"Hey, welcome home," Laura said as Clint walked through the door. She immediately swept her gaze over him, clocking the haggard expression, tired posture, and the swirling relief in his eyes. Clint had told her he was fine on their phone call a few hours earlier, but she still felt a sense of relief seeing it with her own eyes. Yes, he was emotionally and physically drained, but he was in one piece and uninjured save for a few scrapes and cuts on his neck.

"Hey, babe," he greeted with a tired smile. Exhaustion was clear as day in his expression, but a spark still lit in his eyes when their gazes met.

Laura took the few steps required to reach him and brought her hands up to cup his face tenderly. She gazed deeply into his eyes for a few heartbeats before leaning in and kissing him, making up for the five weeks he'd been away. They broke apart after a moment, and his smile widened as he closed his eyes, then tipped his head down to rest his forehead against hers.

"I missed you," he said.

"I missed you, too," Laura agreed, feeling a familiar ripple of love and affection for him course through her. She spotted Natasha behind him and stepped out of his embrace. "Hey, Nat. C'mere," Laura greeted as she beckoned her for a hug.

Natasha hesitated briefly before dropping her bag and stepping into the outstretched arms. "Thanks for having me," she said, half-mumbling the words into Laura's shoulder.

"Of course. We're so happy to have you," Laura said with a warm smile as they broke apart. "I'm just sorry it took this guy so long to actually invite you," she added, sliding a pointed look to her husband.

Clint just shrugged. "I assumed the invitation was implied." Nat and Laura stared at him dumbfounded, and he held his hands up in defeat. "I know, I know. Dumb move on my part. I already apologized to Nat," he added.

"He did," Nat said with a small, amused smile when Laura looked at her for confirmation.

"Good. Now, are you guys hungry? Do you need some dinner?" Laura asked.

Clint nodded, but Natasha shook her head. "If it's okay, I'm going to head straight to bed," she said.

"No problem," Laura replied. She could tell Nat was exhausted and remembered all too well the post-mission energy crashes. "You know where the room is already and everything's set up, but if you need anything just ask. And if you change your mind on dinner, grab whatever you want from the kitchen. Nothing's off limits."

"I will. Thanks," Nat replied, then grabbed her bag and slipped past them to head to the guest room.

"Goodnight," Laura called as she reached the stairs.

"Goodnight," Nat echoed. "See you in the morning."

Laura kept her gaze on Nat momentarily, watching as she headed up the stairs. She knew Nat could take care of herself, but still, she couldn't stop a bit of worry from taking hold. It was in her nature to worry and fuss over the people she cared about, and Nat now fell squarely in that category — even if that fact might still take Natasha by surprise.

Clint tugged at her arm to get her attention, then wrapped her up in a hug once more. "She's okay," he whispered, clearly having clocked Laura's worry. "We're both just tired. This one was…a lot. She saved my ass big time."

"She seems to be doing that a lot lately, Hawkeye," Laura said quietly in a tone that was an equal mix of admonishment, warning, and fondness.

He sighed heavily, and Laura felt the silent reassurance in his tightened hold. "I'm being careful, I promise. Just been a run of shitty luck," he explained.

Laura nodded and hummed, understanding implicitly that in his job, bad luck often trumped any careful precautions. "So, what do you want for dinner?" she asked as she stepped out of his embrace. "I've got some leftover roasted chicken, carrots, and mashed potatoes. Or I can make you something else if—"

"That sounds great," he interrupted with a lopsided grin, and Laura was pretty sure he was hungry enough to eat cardboard if she offered it.

Music filled the room suddenly, and Natasha and Laura stopped mid-conversation to look at Clint, standing beside the speakers and intensely scrutinizing the back of a CD case. He reached out a hand and jabbed his finger at one of the buttons on the player, changing the song quickly a few times. He stopped, apparently happy with the song choice, and put down the CD case before he walked toward the couch. Nat glanced at Laura in confusion and surprise, but she just smiled. She had an idea of what he might be up to.

Once he reached the open area of the den, he began to sway in the beginnings of some dance steps, and it took everything in her not to start laughing when Nat's eyes just about bulged out of her head at the unexpected action.

"What is happening?" she whispered to Laura.

Laura smiled and sipped at her hot chocolate before hiding her smirk behind her mug.

Clint danced his way over to them and held his hand out to Nat, not stopping his swaying in time with the music. "C'mon, Nat. Dance with me."

Natasha slid her gaze over to Laura. "Is he serious?"

Laura let her laugh out freely this time as she took in Nat's even more shocked and disbelieving expression. "Oh, probably."

Nat's gaze slid back to Clint for a moment, his hand still outstretched as he kept dancing. "Is he drunk?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

Laura laughed again as Clint frowned deeply at the accusation. "I'm not drunk. I'm being festive," he protested.

"Does 'festive' include eggnog laced with rum?" Nat asked dubiously, using air quotes.

This time, Laura opted not to hide her smirk, and Nat shook her head when she spotted her expression. "You actually spiked his eggnog?"

"I don't see a problem here," Laura said breezily, gesturing to a very relaxed Clint. His demeanour was far from the stiff, stressed person he was when he and Nat arrived the day before. He had moved away from them by that point but was still swaying smoothly to the music, which had shifted to another smooth, jazzy tune with someone crooning softly.

Natasha shook her head as she grinned, holding back a laugh. Clint made his way back over to her and held out his hand again. "Please, Nat?" he said with wide, hopeful eyes.

Laura saw Nat roll her eyes even as she handed Laura her mug, took Clint's hand, and let him pull her to her feet. She knew Nat was indulging him, yes, but there was a part of her that was enjoying it, too. Laura was sure of it.

Clint opened his mouth to sing along to the song, but Nat held up a hand to stop him preemptively. "I agreed to dance, not to be a part of your karaoke performance," she said.

Laura chuckled at Nat's words and watched as he acquiesced. Instead, he began humming as he led them around the room with small, graceful steps. Laura had forgotten how smooth a dancer Clint was. Admittedly, it was hard to remember he had any semblance of grace to his movements when he often managed to hit his head or hammer his thumb during his endless home renovations.

Clint held Nat close as the song ticked over to the next one, which was still jazzy but much slower. Laura smiled warmly at the image of the two of them. Some might have felt stings of jealousy, watching their husband dance with another woman, but all Laura could feel was genuine joy. She knew that moments like these, which were blissfully peaceful, a little silly, but wholeheartedly genuine, had been so few and far between in Natasha's life. Laura could see the joy at being included in their little family written so plainly in her expression as Clint led her slowly across the floor of their den. He spoke to her as they danced, the words far too soft for Laura to hear, and slowly, a sheen appeared in Nat's eyes, telling Laura that whatever Clint had said was important. Clint could be a goofy drunk, Laura knows, but he was also a sappy one, so if she had to guess, it was probably a string of heartfelt sentiments. Laura felt the urge to capture the moment somehow, to save this precious moment of peace, joy, and love for them all, but recognized that doing so would spoil it, and so instead, she let them continue to dance as she sipped her hot chocolate.

"Do you need any help?" Nat offered from the entrance to the kitchen.

Laura looked up as she set down the pot of water on the counter next to the bag of potatoes. "I'm fine, go relax."

"I don't mind. Clint seems keen to rope me into helping him with his chores…" she trailed off meaningfully.

"And you're looking for a way to escape?" Laura said knowingly.

"Yeah."

"Well, in that case, all these need to be peeled," she said, gesturing to the bag.

"You got it," Nat said gratefully with a smile.

Laura could tell Natasha was turning over something in her mind as she expertly peeled and cut up the potatoes. It was the slightest furrow in her brow and how her gaze was just that little bit distant — tells Laura suspected Nat had intentionally not tried to mask — that gave it away. She stayed quiet, giving Nat the space to bring it up only if she wanted.

A few moments later, Nat broke the silence and rewarded Laura for her patience. "I wanted to thank you," she said. Laura looked up, brows raised in a silent question. "For inviting me. I'm not... I don't take it for granted that you trust me with this secret."

Laura smiled and reached over to squeeze Natasha's shoulder affectionately. "Of course we do, Nat. We agreed we wanted to invite you months ago and I told Clint to ask you, and then he kept forgetting to ask."

Nat smiled. "He was somehow convinced I should have just assumed."

"Not his best moment," Laura agreed with a chuckle. "But I can kind of see why he might think that."

Nat's brow furrowed a bit. "Why?"

"You've got a place in the inner circle now, whether you like it or not, and that means Clint and I assume we're going to set a plate for you on Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter and all the rest of the holidays." Laura saw Nat's expression shift to fondness and gratitude. "And that also means that you are not obligated to come. You can say no and we won't be offended."

A loud yell of "fuck!" from outside interrupted the heartfelt moment, and Laura held in her curse of exasperation at her husband as she and Natasha exchanged a look. "Should I go check to make sure he hasn't managed to injure himself?" Nat asked with an arched eyebrow.

Laura sighed. "I'll go. What was he doing out there anyway?"

"Chopping wood I think he said."

Laura was quiet for a beat, listening. "Well, I don't hear any more yelling, so I don't think we'll need to drive to the hospital at least."

Nat chuckled as she dropped a couple more pieces of peeled and cut potato into the pot of water.

Laura slipped on her boots and coat, then paused with her hand on the doorknob. "I meant what I said, Nat. We're happy to have you here for Christmas, and even happier to have you as a part of our lives. Clint made a good call bringing you into SHIELD, and an even better one bringing you into our family."

"Thanks, Laura," Nat said, voice uncharacteristically soft.

Laura nodded once, and then, knowing Nat wasn't overly fond of lengthy emotional moments and would appreciate moving past it, she added, "Oh, and when you're done with those potatoes, I need some apples peeled, too" as she slipped out the door, not giving Nat a chance to reply.

wishing everyone a safe and lovely end of the year.

more to come.