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Peter wasn't exactly sure what he was doing there, at the hospital at two-thirty in the morning, sitting on a little plastic chair and staring anxiously at the wall. Johnny had been doing that little foot-tapping thing for a good half-an-hour; he couldn't stand to sit still for very long but he was making an effort tonight because well... this sort of thing didn't happen every day. The plastic chairs were nowhere near strong enough to hold Ben's weight, so he was off somewhere (Peter vaguely recalled a mention of a vending machine) when the call came and he went rushing off down the hall on Johnny's heels. There was a nurse at the door when they got there, clipboard clutched authoritatively in her hand. Johnny slid right by, but her hand went up as Peter moved to follow, stopping him in his tracks.
"Is there a problem?" It was Johnny who spoke, and Peter was grateful because he didn't know what to say. For some absurd reason he looked himself over, wondering if perhaps he had managed to lose or ruin some important article of clothing without his knowledge. The nurse looked at him sternly by sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, Mr..." She looked at his neatly printed visitor's badge, "Parker, but only family is allowed in at this time." Peter colored. Of course. He really should have guessed -- how many medical shows had he wound up watching with Aunt May in the course of his lifetime?
"Hey!" Johnny was protesting on his behalf that he had as much right as anyone to go in, but the nurse was adamant.
Peter smiled his thanks to Johnny for the effort, and nodded at the nurse before moving to leave. It wasn't as though he couldn't visit later, though some of the power of the moment would certainly be lost.
"What's goin' on?" Ben's deep voice rumbled from behind him, and he belatedly registered the large man's arrival.
"She won't let Pete in!" Johnny complained (loudly, and Peter wondered if perhaps someone should remind him that it was a hospital, but he supposed they would let it slide this one time).
The nurse gave an exasperated sigh. "I told you, sir: only family will be allowed in at this time."
Ben laughed and Peter looked up, surprised to see him smiling. He liked Ben quite a bit, but he was far more used to the man giving him measuring stares than anything else. He was even more surprised when Ben's weighty arm dropped around his shoulders, a gesture that would have probably knocked him flat on his face if he wasn't Spider-Man in his spare time.
"What are you talkin' about, lady? He's as much family as I am! C'mon kid. Let's go see Susie, huh?"
And with that Ben ushered him straight past the startled nurse (who at least had the sense to realize that no one argues with Ben) and thrust him into the room, allowing him to come to rest next to a bemused Johnny. Peter looked at the bed; Sue sitting there practically glowing and Reed standing beside her wearing a look of such pride...
Sue smiled gently up at three of them, obviously worn-out but overjoyed at the same time. "Hey," she cooed down to the bundle in her arms, "Franklin, meet your uncles."
Johnny's arm slipped around Peter's waist as he smiled down at the tiny being nestled in his sister's arms. "Welcome to the family." He said quietly, and Peter understood.