Work Text:
At exactly 10 am on Christmas morning, they heard the first knock.
Clint and Natasha were in their family room, helping their 7-month-old daughter open her stocking.
“Look here Katie-girl,” Natasha cooed, “it’s a stuffed animal dog!”
“Da!” The little girl cried, reaching to pick it up.
Her parents smiled at her lovingly. Then they heard a commotion at the door.
“I wonder who it is?” Clint asked aloud. They had told everyone to come at 10:30 for Christmas brunch, but it seemed like someone had taken that to be a flexible time. Natasha stood and scooped Katie up from where she was propped on the floor to carry her along to the door. Clint walked ahead of her to answer the it, revealing the Starks, huddled up in their coats and hats and boots, standing on their front porch.
Of course this is the one time Tony actually comes to something on time, Natasha thought, not just on time, but early even.
Clint embraced Tony in the weird handshake to bro-hug that guys do, while Pepper rushed forward to wrap her arms around Natasha. And also Katie, who was desperately trying to grab Morgan’s hat.
“Hi Katie!” Morgan exclaimed, “Do you like my pompom?”
Katie did seem to like the pompom, which was attached to the hat. Morgan held out her finger instead, and the baby seemed to accept that as a suitable replacement. Natasha and Pepper smiled at their daughters.
“I brought a fruit plate,” Pepper said, “Tony wanted to buy one, but I told him that this is Christmas, and we should actually do something for ourselves. He still bought his present though.” She rolled her eyes, and Natasha looked over to see him proudly showing a rather expensive looking bottle of scotch to her own husband, who looked equally excited.
“Clint’s such a faker, he doesn’t even like scotch,” Nat laughed, “But thank you for the fruit, we can have it with brunch.”
Pepper took Morgan’s hand and led her into the kitchen, but the little girl protested, pouting and saying that she wanted to stay with Katie. So Natasha handed her over to Pepper.
“Why don’t you help Katie open her stocking?” she asked Morgan, and she smiled.
“Ok, I can do that!”
She skipped into the family room, Pepper trailing behind her with the baby in her arms. Tony and Clint followed behind them and Nat started to go with them too, but the doorbell rang.
Well, here we go again, she thought, opening the door and letting the cold in for the second time this morning.
Outside was Steve, a bulky present in his arms and a huge smile on his face, and Thor, who was wearing the most outlandish outfit Nat had ever seen. While Steve was appropriately dressed in a cardigan, jeans, and tennis shoes, Thor’s outfit choice was more...otherworldly. To start with, he was just wearing sandals. No socks, no closed toes, just his bare toes exposed to the cold and the snow. Moving her gaze up his body, Natasha noticed he was wearing flannel pants, the kind that teenage girls wear to their pajama days at school because they're too cool to wear actual pajamas. He was also wearing a cardigan, but this one was ugly sweater-like, and it was covered with blinking Christmas lights.
But the weirdest thing of all was his choice of hat. It seemed to be made of what looked like moose antlers? Natasha was very confused, but she brushed it off. It was Christmas, Thor could celebrate in his own unique way, and in his own unique clothes.
She welcomed the men in and told them where the others were. Thor gave her a quick hug and went to say hello to everyone else, but Steve lingered in the doorway.
"I was wondering if it was ok if I gave you your gift now,” he asked, “I want to explain it a little and I know that it’ll be hard to get a word in once everyone gets here.”
Natasha chuckled understandingly, “Sure, I’ll open it now.”
Steve held the present out to her, and she began to unwrap it. She crumpled the wrapping paper into a ball and put it on the entry table, then looked at the newly unwrapped gift in her arms. It was a super soft pink and gray knit blanket.
“I knit it myself,” Steve told her, looking very proud, “I hope you like it, I thought that the colors would go nicely with Katie’s room, and it’s pretty soft, so if you ever need to sleep in there or something you’ll be very comfortable.”
Natasha stroked the blanket and then threw her arms around Steve, bringing him into a tight hug.
“It’s perfect,” she said, grinning, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Nat. I’m glad to see you so happy with your life here, you really deserve it.” She hugged him tighter before finally letting him go. He squeezed her shoulder and made his way down the hall to join the rest of the party, taking the blanket with him to free Natasha’s hand space.
Nat thought that that was the sweetest thing Steve had ever done. And he had done some amazing things before. She had no idea that he knew how to knit, but the blanket was incredible. And he was right, it did match Katie’s room. She was considering joining in the festivities when the doorbell rang again.
Can I not get a break today? Natasha thought, laughing to herself. She was going to make Clint take over door duty pretty soon.
She barely had time to think about what was happening when she opened the door and was immediately met with paws to her chest.
“Lucky! Down!” Kate scolded, pulling the dog’s leash so he stopped jumping on Natasha.
“I’m happy to see you too buddy,” Nat told the dog, patting him on his head.
“I told you that you shouldn't bring a dog to a Christmas party,” Yelena criticized, frowning at Kate.
“Well then what is she doing here?” Kate asked, gesturing at Fanny while taking Lucky into the other room.
“She is a well-behaved dog,” Yelena defended, walking into the house to hug her sister, “Honestly, sometimes I wonder why we are friends.”
“I heard that!” Kate yelled from the other room, and the sisters laughed.
“Well merry Christmas! I think that’s the first time I’ve said that all day. To someone other than Clint, I mean.” Natasha said.
“Where is that husband of yours anyways? I want to give him a present,” Yelena asked.
“If by present you mean another threat to kill him if he ever hurts me then I think he’ll pass,” Nat chuckled nervously. Clint was still recovering from Yelena’s Christmas gift last year.
“Oh, don’t worry, I got you guys champagne,” she smiled, holding up the bag.
Natasha sighed in relief and reached down to unclip Fanny from her leash. The dog ran to greet everybody, Natasha and Yelena following her.
They went and sat on the couch, and Pepper handed Katie back to her mom.
“Hello niece,” Yelena greeted tickling Katie’s feet causing her to break out in a fit of giggles.
The party was really getting started now, people were deep in conversation, laughing and joking, and it made Natasha so incredibly happy. They had all been through so much, so now getting to relax together was the greatest gift she could ever receive.
She made eye contact with Clint, right as there was a knock at the door.
“Your turn,” she signed to him, and he sighed, standing up.
“Fine, but it better not be your parents,” he responded, walking to answer it.
Natasha began talking to Thor, who, as it turns out, was wearing a ‘traditional Asgardian holiday headpiece'.
“My mother made it for me when I was a child,” he said proudly, “you see, she made it much too big so that I would grow into it when I was older, it slipped off my head the first time I tried it on.”
Natasha listened with great interest. Hearing Thor talk about his mother always made her happy. She could see how much he loved her, and she was sad to have never met the woman herself. Nat was sure that she would have liked Frigga.
After a few minutes of waiting, Clint came back into the room, Bruce right behind him carrying a dish of some sort.
“Hello,” he called, nodding at everybody, “Nat where should I put this?” He held up the pan and raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, I’ll help you,” she said, handing Katie to Yelena.
“What is this?” she asked, walking into the kitchen to join him.
“It’s strata. My grandma used to make it, and I thought that I would give it a try,” Bruce said.
Natasha took the dish from him and set it on top of the stove. It smelled incredible, a baked dish of eggs, English muffin cubes, cheese, and sausage. She knew that even if no one else ate it, she and Clint could probably eat half.
“Thank you so much,” she told Bruce, “I'm worried that we won’t have enough food, but this will help!”
“Of course, it was really no problem,” Bruce said, hugging her. He went over to talk to Pepper, and the doorbell rang. Again.
Clint was deep in conversation with Kate, so Nat supposed that she was back on door duty.
So much for the break.
“It’s open!” she called because the door had been unlocked this whole morning. She just hadn’t bothered to tell anyone.
“Hello hello!” Happy called, pushing himself through the doorway, his arms piled high with gifts.
May and Peter followed in behind him, their arms also laden with presents. Peter pushed the door closed with his foot, as Morgan ran up to hug him.
“Hi Mo,” Peter smiled, putting his packages down to pick the little girl up, “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas Peter!” she exclaimed.
“Well, they just let anyone in here!” Tony exclaimed, walking over to Happy and pulling him into a hug. One of the presents on the top of his pile fell off in the collision. Peter shot a web out and stuck it to the wall before it could hit the floor.
“Peter, what did I tell you about webs on Christmas!” May scolded, as Morgan giggled.
“Sorry May, but look, I saved the present!” His aunt shook her head, moving farther down the hall to greet Nat.
“I brought a pie,” she announced, handing it to her, “I hope it’s good, I’ve never baked much before.”
“I’m sure it’s great, I’ll just put it on the counter,” Natasha hurried to do this because she could see her parents coming up the path to their door.
“Hello!” Alexi boomed as he strutted through the doorway, Melina following close behind.
“Hi! Thank you so much for coming, Merry Christmas,” Natasha said, hugging them both.
“Merry Christmas, Natasha,” Melina smiled, and to her credit, it didn’t look as tight-lipped and uppity as usual. She wandered into the party, opting to stay in her coat.
Well, if that’s what makes her comfortable, Nat thought.
“Natasha,” Alexi said with urgency, pulling her close to whisper in her ear, “I have gotten you this Vodka. It is very fine Russian Vodka, will do good for that American husband of yours.”
“Thank you, I’m sure he will enjoy it,” Natasha said, knowing for a fact that Clint would never go near something as strong as that in a million years.
“Good, good, now I must find the granddaughter,” and he handed the bottle of vodka to Nat.
She walked behind him, stopping next to Clint who was standing in the doorway from the entry into the kitchen and family room area. She set the bottle down on the counter and gave Clint’s hand a squeeze.
“I’m pretty sure that’s everyone,” she said, watching as her parents went over to say hello to Katie.
“Unless Barney and Laura are coming?” She shot an eyebrow up at Clint.
“I don’t think so, I never heard from him today, and he was going to text me.”
“Ok, well then we’ll just-” but before she could get another word out, the door burst open.
“Auntie Nat, Uncle Clint!” came the cries of Nate, Barney and Laura’s youngest, as he ran into the house to hug him. Clint picked him up and squeezed him tightly, while Natasha moved quickly over to Laura, who was carrying a stack of boxes.
“Hi, how’s it going?” she greeted, as Laura handed her some of the boxes, which Natasha saw contained gingerbread house-making kits.
“It’s going!” Laura laughed, “Sorry we never got back to you, Barney lost his phone this morning, and mine is dead. It’s been a long day.”
“No problem, we have room for one more, or, er, five more.” Natasha said. “Let's put these on the kitchen table.”
They walked back to the kitchen, where Pepper and Bruce were now busy getting people’s food dished. They brought plates to people who were sitting in the family room, and those seated at the table. Laura and Natasha set the boxes down on the table, and that caught the attention of Morgan.
“Oh, can I make one?” she asked, looking up at her dad.
“Of course, sweetie, let me open it up for you,” Tony replied.
Clint came back into the room, still holding Nate. He was followed by Barney, and the Barton’s older kids, Lila and Cooper. Natasha was sure they would be thrilled to see Katie.
Where is Katie anyways? She wondered, looking around. Then she spotted her in Steve’s arms. He had the blanket on his lap, and he looked extremely comfortable. Cooper and Lila rushed over to say hi to their cousin, and Nate followed them, getting down from Clint’s arms.
Barney walked over to talk with Yelena, who, to her credit, looked much less disgusted by his presence than she had last time. Katie had moved into Lila’s arms and the older girl was bouncing her on her knee. She made a face after a little bit and looked like she was about to cry. Lila noticed this and brought her over to Clint and Natasha.
“Here you go Aunt Nat,” she said, placing the baby in her arms, “I think she probably wants her mom.”
“Thanks, Lila,” Natasha smiled, and her niece smiled, then went over to grab a gingerbread house kit.
“What do you think Katie-girl?” she asked, looking down at her baby, “Christmas is pretty fun, right?”
“I sure am enjoying this, it’s really nice to have everyone together and not have to worry about saving the world!” Clint teased, but Nat knew that that was at least a bit true.
She looked around at everyone gathered in their house. Tony and Pepper were helping hold up the walls of Morgan’s gingerbread house, as the little girl squeezed frosting onto it. Happy and May were standing behind them, there for reinforcement if need be. Cooper and Peter were deep in conversation, something to do with Star Wars most likely, Natasha thought. Thor was at the piano, playing a rather loud traditional song, much to the delight of Alexi, who was trying to sing along even though he didn’t know the words. Melina and Kate were teaming up on Yelena, by the looks of it. Nat saw her cover her face in embarrassment. She loved her sister, but sometimes she needed a little teasing. Lila was talking with her parents, motioning her hands all over her gingerbread house, no doubt explaining all her grand plans for the decorations. Nate sat next to her, concentrating on his own house, and babbling on to Bruce, who was patiently reattaching the roof every time it fell off. Steve stood alone, leaned against the wall. He was typing on his phone, and Nat was sure that he was texting Bucky. She smiled at Clint.
“This is perfect,” she said, kissing him on the cheek, “I’m really glad that we made this work.”
“Me too,” Clint replied, reaching his arm around to bring her and Katie into a hug.
They were surrounded with so much laughter and happiness, and Christmas spirit. Which was very well deserved for those who had lost so much, and somehow kept each other. It was Christmas, and Natasha was here, in the arms of the man she loves, holding their daughter, who makes every day brighter. And she couldn’t be happier.
So this is Christmas...