The beginning of one Peter Parker's life was easy (somewhat), peaceful - at times - and loving. With a few mischievous shenanigans on Peter's end.

Of course, considering he was only four years old, that would certainly explain the trouble he got into.

Despite all of that, he didn't mind it. He had parents who he knew would always love him, no doubts in mind, along with him being good at school.

Well, good was an understatement, but Peter didn't like to brag.

(Even though they had a spelling test the week before and Peter was the only one who got all of the words correct.)

The Parkers were, indeed, a happy family. Peter, especially, hadn't experienced anything terrible or anything that would provoke his thoughts for years to come.

No, that came later.

~~~

"Mom?" Peter asked one day, his vocabulary very advanced for his age (just under five years old). "I - I'm gonna grow up and be a scientist one day."

His mother laughed, messing up his hair fondly. "Are you? What are you going to do as a scientist?"

Peter scrunched his face up, obviously thinking hard, before he brightened, an obvious good idea in his mind.

"I'm gonna help people," he decided, nodding firmly, "like Mr Stark and Mr Banner do."

Mary Parker laughed, picking Peter up and holding him on her hip.

"You'll be just as good as Bruce Banner, if not even better," she said softly, smiling at him as he thought of ways to help people.

"Or - or I could become a superhero," he added after a few minutes of pondering. "Like Captain 'Merica, but maybe not as - not as strong, 'cause he's very strong."

Richard Parker walked into the room then, kissing the top of Peter's head. "A superhero, huh? What would your name be, then?"

Once again Peter went silent, thinking. After all, this was a serious matter.

"Peter-Man," he said in the end, smiling as though this was the best accomplishment. He wriggled down from his mother's arms suddenly, rushing into his bedroom.

"I - I gotta make a suit!" he yelled as he ran.

Mary and Richard shared a fond look.

They would give anything for their child.

~~~

"How's school, Pete?" Richard asked as he began to make dinner, the boy swinging his legs as he sat ready at the table. "Mom tells me you've not been doing well?"

"I don't got any friends at the moment," Peter admitted, "but it's fine, cause that means I can focus more on my science projects. My teachers want me to enter the science fair!"

Richard pursed his lips at that, frowning in thought. Who wouldn't want to be friends with Peter?

"That's cool," he says instead, not voicing his thoughts just yet, "do you know anyone else in your class who's doing it?"

Peter shook his head. "Everyone says that science is boring, but that's just cause they don't understand it properly. Once they understand, then it'll be more fun!"

Richard nodded, laughing.

"But someone in my class, Flash, he said that science is for losers," Peter said, a hurt look on his face as he remembered. "I said that he was wrong, but it wasn't very nice."

"No, that's not," Richard agreed, "have you told your teacher?"

"I haven't cause then Flash wouldn't like me even more, and I wanna see if we can be friends," Peter said. "Is dinner nearly ready?"

Richard gestured a yes at him, ending their conversation there.

~~~

"Dad! Dad! It's my birthday today!" Peter squealed, jumping on his parent's bed, waking them up instantly. "Mom, did you know it's my birthday today?"

"No," she gasped, "is it really? But - Peter I haven't bought you any presents!"

Peter laughed. "Don't be silly, Mom, you have, you never forget!"

Mary chuckled along with him. "Yeah, you're right," she said, a big smile on her face. "I would never forget my Petey's birthday, would I?"

"No, cause that would be very bad," Peter spoke with a cheeky tone, "cause I wouldn't get any presents otherwise."

"Has Pete grown out of his birthday hugs?" Richard said from behind them, a wide grin shown on his face. "How old are you, Pete? Four?"

"No, Dad," Peter laughed. "I'm five!"

"Surely not!" he exclaimed. "No, you're far too mature for five, you must be... six?"

"No, no, Dad, you're wrong, I'm five years old," Peter insisted.

"Ah okay, you must be right then," he allowed, "after all, I'm too old to remember these things, aren't I?"

"Yep," Peter said, sticking his tongue out. Richard retaliated, tickling Peter.

"No - no! Dad - Dad, stop -" he breathed between giggles.

"Come on now, Rick," Mary said, rolling her eyes at her boys, "we want Peter to be able to open his presents, now, don't we?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Peter squealed as soon as gained enough oxygen to do so.

"I guess tickle monster will have to go back to sleep," Richard sighed, a sad expression replacing his happy one. Peter, thinking that he was genuinely sad, immediately barrelled into him, giving him a hug.

"Birthday cuddles," he said as a way of explaining. "C'mon downstairs now, we gotta go open presents. Dad, you're gonna be in charge of the wrappin' paper, and Mom, you can help me unwrap."

~~~

"But I don't wanna go to Uncle Ben's," Peter pouted, eyes watering as he faced his mom and dad, "I wanna go on your work trip! I'll be lonely without you."

Richard almost gave in then and there (how could he say no to those eyes), but Mary put her foot down.

"You love Uncle Ben and Aunt May," she reminded him, "and you always have fun at their place, don't you?"

Peter unwillingly nodded. "I wanna stay with you..."

"C'mon, Pete," Richard said, kneeling to his height, "don't you want to see them again? You haven't for a while, and you can tell us all about it when you come back, yeah?"

Peter hesitated.

"I don't want you to go," he said softly, having no more arguments.

"We'll see you when we get back, okay?" Mary said, also crouching down. "We need to get into the car now."

Peter nodded, looking down at the floor. The two adults stood up properly, Richard holding his hand out for Peter to take, who did so.

The drive to Uncle Ben's was shorter than they'd like. Peter wished he had started a conversation, but he didn't have the enthusiasm to do it.

Aunt May and Uncle Ben were already waiting at the door when they left the car.

"We'll see you soon, Pete," Mary promised. "I love you."

"Love you lots, Pete," Richard added.

Peter's chin wobbled, but he seemed determined to not cry. He was doing a better job of it than Mary, at any rate, who had to leave to the car.

"Love you, Dad. Can you tell Mom I love her too?"

"Of course I can, buddy," Richard said, smiling down at him. "I've got to go now, but you'll be perfectly fine here, okay?"

"You're gonna have a fun stay at ours, aren't you?" Uncle Ben said. "Have a good work trip, Rick."

Richard nodded, leaving quickly before he too allowed his tears to fall.

"They're comin' back, right?" Peter voiced his concerns the moment his parents left.

"Of course they are," Aunt May said, leading him inside. "Now, why don't I show you to your room and you can get all settled in."

Peter nodded shakily.

Uncle Ben didn't have a good feeling about this.

~~~

His feeling was right, but how he wished it was wrong.

He had never wanted this to happen, to see Peter's expression fill with shock before it changed to anger, to see the moment Peter realised that he wasn't playing a prank on him, to see when Peter broke down into his Aunt May's arms.

"You're lying," was the first thing he'd said.

And the second, and the third. It was his only defence, it seemed, because deep down he knew that it was true.

"But they promised," was what he said when the despair and devastation settled in after the shock drifted away.

It broke Uncle Ben's heart when he had to gently say that just because they promised, Pete, doesn't mean they can't accidentally break them.

That, of course, brought the self-doubt.

"Did they do it on purpose?" he's said, his voice trembling. "You said they broke their promise, did they do it on purpose? Did they not want me?"

That was when Aunt May broke down, trying too hard to stay strong for Peter that it crumbled.

It was in Uncle Ben's hands to right his mistakes, which he tried to do with reassurances like no, Pete, they loved you so much and they're so upset they can't be with you.

That was what brought the torrent of tears.

Uncle Ben so wished they hadn't gone on that plane.

~~~

First proper chapter, everybody! It is so difficult to write for someone who just doesn't have a proper personality and everything, but then I was like - aha! They are parents! That will be their entire personality!

So... thoughts? Haha.

I would like to say that most of the chapters will likely be written before Valentines Day (14th February), and I'm probably gonna write the dates I've finished them, just so you can see how separate they are XD

The reason why before Valentines? (I'm saying this now because even if I actually do finish this before Valentines, then these are still being updated next next Thursday.) We're going to adopt a puppy on that day :)

My hands will be full and I am very pleased about it.

Hope you liked the first proper instalment of this book!

~ Hunter

04.02.21

^ written as in British ^