Chapter 176

"He's tall," Richard smiled as he ate his waffles.

"That he is. I think he gets that from Mary's side of the family," Ben replied with a smile.

"You both did an amazing job raising him," Richard turned to May, "thank you."

"Oh hush you," Mary flashed him a smile, "he's his father's son after all, he was no trouble."

"No, he was Mary's son," Richard said with a painted tone, "he may look a little bit like me, but he has his mother's heart, and her smile."

"What was she like?" I found myself suddenly asking, "i-if you don't mind talking about her that is."

"She's your mother Peter, it doesn't matter what I want," Richard chuckled, "Mary...Mary was amazing. Brilliant yet humble, the kind of girl you meet every hundred years, if you're lucky. She could light up a room when she walked in."

"She also had quite a temper," May giggled, "I remember this one time, you and her had this little spat about where to spend Peter for school and she didn't talk to you for a week!"

Richard laughed, "yes, she insisted on sending him to a private school, but I thought public to be better."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Well, you're our son, you were bound to be smart, so sending you somewhere to get smarter is kind of redundant. The one thing your mother and I lacked though, was people skills, we weren't...well, you know how nerds are," Richard chuckled, "I wanted you to have friends, to find out how the world really was. Mary...well, she thought you couldn't cut it."

"Well she was right," I said smugly, "because I'm in a private school and I'm awesome."

Richard and Ben laughed as May ruffled my hair playfully. The meal was finished quickly, Richard now nursed a cup of coffee and sipped it slowly, watching me carefully.

"You really have to stop staring," I told him, "kind of creepy."

"Hey, I haven't seen you for over a decade, deal with it," the man smiled. He still looked a little thin for his size, his cheeks hollowed out, but that smile made him seem just a little more alive.

"So do you know what you're going to do now?" Ben asked.

"I...I'm not really sure," Richard replied, "it's been so long...I don't even have a house."

"Well you can stay here for as long as you want," May told him, "Peter dear, is the basement ready?"

I nodded, "just made it last night aunt May, though I left my lab intact, just in case...dad wants to use it," again, never going to get used to saying that word.

"Why don't you get some rest Rich? I'm sure you need it," Ben smiled, "we can deal with the future together, as a family."

Richard smiled, "thanks Ben," he quickly finished his coffee and got up.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room," I walked before him leading to the basement. I turned on the light and revealed a much cleaner basement than before with clean sheets on the bed and a freshly cleaned floor.

"This is fine Peter, thank you," Richard smiled as he put his single hand bag full of stuff on his bed. He looked around and immediately spotted my lab, "is that yours?"

I nodded, "yeah, I have another workstation at the Baxter building though, so I don't use this much, you're welcome to it if you want."

Richard nodded, "thank you," he sat down on the bed and looked at me, "why didn't you tell them?"

I sighed, I knew this was coming, I pulled up a seat next to him and sat down, "because they would freak out. May has a heart problem, she wouldn't be able to handle it. And Ben...he wouldn't like it, but he would know it was the right thing to do and I'm pretty sure that will make him hate it even more."

Richard sighed, "this isn't what your mother and I wanted for you son. This life, it's, it's not safe."

"With great power..."

"...comes great responsibility," Richard snorted, "yeah, I know. You're grandfather used to say that to me all the time. Ben always took to it but me...well, I know the consequences of power."

I nodded, "yeah, I know you do."

"Did you really destroy it? All of it?" Richard asked.

"Yeah."

"And you didn't memorize it?"

"Yeah," I didn't even hesitate, the formula was my biggest secret, no way I would ever tell anyone about it, not even my...dad. Damn this is weird.

"Good, let it stay buried," Richard nodded as he rubbed his hands nervously. He looked at me and for a while we both said nothing, he finally broke that silence, "so, the Baxter building huh?"

I grinned, "yeah...hey dad, you need a job right?" The man looked surprised but nodded slowly.

The Next Day:

"Hello there, I'm Susan," Sue smiled as she shook Richard's hand, "welcome to the Baxter building."

"Woah," Richard said as he stared in open awe at the living room of the FF.

"Yeah," I patted him on the shoulder, "you'll get used to it."

"Yo Peter!" Johnny called out as he came flying inside, turning off his flames and landing before me, "hey man. Oh, hey Dr. Parker, fancy seeing you here."

"Hello," Richard replied slowly, "Johnny, right?"

"Yup," Johnny grinned, "not to be rude or anything, but ah, what exactly are you doing here?"

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