony offered.
May knew he meant well, “Oh. I think we’re okay, but thank you.”
May watched a wall come down over Tony’s eyes. She hated that she had caused that because she knew he didn’t trust people easily and he had taken her words as a personal rejection, “But if you want to stock him up on backpacks I’d appreciate that.”
Tony took the olive branch, “Can do.”
~
“I’m home, May! Can we hurry and shop so I can see if Tony can come back and get me tonight.” Peter yelled walking into the apartment.
May glanced over from where she was reading on the couch, “Oh, um. I was thinking we could go get dinner together tonight and make a day of it.”
Peter sighed, “Sure. We can.”
“Don’t sound so excited.” May teased. She ignored the part of her brain telling her that her nephew had replaced her. She silenced that thought with the reminder that Peter was lucky to finally have a full family that loved him and wanted to spend time with him. He had expanded his village and that’s what his parents and Ben would have wished for him.
“No, I appreciate it. I just wanted to finish an upgrade I’m working on with Tony.” Peter kicked off his shoes, “I’m going to change before we go.”
“Sure thing.” May didn’t tell him her heart squeezed at the thought that he didn’t want to spend time with her anymore. Tony Stark had taken up the place in his heart that May used to reside in. No. She thought again, Stop that. He loves you too.
~
“Hey May. I was wondering if I could pick up Peter from Ned’s today? I know he usually comes over every other Friday but summer will be over before we know it and I want to spend as much time with the kid as possible. Let me know? Okay. Thanks!” May listened to the voicemail that Tony had left. She pressed delete without responding. She didn’t feel like sharing this weekend.
~
Tony texted May, “Did you get my voicemail?”
He checked it hours later and found no response.
“You guys okay?” He texted again.
“You okay?” Pepper asked him while she typed out an e-mail on her phone.
“I don’t know. I’m worried. May isn’t answering me. It’s not like her to take this long to respond. I don’t want to worry Peter by texting him, but something feels off.”
“You want to go by and check on them?” Pepper put her phone aside sensing the real concern coming from Tony.
“I don’t want to intrude. Maybe they are just busy or maybe—” Tony cleared his throat and shook his head at the intrusive thoughts trying to make their way in from the box he had shut them in years ago.
“It’s not you.” Pepper came over and hugged him, “Maybe they are just busy. Let’s give them some space. I’m sure May will respond as soon as she gets a minute.”
~
“May?” Peter came leaned against the doorway while she got ready for work one day, “I haven’t seen Tony in a bit. You texted him the other day, right? You told him my phone is broken?”
May shoved down the guilt from lying, “Yes. He didn’t respond. I’m sorry sweetie.”
Peter’s face dropped, “Okay. Yeah. No big deal. He’s probably just busy.”
“We could make homemade pizzas tonight if you wanted?” May suggested, “I can stop on the way home to get what we would need.”
“Sure.” Peter smiled but May saw his heart wasn’t fully in it.
She walked over and gave him a hug quick, “Love you kiddo.”
“Love you too.”
~
“And she never texted you back? Did you text Peter?” Rhodey asked Tony on the phone while he walked through the airport, “Did you go over there? What if something is wrong?”
“Oh Pepper suggested I go over there too.”
“But you let the part of your brain that tells you no one wants you take the lead.” Rhodey finished his best friend’s thought process.
“I wouldn’t have said it that way but I guess.” Tony agreed.
“Get ready. I’m on my way and we’re going over there. Heaven forbid something is actually wrong and no one checked in.”
~
“I feel stupid.” Tony admitted as he raised his hand to knock, “I should have come sooner.”
“Correct.” Rhodey reached around him to knock loudly.
Peter opened the door, “Hey guys!”
“Hey Roo. Sorry to just drop in like this. I just wanted to check on you and see how you were doing since I hadn’t heard from you in a bit.” Tony shrugged nervously.
“Oh! I broke my phone. May sent you a message though. I honestly thought you didn’t want to be around me or something.” Peter laughed nervously.
“What? No! OF course I do.” Tony frowned, “But May never sent me a message. I wonder if something is wrong with her phone too.”
“Maybe.” But Peter’s tone held a layer of disbelief.
“What happened to your phone?” Rhodey switched the subject already getting a vibe he wasn’t ready to explain to the others in the room. It was a vibe he’d felt himself and had to work through and May deserved that right too.
“Oh. It’s not big deal.” Peter looked at his feet.
“What happened to your phone, Pete?” Tony asked more firmly. He knew when the teen was avoiding something and Peter only avoided a subject if he thought someone would be upset at him.
“Can we just drop it?” Peter pleaded.
“No.” Rhodey and Tony said together.
“Okay, but don’t do anything. I’m handling it.” Peter said, “A kid at my school took it from me and threw it. It’s all cracked and broken and won’t turn on. I keep meaning to replace the screen and see if that helps but homework and Spider-Man’s been a lot.”
Tony looked at Rhodey, “Please.”
“No.” Rhodey rolled his eyes, “Pepper will kill us if we go bully a teenage bully.”
“Can we address the bigger problem here?” Peter rolled his eyes, “Why is May keeping us apart?”
“I’m sure it’s just a technology error, bud.” Tony reassured, “We’ll wait around. She should be home soon and we can all talk together.”
“That won’t feel like an ambush at all.” Rhodey teased.
“It’s not. We all play for the same team.” Tony smiled, “It’s going to be fine.
Famous last words. Rhodey thought.
~
“Peter! I’m H—“ May’s words died in her mouth when she found Peter, Tony, and Rhodey waiting for her when she walked in, “Oh hello.”
“Don’t play nice. I want to know why you lied to me!” Peter demanded.
“Peter. We agreed it was probably a problem with her phone.” Tony warned.
“No, you did.” Peter crossed his arms over his chest, “I want answers.”
“Okay but you don’t get to disrespect your aunt in the process.” Tony told the teenager.
“How about we all talk while we eat tonight?” May suggested holding up the grocery bags that Rhodey took for her to bring into the kitchen.
“No. I want answers now.” Peter shook his head.
“Peter.”
“No!” Peter yelled, “You need to explain why you kept me away from Tony! It’s not fair! He’s my DAD!”
Tony and May looked at Peter in shock. The teenager realized his error and ran to his room and slammed the door.
“Tony—“ May sighed.
“No. I’m a little mad too.” Tony shook his head, “But my priority is that kid. He’s going to beat himself up for that comment so I’m going to go talk to him while I have the chance.”
“Tony—“ May tried again but he was already walking down the hallway.
“I get it by the way.” Rhodey said as he came back from the kitchen, “I had a period in my life where I felt like Peter was stealing my best friend and I hated it.”
“How did you get through it?” May sat down, “obviously I handled it wrong.”
“I got angry for a while. I was content to shove Tony out of my life before he could shove me out of his.” Rhodey sat down next to May at the table, “Then I realized Peter’s relationship with Tony was no threat to our friendship. It’s a different type of relationship. Peter sees Tony as his dad.”
“I’m worried Tony is taking my place as Peter’s parent. I tried convincing myself that there was space for both of us, but it felt like there was no balance. Peter always wanted to be with Tony so I cut him off. I know it was wrong, but it felt right.”
“I think you should talk to Tony. He wouldn’t want you to feel that way.”
~
“Roo?” Tony walked into his room, “I think we need to talk.”
“No. Go away. Leave me here to hate myself.”
“I would but that sounds like something Pepper would kill me over. She really loves you, Kid.”
“She does?” Pete glanced over from where he laid with his back to Tony on his bed.
“I mean how could she not?” Tony sat down on the edge of the bed, “I also love you. You know that, right?”
“Even when I say stupid things?” Peter turned away from Tony again.
“Hmm. I wouldn’t know because I’ve never heard you say anything stupid.” Tony teased.
“Tony.”
“Roo."
“Stop.”
“No.”
“Don’t be nice about this.” Peter told his mentor, “You can leave and never come back.”
“I could, but I’m not going to.” Tony shrugged, “Your move.”
Peter wiped at tears that slipped out, “It’s not fair.”
Tony nodded, “Want to explain what’s going on in your head, Roo?”
“It’s not fair that all of the kids at school have parents and I don’t. It’s why I let myself think of you as my dad because then it eases some of that pain. It’s dumb.”
“Peter? It’s not dumb. Your parents loved you. I know they’d have given anything to stay here with you. But I like to think they would be okay with me stepping into the role of your dad while we’re both here on Earth.”
“You don’t have to do that just because.” Peter shrugged, “We can pretend I never told you what I was thinking.”
“Yeah, but I love having you as my kid. How do we pretend that’s not there?” Tony asked.
“I guess we don’t.” Peter smiled.
“Do you think I should go have a heart to heart with your aunt now? She’s part of this family too.”
~
“Alright, spill.” Tony told May as he came out onto the fire escape and stood across from her.
“It’s dumb.”
“You and Peter are so alike.” Tony rolled his eyes, “Better just tell me how you’re feeling so I can skip to the reassuring part.”
“I’m worried Peter’s replacing my place in his life with you so I decided to stop it myself.” May shrugged, “He always wants to be with you.”
“But he always refers to home as you.” Tony shrug, “I get a bit jealous about that.”
“He does?” May smiled softly.
“You’re always going to be his safest place, May. You took him in when he was just a kid. You’ll always represent that to him.”
“Best decision Ben and I ever made.” May gave a watery smile.
“I just hope you’ll continue to share him with me. But maybe we could work toward co-parenting a bit better?” Tony suggested, “And communicate a bit more even if we’re scared it’s stupid.”
“I think I’d like that.” May nodded.
“PIZZA!” Rhodey yelled, “And I swear I’ll eat it myself if everyone isn’t at this table in the next few minutes. I’ve traveled, and handled a lot of emotions. I’m famished.”
“We’d better go. I think he’s serious.” Tony laughed.
“Yeah.” May agreed, “Peter’s good?”
“Yeah. We talked it out.”
“I’m glad he has you.” May squeezed his arm in support.
“Ditto.” Tony stepped into the apartment, “IF ANYONE EATS MY PIZZA THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES.”
“Whoops.” Rhodey teased.
“Honey Bear.” Tony warned, “Don’t joke about food. It’s too serious.”
May took a second to stand back and soak in her family. She realized that there had always been room for Peter in Tony’s like but she hadn’t realized he had space for her too. Co-parenting, she thought, now that’s something I can get behind.