A/N: This is it! The final chapter! Merry Christmas Everybody!

(Sorry Spidermanfan, you won't like this chapter, but thanks very muchly for your reviews:-) )

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Chapter 5

There was a soft thud above her head, then a voice calling.

"Incoming!"

Mary-Jane jumped out of the way of the gap in the roof, just as a large, webbing-covered bundle dropped down, followed close behind by Spider-Man. His head immediately swivelled over to where Amelia was, tense and gripping onto the hand-railing.

"How is she?" he asked.

"As far as I can tell, she's O.K, but I don't think it will be long now." MJ was crouched beside the bundle, trying to tear it open.

"Uh, P… Spider-Man?"

"Oh. Sorry." He tore the webbing off the blankets, and presented the items wrapped inside to MJ.

"Sheets, scissors, hot water, string, cotton swabs, antiseptic, kidney dish,… bunsen burner, spirits…" he listed as he handed them over.

"Bunsen burner? What the hell is that for? And what took you so long?"

"For sterilising the scissors. And you'd never believe this, but I ran into old Raxton downstairs, and…"

"Let me guess; you stopped for a cup of tea and a chat."

"Make that mercury solution and a fight, and you got it."

"Typical. Always getting sidetracked. Did you…?"

They were interrupted by Amelia. "My God, you sound like an old married couple… You know each other then?" she said weakly, in a hiatus before her next contraction, peering at them over her shoulder.

Mary-Jane blushed, but Spidey said "Sure, Superheroes and super-models - we're like that, you know." He crossed his fingers in demonstration.

MJ laughed, though she didn't really feel like laughing. Were they that transparent? Sure, it had been a while since they had been together, and a lot of things had happened, a lot of bad things, but how was it that in this situation it was as if they'd never been apart? She missed Peter more than she thought possible, but she was still so confused. This was Spider-Man here, not Peter. But they were the one and the same, weren't they? Spider-Man was Peter. Peter was Spider-Man. She shouldn't forget that. They were the same person. He was her husband, her love…

She came out of her blue funk to find Spidey ripping up the sheets.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh? Is this a trick question? I'm ripping up the sheets; y'know, for diapers and swaddling - do they still swaddle babies? - and, uh, cleaning rags…"

MJ could hear the note of nervousness in his voice; she wished she could see his face, but she gave his arm a squeeze instead.

There was a low groan from Amelia.

"I better go and check how she's going…"

Mary-Jane felt a little queasy herself. She could see the top of the baby's head, the black hair wet and plastered under the covering membrane. Amelia was hissing with pain. Suddenly, a huge gush of water splashed all over the floor of the elevator, and MJ's boots.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, jumping back. She stood for a second, feeling woozy, then unexpectedly, a fog enveloped her until all became black and she knew no more.

…………………………………………..

Peter had been occupied tearing up the sheets into manageable pieces, when Amelia's waters broke. He saw Mary-Jane step back, sway, and then start to fall in a dead faint. He caught her before she hit the ground, then lowered her gently into the corner of the elevator furtherest from Amelia, which given the size of the elevator, was not very. He quickly made sure she was lying comfortably, then went over to Amelia's side.

"Looks like it's up to you and me now, kiddo," he said. "How are you?"

Amelia panted. "It stings. I think the baby's coming…" She screwed up her face, and gripped onto the hand-rail again.

'What to do? What to do?' thought Spidey. He threw one of the larger bits of sheet on the floor below Amelia, then quickly peeled off his gloves and web-shooters; they would only get in the way. Of all the odd things to think about at this particular moment, he had flashing through his mind a scene of when he was a young boy, and Uncle Ben was trying to get him interested in sports, especially baseball. He had bought him a catcher's mitt in the hope he could actually catch the ball for once, but no such luck. Well, this was one catch he hoped he wouldn't fumble.

The baby's head appeared; Spider-Man gently placed a hand under it, and then, when with another push, Amelia delivered the baby's shoulder and body all at once, he caught it with his other hand as well. He watched in wonderment, as the baby screwed up it's face, opened it's mouth, and let out a thin, small cry.

Amelia half turned, looking tired and sweaty, but not noticing her tiredness. "What did I have?' she asked.

Spidey wrapped the pashmina around the baby, and handed it to Amelia, whose smile of pure joy hit him hard, much harder than the Molten Man had hit him earlier.

"A boy, a beautiful boy."

He felt all choked up as he helped Amelia and her newborn onto a folded-up blanket with a pillow to prop them up. Amelia cradled the baby to her chest, and she and her new son stared at each other, meeting, and getting to know each other for the first time.

Spidey turned his head, not that Amelia could see his tears - she was too involved with her baby, and besides, he was still wearing his mask. He almost felt it was redundant in such a moment - this was not the time for hidden faces.

He saw Mary-Jane had come to from her faint, and was sitting up, smiling at him. He moved over to her and sat down beside her, his arm over her shoulders in a loose embrace.

"That was well done, Peter," she whispered. She lifted up the bottom of his mask, pulled it free from his mouth and kissed him, tasting the salt from his tears. She lowered his mask, placed her hands on his chest and looked up into the opaque eye-pieces. "I'm sorry I fainted at the critical moment, I can't believe I was so weak as to…"

"Hush." Spider-Man held her hands where they lay. "It can't have been easy for you, to go through all this after… after…"

"It's all right now." She looked over to where Amelia was reclined, head bowed over her son, her fingers delicately stroking the fine black hair covering the tiny head as he fed.

"In fact," she continued, "I think this has helped me to change… to adjust."

Spidey drew his breath, about to ask, but half afraid to, if this meant matters between them had also changed, when Amelia called out softly to them.

"Mary-Jane, Spider-Man, can you help me please?"

Spidey leapt up and over to her side in one bound, frightened that something was wrong; MJ scrambled over only slightly more slowly.

With a twinkle in her eye, Amelia looked up at them.

"I have a problem," she said. "I thought I was having a girl, and didn't have any name chosen for a boy. I want you to name him."

Spidey and MJ glanced at each other, floored by the request.

"N-name your son?" stuttered Spider-Man. He had no idea. What about her husband, wouldn't he want a say in the matter? He looked at MJ again. She had crouched down next to Amelia and was lightly touching the top of the baby's head with the tip of her finger. She smiled, one corner of her mouth turning up.

"I think you should call him… Peter."

Spidey was about to protest, when he realised that MJ had him in a bind - as Spider-Man, he had nothing to protest about. So he kept silent.

"Peter," Amelia repeated. She looked down at her newborn son. "What do you think of Peter?" she asked him. A small fist waved. Amelia smiled. "He likes it."

MJ got up and held Spidey's hand. They stood together not saying a word, but Spidey felt happier than he had for a very long time.

The emergency light dimmed, went out, then abruptly, the elevator lights came on. There was a small bump and a whoosh and the elevator started moving down. The three adults looked at each other.

"The power's back on!" Mary-Jane exclaimed.

………………………………………………………..

"Well, what happened next?"

Aunt May was ensconced in her armchair, calmly knitting while listening to her nephew's narrative. The fire was throwing out heat and light and the Christmas tree set up in the corner had its own tiny lights to add to the room. The curtains were drawn against the cold and the dark, and on the couch opposite the fire, Peter and Mary-Jane sat, curled up against each other.

Peter sighed, and took a sip from his hot toddy. It was a lovely feeling, being relaxed and happy. Aunt May seemed to be enjoying the tale.

"Mm, it turned out that Raxton had not only gotten the power restored, but had managed to get an ambulance there as well. When the elevator doors opened a couple of paramedics were there to help. Um… MJ can tell you the details - I wasn't there at that point."

"No, he'd cut out." She gave Peter a little cuddle. "I don't blame him - it got a little messy there for a while. But I bet he's upset because he didn't get to use his beloved bunsen burner after all that trouble…! I kept Amelia company to the hospital, and she and baby were doing just fine when I left. She's asked me to be a godmother!"

"Oh, that's so nice!" exclaimed Aunt May.

Mary-Jane giggled. "She wants Petey to be god-spider. You know," she said, turning to Peter and watching his face, "I think she still believes we're married…"

"Well we are, aren't we?" Peter kept his face neutral; he didn't want to pressure MJ or get his hopes up too much, especially so close to Christmas, but she seemed pretty happy in his presence just at the moment.

"Of course we are, silly." She pinched his cheek.

Aunt May sat knitting, with a huge smile on her face, pretending she couldn't hear or see. Peter held his breath; he could see MJ was about to say something else.

"I've… been thinking, Pete. About us. I-I understand more now, I've remembered why I married you and that hasn't changed. I've come to terms with…you, and who you are, but I've mostly come to terms with myself. Oh, this isn't coming out right! What I mean is - I've thought about things Peter, and I want us to be together again."

She looked at him expectantly. Peter looked back at her blankly for a second or two, still not quite registering what she had said. Then he did.

"MJ?" he said, touching her cheek tentatively, as if her face were made of porcelain. "Are you sure Mary-Jane?"

"Absolutely certain," she replied. And there was no doubting it.

"Oh, MJ!"

Peter cupped her cheek with his hand, and slowly kissed her, while his heart was swinging through the air and doing little back-flips of joy.

What seemed like hours later, or perhaps no time at all, they broke the kiss. Peter held her hand tight; he didn't want to ever let go of her again. He glanced over at Aunt May. She had two spots of high colour on her cheekbones, her eyes were sparkling, and she was grinning so hard that Peter thought she would possibly have a sore face tomorrow. He felt exactly the same, except he was sure his own grin was a lot more goofy. He looked again at Mary-Jane, and he had never seen her so beautiful.

"You are my most wonderful Christmas present yet," he told her. "I don't need anything else - you are enough to fill my heart and my dreams."

Mary-Jane lowered her long eyelashes, and when she looked up again, her eyes glittered with unshed tears, their brightness rivalling the lights on the tree.

"Can I say 'me too'? Nothing else matters this Christmas; only you."

Then she gave a wicked grin, which showed up all her dimples, and whispered so that Aunt May couldn't hear, "Besides, I'm looking forward to unwrapping my Christmas present…"

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I hope you liked it - a happy ending for Peter for once…!