The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Peter, baby?

     Peter walked to the door where the knocking had come from, invading his dreams.
There stood two police officers, looking tired and a little sad. They glanced at each other before the older of the two began. "Peter? Peter Parker....right?" He nodded and braced for the worst, though it didn't help any. The cop started again "Peter, May Parker has been in an accident. She died on impact"
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     Peter awoke from his dream teary eyed and feeling helpless, his breath having been knocked out of him. He gasped in a few breaths and tried to steady his breathing before anyone heard him. FRIDAY spoke, "Mr. Parker, you seem to be in a state of major anxiety, bordering on panic. Would you like me to alert Mr. Stark?" Peter shook his head violently "No...No I... I can handle this." he stuttered between breaths. He looked at the clock.

3:00 Am

     He sighed and lay his head back on his pillow. No way he was getting back to sleep now. He decided now would be as good of a time as any to get in some Little Time. Peter smiled softly once he had fully calmed down and reached for his favourite Stuffie, a worn orange fox that he had lovingly named 'Mr. Fox'. He held Mr. Fox's paw in one of his hands as he searched for his other things. He got a onesie out of his drawer along with his one pacifier. It was an actual toddler one, since Peter was in no way old enough to buy his own Little Things and, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't convince Ned to order them and hide it for him. He dressed into his onesie and popped his paci into his mouth before sitting back on the bed, smiling contently.

     He pulled the paci out of his mouth with a pop, "Fwiday, pway Peppa Pig, Pease" he said to the AI in the ceiling. Friday turned on the TV with Peppa Pig playing "of course, young Peter."

     Peter could stay like this forever.

But it never works out like that, does it.

A knock at his door snapped him halfway out of his headspace and brought tears to his eyes.

Mr. Stark spoke "Peter? Friday just told me you woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. You alright Lil man?" Peter pulled his paci from his mouth and bit his lips not knowing what to say "uh.... Don't come in!" He managed to squeak out. Tony's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The kid didn't sound too good. At the same time he didn't want to invade Peter's privacy by busting into his room without permission. Suddenly he got a great idea.

Just as Peter was putting his stuff up, "Alright Peter, I'm here if you need me though, and try to go back to sleep, kid." Peter's pounding heart finally began to relax as he settled back into bed, snuggling up with Mr. Fox to resume what he had begun before he was so rudely interrupted by his concerned almost-dad-person-guy.

Tony looked around his lab guiltily, as if someone were watching him. Obviously nobody was there, he tried to reason with himself, it was 3:15 Am. Only he and Peter were awake, which brought him back to why he was here in the first place. He let out a deep breath before deciding to just rip off the bandaid that was his poor life choices. "FRIDAY," He called out "show me real time footage of Peter's room." He said and instantly felt his face flush red with shame as his mind went through every possible outcome of what he could see in a 15 year old boys room at 3 in the morning. His mind basically went through every stage of grief for what he thought he was bout to see.

"The real-time footage of Peter's room, boss" Friday announced as the TV in the lab showed what was happening in there. Tony's eyes widened as he saw Peter with a pacifier in his mouth, snuggling with a toy and watching a children's show. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "FRIDAY, stop... research possible explanations to....whatever I just saw" he said, tired and confused. He got up to make another pot of coffee for his wait as FRIDAY pulled up google results.

    Peter yawned and looked at the clock. 4:00 Am. He decided he'd been awake long enough before pulling the covers over himself "Fwiday, Tuwn off de lights, pease" he said softly before drifting back off to sleep.

     Peter awoke again at 8:00 in the morning. He could smell bacon and eggs cooking. He couldn't seem to get out of bed fast enough, until he noticed the uncomfortable dampness between his legs and on the sheets. He blushed as he looked down at the puddle and began to sniffle. He took a moment to gather himself before pulling the sheets off the bed to wash when no one was around and hopping into the shower. He spent a moment or two trying to get into a bigger headspace. He couldn't tell what was tears or water at this point but it didn't really matter anymore. He got out and dried off before getting dressed into an outfit and MAKING SURE to use the bathroom before he left the room for breakfast.