C69 Spider-Man (Patreon)

The meeting was fairly simple after Tony’s threat. Fury got what he wanted and Peter was already on board so everyone agreed with Magneto joining the Avengers Council.

Peter knew that Charles wouldn’t have nearly as hard of a time as someone like Magneto, so if Professor Xavier is still interested, the next meeting would be far easier and less dramatic and violent.

After their talks came to an end, everyone exchanged contact information and went their separate ways. Of course, Peter portal’d Erik back to the warehouse, where Victor was nowhere to be found.

Peter didn’t stick around for longer than necessary, knowing that Victor, like Logan, would probably start another fight when he returns.

“See yah!” Peter says over his shoulder as the portal closes.

When Peter was gone and it was only Erik left alone in the warehouse, he walked outside and looked out over the water with a small smile on his face.

Things were looking bright lately.

He didn’t know it, but Magneto's future changed drastically with Peter's interference. When once he was on track to become someone that would slaughter thousands, now the future was unclear, but he was certainly on a better path than before. That’s for sure.

“Erik?” A beautiful blue-skinned woman calls from behind the aged meta-human.

“Yes?” Erik turns around and smiles warmly upon seeing who it was.

“We have a tip about some missing children...”

——————————————

A couple of days passed since the meeting with Erik and everyone else. Peter was currently in a taxi alongside his Aunt May. They were on the way to MJ’s house for Christmas dinner.

That’s right, it’s Christmas Day.

They couldn’t take the subway like usual as they were traveling with a bunch of wrapped presents. Peter couldn’t use a portal either as MJ’s mother doesn’t know about his powers.

Everyone agreed to open presents together, so May and Peter haven’t opened anything whatsoever.

As they drive through the streets of New York, a light snowfall began and coated everything in a this white blanket. By the time they arrived at MJ’s house, the snowfall gradually ramped up, becoming heavier and heavier.

“Do you want help with the presents?” May asks as Peter paid the driver and started grabbing the packages from the trunk.

“No, just head inside. I’ll be there soon.” Peter waves her off as he somehow stacks every gift on himself and carries them inside in only a single trip.

The second Peter makes it to the door, he’s greeted by a very energetic MJ, who held the door for him. Seeing his girlfriend so happy and excited was a bit odd for Peter. Not that she isn’t normally energetic every now and then, but this MJ was smiling brightly and practically had a spring in her step.

“Someone’s excited.” Peter comments with a smile as he sets the presents down by the Christmas tree, careful not to drop anything.

The second Peter's arms are free, MJ does a quick scan of the area, making sure the coast is clear, before wrapping Peter in a hug and taking the lead to pull him into a short kiss.

“I love Christmas and I especially love that you’re here...” She says and kisses him once again.

“...Well, I love Christmas too.” Peter mutters with a stupid grin on his face.

“I’m sure...” Grace comments as she and May entered the room only moments earlier.

Instantly, MJ separates from Peter out of embarrassment, practically pushing him away.

“Don’t mind us.” May says with a smile, as she’s used to MJ’s shy behavior.

“...” MJ becomes quiet and looks at Peter, pleading with him to save her with her eyes.

“So, are we opening presents first or waiting until after dinner?” Peter asks and gets a thankful look from MJ.

“Let's do it now.” Grace says as she motions back toward the kitchen. “I still need some time for the chicken to finish cooking.”

“Alright, who’s first?” Peter asks.

“You!” MJ says excitedly as she walks up to the tree and grabs two boxes, handing over the bigger of the two first. “Here, start with this one.”

Taking his coat off with a smile, Peter grabs the present and starts tearing it open. Inside was a kid's toy spider-man mask and web shooters, which shot out silly string with the push of a button.

“Wow... thanks.” Peter says a bit awkwardly while giving MJ a look.

“MJ said you were a Spider-Man fan and that you’d love them.” Grace says with a giggle, oblivious to the underlying joke.

MJ and May were on the verge of laughter, but Grace just thought that they found the children’s toy funny or something.

“Thank you...” Peter rolls his eyes at them and sets the gift aside. ‘Which shameless company is selling stuff with my name on it?’

Handing over the smaller box, MJ watched Peter open it up with a nervous look. She didn’t care for his reaction to the first one, as that was just a gag gift.

This one was a serious gift that she spent days contemplating on.

“Holy sh*t...” Peter muttered as he sees a green box with a golden crown emblem on it. “Did you get me a Rolex?”

“Open it and find out...” Grace says, unwilling to give anything away.

Doing as he’s told, Peter opens the green box and sees a black Rolex watch inside. He could hear the tiny gears inside moving expertly as the hands of the watch moved with perfect precision.

“Is this real?” Peter asks as he admires the gift.

He had to ask as anyone could find well-made fakes like this in New York. Purses, shoes, clothing, jewelry. This city had fakes of it all.

“Of course.” MJ says proudly.

“How did you afford this?” Peter asks.

“Well, money hasn’t been a problem for a while now, thanks to a certain someone.” Grace says, referring to Peter.

Ever since Peter put them on his company’s payroll, they’ve been saving most of the money as they didn’t know what to do with it. Neither MJ nor her mother are big spenders, so they put a big chunk of the money they saved into Peter's Christmas present.

“Look at the back of it.” MJ instructs.

“Okay...” Peter pulls the watch from its padding and turns it around.

Engraved on the back of the watch are two simple words.

‘Legally Mine’

“Am I now?” Peter smiles as he looks over at MJ, who was looking away from him in embarrassment.

“I told you he would like it!” Grace says from behind as she laughs at her daughter's reaction.

“Do you really like it?” MJ asked, trying her best to ignore her mother and May in the background.

“I love it.” Peter pulls her into his lap and smiles teasingly. “Maybe next time you can get me a collar with the same engraving. That way everyone knows as well.”

Almost instantaneous, MJ tries to leap out of his lap like a cat that had its tail stepped on. Sadly for her, Peter grasped her waist and kept her securely on top of him.

“Wait, you have to put it on for me for the engraving to be official.” Peter says with a smirk as he hands her the watch and holds out his left hand.

May and Grace were standing behind them like voyeurs with heavy blushes on their faces.

“How come Nick was never like this?” Grace mutters, referring to Fury.

“It’s just like the Korean Dramas...” May was off in her own world as usual.

“Fine...” MJ practically whispers as she grabs the watch and carefully placed it on Peter's wrist and clasped it tightly.

The second the watch was on, Peter let her go to admire his present and she practically flew away like a bat out of hell.

After that, everyone exchanged gifts with one another. They all seemed to go all out and get some expensive gifts due to their extra revenue from Parker Games.

When it came time for MJ to open her presents, Peter waited for her to open everyone else’s before finally handing over what he brought for her.

“Open these first.” He says as he hands over a stack of boxes.

“Uhh...” MJ was shocked by how many presents he got for her.

“Yeah, I may have gone a bit overboard.” Peter admits as he scratches the back of his head.

“Don’t just stare. Open them up!” Grace calls out as May nods along beside her.

No longer holding back, MJ grabs the nearest gift and tears it open. She got everything from clothes, shoes, chocolates, and games. Peter went all out as he was fairly poor in his past life and never had the chance to buy presents like this for someone else.

Grace and May were watching with jealous looks as they never got this sort of treatment in any of their relationships.

“Okay, I saved the best for last.” Peter takes out a small carefully wrapped box and handed it over.

*knock knock*

As she took the present and was about to unwrap it, a knock was heard at the door.

A/N: 1538 words.