Fractured Mind

Chapter 17

Peter was stunned. It all made sense. He watched as nervousness and fear spread across her face, his own face frozen in shock. He attempted to speak, but no words came out. A slow smile spread across her face.

"Peter?" she asked hesitantly as the muscles in his face began to relax.

"You- you're pregnant," he repeated.

"Mhm," she nodded. Peter smiled.

"We're going- we're going to be parents?"

"Yes, Peter! You're going to be a daddy," she beamed at him.

"Wow," he said as his eyes gleamed. "That's great news MJ!" he couldn't believe how happy that made him.

She relaxed. "Really? I'm so glad you said that because I was worrying all day about what you might say," she said with a timid smile, "I thought maybe... maybe you wouldn't want to be with me anymore."

Peter let out a loud laugh. "Are you kidding me? I'm the luckiest person in the world to be with you. I'll always love you. Forever," he assured her. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Peter kissed her back with a newfound kind of excitement in his chest.

"This is amazing, MJ. We're going to be parents!" he repeated as she gave him a cheerful smile. "Wait a minute... I took you swinging with me earlier, is everything okay?" he said suddenly with a worried expression.

"...Yes. Although I definitely don't want to do that again, especially this early in the pregnancy," she said anxiously. "Also, they said my hormone levels were... peculiar. They weren't sure what to make of it because they had never seen anything like that before. They used the word abnormal," she pouted.

Peter got up off the bed and began to pace the room. This was a lot to be taking in right now. He knew why the hormone levels wouldn't show up as normal. It was because of him; he didn't have normal DNA. His was crossed between human and spider. Peter ran his hands through his hair before sighing and sitting back down on the bed.

"What is it Peter?" Mary Jane asked.

"It's because of me, MJ. My DNA isn't normal. What if- what if I pass some of my abilities down to our baby?" he said as he buried his face into his hands.

"Peter, it's fine. No matter what, this baby is ours, even if they start crawling around on the walls," Mary Jane joked. Peter still had his face tucked into his hands so she pried them away. "Peter, don't be silly. I love you," she said as she pulled his face towards her and kissed him again.

"I love you, too," he mumbled, just as he heard the front door opening downstairs. "Aunt May is home," he said suddenly, as he got up to go to the door.

"Can we wait before we tell her? Just until I start to show?" Mary Jane whispered. Peter inwardly laughed as her eyes went wide with worry.

Peter shrugged, "if that's what you want. She'll be happy for us though," he flashed her favorite grin at her.

She nodded to him, "I know. It's just... I'd rather wait until my second trimester to let anyone else know. Just in case anything happens."

"Okay, fine with me. It's not like we'd have anyone else to tell, you know," Peter said as he slumped on the computer desk chair, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

He couldn't believe how lucky he was, Mary Jane being pregnant was good news to him. He hadn't really thought about having children; he hadn't even been sure if he was able to since he had altered DNA. Most people his age would dread hearing this kind of news, but the look of excitement on her face when she had told him erased any pessimistic thoughts about their situation.