The May-Coulson Family

The May-Coulson's Christmas It Up

"I can't believe it's nearly Christmas again," said Phil, as he handed a box filled with Christmas decorations to Melinda, as they stood in the roof of their barn. "It can't have been a year already."

"It's been an eventful year, yes," said Melinda, with a small sigh as she took the box and loaded it onto the pulley platform. "Hopefully December will be a good end to it."

"And let's also hope two thousand nine won't be as eventful," said Phil, looking at his wife as he took another box. "Though in our line of work… There's no telling what the year will bring."

"I've already told Fury that I want to go on extended leave for a bit," said Melinda, looking at her husband. He stopped what he was doing for a moment, slightly shocked, as she continued "I don't think I can go back out in the field yet… And Laura mentioned she needs some help here. Especially with Lila being so young."

Phil nodded as he handed the next box to Melinda and they fell into a comfortable silence as they loaded the rest of the Christmas decorations onto the pulley platform.

Clint smiled as he and Natasha grabbed the tree from the back of the van. He could see his wife on the porch of the farmhouse, with baby Lila in her arms. "That tree looks amazing, sweetie," said Laura, as she watched the two agents carry the tree up onto the porch. "Can't wait till everybody's back so we can start decorating."

"Skye's not back yet?" asked Natasha, looking at Laura with a slight frown.

"Bobbi, actually," said Laura, with a small smile. "Her flight got canceled so she's taking the next one, she'll probably get here after Coop goes to bed…"

"I bet Skye wasn't happy when you told her that," said Clint, with a chuckle. "She loves helping mom and dad decorate the house. Well, we all do, but Skye love loves it."

"Where are mom and dad anyway?" asked Natasha, looking at Laura. "Are they getting the decorations from the barn?"

"We were, yes," came Melinda's voice, from behind them. Clint and Natasha turned to see Melinda and Phil walking up with a box each in hand. "There are more boxes in the barn if you want to help move them."

"Let us get this tree in the front room and we will definitely help," said Clint, smiling as he motioned to the tree. Before turning to Laura. "Is the base…"

"Set up in the usual corner," said Laura, nodding before she shook her head. "This isn't our first rodeo, Clint. We've only been doing this since we married ten years ago."

Clint laughed before saying "Of course, just checking." He smiled before turning to Natasha. "Come on, Nat, we should get this inside so we can help mom and dad with those boxes." Natasha nodded and the two carried the tree into the house.

Later that night, Laura walked into the front room to find Clint, Natasha, Phil and Melinda sat on the couches, while Skye sat on the floor, her laptop in front of her. All of them were in their pajamas, and the TV was on. As soon as Laura saw what was playing, she shook her head. "Seriously? We're watching this?"

"It's a good show," said Clint, shrugging. "And they have an archer."

"Of course you like the archer," said Laura, shaking her head as she sat down next to him. "You do realize that he's the reason our town's so popular, right?"

"That's one of the reasons this place was so cheap," said Phil, with a smile. "Nobody wanted to be compared to the Kents."

"And it was for that reason Phil couldn't resist," said Melinda, shaking her head, with an amused smile. "It's like him and his obsession with Captain America. I swear Phil likes that guy more than he does me."

"I am still here you know," said Phil, shaking his head, also amused. "And I do not like him more than you." He looked at Melinda. "It's about equal." He smirked as Melinda playfully hit him on the shoulder, causing the room to burst into laughter.

"I guess I got back at the right time then," came Bobbi's voice, from the doorway. Everybody turned to see her dropping her backpack, with the SHIELD logo on it, on the floor. She smiled at them and said "So, are we ready to decorate?"

"Why don't you settle in first, we can decorate in a bit," said Phil, with a smile, as he stood up. "Are you hungry? There's some lasagna left I can warm up."

"I'd love that, dad," said Bobbi, smiling as she picked up her backpack. "The lasagna at the academy is nice, but nothing beats yours."

"Ooo, can I have some too?" asked Skye, looking at her dad with puppy dog eyes as she put her laptop on the coffee table. "Please, daddy."

Phil just smiled before saying "Only if there's enough left, Skye," as he walked out of the room. Skye immediately followed.

Twenty minutes later, the TV was now showing a Christmas movie while Skye and Melinda were the only ones in the room, looking through the boxes that were on the coffee table.

Skye took a deep breath as she gently took a bauble that looked like a cloud, with the words 'Skye – 2004' written on it, out of the box. Memories of the day she had gotten it, her first Christmas with her family, flooded back. Her first real Christmas, and the first time she had ever felt like she was part of a family. Before she could get completely wrapped up in memories, Skye gently placed the bauble on the side, out of harms way, bringing her back to the real world. She also knew they did baubles last, after the tinsel and lights.

"Are you alright, Skye?" asked Melinda, looking at Skye. Before noticing the baubles Skye was gently placing down on the side. "Ah, I gave you the wrong box… That's the bauble box, sorry. We put the…"

"Lights on first, I know," said Skye, with a smile as she turned to look at her mother. "This isn't my first time, mum."

Melinda nodded as she walked over to the other box in the room, opening it and smiling. "Here we go, lights. Hopefully they're not tangled…"

"Wasn't dad the one who put them away?" asked Skye, looking at Melinda. "Because he's tidy."

"Your dad and I got called away last year, I believe," said Melinda, as she grabbed the box. "I think it was Clint… Which means they're probably tangled." She sighed before walking over to Skye with the box and placed it on the coffee table, after Skye had taken the bauble box and put it on the floor. "I guess we're going to be untangling these for a while."

Skye sighed as well, before she reached into the box and pulled out a tangled mess of lights. "We're gonna be here all night…" she said, frowning as she sat down on the floor and began untangling the lights she had in her hand. "Why is we're always the ones stuck doing this? I remember it was us last year as well. And the year before that."

"Because you and I love decorating the tree," said Melinda, with a smile as she grabbed her own branch of lights and sat down next to Skye. "Remember your first year with us? You were so shy."

"I was scared this was all a dream," said Skye, taking a deep breath. "They didn't really celebrate Christmas with a lot of decorations… It was all kinda religious. This was completely different to what I knew at the time." Her fingers practically moved on their own as she looked up at the ceiling, memories coming flooding back to her. "You made me feel like I was really part of this family, and that Christmas could be fun." She smiled. "I still use the laptop you and dad gave me, you know."

"I'm pretty sure at this point you can't say that we bought you that laptop," said Melinda, laughing as she looked at her daughter. "You've replaced every single part at this point."

"It's still the same casing," said Skye, with a pout. "I may have Frankensteined the parts inside it, but it's still the same casing." She grinned as she managed to undo one knot, before sighing as she saw all the other knots. "This is gonna take forever… Can't we get the others to come help?"

Melinda just smiled before grabbing the TV remote from the arm of the couch. "You know, we have some of your favorite show recorded, we could watch that while we do this?"

Skye gave a half-hearted nod as she returned her attention to the knot in her hands.

It took them almost an hour and a half, but they managed to untangle all the lights and get them placed them on the tree, along with the tinsel. Skye smiled as she stepped back slightly, taking in their hard work, just as Natasha and Bobbi walked in. "Wait, you haven't finished the tree yet?" asked Bobbi, looking at both of them, smirking. "I thought you would have been done by now."

"We had to untangle the lights," said Skye, bitterly. "Whoever put them away got them tangled."

"Really?" asked Natasha, frowning. "I swear I put them in tidy…"

"It's like with ear buds," said Bobbi, with a smile as she sat down on the couch. "Whenever we're not looking at them, they tangle."

The three sisters laughed as Melinda looked at them, amusement in her eyes. "Since you're here, Bob, Nat, I presume you've finished the other rooms? Because you can help us do the baubles." She smiled as Natasha and Bobbi paled slightly, while Skye was trying to subtly shake her head. "Thought so. While you're here though, why don't you put your baubles on the tree. They're on the side, Skye put them out safe earlier."

Skye tried to hide her frown as Natasha and Bobbie walked up to the side and gently took a bauble each. Natasha had a 2D spider with her name and a year engraved on it, while Bobbi had a mockingbird, also with her name and a year engraved on it. They placed them on the tree before saying their goodbyes and walking out of the room to find Laura.

"Your turn, Skye," said Melinda, smiling as she looked at her youngest adopted child. She watched as Skye gently took the cloud bauble from the side. "You know, we can get you a new one if you want, we usually replace them at the five year mark."

"I like this one," said Skye, clutching the bauble closer to her, careful not to break it, as if somebody was going to take it away. "Don't need a new one."

"OK," said Melinda, looking at Skye with a reassuring smile. "We don't need to get you a new one."

Skye smiled back, before walking towards the tree and placing it on there. She turned to Melinda and said "Should we get the others in now? Before we put the other baubles on?"

Her mom just smiled and walked over to the side, gently taking the ice skate bauble with Melinda's name and a year engraved on the boot, which she placed on the tree before saying "Why don't we leave spaces for their baubles and just get this finished?"

Skye chuckled before reaching into the box and taking baubles out.

"This looks amazing," said Phil, as he walked into the front room with Clint, twenty minutes later. The tree was finished, with a few blank spots left for the remaining family baubles (Which were now resting on the coffee table), and Melinda and Skye were sat on the couch, watching TV.

"Thanks, dad," said Skye, blushing slightly as she looked at Phil. "I… I'm glad you like it."

"Are our baubles going in those blank spots?" asked Clint, looking at Melinda as he took the quiver bauble, with his name and a year engraved on it, from where it lay. When Melinda nodded, he placed it in one of the spots near the bottom of the tree.

"You couldn't wait, could you?" asked Phil, as he gently took his Captain America shield bauble from the table and walked over to the tree, placing it in the empty spot next to Melinda's ice skate. He walked back over to Melinda and kissed her on the cheek. "The tree is amazing though, Cooper's gonna love it."

"How's the outside looking?" asked Melinda, as Phil joined her on the couch. "As good as last year?"

"We're definitely in the running for best decorated house in Smallville," said Phil, grinning. "They're definitely better than last year."

"I still don't understand why we couldn't have that Santa archer inflatable," said Clint, looking at Phil and Melinda, pouting slightly. "Coop would have loved it."

"I'm sure he would, but I'd rather not have something like that on our roof," said Melinda, looking at him. "And I know for a fact that your wife feels the same way."

Clint rolled his eyes before saying "You're on my side, right, dad? Skye?"

Instead of answering, Skye yawned and stood up. "I'm going to bed. This took forever."

"Coward," said Clint, smirking as he watched his sister walk out of the front room. Before turning to Phil. "So dad…"

The next morning, Cooper sped around the house, a grin on his face as he took in all the decorations around the house. Phil, Melinda and Clint were watching him with smiles on their faces from the couches in the front room. "We should probably stop him before he actually breaks something," said Clint, looking at his parents.

"We got rid of all the breakable ones Natasha's first Christmas," said Phil, with a small smile. "She was very violent that year…"

"Really?" asked Clint, frowning slightly. "They look so real…"

"All plastic," said Melinda, smirking. "Perfectly child-safe." She smiled as she stood up and walked over to the box of baubles and gently pulling out a bow and quiver bauble with Cooper's name on. "Cooper! It's time to put your bauble on the tree."

Cooper immediately stopped in the front room, grinning. "Really, nainai?" he asked, looking at her. "My turn?" He walked over and gently took the bauble from her, before placing it in the blank spot next to Clint's and a hawk that had Laura's name engraved on it along with a year. "Is that alright, nainai?"

"That's fine, Coop," said Melinda, with a smile.

Cooper quickly hugged her before running off again, only to bump into Laura. He immediately looked up at her and said "Mama! I put my bauble on the tree!"

"That's great sweetie," said Laura, with a smile. "Why don't you go into the kitchen, Aunt Natasha's made breakfast."

Cooper grinned and ran out of the front room, with Clint following, as Laura said "Nat sent me in to get you. Before breakfast gets cold." She smiled, before motioning behind Phil and Melinda. "We also have a guest."

The two turned to see Nick Fury standing there, holding a cup of coffee. "I heard yesterday was decorating day," he said, looking at them with a frown. "And you didn't invite me?"

"Last I heard you were stuck in boring meetings till three am," said Phil, with a small smile. "You can still put your bauble on the tree." He walked over to the box of baubles and pulled out an eye-patch bauble with Nick's name, along with a year, on. He held it out for Nick and smiled.

Nick chuckled before placing his cup on the coffee table and taking the bauble from Phil. He hung it in the blank spot on the tree at the top, before stepping back to admire the whole thing. "May and Skye certainly know how to make a nice tree."

"Yeah," said Phil, smiling as he stood next to Nick. "You know, I think this is Skye's favorite part of Christmas. Since she gets to spend time one-on-one with Mel." He took a deep breath. "Melinda tells me she asked for some time off."

"After what happened in Behrain, I don't blame her," said Nick, taking a seat on the couch and grabbing his drink again. "Has she told you what exactly happened?"

"Just the gist," said Phil, sitting down next to him. "I'm hoping next year will be slightly calmer."

"Hopefully," said Nick, nodding. "But you know our line of work… Nothing is ever normal."

"Yeah," said Phil, sighing as he grabbed his own drink from the table. "Are you here for the day?"

"It's the Christmas Market isn't it?" was Nick's reply, with a smile. "Of course I'm here all day. Hill will call me if anything major comes up. Like world ending major."

Phil smiled and stood up. "In that case, I'm sure Natasha has made more than enough breakfast for all of us." Nick laughed before standing up as well, following Phil out of the front room.

I hope you enjoyed that. If you want more, please tell me because I can continue these one-shots right up to Avengers, and beyond, if you want me to. :)

Also, just in case you were wondering (Because I was when I was writing it :P), Melinda is 45, Phil is 44, Clint and Laura are 30, Bobbi is 25, Natasha is 24 and Skye is 20. While Cooper is 5 and Lila is 6 months.