The phone rang and rang.
"Come on Peter, pick up," M.J. said quietly, bouncing lightly up and down from her sitting position on the bed. Her nervous energy seemed to build more and more with each ring. There was something she really needed to talk to him about; something she really needed to hear from him. It wasn't like they hadn't talked about it before, but...she just really needed to hear it right now.
"Hey M.J," Peter said over the intense background noise, "little busy at the moment."
"I'm sorry Peter, I just..." she started, but was stopped by the sound of a thud, accompanied by a groan from Peter. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Peter said, shaking off whatever had just happened. "Sandy here didn't take to well to my suggestion hiring himself out as a giant sandbox. I tried to convince him it'd be a quicker way to make money then petty theft, but he claims it's more 'fun'. Here, give me one sec..."
About 30 seconds and what sounded like the pouring of liquid later, Peter's voice was back. "There. I gotta say, I think this statue I just made would make Michelangelo proud."
M.J. rolled her eyes. "I'm sure," she replied. 24 years old, and the dork's sense of humor had never went away. Yet, she wouldn't change it for anything.
"Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Peter asked as the sound of wind indicated he was resuming his patrol through the NYC skyline.
"Oh, yeah," M.J. said, remembering why she had called in the first place. She squinted her eyes shut, before opening them again.
"Peter...you think I'll make a good mom, right?"
Suddenly, the sound of wind came to an abrupt halt, indicating Peter had landed somewhere.
"Em, of course I do," Peter said gently, invoking his own nickname for her. "I wouldn't have married you if I did."
M.J. closed her eyes at the memory of their wedding. Pepper had been kind enough to allow them to use the lake house; it was a nice, quiet and private place that suited their needs perfectly. She still remember the butterflies in her stomach; she didn't get those too often, but they were ever prevalent that day. However, all that had went away when she started down the aisle and saw Peter, standing there in his tux, with the biggest smile on his face and tears of joy in his eyes. Seeing his expression reminded her that everything would be alright, but it would be even better with each other.
"I know," M.J. said, coming back to the present, "but...I just need to hear it again."
"Okay, I'll do you one better," Peter said. "I don't think you'll be a good mom. You'll be the best."
There was a conviction in his words, a certainty in them, that made tears begin flowing from M.J.'s eyes. The fact of the matter was, whenever Peter first brought up kids, it had been a bit of a sensitive topic. She finally confessed to having a lot of insecurities about being a mom, mostly because her mom left her and her dad when M.J. was only two, and her father never remarried, descending into a deep depression that he still struggled with to this day. Even after meeting and forming a close relationship with Peter's aunt May, M.J. always had a secret fear that she would ruin her child's life, just as she felt for so many years that her mom had ruined hers.
But Peter always believed in her. He would tell her that he couldn't wait to see her as the mother of their children. He told her that, if they had a daughter, he couldn't wait to see her instill the same determination and never settle for less than being the best attitude that was already paying off for her in her young career as a lawyer. If they had a son, he said that he couldn't wait to see her teach him how to respect and treat a woman properly. More than anything, whichever they had, Peter frequently told her that he couldn't wait to how proud their children would be of their mom.
"Em, is everything alright?" Peter asked, drawing her attention back to the moment.
"Yeah," M.J. replied, feeling much more peaceful.
"Okay," Peter said, though it was clear he could tell something was up. "I should be done with patrol here in a little bit. Be home soon."
"Can't wait," M.J. replied. "Love you."
"I love you too," he replied.
M.J. hung up the phone, her eyes falling on the positive pregnancy tests in her left hand, a smile on her face.
Peter sure was in for a surprise when he got home.
M.J. waited as patiently as she could for Peter to come home, her excitement growing within her by the second. It took a lot to get her excited, but learning that you're going to have a kid put her on another level entirely. As she sat on the bed with her legs crossed, she thought through how to tell him. Should she just out and drop it, simple as that? Such a delivery would certainly be on par with her usual tendencies, but she wanted to make this special. She wasn't very good at this kind of thing, and the clock was ticking, as Peter would be back from patrol any minute.
"Hey Peter," she said out loud to herself. Maybe sounding out the words would help. "You'll never guess what I..." Nope. A lot of people said something like that, and M.J. wasn't a lot of people. Undeterred, she tried again.
"So, Peter, I have some news for you..." Nah, far, FAR too casual.
"Peter, so, a funny thing happened..." Nope, too ambiguous.
M.J. flopped back against the bed. "Why is this so difficult?" She said, putting her hands to her face. She got up from the bed and walked around, trying hard to think through exactly the right words. For as long as she could remember, she had always been a perfectionist, and that fact was rearing its ugly head once more in this moment. Anything M.J. committed to of her own free will, she went all out, determined to be the best. That was especially true in her relationship with Peter. Make no mistake, she felt absolutely, 100% comfortable around him as herself. Perhaps more than anything else, that was what true her to him in the first place: he accepted her for HER, weird, dark humor and all.
It was exactly that fact that made her perfectionism even worse around him. Because she knew he cared so much, and because he showed it in literally every way possible, she wanted to go above and beyond for him. For instance, while the two of them shared responsibility for tasks like washing the dishes, whenever M.J. did it, they had to be spotless. Whenever it was her turn to plan date night, everything had to fall into place perfectly. Whenever it was her turn to cook, it had to come out at the oven right on time, not a minute late or early. Most of all, whenever she surprised him with anything, for any reason, the surprise had to go off without a hitch. Even if Peter was easy going it didn't mind if things went haywire sometimes, in M.J.'s mind, it wasn't the same if it wasn't perfect, especially when it was for Peter Parker.
"Hey M.J." M.J. nearly jumped out of her skin as she whirled around to see Peter, still in his suit sans mask, having climbed in through the window.
"Hey," she said, hoping her nervousness wasn't showing as much as it felt like it was. Her mind raced as she thought through what to say.
"Everything alright?" Peter asked, walking towards her.
"Yeah, yeah of course," M.J. said. She could feel her nervous excitement showing through the smile on her face. If she just had a little more time...
"Well, I'm gonna jump in the shower real quick," Peter said after giving her a quick kiss. "You know how my fights with Sandy are. I promise it won't take long though.
"Oh...yeah sure, that works," she said, feeling a little relieved internally. While she could barely contain herself and just wanted to spit it out already, this would give her at least a little more time to think through exactly how to do it.
"Em, are you sure you're okay?" Peter said, giving her a suspicious side eye. "You're acting a little strange, even for you."
"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, offering what she hoped was a convincing smile to boot. The longer he hung around, the more likely she was to just let it fly.
"Okay; be back in a little bit," Peter said, giving her another kiss before heading to the shower. As she heard the shower running, M.J. sent her mind into overdrive as she continued pondering the right words. Still, even with this extra time the universe had granted her, the words simply would not come. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't even hear the water go off in the shower.
"Alright, I think I got all the sand out anyway," Peter said, causing her to whirl around and see him walk into the room. "I guess we'll find out in the morning if we see any grains or not..."
His eyes met her's.
"Okay," Peter started, "I know you hate when I won't drop something, but are you absolutely sure that you're..."
"I'm pregnant." There it was, exactly how she DIDN'T want to say it.
M.J. stared into Peter's eyes, watching the big announcement wash over him. She could almost see the gears in his brain processing it. She held her breath for what felt like an eternity, even though it was only a few seconds. A nervous smile took over her face as she did.
"I'm...I'm gonna be a dad?" Peter stammered, a gradual smile beginning to spread across his lips.
M.J. nodded quickly and repeatedly, her smile growing bigger as a sense of peace began to replace the nerves.
Finally, as if unable to contain himself any further, Peter ran the short distance towards M.J, scooping her up and spinning them both around as they laughed gleefully. After a moment, they stopped spinning, and their eyes met. M.J. clasped his face in her hands and they closed the distance with a deep kiss.
"You know, looking back, your call makes so much more sense now," Peter said once their lips separated. She uncurled her legs as he let her down, but his wrapped grip around her lower back remained.
"Yeah," M.J. said. "When I first got the result, I was happy, but as I sat there to think, a million different thoughts came to mind about how I could mess up our kid. I just needed to hear it from you that I wouldn't."
"Believe it or not, I'm really nervous about being a parent too," Peter confessed.
"Why?" M.J. asked. "You had great examples in your aunt and uncle."
"I did," Peter conceded, "but living up to that kind of example is terrifying. All I saw in them growing up were the good things, and all I really see in myself are the things I lack."
"Yeah, that seems to be a nasty habit of yours," M.J, agreed, moving her arms so they were around his shoulders.
"Exactly," Peter said. "So I'm nervous too."
"Well," M.J. began, reaching her right hand to play with one of Peter's curls, "if there's one thing I've been reminded of often since you had to go and get your identity outed and framed for murder in the same day, it's that we can take on literally the whole world together."
"You got that right," Peter agreed, smiling.
"I usually do," M.J. said, offering a playful wink before closing the distance with another kiss.
Hope you all enjoyed this!
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." Proverbs 31:28