"You look tired."

Tony nodded, smiling a good morning when he walked over to the table in the small dining area of the cabin and sat down. He breathed deeply, smelling coffee, but uncertain if it was brewed, yet.

"I was up half the night watching deer outside Peter's window."

Sam wasn't the only one to frown.

"What were they doing?" Natasha asked, smiling a thank you to Steve when he set a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Eating, I guess. Although a couple were butting their heads against each other – maybe playing. That's what Peter thought, anyway."

"He stayed up with you?"

"I certainly wouldn't have stayed up and watched them if I were alone."

Good point.

"Does he do that often?" Natasha asked. "Or is it just because of the change of scenery? He told me, once, that he doesn't sleep much."

"He doesn't sleep through the night very often," Tony confirmed, also smiling a thank you to Steve when he was handed a cup of coffee, too. "Most of the time he talks to JARVIS because he doesn't want to bother me, apparently. Sometimes, if something is nagging at him, or the dream was particularly upsetting, he'll come wake me up."

"What do you do?" Steve asked.

"Depends. Either we stay in my bed and we talk for a while until he falls asleep, or I put him back in his and stay with him until he falls asleep."

"Is it always nightmares?"

"No. Sometimes he just can't sleep. Can't get his mind to turn off. I know how that feels; I've been there."

"Might not hurt to have him talk to a professional," Sam pointed out.

"I plan on it," Tony agreed. "But I want him settled a little more, first. Missing a little sleep won't kill me."

"He's a little boy, though," Natasha reminded him. "He needs to get sleep."

"You tell him that."

"I did."

Tony shrugged.

"If he won't listen to you, then he isn't going to listen to anyone."

"Are we going to go sledding, this morning?"

"That's the plan. An entire day of sledding, warming up by the fire in the main lodge, and more sledding."

"If nothing else, we can run him all day and maybe wear him out enough to get him to sleep all night," Steve suggested.

"Whatever works."

As long as the boy had a good time and Tony didn't get frostbite.

OOOOOOO

They weren't the first ones on the hill.

By the time Peter woke and they all had a hearty breakfast and then bundled themselves into warm clothes, covered by heavy coats and hats and boots, there were plenty of other people out on the slopes. Most were skiing, and they weren't allowed on the single hill that was reserved only for people to sled, but there were a dozen or so people sliding down the hill on inner tubes and sleds, or allowing the tow rope to pull them up the hill for their next run.

"You guys don't have to hang out with us," Tony told the others, as they watched a ski patrol member hand Peter an innertube that was bigger than he was. "If you would rather ski, that's fine. He won't mind, and neither will I."

They all declined, and reached for their own sleds, both innertubes and regular plastic sleds, and Peter was guided to the base of the hill, surrounded by Avengers, even though none of the other sledders had a clue who they were under the bulky clothing. The boy watched Sam settle in his sled and then reach for the towrope.

"Got it?" Tony asked.

With an excited smile, Peter nodded, and then proved it by flopping down onto his innertube and then grabbing the rope with his mittened hand and squealing, happily, when it started pulling him up the hill. Tony hurried to follow with his own and Natasha smirked, looking at Steve.

"If someone had told me four months ago that I'd be doing this, I'd have called the crazy and made them pee in a cup."

Rogers chuckled, but he agreed, completely.

"How many trips do you think it'll take to wear him out?"

"Ten."

"I'll say seven."

"Loser buys lunch."

"Done."

She tossed her innertube down, waited for another person to move and then grabbed the towrope.

"This should be interesting."

OOOOOOOOO

By the time Pepper Potts arrived at the ski resort, driving up on her own in a four-wheeled drive vehicle designed for the snowy conditions, Peter was asleep on one of the huge sofas in the living area of the spacious resorts main lodge. With Natasha beside him soaking up the warmth of the fire in front of them Tony didn't need to worry about the boy when he received the alert that she had arrived.

He abandoned his cup of coffee and slid his feet back into his boots to walk over to their rented cabin and meet her at the door.

"Where's your mini me?" she asked when he arrived.

"Dead to the world up at the lodge." Tony reached for the bag that she'd been carrying. "He lasted longer than we expected, but he fell asleep over lunch."

"You didn't put him to bed?" she asked, walking into the cabin and looking around with interest.

"He won't sleep too long," Tony assured her, inwardly bemused with the fact that he knew more about little kids (and Peter in particular) than she did. That wasn't something that he'd ever have believed could happen. "When he wakes up, he's going to want to keep sledding. So we settled him on the couch up at the lodge. Romanoff is watching him."

"Where are Sam and Steve?"

"Skiing. They'll come sled when we start up, again. How was the drive?"

"Uneventful." She was guided to the remaining bedroom, and Tony dropped her bag on the bed. "I have some information for you, if you're still interested."

"Oh, I am." They walked out into the living room, again, but Tony went into the kitchen, instead. "I'll make you a cup of coffee, and you tell me what I need to know – and what I have to do."

"Sounds good."

OOOOOOOO

Peter woke with a start, and immediately felt a hand slide along his back, and heard a soft voice shushing him, gently. He opened his eyes, looking around and realized that he was on a sofa, cuddled up against Natasha's side.

"I fell asleep?"

"Mh-hmmm." She looked amused. "I did, too. Afternoons in front of the fire are perfect places to nap."

The boy sat up, rubbing his eyes, and looked around.

"Where's Tony?"

"Pepper arrived a little bit ago. He went to show her what room to use."

"Oh."

"Are you hungry?"

"A little. Not too much."

"I'm told little guys are always hungry."

"Are we still sledding?" Peter asked, hopefully.

"Of course. We still have hours."

Relieved, Peter went to his knees on the couch, so he could look over the back of it and check out the room they were in. There were several big sofas like the one he and Natasha were occupying, and there were people gathered in groups sitting around and enjoying a break from the outdoor activities to spend some time relaxing.

There was even a guy playing Christmas songs at an old fashioned piano, smiling at a pretty young woman as he did.

"Where is Steve and Sam?"

"Steve and Sam are skiing," Natasha told him, emphasizing the correct grammar with a wink. He was eight, so she wasn't going to expect him to be perfect in everything, but life was filled with learning opportunities. "But they will be back in time to go sledding, once Tony and Pepper come."

"How long will that be?"

He was eager to bundle back up and go outside, again.

The morning had really been a lot of fun for him. He'd seen movies with people sledding, of course, and if he closed his eyes and concentrated, he thought that he might remember a trip with his mom and dad a long time ago, but it was the first time that he could really remember sledding, and it had been so exciting. Being at the top of a huge hill – at least it looked that way to him – and settling on the innertube and flying down at breathtaking speeds.

Other times, Tony would set him on the sled in front of him, the billionaire's legs and arms holding him tightly as they sledded together, and that was even more fun, because he wasn't doing it alone. Sometimes they'd even race Steve or Sam – or Natasha – and one time they all made a chain of their innertubes and sleds and went down the hill together. That had ended in Sam's sled bowling over a woman on an innertube and knocking her into Peter's lap, which had dumped him and Tony into a snow drift.

Tony had checked on him, immediately, but Peter was giggling from the ride, and the woman had remarked to the man that his son was adorable. The boy had started to correct her, but Tony had just agreed with her, made sure that she hadn't taken any injury from her tumble, and had told Sam to get a new pair of glasses so he could watch where he was going.

Then he'd led Peter and the sled back to the towrope.

Peter was thoroughly enjoying having so many people spend time with him. He knew he was lucky; they were avengers, after all, and all of them – including Tony Stark – had to have more important things to be doing over the weekend than hanging out and sledding with him. But it was such a new thing for him to be the center of attention. When he was little, he'd been the only child and had his mother and father to dote on him, and him alone, but after they were gone, May had been almost the opposite, only really talking to him when she wanted him to run numbers for her.

She hadn't asked him about his schoolwork, or played games with him – mostly – and while she'd taken care of him, he understood, now, that she hadn't really been doing much more than that.

It was a heady feeling for a little boy to be so cared for, and he couldn't help it when he threw himself into Natasha's arms, the quick reflexes of the assassin keeping her from being too surprised. She simply wrapped her arms around him, as if she understood how happy he was, just then.

"It shouldn't be long," Romanoff assured him, giving his cheek a noisy kiss that made him giggle – especially when she blew a raspberry near his ear that tickled. "Let's find you a snack before they come back."

"Okay."

He moved so she could get up, and then followed her to the reception desk, which he already knew had a lot of snacks in bowls so people could take whatever they wanted. He glanced at the piano, again, however, as they went by, and the man playing it smiled, cheerfully, beckoning him over.

"You know how to play?" he asked the boy, kindly, as he smiled at the woman he'd been singing to and blissfully unaware that Natasha was watching for the slightest hint that he was a danger to her little guy.

Peter nodded.

"Some."

The man looked surprised at the reply, and he smiled, scooting over on the bench, and patting the spot next to him.

"Come play with me. We'll make our ladies happy."

Peter glanced up at Natasha for permission, and she shrugged. She'd already decided that the man at the piano wasn't a threat. She didn't miss much, even when relaxing in a ski lodge and ostensibly on a rest day, and had noticed him with a little girl, earlier when they'd walked out of the dining room, Tony carrying a sleeping Peter in his arms. He was probably a dad, she decided, and Peter was pretty irresistible.

Especially if the guy was trying to impress the woman like she knew he was.

"Go ahead," she said, moving slightly to make sure she had an easy field of fire if for some reason she'd read the situation completely wrong and he turned out to be a threat to the boy. "Show me what you've got."

Peter smiled and climbed up onto the piano seat next to the man, sitting on his knees to be able to reach the keys on his side.

"George is a piano teacher," the woman told Natasha, clearly besotted with the man, but smiling at Peter. "He's a classic pianist. Your little boy is going to have fun. He'll make him look like a maestro."

Natasha nodded, but they both looked surprised when Peter's little fingers echoed the tune that the man had been playing when Peter and Natasha had walked up.

They weren't the only ones, though, because the man sitting beside Peter grinned his own shock and delight.

"You do know how to play!" he said, cheerfully. "See if you know this one…"

He tapped out an easy concerto that Peter had heard several times, and then gestured for the boy to take over.

Which he did.