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Peter didn’t notice it at first. He was too busy sipping on a cup of much needed coffee. He was coming off a rather long night. In usual Spider-Man fashion, he started off the night stopping a simple carjacking and ended the night stopping a cult from summoning some demon from another dimension. By the time he got home, the sun was rising.
Life as a superhero tended to rather eventful.
After finishing the coffee, he walked over to the sink, rinsed out the mug, and placed it into the dishwasher. He then walked away from the sink. He was about to leave the kitchen until he glanced at the kitchen’s island. That’s when he noticed the flyer. He stopped in his tracks for a moment. He then walked over to the flyer and picked it up. As he looked it over, the front door opened.
Michelle walked through the door. She removed her shoes as she closed the door behind her.
“Ah, you’re awake,” she said. After hanging her coat on the rack, she walked over to Peter and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I guess you had another long night?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” he said as he looked over at her.
Michelle scoffed. “Somehow, I doubt that.” She was no strangers to his stories about his patrols.
Peter raised his eyebrows briefly. “You’re probably right.” He handed the flyer over to Michelle. “What’s this about?”
Michelle looked at it. She then cringed. “Oh, yeah… that.”
Peter tilted his head in confusion. “What’s up?”
Michelle laid the paper back down on the island. “So, there’s a Father-Daughter dance coming up.”
Peter’s eyes went wide as he smiled. “Really? That’s awesome!” However, confusion set in. “How come I’m just finding out about it now?” Michelle gave him a look. It was not just any look. It was a look that Peter low key dreaded. It was the “we need to have a very adult conversation” look. “…Oh boy…”
Michelle smiled as she took Peter by the hand. “Come with me.”
Peter sighed as he allowed himself to be guided to the living room. Michelle took him to the couch. As the two of them sat together, she turned towards.
“Okay, Peter, before we begin…” Michelle began.
“Keep an open mind,” Peter finished.
She nodded. “Good.” She took in a breath. “So… like I said, there’s a Father-Daughter dance coming up at school. However, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go.” It took Peter some effort not to say anything. He was both surprised and a bit hurt. Still, he allowed Michelle to continue. “I was confused when she said that. However, when I asked why, she told me she didn’t see the point in inviting you when you missed the last five things she invited you to. And…” She tilted her head briefly. “I couldn’t exactly defend you on that part.”
Peter took in a breath. “She does understand that things happen, right?”
Michelle grimaced. “She does, Peter, she does. And I know you have good reasons.”
“I really do try, you know? It’s just that whenever I think I’ll be somewhere on time, something always pop off.”
“I know, sweetie.”
Peter stood up and started pacing. “That time I wanted to catch her basketball game, I got jumped by Vulture and Shocker.”
“I remember that.”
“Then there was the play she was in. I was literally a block away when Black Cat decided she wanted to rob a nearby museum.”
Michelle nodded. “Yeah, she’s still not allowed to come by the crib or anywhere near Mayday for the time being because of that.”
“Understandable. And then there was the fundraiser. I was ready to go, but a bunch of people in Pokémon mask was robbing a bank – while I was in it! Like, seriously, who robs a bank dressed up like Pikachu?! I still tried to go, but then I realized that it was going to be kind of hard to be there with pieces of buckshot in my leg.”
“And I get all of that,” Michelle interrupted gently as she grabbed him by the hand. She pulled on it, prompting him to retake the seat next to her. “And I don’t think she really holds it against you. At the same time, though, you have to understand how disappointing it is for her to expect you to be somewhere only for you not to show up.”
“…I get that,” Peter conceded. He sighed. “What do I do?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll ask her about it tonight. But I can’t guarantee she’ll change her mind.” She then leaned in. “But if she does change her mind, I need you to be there. And it’s not like you can’t give Spider-Man a break every once in a while. You know too many other vigilantes. Some of them even stop by our home on a near-weekly basis just to say hi. There’s no reason for you not ask a couple of them to cover for you for the day or night. I can’t have you disappointing Mayday again.” She leaned in further and whispered in his ear. “And I have no problem not putting out for a month if you do.”
Peter’s eyes went wide as leaned back. “But… but… that’s not fair!” Michelle raised her eyebrows as she stood up. “Come on!” She walked away. “MJ! …MJ!” He didn’t get an answer. He then groaned as he pouted. “That’s a bit extreme.”
Deep down, he knew he deserved it.
***
Later on that night, Michelle knocked on Mayday’s door. “Hey Kiddo, got a minute to talk?” she asked.
“Yes Mom,” Mayday said from the other side of the door.
Michelle opened the door and walked in. As she closed it behind her, Mayday sat up from her bed.
“Is everything okay?” the girl asked.
“Yeah, everything’s okay, May,” Michelle assured. She took a seat next to her daughter, who looked at her. “…Your dad saw the flyer.”
Mayday swallowed nervously. “What did he say?” Michelle didn’t say anything at first. That made Mayday even more nervous. “Is he mad at me?”
“He’s not mad at you.” Michelle tilted her head briefly. “He was a little hurt.”
Mayday pouted. “I didn’t want to upset him.”
“I know, Mayday. I know. And I did tell him the reason why you didn’t want to go.” Mayday turned and looked forward. Michelle frowned. “You did nothing wrong, May.”
“Are you sure?”
Michelle raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s just…” May trailed off for a moment. She turned and faced her mother again. “Every time I invite Dad to something, I get my hopes up. Then he doesn’t show, and I’m just standing around and seeing everyone else with their dads and I just feel…”
“Upset?” Michelle offered.
Mayday nodded. “Yeah, upset. But I feel bad because I know Dad is out there helping people and I wonder if I’m being selfish. Am I being selfish?”
Michelle almost smiled. She remembered herself being in a similar position with Peter. Despite what some people believed, Peter and Michelle’s relationship wasn’t all gumdrops and rainbows. They have gone through plenty of ups and downs over issues. A fair share of this issues involved Spider-Man. At first, she grinned and bore it whenever he had to be late for or cancel plans with her because of vigilante activities. However, as more and more heroes became active in New York and as Peter found more allies and friends amongst those heroes, Michelle couldn’t see why he couldn’t stand to let others do their part in keeping the city safe without him every now and again. Peter Parker is Spider-Man – Michelle not only accepted it, but even embraced it. But Peter Parker is a husband and a father.
As far as she was concerned, those roles were just as important as being a hero.
Michelle shook her head. “Your father is your father, Mayday. Yes, he’s Spider-Man. Yes he has to be there for people. But he has to be there for you, too. So, no, I don’t think you’re being selfish.”
Mayday nodded. “…Should I invite him to the dance?”
“That’s up to you, Mayday. I’m not going to force you if you don’t want to. But I do know that your Dad wants to go and he promises to be there if you do. So, think about it, okay?”
Mayday nodded. “Okay.”
Michelle smiled. She then put an arm Mayday and pulled her into a hug. “Your Dad and I love you.”
“I love you and Dad, too, Mom.”
***
When Peter got home from work, Mayday was in the kitchen, sitting at the island as she worked her homework. She looked up from her notebook and looked at Peter before she smiled.
“Hi Dad,” she greeted.
“Hi Mayday,” Peter responded as he walked over to her. He bent over and placed a kiss on her forehead before walking over to the fridge. “Want anything to drink?”
May took a moment to think about it. “Do we have any red tea left?”
Peter opened the fridge and looked inside. After spotting a few AriZona Tea cans, he smiled. “Yeah, we do.” He grabbed two of them and used his hip to close the fridge. He walked over and handed one of the cans to his daughter. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Mayday cracked open her can and took a sip. “How was your day?”
“Same old, same old.” Peter smiled as he cracked his own can open. “Betty says hi by the way.”
“Well, tell her I said hi back.”
“Will do.” Peter nodded towards her. “How was your day?”
“It was okay. One of my friends asked me if I could come over, but I told her no.” Peter raised an eyebrow in confusion. Seeing that, May continued. “It’s nothing against her or anything. But her little brother has a crush on me and he’s rather annoying and I don’t want to go off on him.”
“I see. Well, hopefully he grows out of it soon enough.” Peter took a long sip of his can after he said that.
“I hope so, too.” May paused for a moment. She frowned. “Dad, can we talk?”
Peter walked up to the island and took a seat. “Is it about the dance?”
“It is. I wanted to say sorry for not telling you about it. It’s not that I don’t want to go, but…”
Peter shook his head. “I should be the one apologizing.” He pressed his lips together for a moment. “Did I ever tell you what my uncle and aunt told me when I was growing up?”
“With great power comes great responsibility.” May said this in a singsong voice. Peter almost laughed. He had definitely told her that plenty of times.
“Right. Well, that doesn’t just apply to being a hero.” He paused for a moment. “Your Mom and I have had our ups and downs. A lot of it had to do with me being Spider-Man. There were a lot of times I would miss out on spending time with her because of that. For our relationship to work, I had to find a balance. There are responsibilities with being a spouse, May. There’re also responsibilities to being a father.” Peter frowned. “I missed out on a lot of things that were important to you because of my times at Spider-Man. Some of those times, I had no choice.”
“Like that day at the bank?” Mayday commented.
Peter grimaced as he slightly nodded several times in quick succession. “Yup.” He sighed. “However, there have been plenty of times I could let the other heroes handle things. I’m not by myself in that department anymore. I know that, but I need to do a better job of remembering that. And I have to do a better job of being there for you. Like I said, I should be the one apologizing. I’m sorry Mayday, and I promise I’ll do better.”
Mayday smiled at her father. “Okay.” Her smiled faded away a bit. “Do you still want to go with me to the dance?”
Peter smiled widely. “Say the word, and I’ll be there!” He stood up from his seat and hugged Mayday tightly. “Larb you, Mayday!”
May chuckled. “Larb you, too, Dad!”
Peter let go of her. “Now finish your homework. If you finish soon enough, we can watch a movie on-demand tonight.”
May smiled widely before she returned to her homework.
***
Peter kept his promise.
He made sure nothing could stop him from being there. He got the day off from work. He bartered with Craig and Carmilla to cover his patrol for the night in exchange for him and MJ to watch Deion and Raya – their son and daughter – when they go on vacation. MJ didn’t mind those terms when Peter ran it by her.
Craig and Carmilla would have covered for Peter freely, but they really needed someone to cover for them for their vacation and they trusted The Parkers a lot.
With the day clear, Peter went all out for his daughter. He took two trips to Harlem to get himself right. The first trip – a week before the dance – was for getting a tailored suit from Dapper Dan’s. The second trip happened the morning of so he could get haircut at Pop’s Barbershop.
When the time came, he was ready. As he waited in the kitchen for Mayday, he took a sip from a bottle of water. He had a slight urge for coffee, but he decided to be extra cautious and not drink anything that could stain his clothes if it spilled.
After some time, he heard the door to Mayday’s room open.
“Okay, Tiger, she’s ready!” Michelle called out.
Peter stood up from the stool as Michelle and Mayday walked into the kitchen. There Mayday was, dressed in a blue gown and her hair was braided. Peter smiled at the sight of her.
“How do I look, Dad?” Mayday asked.
“A million bucks, just like your mother,” Peter replied. Mayday smiled widely. Michelle, for her part, tried to glare at Peter, but couldn’t quite do so as she smirked at the compliment. “Are you ready to go?”
“I am.”
“Good.” Peter walked up to Michelle and the two of them shared a brief kiss. “We’ll tell you all about it when we get back.”
“Okay,” Michelle replied. “You two be safe. Call me if anything comes up.”
“I will. I love you, MJ.”
“I love you, too, Pete.”
Peter smiled before she looked at Mayday. “Let’s go.”
“Bye Mom!” Mayday said.
“Bye Mayday!” Michelle said in response.
Michelle watched as the two of them left. As the door closed, Michelle walked over to the living room and took a seat on the couch. After taking a moment to check the time on her phone, she grabbed the remote and turned the TV on.