Day One:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Soon the bells will start
And the thing that will make them ring
Is the Carol that you sing
Right within your heart

Steve Rogers fought a smile, forcing himself not to open his eyes as he felt the covers being lifted again as his girl slipped back into bed. He could hear the coffee pot gurgling, and feel her watching him.

"You are such a faker," Emily Harthorn announced. Steve gave an exaggerated snore and rolled onto his side, facing away from her. She chuckle softly, scooting closer to him and…

"HEY!" Steve yelped as she put her cold feet on his leg. He rolled quickly, ignoring Emily's laugh as he pinned her beneath him. Playfully glaring, he leaned down to rub his whiskery cheeks against hers, his hands snaking down to her sides where he…

"Stop!" Emily gasped, trying to push away his hands as he tickled her. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she squirmed, her attempts to escape in vain. "I give – give up! Mercy!"

Laughing, Steve stopped his assault and leaned down to kiss Em. When she turned her cheek at the last minute, he tickled her for another few seconds before she shrieked, grabbing at his hands. "Morning," he smirked.

"Morning, Scruffy," Em smiled, stroking the stubble on his cheeks. "Guess what?"

"Hum?" Steve asked, shifting her hair from her face and propping himself up on an elbow.

"Know what today is?"

"Saturday?" She rolled her brown eyes and shoved his shoulder. "What? You're not running out of here yelling about being late, so it's the weekend."

"Hilarious. Seriously, who schedules classes for eight in the morning?" she scowled. "I mean, half of students don't even show up, and the other half aren't coherent. Anyways, that's not what I'm taking about."

"What's today?" Steve asked, throwing his arm around her waist and stroking her lower back.

"It's the first of December," Emily smiled. "And it's snowing." His smile became a bit fixed at this last part, something that she noticed. "Not too much. Just a dusting."

"I'm okay," he said quickly. The first cold snap had been rough, and the first snowfall even worse. Emily had spent the day coming back and forth between the university campus and the apartment, making sure that he was okay. After her last class, Em had made him walk with her to get Chinese food for dinner. They'd had to stop walking a few times so that he could calm down, but she'd stood with him, even as her nose and ears got steadily redder. Back at her apartment, she'd made him hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps ("I know alcohol doesn't affect you, but I don't want to drink alone") and they'd curled up under a heavy blanket to have a Fred and Ginger marathon.

"You know what else this means?"

"What?"

"It's almost Christmas!" Emily said excitedly. "My first Christmas in New York!"

"Our first Christmas," Steve smiled, pulling her closer.

OOO

"Come on!" Emily snarled, angrily shaking the tangle string of lights she'd extracted from her bin of Christmas ornaments. Her hair bounced on her shoulders, and she scrunched her nose before letting out an exasperated sigh and letting the bundle fall from her hands.

"Here," Steve chuckled, setting his cup of cocoa on the coffee table and reaching for it. "Before you break it."

"Before I toss it in the trash, more likely," she smirked while handing it over. He worked on the tangles, tapping his foot to the Christmas music his girl has insisted on playing as they decorated the small tree. Most of them he recognized, even if the singer didn't sound familiar, but others were entirely new. He'd gotten a kick out of seeing her dance around the kitchen, making homemade hot cocoa, while shaking her hips and singing one called "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".

When the lights were finally wrapped around the tree, Steve smiled as she pulled out ornaments wrapped in tissue paper. They took turns placing them on the tree, some handmade ones from her nieces and nephews, others cut from felt or stitched by various family members; he made sure that the ones from her numerous schools were set aside for her. As she placed the last purple partridge on the branch, Steve opened his arms. Grinning, Emily retreated into them, snuggling against him as they admired their Christmas tree.

"Oh! I forgot the ones from my mom!" Em said, shaking off his embrace and hurrying to her office. A small box was in her hands when she emerged. She squinted at the small wrapped box, as she'd misplaced her glasses under the tissue paper. "Here's yours, and yours again…And this one is for both of us."

"Wow," Steve smiled.

"Mom just wants to make sure you're well represented on the tree. Finally! One for me," grinned Em, gently shaking the little box. The wrapping paper was quickly shredded, and Em laughed, holding up an owl wearing glasses and a mortarboard with 'Dr. Emily Harthorn' panted on the top of it. "I love it! What'd you get?"

Steve opened the packages with more care than his girl had, chuckling at the impatient sighs she gave. When he could drag it out no longer, he opened the box and withdrew a plastic gingerbread man wearing a Santa hat. "I like it," he stated, looking from the ornament to Emily. She walked over to examine it and grinned, pointing to the date written on the back of one of the legs.

"You're officially part of the Harthorn tradition. You may now expect an ornament every year." Steve smiled before kissing the tip of her nose and placing his gingerbread man on the tree, where it was quickly joined by the owl. While he unwrapped his second ornament, Emily unwrapped their joint one. Steve grinned and shook his head, showing her the snowman in an Uncle Sam costume. "Oh geez!"

"That's nice," Steve said, rolling it in his palm. When she gasped, he looked up to see her holding up a ceramic teal heart dangling from a white ribbon. One side had a Christmas tree outline in white, and a half moon peeked out from the curve of the heart. On the back was written, 'Our First Christmas, Emily and Steve, 2012'.

"I love it," Emily declared. And, as if to prove it, she placed it right underneath the star, just above their new ornaments.

OOO

"Hi Dr. Harthorn!" another girl said, waving enthusiastically.

"Hello," Emily nodded, waving to the girl. Steve gave her a quick smile as well before glancing at Em as she threaded her arm through his, her red pea coat contrasting with the black one she'd made him buy ("Steve, I love you, but you need a new jacket. The leather one's not going to cut it."). "Is it bad that I have absolutely no idea what her name is?" Steve chuckled and shook his head. "What? I've got, like, 300 students! How am I supposed to remember all of them?"

"Whatever you say, dear," he smirked, patting his pocket for his bill clip as they weaved their way through the crowd.

"Don't give me that 'I've got a photographic memory and pity you mere mortals' tone." Laughing, Steve leaned over and kissed the top of her head, avoiding the black beret she wore. "Ooh, look at the tree!"

Steve looked up at the Rockefeller Center tree and grinned. It was a lot bigger, and definitely more elaborate, than the ones he'd seen as a kid, but that was pretty much how everything was these days. The tree was pretty, though. When Emily rested her head on his shoulder, he shifted to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "It's nice, but I think I like ours better." Em nudged him with her hip before standing on her toes to kiss him.

"Ever the charmer, Captain Rogers."

"I try, Dr. Harthorn." They stood there for another minute before wandering towards the ice skating rink. They debated joining, but decided that they would go when they went to Vermont, where they'd be spending Christmas at her brother's house.

"Merry Christmas, Steve."

"Merry Christmas, Emily."

Author's Note: Ok! So here is my new challenge, writing for the Twelve Days of Christmas! A major thanks to pizzagirl for help with the song choice and bouncing ideas off of. Look at her fic, The Twelve Days of Steve's Secret Santa. It's really good =]

While a few chapters focus on Em and Steve, the other Avengers will have their own days as well =] And, as you can tell, this has a bit of a change for Emily. In this arc, she's no longer working for SHIELD and is lecturing at a university. That being said, this story has NO impact on Change is Everything.

Hope you enjoy this =] As always, thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!