When Pepper and Tony walked into the main lodge, they were discussing plans for Christmas Eve and he was once more threatening to have Peter invite her over if she refused his own invitation.

"Everyone else is coming," he assured her, smoothly, as he opened the door for her. "It isn't as if it's going to be just the three of us sipping eggnog in front of the fireplace. Nothing more intimate than a room filled with Avengers."

"I said I'll think about it," she reminded him, smiling.

She was pleased at the invitation, and she had to admit that the billionaire was beginning to mellow a bit – which was a relief. Not only because she hadn't had to put out any fires in several months, now, but because he was smiling, more, and seemed to be getting more sleep and exercise – and maybe even eating healthier?

"Good. We'll just be hanging out after dinner. Mainly watching for Santa, that kind of thing – although Peter's going to have a very strict bedtime. I'm not staying up until the middle of the night putting together toys."

"Did you buy anything that doesn't come preassembled?"

"I may have ordered a few things," he admitted. "I'll have Rogers and Rhodey put them together before I let them leave." He noticed a small crowd of people and the sound of a piano in the area where he'd last seen Romanoff and Peter – and a glance at the sofa where he'd left them showed it to be occupied by a group of young men drinking beers and telling bawdy jokes. "What's going on…?"

They walked over to the small crowd, and saw Romanoff was standing by the piano, leaning against it and watching Peter and a strange man playing a wickedly complicated duet on the piano – much to the enjoyment of the small crowd of people standing around. Natasha smiled a greeting to them as they walked over, silently telling them that all was well.

"Did you know he could play?" she asked, softly, when they stopped beside her.

"Yeah. I mean, I haven't heard him, but I read that he'd taken some music classes when he was little. Littler." Tony smiled at Peter when the boy looked up at his arrival and smiled – but didn't miss a beat as his little fingers flew over his side of the keyboard. "He's not bad, is he?"

"Not at all."

Pepper smiled, too.

OOOOO

The impromptu concert ended soon after Tony's arrival. Peter thanked the man who had been playing with him and hopped off the piano bench, blushing with pleased bashfulness at the spattering of applause. Followed by Natasha, he walked over to Tony and Pepper, looking up at her.

"You made it!"

Pepper's smile was soft. It was always nice when someone was that happy to see you, after all.

"Of course I did," she told him. "I didn't want to miss the chance to go sledding. I haven't done it since I was a little girl."

He beamed, not noticing that Tony was rolling his eyes, amused by the lie.

"We went this morning. It was fun. There are innertubes, and sleds, and this one group of people had a toboggin and there were like a million people on it, but some fell off when Tony crashed into them from behind. And there's a rope that pulls you up the hill and then you let-"

"Don't spoil all the surprises for her," Tony said, interrupting and swinging Peter up into his arms. "She needs to see for herself."

"Okay."

Pepper smiled at the way Peter's arms automatically went around Tony's neck, his cheek pressing against the billionaire's for a moment before turning back to her and Natasha. He looked so happy, and Pepper couldn't help but feel just a little gooey at the sight of Tony looking so relaxed with the child in his arms. She knew it was hormones, or something, some kind of bio thing, but she suddenly wanted to hug them both.

Maybe Tony wasn't as crazy as she'd thought he was, initially, when he'd brought up the idea of fostering, and then making things permanent?

"You're not wearing a coat or boots," she pointed out. "Are you done sledding for the day?"

"We were waiting for you," Peter told her, and now he had one arm around Tony's neck, casually, while he spoke with them. "He said you would be here around lunch."

"Did you have lunch?"

"Yes. Did you?"

Pepper nodded.

"I had a burger on the way."

Peter suddenly frowned, and looked at her closely, and then at Tony.

"I don't see any smoke."

"What?"

"You said she'd be smoking if she wore the tight pants with-"

A hand was suddenly clamped over his mouth, and Tony's expression was a mixture of pained and chagrined.

"That's not what I said."

Romanoff snorted, delighted at the exchange, while Pepper's expressive eyes lit up with amusement even as she scowled, at the man. She reached out and took the little boy from Tony, and Peter transferred, willingly, into her arms, secretly delighted at being passed around like a bag of potatoes.

"Come on," Pepper said. "Natasha can show me where your coat and boots are, and Tony can go make sure no one wandered off with our sleds."

"Okay."

Stark rolled his eyes, but he was amused, too.

"I'll meet you out by the tow rope in fifteen minutes."

OOOOOOO

The afternoon went much the same as the morning had. Only now, Pepper was with them, hanging out with Tony and Peter in a capacity that was as new for her as it was for Peter – and Tony. They had fun, though. Natasha and Peter made several runs up and then down the hill, together, and when Steve and Sam joined them, they were welcomed company.

There was even an impromptu snowball fight, which pitted Sam and Tony – and Peter – against the others while they hid behind a fort made of sleds.

If any of the adults had assumed the active morning would wear the energetic little boy out, they were wrong. At least for the majority of the day. His nap had refreshed him, and sledding was still exciting to him. He didn't even notice how Natasha and the avengers kept him occupied and monopolized his company, often manipulating circumstances so that Tony ended up spending much of his time with Pepper. Tony would be getting ready to join Peter on a sled, or on an innertube, but it would be Sam or Steve, or – of course – Natasha, who snatched the child up and challenged him to ride along on his sled, instead.

It almost always only happened when it would leave one sled for Tony and Pepper to share, or when it left the two standing at the top of the hill. They both were intelligent enough to realize early on what was happening, but Tony shrugged, and Pepper didn't mind. She was having a good time, and Tony Stark was good company when he wasn't being an asshole to the people around him (including her) and causing her PR nightmares.

By the time the sun started to go down and they turned the lights on to illuminate the ski runs as well as the sledding hill, though, Peter wasn't the only one to start getting worn out, and all of them were soaked from snow getting under their outerwear and melting into their clothing.

The initial plan had been to make their own dinner, but none of them felt like cooking, so Pepper and Steve stopped at the lodge's restaurant to order take out to bring back with them to their cabin, while the others returned the sleds and innertubes and then headed inside to warm up.

"Yu looked like you were having a pretty good time," Tony said at the door as he helped Peter out of his wet coat and hung it next to his own and Sam's.

The boy's cheeks and nose were red with cold, but his brown eyes were happy.

"It's a lot of fun."

"Good. Maybe we can do it, again, sometime."

Peter nodded.

"I'd like that."

Tony pulled the boy's mittens and hat off, and then turned him by a hold on his shoulders, and pointed him to his room.

"Go get changed and ready for bed. Don't brush your teeth, though, since we're going to eat dinner, still."

"I don't have to go to bed, though, right?"

The billionaire rolled his eyes, making Sam and Natasha smile.

"No. I just said we're going to eat."

"But after that?"

"No. Not yet. We'll find something to do. Maybe we'll let Pepper decide."

He'd point out to Pepper that Peter would relax better if she chose a movie, or something inactive like that to do after they ate. With a warm meal inside the boy and the heat of a fire, he'd almost certainly fall asleep.

"Okay."

The youngster did as he was told and Sam shook his head.

"You're really good with him," he said. "I never would have believed it."

Rather than be offended, or get defensive, Tony nodded.

"Neither would I. It just takes some getting to know him, I guess. He's a complicated little guy, but he's still a kid, and definitely has patterns. Like challenging bedtime whenever I tell him to get pajamas on."

"I used to hate being told it was bedtime," Sam said, shrugging. "Probably all kids do."

Romanoff nodded, but she looked at Tony.

"Especially if sleeping means nightmares and bad dreams."

He nodded, as well.

"Probably the case. We'll get him a shrink when I have more say in the matter," he promised. "Until then I'll deal with it as needed. You two go get changed, too. You're soaked."

Wilson rolled his eyes.

"That's such a dad thing."

He turned and headed for his bedroom, and Natasha smiled.

"I'm not calling you daddy."

Stark's smile was amused.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best."

She chuckled and left him standing by the door, and Tony was still smiling when he started to take his own coat off to hang it next to Peter and Sam's.