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Johnny had gone over to the Parker’s for a Hanukkah dinner and of course, there were latkes. He’d never had them before and was pretty excited to try them. May expectantly looked at him as he took a bite.
“These are delicious, May,” Johnny said when he finished chewing.
May smiled at him. “Thank you.”
“They’d be really good with sour cream” he commented before taking another bite.
The room fell dead silent the instant the words were out of his mouth, leaving Johnny awkwardly chewing and glancing between the Parkers.
May quietly excused herself from the table and went to the bathroom. Peter’s gaze was firmly in his lap and Johnny could hear a few sniffles. He hadn’t been this confused in a while.
“Webs, did I do something - what - did I-?”
Peter looked back up at him, eyes sad and smile clearly forced. “It’s okay Torchie. Don’t worry. I’ll tell you later.” He squeezed Johnny’s hand before returning to his dinner.
The meal continued quietly with only meager conversations once May returned to the table with slightly red eyes. The boys helped May clean up and said their goodbyes shortly after. The two decided to walk back to their apartment since the weather was nice, at least by early December in New York standards, and they didn’t live too far.
“What happened back there?” Johnny asked as they walked hand and hand away from May’s building. “I know I get confused a lot but I think that might be a new level,” he joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. He saw Peter crack a small smile and counted that as a win.
“Sour cream,” Peter said quietly.
“Huh?”
“You said the latkes would be good with sour cream,” Peter elaborated. “That’s how Uncle Ben liked them.”
Johnny sighed. Of course, he’d ruined the Parker’s Hanukkah by bringing up bad memories. “I’m so sorry, Peter. I had no idea. I’m sorry.”
Peter leaned against his side as they waited for traffic to pass at the corner. “Of course you’d apologize for that,” he replied with a small smile. “There’s no way you would’ve known, FlameBrain. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“I still feel bad.”
“It’s okay. It’s not the first time something like that’s happened,” Peter began. “The first Hanukkah after Ben died May saw sour cream in our fridge on the first night of Hanukkah she burst into tears. I did the same thing a few hours later. We had to throw it out so we could open the fridge without crying.”
The traffic slowed and the two of them dashed across the street.
“The second Hanukkah after he died May bought sour cream out of habit. I came home and found her wearing one of Ben’s sweaters and half of the groceries still on the counter,” Peter continued. “The year after that we managed to not have any in our house but we did nearly knock over an old lady in an attempt to rapidly turn away from the dairy section at the store. There’s usually no dairy in our house around Hanukkah because of that.”
Peter was looking solemn again. Johnny understood. He didn’t really remember what holidays were like with his parents but he remembered Sue being sad the first few Christmases without them. Johnny brought their connected hands to his lips and gave the back of Peter’s palm a small kiss.
“The two of us would always make fun of Ben for eating his latkes with sour cream instead of applesauce.” Peter laughed at the memory. “This was the first time in years it was even acknowledged.”
They walked in silence for a moment as Johnny processed everything Peter had told him.
“Well,” he started, “if it makes you feel better you can always make fun of me for eating them with sour cream. I love you and May but applesauce on latkes is an abomination.”
Peter burst out laughing and Johnny couldn’t help but join him.
Peter smiled, the first real smile since before dinner. “We might have to give May a heads up, but I think that sounds pretty good.”
“I love you Torchie.”
“Love you too,” Johnny replied. “Happy Hanukkah.”
“Happy Hanukkah!”