Calm Wanderer
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(MNIBP) Chapter 1 - Is this the end of the road for me? (Part 1)
🕑 Added 2023-06-26 09:56:44 +0000 UTCNew York City, Queens, 2012.
Ben Parker's P.O.V.
Feeling exhausted from his day job, Ben was sitting on his living room couch, watching some random news channel. His whole body filled with healed knife cuts and bullet wounds scars which were well enough to not be a hindrance in his day-to-day life. He couldn't push himself as much as he used to since he was in the military. Thankfully, he got honorably discharged from the special forces a few years ago, after what some people might think would qualify as an insanely hard mission. For Ben Parker and his team, it was simply a Tuesday.
The mission was about saving some high-profile hostages from the hand of an African warlord dead set on extorting the few 'untouchables' related to those same hostages. Big mistake on his part... Not that he would be able to regret it in any case as he would need to still be alive for that. Dead men tell no tales. They also can't bother anyone, so that was a plus.
'I let that life behind, so no use in reminiscing...' He thought before being interrupted by someone opening the entrance door. Looking at the source of the noise, he saw his lovely wife 'zombie-walking' to the living room, clearly incredibly tired. Looking at Ben with a tired smile on her face, she dropped her handbag on the dinner table and walked with difficulty towards the couch.
She then let herself fall on her husband's side, lied down, and put her head on his lap, probably looking for some much-needed love pats. For some reason, she was convinced that it was a universal cure. From Ben's experience, the only universal cure was a bullet to the head. 'If you're dead, then you don't have problems.' He thought amused.
Letting out an exhausted sigh, she said while taking his unresponsive hand and putting it on her head, stroking her hair with it. “I'm dead tired. I don't think I'll be able to move for at least a week...”
“Hard day?” He asked her in what seemed like an indifferent tone, but which hid a touch of amusement and caring. Never one to be too expressive, probably due to his career in the military and the loss of his beloved older brother and his wife, Richard, and Mary Parker, in a 'car accident', he still could not help opening himself up more and more as the liveliness of his beautiful wife rubbed off on him more and more.
To be completely honest, they were polar opposites in terms of personality, with him being cold as ice and her as lively as fire. Normally, it should have never worked between them, but for some odd reason, the two found a sort of perfect equilibrium between each other, which made their relationship work well. Of course, the 'permanent' arrival of Peter in their daily life helped them as well. Especially since he could not...
Not wanting to finish that thought, Ben focused on May's answer instead. “Annoying day, annoying traffic and annoying people. A normal day in New York City.” She said, rolling her eyes. “No highlights?” He asked, which made her face take an adorable pensive expression. “Mmmhh... Let me think... Ah! I found a good coffee shop that just opened a few days ago. It's only a few blocks away from here. I'll bring you there this weekend if you want.”
Her answer made the small, almost imperceptible smile on his face grow a bit more. “Sure. Let's do that.” According to the big grin on her formerly exhausted face, he could guess that she was anticipating the weekend very enthusiastically. “It's a date then! By the way, where is Peter? Is he at the Watson's?” She asked, looking curious.
Shaking his head, Ben answered. “No, I brought Peter, MJ, and Ned to the Metropolitan in the afternoon. Apparently, there is a guided World War 2 exhibition going on there for a few days. As soon as those two little brats learned that there would be a focus on Captain America, they were hell-bent on going there. And little MJ wanted to spend time with Peter, so she went with them. They're supposed to call me once the visit is finished.”
Putting her finger on her cute small mouth in thought, she inquired. “But why didn't he tell me yesterday?” Ben shrugged his shoulders and answer in an uncertain tone. “Kids being kids, I guess?” That made the two chuckle as they both started to reminisce about the time when they were children, how they made life hard for their parents, and how they now understood when the latter told them that they would understand hard it was to raise kids when they had children in the future.
“Kids, uh?...” He muttered discretely with a hint of sadness. However, he was obviously not discreet enough since May heard him, and, as usual, could read him like an open book. Thus, she swiftly moved her arms around Ben's waist to hug him, her words trying to ease his pain. “Darling, we've talked about this. What happened is not your fault.” She paused for a second, not breaking eye contact to show her determination, before continuing. ”Plus, we already have Pete. It's enough for me.”
Staring at her mesmerizing brown eyes, he could perceive some bitterness hidden behind the love and care that she showed to him. Just like she could read him, so could he. He knew since he met her that she loved children and having many of them was her life goal. Her words, not his.
To be fair, he was not particularly adamant in having any until he started going out with May, at the end of his military service. After many fun dates where, as May put it, she helped him turn back into a human being with emotions, he started to warm up at the idea of having some cute mini-Ben and mini-May.
Unfortunately, it felt like the universe was against the idea, as during his last mission, he received many injuries, among which one damaged his reproductive organs. He could still 'do the deed', but he became infertile. The news almost broke him, and even a few years later, he still was not completely over it.
Paradoxically, his then-girlfriend, who would have her dream of having a progeny destroyed if she stayed with him, did not choose to leave him. On the contrary, she very firmly let him know that he better propose to her quickly, as she said that she wanted to still be beautiful in her wedding pictures. And so he did. They had their wedding not long after and, unlike what he feared, she was there for him time after time, even when he suffered from some very bad mental breakdowns that made the idea of taking his own life sprout in his fragile mind. Was it only due to his physical impairment? He was not sure. But it was certainly the main culprit.
After all that, he could not take the fear of losing her always weighing on his mind and thus decided to ask her why did she stay with him. Her answer was: 'I just love you and I know you love me too. I don't need any other reason.' That was the first time in his life that he cried so much that he fell asleep hugging May, their respective shirts drenched from the other's tears.
From then on, he felt liberated and his mental state started to improve more and more, and instead of those suicidal thoughts, he only felt a pinch of sadness within his heart, whenever he thought about him not being able to have any children in his life.
Reminiscing about his former mental struggles, he shifted his focus to the attractive curvy woman with her long brown hair and sparkling brown eyes in his arms. A smile full of love then appeared on his face, a replica of the one adorning May's face. Following his change of facial expression, he snaked one of his hands under her inviting backside, the other on her slender back, and shifted her body sideways on his lap.
Caressing her left cheek with his left hand, he said, his voice dripping with love and care. “May... Thank you for being who you are... I love you.” A deep blush appeared on her cheeks when she heard his unusual declaration of love. Embarrassed she replied. “You're so corny... But I like it, Mr. Parker!” She finished with a lusty grin, her eyes lit up with desire and her face graced with a healthy red color.
Feeling the sexual tension increasing, the two's faces started to come closer and closer, their lips almost touching when they were abruptly interrupted by a weird and loud pulsating noise, which made their heart beat out of sync for a second. As if their mind were connected, they both turned their head in the direction of the strange noise's origin.
As their respective gazes reached the window facing in the direction of Manhattan, they could see what seemed like an enormous blue portal above the island. Lifting May back to the couch, he then started to think quickly. “It looks like it's above the Stark tower. Do you think it's that Tony Stark making a scene again?” He heard her question and did not even think for a second before answering.
