The discussion of skiing was postponed when Charlie brought the first crockpot of stew to the table, followed by Amita carrying the rolls and Larry carrying a bowl of salad and two bottles of dressing.

"Wow," Megan said, "Charlie! The owners of this place have outdone themselves! This is wonderful!"

Colby chuckled, "They didn't buy the Christmas presents under the tree, did they?"

"No," Charlie said, feigning shock, "Colby! How could you suggest such a thing? Santa and his elves handled that end of it."

"They're early, then," David said, checking his watch. "Christmas isn't 'til the day after tomorrow."

"Hey," Charlie said with a shrug, "He made me promise I wouldn't let anyone touch the presents until Christmas morning."

Don laughed, "That's going to be a hard promise to keep, baby brother. There are nine of us and only one of you, and you have to sleep sometime."

"What would you say if I told you Larry and I set up a high tech alarm system around the tree?"

"You did?" Alan asked.

"I didn't say that, Dad. I just asked what Don would say..."

"Okay, okay," Alan said with a wave of his hand. "So, what is everyone planning for the afternoon?"

Don and Colby said in unison, "Skiing."

Charlie grinned at Maggie, "Want to try the bunny slope?"

"Bunny slope?" Maggie said, "It's Christmas, not Easter."

"No, it's the beginners'..."

"I know, Charlie. I was just teasing." She glanced at Ben, who looked dubious. "I'm willing to try it once, if Ben is."

"All right," Ben said. "I suppose once won't hurt."

"Oh, come on," Amita said, "You might actually have fun."

"Do you ski?" Ben asked.

"Once in a while. I'm not very good at it."

Charlie squeezed Amita's hand. "But she looks so amazing in her pink jacket and bib..."

"So," Megan said, "looking good is half the battle is it, Charlie?"

"Why, yes, it is," he said, smiling at Amita.

"How about you, Mr. Eppes?" David asked. "You up for a trip down the slopes?"

"It's Alan, and, yes, I do believe I'll give it a shot. How about you, David? Do you ski?"

David shrugged, "Colby's dragged me along a few times. Professor Fleinhardt, you've been uncharacteristically quiet."

"Oh, I'm just not the athletic type. I'm something of a klutz, truth be told."

Megan put her arm around him and gave him a squeeze. "I'll hold your hand all the way down the slope, if you'd like."

Colby rolled his eyes, and David kicked him under the table.

"Okay," Alan said. "So after we ALL help with the dishes, I suggest we check out the slopes."

Maggie leaned toward Ben and whispered, "And after we've tried it once, just to placate these ski nuts, you and I can sit in front of the fire and drink hot cocoa while they freeze their buns off."

"Sounds good to me," Ben said, smiling. "Though I do believe, given the amount and quality of the snow outside our cabin that we do need to build at least one snowman."

"Ooh, that would be fun," Maggie said. "I'll bet with this group we'd get quite a variety of snowpeople."

"Snowpeople?" Colby laughed. "You getting politically correct on us, Maggie?"

"Why, Granger?" Megan asked. "You opposed to equal rights for snow people of all races, genders and creeds?"

"Nope. Not me. Hey, I'll bet I can make the biggest snowMAN."

"I don't know, Colby," Larry interjected. "Using the most powerful force in the universe – physics – I'll wager I can create a snow being much larger than you can make."

"Oh, Larry," Charlie said, "this sounds like the perfect challenge."

"Challenge?" Alan scoffed. "We're here to enjoy a relaxing weekend. We don't need any challenges."

"Aw, come on, Dad," Don said. "It'll be relaxing. I'd like to see the jocks trounce the geeks for once."

"Trouncing doesn't sound relaxing at all," Alan said. "It sounds like the same kind of stress we came up here to get away from."

"No, Alan," Megan said, grinning. "It's a whole different kind of stress, and that's what makes it fun."

"I still don't get it, but I will build a snowman. Just for fun. And I don't care if mine is bigger or better or more mathematically accurate than anyone else's."

Charlie laughed. "How about anatomically correct?"

"Charlie!" Alan scolded. "You watch your mouth, Son."

"Sorry, Father," Charlie said, smirking. "You go ahead and do the traditional Frosty the Snowman, and we'll let our creative juices flow. But! All this must take place after we go skiing."

"And skiing must take place after we do the dishes," Alan said sternly. "Unless, of course, son of mine, you've arranged housekeeping help for this vacation."

"Uh... well, I guess if we all pitch in, it'll go fairly quickly," Charlie said, standing and collecting the dishes.