Chapter 4 - When It Rains, It Pours

Fitzgerald residence

Same day

Peter's POV

After mom let me out of that sweaty and gross hug, I left her to enjoy her breakfast while I got myself some healthy fruits to eat. I eat healthy foods all the time at the Osborn's since Harry's mom is a huge freak about that stuff. So much green foods on a single plate should not exist.

But being the champ I am, I didn't complain and showed my superiority over Harry as he just poked at his food over and over again with a depressed face only a child who has to eat healthy food can make.

Walking into the kitchen I grab an apple and just head into my room. It only has a single twin sized bed in the corner of the room. A window sits opposite against the wall of the bed as sunlight flows in with me opening the curtains. With my bed in the northeast and the window to the west, there is a clothes drawer next to the bed which would just be the north side. The door leading in is on the south side of the squared room to lead into it.

On the walls is posters of Captain America (The guys a literal hero what do you expect), some Oscorp promotion posters, and a Stark Expo poster.

I got it from going to one of his Expos as a Christmas gifts. Mom wasn't too happy to go to one since she is part of a rival company and just doesn't like the image the Tony Stark gives to people on stage.

Which when we watched wasn't a really good one. He came off as a person with too much money and with way too many ways to waste it. Woman, alcohol, and anything he could just to pass the time.

It was honestly kind of sad to see, since I know he has one of the greatest minds on the planet and possibly even in universe in his area of expertise. It's just covered by all of the emotional neglect as a kid finally showing its face when his parents died and burying his responsibilities in a playboy fashion.

We left after the event was over and I got a poster just to really have some souvenir from the event. That is probably the last time I'll be going to a Stark Expo with my mom.

After observing my room for a moment, I went to the drawer next to my bed and grabbed my notebook to look through as I ate the apple. Flipping through the pages while I sat on my bed, I observed my recreations of comic moments or just different related things. I started drawing mainly as a way to retain memory of something I enjoyed in my past life which was reading comics. Since there isn't really comics in the world except DC comics which was weird to see.

Also, a bunch of other companied comics, but I never really got into stuff other than Marvel and a tad bit of DC. Back to the point though, drawing is a way for me to see those heroes again. Do they probably exist in this world, maybe. But if I'm supposed to be Peter Parker or some weird alternative of him does that mean I'm supposed to be this world's Spider-Man.

I hope not because that's a crappy way to live my new life. My main goal in this world is to experience all the places and different things a comic world has to offer. I want to be an explorer of this vast universe. So, obviously being Spider-Man is a no go. Love the guy, but that is a definite no for me.

The pages flip as it lands on a drawing of the Green Goblin. I stare at my drawing and take in the details of it all. I hope Norman doesn't turn into this monster. He's actually a decent person to be around sometimes. At least when he has free time and watches over Harry and me. Usually spouting off things and lessons to learn in life.

Most of those lessons centered around how to run a company. Feel like he's trying to send a message to the both of us. The apple finally reaches the stem, so I head to the kitchen after setting down the notebook leaving it open on the Green Goblin drawing as I exited the room.

Feeling the cool wooden tile floors on my bare feet, making me shiver for a moment. Readjusting a moment later. I drop the apple in the kitchen trash can and walk into the living room. Grabbing the remote and turning on the television.

A documentary about the founding of the Latveria kingdom and its growth over the years. Finally finding something interesting to do, I watch the documentary to pass the time.

Change to Mary's POV

I walk out of the room with the empty bowl and a banana peel to deposit them in the kitchen. Still feeling a little irked from that dream. After washing the bowl quickly and deposing the peel in the trash, I hear the television from the living room. Walking over, Peter is sitting there watching another one of those documentaries he always watches.

Don't know how he could sit through something so boring. I walk over and grab the remote and plop myself down, right next to him. Flipping the channels for something more exciting like an action movie.

"You know, I was watching that right?" Peter asks with slightly narrowed eyes. He may be annoyed, but I'm saving him from a life of boring historical videos.

"Yes, I did, but really Peter? Another documentary, don't you ever get bored from those," I respond with exasperation in my tone. Every time he gets the remote it's about something historical or educational. I dread when it's his time to pick on movie nights everytime.

"Actually mom, I don't get bored. They give facts and information that is important to know when looking at other cultures like the Latveria kingdom I was watching. Or how we won the war with the creation of Captain America," He explains in a matter-of-fact tone. I know he's right about it being a good thing to learn about others and our own history, but it's so boring!

"Well, I'm your mother and we are not watching that, end of discussion," I tell him in a smug voice. I hated when my mom did that to me all the time, but my wonderful son has given me no choice. Looking around the channels before finally find something action orientated and set in WW2.

"There a movie set in a historical period, now we're both happy," I say to him. He looks at the movie for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and getting comfortable in his seated position on the couch. I also get comfortable and enjoy the moment with my son. Wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him to my side.

Peter just rests to my side for a moment. Before he stills and scrunches up his shoulders. He sniffs the air before looking at me.

"Mom, you didn't shower yet did you?" Peter asks with a scrunched-up face. I just chuckle a little bit at his antics.

"Nope," I answer, popping the p. He grumbles at that, but still stays there. A smile forming on my face as we watch the soldiers come up with a solution to an impossible situation.

Time skips to next day (Final day of Mary's time off)

Change back to Peter's POV

I hear the pitter patter of rain as its hit's my window. Pulling an act from one of those kids in the Cat in The Hat I sit looking out the window with my head in my hands. It looks like its pouring pretty bad. I like the rain, but this is a little too much rain for me.

Seem like a way to get drenched and get a cold. I hear my door opening and see my mom coming in, looking pretty energized. Looks like these days to relax have given her the typical energy I'm used to seeing in her. In her hands are two mugs, visible steaming air coming from the tops.

"Hey sweety here's some hot cocoa. Be careful though, the mug is hot," Mom tells me as she puts it to the side of me before sitting on my bed herself. Guess she wants to hang with me some more. We spent most of yesterday on the couch, watching more movies before she made lunch, and we went back to just chilling it out on the couch. Later than having dinner.

It's nice with things like this. I haven't spent much time like this with her since she took her job back. Every day off is a rest day for her, I don't blame her work or her for that though. That's just the way that life is when you have a job in a growing company that's mentally tiring.

My hand reaches for the mug and feels the heat of the cup. Mom definitely wasn't kidding when she said this was hot. How the hell is she even holding hers with a smile. It's almost unnatural how she is able to hold that without even any sort of reaction.

I keep trying different ways to hold it without burning my fingers, while my mom goes through my notebook. Flipping through the pages and stopping on one that catches her interest every so often.

"So mom, are you doing anything today?" I ask since she is dressed to go out. She usually lounges around in her pajamas when it's her days off.

"Just some shopping," She answers while still observing the drawings. Looking up at me after a moment. I finally have the mug in my hand after it's cooled down. Sipping away at the hot cocoa in small quantities. The liquid still hot enough to slightly burn my tongue.

"Are you sure you want to go out today, it's raining pretty bad," I point out to her. Looking out the window again and seeing the impacts of rain on the window and on the outside world.

"Please, a little bit of rain never hurt anybody," She replies nonchalantly. Finally closing my notebook and setting it back to where it was.

"A little," I mumble incredulously, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. If this is a little rain to her, where the hell has she been living her whole life?

"Oh, how about you come with me, you're running out of room in your notebook and looks like you could use another one," She proposes to me. I think it over. On one hand she is right that I'm running out of room quickly for drawing, but on the other hand going out in this weather doesn't bode well with me.

"Sure, I'll go. Got nothing better to do," I accept her proposal to go out. Whatever might as well spend some more time with mom before I go back to routinely hanging out at the Osborn's and being tutored by overpaid tutors with sticks up their ass.

"Woohoo, more mother-son bonding time," Mom whoops before giving me a hug and leaving the room to get the rest of her things. I already took a shower and have regular clothes on myself instead of pajamas. Always have to be prepared to go somewhere any day, plus I always change into regular clothes everyday as a routine.

I put on my shoes and leave my room.

Time skips to the store

Mary's POV

Peter and I were standing in the isle containing drawing supplies and notebooks. Peter was stuck between choosing a purple or blue notebook. The one he had at home was a white one.

"Is it really that hard to choose one?" I ask with little bit of tiredness in my voice. I had to shop for a lot of groceries and pushing this cart is a little hard.

"Yes mom, it is hard. I like both colors, but I'm not sure which one would match more with my white one," He explains with a plain tone. He continues to hold one up and then the other like he is appraising some valuable items.

"Go with the purple one, it's one of my favorite colors too," I say trying to help him out. I like the colors purple and green myself. Peter liked primarily five colors purple, red, black, white, and green himself. He only liked the colors if they came in dark pallets though. Not really a fan of them when they come in brighter shades.

"Uh ok," Peter affirms my suggestion. Wish I told him what to get earlier, we've been standing here for over ten minutes now. Must have got that indecision from me. God knows that I also take forever to make a decision when I need to.

He drops the drawing notebook into the cart and stands next to me as I haul the cart forward towards the checkout.

Time skips to driving home

Peter's POV

The rain hits the window of the car. Both of us a little wet from the putting away of groceries in the car. I watch the rain droplets fall down the window, betting on one of the droplets to beat the other racing down. My droplet sadly lost the battle. I'm never able to choose right on these things.

Mom focuses on driving as the swipers on the front wipe away the heavy rain. The clouds in the sky now in abundance, blocking any sun from leaking down onto the city. Overall giving the city a gloomy feeling.

"It's like it got worse as we were in the store," She comments without taking her eyes off the road. A very slight worried look on her face. Not entirely noticeable, but I've come to memorize my mother's expressions.

"Well, you know the saying. When it rains, it pours," I share with her, also having the same thoughts about it too.

"Where'd you hear that from?" Mom questions with curiosity in her tone.

"A documentary about weather changes," I reply back honestly. There is a documentary about basically anything if you look hard enough.

"I really have to get that channel removed or blocked," Mom says shaking her head. I wonder why she doesn't like them. Maybe her parents forced her to watch documentaries over and over again Clock Work Orange style.

"Even if you did block the channel, I would still find a way," I tell her in a serious tone. Nothing would stop me from being educated about the world.

"Anyways your birthday's coming up," Mom says changing the subject. It is coming soon actually. I was born August 1, which is a little weird considering what else was that day in my previous world for Spider-Man comics mean.

"Yep, it is," I confirm. Just another birthday to signify my growing age. Noticing we stopped at a red light, yet there aren't any cars in the horizontal section. Nobody to our sides either, strange that the street is so empty.

"Well, what do you want," She inquires after my confirmation. Guess I never really expressed what I wanted.

"Mmm, I don't know," I return after thinking for a moment. I can't really think of something I want. Most of my free time is spent at the Osborn's playing around with Harry and his stuff. The only thing I really do on my own is draw and all I need is something to draw with and on. Which I have already.

"I don't know isn't really a good answer," Mom tells me with a tired tone. As we both wait for the light to turn green, but it's taking a good minute.

"It's not a good answer, that I can agree with. But it's still an answer," I remark back.

"Well, that's fine because I've got an idea anyways," Mom clarifies to me in an upbeat tone. Having a proud look on her face, probably from thinking whatever she's getting me will make me happy. I'll honestly be happy with whatever it is.

"Really, what is it?" I ask, just a tad bit curious. The light we stopped on now green as we start going forward. My attention now on looking out the window as mom is about to speak. And see an approaching light before realizing it is a fast-approaching truck. My eyes widen as the car's lights keep getting closer and closer.

The sounds of a horn from the truck ringing out into the air. It looks too fast to stop, and mom isn't going fast enough to get away from it. This just screams hopelessness

"Mom, look out!" I yell out with urgency in my voice bracing myself for the inevitable. She too is already looking, clear fear showed on her face. She tries to step on the gas harder, but it impacts just a second later.

The last thing I see before my vision goes back is my mom's face. It's scared and shows extreme signs of worry.

Author's note: Sorry for those who don't like cliff hangers, but the next chapter should be out tomorrow.

If you readers have noticed I do leave little hints here and there. Everything I write into the story usually has a meaning or will have a meaning much later. Like Mary's dream of an approaching light with a loud horn sound. Which showed its face this chapter.

Or the focus on the green goblin drawing. Or even Peter and Mary's favorite colors. I like to have things symbolize something or give a message that will be shown later.

When it rains, it pours was one example of this chapter. The phrase usually means that bad things come one after the other or a series of negative events. The rain was the first sign, Peter's hesitance in going out into the rain was the second sign, the rain getting worse was the third, and finally the truck hitting them was the climax.

Also, hope you like the slice of life moments that they have with each other. Tell me how I'm doing with the moments between them. Does it feel natural or is there any way to make it better? How do you guys like Mother Mary and Peter's small antics.

Leave any comments on how the chapter was because I always love reading comments. At least when their positive. Negative comments just make me annoyed like any other person.

Thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter.