"It's pretty out here, isn't it?" Peter asked, looking around, but with his hand still in Steve's. "Like in movies."
The man nodded. He hadn't spent much time out in the woods, either, and never at a ski resort. At least not to ski, or sled in their case.
"Yeah." He smiled down at the boy, bemused to find himself holding a little hand and walking through a strange wooded area. "Are you done with school, now?"
"Until the new year," Peter confirmed with a happy grin. "I like school, but I like vacation, too."
"That's how it's supposed to be," Rogers assured him. "What are you going to do during the days, while Tony's working?"
"There's a daycare. I think I'll be there."
He hadn't really thought about it, actually.
"Maybe I'll see if we can steal you for a day – sometime after Christmas."
"Wow."
Steve's smile was warm and amused.
"Does that mean you'd be interested?"
"If Tony says it's okay, yeah. It'd be great."
"He'll say it's okay," Steve said, confidently. "You like living with him?"
Peter nodded.
"He's nice."
Which wasn't a description that Steve had ever heard anyone associate with Tony Stark.
"He's a good man," he agreed. "Are you eating enough? Getting enough sleep? You're not just sitting in front of the TV all day, are you?"
The little boy laughed.
"You sound like you do on those commercials they show in school."
Steve let go of his hand so he could tug on the hood of his coat.
"I'm supposed to sound like that," he told the boy. "Because I care. Are you doing alright with him?"
Peter nodded, again, reaching down now that his hands were free and picking up a handful of snow, which he formed into a snowball. "I eat a lot. I don't sleep much, but the bed is nice. And Tony plays Legos with me, and lets me watch him work out his suit ideas, sometimes."
"Wow."
What a nerd. Steve smiled. He didn't know they came in such small sizes.
"Right?" Peter threw the snowball at a tree trunk and smiled when he hit it squarely. "He took me to see Santa."
"I heard. So aside from what you asked Santa for – since I'm going to leave that up to him – what else did you want for Christmas? I need ideas. I've never had a little guy to buy for and I want to make sure I got it right."
Peter smiled and started to say something, but then hesitated and shook his head.
"It's too expensive."
Steve picked him up and turned him upside down, shaking him and making Peter giggle at the rough treatment that was so much fun to the little boy.
"Better tell me," Steve said. "Or I'll tell Tony that you were petting angry squirrels."
The boy twisted around in Steve's grasp, his eyes shining in the darkening daylight.
"A new bike."
Rogers swung the boy up into the air by his heavy snow boots and caught him in his arms, easily.
"What color?"
Breathless, Peter's smile was broad.
"Blue."
"You got it." The boy hugged him, and Steve hugged him back for a moment, and then swung him once more, bringing Peter up onto his shoulders. "Let's get inside. I'm hungry."
"Okay."
OOOOOOOO
The cabin was warm, especially once they lit the fire in the fireplace, and the kitchen had been fully stocked in advance of their arrival. Tony and Sam were in the kitchen putting together a hearty dinner of canned beef stew and rolls when Peter and Steve returned from their walk. Or their reconnoiter as Steve called it.
"What did you see?" Natasha asked from her position on the main sofa in front of the cheerful fire. "Anything interesting?"
"It's snowing," Peter said, pulling his coat off and leaving it on the floor under the hooks for the coats. He couldn't reach them, after all, and knew it was senseless to bother trying. "And there are people skiing and sledding."
The boy kicked off his boots and hurried over to the sofa, scrambling up onto it to sit next to her, but he was kneeling on the cushion and facing her – and that made him able to see Tony and Sam as well.
"It's dark out," Romanoff said, frowning. "They're not crashing into trees?"
Stark smirked.
"It's lit up at night to avoid that." He looked at Peter. "We're going to sled, tomorrow. Unless you want to try to ski?"
The boy shook his head. He'd seen enough movies that ended with people getting in accidents skiing, and had never seen one person hurt while sledding. Of course, he'd never actually done either.
"Sledding."
"Good enough." Tony smiled when Natasha put her arms around the little boy, pulling him down onto her lap, clearly in a good mood. "We found some board games, and puzzles," Tony said. "When we're done eating, we can relax, tonight, and get plenty of sleep to be ready for a busy day, tomorrow."
He was looking directly at Peter when he said it. Mainly because the others weren't little kids. He couldn't boss them around, really
.
Peter nodded, relaxing already, since Natasha was a surprisingly good cuddler. Or he just liked being held. Either way, he was warming up, nicely, and she was idly running her fingers through his fine curls which was soothing
.
"We can sled all day," he said, smiling at Steve, who joined them on the sofa. "And there's hot chocolate."
"That's what I hear. It's one of the reasons I wanted to come."
Tony walked over, standing behind the sofa and looking down at the boy. He looked ready to fall asleep, suddenly, as the long day at school, the excited, sleepless night before, and then the walk with Steve was beginning to take its toll.
"We're having stew for dinner."
"Okay."
"And then I want you to get ready for bed."
"Okay. But I don't have to go to bed, right?"
It was a question that he always asked, and one Tony almost invariably answered the same way, each time.
"No."
Natasha smiled at how easy Tony was with the little kid, but she didn't relinquish her grip on him, since he was willing to be held, and she never had enough chances to do something so domestic. They chatted with Steve and Tony and Sam, mainly discussing the ski area and what each wanted to do the next day – as well as the expected arrival of Pepper, who was going to join them sometime around lunch.
By the time Sam called everyone to the table, they had their plans made, and their meal was eaten with an accompaniment of conversation that was now more centered around more mundane things; training schedules, recruits and rotations, but still fun for Peter, even though he had no clue, really, who any of the people the adults were talking about even were.
"Who's doing dishes?" Sam asked, when they were done. "Tony and I cooked."
He looked pointedly at Steve and Natasha, but Peter spoke up.
"I could."
"No. You're going to go brush your teeth and get pajamas on," Tony told him, taking a sip of his coffee. "Natasha and Steve can team up and do dishes. You can help tomorrow."
Peter didn't argue. He disappeared into the bedroom to find his toothbrush.
"Did you learn anything?" Natasha asked, softly, after making sure Peter wasn't coming back, right away.
"I know what I'm getting him for Christmas," Steve said, smugly.
Tony frowned.
"I thought you already bought him a bicycle?"
"I did," Rogers said. "It's assembled and ready to go. But now I know that he actually wants one – so it's a win."
"What else?"
"It's snowing."
Sam was the one who rolled his eyes.
"You're not much help."
"Helped me."
Sam would have to do his own interrogating.
"Don't you have dishes to wash?" Wilson asked.
Natasha snorted, but she got up to help Steve start clearing the table.
OOOOOOO
"Tony…"
He was almost used to being woken in the middle of the night, although he knew that while Peter never slept the whole night through, he only woke Tony if something was bothering him, or (sometimes) if he'd had a bad dream and needed whatever reassurance the billionaire could provide. Stark opened his eyes, even as he felt his shoulder being shaken.
Stark rolled over and opened his eyes, even as he automatically looked for the time. His eyes met Peter's, and he saw that they were happy and excited.
Not the usual mood for the middle of the night. Clearly the boy hadn't had a bad dream.
"Yeah? You okay?"
"There's deer outside my window!"
It was said in a stage whisper, as if to keep from scaring them away.
"Oh? Reindeer?"
"I don't think so. Come look."
"All right." He wasn't really interested, but Peter was, obviously, and wanted to share the occasion with him. He tossed back his blankets and allowed Peter to grab his hand. "Why are you up?" he asked as they crossed the living room and reached the door to Peter's room.
The boy had played UNO with them for almost an hour before he'd started nodding off. When Tony noticed, he waited until the most recent hand was finished, and then suggested hot chocolate and some time on the sofa in front of the fire. Peter had snuggled right up against his side and had fallen asleep almost immediately, while the grown ups all pulled out phones or tablets and checked emails.
It had been Tony who had carried Peter to his bed, tucking the boy in and making sure to wait long enough to see if he woke. When he didn't, Stark had gone back into the living room, told the others goodnight, and had gone to bed, as well.
"Heard a noise," Peter told him. "Something scary outside."
"The deer?"
"No. Something screamed." Peter shivered. "I don't know what it was."
"Probably a rabbit, or something," Tony told him, walking carefully to the window that Peter was sneaking up on. Peter wasn't used to the sounds made by nature, after all. Tony was well aware that he wasn't, either. "Or maybe a wolf or a coyote?"
"It was scary. But when I looked out the window, all I saw were these…"
"They look pretty calm," Tony said, softly. "If there were something dangerous out there, they'd probably be more nervous."
"Yeah…" Peter was leaning against the cold glass of the window, watching the deer as they nibbled on the trees and bushes, rather than grazing since the grass that might be there was buried under the falling snow. "They're pretty neat, huh?" he asked, smiling over at Stark.
Tony nodded, but he wasn't looking at the deer. He was looking at Peter, and his expression was tender.
"Yes. Pretty neat."
OOOOOOO
A/N sorry about no new update. I was doing family reunion, this weekend. A good time was had by all. Hope you are all doing great.
And Sam isn't supposed be coming across as any more annoying than he usually is - nor is Steve. Everyone loves Peter in this story.