OOO
"Bet I got more!"
"Harry, wait for me!"
Rosalie spun around as Batman ran past her followed by a fireman. Otto stumbled in a moment later, looking exhausted.
"Rough night?" She laughed.
"You have no idea." He sank into a chair. "It's a madhouse out there!"
"I know; they've been showing up at our door too, you know. I ran out of the mini candy bars and the candy corn packets are almost depleted too. It's a good thing everybody stopping coming around nine."
"I'll say. I don't think I could have lasted another half-hour."
"Well, did you at least make sure to check all the candy? Because I think the wolves are about to tear into it."
"Not yet. They're supposed to bring it back down so that I can – and incidentally count it too," he grimaced. There was a pounding of footsteps and he sighed. "And speaking of the boys…"
"Mine weighs the most!" Peter yelled triumphantly.
"Only because you always take all that stupid fruit and it weighs more. I'll bet I have more pieces!" Harry rolled his eyes and ran up to the table, dumping his bag out in front of Otto. "Count mine, dad!"
"Mine too!" Peter poured his in a pile at the other end of the table.
"Count mine first?" Harry pleaded.
"Why yours first?" Peter glared at him.
"Tell you what," Rosie interrupted. "How about dad counts yours, Harry, and I'll count Peter's?" She glanced from one to the other. "Does that work?"
"Ok!" Harry pulled Peter. "Let's go watch Nightmare Before Christmas!"
"Can we have candy?" Peter asked Rosie.
"As soon as we've counted and checked it, we'll bring it in to you," she promised.
"But not too much," Otto warned. "It's a school night. And all that candy isn't good for your teeth."
"We'll brush extra hard, promise. Come on Pete!"
"I want popcorn – can I make popcorn?"
"It's in the cupboard," Rosie replied, inspecting a Snicker's bar. "Remember, only set the microwave for two minutes or it will burn."
"And soda, too?" Harry asked.
"That much sugar on top of the candy?" Otto raised an eyebrow.
"It's Halloween, dear," Rosalie admonished. "Only for one night. Go right ahead," she told Harry.
"Sweet!"
The movie was already playing when the Octavius parents entered the room with the two sacks of candy.
"Who got more?" Peter looked up at Rosie.
"By a count of 117 to 93, Harry did." She smiled as they set down the candy in front of them before heading back into the kitchen.
"Told you!" Harry grinned, opening his bag and rummaging through the pieces.
"Can I have your caramels?" Peter asked. "I'll give you all my Milky Ways."
"Yeah, but only if they're not the dark chocolate kind. Can I trade you all your mini KitKats for my Mr. Goodbars?"
"Okay."
"You can keep the apples, though," Harry remarked and took a swig of Pepsi. "And you can have these."
"What? The Mary Janes?"
"Yeah, they're gross. I don't know anybody who eats them."
"I like them!" Peter unwrapped one and chewed on it defensively.
"Why's that?" Harry crammed his mouth full of candy corn and chewed.
"Gross." Peter wrinkled his nose. "A girl named Mary Jane lived next to me. She was really pretty."
Harry rolled his eyes again. "That's dumb. Doesn't make it taste better." He opened up a pack of M&Ms and began inhaling them as well.
"Well I like peanut butter so I think they taste good," Peter sniffed.
Harry shrugged. "Whatever. Do you want those gummy bears?"
"Have 'em. Don't touch the pixie stix though!"
"Wasn't going to!"
They pushed the pile around on the table, sorting and making trades as they went and only stopping every now and again to start up a loud chorus of 'This is Halloween,' jumping around and bringing Rosie into the room to warn them to settle down. When she came in an hour later, she found them passed out amidst a pile of candy wrappers and soda cans, bits of popcorn on their chests, the floor and the cushions.
She sighed while Otto walked in behind her.
"You get the boys and I'll get the vacuum?" She suggested.
"Sounds fair to me."
OOO
"I get to see where you work?" Peter gasped. He knew that his Dad's job was very important and that kids weren't supposed to be around it. There were too many delicate instruments and it wasn't supposed to be open to the public.
It was his birthday, however.
"Just this once," Otto winked. "Besides, I'm working on something very special that I think you would appreciate."
He guided him past the guards down to his lab, nodding at the co-workers who passed by them, most smiling at Peter. Peter, however, was looking all around, trying to soak it all in before he had to leave. At each turn he asked questions about who did what and what each person was working on, what each machine was for and what they did in each laboratory.
When they reached Otto's, he punched a code in and the doors slid open. Peter practically bounded into the room and looked around, still wide-eyed.
"Over here." Otto motioned for him to come over to a long lab table where various metal parts were scattered about with two long arms already assembled.
"These are what you've been working on, aren't they?"
"Mechanical arms? Yes. These are only prototypes. But soon the actual arms themselves will be able to be constructed, fully flexible with highly sensitive actuators on the ends. The real beauty though it this." He walked over to a computer and punched up a program.
"The operating system?" Peter whispered in an awed voice.
"More than that. We're intending for it to work on the basis of thought, using electrical impulses from the brain running through nanowires. It's only in its beginning stages, but when it's done it will be as close to true AI as anything I've seen."
"Do you think that will be soon?"
"I hope. Still probably years away; it's very advanced and I won't lie, we've had quite a few difficulties along the way. But when they're finished they should be able of assisting in the fusion process, able to handle and manipulate materials involved." He smiled down at the boy. "I wanted you to see this before anybody else outside the lab, to get a glimpse of what the future might hold."
"Wow…" He looked to Otto. "I want to become a scientist as fast as I can! Then I can be there and help you out! I want to be there, dad. Do you think I can?"
Otto smiled and clasped his shoulder. "No promises. But if you continue to work hard, for as long as this will probably take – I could see you working by my side one day, Peter."
"Good." Peter leaned against him. "That way, we can always be together."
Otto doubted if always was possible or if it would be something the boy would even want when he was older. For now, however, it was a perfect moment. He spent the next hour introducing Peter to various colleagues and giving him a guided tour of the lab, answering each of the questions the eager boy put to him in turn.
As they drove home, however, Peter sobered.
"Dad? Can we do something before we go home?"
"If it doesn't take too long; you mother and Harry are probably waiting with dinner and your cake," he smiled.
He fidgeted and took a breath. "I want to get some flowers for Aunt May and Uncle Ben."
Otto's face grew serious and he nodded. "I understand. I know a florist a couple blocks over from the city cemetery. We can pick up whatever you would like there and then head over to visit your aunt and uncle."
Peter gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Dad."
"Of course, Peter. Any time."
OOO
"Oh! Look at this dear!"
Dr. Connors looked up from the tests he was grading. "What is it?"
"It's a Christmas card from Otto and Rosalie!" She unfolded the paper. "And look! It came with a picture of their boys."
"What does it say?" He made a series of red marks on one exam's multiple choice section.
"She says that Otto is pleased with his work and is making progress on the tools he hopes will help with his fusion research – though he's doing routine research as well with the others in the lab. Peter is accelerating – she really thinks you would like him. Rosie says he's still pretty quiet, still a bit timid, but that he loves working on experiments at home with Otto and that he won a science prize at his school. He even was on a math team of some sort there, won a trophy with three other kids. And he loves the camera that Otto gave him, takes it everywhere, snapping pictures of everything.
"Harry is as rambunctious as ever although Rosie says that they're still a bit anxious about him. Whenever he gets into trouble she says that he still worries about being 'given back' but she thinks its starting to get a bit better. He got a big role in the last play he was in and the choir at his school had a big holiday recital and he had a solo! Isn't that lovely, dear?" She smiled at him. "They vacationed down by the gulf this past summer after the boys came back from camp and they're planning to have a New Years Eve party with some of Otto's co-workers."
With a sigh she sat down across from Curt and looked the letter over again.
"It sounds like things are going very well for them. We should try to meet them some time you know. It's been ages – both our boys are getting so big, they'll be teenagers before we get to meet them! And I'm sure Billy would love to get to know Peter and Harry. Do you want to see the picture they sent?"
He set down the red pen and reached for the photograph with his single arm. Two boys in winter sweaters grinned up out of the photo; when he saw it, however, Curtis frowned.
"Which one is which again?"
"Goodness, Curtis, they might both have brown hair and eyes but they don't look that much alike!" She leaned over and pointed to one then the other. "That's Peter and that's Harry. Why?"
"Harry looks familiar. Somehow. I just can't place it."
"Well, you saw a picture of him a few years back, after they first got the boys…"
"Not what I mean." He sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm simply tired."
"You've been grading those papers all night," she pointed out, taking his hand. "Come on. Come to bed and then we can get up early tomorrow to decorate the tree. Besides, it's the weekend. You have two days to grade them before you have to calculate final grades."
"You're right I suppose." She guided him up the stairs. "I still wish I could pinpoint why that boy looks so familiar!"
"Don't worry about it," she laughed. "I'm sure it's nothing. A touch of déjà vu, nothing more."
"Probably. Let's get some rest and I'll feel fresher in the morning."
"Good," she grinned. "Because I think Billy is going to want to go shopping for a real tree."
"What's wrong with the artificial one we have?"
"It's artificial," she pointed out with a hint of sarcasm.
"I'll think about it. And I suppose we should take a picture too, to send to the Octavius family. Feel a bit embarrassed now that we neglected to include them on our Christmas card list."
"You might have," she winked. "But I didn't. Sent one two weeks back."
OOO
"You're not going to make it," Harry teased as the two sat on Harry's bed, watching the bright red digits of the clock slowly tick by. Rosalie had offered to set up a TV in Harry's room for the night so that they could watch the Dick Clark party and see the ball drop in Times Square, but Harry declined as he always did and Peter didn't press the issue.
"I'll make it…!" Peter's sentence ended with a massive yawn.
"Yeah, right," Harry laughed. "It's barely past eleven!"
"Well you keep closing your eyes!" Peter accused, trying to suppress another yawn.
"I can do it." He rubbed his eyes quickly. "I know I will."
They went back to watching the clock.
"Hey, Harry?" Peter interrupted the silence.
"Yeah?"
"You know that party you went to a couple days ago?"
"What? The cast party?"
"That one."
"What about it?" Harry rubbed his eyes again.
"You like those kids, right?" Peter looked at him
"Well, yeah. We've been in a lot of shows together. I like 'em. Like you like the kids you have study group with or are with you in math competitions."
"Yeah, but I still like you best. You… you like me better than them, right?" Peter sounded worried.
"Pete?"
"I mean, I'm still your best friend right?"
"You're my brother!" Harry said, as though it were obvious.
"But my best friend too, right?"
"Of course," Harry laughed, slinging an arm around Peter. "That's what being brothers means."
"Good." Peter leaned back onto the bed. "Because I thought maybe… maybe you thought I was boring now. That I was just a dork now that you have all kinds of friends at your school."
"I still think you're a dork." He mussed Peter's hair and stretched out too. "But I still like you best. I'll always like you best."
Their parents came up after the toast was done and the guests had left to find them sleeping, neither having made it to midnight.
OOO
A/N: Some holiday goodness along with foreshadowing aplenty! And I'm altering the chapter/ages a bit from what I intended last time. Not sure if I'll do 11-13-15 or just 11-14. Depends on how I want to space it out. But you'll have to wait until next chapter to find out – hopefully this one can tide you over for now.