Chapter Text
Morgan clapped her hands, patted her knees, and then crossed her arms over her chest and said, “I’m gonna see Peter! I’m gonna see Peter!” to the rhythm of her claps.
Daddy laughed. “Yes, you are. Are you excited?”
Morgan giggled. She knew Daddy was asking a silly question as he could see how excited she was. She was actually going to see her brother for the first time ever! This was never going to happen, Mommy and Daddy told her, but now it was, and she felt like her tummy was filled with butterflies that were flying around and trying to escape.
“Are we nearly there?” she asked.
“We are,” Daddy said, turning off the road and to a new one with a big metal gate in front of them. “Okay, honey, you need to close your eyes. It’s going to be a little scary for a moment.”
Morgan frowned. “Why scary?” Daddy hadn’t said anything about it being scary to see Peter.
Daddy thought for a moment then said, “Where Peter lives is a little different. It’s on an island.”
“Do we go on a boat?” Morgan asked excitedly. “I like boats. Uncle Rhodey said he wants to get a little boat for fishing, but we’ve got to wait until Mommy says he can, and she says I’m not old enough yet.” She pouted. Everything good had to wait until she was older, and it wasn't fair. “When do I get old enough?”
“You’ll have to ask Mommy,” Daddy said. “Now, close your eyes, cover them with your hands, too. It’s going to be bumpy, like a wobbly road, and then we’ll be there.”
She clapped her hands to her face, squeezed her eyes closed, and held her breath, too. The truck stopped, Daddy opened the window, there was a beeping sound, and then they were moving again.
Suddenly, the car started to shake, worse than just a bumpy road, and Morgan got scared. “Daddy,” she whimpered.
She felt Daddy’s big hand on her chest, and that felt a little better.
“We’re almost there,” he said. “Just be brave a little longer. There, you can open your eyes now.”
The car stopped and Daddy patted her chest. She opened her eyes and looked around. They were in front of a big, boring-looking, grey building. There was a big airplane beside them, which was cool, but Morgan was surprised that Peter would live in a place like this. It didn’t look anything like her house.
“He lives here?” she asked. “It looks like a place they make things.”
“It’s not a factory,” Daddy said. “It belonged to some people I used to work for. It’s much nicer inside.”
Accepting his words and impatient to see her brother, Morgan released her seatbelt and tried to open the door. It was too heavy, though, much heavier than the door to Mommy’s car, and Daddy said, “Hang on.”
He got out of the car, walked around, and opened her door.
Morgan scrambled out, almost falling, and looked around for her first sight of Peter, the butterflies dancing around her tummy faster than ever.
“Where is he?” she asked, annoyed that Peter wasn’t there already. She worried that he wasn’t as excited as her.
“I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” Pepper said, patting Morgan’s head. “Give him a moment.”
Morgan sighed. She’d waited long enough already. It was time for her to see her brother.
“I’ll go root him out,” Daddy said.
Daddy walked away, into the ugly building, and Morgan shifted from foot to foot as she waited. Mommy placed her hand on Morgan’s shoulder and said, “Patience, honey.”
She saw the door open again, and Daddy and Peter stepped out. Uncle Happy whispered, “I’ll be damned. He’s really here,” and Mommy made a small laughing sound and said, “Go ahead, honey.”
Morgan raced out from under her arm, charging towards Daddy and Peter, the butterflies making her feel like she was flying, too. She squealed with the absolute joy rushing through her, her arms stretching out to reach him faster, and then she was there, slamming into Peter’s stomach and wrapping her arms around him as she gave him his very first hug.
“Petey!”” she squealed.
Daddy laughed and said, “Easy, Morgan, you’re going to knock him over!”
Immediately guilty, because Peter had been sick so she might be hurting him, she tucked her hands behind her back and said, “Sorry, Petey. Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Peter stroked her hair. “You’re not too heavy.”
She beamed at him and then saw something strange. Her brows knitted together with a frown, and she asked, “What happened to your eyes?”
“My eyes?” Peter asked. “Oh, uh…”
They were funny. Morgan knew Peter had brown eyes, like she did, but now they were lots of colors, like a rainbow.
“They weren’t like that in the pictures Daddy showed me,” she said. “They were brown like mine. How did you make them those colors?”
Peter didn’t answer, looking a little worried, and Daddy explained, “They’re part of what makes Peter special. When he saved us, he got those eyes.”
Peter’s colorful eyes got big, and he looked at Daddy.
Morgan stared at him, seeing his magical eyes which he'd got when he saved the world, and she felt a warmth in her chest like she got when Miss Becky said she did a really good painting in preschool, the proud feeling.
“Wow,” she said. “Mommy said you were a hero, and Daddy was, too. And Daddy says Mommy was.”
“They both were,” Peter assured her. “Everyone there was.”
Morgan beamed, the proud feeling now spreading to encompass Mommy and Daddy, too. “And you saved the whole world!”
Peter’s cheeks went red, and Morgan wanted to hug him again. She didn’t let herself, though, not wanting to hurt him. Instead, she looked at him and felt the love that was filling her and the happiness that they were finally together.
Peter gave a small nod, as if he was answering a question someone had asked that she couldn’t hear, and said, “Would you like to see something special, Morgan?”
“Yes! What is it?”
“Come sit down.” He led her to the rocks that were by the lake, and when she held up her arms for her, he boosted her up so she was sitting with her legs swinging. “Close your eyes a moment and hold out your hand.”
Morgan did as she was told, waiting for the special.
She heard Peter whisper something she couldn’t hear, and then he said, loudly, “Open your eyes, Morgan.”
She did, and they widened as she saw what he was showing her. All the butterflies that were in her stomach had moved into the air. They were all colors, some big and some small, and they were so pretty.
“Look!” she whispered. “There’s so many.” A big, yellow butterfly landed on her hand, making her gasp as its tiny feet touched her. “I can feel it. It’s so light but it tickles, too.” She looked at Peter with all the awe she felt, “How did you do it?”
Peter leaned closer and said in a quiet voice, like it was a secret just for them. “It’s magic. But you can’t tell anyone. It’s a secret. They think I just smell so good the butterflies come.”
Awed and delighted, Morgan asked. “What else can you do?”
If he could make butterflies for her with his magic, what other things could he make? She had so many ideas in her head that she felt dizzy. Her brother was a magician. She was sure Max’s silly brother couldn’t do anything as special as this.
“Oh, I… Uh…”
But before Peter could say more, Uncle Happy cleared his throat beside them, and Peter turned. “Oh, hey, Happy,” he said.
Uncle Happy stared at him a moment, his lips turned down, but his eyes extra shiny with happiness, and then he pulled Peter into a tight hug, held him and closed his eyes, then held him away and said, "I hear you saved the world. Nice work, kid." He ruffled Peter's hair the way he sometimes did Morgan's and then walked away, blinking fast and wiping his cheeks.
Morgan looked back to the butterflies, but they had disappeared. She tugged on Peter’s hand and said, “Petey, the butterflies are gone.”
Peter looked back at her and smiled. “Sorry, I lost focus for a moment. I’ll get them back. Or do you want birds? What’s your favorite kind of bird?”
She clapped her hands. “Eagles!”
Eagles were the best birds. They were so big and flew so high. Sometimes, when they were by the lake, they would see an eagle come and scoop up a fish with its long claws to carry it away.
Peter chuckled. “Okay, that might be a bit much. How about a hummingbird? Do you like them?”
“Sure.”
Peter knelt down, concentrated a moment, and then the tiny bird appeared. Its wings moved so fast they flickered, and its long beak darted around as it flew over her head. She watched it, her eyes wide enough to sting.
“Wow,” she whispered, her eyes falling on Peter and the sudden surety of what she had always known would be true came from her in a statement. “Petey, you’re the best brother in the world.”
Peter’s answering smile was huge, and he said, “And I think you’re the best sister in the world, Mo.”
Forgetting the hummingbird, which was not as special as her brother, she flung herself off the rock, feet hitting the ground hard, and threw herself into his arms. She held him as tight as she could, loving him and happy to finally have him there. He buried his face in her hair, and she felt his warm breaths.
Morgan had always known Peter would be the best brother in the world if he was there, and now she had proof. No one else could do magic like him, no one else saved the world, and no one would ever love their brother more than Morgan was going to love Peter.
She had waited all her years for this moment, and now he was there at last.
She had her brother home.