Chapter 5: Coffee and Sympathy

"Peter! Mary Jane!" Aunt May declared, opening the door of her new apartment. She swept the two in turns into big hugs. Peter had to quickly set the plant he had brought for a housewarming gift out of the way to keep it from being crushed.

"Come in! Come in!" she waved them into the living room. "It's not my old place, but it'll do for an old girl like me. I think it's finally ready for visitors..."

"Aunt May, you just moved in here a week ago. Anyone else would still have boxes everywhere." Peter smiled at the efficiency of his aunt. She had even found time to put up photographs and artwork.

"Yes," Mary Jane agreed. "It's lovely. And you didn't have to cook Sunday lunch for us - we could have gone out."

Aunt May ushered them to seats on the sofa. "It isn't a home until you can share it with family and friends. You are the perfect ones to start new traditions with." She settled in the armchair, with an expectant look on her face. "Peter, you said you had news for me on the phone..."

"I wanted to wait to tell you in person," Peter began, and reached for Mary Jane's hand. "MJ and I...we're a couple now."

Aunt May clasped her hands together and positively beamed. "I knew I sensed something when you came in. It's the best I could have hoped for! Your mother and I have been secretly scheming for this for ages, you know," she winked at Mary Jane.

"Maybe not so secretly," MJ winked back.

"So, Mary Jane, last I heard, you were about to marry that astronaut. You should have been on your honeymoon for another week! What happened to change your mind?" Aunt May leaned forward, intrigued.

"Well, Peter happened. We finally were totally honest with each other. We let things get in the way, and now we're determined to be happy, whatever comes." It was vague, but true. After all, Aunt May couldn't know all the particulars.

Aunt May's features took on a knowing expression. "Everyone deserves to be happy. No matter what their destiny in life." She looked from one to the other for a moment, then continued. "My dear Ben and I certainly were happy through it all."

A buzzer came from the kitchen. "Oh! That's the roast. You two make your way to the table, and I'll be right there." She bustled away to the oven.

MJ whispered, "I thought you said she didn't know!"

"I don't think she does. But something she said to me just before Dr. Octavius kidnapped you helped me decide to put the suit on again. She told me that everyone has a hero inside them. I even think her words are what helped me convince Octavius to destroy his machine." Peter looked toward the kitchen - Aunt May was still busy getting plates filled.

"I think I remember what you said to him...something about doing what's right?" She looked upward, trying to recall.

"'Sometimes, to do the right thing, we have to have to be steady and give up the things we want the most...even our dreams.' Those words helped me, too. But in the end, I didn't have to give up all my dreams." Peter gazed into her eyes and squeezed her hand.

Plates in hand, Aunt May came to the table. "I remember when I used to whisper like that. It's wonderful to be young and in love."

"Oh, Aunt May, let us help you with those." They helped her set all the platters down, embarrassed that they hadn't offered earlier.

During the meal, everyone talked happily about this and that. The food was delicious as always, and Peter felt at home in Aunt May's new place already. Then he suddenly got quiet.

"What's wrong, Peter?" Both she and Mary Jane looked at him worriedly, May with a glass halfway to her lips.

He nervously started, "I just realized I have some other news that I haven't told you." He looked at Mary Jane again, and seemed to gain confidence. "Mary Jane and I are moving in together."

Aunt May set her glass down. A beat passed. Peter jumped to fill the silence, "I am being evicted, anyway, and your new apartment only has one bedroom, so it made the most sense..." he finished awkwardly.

Aunt May's eyes closed, then she put on a smile. "You know I'm old-fashioned, dear. I'm sure you are only doing what you think is best." She quickly changed the subject. "Who wants dessert?"

Mary Jane tried to salvage the moment as well. "I'll help clear the dinner dishes and get the coffee."

"Thank you so much, dear." May told Mary Jane without a trace of disapproval. Thank goodness she is so happy for us, MJ thought, relieved.

The two women went into the kitchen, leaving Peter at the table. After a few trips between the table and the dishwasher, Mary Jane was searching the cabinets for the coffee and filters.

"In the lower left cupboard above the sink." Aunt May brought a pie over to the countertop, and began to remove the plastic wrap. They busied themselves in companionable silence, when they heard Peter's chair hurriedly scrape away from the table.

MJ turned instantly at the sound, registering that May had turned as well. Peter came into the doorway. "MJ, Aunt May, I have to go. I, uh, just remembered that..."

Aunt May cut him off, "Go, dear! Mary Jane and I will have a visit together while you are gone."

Peter looked at Aunt May strangely, then shrugged and gave MJ a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Don't worry, if it's too late, you can just swin - uh, come by my place later," Mary Jane kissed him back, then shooed him off.

After the front door closed, Aunt May turned to Mary Jane. "Mary Jane," she walked over to the younger woman, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know, I have already thought of you as my niece for years now."

"Thanks. I have felt the same about you, especially with all my troubles at home. It's been nice to have someone to turn to." She finished measuring the grounds and pouring the water, then pressed start.

"You don't know how much it means to me that you are going to be there for Peter. He needs a 'rock in the storm,' if you will. There's only so much an old lady can do. And if it gets to be too much, please, my shoulder is always here to cry on." Aunt May gave her a warm smile, and went back to serving the pie on two plates.

This was getting to be too much innuendo. "Aunt May, I..." She was afraid to bring the subject of Peter's alter-ego out into the open. What if she was misreading her comments? "What do you mean?"

May nodded her head toward the table, and carried the pie that direction. MJ followed. "I think you know what I mean. Peter's life is awfully complicated, isn't it? He's always busy, always tired, never has enough money." She sat at the table, then looked Mary Jane directly in the eyes. "And always in danger."

She couldn't suppress a little gasp. Sitting heavily, MJ said in a quiet voice, "How long have you known?"

"Oh, dear, give me credit," she chuckled. "Why would not just one but two super-villains have anything to do with little old me? Let alone you, Mary Jane. We only have one person in common. And Peter's behavior the last two years has been so different from the way he used to act growing up. But I finally put it together the night after he confessed his part in Ben's death. When I got over my shock, the pieces seemed to fall into place."

"Then you know he blames himself totally for what happened. He thinks the only way he can even partially atone for it, is by helping others."

"I've told him I don't blame him for it, goodness knows." May noticed the coffee had stopped brewing, and went to fetch the carafe. "But I have a question for you. How long have you known?"

Mary Jane took the pot and poured for both of them. "It was much the same for me. There were little hints here and there, but I couldn't let myself believe it. But after he saved me from Doc Ock, I saw him without the mask. That's when I had to face the truth."

"And the astronaut never stood a chance after that, did he?" May chuckled again.

"No," she admitted. She took a sip of the coffee. "But still, Peter pushed me away again. He didn't want me to take the risk. I had to convince him that I had a right to decide for myself."

"And I am so glad that you did! That dear boy never thinks of himself anymore." She noticed Mary Jane's pie was untouched. "Go ahead, take a bite."

Mary Jane lifted the fork to her mouth and tasted it. "Delicious. Just like everything you cook."

"Thank you. Come and enjoy it any time. My home is your home, now. Don't forget that. And make sure my boy comes over here as often as he can manage. He needs some normalcy in his life."

"I will try, Aunt May." It was wonderful to be here, she felt so comfortable and accepted. They finished their dessert leisurely, talking for quite a while after.

Several hours later, Peter walked up the hallway to Aunt May's. Aunt May insisted that you go see her when you got finished, Mary Jane had said. She had had a secretive look about her, but he didn't argue. He always felt guilty when he had to duck out like that.

He knocked on the door. "Come in," he heard from inside.

Tentatively, he entered. "Aunt May, it's me."

"Peter, you're back," she called from her bedroom. "Take a seat, I'll be right there."

He sat, and turned toward the sound of her voice. She came toward him, slipping something into her pocket. "Everything taken care of?"

"Yes, everything's fine. My, um, errand, took longer than I thought it would."

"Oh, don't you worry about that. Mary Jane and I had a nice long talk. Did she tell you anything about it?" She fussed with her skirt as she sat down next to him.

"The only thing she told me is that you wanted to see me." Now they were both being secretive. He was starting to get a bad feeling about it.

"Peter," she finally looked straight at him. "You've been keeping something from me. I understand why, you were worried about me. I just want you to know I am proud of you, and am glad that you have someone to share your troubles with."

Peter had tensed up. "Did MJ, did she..."

"No, of course not. She just got me to admit what I had already hinted at." She gave Peter a stern look. "She would never betray you, Peter. She loves you too much."

He had a pained expression on his face as he said, "I didn't want you to worry, or to put you in danger."

"Even when we didn't know, we were being put in danger. You had to save us anyway. Knowing will help us to deal with it better, dear."

"I hope so, Aunt May." He wasn't totally convinced. The women in his life were strong-willed, he'd give them that. You wouldn't have it any other way, Parker, he mused.

"But enough about that. I had a more pressing reason to talk to you." She cleared her throat. "I didn't want to say anything with Mary Jane here, but... you are moving in together, so..." He'd never seen Aunt May at such a loss for words.

She seemed to come to a decision. "There is no good way to say this... have you and Mary Jane... been... intimate?"

He blushed crimson. "I thought as much," she stated. "The way you looked at each other, touched, kissed... a mother can tell, you know." She put her hand on top of his. "Peter, you had better be planning to marry her."

"Marry her? I've never wanted anything else!" His dream of marrying her on a hilltop was bright in his mind. "But Aunt May, I'm broke. I can't afford a ring, let alone an expensive wedding. We're not the Jamesons."

"A wedding doesn't have to be expensive, just filled with love. As for the other," she pulled something from her pocket and pressed it into his hands.

He opened the small jewelry box to find two simple gold bands. "These were your parents'," she explained. "Your mother put into her will that she wanted you to have them."

"You've had these all this time?" he marveled.

"Yes, and I think the time has come to give them to you." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Now make that sweet girl an honest woman."

Peter wrapped her into a long hug. "I love you, Aunt May. I will do right by her, I promise." When the hug ended, he stood up. "I should get back to her now. I will find the right time to give it to her. Soon, I swear."

"Take care of each other. And don't be a stranger. Come as often as you can."

"I will. See you later, Aunt May. And thank you again." He gave her a goodbye kiss on the cheek, started for the door, then suddenly thought better of it. She is ten floors up. Another way will be quicker. And faster than May could detect, he was standing at the window in his Spider-Man costume, small bundle in hand. She gave him an approving nod. He saluted her silently, then sprang into the night.

A/N: For the next chapter in the saga, please see "Enquiring Minds," Part 2 of my post SM2 movieverse trilogy.