The kids piled into the car with the same energy they always had at 3:30 p.m. Olivia had her earbuds in but still managed to complain about math homework, while Nathaniel was mid-rant about how dodgeball was unfairly rigged against him. He listened, nodding in that half-present dad way, glancing between them and the road with the kind of calm only ten years of fatherhood could grant.

Then came the alert on the car radio — the kind they’d all grown too used to in this city. Disturbance downtown. Reports of a costumed villain wreaking havoc near Union Plaza. Civilians in danger. Authorities overwhelmed.

He sighed.

Nathaniel leaned forward from the back seat. “Do you think she’s gonna show up?”

Before he could answer, Olivia had already rolled down her window, phone in hand, eyes wide. “There she is!” she shouted.

And there she was.

Spider-Woman — sleek, agile, red-and-yellow suit glinting in the sun — swung into view, landing with grace atop a delivery truck before leaping directly into the chaos. The villain, some mech-suit-wearing goon with a bad attitude, raised an arm cannon, but Jessica was already in motion. A webline snapped through the air, wrenching the cannon to the side. A precise kick sent the mech stumbling.

“Mom’s awesome,” Nathaniel whispered like it was the first time he realized it.

He smiled. Not just because she was winning the fight, but because they got to see her like this — fierce, brave, utterly unstoppable. The city saw Spider-Woman, savior of the day. He saw Jessica — the woman who helped with science projects at midnight, who kept emergency snacks in her utility belt for school pickups, who still kissed his forehead when she thought he was asleep on the couch.

“I love that she still doesn’t let the villain monologue,” Olivia noted, eyes glued to the action. “Just punches first.”

“Wonder where she learned that,” he said, half-laughing.

In moments, the fight was over. Jessica stood tall amidst the settling dust, waving toward a group of bystanders before disappearing in a blur of webs.

He waited until they were halfway home before speaking again, voice low but warm. “So. Pizza night and we don’t mention to your mom how she had one foot in the fountain during that landing?”

“Agreed,” Olivia smirked.

“Can I draw it?” Nathaniel asked. “With the villain actually peeing himself when he saw her?”

He chuckled, heart full in a way only his family could fill it. “Only if you give her extra muscles. She likes that.”

They all laughed.

Back home, there would be takeout, homework, and eventually a knock at the window once the kids were in bed. She’d crawl in, costume half-torn, hair wild, and greet him with that tired, wicked smile. And he’d kiss her like it was the first time. Every time.

Because not everyone got to be saved by Spider-Woman.

But he got to come home to her.