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Miguel O’Hara was Peter’s last choice for a babysitter. Not because he couldn’t do it. Hell, Peter was pretty sure the man was probably a better dad than he was. But it felt like the worst kind of punishment for a man who had lost everything.
However, needs were a must, and he found himself walking into Miguel’s office with Mayday’s diaper bag in hand. He had tried family back home and even the other Spidermen that were here. But the few that weren’t on missions were busy. Or those he wouldn’t even blink if they held his daughter.
“Hey, Miguel! How are ya?” he asked, swinging up to meet the man as he stared off at the screens, scanning for any chance of an anomaly.
At first, Miguel tried to ignore him. Maybe he’d go away. Briefly, he thought that might work until Peter’s face was suddenly in his as he hung between him and the screens. So much for that hope.
“I’m busy. What do you want, Peter?” He huffed, gently pushing the smaller man away from the screens. He had to keep up with the anomalies. Had to keep the multiverse safe.
“I need a favour!” Holding out Mayday, he grinned when she reached out for Miguel with a happy babble, fingers wiggling and making grabbing motions.
Eyes briefly glancing from the screen, Miguel scowled and waved a hand dismissively. Only for Mayday to cling to him tightly.
“No. I’m not a babysitter.” His scowl deepened when he felt Mayday crawl up his arm.
“Please? Just for a few hours? I don’t have anyone else that I can trust with her right now.”
If you weren’t watching closely, you wouldn’t notice the hair's breadth that Miguel’s brows raised. Why would anyone trust him? He couldn’t even protect his own daughter. But Peter saw, and he grinned.
“She adores you,” he continued while Mayday clung to the man’s shoulder, watching his face and the lights glowing on it with rapt interest.
When Miguel still refused to answer, Peter slumped his shoulders. This was harder than he thought. And he thought it was going to be hard!
“I swear it’s an emergency,” he paused, waiting for Miguel to look at him again. Silent and eyes barely off the screens.
“Aunt May is in the hospital,” he explained quietly and held his breath. Miguel didn’t have an Aunt May. Or anyone anymore. So he wasn’t sure how he would take it. An excuse? A low blow?
Miguel watched Peter’s face a moment, catching Mayday when she took a tumble trying to stand on his shoulder. It was a long pause, but eventually, Miguel reached out his free hand.
“Go see your Aunt May,” he gruffed, his face still pulled into an ever present scowl.
Peter could have cried in relief! And maybe he did, a little. Nearly tossing the bag at Miguel, he hugged the man tightly.
“Thank you, so much! I promise, only a few hours. I’ll portal back from the hospital!” Kissing Mayday’s hair and telling her to be good, the man was off like a shot, opening a portal and swinging through it to rush to the hospital.
Leaving a slightly stunned Miguel standing on his podium with an equally confused Mayday clinging to his suit.
As the moment stretched on, Miguel started to feel the ever present ache in his chest grow stronger. How was he supposed to care for a little girl when it felt like he could hardly take care of himself anymore?
Watching as she looked up at him, Miguel tried not to think of Gabriella. Of the daughter he couldn’t save. Tried not to think of holding her when she needed comfort. Tried not to think about the last time he held her. Of the tears and pleas.
Miguel closed his eyes tightly, willing everything away. Cradling Mayday in one arm, he went back to his screens. He had to keep everyone safe.
Which was fine, for a while. But flickering screens with no sounds or interesting pictures could only amuse an infant for so long. Whining softly, Mayday wiggled in Miguel’s arm, trying to get free.
He held her a little tighter so she wouldn’t fall. A little bounce to try and comfort her.
“Come on, mija. Just a little bit longer.” His voice was soft, but he didn’t look down at her, eyes still glued to the bright screens in front of him.
Which lasted all of five seconds before she whined a little louder and started to cry. How unfair!
“Mayday,” he said, half sternly, looking down at the tiny redhead still clinging to his suit.
Wide eyes filled with tears stared up at him while her little lip wobbled. Wiggling a little more, she huffed, trying to get free. Her little hands bapped at his chest and pushed with all her tiny might. She was done being held with nothing to amuse her. She needed something fun!
Miguel’s shoulders slumped. There was too much to do. But maybe a little while would be alright. At least long enough to put Mayday down for a nap. Just long enough for a nap.
Lowering the platform, he held Mayday in both arms now, watching her face as she struggled to get away.
“Where do you think you’re going, mija?” He teased in a light voice. Grinning, just slightly.
“I can’t have you climbing all over my office. Why don’t we get you comfy for a nap? I think there's a sweater in-.”
He was cut off by a sharp yell from the tiny redhead. She knew the word nap, and she hated it! Why nap when you could play? Struggling more, she shot out a string of web and managed to pull herself free from Miguel and swung away to hang on the far wall.
“Mierda! Why did Peter give you that!” Yelled Miguel as he tried to catch her, nearly falling off the platform as it continued to lower.
“Mayday, get down from there. What if you fall?” He scolded, jumping down the rest of the way to rush under her.
Instead, she giggled and clapped her hands in excitement. Now, this was much more fun!
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Miguel sighed. Why did he agree to this? Gabri wasn’t nearly this difficult. The worst problem he had was her needing to be held during the night. The memory made his chest tight, but he shoved it down. Right now, he had to make sure Mayday didn’t hurt herself. Who knew how long until she forgot and she fell down.
Using his own webbing, Miguel pulled himself up to be level with Mayday who giggled again at him joining her. He didn’t know what game she was playing, but clearly, she was having fun. Which meant it would be the fastest way to wear her out. Hopefully.
“Okay, mija,” he started softly, “what are we playing? Hm?” Reaching a hand out for her, he was surprised when she grabbed onto him.
Up. A child’s favourite game. Other than throwing things for dad to pick up. He hadn’t forgotten that one, but at least this one wouldn’t involve running around too much. Probably.
Mayday clapped in excitement as Miguel lifted her up onto his shoulder as he pulled them up higher to hang out on the ceiling. She easily crawled onto his head and the ceiling to sit down. Looking at his face she clapped again.
Unlike Mayday, he couldn’t sit, so instead, he used another bit of web to sit with her. With a hand on the ceiling, he tried to keep himself from swinging.
“This was what you were after, huh? I should figure you’re as much of a handful as your father,” he chuckled, shoulders shaking. When she tried to crawl away, he tried to grab her.
“Ah, I can’t crawl around like you, mija. I’d put holes in the ceiling,” he explained. As if she would have any idea what he was talking about. When she kept trying to crawl, he sighed. Of course, she wouldn’t care. She just wanted to be on the ceiling. Plucking her off the ceiling, he tried to ignore the way she yelled.
“Cut me some slack, will you?”
However, her fighting stopped quickly, when she realized the movement made them swing. Swinging was fun! Giggling, she wiggled, trying to get him to go again.
Which took a second for him to realize. Once he did, he frowned.
“Oh, that’s not happening. That’s ridiculous,” he told her with a stern look.
A look that lasted all of five seconds when she looked up at him. Green eyes were wet and ready to cry as her little lip wobbled. Silently pleading for him to swing again, she gently bapped at his chest.
And just like that, Miguel was back in his apartment with Gabi clinging to his shirt and begging him not to leave her alone as she cried from a nightmare. He’d stay with her the whole night, bouncing and rocking her until he fell asleep in the chair.
His shoulders slumped, and he soothed a hand over wild red curls.
“Fine, fine. But only if we go down.” Mostly because his head was nearly touching the ceiling as it was. That was hardly comfortable for him.
Just like he promised, Miguel started to gently swing as he slowly lowered them back to the floor. At first, she squealed and babbled in delight until she was happy just leaning against him, holding onto the hand that held her. Silently, he hoped the motion would put her to sleep. He needed to get back to his computer. Back to searching for anomalies.
As luck would have it! Miguel O'Hara had none.
Once he put his feet on the ground, Mayday started to whine.
Of course, he thought to himself a bit bitterly. He was starting to think he needed to give up getting back to searching until Peter came back.
"It's okay, mija. We can still play something, okay?" He soothed. With a flick of his wrist, he webbed the diaper bag. "I'm sure Peter was smart enough to pack you some toys."
Kneeling down, he went searching with his free hand. Diapers, of course. Formula, bottles, check. Baby snacks, teethers. A worn Spiderman blanket. Books. One being a How to Parent for Dummies. Somehow, he wasn't surprised that that was in there. But no toys.
"Ay Dios mío! Parker, why would you not pack her toys? What an idiot," he mumbled under his breath. Putting Mayday down next to him, Miguel tried to dig deeper into the bag. Surely the man wasn't so scatterbrained as to forget to pack her at least one toy. A stuffie, a doll, a rattle, something!
In his search for something that wasn't there, he didn't see a tuft of bright red hair make its way to his tools. Or start to climb up, smacking around for something in reach. At least not until she knocked over a screwdriver.
Hearing the metal clang on metal, Miguel's head snapped up. Just in time to see Mayday trying to climb into his work table. And to his horror, watched as it started to tip.
"Mayday!" He yelled. There wasn't time to grab her from where he was. A flick of his wrist, and he used his web to yank her across the room and back to himself as the table fell, spilling tools and parts around the floor in a loud clatter as they bounced and snapped.
His heart felt like it was going to pound right out of his chest while he checked Mayday over.
"You can't do that!" He scolded her, checking that nothing had hit her.
All of which made poor Mayday cry. Wailing loudly, tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to scrub them. It was loud and scary! Then Miguel made it worse, raising his voice. None of that was very fun.
Sighing, Miguel held her close. A deep breath and tried to calm down. Standing up, he bounced her a little while he walked around the part of the room not covered in tools.
"You're alright, mija," he soothed. Patting her back, he soothed Mayday. Quietly talking to her and humming an old lullaby until she finally stopped crying.
"There we go. That's my girl." Once she was calmed down, he sat her down on the worn blanket from her pack.
"You stay here, okay? Tío Miguel needs to clean up his tools, okay?" A step backward as he kept an eye on her, but once it looked like she wasn't going anywhere, Miguel hurried over to his workstation. Broken goobers and gadgets and tools all over the place. It would take a week to fix or replace all of what was broken. He sighed. That's what he got for taking his eyes off a Parker. No matter the size.
Speaking of, he turned to check on her. Still on her little blanket and watching him intently. When he looked at her, she giggled and waved. A small smile, and he wiggled his fingers at her before picking up the table. This place really wasn't baby proofed. But he never thought he'd be babysitting here, either.
Tossing out the broken beyond repair pieces first, Miguel started to clean up the mess. Each piece had its place, and that's where they went. Knelt down, Miguel blindly reached for his tools. When there were none in his immediate reach, he quietly grumbled. Before he could turn to look for the next tool, something cold bumped his arm.
Turning to look, he saw Mayday standing up with a wrench in both hands, holding it out expectantly to him. He grinned, carefully taking it from her.
"Are you helping me clean up, mija?" He asked as he put the wrench in a drawer. Not that she could answer. Though she did, he supposed. In her own way.
Once he took the wrench, she giggled brightly. Clapping, she plopped down to crawl over to another tool. A screwdriver. Scooting on her rear, Mayday made her way back to hand the next one to Miguel.
Watching her, he smiled warmly. It melted his heart a little when her little brows furrowed as she tried to pick up something a little too heavy for her to carry back with one hand. But when he tried to step over to help, she shouted at him.
"Okay, okay!" He laughed. Putting his hands up, he sat back on his heels while he waited for her to figure out how to drag it over.
Which was a bit painful as she dragged it across the floor. Miguel could see where it scuffed the metal, and he knew he'd have to repair it later. But he wouldn't interfere. Not even he wanted to get yelled at again. Besides, she was having fun.
Eventually, she managed to drag the equipment over. At least she hasn't turned it on. Mayday looked proud as punch that she managed. Struggling to lift it, she almost sounded like she was mumbling under her breath. Briefly, Miguel wondered if she got that from watching Peter working on his latest projects.
Helping her lift it, he praised her, hoping to stave off another fit.
"There we go. Aren't you a strong girl," he cooed as he put it away. And that was how it went. A project that could have taken less than five minutes took twenty.
Once the last thing was put in its place, he clapped for little Mayday.
"Great job, mija!" He praised before lifting her up high over his head. While he laughed and squealed, Miguel scrunched up his nose.
“At least I know your dad was smart enough to pack diapers,” he quietly grumbled. Taking Mayday back to the diaper bag, he pulled out what he needed and tried to lay her down.
Only for her to roll away with a laugh.
“Oh no you don’t!” Grabbing a little leg, he struggled to get her changed.
“Come on, you don’t want to sit in that, right?” He asked as he tried to change her. Only to get a face full of web.
Sputtering, Miguel scrubbed and clawed at his face as he tried to get it off. Honestly, in what world did Peter think that giving a baby a web shooter was a good idea? That man really didn’t know how to manage if his life wasn’t in chaos.
Between dodging webs and wrangling a wild redhead, Miguel eventually got her changed and redressed. Hopefully, Peter would be back before she needed another one. That was never anyone’s favourite task, but that was too much!
Clearing up, Miguel flopped into a desk chair. Chasing down venom felt easier than trying to keep track of an infant, he thought to himself.
Sighing out his nose, he pinched the bridge of it. But he needed to repay the kindness Peter gave to him. The only one who seemed to at least try to understand what he had gone through and what he was doing. He deserved at least this much.
Cracking open an eye, Miguel found Mayday still on her Spiderman blanket and holding her nose with one hand. Miguel sat up straight, ready to leap out of the chair to check on her. She wasn’t crying, so he didn’t think she was hurt. But something must have happened. Right?
Only as soon as he sat up, so did Mayday. Her eyes went wide, and she was grinning from ear to ear. A grin that turned into a fit of giggles as tiny arms flapped excitedly. Once her giggles were done, she watched Miguel with a serious face. She was mocking him!
Or probably just copying, Miguel grumbled to himself. He didn’t want to play that game. It was silly. But when her face started to droop, he found himself puckering his lips like a fish.
Which Mayday promptly copied. Or at least, she tried to. Green eyes went cross-eyed as she tried to figure out how to do what he did. In the end, she ended up blowing a raspberry at him. Followed but an indigent huff when he laughed at her. How dare! Crawling the short distance to grab onto Miguel’s leg, she screwed her little face up into a frown. Mean!
Not that he could take that seriously, not even for a second. Laughing, he lifted her up to sit on his lap.
“Oh, big and scary!” He teased, laughing harder when she slapped at his chest. Only to freeze when he noticed she did. Looking down, he saw her staring intently at his face. His smile dropped when he realized he had forgotten himself and smiled too widely. Showing off long fangs. Wincing, he waited for the tears and the screams he knew would come.
Only they never did. Mayday looked up at him with wide eyed curiosity. Grabbing onto his suit, she pulled herself to her feet. Reaching up, she gently papped at his face.
“Not afraid of monsters, mija?” He asked, still waiting for the yelling and tears.
But they never came. Instead, she patted his face and pulled at Miguel's cheeks, trying to see his fangs again. When he held his mouth shut, she got frustrated and smacked at his face. Hitting him square in the nose.
Miguel let out a yelp. One hand covering his face while the other held onto Mayday so she wouldn’t fall. She was certainly Peter’s daughter. Spider strength was no joke! Even for a baby.
“Okay, okay. But you need to keep your hands to yourself,” he told her, knowing full well that he was going to need to hold her hands away. Grinning an awkward grin, he bared his fangs for the tiny redhead.
Just as curious as before, Mayday stretched up onto her toes to see them better. When she reached up to grab his face again, he took her tiny hands in his. Careful of his talons.
“Careful now. I have no idea what would happen to someone so small.” Not that he totally lacked control, but he wouldn’t risk her either way.
He’d let her mess with his face for a bit before using his webbing to pull her diaper bag to them. Sometimes being Spiderman paid off.
Once she was done trying to rip off his face, she plopped back down into his lap to lay against him. Much better, he thought to himself, digging in the bag for a baby book to read her. Just a little nudge and she’d be asleep. Then he could finally get back to work.
“How about a story, mija?” He asked, cracking open a thin book with a cat on the cover. Just one story and she’d be out like a light.
When Peter finally made it back to Spider Headquarters he rushed through the halls, not stopping to even wave at anyone. He hoped Miguel didn’t hate him for the favour. That Mayday hadn't been too hard on him. He loved her dearly, but he knew she was a lot, even for a baby.
Stepping into the room, any worry he had left him as his shoulders slumped.
Still in the desk chair, Miguel was leaning back, chin pressed against his chest as it rose and fell steadily. One hand still holding the book as it hung over the side and the other securely holding Mayday to his chest while they both slept soundly.
It was the cutest thing he’d seen, he thought to himself as he fished out his phone. Sneaking a couple pictures of the two, he held a finger to his lips when he saw Layla appear.
“Did she give him any trouble?”
“No more than you do, Pete. I think he liked it.”
His shoulders shook as he silently laughed.
“It looks like they had fun. I almost don’t want to wake them up.”
Layla just shrugged and disappeared.
Quiet as a mouse, Peter packed up everything to let them sleep. He didn’t have the heart to separate them just yet.