I'm sorry my friend, but even Peter states that the gift of The Holy Spirit was not contained to just the apostles,.
Again, I'm not sure why you are trying to assert that only the apostles received The Holy Spirit back in acts 2 when Peter himself says that it is for anyone who calls upon the name of The Lord.
It is very clear in that passage.
And additionally, there is nothing to state in scripture that the amount of folks that were meeting in the upper room just suddenly somehow went from 120 down to 12 before Pentecost.
I'm not sure why this is a stumbling block for you other than it must be going against a certain doctrinal stance you are wanting to maintain. GOD would never play favorites with The Holy Spirit and only give it to 12 out of the 120.
Once again you have done nothing to change the grammar of those verses. Also you fail to understand the difference between the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Every person that is baptized does receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, but not the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
There are only two recorded instances of Holy baptism. 1 On the day of Pentecost on the Apostles only. 2 On Conenlius's household. The first time was prove that Jesus was sitting at right hand of God, and the second instance was to prove that God had included the gentiles in his plan of salvation.
Think about this if Holy Spirit baptism saved Corneilus and his household then it did so before they were able to hear the truth. In Acts 11 the angel told Cornelius that Peter would tell him the words by which he must be saved. Peter had just barely started telling them about Christ when God poured the Holy Spirit out on them. Peter's first response was to get water to baptize them so they could be saved. There is no other vailid explaination why Peter would water baptize them becasue if HS baptism is what saves then there would be no need for water baptism.
One thing you will notice about the apostles is that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit made the unique in that they were the only ones that had the ability to pass on power of the Holy Spirit to others by laying their hands on them.
Thing about this, in Acts 8 Philip who had the apostles lay their hands on him back it acts 6 had the miracelous abilities and when he went to the Samaritans he preached to them and only baptized them in the name of Jesus.
Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
If Holy Spirit baptism is what saves, then why did Philip on baptize them in water in the name of Jesus and run off and leave them in a lost state if water baptism does not save? Why didnt he lay his hands on them so they could receive the Holy Spirit? Further more the Scriptures clearly teach that those who OBEY will receive the Holy Spirit acts 5:32. Did not the Samartians obey? Of course they did. The only logical answer to this is that there is different between the outpouring of the holy spirit, having the gift of the Holy Spirit, and have miracelous powers of the Holy Spirit.
I belive that the Samaritans were saved as Philip baptism them in the name of Jesus just as it was carried on in Acts 2. I also belive they received the gift of the HS as result of the baptism. I belive the gift of the HS is when we are marked or sealed by Him, which shows that we are Christians Eph. 1:13. When this happens we can say that spirit is in us just like we can the Father and the Son is in us. We can know by our faith that they are, but not miracelous come from it.
This is why the apostles had to go to Samaria and lay their hands on them so they could receive the Holy Spirit in the sense of receiving the ability fo miracelous gifts because the mirceleous gifts were temporary, but neccesary to spread the gospel becaue God's Word had not yet been fully revealed. Those who proclaimed it could prove what they were saying was from God by their signs and miracles mark 16:20.
Since ONLY the apostles had the ability to pass the mireclous gifts of the HS. Once the died, miracles died out because once the word of God was fully revealed the purpose of miracles were over.
I hope this helps you understanding.