"Come on, Gwen! We're going to be late!" Peter called out, lingering by the front door as he waited for her to join him.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Gwen emerged from the upstairs hallway and made her way swiftly down the stairs. She grabbed her jacket and slipped it on, giving Peter a giddy smile as she did so.

"You know, it's not so easy to move around hastily while having to be careful." She informed him.

"Right. I know that. But come on, you're not even fat yet, it can't be that hard to move around." He said skeptically, earning him a glare from Gwen.

"Listen buddy, you put the baby in there and you are not the one who, in a few short months, will have to move around with a weight equal to that of a bowling ball inside of you. So, unless you want me to tape a watermelon to your stomach, I suggest that you never use the word fat on me again." She warned him jokingly.

"No thank you, I'm good." He rejected, playing along.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." She concluded. "We should probably get moving, I'm nervous enough already without being late for this appointment." She added, chewing on her lower lip as she continued outside to the truck.

Peter joined her a few seconds later, hopping into the driver's side and starting up the engine. He reversed to the end of the drive, but stopped briefly to look over at Gwen in the passenger side, reaching out and placing his hand on her knee.

"Hey, I know uh- I know you're nervous about this but don't worry too much. I'm sure that everything will go exactly as we are hoping, and for what it's worth… You're going to make a great mother." He said encouragingly. "Oh, and what I said before… I wouldn't care if you weighed a hundred pounds more than right now, I'll still love you even then." He added.

"Yeah, you'd better. You goofball." She quipped.

Without responding, he looked into the rear view mirror and pulled the truck right out of the drive, setting out onto the road. Though at every traffic light, he snuck glances in her direction and couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"But thank you." Gwen said, referring to his earlier words. "I uh- I'm happy that my life is here with you, and I know you will make a great father too." She assured him.

The rest of the journey was spent with only the sound of the music played on the radio filling the air and once they'd pulled into the hospital parking lot, Peter nabbed an empty space hastily and removed the key to switch off the truck engine.

"You ready?" He questioned.

"Yeah. You?" She answered.

"Mostly." He answered before hopping out of the truck and walking around to help her out too.

Intertwining their fingers, he squeezed her hand as they made their way towards the entrance as a non-verbal way of telling her that he was right there with her. Although he did not let it show, he was just as nervous as she; if not more. He loved Gwen deeply, but he was afraid that she would somehow discover what he'd hidden from her and stress her out, causing everything to go wrong. It was a silly notion, but something that frightened him still. He would never be able to forgive himself if he were to cause such pain. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind in order to be fully supportive of her, he forced a smile onto his face as they reached the front reception.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The woman at the desk, Amber, Peter read from her badge, questioned.

"Hi, I uh- Have a check up at nine o'clock with the midwife…" Gwen stammered.

"Okay, can I take your name please?" The woman questioned.

"Gwen. Gwen Parker." She answered, noticing Peter's smile as she said her name aloud.

"Alright, just bare with me a second…" The receptionist said as she began looking at her computer screen. "Room nineteen, just down the hallway to the left and it seems that they are free so you can just go in." She informed them.

"Great. Thanks." Gwen said, walking away and almost dragging Peter down the hall by his hand.

"Woah, easy… What's the rush?" He questioned.

"There's no rush, but I know that you tend to avoid things that make you nervous, so I'm marching you into the room before you can slip off anywhere without me noticing." She stated.

Peter simply chuckled and rolled his eyes at her statement as they approached the door to room nineteen. Gwen paused for a moment and turned to him.

"After this appointment, everything will be confirmed…" She began.

She didn't have to state that she was even more nervous now that they were right outside the door for him to know. He could tell by the way her grip on his hand had tightened and the way she was biting down on her lower lip.

"Relax, you have nothing to worry about." He assured her.

"Ye- Yeah, you're probably right. I just… I'm so nervous that I could throw up, which would be mortifying right now." She rambled.

"Gwen, stop. You're gonna be fine. It's a prenatal check up, not a terminal illness diagnosis." He chuckled.

"Oh, Peter. It's not me that I'm worried about." She told him.

"Wha- Me?" He questioned before bursting into laughter.

"It is not funny." She scowled.

"No, of course not. I know it's not funny, but I just…" He said through his hysterics. "But why are you worried about me? I'm not the one who's pregnant." He questioned after managing to regain himself.

"Because… I know that it's a lot to take in and in about an hour it will all be confirmed and then it will begin to sink in and… Well, I don't know, you might panic yourself…" She admitted.

Peter straightened up, not wanting to risk her getting mad at him for laughing at her fears; they were valid after all. She had a point too. He'd broken up with her more than once because he'd been afraid to lose her, and had made some other questionable choices due to irrational fear. He didn't plan on making those same mistakes again though.

"Gwen, relax. I'm not going down that path again. I promise." He assured her.

"I know."

With a deep breath, she reached for the handle and twisted it. The door swung open and the woman inside looked up from the computer with a friendly smile. Gwen forced herself to smile back as she pulled Peter into the room, watching as he closed the door behind them.

"You must be Miss Parker? I've been expecting you."

"Mrs, actually, but yes."

"Ah, pardon me. My mistake. Let me start by introducing myself; my name is Doctor Jane, and I will be your midwife throughout your pregnancy."

"I see. Thank you."

Alright, well if you would like to make yourself comfortable right over here; maybe remove your jacket too." The woman stood up, revealed to be wearing a blue uniform with a white pinny tied around her waist; clearly that of a nurse. "Oh, but before we can begin I shall need you to state who is accompanying you. It's nothing major, just safety reasons as well as confidentiality."

"Of course. This Mr Parker uh- Peter. My-"

"Her husband." He finished, trying to keep himself from laughing at her stuttering.

Gwen shed her jacket and handed it to Peter, who took it, and after a second of looking around for somewhere to hang it, gave up and slung it over his arm. She walked over to the chair; a pale green coloured leather seat with outstretched room for legs and a back that adjusted to either sit up or lay down, and swallowing her nerves, she pulled herself onto it, awaiting further instructions.

"Perfect, now I just need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?" The woman asked, clipping a piece of paper to clipboard.

"Y-yeah. That's fine."

"Great. Okay, so do you know how far along you are?"

"I'm not sure, I think like three, maybe four weeks."

"That's alright. We can confirm that later today. Okay, and when was your last period?"

"I think Mid-january, or towards the beginning of last month."

"Right, and do you smoke?"

"No."

"Drink? Any history of alcohol or substance abuse."

"No." She answered, shaking her head.

"Right, and this is your first pregnancy?"

"Yes."

As the woman finished taking notes to type up later, Gwen turned to Peter and her cheeks reddened when she spotted him playing with the pregnant mannequin in the corner of the room. Before she could react further, the woman placed the clipboard down and turned her attention back to their conversation.

"Okay. That concludes the questions, so what I am going to do now is take your blood pressure."

The woman stood up and reached out, grabbing the device; a black sleeve with a velcro strap that was attached to a wire with a little hand pump, and gently strapping it to Gwen's bare forearm.

"Now, in case you haven't had this done before, you're going to feel a little pressure in your arm and it's going to feel quite tight."

"Yeah, I've done this before. Not in a long time though."

The nurse began pumping the little hand pump and with nothing to do, Gwen's eyes wandered back over to Peter. It took everything inside her not to storm across the room and give him a piece of her mind as she saw that he'd finally left the mannequin alone only to now be playing with the skeleton and sticking its finger up its nose. As the pressure on her arm tightened, she gripped the edge of the chair, trying to keep her cool and not yell at him to quit playing with all these toys like a child. Finally, the pressure stopped increasing and she turned her attention back to the nurse; who was taking a note of her blood pressure and watched as the paper was once again set aside, and the device removed from her arm.

"Okay, and now, for the final stage you're going to have to lay back and lift your top so that it is just below your chest."

Complying with the request, Gwen eased herself into a lying position and adjusted her turquoise coloured t-shirt so that it rested just below her chest. The woman gave her a smile and pattered around the room, preparing some equipment. She looked over at Peter, and slammed her hand against her face as he had moved on from the skeleton to inspecting all the mini organ models and sticking them in the wrong places on the mannequin. The heat in her cheeks flared again when she saw he'd jammed the heart on top of the breast area and the lung on top of its head like a toupee.

"Peter…" She said softly.

His head snapped up from the other lung that was in his hands and he put it down before crossing the room so that he was standing besides her. She smiled at how easy it was to grab his attention, but couldn't wait to be done with the appointment so that she could tell him that playing with things in the medical office was not appropriate.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself."

"Of course you couldn't. You are still Peter, after all."

"That I am."

"Just please, for the love of God, do NOT become a doctor."

"Ah, well you don't have to worry about that." He chuckled.

She laughed with him until the woman had finished gathering what she needed, and switched on a small screen before opening a bottle of substance that looked like melted jelly and squinting some onto her stomach. Gwen flinched at the chill that ran through her body due to the feeling of the gel, but quickly recomposed herself, watching with cautious eyes as the woman grabbed the smaller piece of the sonogram and ran it over her stomach; spreading the gel at the same time.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I should have warned you that the gel is cold."

"No worries"

"While it is far too early to determine the sex-" The woman began but was interrupted by Peter, who found her word choice funny.

"I'm sorry about him… he's just a little hyper right now." Gwen apologised.

"I see. Anyway, as I was saying, it's far too early to determine the… gender, this will confirm whether it is a real pregnancy or a false positive."

Peter's face straightened out and he reached for Gwen's hand, taking it into his own and giving it a gentle squeeze. Her attention was focused solely on the screen to their right though. For the first few seconds, nothing appeared on the screen and her heart began to hammer in her chest, but after adjusting the angle slightly, a small dark blurr formed in the center.

"Is that- is that the-?"

"Yes. Congratulations. You're four weeks, or rather a month gone."

After the woman handed her some wipes to clear the gel off, Gwen sat up and fixed her t-shirt back to how it was originally, and with a few more exchanges, they were on their way back to the truck. Peter stopped just as they reached the door.

"So, this is really happening…" He prompted.

"Yep."

Confused by her brief answer, he attempted once more to strike a conversation. "You know, at first I was kinda freaked out, but now that we know it's for real… I'm actually uh- really happy to be experiencing this together."

"Well, I'm glad you're not freaked out anymore."

His smile turning into a frown, he stopped her as she reached for the handle on the passenger side door. "Are you mad at me?"

"No… yes… maybe. I don't know."

"Oh." He mouthed, pouting his lips like a puppy. "What did I do?"

"Don't act clueless. You know exactly what you did!" She snapped.

Thinking hard over everything that happened in the last hour or so, he came to a conclusion and couldn't help but laugh. "You mean my fooling around in the office?"

"Well, there's nothing else I've got to be mad about, so yeah, obviously."

"Ugh! Gwen, come on… I was just playing around. I didn't mean any harm."

"Yeah, but you're supposed to take this all seriously!"

"I am taking it seriously! I was just- I just wanted to make you laugh… you were so nervous, and I wanted to take the edge off."

"Awe, really?" She questioned, her voice softening at his explanation.

"Yes. Really. I'm sorry."

With a sigh, all of her anger melted away and she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to process everything. She opened them a second later and looked up at him with a small smile.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm being too harsh, you were just… having fun."

"So, am I forgiven?" He questioned, opening his arms wide.

"Yeah, you're forgiven." She said, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Oh, and I was also kinda bored by the way. That's why I was doing it all." He admitted.

She stepped back and looked at him with annoyance again, seemingly unimpressed by his new confession. Her frown quickly turned into a smirk as she shoved his shoulder playfully and rolled her eyes, laughing at his real reason. With a smile of his own, he opened the door and waited until she'd gotten inside the truck before closing it again and going to get in the passenger side.

"Peter…"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

The ride home was brief but silent, and once they got indoors, Gwen sat down on the couch; still trying to process everything. Since seeing that little blurr on the screen, it had become a lot more real that it had been when they'd woken up this morning. This did not go unnoticed by Peter, who came and sat beside her, placing his hand on hers and intertwining their fingers.

"I'm sorry that I got carried away with fooling around, I never really stopped to consider that I may have only been making things worse."

"You weren't making them worse, Peter. It did actually help to ease my mind a little, but it's not that."

"Then, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing. It's stupid."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's fine."

Not convinced by her tone, but not wanting to push her again, Peter smiled as his mind wandered back to the doctor's office and the image of the blurr on the screen. Their baby. Without a word, he reached out and laid his hand firmly but gently against her cheek, making small strokes with his thumb. She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes, moving in closer until her lips brushed against his. All was quiet and peaceful, until her phone started to ring. A disgruntled sound escaped her as she forced herself away from him and reached for her phone. Her eyes widened as she looked down at the screen.

"What is it?"

"No caller ID."

"Don't answer it."

"Peter!"

"I'm serious, Gwen. Don't."

"I'm sorry, but if I don't then it's going to eat away at my mind all night."

As Peter ran his hands through his hair, frustrated that she wasn't listening, Gwen swiped the screen to answer. She put the caller on loudspeaker, waiting only seconds for them to speak first and clearing her throat when they didn't.

"W- who is this?"

Static raged through the speaker, but after a few crackling sounds, the caller finally spoke. "Hello, Gwen."

"May I know who's calling?"

A laugh was the only response to her words, but it was the kind of laugh that created an unsettling feeling. The atmosphere changed vastly from peaceful to eerie, and she drew in a deep breath to stop herself from hanging up the call.

"I am not playing around. Who are you? And what do you want?"

"I think you shall find you know me quite well, Gwen."

"Quit playing games! I am warning you, if you do not speak about the purpose of this call then I will hang it up!"

"Ah, but simple Simon says-" The caller began, confusing her further, "Gwen?... Help me! Gwen!" Another voice cut in. This one she recognised.

"Oh my God! No!"

"We have your brother, Gwen."

"That's impossible… my brother is d- dead."

"Well, I guess if you really believe that then… toodles."

"No! Wait!" She interjected, but the call had already ended before she could finish.

Throwing her phone down on the couch, she turned to Peter with a frantic expression, only to find him staring back at her with a blank one. She opened her mouth to speak, and closed it again as it was clear that he did not have anything helpful to add. He had been right after all, when it was Venom pretending to be her mother, and she had also been right when they hadn't really captured May.

"It's not real, Gwen." He said, picking up on her shift in mood.

"I know." She whispered, resting her head in the palm of her hands.

"They're just playing games with you, like before."

"Peter, stop! I know that, okay?"

"Of course. I'm sorry." Guilt washed over him and not knowing what else to do, he placed a hand on her back, trying to offer what support he could.

Closing her eyes, she sat back, leaning against his side and trying to push the voice to the back of her mind. There was so much that they had to be happy about, yet she was the furthest thing from it. She breathed in his scent; the smell of latex, aftershave and coffee, and allowed it to flood through her, bringing back the calm and rational thoughts from before.

"You're right." She said, tilting her head so that she was looking up at him. "It's just hard… hearing those voices again, and knowing that-" She stopped abruptly, trying to regain the composure in her voice. "And knowing that it's not him, I- I just wish so badly that it was."

"I get it, Gwen. I really do." He sighed. "Now, I'll tell you what, why don't I go and prepare a hot bubble bath for you and then while you freshen up and take care of yourself, I will do some tidying up?"

"Well… that does sound nice right now."

With a small smile, he got up from where he was seated and left her on the couch as he headed upstairs, turning the taps on and plugging the drain of the bathtub. Pouring in as much rose scented bubble bath and shower gel as the bottles would allow, he binned the empty ones and then grabbed an air freshener, spraying the vanilla scented contents in the air. Once he was satisfied with the room, he pulled a clean cream coloured towel from the closet and placed it aside on the toilet seat lid. After making sure that everything was as it should be, he headed swiftly down the stairs to notify Gwen. He found her in the sitting room, exactly where he'd left her; though she was flicking through a white photo album with little brown bunnies decorating the front. She must have heard him enter because as stepped further into the room, her gaze shifted from the book to rest on him.

"Ba- bath is ready."

"Oh." She mouthed, closing the book and rising from her seat. "Thank you." She added softly as she moved towards the door. She turned back for a moment and unexpectedly wrapped her arms around him in a hug, pulling back and planting a swift kiss on his lips before turning and walking away.

Peter waited until he heard the door to the bathroom click shut and the lock turn, before he moved. Glancing around at the room, he rolled his eyes as all the potential accidents that could occur flashed through his mind. He had decided that he would fix this matter while Gwen was taking care of herself. Of course, if she knew what he really meant when he'd said tidy up, then she probably would have scolded him for going overboard. He wandered into the kitchen and opened up the cupboard beneath the sink, pulling out a medium sized tool box before returning with it to the sitting room.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the bathroom, Gwen stepped into the bath and sat down, allowing the warm water to soak into her skin and ease her mind. She laid back, stared up at the ceiling, and for the first time in a while, allowed her mind to wander. It had been months since she'd let herself think about anything other than the present or future because of what happened every time she tried to look back on the past. Eventually, with the slow movement of the water and the silence of the room, sleep overtook her.

Wrapping a towel around herself and trailing into the bedroom, Gwen jumped back in surprise when she saw that she was not alone in the room. There was someone sitting on the opposite side of the bed with their back to her and facing the window. She froze for a second, debating whether to confront them alone or go downstairs and get Peter, and then took a step forward. The floorboards creaked and she cringed, but the person didn't move. She relaxed a little and crept forward until she was close enough that she could see them properly despite the dim lighting of the room. Her mouth fell open and a gasp escaped as she took in what - or rather who, was in front of her.

The person was a she, but that wasn't all. She was a blonde, about five foot seven in height, and she was wearing Gwen's spider suit. A strange feeling came over Gwen, and for a split second she almost thought she'd seen her before. The girl lifted her head, and smiled in a way that was unsettling. Gwen's eyes widened, and she couldn't stop herself as she backed back. The girl wasn't just someone that she'd seen before somewhere. It was her. She was the girl.

"This is impossible…"

The girl laughed. "Well, clearly I'm here, so it's not."

"Who are you?"

"Don't play dumb. I am you… only a much less dull version."

Gwen frowned, unable to process what was happening. The longer she looked at the girl, the more differences she noticed between them; while her own eyes were bright and warm, the girl staring back at her had eyes filled with darkness and a stone cold hatred, and her hair, while wet, had a shine to it that the girl's lacked.

"What are you talking about?"

"I am you… Of course, I actually listened to Peter though, instead of running off to fight Harry in the middle of the night."

"No! I didn't- that's not what happened!"

"How do you know? You hit your head too hard and that night is nothing but a mass blur to you."

"I know because- because Peter told me."

"Oh, well then he lied."

Clenching her fists, Gwen stepped forward, just about ready to strike the girl. "You don't know what you're talking about. Peter would never EVER lie to me."

"Are you sure about that?"

"He wouldn't! I- I know he wouldn't."

"You believe everything he says. That's cute… but also sad, really." The girl taunted, standing on her feet.

"Alright, I'm done playing games, now listen up and listen good! Peter is NOT a liar, and yes, I do believe everything he told me about that night. He has no reason to keep anything back!" Gwen snapped.

The girl stepped forward and reached out to place her hands on either side of Gwen's head. Gwen jerked back and shoved the girl hard so that she staggered back, but before another move could be made, she was gone.

Waking up startled, Gwen's hand flew to her pounding heart and she wiped away water that had splashed her face with the other. She looked around frantically before realising that she was still in the bathroom and it had all been just a dream. She remained in the bath for a moment to catch her breath and then stood up; wrapping a towel around herself and heading into the bedroom. Her shaking hand pushed the door and it opened with a creak, but she sighed in relief when she found the room to be empty. Pushing thoughts of the dream to the back of her mind, she hastily got dressed; throwing on a white t-shirt and some plain black leggings, before heading back downstairs. Her mouth fell open as she walked into the sitting room.

"What in the world?"

Upon noticing her presence, Peter turned around with a proud smile on his face and a wrench still in his hands. "I was just doing some erh- some- I was just fixing some safety hazards."

Gwen's eyes slid over the room, unable to believe what she was seeing. "Yeah, but rubber tips on the corners of the table? Safety caps on the edges of the door? Don't you think you're going a little overboard?"

"Not at all. I mean, there's so many accidents that could happen within a house. The more I can eliminate, the better."

"I suppose it's alright. I mean, I think it would only be a little too much if you wrapped all the knives in bubble wrap…" She commented before the realisation dawned on her as he opened his mouth to speak. "Oh my God, you did that too, didn't you?!"

"Maybe." He gulped.

"Peter!"

"Safety measures, Gwen!"

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to use these knives to cut food if you've baby proofed the sharp edges?"

"Good point."

"You didn't think about that, did you?"

"Nope."

"I didn't think so." She said, rolling her eyes and folding her arms across her chest.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed that he'd gotten a little too carried away, Peter was determined to change the subject. "So, feeling better now?"

"Kinda… the bath was nice."

"But?"

"But what?"

"Huh, it's just the way you said it made it sound like there was something… not so nice about it."

Gwen bit her lip, unsure if she wanted to bring up her dream, though she didn't want to have any niggling thoughts at the back of her mind either. She looked up, unintentionally catching his eyes, and it was then that she knew she couldn't hide anything. It would not only make her feel guilty, but would most likely upset him too.

"Peter…"

"Is there something, Gwen?"

"Did you-" She began, stopping as her voice broke. "That night we fought Harry… you didn't leave anything out when you filled me in, right?"

Peter's heart sank at her question, and he paused in panic. He wasn't prepared for this question and it was not what he was expecting her to come out with. He swallowed hard, and locked his eyes on hers. Once again, the fear and the guilt collided, triggering his fight or flight response.

"O- of course." He stammered. "You know I would never lie or do anything to hurt you, right?" He questioned, feeling the guilt rise to a whole new level.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry I even brought it up. I just- I had this dream and it had me confused a little. I trust you, Peter, and I love you."

"No, no, no! You have nothing to be sorry for, so don't be sorry. I love you too." He stated, closing the distance between them and pulling her into a hug.

Stepping back from the hug, Gwen looked around the room once more, this time paying full attention to the changes that Peter had made, and she couldn't hold back the laugh. Before she could say anything on the subject, her phone rang. Her mind raced back to the call she'd received earlier on and for a moment she froze; unsure of whether or not to answer.

"Who is it?"

Her eyes darted from the screen to Peter and back again. Without a word, she swiped to answer.

"Listen up, I've had just about enough of these phone calls and I'm warning you back the hell off or I will track and end you myself!" She snapped.

Static crackled on the other end of the line and out of nowhere a voice that Gwen recognised instantly screamed down the line. Unable to catch it, the phone slid from her hands and landed on the floor with a clattering sound.

"Simon." She whispered, and pushed past Peter, going into the hall and rushing up the stairs.

Peter bent down and picked up the phone from the floor, he was about to speak but closed his mouth as he saw that the call had ended. With a sigh, he slipped it inside his pocket and spun around, following her lead up the stairs.