Peter entered silently into his apartment through his bedroom window, shutting it back behind him. It had been a long evening on patrol; no super villains, but just a lot of basic crimes such as muggings, armed robberies, assaults, etc. Oh, and of course he couldn't forget that he had to get over 50 people out of a building that was collapsing, which he luckily accomplished. All that to say, it had been a long night.
Wanting to greet his wife and daughter before he jumped in the shower, he walked out of the bedroom just down the hall, but stopped short just around the corner when he heard M.J. and Annie talking. He hated to interrupt these mother daughter moments; M.J. didn't often say it explicitly, but he could tell she cherished the times when she got some one on one time with their spunky, fun loving 6 year old. They all loved being together, but Peter was always happy to let the two main girls in his life share some quality time.
From the angle he was at to them, he could see the sides of both of their faces, but they seemed to absorbed in whatever they had been talking about to notice him.
"And that's how your daddy stopped the Rhino man and saved everybody on the Brooklyn Bridge!" M.J. said dramatically.
"Wow!" Annie said in awe. Peter blushed a little as he stood near the corner of the wall. Annie seemed to think that having Spider-Man for a dad was just the coolest thing, though it seemed mostly just so she could hear an endless list of stories.
"Tell me another story about daddy!" the little girl requested adamantly, leaning forward against the table. Peter smiled to himself, looking on.
"Oh, you've heard lots of daddy's stories!" M.J. insisted, offering a dismissive hand wave for emphasis. "Don't you want to hear a story about mommy?"
"Mommy, you're not a superhero," the little girl said like it should be obvious. "Daddy's stories are exciting!"
Peter's face went from happy to disappointed in an instant at his daughter's words. He knew the girl was only 6 and was still learning tact and when to say certain things in general, but that was far too abrasive. What really did it though was seeing M.J.'s reaction: her head leaned forward, and he could see her lips fighting to maintain an evenness. Her eyes were the biggest teller of all, as his wife suddenly couldn't look straight at their daughter, like the girl had stuck a knife in her heart by basically saying daddy was better, even though they both likely knew the girl didn't mean to go that far.
Peter's heart sank as he observed this look on his wife. M.J. had never been one to brag about her accomplishments or draw attention to herself, but he had learned quickly how different it can be getting validation as a parent from your own child, no matter how young. Not wanting to intrude on this particularly awkward talk, Peter quietly went back down the hall to his and M.J.'s bedroom, this time announcing his presence as soon as he exited the room.
"Daddy!" Annie said excitedly, rushing towards her father. Peter scooped her up, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Alright, I have to put you down now, because I need to kiss your mother!" Peter declared as he set the girl down on the floor.
"Gross!" the girl said, covering her eyes. Peter chuckled as M.J. walked towards him, planting a kiss on his lips.
"You smell like property damage," M.J. observed once their lips separated.
"Yeah, well, I guess next time I won't rescue those people just so I can come home smelling nice," Peter teased. When he and M.J. first started dating, she was the only truly witty one between the two in their interactions, but in the years since, he had learned how to keep up, though she still insisted she had at least a slight lead in that department.
"Well, as great as that would be, those people wouldn't be coming home at all if you didn't," M.J. pointed out. "So, I guess I can let it slide."
"How noble of you," Peter teased, his face slowly leaning back in towards hers.
"Yeah, I know," she said, her head slowly moving in towards his as well. Unfortunately, their daughter sprang up again just in time to ruin the moment.
"Daddy, don't forget you have to tell me a story before bed!" she shouted.
"A story?" Peter said. "No, I don't remember that being a thing."
"Daddy, your silly!" Annie said, smiling gleefully as she playfully slapped him in the leg. Story time was a tradition in the Jones-Parker household, with Peter and M.J. taking turns telling their little girl a tale of epic proportions while she got settled in bed.
"Okay, I'll tell you what," Peter said, squatting down so he was face to face with his daughter, "Daddy's going to shower first, so he doesn't smell like property damage anymore." He shot a glance at M.J, who rolled her eyes and shook her head, before continuing. "Then, if you have your pajamas on are ready in bed, I will have a doozy for you."
"Deal!" the girl shouted, immediately sprinting towards her room.
"Annie May!" Peter shouted, stopping the girl in her tracks. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Oh, right, sorry!" the little girl said, running back and throwing her arms around her mother. It was also tradition to hug the parent who wasn't telling the story before changing into her pajamas, and Peter wasn't going to let her forget that, especially not after what he heard earlier.
"Goodnight mommy," the girl said softly.
"Goodnight Annie," M.J. said, bending down so she could properly hug the six year old. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." Then the little girl was off again.
"So, what's this doozy of a story you've got in mind?" M.J. asked him once their daughter was out of earshot.
"Not sure yet," Peter admitted. "I guess I have a shower's worth of time to think of something."
"Better get started then," M.J. said, giving him one more quick kiss before turning back to finish some last minute clean up for the night.
The water washed over Peter as he stood there, thinking about what story to tell. The exchange he overheard between mother and daughter still fresh in his mind, he knew he wanted to think of some way to show how M.J. was a superhero in her own right. He didn't want their daughter growing up viewing him as the parent who did the more important stuff, unintentionally or otherwise. When it came to their careers, his wife's early body of work as an up and coming lawyer was already looking much more promising than his job working a start up in the field of biochemistry. She had already helped so many people, but how could he do even one of those stories justice? As he turned the water off, he resolved to pick one by the time he entered his daughter's room and go from there.
"I'm all ready daddy!" the little girl said as she was already mostly tucked into the covers, leaning back against her pillow.
"I see that; good job!" Peter replied as he walked over and sat on the side of her bed.
"So, what cool story do you have?" the girl asked. "Is it one where you fought that pumpkin throwing guy? Oh, what about the one where you fought that guy who was on fire!?"
"No, nothing like that tonight," Peter said. "I want to tell you a different kind of story tonight."
"Oh?" the girl replied, looking perplexed.
"It's a story about your mother, and the work she does," Peter replied.
"Oh come on daddy," Annie moaned.
"Uh uh," Peter replied, holding his hand up as he shook his head. Normally M.J. was the tougher one on the girl, but when it came to defending his wife's honor to anyone, even their kid, he was had no trouble whatsoever being assertive.
"I think it will be good for you to know the ways mommy really helps people," he continued. He understood why the little girl likely had a bad impression of M.J.'s job: since she couldn't afford her own office space yet, they had simply turned their spare room into her office, and Annie only knew that area as the place where mommy wasn't to be disturbed unless it was an emergency. Still, Peter figured it was time she knew why.
"Oh, okay," Annie finally conceded, though the girl still didn't look especially pleased with the idea.
"You know, people come to mommy for help on things all the time," Peter stated.
His daughter raised an eyebrow (something she clearly picked up from her mother). "Really?"
"Oh yes," Peter said. "One time, there was a woman who got hurt in an accident at the place she worked at, and I wasn't there to help her."
"You weren't?" the girl said, as if such an idea was ludicrous.
"Unfortunately, your daddy can't help everyone," Peter said. "Anyway, this woman, who was actually close to your mom's age, found out that the accident was something the place she worked for could've prevented, but didn't. This woman's leg was really hurt, and she didn't have a lot of money to pay to have the doctor fix it. She begged the man who owned the place she worked at to help pay for it, but do you know what he did?"
The girl was practically on the edge of her seat so to speak. "What did he do?"
"He LAUGHED at her!" Peter said.
Annie gasped.
"Oh yes," Peter assured her. "He said there was no way she could prove her claims about what really happened. So, this woman went all over the the city looking for someone to help her get justice against this man, but nobody would help her. They said she was a lost cause, that nobody could beat the man she worked for...until one day, she met your mother."
"Mommy helped her?" the girl said, her face now one of bewilderment.
"She sure did!" Peter assured her. "She investigated everything, gathering all the evidence she needed to help these people. Once she did, her and this woman went before a judge, and so did the man the lady had worked for."
"The bad one?" Annie asked.
"Yep," Peter confirmed. "Your mother had to prove to the judge that the man had not done what was necessary to make sure this woman was safe, and that was the cause of her injury. If she could do that, then the man would have to pay. However, this man had not one, not even two, but THREE lawyers of his own!"
"Oh no!" Annie shouted, covering her mouth with her hands. "Did mommy win?"
"She sure did," Peter said, pride filling his voice. "She out argued each and every one of them, proving everything they said wrong and showing that the man had indeed not done what he should've to make sure the people who worked for him were safe. He ended up having to pay the woman eleven million dollars!"
"Wow," Annie replied, her eyes wide with shock.
"You know the best part about that story?" Peter asked.
"What?"
"That kind of thing is what your mom normally does to make money, but she didn't make any from it," Peter stated.
"Nothing?" Annie asked.
Peter shook his head. "The lady couldn't afford to pay her beforehand, and almost all the money they won needed to go to the medical bills, since her leg had gotten worse in the mean time. Your mother knew she wasn't going to get paid, but she still helped this woman because she knew it was the right thing to do."
This time, the girl said nothing, looking down instead.
"You see Annie, what your mother does is just as important, maybe even more so, then what I do," Peter said. "She doesn't get a lot of attention like being Spider-Man does, but she still works hard for people less fortunate than her. That's how she makes a difference in the world."
"I didn't know that," Annie admitted sheepishly.
"I know that a lot of the work she does hear doesn't look like anything special, but when she's in her office, she's gathering information and making sure she had everything she needs in order to help these people," Peter explained.
"That's why I shouldn't bother her when she's in there?" Annie asked. "So she can help those people?"
Peter nodded, giving an "mm hmm."
"But I want to help those people too," Annie stated.
Peter smiled. "Well, I'll tell you what: tomorrow, you and I can talk to mommy, and maybe we can figure out how you can help her. Deal?"
"Deal," the girl said, sticking out her right pinkie finger. Peter it in his own, and they shook on it to solidify the pinkie promise.
"Alright, time to go to bed," Peter said. He got up so he could make sure the little girl was tucked in as she wiggled her way fully underneath the covers.
"I love you Annie May," Peter said, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
"I love you too daddy," she said. Peter got up and started to walk out the door.
"Hey daddy?" his daughter called, making him stop just before he'd reached the hallway.
"Yes?"
"Maybe when it's your turn again, you can tell me another story about mommy helping somebody?"
Peter smiled a large smile. "Oh, I'm sure I can think of one," he said. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
He stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind him. When he turned back towards the kitchen area, there was M.J, standing a couple feet in front of him. Her arms were crossed, but she was smiling.
"You were listening to that, weren't you?" Peter asked awkwardly. His wife said nothing, instead walking up to him and planting a deep kiss on his lips.
"I love you, but you didn't have to do that," she said. Clearly he hadn't been as stealthy earlier as he thought he'd been.
"I love you too, and yes, I did," Peter asserted. "I want our daughter to know that her mom is a superhero too. After all, don't people like to talk about their favorite superheroes? I was just sharing about mine."
M.J. smiled even wider than before, tears welling up in her eyes. She leaned forward, pressing another gentle but deep kiss onto his lips.
"You know you're my favorite superhero too, right?" M.J. said.
"Uhm, I'm not sure you've ever actually said that out loud," he said, maintaining a straight face for barely even a second before it gave way to a smile.
"Well you are," she said, winking at him as she added "but don't let it go to your head or anything."
Hope you enjoyed this little one shot!
Praying for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." Proverbs 31:31