Take Care of My Heart

Chapter 24 - The Whole Rest of Our Lives

It was early in the daytime when Miles traveled with Gwen to Earth 616B. Hand in hand, they stood on a porch in Queens as he rang the doorbell. Gwen waited anxiously, fidgeting with her feet, until they were greeted by a beautiful redhaired woman.

"Hi!" It was Mary Jane Parker. "How are you guys?"

"We're good, Mrs. Parker." answered Miles, who extended his hand first.

To his surprise, she accepted his handshake with a warm hug. "Call me MJ." she said.

"Uh, okay... MJ." The boy couldn't ignore how nice this woman smelled. "How are you?"

"Oh, we're fine." She turned to the girl and hugged her too. "It's great to see you two!"

"Uh, thanks..." Gwen replied awkwardly, "... thanks for inviting us."

"Don't be strangers." Stepping back, MJ waved them through the door. "Come on in."

When they entered her house, which was neatly maintained and scented, they discovered two rugrats playing on the carpet of their living room with another woman; Gwen jumped as soon as she recognized the large afro on her bulky stature.

"Jess!?"

"Gwen!"

"Oh, my God!" Gwen rushed into the arms of her former mentor, dancing giddily. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, for one..." they turned to the waddling toddler playing with Mayday, "... finding my son a playmate. His name's Gerald, though I prefer Gerry."

"Gerry?" Gwen repeated observantly. "How old is he?"

"Only a few weeks."

"A few weeks?" The blonde's head nearly fell off, as did Miles'. "How is he walking already?"

"Beats me." Jess shrugged with a proud smirk. "Spider-genes, I'm guessing."

"Nice." Miles chimed in. "Makes me wonder if you guys have daycare centers for spider-children."

This got him the Spider-Woman's full attention. "That... is not actually a bad idea." She waved an acknowledging finger.

"Eh..." he did his best to play it down, "... it just came off the top of my head."

"But seriously," she encouraged, "we could use more of that input."

"Yeah, sure." With a brisk nod, Miles glanced away; he was still on the fence.

Seeing this, Jess thought it best to change the subject. "So... how are you holding up?" she asked softly.

He paused at her question, raising an eyebrow, before answering with a pocketed shrug. "To say the least, I'm... coming to terms with it." Pausing again, he took a deep breath. "Just gotta get through the funeral... and then it should be all good."

"I'm really sorry—"

"Don't." He waved her off. "It's okay... really."

Jess pursed her lips apologetically; she knew his pain all too well... she just wasn't the right person to console him.

Gwen, with some reluctance, put her arm around Miles. Thankfully, he didn't brush off or pull away from her this time; he just stood there, contemplating, with his fingers now on his chest. By now, he was coming to accept the loss of his mother... he was just tired of all the reminding condolences being showered his way. He just wanted... no, needed... a break from it all.

But soon enough, Miles caught the attention of Mayday, who squealed in rabid excitement. The three women ducked as she catapulted herself into the boy's arms and got to pawing his face with her sticky little hands.