This will be a series of festive one shots that all take place in the Nine Months universe. You don't necessarily have to read it to follow these little stories but you can still check it out if you haven't already;)


It were only eleven days until Christmas and Steve still hadn't gotten Natasha's present. She had said that she didn't want anything, that celebrating Christmas with the entire team again for the first time after everything that had happened with the Accords and Siberia was more than enough, that James got to spend Christmas with his entire family for the first time was more than she could have hoped for but he still had to get her something. Well, not just something.

It still bothered him that he had never given Natasha an engagement ring. He didn't mind that she had been the one who proposed ( not counting him proposing after she had told him that she was pregnant and her saying no to him) but he still thought that he should have given her a diamond ring. Not that he could have afforded one when they had been hiding in Wakanda and then New Zealand. He hadn't had any hidden bank accounts and his official ones had been frozen by the CIA and he had pretty much lived off Natasha's money. She had been the one who bought the house in New Zealand but he had insisted to be the one to pay for their wedding rings. He'd only had enough money for a simple white gold band with tiny diamonds and he knew that she didn't care about these things but he still wanted her to have an engagement ring. Because she deserved it. She was the love of his life, the mother of his son and he finally could buy her presents with his own money after they were back in the public's good graces. The Accords were forgotten and his bank accounts unfrozen. A lot of the money had gone into the brownstone house in Brooklyn that they'd bought together but he had still more than enough to buy his wife a pretty diamond ring.

But he still hadn't found the perfect one and he was running out of time. He'd planned to "propose" to Nat on Christmas Eve after James went to bed but it looked like he had to postpone this proposal. Every ring so far hadn't been perfect. He couldn't just get one of those Tiffany rings that thousands of women had on their fingers. No, his Natasha deserved something special, something unique. Something extraordinary. Something that was just like her.

He'd asked Buck who almost had a heart attack after he'd realized how expensive diamond rings were.

He'd asked Sam who as it turned out had zero taste in jewelry.

He didn't want to ask Tony since they weren't simply there yet. Things were better between them now, mostly because of James since Tony desperately wanted to win the title of favorite uncle (which was Bucky), but he couldn't see them doing normal stuff like looking for diamond rings yet. Which was a shame because Pepper's ring was beautiful.

He'd called Clint who only said he couldn't imagine Natasha with a flashy engagement ring and then asked about the food of the Christmas party at the Tower. Everyone would be there for Christmas and he wanted Nat to have her ring by then, goddamnit!

He checked the watch on his laptop and realized with a shock that he had to pick up James from kindergarten. Had he really spent the entire morning looking at engagement rings on Pinterest? He quickly deleted his search history and left the house to pick up his son. Natasha was currently with Maria and Fury in Europe. He enjoyed having James to himself because he was most definitely a mama's boy (not that he could blame James, Natasha was an incredible mother) but he really missed his wife. And James missed his mommy. He refused to go to sleep until he'd heard his mother's voice. He just hoped that Fury would be satisfied soon and Nat could come home. The bed did really feel cold and empty without her and it broke his heart every morning when James crawled into their bed and realized that his mother wasn't there to pull him into her arms.

James was running towards him when he walked into the entrance hall of the kindergarten and showed him proudly the Santa Clause he'd drawn today. He was only three but he really had talent. It made him incredibly proud that his son was interested in art and good at it. He remembered how he and James had drawn animals on the walls of his new room a few months ago after they'd moved back to New York. Natasha'd filmed the whole thing and James had gotten chocolate chip cookies as a reward and Steve had gotten his reward later when their son had been sound asleep in his bed.

"Is mommy coming home today?" James asked with wide eyes when Steve helped him into his jacket.

"No, not yet. I'm sorry, buddy." Natasha had been gone for almost a week tying up loose ends of something SHIELD related. "But I'm sure she'll be home soon. She misses you as much as you miss her."

James nodded and asked him if they could visit the Christmas market on their way back. He said yes and wondered if he just got guilt-tripped by his three year old. He got hot chocolate for both of them and they took a stroll around the market with James gasping at pretty much everything. He definitely got his love for Christmas from his mother, not that Natasha would ever admit out loud that she loved Christmas. She was the one who decorated the house, baked tons of cookies and had made a gingerbread house with James before she'd left for Europe. And she'd loved Christmas even before James. He'd only realized after they had found out about Clint's family that she had sacrificed her Christmases with them so he wouldn't be alone. She had spent every Christmas with him during their partnership at SHIELD. She'd dragged a tree to his apartment and baked him cookies. She'd even held up a mistletoe and kissed him on the cheek. And she'd gone to Mass with him even though she wasn't catholic.

It was getting colder and time for them to go home. He didn't need Natasha to get mad at him because James got a cold. He was holding his son's hand and they were walking through their neighborhood back to their house when James tugged on his hand.

"Look, daddy! A rocking horse!" James was pressing his nose flat against the window of the antique store with said rocking horse. It was beautiful but they'd already gotten James' Christmas presents and Steve didn't even want to think about all the stuff the others were going to give him. Apparently Fury (out of all people!) had wanted to get James a Shetland pony but Natasha'd managed to talk him out of it.

But the rocking horse wasn't really what caught Steve's eye. No, it was the emerald ring in the showcase behind the toy. He was pretty sure that it was an emerald and it had such an unique green color that reminded him of Natasha's eyes. The stone was rectangular and had the perfect size. It was noticeable but not too big. The emerald was accompanied by two small diamonds and set in a white gold band. This was the ring. He just knew it. He had to get it for Natasha. Didn't matter what it would cost. And if he had to sell his kidney, he would get that ring for his wife.

He walked to the store's door. "Are we getting the horse?" James asked excitedly.

"No." James' face fell. "But I'm getting a very special gift for mommy!"

James beamed. "Can I pick it out? Mommy loves everything I give her."

He ruffled his son's hair. "Yes, she does. But I already know what I'm getting. And you can't tell her when she comes home, okay?"

"But I tell mommy everything!"

"It's surprise, James. You love surprises, don't you? And I promise you that mommy will love this one."

James seemed to think about it, his brows cutely furrowed and then he nodded. "Okay."

"Thank you." He walked with James into the store where an elderly woman was standing behind the counter.

"Hello and welcome."

James waved shyly and Steve greeted the woman. "I'm interested in the emerald ring in the window."

"Ah, yes. We just got that beauty this morning. A very interesting stone, isn't it? Would you like to see it up close?"

He nodded and the woman got the ring out of the showcase. It was even Natasha's ring size! He handed the woman his credit card and waited patiently for her to give her the velvet box with Natasha's ring in it.


It was Christmas Eve and Steve watched Natasha sing James to sleep. He'd told them that he wanted to stay awake to wait for Santa but he'd had problems to keep his little eyes open during the Christmas move they'd watched earlier and his mother's lullabies always lured him to sleep. Natasha kissed James' forehead and turned the lights off so only the Christmas lights were giving James' room a soft glow.

"Hey." She smiled brightly at Steve and ushered him out of the room before closing the door carefully behind her. "I'd really feared at first that he would stay up the entire night to wait for Santa." She poked her finger into his stomach. "I wonder how you would look in a Santa costume. Probably pretty hot."

"I don't think Santa is supposed to look hot."

"No?" She feigned innocence while her finger traveled up to circled his nipple through his shirt. "I think we'll have a Santa hat somewhere. Why don't you find it and put on a show for your wife?"

He rolled his eyes at her and kissed her briefly. "I actually have something even better for you." He still couldn't believe that James had kept their little shopping trip at the antique store a secret. Or he'd spilled the beans and Natasha was only pretending for his sake. He really hoped that wasn't the case because he wanted to surprise her. "Go back downstairs and wait for me, please?"

"Okay?" She seemed a bit confused but walked towards the stairs. He quickly went to his office and got the velvet box out of its hidden place. Natasha was sitting on the couch when he came downstairs and only the Christmas tree and the fireplace were lighting up the room. She held her hand out to him and he let her pull him over her.

"I'm glad we got this quiet night before all the shenanigans tomorrow. I hope Pepper could stop Tony before he went a little too crazy." Her hand cupped his cheek and she kissed him softly. "Merry Christmas, Steve."

"It's not Christmas yet, sweetheart." He quipped and gave her deep kiss.

"It is in some parts of the world." She shot back and moved her hips a bit until they were pressing against his. "What is this?" She asked with raised eyebrows. Right. He'd gotten so lost in Natasha that he had forgotten about the box in his pocket.

"A little something for you." He sat up. "My present to you."

Her face fell. "Steve, we agreed that we wouldn't get each other anything. I really don't have a gift for you. Well, I bought new lingerie but that's not real-"

"Don't worry. This is something that I should have given you years ago." He moved his hand to his pocket and pulled the velvet box out. Natasha looked now even more confused. "I love you. I think I've always loved you. Even before I met you, even before you were born. If that makes any sense. Everything that'd happened to me has led me to you. I know that my heart was always meant for you. I've always loved you and I always will. You've given me a home. And you've given me a son. You gave me the honor of becoming your husband and I love you more each day."

Her eyes were glistening. "Steve-"

He opened the box. "So, this is a token of my love. I finally got you an engagement ring, doll. Even if it's three and a half years later." He smiled sheepishly. Natasha choked a laugh out and threw her arms around his neck.

"You're such a dork, Rogers." She whispered into his neck. "I love you, too. Now and forever."

"Do you like the ring?"

She moved her head from his neck to look at him and then the ring. "It's beautiful. It must have been pretty expensive."

"We'll just send James to a community college and not Harvard when he's 18."

She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "I really love it. Thank you."

He was more than relieved that she liked the ring. He wanted her to know how much he loved her and he wanted that ring to be a sign of his love. He gently took her left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger until it was sitting over her wedding band. They both looked at her hand and then Natasha grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him until they were both dizzy. "I love you. So much, Steve."

"I love you, too." He kissed her forehead. "Merry Christmas, Misses Rogers."

She laughed and started to unbutton his shirt. "It's not Christmas yet."

"It is in some parts of the world!" He grinned and helped her in getting him out of his shirt.