If there was anything Steve Rogers loved more than cosy Sundays, it was Christmas. December was his favourite time of year, and the lead up to Christmas just made it all the more exciting. It was crazy in New York City; everyone was out and about shopping for presents. It made him want to stay in at home, but he himself had some Christmas shopping to do. He remembered distinctly the Christmases he'd spent with his mother. They weren't rich, so he never expected gifts from his mum, and constantly reminded her year after year that there was no need for presents, he only wanted to spend time with her. She would then proceed to click her tongue and tell him the same thing every year, "We are not rich, but it is Christmas."
Steve always received wonderful gifts from his mum; she would more often than not, knit something for him. It would be a pair of socks, or a lovely sweater that kept him warm throughout the winter months. He treasured those gifts dearly, even until after he enlisted into the army. He kept the sweater she had given to him during their last Christmas spent together, before she had passed away, in the duffle bag he'd brought with him to the camp. He wished he still had it, but everything was lost to time. The seventy years he'd spent in the ice had caused that.
But he often times chose not to dwell on it. It was a long time ago. This year, he wouldn't be spending Christmas with the other Avengers, although it was no doubt Tony would throw an extravagant party and force them to attend like he did every year. Instead, it was just going to be him and his favourite red-headed spy. They had gotten married in spring, in a beautiful private ceremony with all the flowers in full bloom, and this would be the first Christmas they spend together in their new house. Following to family tradition, Steve stated that he wanted to get a tree and Natasha agreed. Just because she hadn't ever celebrated Christmas doesn't mean she should put a damper on his festiveness.
"Nat, we're going to get a real tree. Aren't you excited?" Steve grinned. Tony had taken the liberty to start a Christmas tree farm, although it was clearly Pepper's idea. She loved Christmas as much as Steve did.
"Well I've never done this before; I can't say I'm not." She said smoothly, a small smirk on her face. Steve smiled and put an arm around her shoulder as they walked through the mini forest of Christmas trees. He didn't push it; he could tell she was more than a little excited, despite herself. Sometimes she just had a hard time letting it show.
As they made their way towards where Tony, Pepper and Thor were, along with Clint and Bruce, he enjoyed admiring the tall trees. He couldn't say what sort of trees they were but Natasha mentioned that they were probably fir trees.
"Hohoho look whose here, its Capsicle and Red." Tony said, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets. It wasn't snowing, but it was far too cold for early December.
"Are you going to be Santa this year Tony? Because I'd love to get a new tractor." Clint grinned.
"I'm Santa every year. Just don't be surprised if I get Rhodes to send it over to you by air." Tony smirked.
"As long as he arrives by Christmas morning, I'll have no complaints." The archer countered.
"I'll have to check if he's on leave."
Pepper just smiled at their banter, "Let's just get to tree picking."
"Who gets to pick the tree that goes in the Tower?" Tony asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
"It's a team effort." Steve chipped in.
Thor spoke up from his spot next to a tree that towered over him, "We must do it as a team, as the Captain says."
Soon enough, everyone had spread out to find their own perfect Christmas tree and Steve had gone off with Natasha.
"This tree would fit nicely in our living room don't you think?" Steve mused, patting a tree he particularly liked.
Natasha nodded, "It would, but I'm not even sure how we're going to get it back home."
"Tony's going to get someone to send it over!" The voice belonged to Pepper and she had clearly heard what Natasha said.
"Thanks Pepper!" Steve called back as Natasha snuggled into Steve's arms.
"This is unfair, you're always so warm." She said, her voice muffled by the scarf she was wearing.
He kissed the top of her head, "We can go home, turn up the heater and I'll make you tea." Steve knew for a fact she didn't like the cold, but he never asked why. He just knew she would tell him if she wanted to.
They got home two hours later and as Steve promised, he turned up the heating and made Natasha a cup of her favourite tea. Handing her the cup, she kissed him, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He said, sitting down next to her on the sofa in their living room. They had bought a lovely house in the suburbs of New York, it was close enough for them to be with the other Avengers, but yet it was far enough for them to be alone when they needed the down time. They didn't want it to be too modern; it was high-tech enough in the Avengers Tower, but they didn't want it to be too traditional either and it turns out that Natasha was brilliant at interior design. She'd picked out everything from the paint on the walls to the cushions on the sofa. Sometimes he would get so fixated on her while she was looking at paint chips and he would wonder how on Earth he'd gotten so lucky. It was a nice feeling, being with someone he could be himself with.
It felt so warm and comfortable on the sofa, he didn't think he wanted to get up. Being fished out of the ice 70 years later, he occasionally still felt a chill deep in his bones and sometimes he just choose to acknowledge rather than to ignore it. After all, the first step to fixing your problems was acknowledging that they exist; not that this was something he could fix, but anything that gave him a peace of mind was enough. As Natasha flipped through TV channels, she decided to settle on A Christmas Carol, the Disney version nonetheless. As they sat cuddled on the sofa, Steve stroked the top of her head.
"Ding dong."
"Only one person would ever say ding dong instead of actually ringing the bell." Natasha quipped as Steve opened the door and responded, "Make that two."
Clint and Tony stood at the door, wearing matching Christmas hats.
"We're delivering trees." Clint nodded seriously.
"Sounds wonderful." Steve smirked.
"Oh lighten up Capsicle, make sure you and Red over there come by tomorrow at the Tower, we're going to decorate the tree." Tony said, holding up a Christmas bauble that resembled the American flag and handing it to Steve, "Because it might be Christmas, but God bless America."
"Very funny." Steve grunted, rolling his eyes.
"I'll take it if he doesn't." Natasha called out from the sofa where she was still seated, a smirk on her face. Steve raised an eyebrow at her, "Really now?"
She just shrugged and turned back to the TV.
"Oh look at you two. Acting all lovey dovey." Clint chuckled, "Nat are we still on for next week?"
Natasha gave a thumbs up without turning around, she was clearly too engrossed with Scrooge.
Steve sighed and took the bauble from Tony, "Thanks."
As Steve and Tony shifted the tree into the living room, Clint sat down next to Natasha and opened up the tin of Celebrations chocolate on the table, "Your sofa is so much better than the one I have at home."
"It's time to tell Laura to get a new one then." She said, sipping her tea.
"How come Katniss gets to sit around while I have to move the tree?" Tony complained, his hat flopping over.
"Oh hush; you aren't even doing any of the work. Besides, you've got super-soldier over there to help you." Clint said, popping a chocolate into his mouth, "This is good. What flavour is this?"
Natasha tapped the tin on his lap, "Check the bottom."
"Stark, we are dropping by Walmart to get some of these on the way back to the Tower." Clint declared, getting up just as Steve pushed the tree into the corner where he and Natasha agreed that the tree would sit.
"Nice one Cap. Come on Stark, we still have to drop off my tree."
"Alright, Katniss." Tony sighed as he and Clint took their leave, "We'll see you tomorrow for tree decorating."
Natasha waved goodbye as Steve shut the door and went to get a pair of scissors from the kitchen to cut off the netting protecting the tree.
"Can we decorate it?" she asked as she snipped her way through the net. "Of course we can." He said, taking the pair of scissors from her halfway through because she wasn't tall enough to cut all the way to the top, even on her tippy toes.
"You can go and get the decorations while I finish up with this." He said. She rummaged through the bags they had bought the other day in the storeroom while shopping for Christmas decorations and pulled out a box of Christmas ornaments and some lights before bringing them back to Steve who was fluffing up the tree.
Steve took the string of lights from her, "Let's do the lights first."
"Okay." She said, as she climbed on top of the sofa arm that sat beside the tree. Steve chuckled when he saw her standing up there.
"Very funny Rogers," Natasha said, putting her hands on her hips, "Not everyone is a perfect super-soldier like you, or six feet."
"Fair enough." He grinned.
They worked in a peaceful silence, with the TV playing in the background, twisting the long string of lights around their Christmas tree; it didn't take a long time for the two of them to finish.
"What colour theme do you want to go with?" he said, standing back to admire his work as she hopped off the sofa
"The lights are already white, so I was thinking the red, brown and gold baubles we had bought the other day and maybe a silver tinsel thing around the whole tree."
"Sounds like a good idea." He said, pulling her close with one arm and kissing her forehead as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
She pulled away from him to open the packaging on one of the boxes and began to hang all the baubles, adding in a few candy canes here and there as Steve worked on the tinsel. When they were done, it not only looked good, it smelled good; a lot like Christmas.
"Do you want to put the star on top?" he asked, holding the glittery yellow star in his hands. She nodded and he swore he just wanted to squeeze her in a hug because the look on her face resembled a child's on Christmas morning, so innocent and sweet but he could tell she was still trying to contain the excited feelings. He was honestly weak for her. Putting her on his shoulders so she could reach, she placed the star right at the very top of the tree.
"And… We're done." He said, as she got off of his shoulders.
She smirked, "It's beautiful. A job well done Captain Rogers." He mock saluted her with a silly grin. "You're not so bad yourself Mrs Rogers."
Natasha chuckled, pulling him down for a kiss, "I'll take that as a compliment, although I do believe I did a splendid job."
"Of course you did, couldn't have done it without you." He said, switching off the TV.
"You're hopeless without me." She teased. Steve knew she was only joking, but it was true, he was just the slightest bit hopeless without her, "That, I am."