Happy Birthday, Little Pete

[agiftandacurse]

It had been a stealthy question, worded in a way where no one could doubt his innocence. In the interdimensional chat one day, he'd simply asked:

Peter2: Do we all have the same birthday? Mine's June 27th.

As it turned out, they all had different birthdays, and as both of the other Peters were quick to point out, in different decades. Ouch.

But he didn't let it throw him. On August 10th, he tested the portal they'd been working on for the past 6 months and invited his younger brothers to stop by his world for dinner. He made no mention of his intentions to Peter 1, but he'd set everything up in a private message to Peter 3.

So when the youngest Spider-Man steps through the portal to the eldest's home, he will find it decorated in red and blue streamers, balloons, and a large banner that reads, "Happy Birthday!" Hopefully, he's surprised.

Comments

[selfie_hero]

Peter 2's exclamation is accompanied by a loud, brash, off-key tooooooooooooot as Peter 3 manages to blow two party horns at the same time. There are jazz hands to go along with them, too.

Your brothers are ridiculous, Peter 1.

[heartstumbles]

Peter hasn't been thinking about his birthday this year, for obvious reasons. He's spent the morning bringing flowers to May's grave, and he volunteered early afternoon to help out at F.E.A.S.T with the can drive. As long as he keeps busy and keeps moving, he'll be okay.

He's pleasantly surprised to get the inviation for dinner at Peter 2's place in his world. He doesn't hesitate in accepting, though he does rush home so he can clean himself up before heading over.

He is very much not expecting the birthday surprise, and so, when he steps through the portal to Peter 2's place, and he finds the balloons and birthday banner, and hears Peter 3's party horns, complete with jazz hands, he stops, stares, and then laughs, smiling so wide his face hurt. (And if he quickly brushes aside 'portal tears' as he's been calling them lately, no one can see him, he tells himself.)

"Wow! This is...this is so cool," Peter exclaims, turning around and admiring all of the decorations and hard work and effort that went into them. He turns to both Peters, grateful. "Thank you so much!"

[agiftandacurse]

From their text conversations, he knew that Peter 1 hadn't been doing well. He tried to cover it up with pictures of memes and lots of emojis, but the loneliness he was feeling seeped through into his replies. So now that they'd had plenty of time to test the portal, they could actually spend time together again. And he'd make sure his brother wasn't forgotten.

"Sorry to get you here under false pretenses," he jokes, waving in Peter 3 and his party horns' general direction. "There is actually food, though! No lie about that." He can't help but smile when he reveals the next part. "And maybe some presents. You never know."

[selfie_hero]

Peter 3 moves closer to the others, tucking his party horns away for the time being to make a reappearance later. "There is so much food. And Tupperware will survive the portal, as we just found out, so everyone's getting leftovers."

He hadn't exactly told May where he was going, but he had mentioned a party for a friend who had been feeling down - and the next thing he knew, she had been loading him up.

[heartstumbles]

Peter laughs, feeling happier than he has in a long while. He feels full to bursting with the same kind of light giddiness he felt when he rushed to hug both Peters back before saying goodbye to them back in his world; it's such a great feeling, and he never wants to let it go. At least he can cling to it while enjoying this lovely party the Peters put together for him.

"I love leftovers, I can't wait! I can't promise I won't eat everything on sight though," he adds with a grin. With his powers, Peter absolutely still eats like a teenager when presented with the opportunity.

"And presents?" He turns to Peter 2, feeling like a kid at Christmas. "This is already the best birthday present."

[agiftandacurse]

"I prepared for that. My appetite was insane for the first few years I had my powers." He'd made sure that there was enough food for at least double their expected guests.

There was a noise of keys jingling at the door, and Peter jogged over to open it first. A redheaded woman around his same age came through, arms full with a large rectangular box. Peter took it off of her hands and headed to the kitchen while she set her purse and keys down. Once she'd finished, she turned to the other Peters with a pleased expression.

"Hi! You must be..." She paused, giving them each a playful smile. "Peter Parker and... Peter Parker? Or do I have that backwards?" She extended a hand to each of them in turn, and they'd be able to see the wedding band on her ring finger. "Pete's probably mentioned me before, but I'm Mary Jane. You can call me MJ, though. I would've been here sooner, but the cake wasn't ready when I went to pick it up."

[selfie_hero]

"It's okay. Everyone gets us confused," he jokes, returning the smile as he reaches out to shake her hand.

Since meeting the others, it's been a little easier for him to deal with the loss of Gwen. He'd also had warning from the older Peter about MJ being here, so it's not as hard as it might be to keep the twinge of sadness out of his eyes that might have crept in otherwise.

"He's talked about you a lot," Peter confirms. "It's nice to finally meet you."

[heartstumbles]

"Yeah, people mix us up all of the time," Peter says, joining in on the joke as he reaches out to shake MJ's hand next. His first thought is how kind she seems; his own MJ would like her immediately, he's certain. He thinks she shares a sense of humor with Peter, which makes the two of them really sweet together, even if part of him aches a bit at the sight. "It's really good to finally meet you! Peter talks about you all of the time."

More than that ache, though, is the fact that all of these people are here for him, to celebrate his birthday. That fact is a soothing balm against everything he's been struggling with lately, and Peter's so grateful for it.

"Thank you guys," Peter says, turning to look at MJ, Peter, and Peter. "For all of this. This is...this means a lot."

[agiftandacurse]

"Of course!" MJ says, looking over her shoulder as Peter - her Peter - returns from the kitchen. He smiles and grabs her hand to squeeze it, mindful to not lord his relationship over either of his brothers. But it was a quiet way of saying thanks. She squeezes back, and then excuses herself to locate their final party guest, who's currently in her room.

"If you're not too exhausted from the portal jump, I thought maybe we could go out swinging after dinner," he suggests. "I know we all said we wanted to do it again, maybe when we weren't trying to prevent the multiverse from getting destroyed."

[selfie_hero]

Peter turns his smile to the youngest of them, the expression warm. "Of course, dude. You're, uh... literally one of us." His smile turns a little more crooked, and he reaches out again to squeeze Peter's shoulder.

His eyes widen a little at the other's suggestion, and he grins. "Oh, we are definitely doing that. Unless there's some kinda 'don't go swinging for thirty minutes after you eat' rule nobody told me about."

[heartstumbles]

Peter brightens up at the shoulder squeeze and the warm words from both Peters. Being here with them makes him glad he broke the multiverse, honestly. "Thanks guys. This is definitely the best birthday anyone could ask for."

He perks up even more with the mention of swinging after dinner. The perfect birthday gift on top of an already perfect birthday dinner.

"Well, if that rule exists, I've definitely broken it...multiple times, oops. But yeah! Swinging after dinner is definitely a must!"

[agiftandacurse]

Before they could make more post-dinner plans, MJ returns to the living room, followed by the sound of little feet running quickly. A young girl with long red hair peeks out from between Peter and MJ, eyes widening when she sees that the guests have arrived.

"Uncle Peter and Uncle Peter!" She pushes forward and gives Peter 3 a hug around the waist. "You're so tall..." Then, she lets go and turns to Peter 1, holding out a piece of paper she'd been keeping tight in one hand. "Happy birthday, Uncle Peter! I made this for you."

She hands over the paper, which has a drawing of Spider-Man and printed letters spelling out "Happy Birthday Uncle Peter Love May."

Peter 2, to his credit, is caught between trying to prevent his daughter from mauling his other two selves and letting her be a bit more independent in her greeting. "And this is our Mayday. Ever since I told her you were coming, she's been really excited to meet you."

[selfie_hero]

Peter tilts his head at the sight of May, smiling immediately despite the emotion that wants to well up in his throat again. He's known about the girl's existence, had been glad to hear his older self had put together this little family, and actually seeing her is just so touching.

He takes a half-step back as she throws herself at his legs, putting a hand briefly to her hair as he smiles. He doesn't have time to respond before she turns to the birthday boy, and his smile grows as he sees the picture. "Oh, that's adorable."