Over the years the Avenger's family grew. Each year seemed to bring someone else to gather around the Christmas tree. Three years ago had brought the original team together. Two years ago Sam Wilson joined in. One and a half years ago the Maximoff twins and Vision were tentatively accepted into the family. Loki and Bucky joined in the last year. Each year the family grew and that in of itself was a comfort especially around the holidays.
The snow had been falling for hours as the twelve Avengers gathered around the Christmas tree this year. The stockings which had been hung the night before were now full almost to the point of overflowing. The mountain of presents in front of the tree seemed never ending in its own way. Natasha took down the stockings this year. She passed them out one by one. Each one handed to its intended recipient with a genuine smile and a bit of teasing.
Bruce passed out his mugs of homemade hot chocolate with Pietro's help. Which in actual fact meant that Pietro was showing off how fast he could move without spilling a drop of cocoa. Though he did almost knock over the tree once or twice. The third time the tree wobbled and very nearly fell down. It only stayed standing because Thor jumped up from his chair and practically hugged it back into place. Of course that meant some of the tree was bent in odd places and quite a few ornaments lay broken. Pietro slowed down a bit after that. He handed the last mug to Tony without spilling a single drop from any of the mugs.
Loki and Bucky sat curled up together on a loveseat in front of a fire Loki conjured into existence. Steve was pretty sure the fire would be a fire hazard if it had been in the room under any other circumstances but just this once he didn't say anything. He figured out of all the hazards that could go off in this room the fire was the least dangerous. Instead Steve went to the mountain of gifts and picked out the presents he had gotten the two love birds. "Welcome to your first Christmas as part of the family."
Most of the gifts were given out by Wanda and Vision. Box after carefully wrapped box was handed out. Sam and Steve opened their gifts with the care of a safecracker, no shred of paper torn out of place. Steve created a small pile of meticulously folded wrapping paper beside him even though Tony kept insisting they had more than enough for next year. "I know, Tony, I know. It just feels wasteful." Bucky crumpled up paper from his and Loki's presents. One ball of paper was thrown at Steve with a "Punk." The other thrown at Tony with a "Stop picking on my punk." Loki leaned over to lay his head on Bucky's shoulder with a smile.
By the end of the unwrapping, the room was left in a state of organized chaos. Other than Steve's almost obsessive pile of folded paper and Sam's sort of pile of less crumpled paper the floor was covered in shredded bits of wrapping paper. Green, red, and blue paper with bits of Santas, snowmen, and reindeer practically created a second more festive floor for the Avengers to walk on.
Every so often Bruce would slip into the kitchen to refill a mug which had been drained of hot chocolate. Pietro offered to help again. Bruce politely but firmly refused. He wasn't going to let the poor tree take another beating. "The tree has suffered enough," he said as he made his way back into the kitchen to refill his own mug.
By the end of unwrapping the presents they all had heaping piles of gifts. One from Tony to Clint gave off a small explosion which didn't cause too much damage. Thankfully the tree made it out unscathed. Though out of everyone Tony was the most confused, "It's not supposed to explode without prompting!"
One of the presents Loki gave to Thor turned to snakes before he could even finish unwrapping it, "Just like old times, brother." Thor simply shrugged, "At least it's not a waste of wine this time." Loki smiled and pointed to two green and gold boxes, "Speaking of wine. Those two are for you." Inside one was the same vintage of wine he had apparently wasted all those years ago. The other was a dagger Loki had carved and infused with magic himself. Thor nearly crushed Loki in a hug.
Clint gave everyone an ugly Christmas sweater. It was a tradition he had been doing for the past two Christmases. Steve received one with an eagle, wings spread, candy cane in one claw and a decorated tree in the other. Natasha's had a gingerbread man running from an oven. Tony got some Star Wars monstrosity. Of course Loki's was a hideous shade of green with a reindeer that just looked slightly drunk. One by one everyone opened up box which held their sweater. One by one they put them on. Vision had a classic elf replica sweater. Sam's had a little bird sitting on top of a Christmas tree like he was the star. This year Bruce got the face of the Grinch. Wanda was a light up Christmas tree and Pietro was a snowstorm with little twinkling lights. Thor proudly wore his sweater with Santa dabbing. He just didn't understand why half of his friends couldn't look at him without laughing for the rest of the day. Bucky also got a reindeer, though his was a plush with the head on the front and the rest of the body coming out of the back end of the sweater.
All the piles of presents had several weapons. A new bow and a couple dozen arrows for clint. A few specially designed guns. A tool set for Tony which Pepper had assured Vision he would enjoy and use. Pietro got several pairs of sneakers. Wanda was already flexing her fingers to make her new fingerless gloves fit like a second skin. There were paint sets, books, tea sets, a few pushes which seemed only vaguely out of place amongst the other things.
When they came to the conscientious that they were all finally hungry they cooked family dinner together. Though it was more of an elaborate family lunch. Natasha was in charge of the egg nog and the glazed ham. Bucky made a pull apart Christmas tree. The vegetables were thought of by Bruce who realized if he didn't make them no one else probably would. Sam made caramel-gingerbread cookie bars which everyone agreed were to die for. Loki spent more time than absolutely necessary making several types of mini tarts. Bucky helped him when he could and when Loki would allow which surprisingly wasn't often. They all added something and even Thor was completely full by the end of the meal.
Over the years the Avengers family grew. Each Christmas proved how they had grown and how much they truly cared. It was agreed, Christmas was one of the best days to be in the tower. It was one of the best days to be a part of this family.