A/N: I'm sorry this is so late...hopefully I can make it up to you with an extra-long chapter of adorableness.

So, I do have a plan as to where I'm going to take this, but it involves skipping to an older age in a few chapters so that I can develop their relationships as teenagers before they find a solution, and I don't know how you guys feel about that. Let me know your thoughts...and I can post a preview of sorts in the author's note if you want. I would love to follow the storyline I came up with, but if you guys just want more little Avenger stuff, I can do that too. So...review? We're so close to a hundred reviews and I love to hear your input.

Alright, that's it. Enjoy!

-DP

PS- if we can get to a hundred reviews I'll make sure the next chapter is up by the end of the week, so review away!

Chapter 13: A Merry Christmas

Steve Rogers (Captain America)

Steve stared at the pile of presents under the Christmas tree and, after looking over his shoulder to see if Pepper was watching, he began looking at the tags to see if there were any for him. He wasn't going to open them…he just wanted to see.

"Steven Rogers!"

Steve jumped and spun around, tripped over a present, and landed on the floor. "Tony!" he yelped.

"Relax, I won't tell Pepper. Probably," Tony said, grinning. "Is there anything for me?" Steve just glared up at Tony with his arms crossed, waiting, and finally Tony gave in. "Okay, I'm sorry, little guy. Now tell me, is there anything for me?"

Steve shrugged. He still mixed up "Tony" and "Thor" a lot, so he wasn't sure. "I found one for Tasha," he offered. "Natasha" was easily to recognize.

"I don't care about Natasha's presents," Tony complained. "Unless they're better than mine. Then I care." He started digging.

"Tony Stark!" Natasha said loudly. "Looking at presents before Christmas? You should be ashamed!" She and Loki stood in the doorway, her crossing her arms and him staring with wide eyes, and she sounded so much like Pepper that Steve actually felt a little scared.

Tony looked over at Natasha nervously. "Well, Tasha, I wasn't really looking, just doing a routine check…"

"You mean you've done this before?"

Tony looked away guiltily. "Um." He looked at Steve for help, but Steve just shrugged. "It's my house!" he burst out, and Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. "It has my name on it," he mumbled.

"Actually, I think it's my house," Pepper said loudly, walking in with a tray. Steve saw cookies, a cup of milk, and carrots, and felt his stomach grumble. "Someone go find Bruce, Thor, and Clint," she said, and Steve and Tony raced each other to the door.

Steve lost. Tony stuck out his tongue.

Steve walked down to Clint's room and knocked on the door. "Clint? Pepper wants to see you." He waited.

The door opened and Clint peered out, frowning. "What do you want, Steve?"

"Pepper wants you. I think we're putting stuff out for Santa," Steve said hopefully. "Will you come out? Please, Clint? Please?"

Clint sighed. "Fine. Okay. I'm coming."

"Yay, yay, yay!" Steve said happily. "C'mon!" He pulled Clint down the hall to where everyone else stood near the Christmas tree. "I found Clint," he announced. Pepper smiled a little.

"That's great."

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Thor shouted, and Steve jumped.

"Calm down, big guy," Bruce told him, frowning. He, Thor, and Tony walked over, and Jane joined them a minute later with a camera.

Tony frowned. "What do you need a camera for?" Then, "Take my picture, Jane!" He stood on his tiptoes and smiled weirdly, making Steve giggle. Tony was so weird sometimes, and Steve didn't understand why he was like that, but it was funny.

Natasha rolled her eyes "Who would want to take pictures of you?"

Tony frowned. "Everyone loves me. Who wouldn't want a picture of Tony Stark? Seriously."

"Pepper, I hope you got Tony a mirror for Christmas," Natasha said seriously. "I don't know how he's lived without being able to constantly admire himself."

Pepper looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Okay now. No fighting," she said, and Tony sighed. "We're going to set the treats out by the tree and Jane will take a picture of all of you. Then it's bedtime."

Steve groaned with everyone else. "But, Pepper, I don't like bedtime," Clint protested. "Shouldn't Steve go to bed before everyone else 'cause he's younger?"

"Hey!" Steve protested.

"Exactly," Tony said. "Natasha and Loki too."

Natasha glared at him, and Tony backed away. Then Thor spoke and everyone jumped.

"I LIKE THIS PLAN VERY MUCH, CLINTON."

Bruce snorted. "Of course you do. But bedtime isn't that bad, right? I mean…" He glanced at Pepper. "There'll be presents when we wake up in the morning."

"But I want presents now," Tony complained.

"Well, you can't always have what you want, can you?" Natasha snapped.

Steve frowned as he thought about that. "Yeah. What Tasha said. 'Cept…can I have a cookie?" He wasn't sure why Pepper and Jane started laughing.

…

Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow)

Natasha couldn't sleep.

She looked at the clock and saw that it said 12:10, which was bad, because it was too late for her to be up. But it was too hot with her blankets on and too cold with them off, and every time she closed her eyes she found that she wasn't tired anymore. So, finally she just lay there, wishing she could talk to Clint.

She slipped silently out of bed and tiptoed out of her room and down to Clint's. The door was unlocked, because that was Pepper's rule at night, so she walked in easily. She worried for a minute that he was asleep, but then he sat up.

"Clint?" she whispered.

"What is it, Nat?"

"I can't sleep," she admitted, climbing onto the end of his bed. "I don't know why."

The nightlight wasn't bright enough for her to really see his face, but she thought he seemed different then he had been lately. Not as grumpy. She hoped it would last – she missed her best friend.

"Why did you come here and not to Loki?" Clint asked suddenly, and Natasha winced.

She sighed. "Clint, Loki's my friend, but you're my best friend. He needs someone to be nice to him, and I thought you would understand, because you've always understood…everything," she admitted. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Clint was silent for a minute. "It felt like you were picking him," he said finally. Natasha crawled over to him and was surprised at how upset he looked. She hugged him.

"Can't I be friends with both of you?" she asked.

"I…don't know," Clint admitted. "I don't really like Loki. He scares me – remember the dreams? They haven't gone away." He was quiet. "But I can try. For you," he said finally, and she smiled.

Clint lay back down and Natasha curled up next to him, glad things were back to normal. "Merry Christmas, Clint," she whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Nat."

Just before she fell asleep, Natasha felt Clint's hand curl around hers, and she felt safe.

She woke up to excited shouting, then banging on the door.

"WAKE UP!"

"Wake up, wake up; it's Christmas!" Tony shouted. He flung the door open. "Clint, Tasha, come on!" He was bouncing up and down with Steve and they were both grinning like maniacs.

Natasha groaned and sat up. "Okay, okay. I'm awake, you guys."

"Get up! Please, Tasha? Please, Clint?" Steve begged. "Pepper's not letting us see the presents till everyone's up."

Natasha smiled a little at the look on Steve's face. "I'm up," she promised, rolling out of the bed. "Come on, Clint," she told him," and he got up reluctantly. "Where are Bruce and Loki?" she asked.

"We're getting them next!" Tony said impatiently. "Come on!"

"BRUCE! LOKI!" Thor yelled, as they all hurried out of the room.

Loki stumbled out of his room sleepily and took his place next to Natasha. It was strange to have him on one side and Clint on the other, but for once they weren't fighting, which was good. Bruce was harder to get up, but finally he joined them, and the seven kids hurried over to the living room, where Pepper and Jane stood in the doorway.

"Pictures," Jane said, smiling slightly. Natasha put one arm over Clint's shoulder and one over Loki's and they all smiled up at the camera.

"Thanks," she whispered to Clint, and kissed him on the cheek, making him go kind of pink. For some reason, even Loki seemed happier after that.

The presents had been sorted into piles, and Tony immediately ran over to his, still bouncing. He waited impatiently for everyone to find their piles, the whole time asking Pepper if he could start opening them yet and being denied. Finally, Pepper nodded, and they all started ripping the paper off of stuff.

While Tony and Thor excitedly yelled out what they had just opened ("A remote-controlled helicopter!" "A MAGNIFICENT CAPE!" "The new Nerf gun I wanted!" "WHAT IS THIS?"), Steve played happily with the first thing he'd opened (some new Lego toy), and the rest of them talked quietly as they opened things.

"That's a football," Clint told Thor, looking amused.

"WEIRD!"

Loki tapped Natasha's arm. "What's this?"

Natasha looked at the toy he'd just opened. "It's a bunch of foam cubes that you have to put together. You'll like it – it's a kind of puzzle." Loki nodded and Natasha smiled. Loki and Bruce especially loved puzzles and stuff that took a lot of time and thinking.

"Tasha, look," Clint said eagerly. He held up the new bow and arrows he'd gotten. They were bigger than the last the last set, which was good, because Clint had gotten too big for the last bow. Natasha showed Clint the movies she'd unwrapped, and he nodded in approval.

"Tasha, Clint, look!" Loki exclaimed. They both turn and found him staring adoringly at the stuffed penguin he'd just unwrapped and petting the fluffy fur. "It is adorable!" he proclaimed, sounding a bit like Thor for a moment. He hugged it and smiled. "It's a penguin, right? I saw it in a Midgardian book."

Natasha nodded. "Yeah."

Clint was smiling. "Are you going to name it?"

Loki looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose I will. Perhaps I will name it Odin, since the name has been on my mind," he said, with a glance at Thor.

"YOU ARE NAMING A PENGUIN AFTER THE ALL-FATHER?" Thor demanded, seeming shocked. When Loki smiled, he nodded gravely. "I APPROVE, BROTHER. ODIN IT MUST BE."

After opening presents, they played for a while and Pepper eventually put on one of the new movies (Brave, which Clint approved of because of the archery) and put a bunch of beach towels out in the living room so that they could eat sticky cinnamon rolls in front of the TV as a treat. Loki very careful put Odin on the sofa so that he wouldn't get sticky.

"THESE ARE AMAZING," Thor proclaimed. "Although I do not understand this movie," he added Loki in what was probably supposed to be a whisper.

Tony was frowning at the screen. Then he let out a sudden laugh that made them all jump and turn to stare at him.

"You know, I just realized," he began, with a glance at Natasha and Clint, "if Tasha and Clint had a kid it would be just like Merida. Seriously."

Natasha thought she saw Clint's hand twitch toward his new bow, but he seemed to decide that shooting Tony wasn't worth getting it sticky. "Don't even go there, Tony," he said instead. Tony just laughed.

"He's right," Loki said suddenly, a sly grin on his face. "It's perfect."

Tony grinned back. "High-five, Reindeer Games," he said, and the two high-fived and then bumped fists, which Natasha thought was probably the scariest thing she'd ever seen.

Bruce surprised them by commenting, "Well, the weird prince is just like Tony."

"Hey! I'm nothing like any of them!" Tony exclaimed. "I'm one of the scary little triplet boys!" Natasha burst out laughing at that and Tony scowled. "The other ones are Loki and Steve."

"I don't understand," Steve said, frowning. "I don't look like them. Neither does Loki or Tony."

"Don't try to understand Tony, Steve," Bruce told him. "It never turns out well." Steve nodded solemnly.

"HA!" Thor said suddenly. "THE FOOLISH GIRL HAS TURNED HER MOTHER INTO A BEAR! THAT WILL TEACH YOU NOT TO MESS WITH MAGIC, BROTHER!"

"That was one time!" Loki protested, and the others all glanced at each other worriedly, not wanting to ask who Loki had turned into a bear.