Prompt: Peter and Gamora's first Christmas with Elspeth Quill

Winter Solstice

It's the first time they've celebrated this, ever.

Gamora's never brought up this holiday before. He had no idea it even existed. This is the first time she's shared this Zehoberei tradition with him.

Apparently it was a very big thing back on her home planet. Of the celebrated days, this was the most important to her people.

She's never mentioned it before.

They've been married for years, and a team for even longer, but this is the first Peter's hearing of it. The first time she's shared it with him.

He doesn't mind, though. He's not bothered by it in the slightest, that this is his first time finding out about this holiday that was apparently super important back on Gamora's home planet.

He knows how painful memories of home can be. How some things hurt less if you let them stay settled. How dredging things up and talking about them isn't always the best thing to do for the sake of your emotional stability and sanity. He has first hand experience with that too.

Peter particularly understands why she's never brought it up before, and what changed this year.

The solstice was a family holiday, she said. A gathering and celebration she remembered from her childhood.

Gamora and Peter have been officially family, husband and wife for years, and the Guardians have been unofficially family for even longer.

But even with her found family and her husband, memories of the solstice were best left in the past instead of being drudged up, for the sake of normalcy and emotional well being. That's just how it had to be with some things.

But this year was different, because of the newest addition to their family. Their daughter.

Peter never knew he'd be this lucky. He already thought he hit the jackpot with Gamora. When she agreed to date his stupid ass, he thought he was the luckiest person in the universe. Couldn't get better than this. He already had his fortune shining on him.

Flash forward a bit, of being together and thinking this was where his luck tapped out, and he was fine with that being his peak.

Just when he thought he couldn't go any higher- that's when she agreed to marry his stupid ass. He was sure his luck had run out after that, that whatever controlled luckiness had spent all of Peter's luck on Gamora, so he got to spend the rest of his life with her.

But now, looking at Gamora crouched and bouncing a 5 month old little girl, with light green skin and big brown eyes in a white dress and black little booties, he never imagined anyone could be as lucky as he was, looking on at his family right now.

Now, dredging up memories of the solstice wasn't harmful in the way it might have been before. It wasn't risking emotional stability dwelling on those memories from the past.

Now, it was healing bringing up the winter solstice.

Because of her. Their daughter.

Peter doesn't mind that this is his first time hearing about it, since he knows this is Gamora's first time celebrating this special holiday in over 20 years. She must have missed it.

He's happy to be celebrating it with her for the first time since she was a child. He's happy to share this with her.

"And we'd go off into the everwoods," Gamora continued, taking the black little shoes Elspeth had on her feet and miming walking along the beaten path with her legs as she continued the tale. Elspeth loved her little bouncy swing, and it was always her favorite place for story time. She seemed very enraptured in the current story, but being a baby and all, she always liked hearing her momma's voice and the wide eyed, big smile, vivid expressions that Gamora used during story time. "There were many things to collect, as an offering to Alma, in return as thanks for all our blessings. Everything she had provided for us that year. The berries of Sau and the dripping leaves from the Gogi flower were always good to make halos out of, in a circle, to show how everything's connected, continuing on and on," she said, drawing a circle in the air, describing the creations that Peter thought must have looked a lot like wreaths, or flower crowns- some ring made of fauna and foliage.

Elspeth kept trying to catch her mother's hands as she moved them as she talked, and Gamora gave them to her.

"But the most important part was the tree," Gamora said so emphatically, in a hushed sort of exalted tone like she was sharing an exciting secret, still holding onto her daughter's tiny hands. "That's what was so special about the everwoods. We would cut down one before it's prime, leaving the roots and trunk for it to regrow, and placing berries at the base in thanks, for all that it was giving up, so we were grateful to the trees during the solstice."

"We'd make paper lights, like stars in the night sky, wrap them around the tree like a nice, warm blanket," she told her daughter, miming stringing up the paper decorations in the branches, then making what Peter calls 'itsy-bitsy spider fingers', mimicking the lights falling into place like a shimmering of dusting and snow, till the tree was covered and beautiful.

The stars on her tree looked settled in her memory, like they were meant to be there, making their home on the branches and finally coming to a rest. The paper stars were white and bright, jumping out and yet holding onto the dark, midnight leaves, making everything look so complete. The paper stars in her memory. They tied everything together.

"Hey, that sounds kinda like Christmas," Peter noted without really thinking. He didn't mean to interrupt, but it just kinda slipped out.

"Chrismust?" Gamora asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity as she glanced over at him. She hadn't realized she had an audience other than the little girl in front of her. Though it looked like he didn't realize either, slumped over with his elbow on the counter and supporting his head, like he only meant to stay for a second or two, but then became invested in story time and settled in, getting quite comfortable practically laying on the countertop. Gamora smiled.

Peter flushed slightly. He was really caught up in her story, and didn't mean to interrupt. But now Gamora was waiting for an explanation, so he gave it to her.

"A winter holiday we had on Earth. We did stuff like that for Christmas too. Bringing home a tree, decorating it with lights. And presents. We always put presents under the tree to open on Christmas morning."

"Ah! We had gift exchanges on the solstice too!" Gamora brightened at this new shared discovery. Shared experience.

"You didn't put them under the tree, did you?" He asked with a facetious little smirk to show he was only joking, knowing full well that sounded a bit too specific to be replicated throughout the galaxy.

Some things weren't that surprising to find out were rather universal concepts. Things like birthdays. Turns out, lots of people liked celebrating the day you were born, whether those people were on Terra, Xandar, Saakar… you get the point.

Having a winter holiday that included the tradition of gift giving wasn't that uncommon either. People like giving and receiving gifts (well, a lot do), no matter what planet they were from, and incorporated similar ideas into their cultures to make for expressions of joy.

He would be sincerely surprised to find that Terrans and Zehobereis agreed on the exact placement of where to put their presents, though.

Gamora shook her head with a chuckle. "No, the gift giving was family to family. Every family in the village would give one gift to another family, and they would receive one gift from another family too. Like an exchange. One year, I helped out with the makings of our family's gift. A basket, filled with nuts and winter berries. I had picked flowers, and wove them into the handles of the basket," she smiled at the memory. "Momma said it was beautiful."

"Why have you never mentioned that before? You love talking about Earth traditions." Gamora had stood up to join Peter, and gave him a very, very weak punch in the shoulder, biting her lip as her eyes crinkled at the corner.

Peter shrugged. "I 'unno. It's been awhile. And Christmas was a pretty big deal on Earth, like your winter solstice, but I was born like a week before Christmas, so I think my mom tried to place a little bit less of an emphasis on Christmas and make my birthday a bigger deal, so it wouldn't get lost. She always said something about celebrating the birth of baby Peter and the birth of baby Jesus was her favorite time of year."

"Children were also one of the blessings of Alma we celebrated at the solstice," Gamora said, a fond look in her eye as she rested her head against Peter's shoulder, watching their daughter play with her stacking blocks.

"Yeah, it's a pretty good thing to celebrate," Peter agreed, kissing the top of her head and pressing his smile into her hair.

Gamora moved in closer to his side, and wrapped an arm around his waist, to hold him tight.

"It really is."

AN: I know that in June Bug I had Peter having a summer birthday, and for the record that is still my headcanon, but Peter being born in December was just how this one shot worked out.
He will always be a summer babe in my heart, though.