Discovering Fatherhood (Irondad / Spiderson)

Chapter 30: An Unexpected Meeting

Toast, butter, jam, milk, coffee, nesquik and others were the foods that were on the kitchen table, for the snack, however Peter, refusing to eat the toast that his father had prepared out of a matter of pride, had taken the last package of Oreo cookies he had left out of the cupboard and had it on the table in front of him.

Harley, on the other hand, having no problem eating what the Rogers marriage had served him, stretched out his arm, grabbed one of the many pieces of toast that was resting inside a basket, then held a knife with his free hand and began to spread butter and jam. When he finished, he left the jar of strawberry jam near Peter, left the knife resting on the edge of the plate where the butter was, he put the toast in his mouth and took a bite.

"Peter pass me the jam." Steve asked his son in a friendly tone, he could have asked Harley but it didn't make sense because what he really wanted was not the jam, but rather trying to talk to Peter, after all he was having tea with him and May after days.

The brown-haired boy rolled his eyes at his father's request, why was he so annoying? Couldn't he not speak to him even for a while? He didn't feel like talking to him, much less doing him favors.

"Don't you have feet? Stand up and look for it yourself." Peter snapped in a bad mood as he leaned his elbow on the wood of the table and then his chin on the palm of his hand. Steve placed the cup of coffee that he had held with his fingers on top of the small plate and gave his son a warning look. Peter sighed, resigned, he didn't want to start another discussion in front of Harley so he grabbed the jam and passed it to his dad but with a look of unfriendliness. "Here."

"Thank you." Steve said, taking the jar of jam and winking mischievously. Peter frowned and refrained from giving him the middle finger.

Harley noticed the obvious tension in the atmosphere and wanted to cut off the awkward moment, he put his fist in his mouth, cleared his throat, rested his forearms on the table and looked at Steve and May with a smile.

"You really did your best with the tea, everything is very delicious." The blonde teenager flattered them. "Thanks."

"Your're welcome Harley." May answered him kindly and offered him a warm smile.

Steve also smiled at Harley, just at that moment the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house, the Captain left the toast that had just been prepared on top of a small plate, dragged the chair back, placed his palms on the table and pushed himself up, standing.

"I'll answer." Steve informed the others, Peter looked at him with a fake smile.

"My ears thank you." The brown-haired boy commented sarcastically, remembering that an hour before his father had asked him to answer, completely forgetting that the sensor made by Tony was placed in the door frame, thanks to that carelessness of his sounded the shrill alarm that left Peter stunned, although to be honest... he had also forgotten that the sensor was installed but oh well, it was still his father's fault since he had decided to install those hateful devices in the first place.

"What..." Harley began to ask confused but Peter interrupted him, he was afraid that he would realize that the excuse he had made up earlier was false and would begin to investigate further, maybe he didn't quite believe the lie that his ears hurt from swimming lessons at school, it was best to change the subject because he wasn't willing to tell him that he was Spider-Man, not yet.

"Nothing, do you want an Oreo?" Peter offered his friend, he grabbed the package of Oreo cookies and handed it to him, almost hitting him in the face because of his nerves, luckily it didn't happen, Harley nodded with a smile and took out a cookie, the doorbell rang again, Peter left the package of cookies on the table, between him and Harley, and gave his father a mocking look, since he was still in the kitchen and hadn't gone to answer it. "Do you know that it is rude to leave people waiting?" He shrugged his shoulders and continued poking him. "I'm surprised coming from you, dad."