It was five am in the morning when Steve rolled out of bed. Winter made the days shorter, so it was still dark out but that didn't exactly stop him from wanting to get in a good workout to start the day. He and Natasha had stayed over at the Avengers Tower after one of Tony's extravagant parties had ended late, as they usually did. They had an entire floor to themselves; so it was never really a problem for Tony anyway. Heading to the bathroom, he brushed his teeth and changed into his workout clothes before heading down to the gym. It was no surprised that it was empty, out of all the Avengers, five out of the six of them wouldn't call it morning until the clock struck nine in the morning.
Steve appreciated the early morning stillness.
He spent a good two hours in the gym before going upstairs to the communal kitchen. Steve saw Bruce there, reading the morning paper.
"Morning Doctor Banner," Steve greeted as he opened the fridge, "You're up early today."
"Woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, so thought I'd just start the morning early. It seems that you've started your day even earlier." The doctor mused as he sipped his coffee.
"It's become a habit. Getting up at the crack of dawn, it's not as if I need much sleep anyway." He said, gulping down a bottle of water.
"That's true."
"I'm going to hit the showers first." Steve said, "See you later."
Steve went back to his floor, where Natasha was. She greeted him when he walked in, "Morning Rogers."
"Isn't it a bit too early for you to be up Nat?" he asked.
"It is. I just heard you come in."
"Don't worry about me, go back to sleep. I'm just going to take a shower."
"Did you sleep well?" Natasha asked, propping herself up on one arm. He nodded as he pulled off his sweaty shirt, "I did. Go back to sleep, nobody else besides Bruce is up yet."
"I can't say I'm not enjoying the view." She smirked. He didn't even flinch, just grinned before giving her a kiss, "Guess those five am runs are working then."
"We're going to buy Christmas decorations." Natasha announced when she walked out of the shower, towel drying her damp hair.
"Well aren't you festive," Steve said as he got up from his chair, putting down the book he was reading, "It's about that time of the year anyway."
"I'm driving." She said as she applied a thin layer of gloss over her lips.
"And I'm hardly going to argue with that arrangement." Steve grinned.
Natasha smirked, "I didn't think you would."
"What sort of theme did you have in mind?" Steve asked as he watched her skilfully manoeuvre through traffic.
"Something traditional I suppose." She answered.
Steve propped his arm up on the door and rested his head against it, looking outside the window, "Sounds like a good idea."
"Something on your mind?" she asked, as she stopped at a red light. He shook his head and smiled at her, "We're spending our first Christmas together."
She laughed at his comment, "Deep down you're sentimental ninety-five year old grandpa aren't you Rogers?"
"Who doesn't love sentimental grandfathers?" he teased.
"Wouldn't that make you a paedophile? You've got a good 60 years on me soldier."
"Very funny Romanoff." He said.
"I'm starting to wonder how this marriage is even legal. Did they make an exception because it was consensual on both parties?" she wondered, smirking at him. He leaned over and kissed her, "Just drive."
"I'm getting this." Natasha said as she picked up a chocolate bunny and placed it in the trolley. Steve raised an eyebrow at her, "Nat, you're not getting any more junk. That is way too much." Within half an hour of arriving at the supermarket, she had filled the trolley with more than enough junk food to last the next year.
"Lighten up. I promise the chocolate bunny is the last one."
Natasha ate enough snacks for the both of them, yet she never seemed to gain even half a pound. He didn't worry about what she weighed; he just didn't want her making herself ill. Sometimes, he forgot his wife was Black Widow, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her nonetheless; only because he loved her so much.
Steve sighed with a smile, giving in, "Fine."
"Whoever started up Walmart really deserves an award." She said as they made their way to where all the Christmas decorations were on display.
There were so many types of ornaments and wreaths it was a little overwhelming; nothing like several hundred types of baubles to get you into the Christmas spirit.
"Don't you think this would look good for our tree in the living room?" Steve said, holding up a pack of baubles that were different shades of red, light gold and brown.
"We don't have a tree yet."
"When we actually get the tree tomorrow morning silly." He chuckled.
"Oh," She said, wrinkling her nose, "Yeah it'll definitely look good."
"You're distracted by the chocolate aren't you?"
She smiled sheepishly, "It's the only time of the year it's acceptable to eat lots of chocolate okay? It's not as if I haven't been training."
"You're going to rot your teeth." Steve warned, crossing his arms.
"I'm old enough to buy whatever I want." She said stubbornly. Steve cracked a smile, "You're like a child."
"I'm going to buy it and you can't stop me." Natasha declared, walking off in search of her chocolate.
"Just don't bring back a chocolate house or something." He called as she walked off.
"No promises!"
Steve shook his head as he continued his Christmas shopping. He placed the pack of baubles in the trolley, and decided to buy tinsel for the tree. Christmas was a big affair not just for him, but for everyone else as well. Little kids roamed around with big and excited eyes, their beanies a little bit too big for their head, dragging their parents around. Grandparents shopped for Christmas presents for their grandchildren, talking quietly about what to get for them and how excited they were to spend time with their own children who were often busy working. Steve watched as busy parents tapped away at their mobiles, faces sometimes curled into a scowl. To Steve, all he'd ever wanted for Christmas was to have everyone at the dinner table with a smile on their face.
Lost in thought, he looked up to see a small boy scampering up to him, his mother chasing behind him. He smiled and got down on one knee so he would be closer to the boy's height.
"Hi there buddy."
"Hi. Are you Captain Amewica?"
"Yes I am. What's your name?"
"My name is James. I am five years old."
James's mother finally caught up, "James! You can't just run off like that."
"But mummy it's Captain Amewica!"
His mum looked at Steve, her face apologetic, "I'm so sorry to bother you."
"No, no. It's fine. Really." He smiled.
Steve couldn't help but smile at how cute the boy was, "I see you've got a shield."
"Yeah, it is just wike yours!"
"Wow! Isn't that neat? Are you going to fight bad guys when you grow up?"
"Uh huh, I want to be just like you!" James giggled.
"That's great kiddo; the world could always use more superheroes like you. But to be a good hero, you have to make sure to listen to your mum first okay? You can't just run off without her knowing. She'll be worried about you and we can't have that." Steve said, smiling.
"Okay… Can I take a picture with you?"
"Are you sure you don't mind?" James's mother asked.
"Of course I don't mind." Steve picked the boy up and posed for a photo with him. He was tiny compared to Steve.
"I'm going to grow up and be just like you!" James said when Steve put him down.
"I'll be waiting. Come on, give me a high five," Steve said, holding his hand out. James gave him a high five, "Wow you're strong!"
James giggled as he mum pulled him away, "Let's go James. Thank you so much for your time."
"Bye!" James called. Steve waved back.
"Well aren't you a sweetheart."
He turned around to see Natasha leaning against the shelf, a smirk on her face, "That was cute. I'm going to grow up and be like Captain America too."
"That's funny, because last time I checked; you are grown up and ended up marrying Captain America."
"I married Steve Rogers." She said, correcting him as she threw another box of chocolate into the trolley.
"Your insatiable need for chocolate is going to give you a toothache."
"I'm only insatiable in bed, and it's definitely not for chocolate." She said casually, enjoying the look on his face with a smirk.
"You're blushing Rogers." She teased, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Steve, what on Earth is this?" Natasha motioned at what was hanging above their front door, looking slightly amused and confused at the same time.
"It's exactly what it looks like. It's mistletoe." Steve said nonchalantly, as he put the bags on the kitchen counter.
Natasha crossed her arms and looked at him seriously as she sat down on the couch, "Are you sure you're feeling okay Rogers? What have you been doing behind my back? How have you been doing this behind my back?"
"I learnt from the best." He shrugged, going over to give her a cuddle.
"And what do you plan to achieve by doing this?"
"Nothing, it's just an excuse for me to kiss you."
"What made you think that you needed an excuse to kiss me?"
"You talk too much Nat." he said, kissing her.
"Ding dong!"
"Oh my God…" Tony said, as he made his way through the front door, "Get a room! Jesus!"
"Just let the lovebirds be." Clint said as he stood next to Tony, "Oh shit…"
"What?" Tony asked, crossing his arms before looking up, "Rogers! Did you plan this?"
"Now you've got to kiss Clint, Stark." Natasha smirked, clearly amused at what she was witnessing while Steve chuckled.
"He's got cooties I'm not kissing him." Clint groaned.
She pulled out her phone and aimed the camera at the two who were looking so uncomfortable it was hilarious, "Suck it up Barton, you're under mistletoe."
"I'm sorry Pep."
"Please don't divorce me Laura."
It was no surprise to anyone when the picture landed in everyone's phone half a second later.