Peter yawned and scratched his neck as he made his way to the living room. He found May sitting on her sofa with a hot cup in her hand, and she seemed to be enjoying the peace and quiet.

"Morning, May."

"Oh, morning, Peter." May greeted back, a natural, sincere smile on her face. "Slept well?"

He nodded. "Yep. What about you?"

"Yeah, I slept well too."

He looked at her for a moment before sitting next to her. "So, anyone else up yet?"

"Yeah. Porky's up on the roof, and Benjamin left a while ago. He said he wanted to go out for a walk."

He noticed May sounding a little doubtful about that. "Yeah?"

"Well, I hope so. But knowing him, he's probably gone out for a smoke."

"Okay?"

"He does it when he's worried; and I bet he's worried about Peni."

"Ah. That would explain why he smoked on the bus too."

May turned to him, slightly surprised. "On the bus? With other people inside?"

"Well, he was on top of the bus. Nobody inside was getting secondhand smoke from that."

"Oh. Okay. Did you notice he went out last evening as well?"

"Yeah. To smoke?"

"I bet." May sighed. "We're all worried about Peni with what she's going through. But he's also worrying me. He's going to worry Peni as well, and that girl doesn't need anything else troubling her mind."

Peter looked at her in silence for a moment. Yesterday was pretty hectic to say the least, and he'd like everyone to take it easy today, including that man. "Want me to go talk to him?"

"…Yeah, that would be lovely. He's probably over the usual place by the lake. If you can't find him there, give him a call. Porky's on the roof if you want company."

He nodded and patted her knee before standing up. "Alright. See you in a bit." Peter walked through the kitchen and exited the house through its backdoor.

After climbing up the house with his hands and feet, he saw the pig sitting on the rooftop. "Hey, Porky."

Porker snorted and turned to the man. "Oh, hello, Peter. You surprised me there."

"Yeah, my bad. What are you doing on the roof?"

"I just like being outside sometimes. The fresh air really does wonders for meditating."

"Hm. Look, I'm gonna go look for Benjamin. Apparently he's gone out for a 'walk.' Wanna tag along?"

He stood up. "Ah, his usual 'walk.' Yeah, why not?" They both crawled down the house and made their way through to the woods.

A while later, there they were, in the spacious area they frequented, where there were tree stumps on one side carrying some empty bottles intended as targets, and a clean lake close by. Luckily, they already found Benjamin, sitting on the bench that Peni and Gwen sat at whenever they came here. And as May guessed it, he was smoking.

The two got closer to the man in glasses before Peter spoke up. "Hey."

Benjamin coughed in surprise and tried his best to put out the cigarette. When he turned, he saw Peter and Porker looking unconvinced. "Uh… Hey."

"So, May was right." Peter said, sitting beside him. Porker sat next to Benjamin on the other side.

"Right about what?"

"Your excuse for going out on a walk." Benjamin didn't reply and just gazed at the lake. Peter sighed. "…Worrying about Peni again?"

"…Yeah."

"We're all worried about her. But you know her problem isn't something we can't fix, right?"

"Right."

"Weren't you telling Gwen on the bus about how Peni is a strong girl and that she'll go through this, no problem?"

Benjamin faced him. "I did tell her that, and I don't doubt it one bit. Peni will get over this PTSD as if it never happened, 'cause she's one hell of a tough cookie. That's one of the reasons why I love her."

Peter smiled. "You love her, huh?"

"Yeah. She's… She's like a daughter to me. I think of her as so."

His smile was lost. "A daughter…"

"She probably sees me as a dad too. She even calls me Dad sometimes. It's rare that she does, but it always brings a smile to my face."

Now Peter was the one feeling down. "…Pass me a cigarette."

Benjamin turned to him. "Why?"

"I want a smoke."

"…Okay." He gave him a cigarette and lit it for him. He then watched him take a breath and puff out a smoke. "Something bothering you?"

"Well… It's just this talk about you and Peni being like father and daughter. …It made me think about Mary."

"Mary? She your daughter?"

"Nope. Ex-wife."

"Oh."

Peter took another drag. "She wanted kids. But I didn't. So the marriage didn't work out."

"I'm real sorry about that."

Porker pouted, feeling brought down as well. He dug his hand in his pocket and took out a gentleman's pipe. Both men anticipated the pig smoking it. Except he didn't. Instead, he blew into it, and bubbles came out from the pipe.

The men chuckled at the sight, feeling more cheered up. "You, uh, want a smoke too?" Benjamin offered.

Porker shook his head. "No, thanks. I don't smoke."

"Clearly. So, why're you… pseudo-smoking?"

"Because Peter over here talking about Mary reminded me of Charlotte."

Peter was intrigued. "Oh. Is she your pig lover?"

"She's not a pig. She's a spider."

"Oh. Right. I forgot you used to be a spider too."

"Yep. Boy I miss her."

"I'm sure she misses you too." Benjamin said, patting the pig's back.

"But your name's Peter Porker, right?" Peter asked.

"Actually, my real name is also Peter Parker. When I turned into a pig, it was Charlotte who started calling me Peter Porker as a nickname. It grew on me."

"Oh. Alright. So, in other words, you always had the spider sense, even before you got bit."

"That's right."

"Huh. Cool." Peter said before continuing his story. "…Um, anyway… I didn't want kids 'cause I was afraid. Thought raising one might be a nightmare and just take over me and Mary's time together. I just wanted her."

Benjamin turned to the man. "Fair enough. But you know, with raising the kid, you might have your work cut out for you."

He looked at him questionably. "Huh?"

"It might be easier than you think."

"…That's not what having my work cut out for me means."

"It doesn't?"

"It means it'll be harder."

"Huh. I always thought it meant having part of the work removed."

"I get where you're coming from, but I'm pretty sure you just misinterpreted it."

Benjamin shrugged. "Maybe. Oh well, point is, raising a kid might be easier than you think."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Well, I have a kid of my own."

That piqued his interest. "Really? Like, a kid that you raised?"

"That's right. Her name's June. She's nine." Benjamin took out his pocket watch and opened it to show Peter and Porker a black and white photograph of himself and June on a train ride. Her dress was light, and her hair was dark and long. And it looked like she had freckles on her cheeks and arms. Either they were freckles, or it was just noise from the photograph.

Peter smiled. "Ain't she cute?"

"She sure is. Wanna know something else?"

"What?"

"As soon as June was born, my spider sense went off… and so did hers. That's when I realised we were both alike."

They were surprised. "You passed down your spider sense?!" The pig asked.

"That's the only explanation I could come up with. After all, I don't remember seeing her get bit by a radioactive spider the moment she was born. And in that moment, we also formed a psychic link. Because of that, I was always able to understand exactly what she wanted every time, before the moment she would even start crying. She always let me know when she was hungry, tired, lonely, bored, needed a change, and so on. She hardly ever cried during her babyhood. And, we could even properly communicate with each other, unlike any other parent and baby. It was a blessing." He then chuckled at his memories. "She used to crawl all over the walls and ceilings all the time, and I was afraid of her letting go at any time. Sometimes, she'd even crawl around me."

Peter snortled. "That actually sounds kinda fun."

"It sure was. She still does it every now and then for fun or to prove a point."

"Heh. So, raising her wasn't a nightmare then."

"Not at all. It was a fine breeze. And I wouldn't say June has taken away the time I have with my wife. Rather, she joined our time. After all, she was a part of my life and happiness, and of course, there was always plenty of private time with my wife as well."

Peter thought about it and then felt guilty, thinking that having a child would only be a burden and not a bundle of joy that could join his and Mary's lives. "Why didn't I think of it like that?"

"That's okay. …So, have you changed your mind about not wanting kids?"

"I… Maybe? I mean, if the spider sense really is genetic, then maybe raising my own kid won't be nearly as bad as I thought. It sounds really cool. I could teach them to be a Spider-Person, just like how I'm teaching Miles. …You know, I used to hate kids. But hanging out with him, Peni and Gwen made me appreciate kids. It also made me wonder what it would be like if any of them were my own kid, you know?"

"I do. That's how I feel about Peni. Or rather, it just feels like she's my kid already. I've started to feel the same for Gwen yesterday. I, uh, didn't interact much with Miles, but from what I've seen from him and what you've said, I'm sure I'd feel the same about him too."

"Hm."

"The moment you decide you do want kids with Mary, let her know. Alright?"

"Yeah, alright."

"Let's just appreciate those three and spend more time with them. They're our kids as well."

Peter smiled. "Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem."

Feeling better, he stopped smoking and put out his cigarette. "Well, if you're done with your usual 'walk,' should we get going back?"

Benjamin sighed. "Sure. I'm expecting May to have a word with me. Peni as well."

"They just care about you. We all do."

"I appreciate it. This is a lovely bench by the way. I can see why Peni and Gwen fell asleep here last time."

Porker agreed. "I know right? These pillows could've fooled me into thinking it was a sofa. And the view of the lake is just beautiful. It beats sitting on a sofa at home and watching a video of a lake on TV."

"Yeah. It makes me want to stay here for a while longer. It's real peaceful."

"Us Spider-People can really appreciate peace."

"Ain't that right?"

The three Peters decided to hang around on the bench for a bit longer.