Work Text:
It started with Ben’s dinosaur phase.
Peter wasn’t actually sure what it was that set that off; one of his toys was a big plastic T-Rex, some of his clothes had them, he had a dinosaur book, and his favorite segment from Fantasia was the dinosaur segment, but that was all intermixed with the other stuff Beck had gotten for him.
Maybe having a Dino phase was just in his DNA?
“Di-no?” Ben always over pronounced the word, and it was, honestly, always adorable. His big round, brown eyes peeking out behind curly brown and blonde hair, his round face lit up with curiosity about the subject.
Ben, the smartie, recognized that Jurassic Park had a dinosaur on the cover and wanted to watch it.
Peter was not about to let a little boy, who was already in a traumatizing living situation, watch Jurassic Park. He loved the film but it had way too much death and blood for him to even consider showing it to Ben.
So Peter improvised, like Ben’s namesake before him.
“How about I basically sing you the plot instead? The movie itself is for grown ups, but I can still tell you all about what happens.”
Ben nodded, clearly intrigued.
Peter was actually pretty excited, he fondly remembered Ben’s namesake singing the song to him when he was little, and had similarly to his own son, decided to get… Weird.
Peter sat himself and Ben on the floor, and took a deep breath, singing dramatically.
“I recall the time they found those fossilized mosquitoes
And before long, they were cloning DNA
Now I'm being chased by some irate velociraptors
Well, believe me, this has been one lousy day…”
Ben giggled delightedly, making Peter smile as he leaned forward on his haunches leading into the chorus, getting more dramatic.
“Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark!
All the dinosaurs are running wild
Someone shut the fence off in the rain…
“I admit it's kinda eerie
But this proves my chaos theory
And I don't think I'll be coming back again
On, no”
Peter dramatically waved his arms around, leaning forward, and making Ben laugh and curl backwards. Before the boy could truly fall, Peter scooped the kid up and stood.
“I cannot approve of this attraction
'Cause getting disemboweled always makes me kinda mad” Peter pointed his finger in the air matter-of-factly, with his eyes closed in a face of dramatic disapproval.
“A huge tyrannosaurus ate our lawyer” Peter makes a claws near Ben’s face, making the boy shriek out a laugh, before shrugging on the next line.
“Well, I suppose that proves
They're really not all bad”
Peter was really getting into it, swaying and spinning with Ben in his arms as he sang the chorus, making hand movements and dramatic expressions to match the lines of the song.
“Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark
All the dinosaurs are running wild
Someone let T. Rex out of its pen”
“I'm afraid those things'll harm me
'Cause they sure don't act like Barney
And I think that I'm their dinner, not their friend
Oh, no”
Peter let himself get as overdramatic as possible for the last part of the song.
“Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark
All the dinosaurs are running wild!
What a crummy weekend this has been
Well, this sure ain't no E-ticket
Think I'll tell them where to stick it
'Cause I'm never coming back this way again
Oh, no
Oh, no!”
Peter gave his best dinosaur roar, which Ben matched with his own tiny impression, before bursting into a fit of giggles and clapping.
“Yay! ‘Gan! ‘gan!” Ben cheered and squirmed in his arms. “More!”
Peter couldn’t help himself, he tossed the toddler gently onto the couch, jumping to follow, and proceeded to tickle him mercilessly.
“Oh, you want more?” Peter asked playfully.
“More, Daddy! More Di-no!” The boy shrieked between peals of laughter.
Peter glanced at the clock, Beck wasn’t due home for a while.
“Actually, remember Star Wars? The secret movie I showed you?” Ben nodded seriously.
The boy had loved the movie, and Peter suspected he thought Quentin would take the movie away and break it and throw it out if they mentioned it or it was left out, much like Quentin did sometimes with Ben’s toys, simply because he was mad about something. Peter couldn’t tell him otherwise, because he was sure worse things would happen to both of them if Beck found out. Especially if he found out Ben knew.
“Well, I have another song, about a different movie that takes place before that one.” Peter had another important Weird Al Parody from his childhood. If Jurassic Park was Uncle Ben’s song; The Saga Begins was Aunt May’s. Peter had many memories of him and May dancing around the kitchen singing along to it.
It stung, to think about them, but the idea of sharing the joy of those memories with Ben was all he wanted at that moment. To give Ben a happy childhood despite their current circumstances.
Ben was looking at him curiously, as Peter finally emerged from his thoughts. The boy looked expectant, so once again Peter picked up his boy and started to sing.
“A long, long time ago
In a galaxy far away
Naboo was under an attack…”
-
Peter and Ben danced around the house as he sang, mostly Ben on Peter’s hip as he spun and swayed to the bet. At one point Peter put Ben down and watched with delight as the toddler danced by himself before scooping him back up, putting him on his back and spinning them both around.
They were both back in the living room as he wound down on the final reprise;
“…We were singin' ...
My my this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry
And he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin' ‘Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi’”
Peter dramatically fell onto the couch on top of Ben, who was clinging to his back and they both burst into laughter. Peter never wanted this moment to end; a nice moment with his son where he could just pretend to feel like himself, and not whatever shell of a person Beck had turned him into.
But Beck would be home soon enough, and Peter had laundry to do.
Importantly, Peter needed to finish this moment before Beck came back so he could distance and preserve it from the man, but he and Ben could have this moment, and Beck couldn’t take it away.