"You cheated."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw the thruster, Tony. It's pretty hard to hide them, you know."

"You're just upset that you lost, Stephen. It's understandable."

"I didn't lose. You cheated."

"The race was to see who could sled to the bottom of the hill first. I won."

"You know I'm going to retaliate, right?"

"I do. And I look forward to seeing what you come up with."

That had been the whole point of cheating in the first place.

It had been a good day.

The group stayed on the hill until it grew too dark to sled safely, and only then did Tony call in the others. Rebelliously, Peter and Strange started up the hill once more and were joined by everyone else – aside from Pepper, who stood next to Stark and watched as they all looped themselves together and made their final slide as a giant grouping, with Jack cuddled in Natasha's arms in the back of the queue.

"They're all going to sleep well tonight," Pepper said, amused.

"So am I," Tony admitted. "I'm too old and too out of shape to do this kind of thing every day."

"Good thing Peter only has a birthday every year."

"Tell me when your birthday comes that we can sit on a beach somewhere."

"Absolutely."

He put an arm around her and they watched as the group of sleds came to a slow stop at the bottom of the hill, very close to where they were standing. The party separated, getting to their feet and shaking snow out of hats, coats and off of gloves.

"Everyone inside," Tony ordered, making a shooing motion with the hand that wasn't holding Pepper. "Don't forget the sleds."

They all picked up a sled and headed back for the cabin, chatting cheerfully. Peter had Jack's leash, and was forced to hang back a little while the puppy marked every three feet of snow as his own. Ahead of him Ned and MJ were laughing, talking to Steve about the last run they'd made and Strange had put his arm around Natasha, quietly walking beside her. Tony and Pepper stopped beside Peter.

"Are you having a good time?"

The boy's grin was answer enough, but he nodded, impulsively hugging Pepper, who hugged him back, smiling.

"It's great. Thanks so much."

"You're welcome, sweetheart," she told him, kissing his frozen cheek before letting him go.

"I helped," Tony pointed out.

Pepper smiled.

"He did 12% of the work."

Peter grinned, knowing now that it was an inside joke, but amused at the way the comment made Tony smile even though he didn't understand the reference.

"Thanks, Tony."

"You're welcome."

"We're having fun, too," Pepper assured him. "It was a good idea."

They walked back to the cabin, and by the time they were inside and had their coats and snow gear off and hung up, Steve had stoked up the fire in the fireplace and Strange had discovered the coffee that Peter had set up to brew before leaving after lunch and was pouring for everyone who wanted some.

"Coffee, Pepper?"

"Yes, please."

"Tony?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

They took mugs from him and went into the living room. Ned had claimed one of the beanbag chairs and had placed it close to the fire, while MJ had the other and was comfortably ensconced in it, holding her hands out toward the fire and rubbing them.

"We'll eat in about an hour," Pepper told them, leaning over the sofa where Tony had planted himself next to Natasha and Steve, and kissing his cheek. "And you get to do dishes. Choose your helper – except for Peter or MJ, since they did lunch dishes."

"Ned."

The boy turned and grinned, excited about being chosen – even for dish duties. It was freaking Ironman, after all.

"Sure. I'll help."

Stephen and Pepper vanished into the kitchen. Peter sat between Tony and Natasha, and she put a companionable arm around him, holding him easily, more than willing to spend a little time with him – even though she was sharing that time with the others, as well. Peter didn't know what Strange and Pepper were making for dinner, but judging from the tingling he was feeling, the doctor was using a lot of magic to help prepare it.

Ned had the remote control to the TV and turned it on, quickly and effortlessly accessing the satellite feed and flipping through the channels, idly. He settled on a nature program about – ironically – Yellowstone and the creatures that could be found there. It was close enough to where they were that it would give them an idea of what creatures they could see, and he set the remote down and leaned back into the beanbag chair, willing to settle in for a while.

Everyone else seemed ready to transition from active to languid, as well, and Peter wasn't the only one to relax in the warmth of the room while the fire's heat seeped into chilled bodies. Natasha was the first to actually fall asleep though, and she ended up leaning against Peter with her head on his shoulder. He rescued her coffee cup before she dropped it, and handed it to Tony, who smiled at the sight of his super spy zonked out.

MJ and Ned both went about the same time – the beanbag chairs were incredibly comfortable and extremely nap worthy. Neither was used to the kind of physical activity that the afternoon had provided, and it showed. Jack was already asleep on Steve's lap and Rogers smiled, too.

"I think we wore them out," he whispered to Peter and Tony, just as Pepper and Stephen rejoined them in the living room.

"It won't hurt to let them sleep," Pepper murmured, softly, leaning over the back of the sofa and kissing Tony. "Dinner won't be ready for a while."

"We brought cards?" Strange asked.

Of course, it didn't matter if they did or not, since he could always get some.

"We did," Tony said, hesitantly, looking at Peter.

They all knew cards wasn't something that he enjoyed playing, since he was so terrible at it. Peter understood the look immediately, though, and shook his head.

"I'm fine sitting here," he told them. "Give me Jack, Steve, and he can sleep with me so you have your hands free."

"You don't mind?" Tony asked.

"No. I'm not going to move, anyway. You guys go ahead."

Not with Natasha leaning on him and looking so comfortable.

Steve got up and carefully transferred his sleeping puppy to Peter's lap and then ruffled his hair, cheerfully.

"I'm going to have to start paying you puppysitting fees," he told the boy as Tony stood up as well, moving carefully to avoid waking Romanoff.

"Fifty dollars an hour," Tony said. "That's what I'm going to start charging you."

"That's a little steep."

"I'm worth it."

Peter smiled.

"He's cute. I'm willing to do it for free."

"You've been outbid, Tony," Steve told him as they all moved to the dining room table.

If Stark answered, Peter didn't hear. He wasn't paying attention to them, now. Instead, he watched the nature show, somewhat, and thought about May, and how much fun she would have had that day with them. He knew she'd been looking forward to his 16th birthday – and now, of course, he knew why – but it made him wonder what he would be doing if things had been different. If she hadn't been taken away from him.

He sighed and shook his head, trying to stop the sorrow before it could engulf him. Instead, he focused on the program on the TV, and watched as a herd of bison powered their way through huge drifts of snow. It reminded him of the ones that they'd seen on the trail on the way to the cabin. He was going to try snowshoeing the next day and hoped that he would see more of them. Then he saw a huge bull chasing down a wolf pack, and almost hoped that he wouldn't.

He fell asleep wondering if a guy on snowshoes could outrun an angry bison.

OOOOOOO

"Do we wake them up, or just put them all to bed?"

Natasha felt a hand brush her cheek and at the same time felt the warm body beside her stir. She opened her eyes in time to see Peter stretching, tiredly, and turned her head to see Stephen leaning over the back of the sofa.

"Dinner's ready."

Pepper was waking Ned and MJ, and both reluctantly got up, a little stiff from being in the same position for the last hour.

"Everyone rested?" Tony asked as they all joined him at the table.

It had been set and a large baking pan with a noodle casserole was the center of the meal, along with fresh bread, steamed vegetables and drinks.

There were varying sounds of agreement, and the meal was a bit quieter than lunch had been as everyone who had been napping allowed themselves a chance to eat and to wake up. Eventually, though, Ned pulled out his camera and took a few pictures of the people around the table eating, then showed Pepper the photos that he had taken during their day. Mostly sledding, pictures of everyone in one position or another. That prompted the others to pull their cameras out, as well, although no one took close to the amount of pictures that Ned had.

When they finished eating, Tony and his kitchen helper started the dishes. Pepper and Natasha cleaned the table for them, bringing the dishes into the kitchen where Ned was rinsing them off and handing them to Tony. MJ went outside with Steve to take Jack out for a final time before the puppy was in for the night, and Peter sat at the table, watching Natasha and Pepper as they came and went, once more thinking about May and how much fun she'd be having with them.

"Did you get enough to eat?" Strange asked him, sitting in the chair beside him, and slapping his back, casually.

Peter looked over and nodded.

"It was good. Thanks."

"I cheated a little," the doctor admitted. "We forgot mushrooms."

"I know," he said, smiling. "I could feel it."

"Don't tell anyone. I have to protect my culinary reputation."

"Okay."

Strange slid his finger along the table, tracing a random design in a small puddle of water that had been left from a glass.

"What are you thinking of?" he asked, easily recognizing that the boy had been brooding.

It was one of the reasons that he'd sat down beside him.

"May."

"Good thoughts or bad?"

"Good." He shrugged, and looked over at him. "I was thinking that she would have had a lot of fun today."

Strange nodded.

"She would have had fun no matter what she was doing – as long as she was doing it with you. You know that, though."

Peter smiled, aware of the truth in that statement. Of course, he felt the same way when it came to the people that were with him on this trip, too. They could have all been sitting in the living room asleep and he would have been enjoying the day, because he was with them.

"I know. Did you have fun today?"

"Absolutely. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. Thanks for inviting me."

"Thanks for coming."

He slapped the boy's shoulder, again, ready to lighten the mood.

"Let's go bother Tony."