Chapter Text
The combination of the coldness of the bed and the sun heating your face stirs you awake. Usually you lay there, wondering how long it was since Miguel left the warmth of your shared bed, but not today. Before you knew it, bile made its way to your mouth. You rushed to the bathroom, emptying your insides in the toilet. You hated vomiting. It was disgusting. It also meant that you had to be careful with what you eat all day. Again, awful. Who doesn’t like to eat whatever they want?
You rest on the bathroom floor, knees to your chest. You hug yourself, waiting. The next round of puke would come, eventually. Meanwhile, you started to think. What was it that you ate last night? Miguel went to work, meaning, he was probably fine. Well, actually, that doesn’t help at all.
You love your boyfriend, but he is a workaholic.
However, since you moved in together, he had made a habit of coming home every night. Despite the looming responsibility of taking care of the arachno-humanoid… uhhh. The multiverse, yeah. Whatever that was called. It had a really long name, that it didn’t matter how many times Miguel repeated it to you, it never stuck.
Besides, every time you talked with some spiders on the rare occasion you stepped on the Spider Society, they called it spider verse or something like that. The only thing that was clear to you was that Miguel didn’t like that definition. He was such a nerd, and you loved that.
After seeing that your body didn’t have the urge to vomit again and feeling a little bit better, you stood up. You flushed the toilet and proceeded to shower. You couldn’t get much cleaner than that.
You had puked a lot of times throughout your life. Who hasn’t? However, there was something different about this one. You couldn’t put a pin on it though. You felt… weird. Oftentimes than not, when you vomit, you don’t want to eat anything afterwards. For a couple hours at least. However, this time, you were craving strawberries. Granted, it was one of your favourite fruits, but it was strange nonetheless.
The occurrence would have been just a bad day, or bad luck, if it weren’t for the following days.
You have been doing the same routine for three straight days now. Wake up, rush to the toilet, bye bye yesterday’s dinner. You had told Miguel, but his food (same as yours, supposedly) stayed inside of his stomach. Miguel was getting worried, and so were you. You didn’t want to go to the hospital, but if this continued… you had no other option. Besides, Miguel would drag you there himself if you refuse.
On the fourth day though, that routine was interrupted by a knock on the door. Who was up so early on a Saturday? You were disorientated, your throat still burning with the acid. It took you a couple of seconds to remember that your friend was coming over. Right! As a reminder clicked on your head, you shouted a quick “Coming!”. You cleaned yourself as best and fast as you could, and rushed to the door.
You opened it, being met with the smiley face of your best friend.
“Hey…” she started, before shutting her mouth. She stared at you, eyebrows furrowing. “Are you okay?” she asked, worry evident in her voice. “You look like shit.”
“Gee thanks, I love you too.” you answered, moving aside to let her in.
“What’s wrong?” she pressed, walking in. She took her shoes off and hung her jacket and purse.
You sighed, closing the door. You were tired. Despite the awesome sleep at nights, emptying your insides was wearing you down.
“I puked, again” you emphasized. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“What do you mean again?”
You walked to your couch and plop down. Your friend followed after you.
“Oh right, I haven’t told you.” you said, rubbing the exhaustion out of your eyes. “This is the fourth morning I vomit”
“Always in the morning?” she questioned, brow furrowed.
“Yeah…” you trailed, taken aback by the query. “Why? It doesn’t–”
“Girl, really?” she laughed. “For being one of the smartest people I know, you sure don’t seem like it.”
“The hell are you talking about?” you asked.
She laughed. “When was your last period?”
You furrowed your brow. What did that have to do with…
Oh.
OH.
Your eyes opened like plates. “You don’t think…” your voice barely above a whisper.
“Don’t panic!” she stated, standing up in a rush and grabbing her things from the rack. “I’m going to run to the farmacy and get you some tests. Oh my god, I’m so excited.”
Your friend put her shoes on at lighting speed and before you could say something else she blew you a kiss and was out of the door.
And just like that, you were alone. Or, were you? You looked down at your stomach, pondering the implications. Could you be pregnant?
It was a possibility. You and Miguel… well. You could count with your fingers the amount of nights where you went to bed and straight to sleep last month. How could someone blame you? Anyone would throw themselves at Miguel if they had the chance. You were just lucky.
The thing was, you used protection all the time. You weren’t on birth control because of the whole hormone shit, which you didn’t like. But you used condoms. Right?
You stood up, too anxious to just sit around and wait. You paced around your living room, biting your nails, trying to remember if there was a night where you had been reckless. The events of previous nights with Miguel flashed through your head.
The way he was always careful with you, treating you like you were going to break at any second. Sweet nothings whispered in your year. Spanish words and curses flying out of his mind when he was close. His caresses after it was done. Lips brushing against your naked flesh, leaving goosebumps in its path.
One night in particular materialized in your head. You had been teasing Miguel all day. Sending him pictures, flirting more than usual, lingering touches here and there. Everything happened so fast. One minute you were in the kitchen, and before you knew it, Miguel had you pinned to the bed. The pace wasn’t the problem. Despite how hungry you were for each other, you two were responsible.
However, you remembered what Miguel had growled in your ear. You hadn’t paid too much attention to it. You brushed it off as a heat of the moment kind of thing. Miguel was on top of you, caging you with his body. Almost crushing you with his weight. His thrusts had begun to become uneven, signalling he was close. His hands grew desperate, groping and squishing every inch of your body. Incoherent rambles and noises escaped your lips. Miguel’s breath became more ragged.
He was needy, he needed you more than ever. Miguel loved talking to you while he fucked you. Sometimes, he would say sweet things. Others, he would try to make you remember who you belonged to. Not like you could ever forget. That night was one of those times. Miguel had told you how you were his, how he was going to make everyone see. He was going to make you pregnant, so everyone could see in your growing belly that you were his, and he was yours.
You rested your forehead against the nearest wall. Did he really mean it? You were hoping that he was. You wanted children, but did he? You knew about Gabby and how that affected Miguel. He had shown you the videos. Explained to you the consequences. Obviously, being from the same universe and you just being a mere civilian, the stakes weren’t as high. However, you also knew how harsh Miguel was on himself. How he saw the responsibility of being Spiderman.
You had never talked in depth about what you wanted to do after marriage. Sure, you had joked about having little yous and little Miguels running around the house, but never serious. You lived in a good apartment, but it only had two bedrooms. One which was used as Miguel’s study, for when he had to do some work at home.
Being pregnant meant a lot of changes. To your body, to your relationship. To your way of life. You started weeping. Tears rolled down your cheeks and you made no effort to clean them. You just let the emotions run through you, letting them out completely. You were so immersed in your thoughts you didn’t hear your friend coming back.
You jumped back when she placed her hand on your shoulder.
“Hey,” she whispered. “Everything is going to be fine.”
You just nodded, not trusting your voice. She handed you the bag. Peeking inside, you saw three pregnancy tests. This was it. The moment that would change the course of your life forever, or not. You had never been so anxious for a test.
You dragged your feet to the bathroom, your friend trailing behind you. She waited outside while you took them. Once you were done, you placed them on the sink. You stared at them, terrified. You couldn’t decide what you wanted. Positive or negative? Either way, you knew you were going to be a crying mess.
Thank god your friend was there to calm you down. You waited patiently. Those minutes felt like an eternity.
Your timer went off, startling you. Okay, this was it. This result could change your life forever, or honestly? Crush you. You were so ready, you wanted this, despite the fact that you were also scared of how Miguel was going to react.
Your friend pushed you forward slightly, urging you to go. You walked slowly, each step weighing more than the last. You closed your eyes on the last part, reaching the sink using your other senses. You took a deep breath, trying to calm your racing heart.
Slowly, you opened your eyes, peeking at the tests. Soon, you found out that it wasn’t the brightest idea. Two lines can easily look like one with your eyes barely open. You stared at the three tests, all reading the same.
Positive.
You were pregnant. Holy shit!
You turned around, clutching your stomach. Tears rolled down your cheeks.
“I’m pregnant” you croaked out, a lump forming in your throat.
Your friend smiled, and hugged you. You buried your face on her shoulder, embracing her tightly.
“Are we happy?”
You nodded against her form.
“Good. So there is nothing to worry about. Only maybe looking for a new apartment. Or making this one work, for now.”
You chuckled, pulling back and cleaning your tears with the back of your hands.
“Yeah, well. And telling Miguel” you sniffed.
“Pfft, girl please. That man is utterly madly in love with you. He would move heaven and Earth to be with you forever. Besides, he seems like the ‘I want to be a dad type’” she said.
Yeah. He was. Miguel loved being Gabby’s dad. But that was part of the issue, and your friend didn’t know that.
“Yeah, I know” you mumbled, not sharing your thoughts.
“So? Let’s celebrate!” she smiled at you, throwing her hands in the air.
“Maybe later. I really want to tell Miguel and be with him now.” you said, rubbing your arm. “Hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all! This is a big moment for the both of you.” she answered, taking your hands in hers and squeezing them. “Take your time, tell me how it goes later.”
“Thank you.” you beamed at her. You really won the lottery with this friendship.
You walked your friend to the door, kissed her goodbye and sent her on her way. Once you closed the door, you started crying again. Happy tears? Who knows. You were overcome with emotions, but the most prominent one was anxiousness. You really wanted to talk to Miguel. Tell him how much this meant for you, and hope for the best.
You decided that it was best to take this to his territory, the society. It had been a while since you had been there, and you missed it. Besides, you felt that if Miguel needed some time, it would be easier for you to split. If you had called him and forced him to come home, and then he decided to leave, that would break your heart.
Plus, you also thought that it would be a good idea to take something. Probably food. But first, you had to shower. While cleaning yourself, you decided to make him empanadas from scratch. You had the ingredients at home, you had done it before, and if everything went right, they would be ready by lunch time. Perfect.
Excitedly, you got to work. Once they were ready, you changed into a nice dress, applied some make up and braced yourself for the talk that was coming.
The building of the Society never failed to amaze you. The whole city of Nueva York was beautiful, but that one had something else. You walked into the building passing like a million Spider-men? Spider-women? Spider-things? You don’t know. At the start of your relationship you would ask for everything. Name, story, universe, whatever you could think of. Miguel never refused, because he trusted you. But after the hundredth Peter Parker, you gave up. Thank god Miguel had Lyla, otherwise he would go crazy.
One of the other perks of being with the boss was that he had adapted part of the building for you. It was initially thought of as a place for Spider people, so there wasn’t really a need for stairs and even floors to walk on. There wasn’t really a ‘correct’ way to walk here. Ceiling? Fine. Walls? Fine. They all probably thought the floor was boring. Which it was, you can’t say you weren’t jealous watching all of them swing around and stick to shit like it was nothing.
You were grateful for the distraction.
Each step towards Miguel’s lab was exhausting. Fear crawled its way into your bones. Your hands carrying the boxes of food began to shake, despite the many attempts to stop them. Spider people passed by you, some familiar. They all stared at you, the ones that knew you greeted you. Thankfully, none commented on why you were there, or why you looked so anxious. You could feel beads of sweat running down your neck.
You reached the doors to Miguel’s lab. Closed. Typical. You cleared your throat. It didn’t matter how many times you did it, but talking to thin air while speaking to Lyla without seeing her was mind blowing, and also, a little embarrassing.
“Umm… Lyla?” you asked, looking around. Where are you supposed to look when talking to an AI that is everywhere?
“Oh hi!” Lyla greeted you, appearing right in front of your face. “What brings you here?”
“Just bringing Miguel some food” you showed her the containers on your hand.
“Great! He is grumpy as always. This for sure will cheer him up.” She smiled at you, opening the door to the lab.
“He isn’t grumpy.” you defended your boyfriend. “Maybe he has reasons to be so angry around here. He is a big teddy bear.”
Lyla laughed at that. “Oh, don’t make me laugh” she said, cleaning a fake tear from the corner of her eye. “But if you do have embarrassing pictures of him, send them my way.”
“Lyla!” the sound of your boyfriend’s voice cut off your conversation.
There he was, in his full glory. His platform descending, making him look like a God. Which he was, in your books at least.
You hurried forward, not even waiting for the platform to reach the bottom.
“Hola mi vida” Miguel smiled at you.
You jumped on the platform, placing the boxes on the desk before hugging Miguel.
“Someone is excited,” Miguel commented, hugging you back and chuckling.
“How could I not?” you said, looking up at him. “I have the best boyfriend in the world. Despite the fact he leaves me in a cold bed” you pouted.
“Mmm.. if I remember correctly, you knew exactly what you were signing for.” he teased, bending down to peck your lips.
You got into your tiptoes, helping him. You hummed into the kiss. “Yeah, maybe. I’m just so crazy about you.”
“I’m the crazy one.”
Just as you were about to kiss again, you heard a camera click. Miguel pulled back and whipped his head towards the sound. “Lyla!”
The AI disappeared in a fit of laughter. You giggled too.
“I’m not going to hear the end of this.” Miguel mumbled, peeling himself off of you. “What brings you here anyway?”
The question took you back to reality. You weren’t there just for fun. You had something important to say.
“I– umm” you began. “I brought you empanadas!” you turned around and picked the boxes quickly, almost dropping them.
“What did you do?” Miguel asked, hands on his hips. He smirked.
“Nothing!”
“Mmm..” Miguel eyed you, but took the boxes nonetheless. He opened the first one and smelled it. “This smells so good. Gracias beba.” He pecked your forehead quickly, before putting the first empanada in his mouth.
“So…” you began. “What are you doing?”
“Besides the usual, you mean?” Miguel asked. He arched his brow.
“Yeah!”
He finished the rest of the empanada before setting the box down.
“Okay, you are acting weird. What’s wrong?” his whole attention on you know. His sharp, red eyes staring at you.
“What do you mean? I’m perfectly fine. Perfectly normal.” you lied. You couldn’t tell him, not now.
“Yeah, and I’m the funniest Spider-man” he said sarcastically.
You bit your lip. Your hands were sweaty. You could feel tears forming in your eyes, blurring your sight.
“I–” you swallowed heavily. “I– I can’t, I can’t say it.” You shut your eyes, tears spilling out.
“Shh mi amor. Why are you crying?”
Miguel cradled your face, wiping the tears of your cheek.
“Look at me beba. I hate seeing you cry”
You opened your eyes slowly. You were met by Miguel’s loving gaze. You cried harder. Miguel pulled you into a hug. You buried your face into his chest while he rubbed your back.
“Shh it’s okay. Whatever it is, we will work it out together. Like we always do.”
You shook your head.
“No?” He asked. “Why? Please tell me.”
You could hear the worry in his voice. You hated it. But you were also terrified of him leaving you.
“I’m scared,” you confessed.
“Of me?” Miguel said, barely above a whisper.
You looked up quickly, seeing his hurt face.
“No no, I could never be scared of you” you placed your hand on his cheek. “I love you more than anything.”
He nuzzled against it, kissing your open palm.
“So tell me.”
You stared at his face for a while, seeing how soft he looked at that moment. You couldn’t grasp how someone could be scared of him. Curse you for using that word. You knew how much that affected him. How he viewed himself. You trailed his features with your eyes, burning in your memory how he looked. If this was the last time… you wanted to remember everything.
You stepped back, detaching yourself from Miguel. You took a deep breath, calming down.
“I’m–” you began, your voice wobbly. “I’m pregnant.”
Everything stopped. Miguel took a step back, staring at you with wide eyes.
The air in the lab grew thicker. That, or you were hyperventilating. It was harder to breathe. Every passing second Miguel didn’t answer, a million thoughts ran through your head.
That’s it. He was going to shout at you and tell you to leave.
No! He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t be mean. Don’t think like everyone did. You know Miguel, the real Miguel. The man who cares. The man who despite being angry at you, found the time to make sure you are okay. Miguel, who made you meals and did things he didn’t like because of you.
He could not want children, but he would never leave you stranded. Fencing by yourself.
“You–” Miguel began, breaking the silence. “You are pregnant?”
You bit your lip, and nodded. You couldn’t trust your voice.
Miguel stumbled back, crashing into his desk. He rested against it, rubbing his face.
“Miguel?” you said quietly. “Please say something.”
A minute passed.
Nothing.
Sadness bubbled inside of you. You were crying again. You felt like you were about to lose the love of your life. Trying to make things better, you started to ramble.
“It’s just–” your voice broke, sobs escaping your mouth. “I know how hard it was for you with Gabby. How much she meant to you. And, I want this baby, I really do!” you cried, doing your best effort to stare at his face while talking. “And– and, I don’t know what you want. I don’t– I can’t live without you. I want you and this” you placed your hand in your belly. “I want to be a family, with you. But I– I’m scared” you sobbed, looking down.
You heard Miguel walk towards you, and then his fingers under your chin, lifting your face to meet his eyes. “Mi amor” he whispers. “No llores más mama.”
The gentleness of his voice made you sob harder. Miguel grabbed the sides of your face with both his hands, using his thumbs to wipe your tears away. You closed your eyes, leaning into his touch. He caressed your cheeks, before kissing your forehead, then your closed eyes. Your nose, both your cheeks. Finally, he pulled you forward slightly, your chest colliding with his, his lips smashing against yours.
The kiss was full of love. You knew what Miguel felt without him even uttering a word. You placed your hands on his chest, deepening the kiss. You didn’t want to let go, you wanted to stay right there. Safe in his arms.
Miguel pulled back, reluctantly, resting his forehead against yours. For a moment, all that was heard was your and Miguel’s breathing. He was warm and cozy, making you sleepy. He pecked your forehead again, before giving you a hug, placing your head in his chest, where his heart rested. One of his hands was cradling the back of your head, while the other rubbed your back. You wrapped your arms around his waist.
“I love you, you know that right?” He broke the silence.
You hummed, your eyes closed, enjoying the even thump of Miguel’s beating heart.
Miguel chuckled, making you groan as his body shook. He stepped back, escaping from your embrace. You were about to protest at the loss of contact, until you felt him grab your sides. You opened your eyes, seeing Miguel on his knees in front of you. He was looking up at you, eyes full of love and warmth.
His face broke in a smile, showing the wrinkles around his eyes that you love. Miguel kissed your stomach over your shirt, still looking at you, and placed his chin there. He engulfed you in an embrace again.
“Vamos a ser papás.”
You smiled, tears forming in your eyes again. “Yeah we are.” you brushed his hair out of his face, running your hands through his curls. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” he said. He looked at your stomach and whispered. “And I love you too, mi amorcito.” He kissed your belly again, before resting his cheek against it, slumping against you. “I’m sorry I took so long to answer. I was just– processing what it meant.”
“It’s okay,” you whispered, running your hands through his hair.
“I’m a father again.”
“Yes you are” you smiled down at him.
“Los amo”
“We love you.”
You don’t know how long you spent like that. Miguel sitting on the floor, resting on your stomach while you ran your fingers through his hair and rubbed his back. But you wouldn’t change it for anything.