"Need a little help?" Peter asked.

"No, I'm good," Miles replied as he continued fiddling with his tie.

"If you say so," Peter replied. He recognized all too well from personal experience what struggling to tie a Windsor knot was like, but he figured he'd give Miles the chance to solve it on his own. After a couple minutes however, the younger of the Spider-Men let his hands drop to his side in defeat.

"Ok, I need help," Miles said, rotating himself so that he was facing Peter, who went to work on the knot.

"Honestly, you lasted longer than I did when I was getting ready for my senior prom," Peter confessed. "It wasn't until I had to dress up for job interviews that I got the hang of it."

"I don't know how the guy in the video I watched did it," Miles said. "I swear I did everything exactly as he did!"

"That's just how it goes," Peter replied, putting the finishing touches on the knot. "Well, that should do it!"

"Well," Miles said, straightening his jacket as he stood as straight as he could, "how do I look?"

Peter smiled. "You look like your ready to take over the dance floor. Of course..."

"I know I know," Miles said, stopping Peter in his tracks, "don't show off too much."

"Sorry about that," Peter said, sighing in spite of himself. "Even after months of basically turning you loose, I still find myself having to let go of the scolding mentor mentality."

"Ah don't worry about it," Miles replied. "I have a feeling I'll keep learning from you for a long time."

"I don't know about all that," Peter said, "but I appreciate that you think so at least."

Suddenly, Miles eyes went wide. "Oh man!"

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"I forgot to put my suit on underneath," Miles explained. "Well, my OTHER suit." He walked towards the closet that had his Spider-Man suit, but Peter grabbed him gently but firmly in the arm, guiding him back in front of him.

"Uh uh," Peter said. "Remember, I'm covering patrol tonight."

"Pete, that's not fair to you," Miles replied. "You've had to sacrifice so much stuff like this."

"Which is exactly why I need to do this," Peter said.

"What do you mean?" Miles asked.

Peter hesitated a moment, thinking through his response.

"Miles," he began, "you're right, I have had to sacrifice a lot. I learned the hard way that a lot in life has to be sacrificed when your Spider-Man. More often than not, I learned the hard way too. I've had to lose out on countless things like this, and that's not what I want for you. I can't always protect you from having to make those choices, but I can tonight."

"But Pete," Miles protested.

"He's right, Mijo."

Peter turned to see none other than Rio Morales at the door. She walked into the room to her son.

"I don't like the thought of either one of you having to go out there like you do," she said, briefly turning to Peter before looking back at Miles, "but you said yourself that you guys are partners, and partners cover for each other sometimes. It doesn't mean you're giving up on your responsibilities Miles; it means you're letting someone else help out with them."

Miles looked back and forth between Peter and his mom.

"Do I stand any chance of winning against the two of you?"

"Bud, I don't think you'd have a chance of winning against just her," Peter replied, pointing towards Rio.

"This was something your dad had to learn too you know," Rio added.

"Really?" Miles asked.

"When he first was assigned a patrol partner in the force, he still tried to do more than he should," Rio explained. "Eventually, he learned that partners shoulder each other's burdens, because if one of them tried to do too much, it would only end badly for both of them."

"Huh," Miles said. "I never thought about it that way before."

"So what do you say bud?" Peter said, putting a hand on Miles's shoulder, "you ready to show Hailey a good time?"

Miles's facial expression shifted towards nervousness again. "As much as I can be I guess."

"Don't worry," Peter said. "You'll do great."

As soon as Peter finished speaking, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, that must be her!" Rio said excitedly, grabbing Miles and guiding him out of the room to the front door. Peter watched as his young friend opened the door to greet his date, who was dressed in a red and black dress that Peter had to assume was a tribute to Miles's Spider-Man outfit. He watched happily as he watched the young couple interact via sign language; even though he didn't understand much outside of some basics the younger of the Spider-Men had shown him, the smiles on their faces told the story. Eventually, Miles and Hailey were headed out the door.

"Have a good time, Mijo!" Rio shouted out the door as Miles and Hailey walked down the hallway.

"Well, I guess I better go," Peter said.

"Thank you so much again for helping him get ready," Rio said, smiling widely. "I can't tell you how much it means to us both; I don't know what I would've doen if I had to be the one to help with his tie."

"I'm sure you would've done fine," Peter responded with a smile of his own, "and it's my pleasure."

"Can I get you a snack to take with you?" Rio asked.

"I appreciate that, but I'm good," Peter said, giving her a thumbs up. "Make sure your son doesn't forget to send me pictures of tonight though."

"I will," Rio responded affirmatively. "Thanks again."

Peter nodded as he stepped out, closing the door behind him. He walked out, ready for what was likely going to be a pretty routine patrol.

Peter stumbled onto a rooftop as he released his web, exhausted, thinking he REALLY should've known better than to assume patrol would go as normal tonight. The ironic thing was that it wasn't any one huge thing, like a break out or a supervillain terrorizing the streets. It just seemed like every two bit criminal in the city who wanted to steal, sell drugs or weapons, assault or kidnap people knew he was the only Spider-Man operating in the city tonight. He'd lost track of all the bad guys he'd webbed up or knocked out tonight.

Just as he stood up again, his mask alerted him to a call from M.J.

"What's happening now?" Peter asked. M.J. had been helping him out tonight; she'd probably given him the lead on at least a third of the stuff that went down tonight.

"For once, nothing," M.J. responded. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Well, other than feeling I could sleep for a day or so, I'm good," Peter said as he walked to the edge of the building. He fired both web shooters, forming a webbed hammock between buildings. "I think I'll just relax for at least a minute or so, or until the next thing happens," he added as he jumped down onto the hammock, landing flat on his back.

"What was up with this city tonight?" M.J. asked.

"I just tend to chalk these things up to good ol' Parker luck anymore," Peter responded. "Thanks for sticking with me through it all tonight though."

"No problem," M.J. responded. "That was really good what you did for Miles tonight, by the way."

"Yeah, I just didn't want him to miss out on some of the same stuff I did," Peter responded. He then felt multiple vibrations from his phone, so he got it out and looked to find none other than some pictures Miles had sent him. He scrolled through, smiling underneath his mask at the various goofy selfies and otherwise fun pictures of his young friend and his date. They were all smiles the whole time.

"Peter, you there?" M.J. asked, Peter suddenly realizing she was still on the line.

"Yeah yeah, sorry," he said quickly, "Miles just sent me some pictures from tonight."

"Did it look like he had fun?" M.J. asked.

"Definitely," Peter responded.

"Awesome," M.J. said. "Well, I'm gonna finish some stuff up here at the Bugle. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Peter said, "love you!"

"Love you too," his girlfriend responded before the line went dead.

After scrolling through more pictures, Peter put his phone away and relaxed against the hammock once more.

It had been one of his longest nights in a long time, but seeing those photos had made it all worth it.

Guys…..Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Is Coming!

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2