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“Please Miguel, you know she’ll be the safest here with you. And we really need this break.” Peter B. Parker is currently in Miguel’s office, practically on his hands and knees begging Miguel to do him this favor. He doesn’t ask Miguel for much, but this is a pretty big ask for his boss/friend.
“Peter I have work I have to do, I can’t be constantly distracted from that.”
“Come on man, please! I trust you the most with this, well besides (y/n) but you know she had that big mess in her universe so I don't know when she’ll be back,” Peter rubs his chin as he thinks of alternative people to ask, but no one would be as trustworthy as Miguel, “So you’re my only option.”
“She comes back tomorrow, why not ask her then?”
“We’re supposed to leave tomorrow morning Miguel, I won’t have time.”
“You leave tomorrow and you waited this long to try and find a babysitter?” Miguel finally turns around from his monitor, wearing a slightly disgusted expression as he stares at Peter. It amazes him how unprepared Peter is for just about everything.
“I was…busy you know, slipped my mind.”
“Your daughter slipped your mind?” Miguel’s deadpan expression irks Peter. Why did he always have to be so difficult?
“No I did not forget about my daughter Miguel, I just forgot to get someone to watch her.”
“Hire a babysitter then.” Peter really wants to throw something at Miguel right now. He knew Miguel loved Mayday, everybody did obviously, so there was really no reason for Miguel to say no. Why was he saying no then, you ask? Because it’s Miguel, and Miguel loves to say no to people.
“No one could do it last minute, so now you’re my last-minute choice,” Peter walks next to Miguel and places a hand on his arm. It grabs Miguel’s attention as he looks into Peter’s pleading eyes, “I really need your help buddy, MJ is so excited to go on this vacation but she won’t go if we can’t find a sitter for Mayday, please Miguel.”
Peter does his best puppy dog eyes to really sell his pleading. He is desperate, don’t get him wrong, but with Miguel it usually needs something extra to get him to agree. Miguel tries to stay strong, not give into Peter and his weird expression, but Miguel is a hero after all. He helps people, and right now his colleague/teammate/…friend needs his help. Who was he to not help someone in need?
“No puedo creerlo, fine I’ll watch her.” (*I can’t believe this,)
“Yes! Thank you so much Miguel, I owe you big time.” He gives Miguel a weird little side hug as he opens a portal in the blink of an eye. Miguel watches him leave with a confused expression, but leaves Peter to do whatever he’s doing. Miguel wants to get as much work done as possible before tomorrow whenever Peter would drop his daughter off.
Except that doesn’t happen tomorrow, it happens right now when another portal is opened right where the last one closed. Peter steps through with his daughter in a carrier strapped from his shoulder and a big diaper bag in his left hand.
“I thought you were leaving tomorrow?!”
“We are, but we need to catch up on our sleep if we’re vacaying it up tomorrow.” Peter pumps up his hands in a little celebration, one that his daughter tries to mimic. Miguel can’t deny that Mayday is absolutely precious, but that doesn’t mean he wants her running around his office messing his things up.
Peter takes his daughter out of the carrier and gives her a little kiss on the forehead before placing her in Miguel’s hands. He positions her so she’s supported on his right arm as he continues to stare at Peter as he puts all of Mayday’s stuff on the ground.
“You can use the harness if you want.” Peter holds it out towards Miguel, but he doesn’t move, not even by an inch. He’s still confused on why Peter gave him his daughter a night early, he didn’t even give Miguel time to prepare to have her and everyone knows how Miguel hates being unprepared.
“Peter you didn’t tell me-”
“Thanks so much Miguel, I really owe you for this! I have a schedule for when she eats and naps right here,” he bends down and grabs a paper from the diaper bag on the floor and hands it to Miguel, “It’s pretty easy to follow so don’t worry, and oh send me pictures! Lots and lots of pictures!” The last bit of his sentence is yelled out as he steps through the portal, waving at his daughter and Miguel as he disappears.
Miguel is still standing flabbergasted in the middle of the room, not moving at all as he tries to process what just happened. Mayday starts to play with the curls on the side of his head, wrapping them around her finger and watching them bounce back as she waits for Miguel to do something , but he just stands there.
It had been a long time since Miguel had taken care of a child, the last one being…Gabriella. The thought sours his mood, thinking of the ones he lost when Peter gets to have this perfect angel of a toddler.
The thought is shaken from his head just as fast as it came into it. It’s not fair to be upset about something he caused from his selfishness, and besides Peter deserved to have a good child. He was the best dad for her and Miguel envied how good he was with children.
Ever since Gabriella, Miguel hadn’t been around children that much (not that he even wanted to anyway). When Peter first brought Mayday to HQ Miguel avoided her like the plague, seeing her and Peter brought up too many bad memories of him and his daughter, or him and other Miguel’s daughter.
Peter knew why Miguel never went near Mayday in the early days, and who was Peter to push a grieving man to hold his child? But one day Peter laid Mayday in Miguel’s arms, rushing off to find the nearest bathroom as his bladder was pleading to be released, and it was over from then on.
Miguel never said it out loud but he adored Mayday, she was so well-behaved and so inquisitive for a small child that Miguel couldn’t help but be fond of her. Peter, ever the observant one, recognized this and knew that Miguel would do anything to protect his daughter from anyone and anything.
Which is part of the reason he asked him of all people to watch her.
Most people would scoff at the idea of letting Miguel O’Hara watch their young child. The cruel, mean, always angry boss around children? That was a recipe for disaster.
But Peter knew better. He knew Miguel’s soft side came out whenever he was with Mayday, being the most gentle, caring person anyone has ever seen. He also knew Miguel would give his life to prevent Mayday from getting hurt, and God forbid Miguel get his hands on anyone who tried to hurt her.
So yeah, Peter was satisfied with his choice of a babysitter, even if everyone else would tell him how bad of an idea it was.
Miguel, on the other hand, was not so confident in his abilities to watch over a child, especially for a whole week. His heart started to race as he thought of the implications of his temporary job.
What if he did something wrong?
What if he fed her the wrong thing?
What if she got hurt when he wasn’t looking?
What if..? What if..? What if…?
“Earth to Miguel! Hello?” Miguel snaps out of his little daze as he sees Lyla floating in front of him, waving her hands in his face. He blinks a few times as he tries to gain his bearings, Mayday is still resting on his side playing with his hair.
“W-what Lyla?”
“You’ve been standing there for like 5 minutes, have you turned into a statue?” Lyla pokes his shoulder trying to get him to move, he can’t feel it since she’s holographic but it's the gesture that counts.
“I’m fine.” Miguel stands there and thinks for a few more seconds, pondering on what he could do with the child in his hands right now.
“Can’t believe you got stuck with babysitting duty, smile!” Lyla holds up a camera and snaps a bunch of pictures of Miguel and Mayday. Miguel has a disgruntled expression on his face, eyebrows pinched as he stares at the camera. Mayday is just as giggly as always, smiling for the camera just as Lyla told her to.
“I’m calling (y/n).”
Miguel taps away on his watch, bringing up your contact and hitting the call button. It rings for about 30 seconds, and Miguel doesn’t think you’re going to pick up but at the last minute your voice fills his ears.
“...hello?” Your voice is groggy as you answer, most likely from sleep. The sound makes Miguel smile since he can’t see your face in the darkness of your room
“Hello, mi amor, did I wake you?”
“Yes, in fact, you did. I’ve had a stressful week and I was finally getting some sleep.”
“I’m sorry cariño, I’ll let you-”
“Is that May? Why are you holding May?” Your voice cuts through Miguel’s sentence, as you finally look at the little hologram projecting from your watch. You turn on your bedside lamp as you squint into the little camera on the watch.
“Um, Peter asked me to watch her while he and his wife went on vacation.” He looks a little unsure as he holds Mayday as if he doesn’t know what to do with her. Which, admittingly, he doesn’t. When he had Gabriella she wasn’t this young, she was about 8 when he first took over as her father and they only had about 2 years together after that. What was he supposed to do with a toddler?
“Aw that’s nice, he trusts you with little Mayday.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if I trust myself with Mayday, that’s the problem.” Now that you’ve woken up more you see the very concerned look on his face, worse than what you could see earlier. His eyes are narrowed and his brows furrowed inward, his lips form a pout as he chews on his bottom lip every few seconds.
“She’s a toddler, just make sure you feed her and she doesn’t hurt herself. You’ll be fine Mig, I believe in you.”
“¿Puede ayudarme, por favor?” (*Can you help me, please?) You let out a little sigh at his question. Of course you want to help him and see May since you love her so much. But you’re also so tired, and Miguel can see that.
“Can I catch up on my sleep first?”
“Of course, my love.” You hang up the call with a promise to come see him as soon as you wake up again. He smiles at you until your face disappears from his watch. As soon as you disconnect the call he goes back to his panicked state. He feels like he’s sweating, even though his office is always cold, and his hands seem like they can’t sit still.
He stands in the same spot for about 5 more minutes, luckily May is completely fascinated with his hair and doesn’t mind sitting there for as long as Miguel wants twisting his curls between her fingers. After those minutes have passed Miguel decides to get her something to eat and drink, that’s the easiest thing he can do to ensure she’s taken care of right?
He makes his way to the office door, taking a deep breath before pulling it open and walking down the hallway to the elevator. He takes it down to the bottom floor, bouncing Mayday slightly on his hip as it descends.
As soon as he exits the elevator into the lobby, it seems like all eyes are on him. Miguel ignores them, as he usually does, and starts the journey to the cafeteria. All the spiders that were in the lobby stared at Miguel as if he had grown a third leg.
Seeing Mayday around HQ was the opposite of peculiar. Peter always brought her around, no matter how dangerous or ‘irresponsible’ (Miguel says that one often ) it was to bring her with him. But seeing Miguel walk around with her like she was his daughter? Unheard of.
Miguel hears the whispers as he passes, but he doesn’t focus enough on them to discern what they’re actually saying. Mayday has taken to crawling up onto his shoulders, sitting behind his head and balancing with her hands on his face. Multiple times on the walk there he’s had to remove her fingers from covering his eyes.
When he does arrive in the cafeteria, it’s a similar story to the lobby. Just like the first time he had lunch with you in here, everyone goes silent, staring at the scene in front of them like it was a movie. Fortunately, Miguel is good at ignoring people so he continues on his path without a bat of an eye.
“Uh, Miguel?” A quiet voice comes from his side when he makes his way to the food counter. He doesn’t spare the person a glance as he responds with a quick ‘¿qué?’ and continues browsing through the food for something for May.
“What’s uh-what’s going on?” He turns to see Gwen standing there, with Miles and Pavitr peeking out from behind her. It looks as if they’re using her as a shield in case Miguel does something, like throw an apple at them or something, which isn’t out of the realm of possibilities with Miguel.
“What do you mean, I’m getting something to eat.” He turns back to look at the options in front of him again. He settles on some mandarin orange slices for Mayday (kids like those right?) and an empanada for himself, you would call him basic for that since it seems to be all he eats.
“Yeah I can see that, I mean with the baby…?”
“She’s not a baby, she’s almost 2 years old.”
“Oh my god Miguel, do you have to be so difficult? Why do you have Peter’s kid?” Gwen grows impatient at Miguel’s avoidance to the obvious elephant in the room. Miguel knew this is what she was asking about from the beginning, but when has Miguel ever been easy to deal with?
“Did ya kidnap ‘er or something?” Hobie appears next to Miguel like a ghost. Miguel didn’t even hear him walking up and was startled by his sudden intrusion, not that he showed that to him but if they had hearing like Miguel’s they would have heard his heart speed up.
“What? No! Why would I kidnap Peter’s daughter, that’s nonsense.”
“Then why do you have her?” Miles finally speaks up from behind Gwen, raising an eyebrow as he tries to hound Miguel for an answer.
“Dios mío, sois tan molestos,” (*My god, you guys are annoying)
“I understood that.” (Miles is completely ignored by Miguel, as usual).
“Peter asked me to watch her okay, now leave me alone.”
“He asked you?” Gwen’s jaw practically falls to the floor at Miguel’s words. Her eyes go wide as she blinks a few times trying to figure out if Miguel was joking or not, he wasn’t.
“Sí.”
“No like seriously, you?”
“Didn’t I just say yes?” Miguel’s patience is starting to run out. He had a child to deal with and now more children were interrogating him for taking care of said child, why did he work with people?
“Why wouldn’t he ask us? No offense Miguel, but you taking care of Mayday, sounds like a bad idea.” Miles looks to his friends to see if they have an answer for him. They hadn’t even known Peter was going away, let alone needed someone to watch his daughter. Miles was definitely going to give him hell for not asking any of them first.
“First off, that was offensive,” Miguel raises his finger at Miles and gives him a pointed look before continuing, “Secondly, why would he ask children to watch his young child? You’d be even worse than me.”
Gwen, Miles, and Pavitr all scoff at Miguel’s words, not believing he could actually say those kinds of things. Hobie stays silent because he actually agrees with Miguel, but he wouldn’t say that to his face.
“Okay, now that was offensive.”
“No tengo tiempo para esto.” (*I don’t have time for this) Miguel picks up the food in his empty hand and quickly removes himself from the little group the spiders have formed around him. He hears them calling after him, asking him more questions and making more smart comments, but he just keeps walking until he’s out of the cafeteria and heading back to his office.
—
It’s a few hours later that you wake up and make the short trip to HQ. You’re still pretty tired with all the problems you had to fix in your home universe, but as if you hit your quota you can’t seem to fall back asleep.
Miguel had been leaving you messages every hour, asking various questions about Mayday and what to do with her.
9:26 am
Mig: I apologize for waking you mi amor
Mig: But what am I supposed to feed a 1 and ½ year old?
Mig: You can answer when you’re awake, of course
10:48 am
Mig: I’m trying to set up this playpen thing Peter left and I can’t figure it out
Mig: I'm ashamed
Mig: But i need your help when you wake up
12:12 pm
Mig: Do you know how to change a diaper?
Mig: This is an emergency mi amor, I would love if you woke up
12:27 pm
Mig: You know what, I think I got it actually
Mig: One point for me
3:16 pm
Mig: Am I supposed to let her climb up the walls??
Mig: Or should I get her down?
Mig: I mean she seems to be enjoying it
3:53 pm
Mig, isn’t this why you have an AI helper?? To answer
all your questions?
Also no you probably shouldn’t let her climb on the walls
Mig: Well it’s a little too late for that now
A bunch of texts and a few missed calls later had you walking through an orange portal right into the lobby of HQ. Miguel had been waiting there for you, both because he was excited to see you and because he was desperate for your help.
His eyes light up when he sees you, he briskly walks up to you as a smile grows on his face with each step he takes. There’s not many other spiders in the room with you, but the few that are there are looking at him a little confused.
Miguel ignores all of them and brings you in for a side hug, wrapping his large arm around your back and pulling you into him. Mayday sits on his other arm playing with a little stuffed tiger that Peter had brought with her stuff.
“I’m so glad to see you, mi amor.”
“Because you missed me, or because you need help with this little one?” You place your hands under May’s arms and lift her out of Miguel’s hold. You hold her close to your chest, bouncing her up and down slightly as you place a kiss on her forehead. She laughs and smiles before going back to her toy when your attention focuses on Miguel instead.
“Both,” He rubs the back of his neck as he watches the toddler in your arms, seeing you be so good with her is making his heart melt a little bit, “I think I’m in over my head with this one.”
“Aw Mig, don’t say that,” You pinch his cheek as you smile up at him. He gives you a tight smile back as he focuses on Mayday, “Peter wouldn’t have asked you to watch her if he didn’t trust you. I mean you don’t leave your kid with just anyone, ya know?”
“Sí, mi amor, lo sé.” (*Yes, my love, I know).
“Now, what do you want to do little Mayday?” You focus your attention back on the little red-headed toddler on your hip. She looks up from her toy, which falls to the ground when she lets go of it, and looks back into your eyes. Before anyone can say anything, a little grumble can be heard from her stomach. She looks surprised as if she didn’t know where the sound came from, and her adorable expression makes you giggle.
“She’s hungry again? I fed her this morning!” Miguel pops back up from picking up Mayday’s discarded toy. He’s wearing a similar expression to Mayday, they look almost like twins as they both stare at each other in confusion.
“Mig it’s like 5 o’clock, of course she’s hungry.”
“It’s that late?” Miguel looks at his watch for the time, and yes it is that late. You’ve already started to take her to Miguel’s office to get the sheet he wrote out for all of May’s favorite foods. You had read the text from Peter telling you about it (because he just knew Miguel would call for your help) but he hasn’t seemed to tell Miguel about it yet.
He realizes you’ve already set off down the corridor to his office after a few seconds of being distracted. In a few large strides he’s by your side again, accompanying you to his office and then the cafeteria to feed the little buddy he’ll have for the whole week.
—
Gwen, Miles, and Pavitr were not looking forward to when they arrived at Miguel’s office.
They were dreading it actually, not even having you with them calmed their nerves. They were reckless on their mission, and they all knew it. Luckily, no one got hurt but they made one too many mistakes for Miguel to brush it off with a quick warning.
You were busy fighting the rogue Electro while the other three were measuring how far away they could be and still hit the anomaly with pieces of debris. Admittedly the anomaly was no match for any of you, you didn’t need the help you thought you would so you weren’t too worried about the other three goofing off for the time being. It was actually pretty refreshing to see them act like teenagers for once instead of acting too mature for their age.
The only reason it had taken as long as it did to take down the villain is because he seemed to have a knack for finding exactly where citizens would be and attacking as soon as he was in range. When the younger spiders finally cleared everyone out within a mile radius (luckily the fight was on the outskirts of the city this time), and started their little throwing contest, it took no more than 5 minutes for you to subdue the anomaly.
That came with a few electric shocks running through you, but nothing you weren’t used to.
There were no casualties on the mission, but Miguel had a strict ‘no goofing off on missions’ rule, and it was one that he enforced heavily. They knew they were in for a scolding the second they came through the portal and Lyla called them up to his office for the report.
You were happy as can be, not a worry in the world at the same time the three spiders trailing you were practically shitting themselves with nerves. If you did notice you didn’t say anything, you were happy with your performance and you knew Miguel wasn’t yelling at you today (not that he ever would anyway).
The teenagers behind you start to audibly drag their feet the closer they get to Miguel's lair *ahem* I mean office. You turn to see them all moping and pouting with each step they take. They brighten up a little as you turn to them, thinking you’re going to get them out of this mess or something, but you just shake your head at them and smile.
“You’re not getting out of this, don’t look to me for help.” They all groan as the hope flushes out of their system. You were their last hope for holding off Miguel, and if you weren’t helping then they were dead meat.
The sight that greets you when you walk into his office is not one you expected. Mayday’s little fenced-off play area is filled with various toys and games, but absent of Mayday herself. Miguel is standing with his back to the four of you as he stands on the platform raised to its fullest height.
He turns to see who entered his office, and seeing who it was he lowers the platform, moving slowly as it always does leaving the teenagers in anticipation for what’s to happen when he gets to their level.
You can make out a little blob lying on his right shoulder. It’s orange on the bottom, green in the middle, and has a distinct mop of orange on the top. That blob can only be one thing; Mayday Parker.
The platform stops and Miguel shoots one of his orange webs to the ceiling, slowly lowering himself down to the floor. He lands without a sound, it’s the most careful you’ve ever seen him be when disembarking from that platform.
As he gets closer, your heart swells at little Mayday’s face. She’s fast asleep, her mouth wide open and starting to drool on Miguel’s shoulder. In her hand she has her spider-man beanie clutched between her fingers, her bottom resting on Miguel’s arm to support her.
“What the shock were you guys doing on that mission?” While they were expecting some sort of yell to come from Miguel, the last thing they were expecting was for him to be whispering. His tone is still biting as he addresses them, but they’re taken aback by the lack of volume when he speaks.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Keep your voice down, Morales!” Miguel looks to the sleeping child on his shoulder to see if she’s awakened. All she does is shift a tiny bit before she’s back in the same position as before, more drool escaping her mouth by the second.
“Sorry, geez.”
“Why are we whispering?” Gwen speaks up now, and not wanting to get yelled at for another thing besides the mission, she makes sure her voice is no louder than Miguel’s.
“¿Eres estúpido? She’s asleep, and I want her to stay that way.” (*Are you stupid?)
“He asked if you were stupid.” Miles leans over and whispers it into Gwen’s ears, he’s not the best at whispering though since everyone heard it.
“Thanks Miles, I couldn’t tell.”
“This is too cute, I have to take a picture.” You whisper as well as you take your phone out and snap a quick picture of Miguel holding Mayday. You quickly upload it to your watch and waste no time in sending it to Peter, who responds rather quickly for someone on vacation
PBP: Omg! so adorable
PBP: i’m making that my new wallpaper
“Well Miguel, Peter thinks you look adorable.”
“You sent that picture to him?” You smile and bite your lip as you nod at him. He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose with his free hand, “Why did you send that to him?”
“It’s his daughter Mig, he deserves to see this!”
“You do look rather adorable holding her Mister O’Hara.” Pavitr chimes in from the side. Miguel almost forgot he was there with how surprisingly quiet he had been. Miguel scowls at him, (no one should be calling him adorable, except maybe you), and turns his attention back to the group as a whole.
“Let’s get back on topic, please, you three were reckless out there and seriously jeopardized the mission.”
“Oh come on Miguel, that anomaly was a no-one. (Y/n) beat them all by herself.” Miles tries to wave it off like it was no big deal, but Miguel sees it in the opposite light.
“That’s not how missions are supposed to go, you work as a team not delegate to one person while the rest of you scare an old lady off the side of the building.” The younger spiders start to snicker at the reminder of what happened on the mission. Miles had swung onto a rooftop of an apartment building, intending to save the stranded civilians from the fight. What he didn’t intend to do was land right next to an older woman and scare her half to death when he tried to talk to her. It scared her so bad in fact she stumbled backward and right off the side of the building.
Fortunately, Gwen was there to catch her before she got too far down and safely put her far away from the epicenter of the fight between you and the anomaly. After knowing she was safe they all had a laugh about it, even you did secretly.
“We saved her in time Miguel, is it really that big of a deal?”
“Yes!” Miguel’s voice rises a little too high for his own liking. They were getting on his nerves, and it was making him start to yell when the last thing he wanted was to wake Mayday on his shoulder, “Look at what you’re doing, you almost made me wake her up.”
“Okay geez, sorry Miguel, it won’t happen again.” Miles rolls his eyes at Miguel’s anger towards them. Miles hated how he could never be grateful for the mission being completed, a simple ‘hey be more careful next time’ would suffice for Miles.
“Did you just roll your eyes at me, Morales?” Miguel’s tone is alarmingly low, lower than the whisper he had it at originally. Miles' eyes start to widen as he realizes what he had done, and how Miguel’s eyes are turning red with rage.
“Miguel don’t-” You're cut off before you can stop him.
“You roll your eyes when I tell you to be careful? So you don’t endanger civilian lives? Do you think this whole society is some kind of joke?” Miguel’s full-on yelling now, he’s always been pretty quick to anger (something you’re trying to get him to work on) so it’s no surprise when he gets mad this fast.
“No it was just-”
“Don’t interrupt me! If you can’t take this seriously then you don’t belong out there on the field with anyone, you’ll just put them in more danger!” A small hand lands on Miguel’s shoulder, it slaps (but with how weak the arm is they’re more like little taps) him a few times in anger. He looks down to see Mayday’s eyes barely open, peering up at him with the cutest little scowl on her face. When she sees she has Miguel’s attention she hits him one more time and lets out a whine.
“Look at what you did Miguel.” You give him a pointed look as you point to the moody child resting on his shoulder.
“What I did?! This wasn’t my fault!”
“I mean, you were the one yelling so you technically did wake her up, boss.” Miguel scowls at Gwen, one that matches Mayday’s as she continues to whine quietly from his shoulder. She reaches out her little arms towards you, too mad at Miguel to stay asleep while he was holding her. Miguel begrudgingly hands her over to your awaiting arms.
You snuggle her face up to yours which gets a sleepy smile from her. She quickly puts her head down like it was before and closes her eyes to go back to sleep with the feeling of your hand gently running up and down her back. Miguel’s a little jealous of her, wanting nothing more than to lay down and get some rest with you after the stress he’s been dealing with.
“Just get out of my office.” He waves a hand at the three younger spiders, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance as he turns to the side.
“We meant it when we said sorr-”
“¡Fuera de aquí!” (*Get out of here!) Somehow Miguel’s voice didn’t disturb the sleeping toddler for a second time. She’s peacefully resting upon your shoulder, twitching every few seconds with the dreams she seems to be having.
The three teenagers look between the two of you for a second before turning and making their way to the door. It shuts behind them as the two (or three really) of you are left alone in Miguel’s office. You walk over to where Miguel stands and rub your free hand on his shoulder. It shifts to wrap around his waist as your cheek rests on the side of his arm.
“Sometimes I just can’t deal with those kids.”
“They’re snarky teenagers Mig,” He finally returns your embrace, wrapping his arm around your waist and resting his head on top of yours. He places a featherlight kiss in your hair as he relishes in the calmness you bring him, “Just be glad you don’t have to deal with them all the time.”
“It’s still too much for me.” You chuckle at the utter distaste in his voice, you can imagine the slight snarl of his lips as he says it.
“It’s already 4 o’clock, why don’t you take the rest of the day off? This little one needs her sleep.” When you pull away from Miguel the look on his face tells you he's probably going to say no, or that he has important work to do. Before he can utter the words you give him your best pleading look, puppy dog eyes, and a wobbling lip always make him give in to whatever you’re asking. His exasperated sigh is enough of an answer for you as you cheer to yourself.
“Fine, but only if you’re coming home with me.”
“No place I’d rather be, Mig.”
—
The journey to Miguel’s home was uneventful. Besides the few times Mayday almost climbed out of Miguel’s arms and ran away, but you know, uneventful.
Miguel lets May loose in his apartment, letting her explore the new space for the first (and probably last in Miguel’s mind) time. His home was in no way baby-proofed with sharp corners unguarded and a cutting knife on the dining table from last night’s dinner.
More than once Miguel or you had to bolt from the opposite side of the room to make sure Mayday didn’t hurt herself with various things she got her hands on. After a while it seemed to become a little game for her, picking up anything she could to see if you would scramble after her as she ran away.
Miguel quickly threw together a little meal for the toddler with whatever he could find in the pantry. It seemed to get the Mayday seal of approval as she seemed to scarf it down as soon as Miguel turned his head.
“Wow, I’m like a baby chef.”
“...baby chef?” You raise your eyebrows at him, a small smirk forming across your face.
“Yeah like a chef, but, like for babies.” He sounds less sure of himself the longer he talks. The smile on your face just grows bigger as you bring him in for a hug. You rest your head against the side of his chest as you both watch Mayday explore the apartment. She gets to the diaper bag Miguel left by the door when he walked in to pull out toys, throwing every single one on the floor till she got to the one she wanted.
Miguel internally sighs at the mess he’s now going to have to clean up, but lets a smile form on his face at the scene in front of him. He has to say he’s been enjoying his time with Mayday now that you’re here to help ease his worries.
Mayday happily trots across the floor with the toy in her hand, landing on the carpet in front of the TV that Miguel so graciously turns on for her. He finds a station playing cartoons, they’re all in Spanish but it's good exposure for her young mind so Miguel leaves it be.
The rest of the night goes about the same. Mayday plays with her toys until she’s expended all the energy her little body can hold. She passed out right on the carpet in front of the two of you, cheek squished on the side of her stuffed animal as thin lines of drool hung from her mouth. Miguel smiles at the sight, leaning his head back onto the cushion of the couch. You’re both positioned on the floor, resting on the couch from your short play time with the toddler. You’re almost in the same boat as her as your eyes start to droop more and more as time goes on.
Miguel notices and nudges you to get up and lie down in bed instead. He scoops the sleeping child in his hands, which are big enough to hold her in his two palms, and carries her to the bedroom with you in tow.
Miguel walks to the corner of the room and lays Mayday down on the portable crib Peter had supplied him with. The hassle he had to go through to build the damn thing was well worth the adorable sight of May curled up in the middle with her stuffed animal held close to her chest.
“Why didn’t he include the instructions, ese cabrón molesto.” (*...that annoying bastard)
“I’m sure he thought the super smart scientist could figure out how to build a crib pretty easily, Mig.”
“Well, not when it has this many pieces!” Miguel is about ready to pull his hair out while trying to figure out this damn crib. Miguel used to be one of the smartest scientists in all of Alchamex, and now he’s reduced to a pathetic heap because of a cheap crib from Peter’s universe. He’s very embarrassed with himself.
“No, Miguel, that piece doesn’t go there! It goes over here and this piece,” cue you throwing a metal rod straight at Miguel’s head, good thing he has fast reflexes, “Goes in that hole!”
“You know what, I’m just buying her a new one.”
Luckily Miguel and you did figure out how to put the damn thing together without him having to spend a few hundred dollars on a new one. It only took about 4 hours and multiple curses at Peter that would make even a sailor blush.
The crib is positioned in the right corner, opposite from the door but still in Miguel’s line of sight. He makes sure May is settled in good before he goes and joins you on the bed. You’re practically asleep already by the time he comes up behind you and wraps one of his thick arms around your waist, pulling you tight into his chest.
“Good night, mi amor.” His words bring you a little farther away from sleep, but a smile still forms on your face anyway. You’ll never get tired of hearing him call you that.
“Good night Mig, I love you.” You close your eyes right after he returns the sentiment from behind you.
Your breath starts to even out, chest rising and falling rhythmically as sleep pulls you closer and closer to the brink of unconsciousness.
“Do you think she’s okay in there?” Miguel’s voice startles you awake again. Your body slightly jolts as his voice fills your ears, he gives you a quick ‘sorry’ but is obviously still expecting an answer. You sigh as your eyes fall closed once again.
“Yes Miguel, she’s okay.”
“If you say so.” He sounds unsure but he lets it be. You inwardly sigh again, grateful to be going back to sleep again after getting only a few seconds before.
You’re in that weird limbo state between awake and asleep, where any little thing could wake you but you’re still basically asleep. This would be relaxing for you if Miguel’s voice didn’t bring you right out of it again only after about 5 minutes of silence.
“What if she gets cold? Should I give her another blanket?”
“Miguel, she’s already asleep, just let her be or you’ll wake her up.” This time you don’t even bother opening your eyes. Your voice has noticeably become less warm towards him as your irritation starts to grow a little, it’s not your fault you get easily annoyed when you’re this tired.
“Okay, okay, I’ll leave her be.” No doubt he noticed the shift in your tone. He lays his head back down and resumes the position you two were in before.
With his second interruption, you’re further from sleep now and you can feel him fidgeting behind you. Miguel is not a crazy sleeper, when he falls asleep in one position he’ll almost always wake up in the same position come morning, unless you move him.
But now every few seconds you can feel him fidget his limbs, or lift his head to look at where the crib sits in the room. Normally you would smile at Miguel’s anxiousness about whether the sleeping toddler is comfortable, or if she wants another blanket or to sleep in his much more comfier bed. But right now your tiredness makes you want to throw him out of the room and sleep on the couch.
“Miguel-”
“I can’t sleep like this.” He abruptly gets up and sits on the corner of the bed closest to the crib. His feet are resting on the floor in his fuzzy slippers as he rests his arms on his knees. He hands support his face as he watches the sleeping toddler, making sure nothing disrupts her pleasant sleep, if only he would do that for you right now too.
“Miguel, you’re being ridiculous, she’s fine.”
“I know, but I just can’t sleep, I promise I’ll lay back down when I’m tired.”
“Promise?” He looks back at you to see just how tired you are. You’re sitting up but your eyes are barely staying open as you slightly sway back and forth with exhaustion. He stands and makes his way to the side of his bed and leans over to give you a loving kiss.
“Te lo prometo.” (*I promise) A small smile covers your face as you lay back down and snuggle into the covers. You’re out in almost a second, and Miguel smiles down at you at how sweet you look dreaming away in his bed. He resumes his position back at the bottom of the bed as he continues to make sure little Mayday is okay in her crib.
That’s where you find him the next morning. He’s still positioned at the end of the bed but now his upper half is laying down and his head is resting on your calf. His light snores tell you he actually fell asleep like that at god knows what time overnight.
You replace your calf with one of his pillows and lay a blanket over his body and let him sleep. And of course you take a picture when he grabs the blanket and rubs it against his cheek as he lets it rest there.
—
Waves of spiders seemed to flow into the lobby of HQ by the second. It felt like every time Miguel blinked there were ten more spiders in the room than before. The society had been shut down for the past few days for some upgrades to everyone’s watches and the Spiders were itching to see their spidey friends.
Miguel was in the lobby waiting for you, of course, armed with Mayday on his hip and your favorite drink from the cafe down the street from his apartment. He’s waiting patiently, and forcing himself not to roll his eyes as everyone comes up to him to greet May.
He wouldn’t mind too much if they said hi and went on their way, but of course, they try to start conversations with him as well which he despises.
The toddler herself has gotten a little antsy being stuck in one place for so long. She taps on Miguel’s chest and tries to wiggle her way out of his grip. She can’t do it herself, but Miguel loosens his hold on her so she can slip out and climb down.
“Don’t go too far.” Miguel raises his finger at her and gives her a stern look, trying to convey his seriousness. But this was a toddler. She just giggles at him and takes off across the room, finding her way to Miles, Gwen, and Pav (the few spiders she knows the most). He doesn’t even try to argue, he’s come to see Mayday is just as stubborn as her father can be.
His foot starts to tap on the ground the longer he has to wait, it’s only been two days but he’s eager to see you after the short little break.
The week with Mayday had gotten easier as the days wore on. He was less nervous, more sure of himself and what he was doing, or what Lyla told him to do. She had gotten quite used to his apartment. She was exploring on her own, knocking things off shelves, hiding his socks under the couch like a dog would (I mean Peter is her father after all).
Miguel had also grown used to her being there. It was his new tradition to wake up every day and immediately scoop her out of her little crib and start his chores with her on his hip. He just knows he’s going to feel lopsided with the lack of weight on his side when Peter comes to pick her up today.
His eyes scan the room trying to find where the toddler went. He finds Gwen and the boys in the far corner and an awfully familiar mop of red bobbing up and down through their legs. He’s too focused on the scene unfolding to sense you sneak up to his side. You poke him right in the rib, sending a shock through his whole body. The drink jostles in his hand but his spidey reflexes are fast enough to avoid a big spill.
“Dios mío, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” He feels a cool sensation start to cover his hand. He looks down to see his claws poking through the plastic cup holding the drink he had bought for you, a small puddle forming on the ground under his hand.
“Yeah I can tell,” The smirk on your face only grows as he grumbles at you.
“I would give you a hug right now but my hands are a little messy now. Thanks to someone .”
“Hey, don’t blame me! I wasn’t the one who gave you claws,” You wrap your hands around his bicep, giving him a big squeeze to make up for the lack of a proper hug. Your one hand lets go as you start to pull him to the side of the room towards the receptionist's desk, “Come on you big grump, let’s make you less of a mess.”
“This mess is entirely your fault.”
“I thought you had super hearing, mister spider-mutant?” Your raised eyebrow and mocking smile cause a smirk of his own to grow on his face. He looks away as he licks his teeth, deciding not to comment to spare himself from the teasing you would undoubtedly put him through.
You grab a handful of tissues from the box on the desk and drag the little trash can to rest right under his right hand. He grabs the cup with his other hand and retracts his claws, the rest of the liquid spilling out into the bin below.
“Waste of 4 dollars.”
“Oh God forbid you lose 4 dollars,” You try to dry up as much of the liquid from his hand as you can, but the flimsy napkins make it rather difficult. You’ve gone through half the box before he can barely feel any of it on his hand, “But it’s about to be 8 because you're going to get me another one, right?”
“You know you can’t always pout at me to get what you want.”
“Oh I think I can, Mig.” He lets out a deep breath through his nose, maintaining the mini starring contest you two have going on. He finally rolls his eyes as he looks back down at his hand.
“Obviously I was going to buy you another one.” He mumbles it so quietly you almost didn’t catch it, but thank heaven for enhanced spider hearing. A big smile erupts on your face as you hug his arm close to you again.
“Aw thank you Mig, you’re so sweet!” The only response you get is another grumble, but the small smile on his face tells you he’s far from upset.
You arrange your plans for a second drink as you two catch up on the past two days. No contact at all is hard for the both of you when you’re so used to seeing each other every day. You tell him about work, and the new movie you had watched recently with your friends, and the new cafe that opened up down the street from your apartment and how it rivaled the one of Miguel’s universe (he seriously doubts this but lets you continue anyway.
Miguel’s stories are almost exclusively about Mayday, I mean what else would he do if he can’t work or talk to you? He tells you about how he got even better at whipping up meals for her, and the whole weird sock thing she does, seriously what is up with that?
He’s rambling on and on about Mayday and what she did with him when none other than the toddler herself comes up to disrupt the conversation.
You notice her first since she came up from Miguel’s back. Her usual cheerful face is covered in tears, little streams of snot hanging from her nostrils as her cheeks boast a bright red color, almost as bright as her hair. Her face is twisted into an expression of either fear or pain, you can’t tell yet.
Miguel notices your attention waver from him as he feels two little hands on the side of his legs. He looks down to his side to see the toddler there, tearful eyes staring up at him with her arms extended out. His eyebrows furrow as he wastes no time in scooping her up from the ground and sitting her on his hip.
“Mayday, what’s wrong?” Your voice cuts through Miguel’s concerned daze. May just hides her face in Miguel’s shoulder and continues to sniffle every few seconds.
“Niña, what happened?” Miles, Gwen, and Pav arrive at Miguel’s side in the next second. They all try to talk at the same time, their words mingling together in a confusing jumble, “¡Ay, cállate! One at a time, please.”
They all stop and take heaving breaths in, looking to each other for someone to start talking. Gwen sighs and takes one last breath in before explaining what happened.
“She was chasing Miles around in circles and she must have lost her footing or something because she tripped and scraped her knee. But Miguel it wasn’t our fault I swear-”
“That’s it? Wow, I was expecting to have to yell at one of you.” Miguel turns back towards the desk, trying to pull Mayday off his shoulder to place her down so he can inspect her knee. But the toddler just whines and holds on tighter, as tight as her little arms can.
After a few unsuccessful tries he leaves her where she is, not wanting to make her more upset than she already was.
He grabs the tissue box you had almost emptied earlier and takes two tissues out. He pats them against the bright red scrape marks on little May’s knee as gently as he can, but it’s to no avail when her cries rise in volume right by his ear.
Miguel tries to shush her to reassure her that she’ll be alright, but the toddler is nearly inconsolable. She gripping onto Miguel’s shoulder so hard that if it were anyone else it would leave red marks on his skin for the next few days.
Miguel continues to try and calm the child down as he walks to the diaper bag sitting at the back of the room. He knew Peter was coming to get Mayday today, and thank god he thought beforehand and brought it down with him.
“You’re okay May, it’s just a scratch.” Her sniffles seem to be dying down, happening less and less often as his soothing words meet her ears. Sure Miguel’s voice is usually heard in a loud boom, or an irritated grumble, but when he really wants to, his voice could put an angry gorilla to sleep. It has the perfect warmth to it to soothe your worries, ease the stress in your mind, and in Mayday’s case; make her forget about her stinging knee.
He bends down and rummages through the bag, looking for the band-aids he knew he saw in there. May is completely quiet now, staring down at the bag with big, red eyes. When he finally finds what he is looking for, Miguel walks back over to the mini crowd that had formed by the desk. He places the toddler on the edge with her stubby legs hanging off the side.
The bottle of antiseptic spray looks tiny in Miguel’s hand, but the sight of it makes May’s eyes tear up again. Before she can shed even a single one Miguel starts to speak in that low tone once again.
“I know this is going to sting May, but you have to be brave okay?” She nods her head as Miguel leans down to where her knee is. She winds his hair through her fingers as he sprays the bottle a few times on the cuts. Her hands tense and pull his hair slightly with each spray, but Miguel doesn’t mind all too much. He would much rather have a very faint sting on his scalp than a crying Mayday.
He cleans up the scrapes as best he can (after all he hasn’t done this in a long time) and delicately places the band-aid over the red skin. He gives it a single pat, very gently he doesn't want to hurt her again, and rises to his full height.
Mayday’s lips are in a little pout as she stares at Miguel. She points at her mouth and then extends her leg to point at her knee, never breaking eye contact with him.
“What do you want May?” His eyebrows are furrowed as he continues to stare at her, confused.
“I think she wants you to kiss her knee better, Mig.” Your voice comes from his left and pulls his attention towards you. A small smile covers your face as you look between him and the toddler, seeing she now has her lips puckered when she points to them. Miguel notices this too and lets out a sigh as he leans back down. He holds her leg in one of his hands and places the gentlest kiss you’ve ever seen on her injured knee.
“Is that better?”
The big smile on her face is enough of an answer. She reaches her hands back out towards him and he quickly scoops her up into his arms once again. She pats his cheek a few times before placing a sloppy kiss on the side of his face as a thank you.
The click of a phone camera catches his attention. When he looks to the side he sees you there, a certain emotion filling your eyes as one hand covers your heart, the other holding the phone as you scroll through the many pictures you took of Miguel taking care of Mayday. Miguel can see a very faint sheen start to cover the bottom of your eye, were you about to cry?
“Miguel, that was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Your voice comes out as a squeal as you clutch the phone to your chest. You plant yourself on his other side opposite from Mayday and squeeze your arms around her chest, “You’re so good with her!”
Miguel can feel his cheeks start to heat up, he knows if anyone looked really hard they would see the slight dusting of pink on his tanned skin. His other arm wraps around you and tugs you closer as well, his heart was overflowing with love at the moment as he held you both close to his chest.
“Honestly I didn’t think you would make it out of this week bossman, but you are pretty good with her.” Miles interrupts the moment with his comment, which did annoy Miguel since this moment was so precious to him but he doesn’t have it in him to yell at the boy right now (not that he even deserves it, Miguel ).
Miguel huffs out a breath with a brief “Thanks Morales” as he turns back to face you. He wouldn’t admit it, but that meant a lot to him even if it did come from Miles Morales of all people.
“Where’s my precious, angel pie, cutie-patootie, daughter?” Peter B. Parker’s loud voice booms through the lobby as he exits a portal in the middle of the room. He’s not in his Spider-suit, or even his robe for that matter. Now he has on a classic Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts, matched with a wide-brimmed hat and some sunglasses. He truly looks ridiculous, but it’s very on-brand for Peter.
His eyes scan the room before landing on Miguel and his daughter standing on the opposite side of the room. His eyes light up (so much you could even tell behind the sunglasses) as he practically runs to take her out of his arms.
“There she is,” he lifts the child out of Miguel’s arms and into his own, snuggling his face onto the top of her head as soon as she’s close enough to do so. When he finally pulls away he notices her red eyes and splotchy cheeks. He takes off his glasses and puts them in one of the many pockets on his shorts as he examines his daughter, “Were you crying? What happened May, did Miles do something?”
“Wha-why me?!”
“No, he didn’t do anything, surprisingly.” You try to keep a serious face as you comment, knowing it would make Miles that much more indignant at the thought of him doing something bad to May.
“You too?!”
(Everyone ignores Miles, fyi)
“She was just playing around and she fell and scraped her knee, don’t worry I bandaged it up for her she should be fine.” Miguel's voice cuts through Miles' blabbering. He gestures to her injured knee and Peter visibly deflates knowing that was all that was wrong.
“Oh, wow, had me scared there buddy!”
“Don’t worry Peter, Miguel was great with her. He was the sweetest I’ve ever seen him,” You rest your arm on Miguel’s bicep as you compliment him. The smile on your face as you glance up to look at Miguel makes his heart jump, a faint one of his own making an appearance on his lips, “I even took pictures!”
Your phone has made an appearance once again as you move to stand next to Peter. You scroll through all the pictures you had taken (both from today and the days before when you were able to see him) as you both coo at the adorableness of the two of them.
“Oh man, I knew I made the right decision by making him her godfather! Couldn’t find anyone better!” That causes you to pause a little, surprise written all across your face. It takes a second for the words to register with Miguel, but when they do his jaw is practically on the floor and his eyes are as wide as saucers.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Riiiight, I’m supposed to ask first aren’t I? Well, I guess now is better than later; Miguel would you like to be Mayday’s godfather?” Peter juts his shoulder out a little to get Mayday a little closer to Miguel as if she was an offering or something. Miguel is stock-still, barely even breathing as his brain tries to process the question posed by the man in front of him.
“...me?” When he does speak his voice is almost a whisper. He places a hand on his chest as if Peter was asking this question to the wrong person, which in Miguel’s mind he was. Why would Peter want him to be her godfather? Does he really trust Miguel that much? Claws and fangs and all?
“Yeah you, silly!” Peter places her down on the floor as she runs to the diaper bag in the corner to get her toys. Miguel’s little kiss must have really worked some magic since she’s already back to playing around.
“¿Por qué?”
“Because I trust you, a lot! I mean you're fiercely protective so I know anytime she’s with you you would die before anything even comes near her,” Peter looks down at his daughter as she rests on his arm, “There’s actually no one else I would trust more with keeping her safe.”
Peter’s soft smile melts Miguel’s heart a little, which is very surprising because the only other people able to do that to Miguel’s “stone-cold heart” (his own words, not mine, he tries to be too edgy sometimes) was you, and now Mayday. Miguel is quiet again for some time as he wills his eyes not to tear up. Hearing someone speak this fondly of you is enough to bring anyone to tears, even big, bad Miguel O’Hara.
Suddenly Miguel surges forward and brings the man in question into a bear hug. Peter lets out a surprised ‘oh’ as Miguel’s strength nearly knocks the wind out of him. If Peter wasn’t a spider Miguel probably would have cracked one of his ribs or something, not on purpose of course but Miguel is having a hard time controlling himself with these big emotions he’s feeling.
Peter wraps his arms around Miguel’s shoulder, giving him a few pats on the back before Miguel pulls away with a light cough and clearing of his throat. He can’t bring his eyes to meet Peter, too scared of starting to cry or being embarrassed by suddenly hugging one of his friends (which Miguel never does).
All the spiders around them are shocked, standing there with their jaws on the floor at Miguel’s sudden actions. Your hand is back on your heart as you try to will yourself not to tear up. You had always known Miguel’s soft side, but it’s a whole other ballpark to see him express that to other people other than you.
“Gracias, Peter.”
“So is that a yes?” Peter raises his eyebrows at Miguel in anticipation as his mouth forms a smile, Miguel just rolls his eyes at his antics.
“Sí.”
“See I knew you were a big softy Miguel!” Peter throws his arm around Miguel’s shoulder. Even if the latter is taller than him the gesture is still there. He squeezes his shoulder as Peter’s smile grows.
“Alright, now you’re going too far.” Peter just lets out a laugh as Mayday makes her way back over to the two of them. Showing them the toys she has stuffed in her arms as she gives one to each of them to play with her. Your heart warms at the sight. Miguel’s forehead is free of the usual stress wrinkles that seem to live there, there is no hint of red in those piercing eyes of his, and the soft smile on his face shows exactly how content he is in the moment. You take another picture to remember this sweet moment with, even if you’re a little bitter Mayday didn’t give you a toy to play with too.
—
Later that night, you and Miguel are lying in your bedroom. His head is on your chest as your fingers carve through his soft brown hair.
He occasionally lets out little grunts at your actions, but other than that the room around you is completely silent. Nothing plays on the tv, no sounds make their way through the closed windows, not even the building makes creaks or thuds as it settles. It’s as if the whole world agreed to let the two of you live in this peaceful little bubble for the night with no interruptions.
You think Miguel is asleep until his quiet voice cuts through the stillness in the air.
“(Y/n)?”
“Yes, Miguel?”
“I want to have a baby with you someday.”