"This was a good idea."

"All my ideas are good ones. I thought you knew that."

Tony shook his head.

"I think you've been around me too much," he told Pepper. "You're beginning to sound an awful lot like me."

"Arrogant and annoying?"

"I'm not…" she arched a brow at him, waiting, and he shrugged. "We'll call it confident and brilliant."

"Uh huh. I-"

She was interrupted by the gentle chime from Tony's phone. He smiled at Pepper and pulled it out of his pocket, and then his smile broadened when he saw who it was – and who was with her.

"Hey! There's my boy."

Peter grinned.

"Hi."

"What are you two up to?"

"We're going to have hotdogs! And we walked through this maze thing and we were checking to see if my stomach hurt, or not, and then when we're done eating lunch, we're going to go play outside on the-"

"Agent Romanoff? How much sugar have you given him?"

The assassin smirked, pulling Peter into her lap so she could see Stark, easier, and he and Peter could still see each other.

"None, yet. He gets his poker winnings, tomorrow."

"I did good," Peter told him. "But I'm not good at bluffing."

"And his poker face needs work," Natasha said – even though she'd already told Tony about the poker game the evening before. Peter hadn't been there, at the time, so she wanted to let him know, too. "But we're going to work on his playground skills, today, and see how much fun he can have before he freezes solid."

The boy smiled at that, and then realized that he could see the area behind Tony – and that Stark wasn't at home.

"Where are you?"

"Pepper and I are walking in the park."

Pepper moved a little closer so that Peter could see her, as well.

"Hi, Peter."

"Hi."

"Do you guys need anything?" Tony asked, smiling at his son, even while he was reaching for Pepper's hand out of view of the people on the screen. "Money to go to the movies? A pizza delivered for dinner?"

Romanoff smirked at that.

"Nick is making us dinner, tonight."

"He is?"

"It was a side bet that he made with Coulson during the game, last night. They cut the deck, and high card has to make us dinner."

"Peter? You didn't get in on the bet?"

"I get to help Nick cook."

He looked pretty excited. Of course.

"We'll let you guys get back to your walk," Romanoff told them. "I just wanted to check in with you, in case you were missing Peter."

"I am missing him," the billionaire assured her – and the boy, who smiled. "Who's bringing him home, tomorrow, and when?"

"It'll probably be me, but we'll wait and verify that, later – and then I'll call you and let you know."

"Thank you."

There would be no guessing when it came to something like that, of course.

"You're welcome." The assassin's eyes were amused, and he had a feeling that she was seeing something in his expression or demeanor that told her there had been a change in the dynamic between him and Pepper. "Have a good walk."

"Bye!" Peter said, waving.

"Bye, buddy."

"Bye, Peter."

The call ended, and he put his phone away.

"I wonder what Nick's going to cook…"

"I hope they get video…" she said. "No one would probably believe it, otherwise."

Stark squeezed her hand before letting it go, but only so he could put his arm around her, his hand now resting lightly on her waist.

"Am I making you dinner, again, tonight?" he asked. "Or have you made your conquest and plan on kicking me to the curb?"

Pepper smiled.

"I have things that need to be done at home," she told him.

They'd gone to her place after breakfast so she could change, and had spent a little time fooling around on her sofa – and then in her bed – before deciding to go get some fresh air. She hadn't even started the laundry list of things that needed to be done. Most of them small things, but all important in one way or the other.

"I can understand that."

His ready acceptance of the idea that he didn't – necessarily – come first on her list of priorities was another sign of growth from him, as far as Pepper was concerned. True, they'd slept together, and that was definitely going to change their relationship, but it didn't mean that she didn't still have other things to take care of.

"I'll make you dinner," Pepper added, resting her hand on his. "If you don't mind watching me fold towels and fluff the pillows…"

"I love watching that kind of thing," he assured her with a smile.

Uh huh. She wasn't fooled, but it was one of those little lies that was far more sweet than annoying.

"Good. What do you want for dinner?"

"Whatever you want to make. I'll even help you," he added.

"Sounds good." Maybe she'd find something complicated, just to see if they could make it. Of course, they would be in her kitchen and not his, so she decided that they could experiment another day. "Nothing with chocolate chips."

"Deal."

OOOOOOOOO

"Aren't you cold?"

"I'm freezing," Romanoff confirmed, never looking at Sam because she was watching Peter dangle from the monkey bars on the wooden play area that was in the back of the compound. "We're almost done, though."

Peter would play all day out on the toys, even if there wasn't another kid to play with. Natasha and the others had already figured out that he loved being upside down, or swinging, or doing anything that involved similar motions. He didn't get motion sick no matter how many times one would turn him upside down – although they already knew that he was more than capable of catching a cold. And, of course, all of them had heard about the s'mores debacle at the cabin in the boonies, so none of them had any intention of letting him have too many marshmallows.

"Where's Steve?"

When Sam had gone inside to warm up, Rogers and Natasha had both been watching Peter playing. Now he was back, sipping on a thermal container of coffee and watching as the little boy allowed himself to drop from the bar, and still managed to twist himself around to land on his feet instead of his head.

"Peter!" Romanoff said, reacting to the action before Sam could assure himself that he'd seen it happen. It had looked pretty nerve-wracking. "Don't do that."

The boy looked over, pulling the hood of his coat off to hear her better.

"Do what?"

"Fall like that," Wilson told him. "You could have hurt yourself."

"I didn't fall," Peter said. "I let go."

"Don't do it, again," Natasha replied, gesturing for him to come to them. "I thought you were going to land on your head."

"I wasn't." He walked over, though, and smiled up at her. "I landed on my feet."

"This time," Sam said, shaking his head. "But what if you hadn't? Boom! Tony's mad at us, and you're in the medical lab, holding an icepack on your head."

"Or getting stitches," Natasha agreed. She swept him up into her arms. "Be more careful, okay? Cold fingers don't work as well."

"Okay." He hugged her, reassuring himself that she wasn't mad at him, or something. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Just be careful." She kissed his ear, which was cold, and then his cheek – which was even colder. "I think it's time to go in and warm up."

"Twenty more minutes…?"

Wilson smirked, well aware that the boy was working on the beginning of a new negotiation. The newly learned skill was one that he was still getting the hang of, after all.

"Steve went to find out if Nick is ready for his kitchen helper," Romanoff said, ignoring the request, adroitly, as well as answering Sam's earlier question. "You can't help him make dinner if you're bundled in a coat and shivering. Right?"

"Right."

She set the boy down, and turned him toward the door, swatting his rear, playfully.

"Go hang your coat up and put your mittens by a heater to dry. Wash your hands and your face and then meet me in the lounge."

He giggled.

"Okay."

The two adults watched him run into the building, and Sam handed Natasha his coffee, which she accepted with a nod of thanks.

"He's a lot of fun, isn't he?" Wilson asked.

"Yes." She took a sip of the coffee and they headed inside, too. "But he's a lot of work, too."

"You could have just invited him out for a day, you know? He'd have been fine."

Peter loved being at the compound and even a day – or a single night – would have been exciting.

"I thought Tony could use a break," she explained, smiling. "He's doing great with him, but he hasn't had a chance to spend time with just other adults, for a while – and while he hasn't complained about it, it's still nice to have a chance to be a grown up, too."

"Good point."

The smirk turned into a smile.

"Besides, it's fun to watch Nick interact with the boy."

Wilson snorted.

"True."