The moment the message had come through on the network, Kate had dropped the training session she was in the midst of (with apologies and a promise to reschedule) and made a break for the Outpost’s medical wing. She was still dressed in her workout clothes, hair hastily fixed into a messy ponytail along the way before she skidded to a stop outside of the small room Kamala had been given for delivery.
She peered through the little window to see her best friend sitting beside her wife, the baby cradled in his arms while Kamala slept peacefully in the hospital bed beside him. She tapped gently on the door, waiting for Peter to lift his gaze and give her a nod to come in before she turned the doorknob and stepped as delicately as possible inside. She didn’t want to wake Kamala after hours of labor, but thankfully, she’d learned to step quietly thanks to her two assassin sisters.
They had been waiting for this moment for months. Kate had done everything she could to act as support, moral if nothing else. She and Emily had chosen to push back what the future had once held for them – parenthood was a someday for them and likely not someday soon – but she was glad for her friends. They were going to be the best mom and dad, she had no doubt about that.
She crept over to Peter in his seat, crouching in front of him to peer down at the little girl cradled in his arms. “You’re a dad,” she whispered, utterly awestruck, before she grinned at him. “Totally calling you Spider-Dad from now on, Spider-Boy.”
“No complaints here. Spider-Dad is much better than Spider-Boy. I haven’t been a Spider-Boy in years, Kate.” Even with keeping his voice low, Kamala stirred in her sleep. Sleeping deeply wasn’t a thing most people did anymore. The Outpost hadn’t been breached yet, but all of them could remember the early days when safehouses were falling often.
He leaned over and kissed her forehead, muttering that she should go back to sleep. Then he nodded his head toward the door, stood up, making sure that Siyah May was tucked firmly into the crook of his elbow, and headed out of the room.
“Isn’t she the cutest little girl you’ve ever seen?” he asked, once he’d closed the door behind them.
Kate followed without complaint; Kamala deserved a peaceful rest after everything she’d been through, and Kate was not exactly known for keeping her voice down. She was better, maybe, but having a little space to squeal – which she did now, softly – was exactly what was needed after such a big event. Her best friend, the boy (man, ugh) she considered a little brother was a dad.
“She’s the cutest,” Kate agreed, gazing down at the baby with adoring eyes. Baby fever had kicked in for her hard, watching her friends get to go on this journey, and it was hard not to feel like her ovaries were screaming at her. “What’re her stats? Did you stick with the name you had in mind?”
“We did,” Peter said, smiling down at her. “Siyah May Parker-Khan. Here, you can hold her if you want,” he said, though he didn’t move. After a moment, he managed to force himself to extend her out. It was hard giving her up to anyone. He rattled off her weight and length as he did so to try to take his mind off of it.
Kate was happy to accept the baby into her arms, but Peter’s face was easy to read. She knew he wasn’t exactly keen to part with his newborn which was fair. But she cradled Siyah May close and stayed standing right next to Peter so he could supervise and still feel like he was in control.
“She’s perfect, Pete,” she murmured, smiling up at him before turning her attention back to her newborn niece. “Think she’s got that Parker nose already,” she chuckled.
“She is, isn’t she?” he asked, hovering over Kate’s shoulder. His smile dimmed a little. “What do you think will happen to her?” he asked.
He and Kamala had talked, a little, about what it meant to have a kid during the apocalypse, but Peter had never wanted to worry her; he knew that too much stress wasn’t great for an expectant mother, and the world had been stressful enough without him going on about it. And so he’d shown her an optimism that he hadn’t always felt.
When he saw Siyah May, he felt, mostly, an overflowing of love and affection that he hadn’t known it was possible to feel for any other human being. But there was also, in the pit of his stomach, a coiling of dread. What would it mean for her if Siyah May grew up surrounded by so much death, or of loved ones being turned against them? Would she become an orphan, like Peter had?
Kate looked up at him for a good minute before looking back down at the baby in her arms. It was a fair question. It was one of the questions she and Emily had grappled with that had ultimately made them decide that kids weren’t going to be part of this hellish life – the resources they’d need weren’t exactly available to them anyway, so that made the choice a bit simpler. It seemed to be the general consensus among their people these days; she’d been pretty shocked when she had first heard Peter and Kamala were pregnant for exactly that reason.
“I think she’s going to have a league of people at her disposal to keep her as safe as can be,” she said at last. “And she’ll be as happy as she can be. Hopefully, she can stay innocent for a long while.”
Peter shot Kate a smile, tired but grateful. “You’re right,” he said, glancing back down at his daughter. “I’m glad she’ll have a great auntie like you to help keep her safe.” He grinned at her. “With luck, we’ll beat him and have our world back before she even knows better.”
Did Peter really believe that? He wondered sometimes. But he had to have faith that they would. If he didn’t hold onto it, then what was the point?
“I’ll smooch to that,” Kate grinned, leaning down to press a very delicate kiss to Siyah May’s tiny forehead. Kate chuckled at the way the baby’s forehead crinkled, confused by this still-foreign sensation.
She looked up at Peter again and nudged his chest with her shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay, I know it. We’ve made it this far, and we’ll make it out soon. This is about the best reason to fight we can get.”