Christmas Morning 2014
The sun was shining brightly over Manhattan on Christmas morning, a stark difference from the blizzard conditions the Avengers had gone to sleep to the night prior. Natasha and Clint had snuck out before the sun, leaving the rest of the Avengers sleeping soundly. That is, until one excitable toddler woke on.
Having become well versed in the way of the elevator, Denver snuck down to the room she knew belonged to Dallas while her father was showering. She pounded on the door and leaned forward and backward as she waited for her aunt to open up and let her in. It took a few minutes, but Dallas finally pulled open the door to see Denver with her arms in the air. "Merry Chrimmas!"
"Merry Christmas!" She cried back weakly, rubbing her eye with the palm of her hand, "Where's Daddy?"
"He's naked. He told me to wait in the room, but I came to get you!"
"Well, okay then." Dallas hummed, leaning against the doorframe, "Here I am, what are you gonna do with me?"
Denver jumped up and down, excitement radiating out of her small body, "We gotta see what Santa left!"
"Yeah?" Dallas yawned as she looked to the left to see Sam pop open his door to see what the commotion was, "Were you good this year? You sure you're getting presents? Might get some coal."
"No! No! No coal!" Denver shrieked and looked over to Sam and smiled brightly as she threw her arms out again, "Merry Chrimmas!"
"Merry Christmas, Kiddo." Sam said as he knelt down, "Do you think Santa ate the milk and cookies we left him?"
"I hope so. Auntie Pepper baked them special." Denver said nervously, swinging her arms in front and behind herself as she twisted, "And Uncle Tony got me those carrots special for the reindeers."
Dallas blinked slowly, feeling the lull of sleep calling her back to bed, "Is it even morning? Maybe Santa hasn't come yet. We should give him more time."
"No, Daddy said Santa came, so we gotta check it." Denver said with her hands on her hips. She turned quickly and began smashing her hand against Bucky's door and yelling, "Uncle Bucky! Uncle Bucky it's Chrimmas!"
His door flew open and he gaped down at Denver, "It's Christmas? Are you sure?"
"I'm postive! We gotta see if Santa came!" She yelled back as the elevator door opened to reveal Steve already showered and dressed. "Daddy, tell them it's Chrimmas!"
"Guys. It's Christmas." Steve said with mock seriousness, placing his hands on his hips, "We gotta get ready."
Dallas groaned loudly, "But Captain, I'm tired."
"That was an order, not a request." Steve said with a wink as Denver pulled on his grey slacks, "Yes, Miss?"
"I wanna go see what Santa brought me." Denver whined, pulling enough to shift the waistline of Steve's pants. "Daddy, please!"
Dallas looked over to Bucky and Sam, rolling her eyes, "Ya'll will take longer to get ready than me." She closed the door to change, knowing Steve was going to wait for them to go see what Santa brought her niece.
"She's not wrong." Sam said. He retreated into his room to get ready while Bucky just smiled down at Denver.
"Five minutes Denny, then we'll be ready."
She crossed her arms and stared up at Bucky, and he just raised his brows expectantly, waiting for her to give in, "Okay. But hurry."
Five minutes and thirty-eight seconds later, Bucky, Sam, and Dallas were ready to join Steve and Denver to see what Santa had left. When the doors opened up to the main floor, Denver gasped and sprinted toward the Christmas tree. Candy canes hung from the branches that hadn't the night prior, and the little table to the right of the tree was missing all but half of one cookie and a bite of carrot. Even the milk was gone with new smear marks on the side, showing Denver that Santa had been there recently.
"He came! Santa came!" She squealed as she ran around before seeing all the new toys under the tree. A breathless gasp left her as she threw herself onto her knees, grabbing onto the stuffed Husky she'd found at the toy store earlier in the week, "Daddy! He remembered!"
"That's so crazy, Denny!" Steve answered, looking over at Sam and Dallas proudly, "What else did he bring?"
She grabbed a hold of several stuffed dogs, holding four of them in her arms as she looked around the tree to see what else had been left. There was a massive science kit with a bow on it that made her cheer happily, "Daddy! Look!"
"Wow, that's so… you might have to wait a few years for that one." Steve settled on as Tony clamped him on the back.
"Santa knew that she was a very advanced individual and that when she was ready, she should have all the tools she needs to look into different avenues for her brilliance. Chances are she won't want to join the army."
"You never know." Steve huffed, looking over to see Dallas beaming as Denver studied the box with all her stuffed puppies around, "Are you happy Denny? What did you get for Christmas?"
"Puppies!" She answered as she grabbed all her stuffed animals and tried to carry her little ones back over to her big Husky. Bucky settled on the ground with her, wearing his first short sleeved shirt in as long as he could remember. He held out his arms to help Denver, but she was determined to move her little brood all on her own.
Suddenly, a low woof was heard from under the tree. Denver dropped all her toys and looked around, then quickly picked them up one by one, holding them to her ear to figure out which one had made the noise. A higher pitched whine sounded, and Denver turned, realizing there was one more unopened box near the base of the tree.
Bucky watched her train of thought, then leaned over and scooted the round box towards Denver. She looked up at Steve, who in turn looked to Tony, who was glaring at the box. He slowly turned to Steve, seeing how dumbfounded the blonde looked, "You didn't."
"I really didn't." Steve said under his breath, looking to Dallas, but she held up her hands to show it wasn't her either.
"Daddy…" Denver whispered, leaning her cheek against the flat top of the round box, "Daddy, there's a puppy in here."
"You sure? It could just be a high-tech toy from Tony." Sam suggested, not wanting to get the girl's hopes up, but the fuming glare on Tony's face told him that this wasn't his doing.
Denver poked Bucky's ribs, then pointed at the box, requesting that he untie the ribbon. He did so without question, and she quickly ripped off the lid and stared in, speechless, "Puppy?"
The fluffy dog popped up out of the box and whimpered, sniffing Denver's face as she grabbed its fur with her hands. It had dark brown ears and sides, with a thick white strip going from the tip of its head to its stomach, where the white spread to cover the dog's little legs like socks. It looked around in fear, but it didn't mind Denver's investigation.
Tony clenched his fists, turning to Steve with nostrils flaring, "Who got her a dog?"
"I have no idea." Steve's voice broke, but his smile grew, "It's adorable though."
"No. No dogs in my tower." Tony growled, but Steve shot him a warning look. Tony placed his hands on his hips and looked up at Steve, "You're lucky I let you stay here."
"Look, she loves it! I'm not taking it away!"
"You're gonna take my puppy?" Denver asked in terror, grabbing the fluffy dog by the neck and squeezing. She looked at Steve, but he pointed at Tony, and her gaze shifted as her lip quivered, "Uncle Tony! She's my puppy!"
"Yeah, Uncle Tony, she's her puppy!" Sam teased as Tony let out a long breath, staring at the dog with conflicting emotions. Suddenly, Pepper swept into the room and cheered at the sight, "Oh, someone got her a puppy! It's adorable!"
Tony looked at Pepper, and she tilted her head and stared at him, some unspoken conversation occurring between the two of them until Tony sighed, "Fine. You can keep the puppy."
"Santa left him for me!" Denver exclaimed as she tried to climb onto the puppy. Bucky carefully pried her off and sat her in front of the puppy before petting it slowly to show Denver how to.
Dallas squatted down and scratched the dog's head, then turned the ribbon around the dog's neck to read the round card, "Denny- Merry Christmas! This little one is a Moscow Watchdog who needs a good home. Your Dad told me you might be up for the task. Santa."
Tony whipped around to turn on Steve, but he was still confused and overwhelmed, "It wasn't me."
"What do you wanna name him, Denny?" Bucky asked quietly as he stroked the dog's back. Dallas raised her brow curiously when Bucky called the dog a he after Denver had referred to it as a she, but she wasn't about to ask and have the super soldier respond with 'He has a penis'.
"Daddy!"
"Yes, Sweetie?" Steve asked as he looked over his shoulder, beaming down at his girl.
"I wanna name it Daddy! Just like you!" Denver said softly as she slowly patted the dog's head while the puppy looked around nervously. "Woof!"
Steve groaned as he sat down beside Denver, carefully lifting the dog out of the box to sit in his lap, "No. We aren't naming him Daddy. That's my name." Steve told Denver, but she looked back at Dallas and Bucky, as if they'd convince Steve to change his mind.
"I gotta side with your dad on this one, Kiddo." Bucky said as he lined up her stuffed dogs in a row, "Daddy isn't a good name for this particular dog."
"You can name him anything. What do you think a good name is?" Dallas encouraged, regretting her words immediately when Denver blurted out, "Cupcake!"
"Cupcake?" Steve and Tony asked in unison. Steve scratched the fluffy puppy until he rolled over onto his back with his little white feet in the air, "Why Cupcake?"
"Because cupcakes are the best!" Denver yelled before collapsing over the stocky puppy. Steve quickly picked her back up and sat her next to the dog, running his hand over him to calm him after being attacked by the small child. "Cupcake!"
"Really?" Steve sighed, already knowing the dog's name was going to be Cupcake. "Is that what you really want?"
"Yes. His name is Cupcake." Denver informed her father, grabbing Cupcake's ears and pulling them, "He's my puppy!"
"You gotta be nice to him though." Bucky warned, "He isn't like Daddy, he won't let you tug on him all the time. You have to be gentle."
"The tag said it's a Moscow Watchdog? This dog that's almost exclusively found in Russia?" Tony sneered down at Bucky after doing his research, and the super soldier shrugged. "He's going to weigh over one hundred pounds."
"Then he'll be durable, clearly that's what she needs." Bucky said innocently, refusing to own up to obtaining the puppy for Denver. "He's cute, right?"
"Adorable. If he shits in my tower, I'm not cleaning it up."
"Language!" Steve growled up at Tony, but his daughter wasn't the least bit interested. The only thing that existed was her new pet. "You like him?"
"I love him! He's my best friend!" Denver squealed and laid down next to Cupcake and hugged him from the side.
Steve looked to Bucky, who just shrugged with a knowing smirk. All Steve wanted for his daughter was to be happy and loved and now she had a best friend, somebody to grow with and spend time with. It wasn't an accident that Cupcake would grow to be a massive watchdog, something sturdy that could protect Denver. Steve couldn't think of a better gift, but he was thankful it didn't come from him. His head would have gotten in the way, and he would have worried that the dog was too big, too rough, too dangerous.
But the dog was clearly a lazy little fluff at the moment, and Steve was glad he was young. He'd make a great companion for his little girl, who had no access to any other children of any age.
"Thank you." Steve said quietly and Bucky nodded, looking over to Dallas to see the woman hiding her giggles in her palm as she watched Denver play with her dog. Steve scratched Cupcake under the chin and his little pink tongue fell from his mouth, causing Denver to giggle loudly against his fur. "How about we get some breakfast? I'm sure Cupcake is hungry."
"Can he eat cupcakes?"
"No, they'll make his tummy sick. He'll eat kibble." Steve corrected as he stood and held out his hand for Denver to take. Cupcake looked up at them worriedly and Steve clicked his tongue, "Cupcake!" The dog stared at him for a moment until he clicked again, and finally the puppy got up and followed after them to the kitchen.
Several hours later, Steve was getting Denver dressed in her red Christmas dress with the big bow on the back. He carefully brushed her hair up into a ponytail on top of her head before letting her pick out her own little shoes to wear. Cupcake whimpered as he followed them around, clearly unsure of where he was and what his role in his new life would be, but Denver responded to every cry with shushes and hugs.
"Captain Rogers, Miss Wells would like to see you."
"Let her up." Steve told JARVIS as he helped Denver into the blue flats she picked out. He was buckling her in when the doors opened, and Dallas stepped into his apartment. "Hey." Steve greeted over his shoulder as he struggled with the small shoe clips, "How are you?"
"I'm good." She said softly, pausing to watch the situation in front of her, "You need some help there?"
Steve sighed and leaned back on his palm to gesture to the shoes, "Please? It's always such a production with the clip shoes. My fingers aren't small enough to get the clip through the hole."
Dallas sat down her bag and knelt to quickly buckle Denver's shoes so the little girl could get up and run back to Cupcake to cuddle some more, "I see he's settling."
"I'm sure he's terrified." Steve looked over his shoulder at Dallas, "He'll be okay though. He's loved." He studied Dallas for a moment, noting how crisp her makeup was.
Her eyes were lined with smoky grey, and her lips were Christmas red, the color that made a man weak in the knees with the desire to kiss them. Her hair had grown to just above her jaw, giving her round face a more defined look. Part of Steve was tempted to reach out and cradle her face, just once, but he was walking on thin ice. Just because he knew he had her affections didn't mean he should act on it.
She seemed to shake herself back to reality and smile brightly as she picked up her bag, "So, I got something for you and Denny. I didn't want to give it last night or this morning because it's kind of personal. But I thought you should have it." She handed Steve a worn scrapbook and he took it and sat on the bed to flip it open. The yellowed pages were filled with baby pictures, which turned into toddler and child pictures, eventually the blonde girl duplicated and there were two of them several years apart.
Steve ran his fingers over a picture of young Brooklyn at Disneyland, sitting in a teacup with her arms around Dallas as she smiled so wide her eyes were barely open. About halfway through though, the photos stopped.
Dallas flipped past two empty pages, and the pictures started up again, but this time they were fresher and newer, and the two little girls were now adults, with Brooklyn cradling a baby of her own.
"Our Mom made this for us. That's why the photos stop when Bee was ten. After they died, Aunt Jenna felt uncomfortable adding on to the memories they weren't gonna see." She flipped the page and Steve saw Brooklyn nuzzling Denver lovingly, "I had Aunt Jenna send me the book, and I filled it with pictures we took last year. I thought you and Denny might want to have it, so she doesn't forget her mom."
Steve looked up to see Dallas had tears in her eyes. She tried really hard not to cry, but her smile was crooked despite her best efforts and she finally swallowed in a vain attempt to look brave, "There's more blank pages at the end. I think you should fill them."
He cleared his throat as he flipped slowly through the pages, seeing his daughter's first months for the first time, "Thank you. This means a lot." He croaked as he looked over to Denver with Cupcake, "We should get down to the party."
"I'll never get used to being invited to Tony Stark's parties." Dallas laughed airily and then sniffled, "We should be worried though, he's set up a dance floor."
"Oh yeah?" Steve asked, "Well, then I hope you'll save at least one dance for me."
"I intend on getting at least one dance with everyone. It's just a shame Nat isn't here." Dallas snapped across her chest teasingly. Suddenly, her phone began to buzz and she pulled it, her face illuminating from the light as she smiled coyly.
Steve watched her expression change, and noted how she bit her lip through her grin as she typed back, "Anyone I know?"
Her eyes snapped up, the spell broken, "Hmm? Oh, no, it's just my neighbor Adam. We've been talking the past couple of days. He's nice."
"Oh?" Steve questioned, checking on Denver to find her rolling around on the floor with Cupcake as the puppy drooled on her legs. He turned back to Dallas, unalarmed, "You guys going out?"
"Not exactly. Not yet. Maybe. We got coffee once, but that's it. We've just been talking." She said as she slipped her phone into the pocket of her green swing dress. Of all the things she could wear, she had to choose that sweetheart neckline vintage dress the color of evergreen trees in spring. Steve's fantasies of twirling her around the dance floor faded away at the realization that she was pursuing somebody else.
His smile didn't quite meet his eyes, but Dallas didn't seem to notice as she squatted to scratch Cupcake's ears. Steve suddenly wanted to skip the Christmas party in leu of staying home and watching movies with Denver and Cupcake all night, "Well, he better treat you well. He knows you're one of us, right?"
"He doesn't, actually." Dallas said slowly, "We've been talking, but not that long. I told him I watch my sister's daughter when her father is working. I haven't said much more beyond that. Don't wanna scare him away."
"Makes sense. I've been told we can be intimidating." Steve chuckled, closing the scrapbook, and setting it on his desk, "Either way, if he hurts you, he's got to go through me- us."
Dallas tucked one loose wave behind her ear as she stood and smoothed down the fabric of her dress, turning in her black heels, "If he's anything less than a gentleman, you'll be the first person I call… The Avengers, well," she paused and shrugged, "probably you specifically. But you can send anyone to kick his ass."
"I look forward to it." Steve said, then shook his head at her surprised expression, "I mean, that's not-"
"Does Cupcake get to come to the party?" Denver asked from the floor, now laying on her back with Cupcake draped across her.
Steve snorted, "Of course! Tony's gonna be so excited to show him off to all his rich and important friends!"
Dallas pulled her phone out again and sucked in a breath, then turned off the screen but held it in her hand, "I should let you two finish getting ready. I'll see you downstairs?"
"Yeah. See you then. Assuming my date lets me sneak away." He gestured to Denver as she army crawled away from her dog.
"At the rate I'm going, you'll find me texting in the corner." Dallas laughed as she entered the elevator. She turned around and waved before bringing her phone to life and typing feverishly as the doors closed to take her away.
December 24, 2013
Brooklyn leaned over her bed, struggling to get the little red and green Christmas onesie over her squirming eight-month-old. Denver cried as her mother tried to ease her into the clothing, but the baby flailed her arms, preferring to stay naked despite her mother's best attempts.
"Come on, Cutie. Let's get dressed and take some Christmas pictures." Brooklyn cooed as her long mahogany hair dangled over her daughter. Denver grabbed a handful of it and gave a painful tug, but Brooklyn used the distraction to pull up and secure the outfit before Denver could protest. "See? That isn't so bad." She lifted up Denver and held her against her chest, bopping up and down as her daughter wiggled, "You're a jiggly little monster tonight, aren't you? Do you know what today is? It's Christmas Eve, which means Santa is gonna come tonight!"
"You realize that child doesn't understand you, right?" Dallas mocked from the doorway, wearing a sleek black dress that was too fancy for Christmas Eve with her sister and niece. Brooklyn pulled her mouth into a tight line as she followed Dallas out into the kitchen for Christmas dinner.
Brooklyn secured Denver into her plastic highchair while Dallas laid out all the food. Once they were both seated and dishing up, Dallas said under her breath, "You know who deserves something nice for Christmas? Captain America. Wonder if he's getting anything for Christmas?"
"Dee, we've talked about his."
"And I think you should reconsider, because I think getting a picture of you two for Christmas would make his life." Dallas said as she picked up her phone and showed Brooklyn a photo of her holding Denver to her chest after getting on the onesie. "Tell him. Let him in, don't you think he'd want to be here?"
"He would, and that's what scares me." Brooklyn said sadly as she shoveled up a heap of mashed potatoes on her fork, "I'm scared of what being Captain America's daughter will mean for her. I want to make sure that Steve's ready to make sacrifices for her before he becomes a constant in her life."
Dallas chewed her turkey and looked at the ceiling as she listened to her sister talk. Once she finally swallowed it down, she turned to Brooklyn, "You don't know what he's willing to do until you talk to him."
"I know he won't give up the shield."
"And you'd ask him to?" Dallas asked seriously as Brooklyn watched her daughter, "It's not like he knocked you up and ran away, he didn't even know you were pregnant. He'd give you the world, and you know it."
"I don't want the world; I just want to know he's not gonna die." Brooklyn whispered, clenching the golden locket around her neck, "Whenever I see him on the news, I'm scared he's going to be dead. I don't want to sit at home with Denver praying that he'll come home safely, I want him home with us so I know he will."
"That's not fair. He has a higher purpose than that, that's selfish."
"Aren't I allowed to be selfish?" Brooklyn cracked, holding her head in her hand, "I didn't ask for any of this, but it was dealt out to me. I'm happy…" She looked at Denver, stroking her chubby cheeks, "but this wasn't our plan. We hadn't even talked about kids, I don't know what he'll do."
Dallas shook her head, rolling her eyes and looking down at her food to pick at it some more, "You're so dramatic. You know exactly what he'll do. He'll do whatever you ask of him. That's just who he is. The only thing he asks of you is your love and honesty, and you're only willing to give him half of that."
"Someday he'll understand." Brooklyn whispered, "Just not today. Today we're right where we need to be, and so is he." Brooklyn leaned over in her chair and pressed a kiss to Denver's cheek, unaware that Dallas was snapping more photos to store away for later.