February 25

Shuri walked up to the Avengers house with Okoye by her side. She knocked on the door a few times before she became impatient and just let herself in. She opened the door and was instantly shocked by all the yelling. Okoye had a sour look on her face and Shuri grimaced as she watched all the Avengers yelling at each other.

Natasha was sitting on the couch adjacent from Peter and Steve was standing next to Natasha. Sam and Bucky were a a few steps behind Steve, both staring with wide eyes at the yelling match. Steve was frowning. Somehow he always got stuck as the mediator in any of the Avengers fights, well except one. Natasha was fuming and Peter was looking at Natasha with a soft but rebellious look in his eyes.

"No! No Peter!" Natasha yelled, sitting on the couch and rubbing her temples, "It's too risky, just wait a few more weeks and everything is going to be fine!"

"No," Peter said, shaking his head, "Something is wrong. I can really feel it!"

"Peter," Steve started calmly, "Nothings wrong."

Peter shook his head even more, "You're not having these dreams! They're horrible." He had a distant but pleading look in his eyes, "I need to make sure Michelle, May, and Ned are okay!"

Shuri cleared her throat but no one heard her over Natasha's yelling. Shuri then yelled, "AHEM" and all eyes fixed on her. Peter's face of defiance morphed into one of relief and Natasha glared at Shuri while Steve put a hand on Natasha's shoulder for support.

"Shuri," Peter sighed with relief, "I want the anecdote, so I can remember."

"No," Natasha shook her head defiantly, "You're not getting it."

Peter sighed, "I'm not 16 anymore!" He matched Natasha's intense glare, "I'm 23. I'm an adult."

Natasha blinked, ignoring Peter and faced Shuri, "What's up, Shuri?"

Shuri pursed her lips, "I actually came about the anecdote." She glanced at Peter, "I finished it."

Peter smiled and stood up, clapping his hands, "Great, time to go."

"No, you're not." Natasha stated, jumping up. Steve sighed and Peter frowned. Natasha walked up to Peter with a finger pointed at him menacingly, "That is not happening."

Peter sighed, "Nat, I don't like fighting with you."

"I wouldn't like fighting with me either!" Natasha growled, "You are not risking your life just to get your memories back faster when they'll come back naturally anyway!"

Peter shook his head, "I'm not a teenager anyone. I can make my own decisions," He matched Natasha's intense glare, "I need to know. Natasha, I feel like something is really wrong and I'm afraid I'm going to run out of time."

"It's too risky," Natasha seethed, "I'm not letting you risk your life, Parker. I don't know what you have in mind but it's not that easy!" Peter's face hardened. Natasha continued to rave, "We can't just waltz back into New York! We need time to make a plan!"

"No!" Peter yelled back, finally letting his anger run free. His gaze hardened and he clenched his teeth. He stared at Natasha dead in the eyes and the others in the room's eyes widened in surprise at his intensity. Steve bit his lip. "You mean, you can't waltz back into New York. I can! Because I forgive! And I know it's more important to forgive than to keep grudges. Just because you all can't get along with the others in New York doesn't mean I don't have the right to go see my family! May, Michelle, Tony, Pepper, Ned, they're my family! And-And I need to know what's wrong," Peter's face filled with emotion and desperation, "I'm having horrible dreams. Nightmares. And knowing my luck they're probably reality. So I need to know!"

Natasha furrowed her brows in frustration and shook her head. She quickly walked out of the room to go outside. Steve sighed and quickly followed her, apologizing to Okoye and Shuri.

Peter watched as the two went outside and Steve pulled Natasha into a hug. Peter looked away and sighed. Bucky and Sam were still looking at the scene with wide eyes. Sam sat down on the couch and coughed, trying to clear away the awkwardness. Bucky walked past Peter and patted him on the back.

"I get it," Bucky said, giving Peter a reassuring glance, "She'll come around." Peter smiled slightly back and watched Bucky walk into his room and close the door behind him. Sam coughed and stood back up, grimacing awkwardly at Shuri and Okoye and followed Bucky.

Shuri rolled her eyes, "Ya'll are dramatic as hell." She clapped her hands, "So... you're sure you want to do this?"

Peter bit his lip, "Yeah."

Shuri nodded, a little sympathetic, "I'll have to put you under and then I'll inject it. I don't know how it'll react with your DNA or blood but if my predictions are correct, you'll wake up with all your memories."

Peter nodded and silently followed Shuri and Okoye out of the house. They walked past Steve and Natasha and Peter stopped. Natasha turned away from Steve and crossed her arms. She bit her lip and she seemed to be in a silent battle with herself. Finally, her gaze softened and she sighed. She walked towards Peter and enveloped him into a hug. Peter hugged her back and Natasha gazed at Peter sadly.

"I get it," Natasha said, "I'm not happy with it, but, you're right. You have the right to know."

Peter smiled, "Thank you."

"Hey!" Shuri called from the transport vehicle, "Lets go get some memories back!"

. . .

All Michelle wanted was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So she went to the kitchen, made a sandwich, and was sitting down to eat it. She had to toot her horn a little; she had become very good at making pb&j since it was Morgan's favorite. As much Michelle hated to admit it, these days she spent most of her time playing with a five year old when she wasn't working with Pepper. Morgan was a good listener though and he liked to draw so MJ enjoyed spending time with him.

Things had become much easier for Michelle every since she told everyone she was in fact pregnant. For starters, Michelle didn't have to wear sweatshirts 24/7 anymore. People also started to make her more food and pick up her favorite snacks from town and MJ was definitely not complaining about that. The only thing she didn't appreciate was all the weight she was gaining. She was still pretty small for being 27 weeks pregnant, but she definitely couldn't hide her pregnancy anymore. She was forced to embrace it, and Michelle was kind of struggling.

At the moment the compound was eerily quiet. May was at work, Pepper took Morgan outside to play with the snow before all of it melted. Happy was out with Rhodey on business. Tony was the only one in the compound and he had locked himself in his lab to focus.

All Michelle was trying to do was enjoy her sandwich, but Tony had other plans.

"Miss Jones, Sir is asking if you can bring over the lab instrument that is in the counter on the kitchen." FRIDAY informed MJ.

Michelle's gaze fixed itself on the lab instrument and she pursed her lips. Her, being the stubborn person she is, said "Mhhm, No. Tell Tony that he can get it himself."

"Sir says that is extremely rude of you."

Michelle rolled her eyes, "Tell Tony that I'm eating."

"Sir says he doesn't care."

"Remind Tony that I'm technically disabled. I'm pregnant," MJ said, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"Sir says that doesn't make any sense and that pregnancy doesn't make you disabled."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Tell him to come get it himself! He has two legs and can walk on his own."

"Sir refuses. He also says that quote 'you need to exercise and that you've gained some weight'".

Michelle grumbled, "Tell him he's the worst." She stood up from her seat, annoyed that she currently wasn't eating, and winced as a sharp pain hit her. Michelle gasped and pressed a hand down on her stomach. MJ shut her eyes as another wave of pain hit her. She blinked rapidly as the world around her started to spin and she quietly cried out and shut her eyes painfully.

Michelle opened her eyes at looked down at the floor to see a puddle of blood. Another wave of pain came over Michelle and she began to feel lightheaded and woozy. "Friday," she breathed, trying her best to hold onto the counter for support.

"Yes, Miss Jones?"

Michelle's eyes fluttered open and closed, "Tell Tony to come here," She blinked, trying to stay awake, "And call Helen Cho." MJ lowered herself on the ground and almost immediately passed out, her vision going dark.

Tony was attempting to hack when he got the notification from Friday.

"Sir, it seems Miss Jones has passed out."

Tony's eyebrows furrowed and he looked up from his computer screen, "What?!"

"Miss Jones has passed out."

Tony blinked and stood up from his seat, "If she's pulling a prank on me I am going to kill her." He walked out of the lab and turned to the kitchen. His eyes went wide as his eyes fell on Michelle, passed out on the ground with a pool of blood.

"Shit," Tony hissed, running over to MJ. "Michelle, hey Michelle." Tony said, shaking MJ.

"Helen Cho says she is on her way," Friday informed Tony.

Tony hissed, "Shit Shit Shit," he grabbed Michelle, "It's gonna be ok. Everything's gonna be ok."

. . .

Michelle yawned as she walked back out of the bathroom from her work. She worked at a tanning salon (I know what the hell, but it was the only job available at the time so MJ didn't really care). Her co-worker, Alyssa, Allison, whatever her name was (let's just call her Shalissa) handed MJ a cold cloth. MJ gave her a thankful smile and took it, putting it on her forehead.

"Thanks," MJ muttered.

"No problem," Shalissa said, not looking up from her phone, "Was that the second time you threw up today?"

MJ blinked, "Yeah, I must be coming down with something."

Shalissa looked up from her phone and shrugged, "Or you're pregnant."

Michelle blinked, "What?"

Shalissa pursed her lips, "Or you know you're probably just getting sick." She then turned back to her phone.

Michelle just stood there, deep in thought. She wasn't sure the last time she got her period. But she had never been regular. She always skipped months so Michelle didn't worry when her period never came. But now she had been nauseous and had been throwing up for a whole week now. "Shit," MJ muttered.

At the end of her work day MJ quickly clocked out and began walking back to her and Peter's apartment. She walked by a drugstore and stopped in front of it, chewing her lip. "Better just check, I mean, it's probably nothing." MJ sighed. She walked in, trying to not make eye contact with the old lady behind the counter and picked up the cheapest pregnancy test there. MJ silently walked back to the counter and placed it on it.

The old lady's eyes lit up when she saw the test, "Are you and your husband trying?"

Michelle tried to smile but she's sure it came out more as a grimace, "Yes."

The old lady smiled again and handed the test back to Michelle, "Go ahead and grab another one. It's always better to take two, on the house."

MJ muttered a thanks and quickly grabbed another test before she started to walk back home.

The walk was about 30 minutes and with every passing second MJ's dread grew exponentially. She tried to take her mind off things by studying her surroundings but she was unsuccessful. She couldn't be pregnant. It just didn't make any sense. She was on birth control. And it was totally the worst timing. Worst timing.

MJ reached her apartment and strided up the stairs to her floor. She quickly put her key into the old door and the door creaked open. Michelle quickly locked the door behind her and sighed with relief, putting her bag on the ground and the paycheck she had just collected on the counter. She had to remember to put it in the bank tomorrow or else they wouldn't be able to afford this month's rent. And they had already missed paying rent two times before. It wasn't their fault San Francisco was so damn expensive!

Michelle grabbed the two tests and rushed to the bathroom. She read the instructions over and over. Two lines = pregnant. One line = not pregnant. Her hands were shaking and she opened up the boxes but froze.

She just couldn't do it.

Michelle leaned against the wall and sighed, deciding to wait for Peter to get home. She made her way out of the bathroom and changed out of her work uniform and into sweatpants and a tank top. She then sat on the couch, waiting anxiously for Peter to get home.

Almost instantly the door shot open and Peter walked in. His smile widened when he saw Michelle and she smiled slightly. He set his work stuff down and locked the door before striding over to MJ and pulling her into a kiss.

MJ smiled and kissed him back. She pulled away, "Woah," she chuckled nervously, "You're in a good mood."

Peter smiled, his eyes shining, "I got a promotion."

MJ smiled, patting his arm, "That's great."

"Yeah," Peter continued, playing with Michelle's hair, "Maybe we could go out to a nice dinner or something. Or just walk around the city to celebrate. We could go to Philz tomorrow morning."

Michelle's smile faltered, "That's uh- great. Sure."

Peter blinked and narrowed his eyes, "Are you okay?"

Michelle sighed, "Yeah I'm-I'm fine I just, haven't been feeling well."

Peter sat them down, "Are you still throwing up?"

Michelle gulped, "Yeah," she looked down at Peter and her enclosed hands, "And I'm um late," she looked back up at Peter's concerned gaze, "Like really really late, Peter".

Peter bit his lip, "Oh."

Michelle sighed, "Yeah." She looked towards the bathroom, "I got a test, two actually, you know, just in case. Even though it's probably nothing."

"Just in case." Peter repeated.

MJ nodded, "I haven't taken them yet."

Peter stared at her and stood up, putting his hand out to hers "We can do it."

Michelle looked up at him thankfully and grabbed his hand. He guided them to the bathroom and MJ tentatively stepped inside. She closed the door behind her and took the tests. She opened the door again and Peter stepped inside the bathroom.

"How long?" Peter asked, peering behind Michelle at the tests.

Michelle looked at him nervously, "Two minutes." She leaned against the wall next to Peter and sighed, running a hand over her face anxiously.

"It'll be fine," Peter said encouragingly, "Whatever it says it'll be fine."

Michelle gazed at Peter, "It'll be negative," she said, trying to convince herself, "I'm always late on my period, and I probably just ate something funny."

Peter looked down at his watch, "It's been two minutes."

Michelle froze and Peter grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. "I can't do it."

"It's okay," Peter said, "I'll do it." He approached the sink and gazed down at the two tests. Michelle watched his facial expressions. At first, his expression didn't change. He blinked down at the tests and bit his lip. He looked back at Michelle and opened his mouth but no words came out.

Michelle's heart dropped.

She grabbed the two tests instantly and studied them over and over.

Two lines = pregnant.

Michelle dropped the tests like they were fire and immediately retreated out to the living room. Peter picked up the two tests and put them on the sink before he went after Michelle. She was sitting on the couch with an unreadable expression on her face. She looked stunned and her eyes were staring out at the blank wall in front of her.

"MJ," Peter breathed sitting down next to her, "It'll be okay, we'll be okay."

Michelle just continued to stare out in space in shock. Peter didn't leave her side. The two didn't eat anything and Peter guided Michelle to their bedroom. Even though it was only 7pm, Peter shut off all the lights and closed all the curtains and windows and led Michelle to bed. She laid down, still in complete shock and Peter kissed her forehead gingerly before he laid down beside her.

She never fell asleep that night.

Peter wasn't aware of what was happening at first. He was coming out of a deep sleep when he became aware of Michelle crying beside him. Peter instantly shot up and automatically pulled Michelle into a hug and cooing soft things in her ear. Michelle instantly leaned into Peter and started crying on him, not caring she was getting his shirt wet.

He didn't know how long he held a crying Michelle. MJ finally sat up and wiped her eyes. "I'm out of tears," MJ said dryly.

Peter stared down at Michelle with concern, "MJ..."

"I'm fine," MJ sighed shakily, "I'm fine."

"No you're not."

MJ covered her face with her hands, "How are we gonna do this, Peter? I can't be a mom."

Peter sighed and grabbed MJ's hands, "We'll figure it out."

MJ looked up at him sadly, "We're living paycheck on paycheck. How are we gonna do this?"

Peter gazed down at her, "I'll get another job."

MJ shook her head, "You already have two." The two had a few moments of silence before MJ whispered, bits of sadness in her voice "This is the worst timing." Peter held onto Michelle a little tighter. She covered her face with her hands and flopped back onto the mattress. "I feel like the universe is against us." Michelle never wanted kids. She never imagined herself as a mother. At the moment, she was having a particularly hard time that right now, in this moment, she was pregnant. There was a baby. In her. Or more scientifically, probably just a mass of cells but still, a mass of cells that would produce into a baby. A living thing.

"I mean," Peter pursed his lips and laid next to Michelle again and faced her. He was trying to desperately figure out his next words. "There's never a good time to have a kid, right?"

Michelle uncovered her face and stared at Peter with quizzical eyes.

He gulped and continued, "I mean, yeah this is pretty shitty timing, but... Michelle..." Michelle had to blink over and over again. He had big puppy eyes. And he only had those eyes when he wanted something. Wait, what?

MJ didn't expect this reaction.

"You want this?" Michelle whispered, shock evident in her voice.

Peter furrowed his brows, "You didn't think I would?"

"I mean..." MJ frowned. She had a lost expression on her face. "I don't know what to do." Her voice quivered a bit.

"I don't either," Peter reassured, pulling her closer. "But we'll figure this out. Together."

MJ gazed back up at him through her eyelashes. "You want to do this?" She asked, timidly.

Peter's face broke out into a huge smile and his eyes sparkled. He didn't even say anything but kiss her. MJ leaned into the kiss and pulled out breathless. Peter wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him so that their bodies were touching.

"I've only dreamed of this, like ever since we were like 20." MJ didn't say anything but she continued to gaze at Peter's face. He was staring at the ceiling with a dream like state in his eyes. "When I saw you hold Morgan at Pepper's Christmas Party and he wouldn't let go of you. And then you both fell asleep on the couch together." He then turned his head and faced Michelle. His eyes met hers. "I never wanted a family. Or at least I never thought I would have one. My life has always been so unpredictable that I thought that it just wasn't my fate to have one. My parents died, Ben died, I got bit, and I was so obsessed with this newfound life that I never thought about settling down," His eyes traveled down to Michelle's lips and then back up to her dark brown eyes, "And then I found you and-" He caressed MJ's cheek, "And now I can't stop thinking about it."

MJ pulled Peter into a sweet and slow kiss. She rested her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her body. "So..." her eyes fluttered shut, "I can't believe I'm saying this ... We're gonna do this?"

MJ could hear Peter's smile in his voice, "Yeah, we're gonna do this."

. . .

The first thing MJ was aware of was the blinding lights. The second was the annoying IV in her arm.

Michelle groaned as she tried to sit up but two hands held her down. She opened up her eyes to see May, gently holding her down.

"May," MJ groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"Stay down," May said softly, "You need to rest." May raised the bed electronically and smiled softly at Michelle. Michelle blinked groggily at May.

At that moment, Helen Cho entered the room and smiled at Michelle.

"What happened?" Michelle asked hoarsely.

Helen crossed her arms, "You started to have contractions. Lucky for you I'm very good at what I do and I was able to stop them."

Mitchell blinked groggily again, "So... everything's fine?"

Helen nodded, "Luckily. I just want to keep you on an IV overnight for observation and then I want you to go on bed rest. And to stay away from stress."

Michelle coughed, "Bed rest?"

Helen sighed, "It sucks but, better safe than sorry." Helen stood back up, "I'll check back on you in a few hours, if you need anything just call FRIDAY."

"Thanks," Michelle said, rubbing her eyes again.

"Just try to rest as much as you can." She gave Michelle a look before she shut the door behind her.

May grabbed Michelle's hand, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too." MJ sighed, eyes drooping tiredly.

May noticed and stood up, "I'll be back soon, try to rest. Next time I come back I'll bring food." She winked at Michelle and shut the door behind her.

Michelle laid tiredly for a few moments before she began to fall into a sleep. Her eyes fluttered shut and she sighed contently as she snuggled into the sheets.

Whatever drugs Helen had put her own felt reallly good.

Michelle was about to fall back asleep when Morgan shrieked and threw the door open, yelling "Aunty! Aunty!"

Michelle forced her eyes open to reveal Morgan who was standing next to Michelle's bed. He was basically jumping up and down and MJ smiled weakly at him. Morgan grabbed her hand a tad roughly, "Are you okay?" He asked with big doe eyes and concern in his voice.

Michelle blinked groggily and cleared her throat, "E'm fine, good, 's ok."

Morgan giggled, "You're talking funny."

Michelle's eyes dropped again, "I'm 'n some funny 'tuff right n'w."

Suddenly the door shot open again to reveal a very stressed out and breathless Tony Stark. "Morgan!" Tony scolded once he saw Morgan next to Michelle's bedside. He walked up guiltily to Morgan, "You can't be down here!"

Morgan frowned, "But no one was telling me what happened with Aunty MJ!" He grabbed MJ's hand again.

"Aunty needs to rest," Tony said, crossing his arms, "So we need to go."

Morgan puffed out his chest, "No I want to stay with Aunty."

Michelle blinked, still trying to wake up and she turned to face Morgan, "Morg, I'm fine. Everything 's fine and t'mm'w we can do somet'ing fun together."

Morgan looked back at Michelle, "Do you promise?"

Michelle nodded and smiled druggily, "'s I promise."

Morgan nodded and reluctantly and followed Tony out of the room. Tony turned to face Michelle and he cleared his throat, "Um- I'm glad everything's okay, Michelle."

Michelle continued to smile druggily at Tony, "MJ"

Tony blinked, "What?"

"My friens' call me MJ," Michelle slurred, slowly falling back asleep.

Tony smiled. He wasn't sure if MJ was going to remember this tomorrow but, he was gonna take it.