Annie sat on her stripped bed, holding a card board box with the remainder of her possessions. It was the last box for her to pack, and she found herself stalling on bringing it out to her parents.

It was a box of simple things, her bedside lamp, some knick-knacks, a few books that she had found in random places. But it was the final box. Annie sighed. This past month had been a whirlwind.

At the end of October, her parents had sat her down and explained they could no longer afford the rent to their apartment. They struggled to find something big enough for the three of them, but anything that worked in terms of size was way out of their budget. Annie's Aunt Gayle, who had inherited her AuntAnna's house in Forest Hills, had offered them the chance to move in with her while her dad finished his PhD.

"I know it's not ideal, but it is a good opportunity for us to save some money, get back on our feet."

Annie had initially been okay with the move. She understood they were struggling financially, and she could see how heavily it weighed on her mom and dad. But now, standing in a strange version of what was once her oasis, Annie couldn't help but wish for things to be different. She had grown up here. In the ever changing bustle of childhood and adolescence, this place had been her constant home. She felt her eyes well up and tried to swallow the emotion down, but the tears seeped out regardless.

Annie's phone buzzed and she grabbed it from the night stand, yanking the charger out of the wall, and dumping it into the box.

She smiled as she read the good morning text from Normie, who was very much her boyfriend. He had been the highlight of this past month. She hadn't told her parents, and wasn't fully sure why, but she knew she didn't want them to worry especially with everything going on with the move. And, to be honest, she wasn't really up for the array of questions, comments, and concerns they would flood her with. And then days turned to weeks, and the weeks became a month. Now it just felt awkward, like she was hiding something, and if she told them, she'd get into trouble.

So she'd sneak out on occasion, and their dates were unconventional. They couldn't go and grab a coffee together or take a romantic stroll through Central Park. He still didn't know her identity, and she didn't want to parade around as Spiderling with him, putting him at risk. So their dates were simple. She'd swing to his place, he'd have food ready, and they would play games, watch movies, talk, and of course make out. There was a lot of kissing this month, and Annie felt herself blush as she responded with a "good morning" of her own. And then they went back and forth with a series of emojis. She wanted to see him tonight, but knew that she would't be able to due to the move and getting settled. And her mom told her Aunt Gayle had a nice dinner planned for them.

Annie focused on upping Normie on the cuteness of their emoji conversation when she heard a knock. She looked up and saw her mom.

"Hey Kiddo. The van's downstairs. You ready?"

Annie nodded. She was ready as she would ever be.

They walked out into the living where her father was a blur, darting from box to box, sharpie in hand making sure everything was okay.

"Alrightie ladies," he began. "The movers are coming up. Let's all grab a box to speed up the process, but remember, lets not make it look to easy. Act like they're heavy, look a little tired."

There was a knock on the door. "Just a minute!" Her dad yelled. "Ready? You guys need another minute?"

Annie looked to her mom who smiled at her and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Ready," she said.

"Let's go!" Her dad said as he walked to the front door.

MJ re-did her pony tail, looping the tie around her hair, making it a bun-pony tail hybrid. She was exhausted, but they had made some decent progress. Between them, the movers, and Gayle, their stuff was pretty much unpacked, and the boxes that weren't were neatly stacked in their respective rooms.

Gayle was delighted that all three bedrooms were now full. She said it reminded her of when her boys were still at home. She could barely contain her excitement during the move-in process. Annie very much appeased her aunt's excitement, but MJ noticed her daughter was unusually quiet. And Peter, likely sensing Annie's mood cracked joke after joke, trying to get a legit smile out of his girl. It was almost impressive, how many quips he had. She wondered if they were all off the cuff, or if he spent time researching them.

She sat down on the bed of Gayle's guest room, which would serve as her and Peter's room for the time being. MJ desperately wanted to shower, and then nap, but she decided to check in with her family first.

She walked down the hall to the room that was now Annie's. It had been sort of an office space before, and it was were Gayle had shoved the remnants of tried and forgotten hobbies. The twin bed had been hastily purchased to accommodate Annie, and Gayle had generously given Annie permission to paint the walls whatever she wanted. But the room still had some clutter on the shelves, clutter linking the space to her sister and not her daughter. MJ was infinitely grateful for Gayle offering their home to her family, but she also felt guilty about uprooting her daughter into a transitory space and for completely invading her sister's life.

Annie was in bed, her back to the door, but MJ could tell her daughter wasn't asleep. MJ sat down on the bed.

"Hi mom," Annie said.

"Hi sweetie. Just checking in."

Sighing, Annie sat up and stretched. "I'm good."

"It's okay if you're not. Moving is always hard." She had been up late every night googling how to talk to your teens about moving.

"Okay. But I'm good. Really." She didn't look like she was doing good, but maybe she was just exhausted? MJ also didn't want to plant a problem or see one that wasn't there.

"Good. Good. I for one, miss our apartment, but it is nice being back here." MJ and Gayle had loved visiting their Aunt Anna in this house. This place of summer stays and weekend overnights had been more of a home for them than their own house. An escape from their parents' fighting and their father's abuse.

Annie's phone rang, the sound pulling her out of her thoughts. Annie lit up and grabbed her phone off of the nightstand. MJ wondered who was texting her to get such an elated response. Ryan maybe? Jermaine? Lacy?

And then Annie's face fell, and she rolled her eyes, then sent a quick response. MJ found herself wondering yet again who had texted her daughter to get such a reaction.

"I gotta shower, what time is dinner at?"

"Probably 6:30 or 7:00. Annie, you okay?"

"Mom, I'm fine." Her tone sounded annoyed, but the she softened. "I'll let you know if I'm not, okay?"

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too!"

Mother and daughter stood up and left the room, Annie making a stop at the linen closet for some towels. MJ wondered who had texted her, and then decided to check her own phone to see if she missed any calls or messages.

And then MJ saw that Peter had texted her and Annie in the family chat. The message said Hey kid, blood sugar looks good, nice job! The timing of the message told her this was the one that had annoyed their daughter. Annie's response had been a curt thumbs up emoji.

She knew Peter meant well, but MJ remembered what it was like being 17. Annie was going through a lot of changes with the move, researching colleges, preparing for her senior year, and then there was all of the superhero shenanigans. And now she didn't really have her own space, and on top of that, she had her parents' always monitoring her blood sugar levels, keeping close tabs on her body. MJ sighed. Maybe it was time to talk to Peter about turning the app off, trusting Annie to monitor her own blood sugar levels. She had been doing a good job of it, but the thought was still scary. While Annie had grown, she was still just 17 years old. And again, MJ remembered 17 and all of the stupid shit she had done. With Annie's blood sugar levels, all it could take was one small mistake for something catastrophic to happen.

But what if she and Peter intervened too much? What if they pushed her away? Pushed her to rebel? And Annie was very bright and very tech-savvy, like her father. Who's to say she won't get completely frustrated and disable it herself? That would be an entirely different can of worms.

Would Annie do that? MJ normally would have said no, but the instant change in her daughter's mood told her that Annie was in fact changing. Perhaps she and Peter needed to change a little to.

She sighed. She was going to talk to him about it.

"Hey sis!" Gayle said cheerfully. She was wearing an apron, and her short, gray hair was pushed out of her face with a headband.

"Gayle! Thank you again for this."

"Oh please, MJ, stop. If you thank me one more time, I'm throwing you out."

MJ laughed. "Alright."

"It's nice having you here," she said elbowing her. "Since Kevin moved out, things have been way too quiet."

"How is Kevin? He adjusting to school well?" MJ was so proud of her nephew. He had floundered a little after getting his bachelor's degree, but ended up committing to getting his master's. Gayle had begged her son to attend a local school, stay at home, save some money, but Kevin had decided to move to Florida and get his degree there.

"He loves it, says Florida'a great! He likes the weather."

"I bet. And what about Tommy? Did they pick a wedding day yet?"

"Not yet, but they want something in the spring. I think it will be outdoors knowing those two. Always looking for an adventure."

MJ smiled. Her nephews were all grown up, living their own lives. And here Gayle was, fostering those lives, even though it left her home in an empty house. Well, a once empty house. MJ felt a little less guilty for invading Gayle's space. Her sister looked genuinely happy and there was a comfort at being back in Aunt Anna's home.

"Have you seen Peter?" she asked.

"He's in the kitchen. I put that man of yours to work."

"Oh boy," MJ joked. Peter was honestly quite the cook. "What are the two of you concocting?"

"A nice chicken casserole, and a salad. I better go check on him. Get cleaned up for dinner, and relax, okay? Things are gonna work out. And we'll have some fun in mean time."

"Thanks Gayle." She realized just how much she missed her sister. It was crazy that when Gayle had moved to New York, they hardly saw each other. She wouldn't let that happen again.

"Any time."

MJ ran up the stairs, taking some two at time.

"Don't fall!" Gayle cried, and MJ felt like she was 10 again rushing up the stairs just to get a reaction out of her cool older sister.

"I didn't!" She called out, just like she used to.

Alright Pete, just like we practiced. Aim, step, throw! Ready?"

"Aim, step, throw!" Peter threw the ball as hard as he could. And it landed exactly no where near his target. "I'm hopeless!" He said, letting his glove drop to the ground."

His uncle jogged over to him. "Hey, no you're not, you just need a little practice is all. It's no big deal."

But it was. He had PE tomorrow, and he hated it. He could already hear Flash calling him puny and weak. He felt his eyes well up, and tried to swiftly wipe at them. But the movement was clumsy and all he did was wack his glasses into a crooked position.

Uncle Ben took a knee. "What's going on?" Peter shook his head. "The other kids. They still picking on you?"

He wanted desperately to say no, but found himself nodding yes. Uncle Ben looked as sad as he felt, and pulled him into a hug.

"They say I'm weak and puny," he sobbed into his uncle's shirt. "I thought if could throw a ball, they wouldn't say that."

His uncle sighed as he held onto him. "To hell with those kids."

Did his uncle just say hell?

"What?" Peter asked, pulling away.

"They don't know shit."

"Uncle Ben, you said a bad word!"

"I sure did. Look, Pete, your aunt can't throw a ball, or much of anything to be perfectly frank. But she's the strongest person I know. Strength goes a lot deeper than throwing something. Understand?"

Peter nodded. He had never seen his aunt throw anything, but his uncle was right, she was pretty strong.

"Now all throwing a ball requires is some practice. And practice takes time. It's important to spend your time doing something you like. And Pete, did you like being out here, tossing this," he held the ball up, "back and forth?"

To be honest, Peter had spent the time counting down the seconds until he made one good throw and one good catch so that he could just go back inside. "Not really," he told his uncle.

"Then how about this, let's go back in the house, maybe do some reading, watch one of those science programs you like?"

Peter smiled and nodded. Uncle Ben always knew just what to say. Just like Aunt May…

"A penny for your thoughts?" MJ's voice brought him out of the memory.

Peter gripped the metal of the chainlink fence separating Gayle's home from his old one. MJ walked up next to him.

"It's smaller than I remembered," he said indicating his old back yard.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. God, I miss them," his voice broke with emotion thinking of his aunt and uncle. What he would give to see them one more time. "That home used to be my entire world." Peter remembered feeling locked into childhood and would often try to think about what being an adult would be like. It was funny how that day felt like it would never come, but then one day, it day. And it came a lot faster than expected.

MJ rested her head on his should, and he found comfort in her weight. He looked down at her, and saw her brow was furrowed in the way that meant she wanted to talk to him about something important.

"What's up?" He asked his wife.

MJ sighed. "You think this was the right call for Annie?"

Peter thought about how their old apartment had been their daughter's world. "Its not ideal, but it is the best we can do with what we have," or what we don't, he wanted to add.

"The move's been hard on her," she said. "But she's cooperated and been really flexible with us."

MJ had a point. Annie could've made this entire process more difficult than it had been.

"I think we need to be a little flexible with her," she finished.

"Okay. In what way?" He then remembered the razor bats. Was this about that? "But I gotta be honest, I am not budging the razor bats. She should have returned those last month!"

"I'm not talking about that, and she may have already done so. I haven't seen her use them since the last time in Times Square."

"Okay. What did you have in mind?"

"The app. For us to monitor her blood sugars. Do you think she's ready for us to step back?"

"But that's her health."

"Its also her body and our sense of trust in her."

"But it's her health!" He said again. "And do we even know she has an issue with that?"

"Peter, I was with her when you texted us about her blood sugar, and her face just fell when she saw your message."

"What? Really, but I was encouraging her, telling her she was doing a good job!"

"I know sweetie. But imagine being 17 and having your parents know what's going on inside your body. I mean, I'd probably feel watched all the time."

Peter sighed. She had a point. But damn, all it took was one small mistakes, which 17 year olds were all likely to do. One small mistake could lead to some serious health consequences.

"Is she ready for that? To be solely responsible to monitor her blood sugar?"

"That's what I'm asking. She's done great, and has been very responsible with her health. And it's not like we can't ask her to check her blood sugar, and it's not like I'm saying we can't check in. But if we ask her, giving her the autonomy to check herself and tell us, maybe it will help her feel more in control. Peter, the look on her face when she read your text, it was pretty heart breaking."

"Are you sure it wasn't just about the move?"

"I mean, I'm sure the move is part of it."

Everything MJ said made sense. It was a scary leap of faith. But it was for their daughter.

"I think it's a good idea. I'm on board."

"Alright. We'll talk to her tomorrow."

"Tomorrow it is." Peter wondered how many more changes there were going to experience this week.