22 Unread Messages

14K 352 268
                                        

The notification on Peter's phone made his eyes widen. Peter frowned and unlocked his phone before looking at his messages. They were video messages. Since when did he get...wait. Peter looked at the dates of them with wide eyes. The first one was on August 10th 2001, the day he was born. He looked at all the dates and noticed a trend. Most of them were dated on his birthday. He wondered why, all the sudden, there were messages from the past showing up on his phone.

Curious, Peter tapped on the first one. To his shock, Tony Stark's face covered his screen. Why was Tony Stark on his phone? Why did he have a video message from Tony Stark of all people? He'd never even met the super-cool hero. This Tony looked younger though and a little tipsy.

-

August 10th 2001

"I probably shouldn't stalk people, but um...call it morbid curiosity I know about you." Tony bit his lip. "Mary had it right, of course, but I still...." Tony looked up, above the camera. "This is stupid. Why am I doing this?"

"Sir, I believed it might be therapeutic for you. If your level of inebriation was anything to go by, the...arrival has put significant stress on you. I felt it would be good for you, to just vent what you're feeling." A mechanical voice answered.

"Why record it though, JARVIS?"

"So you can't deny its existence, Sir." JARVIS responded.

"Fine." Tony looked back at the camera. "I did some digging. Peter Benjamin Parker was born today, two hours ago. I tried getting a look at you, but the hospital doesn't have any decent cameras to hack." He scrubbed his face. "Mary wasn't going to tell me about you, but then.... I don't know, she had a point. Part of me...I want so much to meet you, to kick up a fuss and try to at least...I don't know get some form of custody, even if it's just visits on weekends. She's right though, I'm no fucking good. Hell I didn't have a father that gave a rats ass about me so how would I know how to take care of a fucking kid? Most people don't even believe I have a heart, so there's that too.... She was probably right...to try to hide you from me. You're a month early, buddy. I freaked out when JARVIS said Mary'd gone into labor. I thought you might not make it." Tony sighed. "Glad you did, Stark men are made of iron after all, aren't we? You're a tough little one. I mean, you're tiny if your birth records are anything to go by. God...I wish I could hold you." He took a deep swig of an amber liquid. His hands shook a little as he rubbed at his face. "No, she was right. I'm not fit for this role. She told me to never go near you, she had a point. You might stand a chance if you never meet me. I'm fucked up and broken and...." Tony swallowed hard. "I know I'm fucked up, because I know I'd probably hurt you the same way dad hurt me and I still want you. I still just want you to be Peter Stark, to be here, home, with me." A tear rolled down his cheek and he rubbed it away. "I wish I were better, for your sake...but maybe this is the best thing I can do for you. You don't wanna be like me, kid."

Tony took a deep breath. "Stay strong, alright? You got some growing to do, you're not out of the woods yet. My research says your lungs still aren't quite up to snuff.... You'll be fine. He'll be fine, right JARVIS?" Tony sounded worried.

"Statistically speaking, Sir, the boy will be fine. Many babies are born prematurely."

"Still..." Tony sighed. "Keep fighting little one.... Happy birthday, Peter."

-

Peter would have dropped his phone if it wasn't stuck to his hand. He'd known for a while that while Mary Parker had been his mother, but that Richard Parker had not been his father. He'd figured it out in biology in middle school. His blood type wasn't right. Given Mary and Richard's blood types he should have been A, B, or AB. Peter wasn't though. He'd been born with O. He knew Richard couldn't have been his blood father, but he didn't freak out too much. Maybe they had a hard time conceiving. Who knew?

Peter Parker One ShotsWhere stories live. Discover now