Fifteen

Peter felt like he was going to throw up. His throat felt tight and he was definitely going to hurl on the expensive carpet flown over from Bulgaria. He actually had a relative? A living, breathing relative that actually shared Peter's blood? He had an Aunt.

When he had been a child, he had asked Tony if he had any relatives and he had always responded with a curt no. After all if he had any relatives would he be there with Tony? Not likely.

Peter's cheeks burned at the though. He had never questioned Tony. Was it possible that he had lied to him? Of course he had lied to him, Tony always meddled even when he didn't asked him to. He felt so stupid, he had never though of asking Friday or Pepper if he had any relatives. "Friday," he said quietly. "Did dad. . .did dad lie to me? Did he knew that I had an aunt as my only living relative in New York?"

Friday didn't respond right away and it seemed that she was protecting him which only pissed Peter off even more. "He did it to protect you, Peter because he loves you. Mr. Stark thought that you would do better with him."

"Of course he did," Rage seemed to course in Peter's veins. "It seems that Mr. Stark though of everything, that he thought what was best for me without ever asking me, without even bothering to tell me even years later. He still insists on treating me like a child-"

"You are a child-"

"Not anymore I'm not," he snapped. Peter tried to think back at any mention of an aunt, but he came out blank. No one had mentioned anything to Peter of having a missing relative. Not Pepper. Not Tony. Not Happy. He expected it from Tony, but he felt kind of betrayed by Pepper and Happy. "Friday, do you know why dad refused to let me know about my Aunt May?" Maybe he had a good reason maybe Aunt May was a secret serial killer or something.

"I am not entirely aware of the situation, Peter." Friday said calmly. "All I know is that your mother signed over guardianship to Mr. Stark upon her and your father's death. You mother signed the documents."

"Not my father?"

"If both parents are deceased then only one signature is needed." Friday calmly explained. "I have May Parker's address if that is of interest to you, but Peter I must insist please speak with Mr. Stark about this, it is for your own good."

"I think I can handle this without my father." Peter said as he wrote down the address on a piece of paper in shaky writing. It was only a couple of subway rides away. He had taken the subway a couple of times and he could surely handle it this time. He wasn't the delicate flower that Tony thought he was. "I'll be back before he comes back, Fri." He should probably ask Friday if his father had put any security in place, but his thoughts were too scrambled to think properly.

The subway ride was longer that Peter had anticipated, and he could see that the shiny, buildings and town cars were slowly disappearing with each stop. This was probably the reason why Peter had never stood foot in Queens.

"Get a grip, Peter." he mumbled to himself. The last thing that he wanted was to act like a spoiled rich kid even though he was a spoiled rich kid. He entered the address that Friday had given him on Google Maps and got off the spot it indicated. Next he had to take a bus.

"$2.75 kid," an overweight bearded man said gruffly when Peter went in. Peter flushed as he dug into his pockets. He normally paid everything by credit card and he didn't spend much except the occasional Star Wars figurine or pizza that he shared with Ned.

By sheer dumb luck he managed to find some change in his pockets. The man grunted and Peter went inside. The bus was packed with crying children, teenagers, and tired adults. Peter took a seat towards the end and tried to ignore the smell of cat pee that was present.

He looked out the window as the bus passed by, there were many old buildings, colorful markets, and so many restaurants and hot dog stands. Peter bit his lip, this could have been his life if Tony hadn't taken him, if his mother hadn't signed away the papers. Why had his mother signed away Peter's life to Tony? Maybe his aunt knew.

Peter though of the way the way that his life would have been different if he had lived with Aunt May instead. He would have gone to public school in Queens, he would have probably come home every night to a home cooked meal, and he would have probably gone to school every day feeling loved instead of being ignored like an unwanted puppy.

But then there was the other side of the coin that Peter didn't want to realize. If Tony hadn't adopted him he would have never meet Pepper, Happy, Harry, Ned, MJ, or any of the Avengers, he had access to everything that he could want, he would never have to worry about money or college. He didn't have to work if he didn't want to. You owe a lot to Tony too.

The bus stopped and Peter got out in front of an apartment building that was painted gray and was a bit sad looking. There were a couple of toddlers playing in front of the building and two young women were speaking Spanish by the front door. There was one thing that Peter had forgotten to ask Friday. He didn't know May's apartment number. Now it was time that he put his minimal Spanish that he knew to work. He approached the two young women. "Uh, Hola. . .perdoname. . .uh May Parker Apartment uh numero."

The younger one of them giggled. "Si, tercer piso. Third floor. 4C."

"Gracias."

Peter slowly went upstairs, he could feel his palms sweating and his heart seemed to be racing. Now that he was here, he didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to act. He didn't even know if Aunt May was going to like him. If worse came to worse, Peter could always pretend that this day didn't happened.

He finally reached 4C and he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A tired woman with long brown hair and pink scrubs answered. She was wearing glasses that looked like they came from the 1970's. They were cool.

She perched her glasses on her nose and raised an eyebrow. "I assume that you are not bringing me my Chinese food."

Peter gave a nervous laugh. "No, I'm not. Sorry to bother you, but are you-are you May Parker?" The woman nodded. "I, um this is kind of awkward, but I'm Peter Parker. I'm Mary and Richard's son. I'm your nephew."

May's mouth went into a tiny O as she pulled Peter into a tight hug, she smelled like hand sanitizer and fresh laundry. May stroked his hair. "Oh, Peter, oh Peter is it really you? Oh, Peter!"

-End of Chapter Fifteen-

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