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Rio Morales never believed in ghost stories. And yet, right now, on this warm, mid spring evening she was staring at the ghost. Or at least that was her first thought when she saw a side profile of the stranger next to her door. But then she remembered what her son said. How there are other dimensions, with other spiders. Still it was almost uncomfortable to look at him. He looked so similar to the boy whose face was all over the news almost 2 years ago. Boy who died protecting her son and her neighborhood.
She preferred not to think about it. Because no matter how many times Miles assured her he was taking care of himself she was always worrying. Her boy, out there, making the world a better place, but he is alone, on his own. Now she was worried as well. But who would be if they saw a ghost about to knock on the door of their apartment.
“Peter Parker?” she asked before her husband could react. A stranger at the door turned around with a confused look. He looked at them for a few seconds before he realized who they were.
“Mrs and Mr Morales?” he asked and once they nodded he added. “Miles said you will be back in the morning.” That was true. Rio and Jefferson were visiting Rio’s old high school friend and were supposed to come back in the morning but the visit ended up being cut short. They left Miles alone because, in his words, he already promised to help his friend, which based on Miles's situation could mean many things.
“We ended up leaving sooner than we planned.” Rio explained.
“Who are you?” Jeff asked at the same time.
“Oh right.” Peter slapped himself in the forehead. “My name is Peter Parker. I’m Miles's mentor. I believe he told you about his special hobby.”
“Yes, he did.” Jefferson said, sourly, while crossing his arm. His wife nudged him with an elbow.
“You are Peter? We heard a lot about you.” Rio said with a more positive tone. “Our son adores you.”
“Yeah, I’m aware of that, that’s why I’m here.” Peter pointed at the door. “You see, today was my and my wife's anniversary and Miles himself volunteered to babysit our daughter so we could have a whole evening for ourselves.”
“Really?” Rio imagined a lot when her son said he promised to help his friend. Babysitting was not on that list. “Our Miles offered that he can look after a kid?” She walked closer to the door and started looking for her keys in her purse.
“Yes. To be honest I wasn’t surprised at all. Mayday loves him. Well she loves everyone and everything but Miles especially. He is like an older brother to her. He kinda is actually. Getting to know him was the reason I decided to have kids.” Rio couldn’t help but smile as this man talked with some much pride about her son. It was obvious he loved their son as much as they did.
The door finally opened and three adults entered the hall.
“Spending time with our son is what made you want to have kids?” Jefferson half joked, half asked which earned him an annoyed look from his wife. It was a bold thing for him to say considering the two of them were debating having a second kid for a while now.
“Yes, you kid is fantastic. You must be really proud.” they were. There was no debate there.
They looked around to determine where Miles and Mayday might be. Sounds of the movie were coming from a living room so that was where they headed.
“And what do we have here?” Peter chuckled. “Looks like Miles called for backup.”
The view was delightful. On the floor laid a makeshift nest made of blankets and pillows. On it between pizza-boxes, bowls with chips and popcorn and pieces of papers covered in doodles laid four teenagers and the baby. They were a pile of limbs and colors and Rio needed a moment to recognise her son due to the dim light.
At the bottom of the pile laid a tall boy with a storm of hair. Miles’s head was laying on one of his shoulders while the other was occupied by another boy. A blond-haired girl was spooning around Miles, practically laying on top of him. Rio deduced two boys must have been Hobie and Pavitr and she already met Gwen. Miles had a photo of four of them as his phone wallpaper so she was familiar with what her son’s interdimensional friend group looked like. Mayday was curled up on top of Hobie’s chest. Everyone's arms and legs were stretched out to hug as many people as possible, except Gwen’s right arm and Miles’s left one, whose fingers were intertwined. It was truly adorable. Rio debated grabbing her phone to snap a picture but Peter was faster than her.
“You have to send me this later.” she requested.
“Just you wait. I had a whole folder on my computer dedicated to this group. I can give you a whole flash drive. Here, a small sneak peek.” he scrolled quickly through his phone gallery and showed her a photo of her son striking a pose mid jump between two roofs. She nodded excitedly. Peter turned his phone to show a photo to Jefferson. A man smiled fondly.
“Now, what are we going to do with them?” the police captain pointed at the human pile on the ground. As he said that a small sound came from below. Three adults freezed as Mayday groaned in her sleep. They waited to see if the girl was going to wake up, but she just turned in her sleep and went back to snoozing.
“I don’t know.” Peter answered a previously asked question. “This is your home so it’s up to you to decide.” He quickly collected a few baby stuff that were laying around the room to the bag which hung on the couch. “This is mine.” he delicately picked up his daughter trying not to wake up either a baby or teens she was using as the mattress.
“It was great to meet you.” Rio said once they were at the doorstep. “You and your wife should come visit one day.”
“I heard many great things about your cooking. We will try to find a free date. Good night.” he pressed a button on his watch and disappeared inside a bright portal.
“Sweet guy, don’t you think?” Rio closed the door.
“That is yet to be determined.”
“Jeff…”
“What?” he said a bit too loud. “I exchanged two words with a guy. I can…” his wife quickly put a finger to her mouth and pointed at the living room. “Right. Sorry.”
They enter the room again to look at four teens.
“So what’s the plan?” Jefferson asked after turning off the TV.
“It would be a shame to wake them up.” Said Rio. “Plus we might get a chance to talk with them in the morning. Finally get to know our son’s friends.” She pointed out. Her husband just sighed and disappeared for a moment, only to come back with another blanket which he put on top of a small group.
“I’m going to bed. I fear tomorrow morning is going to be a journey and I need a good sleep before that.” Rio shook her head upon hearing her husband's statement. She stayed for a moment in the living room to look at her son as he was being hugged by his friends. Miles told her many times not to worry, that he is not alone, but now she was able to see it for herself.
“Buenas noches niños.” She left the door ajar a bit and went to bed with a smile on her face.