The Most Beautiful Flowers

"Hey, Mrs. Parker?"

"Yes?" the woman asked as she put a plate of assorted Girl Scout cookies down on the kitchen table for them to snack on while they made shop talk about Miles's suit and web-shooters. "And I've told you before, just call me May."

Miles nodded like he understood and would remember to in the future, but knew he wouldn't. He was still in school where just about all adults he knew went by Mr., Ms., or Mrs. something or other. Habit would pretty much guarantee he'd call her Mrs. Parker again before he left today. Thankfully, it didn't seem to frustrate or upset her much if at all. Taking one of the caramel coconut cookies off the top of the pile, he stuffed it in his mouth and chewed it over as he thought how to pose the question that he'd been turning over in his head for the last couple of days.

When done, he swallowed the cookie and took a sip from the glass of water the older woman had placed next to him a minute ago. Finally, he returned his attention Mrs. Parker, whose own gaze had never wavered from Miles. "You know how there's a Spider in, like, every universe?"

She leaned forward to rest her chin on her steepled hands. "Yes," she answered.

Miles picked a couple of more cookies from the pile, this time going for the ones that were all chocolate on one side. "And how a lot of them are Peter Parkers?"

"I do."

He bit one of the cookies in half and talked around his mouthful, "D'you think other universes have me in them too? I mean, in the old Peter's universe he had a you and a Mary Jane too…"

The older woman's eyes crinkled, both with amusement and a little pain. It'd been a couple of months since their Peter's unfortunate demise and since Miles took up the mantle of Spider-Man, but he knew it still hurt Mrs. Parker to talk about her nephew sometimes. Miles didn't blame her at all; his own uncle had been gone nearly just as long and he still had to hide under bed sheets or in some dark alleyways in Brooklyn and cry about him from time to time. Sometimes, Miles felt guilty for needing to. His Uncle Aaron hadn't been a good guy and Miles had paid enough attention to the news over the years to know his uncle had done some pretty sick stuff as his alter ego. Yet… Uncle Aaron had been good, at least to Miles. So good that sometimes he'd even felt like the only adult who got Miles. He was abruptly pulled from his heavy thoughts by Mrs. Parker clearing her throat.

He watched her pick a cookie – a thin mint – from the pile for herself and take a small bite from it. "Yes, I do imagine they have many of the people we have here in them too. Most of them are practically the same as our own with only a little change here and there."

Miles smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, that's true. It was kind of a dumb question, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that… Peni's not exactly anything like the rest of you and that's really something, considering there had been a walking, talking, thinking, pig in my house for a good minute there."

Miles grinned wider and laughed louder now. "He was pretty wack, wasn't he?

"Spider-Ham was perfectly lovely… But, yes, he was wack."

He snickered. "I guess some universes are just bound to be super different from others."

"Yes, they are."

Tossing another cookie into his mouth, Miles ate it and then another before he said, "Gwen's universe didn't seem too different from us I felt. D'you think there's also one of her here in our universe?" Miles smirked to himself. "I wonder if she's in a band here too? That'd be tight! I could go sneak into one of her practices, not like a creep, of course, just as an admirer, and…" he trailed off as he began to notice the strange twistedness to Mrs. Parker's lips. Miles furrowed his brows. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked hesitantly.

The older woman shook her head and reached over to place her hand on the one Miles had resting on the kitchen's tabletop. "Oh, no, honey," she said. "It's just…" She sighed. "There was a Gwen."

"Was?"

Mrs. Parker turned her gaze to the doorway leading into the living room. "Maybe I should get one of the old photo albums…" she murmured.

"No," Miles told her. "Can you just— Was?"

The older woman sighed once again and nodded her head. "Years ago, when Peter was still a teenager, there was a Gwen Stacy. She and Peter met in their Freshman biology class and clicked. It was an instant friendship between the two and they were always coming here to do projects together…" Mrs. Parker's eyes turned a little misty as her gaze turned inward. "At this very table, in fact, they came up with the idea that would win them first place in their Sophomore-year science fair. Shortly after Peter became Spider-Man the two of them even began to date. They were so sweet," she whispered, wiping a tear from her eye. "But then the Green Goblin happened and—" Mrs. Parker stopped to take a shuddering breath. "It was devastating for all of us, but I think it really shook Peter for a while and made him really reconsider being Spider-Man."

"Really?" Miles asked in a hushed whisper as his mind reeled. Why did all of the coolest people have to die? Peter? Gwen? Uncle Aaron?

Mrs. Parker got up to get a kleenex, but when she returned, she answered Miles's half-question, half-exclamation. "Yes, but he managed to heal enough from Gwen's passing to keep wearing the mask and even find love again, as silly as that may sound to a boy your age."

"It's not," Miles reassured her. "It's… I guess it's kind of good, in a way, to know he was so strong. I know he didn't really get to teach me anything like he wanted, but… I'm glad he got back in the game and everything went the way it did. Otherwise—" Miles looked to his hands. "I dunno. I'm not sure I'd have taken his place."

"Oh, Miles," Mrs. Parker mumbled as she came around to hug him, which he eagerly returned. It was nice, she smelled like flowers and was soft in the right places, like his abuela, and it made him feel cared about. "You're a good boy," she told him.

He squeezed her gently in return. "And you're a really great aunt, Aunt May."

She pulled away slightly and Miles feared he'd maybe overstepped a line, but when he glanced up to meet her gaze, he saw only warmth shining in her wet eyes. "Oh, Miles!" she mumbled before tightening her embrace to the point he was struggling to breathe.

"Aunt May!" he wheezed.

She let up. "Sorry, honey," she apologized. "Peter used to complain I hugged him too hard at times too."

He patted the older woman's back. "It's alright," he assured her. "Kinda nice, actually."

She squeezed him a little longer and then let him go with a laugh. "So polite," she teased. "You'll make someone a lovely boyfriend someday."

"Aunt May…" he complained as she giggled into her hands and went to sit back down.

Once she was in her chair and smiling, she asked, "So, how's your web-shooter working? Well? Do you need more fluid for it?"

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Thank you for reading :)