Peter lied in his bed, his eyes still open, sleep unable to come. Usually, this was due to whatever the latest crisis life had decided to throw his way for his never ending imagination and guilt complex to run wild with. This, however, was a far cry from that. Instead, he was just lying there, smiling, thinking about the incredible woman that his arms were curled firmly but gently around, and who was currently fast asleep: Michelle Jones.
Parker. Michelle Jones-Parker.
Even now, Peter still had to say it at least in his head, if not out loud, for it to truly set in. He could hardly believe that today had marked exactly one year since he and M.J. officially tied the knot. The road had not been an easy one for them, with the world seemingly determined to pull them apart at every turn. For starters, barely a week after they started dating the summer before senior year, Peter's identity as Spider-Man was outed to the world, with him being framed for murder and a terrorist attack to boot. M.J.'s parents had kicked her out and all but disowned her when they found out she was dating Spider-Man and refused to break up with him. After he was proven innocent of those charges, they tried to walk back everything they said, but the road to true reconciliation between M.J. and her parents had been long and hard.
After that, things only continued to get difficult. While working on their Bachelor's degrees, Peter and M.J. were harassed most of their first year on campus. Some wanted an autograph, some spewed vile and nasty words in their faces, and others just wanted to ask questions of both of them non-stop. Eventually, the world moved on to the next fascinating figure, but some of those people continued to linger. Despite all of this, M.J. still had miraculously said yes when he proposed to her the evening after their graduation ceremony. Neither one of them wanted a big wedding, so they opted for a quick, small ceremony, with only their families and Ned and Betty there as best man and maid of honor, respectively. M.J. opted to attach Peter's last name to her's, saying that it summed up their relationship in her mind: he furthered her independence while still being her partner in life.
Once they were married, life hit them harder than ever before: Peter and Ned couldn't find affordable insurance for the start up they were working on together, which cost them a pretty penny anytime something went wrong. While they had recently begun making progress, it still wasn't easy. M.J. was kidnapped by some psycho in a green and purple suit on a glider, with Peter barely defeating him and rescuing her. May contracted breast cancer, a battle she was still fighting. Peter recently took the beating of his life while fighting six of his foes united on the Brooklyn Bridge, barely defeating them all and still making it out alive.
Through it all, M.J. had remained by his side, a rock for him to lean on. Peter thought back to what she had shared with him that fateful day on the London Bridge about how she had always had difficulty with getting close to people. He had learned every day since then that once she did get close to someone, she was the most fiercely loyal person one could have by their side. Perhaps no better instance exemplified this as one time during their Junior year of college when someone approached him, blaming him for all the villains that wreaked havoc on the city. M.J. then immediately got in his face before he could even react (which was saying something) and tore his argument apart in front of a small crowd that had gathered around them. The man could only sputter wordlessly in his defense, finally walking away in shame.
The memory still brought a face stretching grin to Peter's face. No wonder she was already making a name for herself as a lawyer.
"God..." Peter said in his head, but paused there. May and Ben used to take him to church when he was younger, but he and May had both struggled with the ideas of religion and faith since his uncle had passed. In his time as Spider-Man, he had seen powers far beyond his comprehension that it actually had come to make sense to him that there could be some higher being out there that all of it came from. However, he had also suffered so much in his life, losing his parents, Ben, Tony, and now possibly May, that he wondered if this God cared about him.
If there was anything that did prove that, though, it was that he had someone like M.J. as his wife.
"God," he started again, pressing on this time, "I know that you and I haven't always gotten along. I know that most of the time, I complain a lot. I've lost so much that it seems impossible that you care. But maybe you do. Maybe she's the proof. Maybe the fact that you gave the most loyal, tenacious, beautiful and generally amazing woman to be in my life through everything...I don't know. Perhaps I need to start looking less at the rough and more at the diamonds in them."
Peter paused in his head before bringing forth one last thought: "Just for tonight, I want to say thank you. Thank you, God, for Michelle Jones-Parker."
Another old one shot of mine, based off a panel from an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man comic. Hope you enjoy!
Continuing to pray for you all. As always, stay safe and healthy!
"Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves." Song of Solomon 3:1-5
