Chapter Text
A muffled cry of excitement from the living room stirred Yelena from her slumber. Sunlight was already streaming into the room from the window, and when she rolled over, she saw that for once Kate had woken up before her.
“Good morning, Lena. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Kate,” she grinned groggily, leaning over to kiss her. “How long have you been awake?”
Kate shrugged. “Half an hour or so.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to,” she said, tucking Yelena’s hair behind her ear and letting her hand rest on her cheek. “You’re so beautiful. I just wanted to look at you.”
“You can look at me when I’m awake, too, you know,” Yelena smirked.
“Yeah, I know.” Kate kissed her again, lingering longer this time. Yelena wrapped her arm around her waist and pulled her close, slipping her hand under her sleep shirt. Kate’s calluses scratched softly against her skin as her hand drifted to the nape of her neck.
“How long do we have before Nate barges in here?”
“Not long,” Kate smiled. “You wanna wait for him, or should we beat him to the punch and join the festivities?”
“Well, I agree that lying here and looking at you is very nice. But I think having a seven-year-old boy jump on me would hurt, and I want presents. So we should probably get up.”
“Okay, baby,” Kate chuckled, giving Yelena one last kiss before climbing out of bed. She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail and reached for her sweater from the night before, and Yelena put on a pair of pajama pants she didn’t sleep in and her favorite hoodie- one of Kate’s. They got ready quickly, but Yelena stopped Kate before she could open the door.
“Wait! I almost forgot!” She hurried over to the bag of Fork’s things and pulled out a treat. “Merry Christmas, Fork,” she cooed as she slid it into his little stocking. He scurried over to it and stuck his head inside, squeaking happily. “Okay, now we can go.”
Kate grinned at her as they left the room. And sure enough, when they opened the door, Nathaniel was spying on them from around the corner.
“Auntie Kate! Auntie Lena! You’re awake!”
“I know, finally, right?” Kate grinned, picking him up. “Merry Christmas, buddy!”
“Merry Christmas! Now come open presents!” He wriggled out of her arms and began dragging them into the living room. Kate stumbled when he yanked her hand, and Yelena laughed.
“Nathaniel, did you wake them up?” Clint said sternly when he saw them.
“No, no, we were already up,” Yelena defended him. Nathaniel didn’t even seem to realize his dad was talking to him; he was already back to showing the dogs his new toys.
“Oh, okay, good. Well, merry Christmas,” he smiled. “There’s coffee in the kitchen, and you can help yourself to any cereal you can find in the pantry. John and I are going to make a big Christmas brunch after we finish opening presents.”
“Okay, thanks. Merry Christmas,” Kate said, and Yelena echoed her. They walked into the kitchen, where Cooper, Lila, and Ava were huddled around the island, eating bowls of Cap’n Crunch, and Laura was pouring a mug of coffee.
“Oh, good morning! Merry Christmas!” Laura said cheerily when she spotted them. It became a call-and-response after that, with each of them taking a turn saying it. Yelena gave Ava a side hug while Kate went to get coffee.
“How long have you been awake?”
“Well, Nate’s room is right next to where he and Cooper were sleeping, so the same amount of time as them,” Ava answered with a shrug. “I probably would’ve woken up around that time anyway, though, so it’s fine.”
“Ah. And the boys aren’t up yet?”
“Nope. Neither are your parents. They'd better hurry up, though. Nate’s itching for a second round of presents already.”
“Yeah, his presents from Santa and the four of us weren’t nearly enough,” Cooper said sarcastically.
“Oh, I know. That’s why he was spying outside our room,” Yelena chuckled as Kate handed her a mug of coffee.
“So that’s what he was doing.” Laura shook her head. “Well, at least he didn’t wake you up like he did to Kate last year.”
“No, that was two years ago. Last year, he started talking to Lucky through the door, and Lucky woke me up.”
“Smart kid,” Ava smirked.
“Yeah, that’s why the dogs slept in the living room this year,” Yelena said. “Fanny would’ve hated being shut in our room and knowing you guys were out here opening presents. She always has to be part of the action.”
“Yeah, she was very interested in the wrapping paper,” Lila smiled.
“Oh, I know! Wrapping presents was a nightmare.”
“I’m sure Nate can entertain the dogs while the adults open presents. That’ll make everything easier,” Laura said.
“Sounds like a plan. Should we let him open his gift from me and Yelena now, or do you want us to wait?” Kate asked before taking a sip of her coffee. But Yelena wasn’t following the conversation anymore.
“Shit,” she muttered. “Sorry, I just realized. I didn’t know Melina was going to be here, so I don’t have a gift for her. I feel kinda bad.”
“Mmm! I’m so glad you reminded me,” Kate chimed in, starting back toward their room. Her hand brushed gently against Yelena’s lower back as she passed. “Just give us a few minutes, we’ll be right back.”
“Wait, what are we doing?” Yelena asked as she followed her.
“I knew you’d want to give your mom something, but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise, so I brought you a few options.”
“What?” Yelena stared at her incredulously. “You’re not serious.”
“I am,” Kate grinned, pulling things out of her suitcase. “I figured we can just return whatever you don’t want to give her. Unless you don’t want to give her this.” She held up a large bottle of very nice vodka and winked. “This we can keep.”
“I can’t believe this,” Yelena grinned. “You really did think of everything. How are you so amazing?”
“I don’t know, I guess I was just born this way,” she joked. “Now, there’s the vodka option, or there’s this…” She pulled a teal sweater out of her bag. “Since you told me her favorite color is teal. Or there’s this.” She pulled out a book by an Irish scientist about his studies on the minds of sheep.
“This is the book we saw in the store like a month ago!” Yelena exclaimed, taking it from her. “I-I told you it seemed similar to her research with her pigs. You remembered that?”
“Course I did.”
“You’re incredible,” she said, and Kate beamed. “I think she’d like this. If she doesn’t have it already. She has so many books.”
“Is that the one you want to give her, then?”
“Yes,” Yelena grinned. “Thank you for getting these, Kate. I still can’t believe you did all of this for me. This is… it’s too kind. It’s too much.”
“Not possible. You deserve the world.”
Yelena blushed. Kate was gazing at her with such deep affection. It was as if she believed Yelena had hung the stars or invented the bow and arrow. It should’ve been the other way around. “Stop looking at me like that,” she whispered shyly.
“I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.”
Yelena smiled in spite of herself. Then she did the only thing that could ever stop Kate Bishop from doing something she was dead set on doing- she kissed her.
“I love you,” Yelena sighed, stroking Kate’s cheek.
“I love you more.”
“Not possible.”
Kate chuckled and rested her forehead against Yelena’s. They stayed like that for a moment, lost in each other’s eyes. But then they heard Fanny bark and Nathaniel giggle, and they knew they had to return to the rest of the world. There would be plenty of time for just the two of them after Christmas, though. Yelena would make sure of it. They put the book in a gift sack and headed back out into the living room just as Bucky, John, and Bob emerged from Laura’s office.
“Morning, sleepyheads,” Ava smirked. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” they said in near-perfect unison.
“I just put another pot of coffee on, and there should be some cereal left and maybe some bread for toast if you don’t want to wait for brunch,” Laura smiled at them as they shuffled into the kitchen. “Did you guys sleep okay?”
“Yeah, we slept fine,” Bucky answered with a polite smile. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“I think we’ve all slept on worse things than air mattresses,” John scoffed.
“And they were pretty comfortable for air mattresses,” Bob added. John and Bucky nodded in agreement.
“Well, that’s good,” Laura said. “We’re just waiting on Melina and Alexei now, and then once they’re up, we can start opening presents!”
“Can I wake them up?” Nathaniel asked hopefully.
Laura shook her head. “No.”
“Yeah, you really shouldn’t,” Yelena grimaced.
“But it’s so late! How much longer do I hafta wait?”
“I think he can open his presents from us now,” Kate whispered to Laura. “Your parents won’t mind, right, Lena?”
“No, of course not. You could probably exchange gifts with the Bartons, and they wouldn’t mind. It’s me and the team that they care about.”
“Alrighty then. Looks like your Auntie Kate is coming to save the day, Nathaniel! She’s gonna let you open your last present!”
“Yay!” Nathaniel cheered, running for the tree. Kate and Yelena followed him, matching smiles on their faces. Yelena hadn’t really picked anything out, but she’d been at the store with Kate, and she was grateful that she’d put both their names on the tag.
“You should open this one first,” Kate said, handing him the smaller present. “You won’t like it if you open it second.”
He nodded and tore the wrapping paper off as quickly as he could. “Ooh, thank you!” he exclaimed genuinely, holding up the box set of four Magic Tree House books. “I don’t have these ones!”
“They’re the newest ones,” Kate said proudly. “Those books were my favorite when I was your age.”
“They’re so good! My favorite one’s the one with the pirates. Can I open the big one now?”
“Go for it, little man.”
He tore the wrapping paper off this present even faster than the first. “Whoa, no way! A remote control dinosaur!”
“You got him something that roars?” Clint muttered under his breath.
“Yeah, why not? You won’t be able to hear it anyway,” Kate replied with a shit-eating grin. He rolled his eyes and shook his head fondly.
“This is awesome! Thank you, Auntie Kate! Thank you, Auntie Lena!” He tackled the two of them to the ground with the force of his hug, and they let him. Thankfully, they’d set their coffee mugs on the table beforehand.
“You’re welcome, buddy,” Kate laughed, kissing his cheek. She held onto Yelena as they sat back up. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it! Dad, can I try it now?”
“I think we should probably wait, buddy. I don’t think the dogs would like it. We don’t want them ruining your new toy.”
“Yeah, Fanny hates dinosaurs,” Yelena chimed in. “It’s not a good idea, sorry, buddy.”
“Okay. I’m gonna go show Mommy!” he cried, not letting the disappointment get him down.
“Yeah, go show Mommy,” Clint chuckled. Then he leaned toward Kate and whispered in her ear. “She can hear just fine.”
Kate opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted by a booming voice sounding from the top of the stairs.
“HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
Yelena looked up to see Alexei dressed in a full Santa suit and a manic grin on his face. Melina followed him with an embarrassed smile. Yelena couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her with her hair down.
“Where did you get that?” Yelena asked, raising an eyebrow. She didn’t even have to see them; she knew that Bucky was facepalming, Bob and John were sharing a look, and Ava was trying not to laugh.
“From the magic Christmas elves!” he declared with an exaggerated wink. She rolled her eyes. “And they tell me it is time for PRESENTS!”
“Everyone’s awake, so I guess it is,” Laura said, giving Alexei a polite smile. The others all followed her into the living room. “Nate, do you want to take the dogs and play outside, sweetheart?”
“Yes!”
“Just make sure you keep your coat and hat on, okay? I don’t want you catching a cold!”
“Okay, Mommy!”
The backdoor slammed, and Fanny’s and Lucky’s excited barks faded out as they all huddled together around the tree. “Do we want to all get into a circle, and then Lila and Cooper can pass the gifts out?” Laura asked. Everyone agreed, and soon they were all sitting in a circle with small piles of gifts in front of them. “Who wants to go first?”
“I do!” Alexei announced. Then Melina nudged him and nodded toward Yelena. “I mean, my Lena should go first. She is the one who brought us all together, after all.”
Yelana glanced around the group as they all turned to stare at her. “Wait, really?”
“Sure, makes sense to me,” Clint said. “We’ll each open one gift and just go around the circle until everyone’s done.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll start with this one, then.” She grabbed the present from John, and he watched her eagerly as she opened it. “Holy shit, is this what I think it is?”
“Yep.”
“I didn’t know they made this!” She held up a party pack of hot sauces from Hot Ones. “I’ve been wanting to try these for so long! I had no idea you could just buy them!”
“Yeah, I know! I’ve been trying so hard to keep it a secret so I could surprise you with them,” John said proudly.
“Is that why you always click out of the video before it ends when we watch it?”
“Yeah!”
“Oh my god! I can eat these the next time we watch it!”
“You can even try them along with the guest if you want.”
“I mean, I have to! Thank you, John, I love it,” Yelena grinned, and John beamed at her.
“You’re welcome.”
“Okay, who’s next? Which way are we going?” She glanced at Kate and Bucky on either side of her.
“Bucky can go,” Kate said.
“Okay, I’ll start with this one. From you, Yelena.” He tore the wrapping paper away slowly, revealing a framed poster with art of Shelbyville, Indiana. “It’s… a poster of my hometown.”
“I thought it would look nice in your room, and maybe it could help you feel less homesick.”
“I love it. Thank you,” he smiled. Yelena smiled back.
“Oh, my turn. Okay,” Bob said, looking through his pile. “I’ll open… this one. Also from Yelena.” He opened it carefully, only tearing the paper slightly where it had been taped. “Ooh, a box set of the manga I said I wanted to read! I mentioned that like a month ago!”
“I listen,” she shrugged.
“This is awesome! Thanks, Lena.”
“You’re welcome, Bob.”
“Alright, my turn! And I’m gonna go for this one,” John grinned. “Oh, it’s from Kate. You got me a present?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t gonna invite you guys to Christmas and not get you presents.”
“Oh, well, thank you.” He felt around the package for the edge of the paper, then tore it open dramatically. “Ooh, a nice copy of The Things They Carried.”
“Yelena told me you like war books, and I know my dad loved that one.”
“Ah, okay. You see, I typically read nonfiction books, and this isn’t actually nonfiction. I mean, he did fight in the Vietnam War, and these stories are inspired by what really happened to him, but they didn’t actually happen. But I have been wanting to read this book; I’ve heard great things about it. Thank you.”
“He loves it, trust me,” Yelena whispered in Kate’s ear when she saw her smile falter. She nodded to the way John ran his hand over the cover as Ava picked up a present from her pile.
“I think I know what this one is,” she said, pulling the tissue paper out of the tall and skinny gift sack and flinging it behind her. “And I was right! A very nice bottle of whiskey! Thanks, Kate!”
Kate winked and snapped her fingers, pointing a finger gun at her.
“And I guess I’m next,” Melina said, picking up the only gift in front of her. If she was at all surprised to see it, it didn’t show on her face. “It’s from Yelena. It’s… oh, I’ve heard of this book! I’ve read a couple of his earlier articles; his work is fascinating. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, Mama,” Yelena beamed.
“Finally, my turn!” Alexei exclaimed. “I will also open my present from Yelena! Surely my daughter got me the best one!”
“That’s a lot of pressure,” Yelena mumbled.
Alexei tore the wrapping paper from the box in little pieces, making it look like a rat had gotten to it. And when he opened the small box, his face lit up like a little kid on, well, Christmas morning.
“A MULTITOOL! Amazing! And it has fifteen different tools! Fifteen! In this little thing! How do they get them all in there?”
“I don’t know,” Melina chuckled. He was waving it around wildly, making sure everybody saw it.
“And it’s in my color, too! I was right, this is the best gift ever! I can do so many things! Thank you, Lena!”
“You’re welcome, Daddy. I’m glad you like it,” she smiled. For once, she was glad to have underestimated how excited he could get about something.
“Okay, the only thing I have left is from Kate,” Cooper said, opening the gift bag slowly and pulling the books out one by one. “Cookbooks. From Bob’s Burgers, Rick and Morty, Stardew Valley, and Scooby-Doo! That’s awesome, thank you.”
“Hopefully those recipes are good. Some of the Rick and Morty ones have questionable names.”
“Yeah, they’re supposed to,” he chuckled. “I’ll let you know.”
“Alright, and my last one is also from Kate,” Laura said. She unwrapped it slowly, tearing the paper as little as possible. She tried peeling the tape off the box, but it was sealed tight. “Stupid question with this group, but does anyone have a knife?”
“I will open it with my new multitool!” Alexei said loudly before anyone else could answer. He crossed the room in a single stride and snatched the box out of her hands.
“Be careful with it!” Kate said as he sliced open the box. “The thing that’s in there is fragile.”
“Of course, I am very careful!”
“You are not careful,” Bob, Melina, and the New Avengers all said. Alexei stared around at them with a deeply offended look on his face.
“This is how you treat me. Really? My own team, my own family? On Christmas?” he huffed. Yelena and Ava laughed at him.
“Well, you’re being very careful right now, Alexei, thank you,” Laura said as she took the now-opened box back from him, using the voice she sometimes used when talking to Nathaniel. Alexei jutted his chin out smugly and returned to his seat as she lifted the decorative vase from the cradle of bubble wrap. “Oh, Kate, this is gorgeous! Where did you get this?”
“A museum gift shop, maybe? I honestly don’t remember,” she smiled. “But I thought of you as soon as I saw it.”
“Awwww, thank you, sweetheart! It’s lovely.” She gazed at it for a few moments before flashing Kate a wide grin. “I’m going to put this on the shelf while Clint opens your gag gift.”
“Okay, which one’s the gag?” Clint grinned, scooting the two presents in front of him closer.
“The top one,” Kate smiled.
He tore it open excitedly, pulling the tape off his box with ease. “Oh my god, is this what I think it is?”
“Yep! It’s a mug that looks like a coffee pot. So you can have the sensation of drinking it straight out of the pot without ruining it for everyone else.”
“Okay, I did that one time,” he scoffed.
“Yeah, I know. And I’m never gonna let you live it down.”
“Well played, Katie.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, and he grinned.
“Okay, my last one is also from Kate,” Lila said, grabbing the envelope excitedly. Her eyes lit up when she opened it.
“No way! Oh my god, thank you!”
“I know just enough about make-up to know that you’d be better off buying it for yourself,” Kate smirked.
Clint leaned toward her and tried to read it over her shoulder. “What is it?”
“A Sephora gift card,” she answered, holding it close to her chest.
“For how much?”
“A hundred dollars.”
“Seriously? Kate, that’s too much!”
“What is the point of being a rich auntie if I can’t buy you guys nice Christmas gifts?” she asked. “Besides, do you know how much make-up costs, Clint? That’s perfectly reasonable.”
“You’re closer to being her sister than her aunt, but okay,” he mumbled exasperatedly. Lila ignored him, instead turning to give Kate a big hug.
“Thank you, Kate!”
“I’m glad you like it. And we’re at the end of the first round! I’m going to start with… this one. From my Lena,” she smiled, nudging her playfully. She picked up the smallest gift from her pile, and Yelena’s stomach flipped nervously. “A gold necklace shaped like a heart! Ooh, and something’s engraved on it… So American.” She stared at her in awe, and Yelena blushed. “But I thought you said Birds of a Feather was our song?”
Yelena smiled. This was one of their favorite playful arguments to have. It came up every time they heard either song, which happened often. But she was happy to finally lay the argument to rest. For now, at least. “No, you’re right, Birds of a Feather is too depressing. Plus, it’s longer, so the engraving would’ve cost more.”
Kate laughed. “Thank you, baby, I love it. Will you help me put it on?”
“Of course.” Yelena took the chain and clasped it around Kate’s neck as she held her hair up, and she had to resist the urge to press a kiss to her exposed skin. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Okay, now it’s your turn again!” Kate said excitedly. Yelena turned back to her pile and picked the thinnest present.
“This one’s from Dad,” she said, nodding to Alexei as she tore it open. “Oh, a vinyl of American Pie! Nice,” she chuckled. “I don’t have a record player, though.”
“That’s because you opened them in wrong order! Open that one now.” Alexei pointed to the big present wrapped in matching wrapping paper. She tore it open quickly. “A record player!” she exclaimed with mock surprise. “Thanks, Dad. That’s awesome.”
“I knew you would like it,” he boasted.
They picked up the pace a bit after that. Bucky and Bob liked their gifts from Kate, a box of fancy chocolates and a scarf, respectively, and John loved the smashburger press that Yelena had gotten him. She assured him that it wasn’t just a ploy to get him to make more burgers for her, and it was mostly true. Then Ava and Alexei both opened custom vibranium daggers from Bucky, and he revealed that he’d gotten one for each of them, straight from Wakanda. Then it was Clint’s turn again, and he opened his real gift from Kate.
“They’re board games,” she explained as he opened them. “But the boxes look like books, so that you can display them on a bookshelf. I thought they were cool.”
“They’re very cool,” he smiled, turning them over in his hands. “Trivial Pursuit and Battleship, two of my favorite games! Thank you, Kate, I love them.”
Kate beamed at him proudly; the excitement of impressing her idol never truly went away. And it was made clear that he knew it when she opened her gag gift from him.
“Oh my god, are you serious?” she laughed. “A signed headshot? Really, Clint?”
“For my biggest fan,” he said with a shit-eating grin.
“When did you even take this?”
“JCPenney, a few months ago. Laura was on a business trip.”
“Of course she was,” Kate smirked. “I’m going to hang this above my bed.”
Yelena raised an eyebrow at her.
“Your real gift is in the bag, too. Go ahead and open it, it’s small.”
She gave him a quizzical look as she pulled a glasses case out of the gift bag. But the confused expression quickly turned to one of joy when she opened it to reveal a pair of purple-tinted aviator sunglasses. “Holy shit, these are awesome!”
“I thought you’d like them,” he smiled.
“How do they look?” she asked, putting them on and gazing around at the group.
“Hot,” Yelena blurted. Kate’s eyes widened as a grin spread across her face, and Yelena shrank into herself. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, and she knew her teammates weren’t going to let her forget that.
“Well, I was going to say cool, but I guess that works too,” Clint joked.
“These are so cool! Thanks, Clint!”
“Merry Christmas, kiddo.”
Yelena picked the gift from Ava next. She could tell by the way Ava was looking at her that she was proud of it, and it made her even more excited to open it. “Ooh, a green jacket! This is beautiful!” she exclaimed as she held it up. “Wait a minute, is this the same as that red one you have that I like?”
“Yeah, it is! I figured this one was more your color, though,” Ava smiled. “Now we can match!”
“I love it,” Yelena grinned. “That makes it even better.”
“Should Yelena open one more?” John asked. “She’s got more gifts than any of us, the last like three rounds will be just her if she doesn’t.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she smirked after everyone else agreed. This time, she picked the gift from Melina. As she tore the wrapping paper away, she revealed the cover of a vaguely familiar book. But it wasn’t just any book; it was a photo album.
“Oh my god,” she gasped, tears welling up in her eyes as her four-year-old self stared up at her from the ancient pages. There were dozens of photographs of her and Natasha, on their old swingset, at their old kitchen table, in their old station wagon. She didn’t know these photos had ever been taken, much less that they still existed. “H…how?”
“I held onto it all these years,” Melina said softly, her voice thick with emotion. “I kept it hidden; my one act of rebellion. But I want you to have it now. You deserve these memories more than me.”
“I can’t believe this.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “Thank you, Mama.”
“Look in the back. Laura helped me add to it before you got here, to make it extra special.”
She flipped to the last few pages, which were filled with pictures of Natasha in her late twenties. She was often surrounded by the Bartons, and she always had a smile on her face. Yelena’s breath caught in her throat.
“If I dug around for a while, I know we have more,” Laura said. “But those are some of the best ones of her.”
“Thank you so much,” Yelena sniffed. “These are so beautiful.”
She clutched the photo album to her chest and closed her eyes, barely registering that Kate had put her arm around her. She didn’t pay attention as the others opened their gifts, her mind on autopilot as she responded to Ava’s thanks for the matching silver necklace and bracelet she gave her, and chuckled along with everyone else at Alexei’s over-the-top excitement about his chillable beer glasses from Kate.
“I’m going to open another one from you, baby,” Kate whispered in her ear. She nodded and wiped her eyes, shaking her head as if that could shake away the sadness.
“Ooh, it’s the Buffalo Bills hoodie I wanted!”
“Wait, you’re a Bills fan?” John asked.
“Yeah, it’s where my mom grew up.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you liked football. Cool.”
“I can’t wait to wear it, baby,” Kate grinned, and Yelena grinned back at her.
“You’re welcome, I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it. And it’s gonna look great on you, too,” she winked, leaning in and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. Yelena felt her face flushing again.
“Back to you, Yelena,” Ava said teasingly, and she pulled her eyes away from Kate to glare at her.
“Yeah, yeah, okay. I’m opening this one now,” she said, tearing open her gift from Bob. It was two of the little crochet critter kits that she loved; she knew it as soon as the first bit of wrapping paper was gone. “Oh my god, they look like Fanny and Fork! Thank you, Bob!”
“You’re welcome,” he smiled. “I was thinking we could do them together if you want. But we don’t have to.”
“I would love to,” she grinned. And as it turned out, she picked the perfect pair of gifts, because her dagger from Bucky had tiny etchings of Fanny and Fork on the blade. Even without that, it was the most beautiful combat knife she’d ever seen. It was weighted perfectly, and the hilt felt like it was made specifically for her hand. “Remind me to thank the queen of Wakanda for this whenever you finally let us meet her.”
“She’s not the one who made that, and I’ve told you before, that’s not up to me,” Bucky said. “If you guys ever do something impressive, then maybe she’ll want to meet you.”
“Damn, Buck, tell me how you really feel,” she joked.
“I’ll have Ayo tell the Doras that you liked it.”
“Aha, yes! So you have told them about us!”
Bucky rolled his eyes at her fondly.
By that point, Cooper had gone outside to join Nathaniel and the dogs, and Clint and Laura had started getting ready to make brunch, making Kate and Yelena promise to call them back over before they opened their gifts from them. Kate loved the sweat set and flannel shirt that Lila and Laura (and Cooper, according to the tag) got for her, and everyone got a laugh out of the purple squirrel-shaped lamp that Nathaniel had picked out. She was down to her last present, the one Yelena was most excited to give her, but she still had to wait one more round before she could watch her open it.
“Okay, I’m going to open these ones now! They’re both from Kate,” Yelena said, giving her a warm glance. “Is there any particular order?”
“Well, that one is more of a dumb, funny gift, and you’ll definitely like that one more, but it’s up to you.”
“Alright, dumb funny one first it is, then,” she said, her voice laced with affection. She tore the wrapping paper away eagerly, revealing a set of novelty rocks glasses shaped like butts. Yelena tossed her head back as she laughed. “You were right, Kate Bishop, these are very dumb and very funny!”
“Is it bad to say I thought of you as soon as I saw them?”
Yelena laughed again. “Thank you, baby, they’re great. I’ll have to make us some cocktails when we get home to break them in.”
“Ooh, I can’t wait.”
“Okay, now the one I’m actually going to like!” This one was in a gift sack, and she tossed the tissue paper all around her before lifting it out. “A vest! Oh, I don’t have one in this color!” It was a muted sky blue, a color she didn’t wear very often but that Kate said she looked great in. “And it has lots of pockets!”
“Would I ever get you anything that didn’t?”
“Thank you, Kate! I love it,” Yelena smiled. “I’m going to wear it tomorrow.”
“With your new t-shirt?”
“Don’t push it.”
Everyone was hungry by that point, so the final round of gifts went by the quickest. Yelena felt like the whole team got an extra present when John opened his Mission: Impossible DVD box set from Bob; they all knew what they were watching on movie nights for at least the next month. And before she knew it, it was finally time for Kate to open her final gift. She watched her tear the paper off and used her new knife to open the box for her, careful to keep the flaps closed so she couldn’t catch a glimpse of what was inside. She wanted Kate to be completely surprised when she opened it.
“Ooh, new arrows! Thanks, babe!” She lifted the quiver out of the box gently and admired the purple fletchings.
“They’re not just regular arrows,” she said, grinning when Kate’s head snapped up, and her eyes went wide with excitement.
“Wait, you got me trick arrows?!?”
“I did.”
She pulled an arrow out of the quiver and inspected the small metal casing at the base of the point. “I’ve never seen an arrow like this before! What does it do? Did Clint help you get them? He said he’s already shown me all of his trick arrows!”
“He had nothing to do with it. I made them.”
“You made them?!?”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised,” Yelena smirked. “They’re Widow Bite arrows. They shoot out the same electrical probes as my Widow Bites do upon impact.”
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten,” she breathed, staring at the arrow in awe. “It seriously does that? Like you’ve tested it? It works?”
“Is that really what you think of my engineering skills?” she teased. “Of course, it works! I wouldn’t have given them to you if they weren’t ready yet.”
“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe it! I mean, you made trick arrows for me! A brand new kind of trick arrow, based on your signature weapon!”
“Yeah, I know it, I’m amazing.”
“You really are.” Kate squeezed her hand, caressing her knuckles with her thumb. “This is seriously the sweetest, most awesome gift anyone’s ever given me!”
Kate was practically vibrating with excitement, and Yelena could see in her eyes that she was struggling to decide what she wanted to do more, kiss Yelena stupid or take her bow and her new arrows out to the target Clint kept in his barn. It was the exact reaction she was hoping to evoke, and her chest swelled with pride. “You’re welcome, детка.”
“Can Yelena open her last gifts now, please? I’m starving,” John griped.
“Shut up, they’re being cute,” Ava said. “If we interrupt them, it’ll take even longer.”
“You’re just jealous because you’re both lonely,” Yelena shot back. Ava laughed, and John flipped her off. “Fine, I’ll open my last two gifts.”
“Wait, no! Open the one from me first,” Kate said when she reached for the small box from Clint. “His is more… sentimental.”
“Seems like something I should expect from my girlfriend more, but okay.” Yelena lifted the largest gift from Kate onto her lap. It was heavy; heavier even than the record player from Alexei had been. Kate had a little self-satisfied smirk on her face, the one she always made when she’d done something that she knew would make Yelena happy. It had to be one of the cutest things Yelena had ever seen. She tore the paper off quickly and used her new vibranium dagger to slice open the box. “No… Kate Bishop, you didn’t.”
“I did.”
“But this was so expensive,” Yelena hissed. “When we saw this in the store, I told you not to buy it!”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I went back and bought it the next day,” Kate beamed. “Do you like it?”
“Of course, I love it.” Yelena carefully lifted the extravagant emerald-green sewing machine out of the box. “But this is too much, it’s-”
“I can’t think of a better way to spend my money than making you happy,” Kate said softly. “Besides, there’s no better time to splurge than on Christmas!”
Yelena sighed. “Thank you, моя любовь. You’re too good to me.”
“Not possible.”
“I’m going to open Barton’s gift now,” she whispered. She knew she couldn’t stare into Kate’s eyes for much longer without kissing her, and she didn’t want to do that in front of everybody.
“Wait for him to get over here, he’s gonna want to see you open it. Clint!” Kate called, turning to look into the kitchen.
“What?”
“I’m opening your gift!” Yelena said. He hurried in and leaned over the couch to watch as she tore the wrapping paper off the small box. She narrowed her eyes. It was clearly a necklace box, but the tag had said it was from Clint, not Laura or Lila. Why would Clint be giving her a necklace? Especially one that was a small, silver arrow on a silver chain; she definitely expected something like this from Kate instead. “Wait, why does this look familiar?”
“Because it was Natasha’s,” Clint answered. “I gave it to her… more than fifteen years ago now. She wore it all the time. I think she’d want you to have it.”
Yelena’s eyes filled with tears once again as she held the necklace up to the light. A wave of memories came flooding back to her. Their fight the day they’d reunited, the beer they’d shared that night, and the few days they’d been able to spend together in the midst of her freeing the other Widows and Natasha being on the run. She’d been wearing it in all of them. “Thank you,” she gasped out, looking Clint in the eye. He nodded.
“Of course. I’m glad I finally got to give it to you.”
“Look, this is all very touching, but can we eat now?” John said, already on his feet. “You’ve got three super soldiers and a living god over here who haven’t eaten a thing.”
“You’re such an arsehole, John,” Ava said, slapping him in the arm.
“What? Look, I’m glad she got her sister’s necklace, but can’t we have these emotional conversations over brunch?”
“Ooh, Johnny’s hangry,” Bob mumbled in a singsong voice.
“Okay, yes, you’re right. Sorry for holding everyone up,” Yelena sniffed. “You’re right, we should eat now.”
“Great! We’ve already gotten the food started, but if anyone would like to help out, that would be appreciated,” Clint said, gesturing for John to join him. “Lila, will you go get your brothers, please?”
“I can help,” Ava said, following John into the kitchen. “Like I said yesterday, I don’t know how to cook, but I can follow instructions as long as John isn’t the one giving them to me.”
“Wait, Clint! You have to see what Yelena got me! She made me new trick arrows!”
“She made these? Wow, that’s impressive.” He took the arrow from Kate’s hand and inspected it, abandoning his plan to help make brunch.
Yelena gave him a curt smile as she put the necklace on. Then she went to stand by the tree, away from where everyone else was gathering in the kitchen. She took deep breaths as she stared at it, running her thumb over the necklace. The repetitive motion was soothing.
“Hey, are you okay?”
She looked up to see Cooper standing next to her, his coat in hand and his face flushed from the cold. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I think so. I just feel… I-I don’t know. It’s just a lot, all of this. It’s…”
“Overwhelming?”
“Yeah, that’s the word. Overwhelming.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“You have a beautiful tree,” Yelena said after a few moments of silence.
“Thanks. We’ve got some fun ornaments.” He pointed to the one that looked like a strip of bacon, and Yelena smiled. “The ones we made as kids are my favorites, though.”
“I can see why. I like this one.” She pointed to what looked like an asterisk made out of yellow construction paper. “I haven’t seen that take on a star before.”
“Yeah, Lila made that one when she was six,” he chuckled. Then he pointed to a triangle formed by three painted popsicle sticks. “I made that one in preschool.”
“Nice. And what is this one supposed to be?” She gestured to one of the ones at the bottom of the tree, a strange, spiky shape cut out of pink construction paper. It appeared to have a smiley face with one eye drawn on it in crayon. “Is it another star?”
“Nope, it’s supposed to be a Christmas tree,” Cooper said, laughing when she raised an eyebrow at him. “Nate made that when he was… gosh, it was before the Blip, so he must’ve been two or three. He still insists that that’s what it is, but I don’t know why it’s pink, and I don’t know why it has a cyclops face on it.”
“It’s cute,” Yelena smiled. “And which one of you made this one?” She pointed to a scribbled drawing of a fish wearing a Santa hat on a small circle of green construction paper. Cooper inhaled deeply.
“Auntie Nat made that one.”
“Seriously?” Yelena glanced at the crude drawing, then back at Cooper. “Well, I guess she never got to color much as a kid, so she never developed any art skills.”
“Yeah, that must be why,” Cooper chuckled. “I remember she was making ornaments with us that year, and Dad could not tell the difference between hers and ours. She got so pissed at him. Lila and I thought it was the funniest thing ever.”
“That sounds fun.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“Thank you, Cooper,” Yelena said softly. He smiled at her.
“No problem. I’m glad you’re here, Auntie Lena.”
“Me too. Now let’s go eat!”
Brunch came out in waves; first the pancakes, then the eggs, then the bacon. She and Cooper got in the back of the line and got their food, trying to outdo each other with how many pancakes they got. Then Yelena went to stand where Kate and Lila were huddled with John by the stove and talking about football, but Laura intercepted her before she could get there.
“I wanted to give you one last thing,” she smiled. “It’s not quite a Christmas present, but I thought you’d like it.”
“Is this your macaroni recipe?”
“It sure is. You’ll have to let me know how it tastes the first time you make it.”
“I will! Thank you, Laura. And thank you for the photos of Natasha. I wish I could’ve known her then.”
“She did too, sweetheart,” Laura said gently, putting a comforting hand on her arm. Yelena leaned into her touch this time. “She would’ve loved having all of us together like this.”
“I know she would’ve.”
Laura pulled her into a hug, and Yelena closed her eyes, sinking into the warmth of her sweater. She had never fully understood why Laura always welcomed her with open arms after what she’d done, but she was beyond grateful for it. The Bartons were slowly becoming her family, and with every step she took to get closer to them, she could almost see Natasha smiling at her in her mind.
Yelena joined Kate, Lila, John, and now Bob once Laura released her. But she quickly wished that she hadn’t; it seemed she’d walked into a spirited argument between Kate and Bob about which team was better. John was adding fuel to the fire by making jabs at both teams, and Lila was watching the whole thing unfold with an amused grin on her face.
“-We play both of your stupid teams in 2029, and I guarantee the Falcons are gonna beat both of them!”
“Oh-ho, you wanna bet on that?”
“We are not doing sports betting! That is a terrible idea for so many reasons,” Yelena interjected, stepping between the three of them. “I can’t leave you alone for even five minutes, can I?”
“Yeah, control your woman, Yelena,” John joked. Kate scoffed.
“Shut up, John. Or I’m going to put hot sauce in your pancakes.”
“Next season’s going to be fun,” Bob grinned, and he and Kate shared a competitive look. Yelena rolled her eyes.
“You see what I have to deal with?” she whispered to Lila.
“Oh, come on, it’s just a little friendly trash talk!” Kate said. “You should be glad I have things in common with your teammates.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just let me know when the games are so Ava and I can get out of the tower.”
“You don’t like football, Auntie Lena?”
“Nope. The only team sport I would ever watch is women’s basketball. And I don’t care about basketball.”
Kate nudged her with her elbow, and they smirked at each other. Then Lila asked the others what they thought of some new quarterback (or cornerback? She truly didn’t know), so Yelena decided to move over to the table with Alexei, Melina, Ava, Nate, and Bucky.
“That did not happen!”
“Yes, it did! I remember it clear as the day, I fought the Winter Soldier in 1986- Melina, Золотце, tell him!”
“How can I? I didn’t know you then.”
“Yes, but I’ve told you stories of my escapades before, don’t you remember this one?”
“No.”
“That’s because it didn’t happen.”
“What are we arguing about over here?” Yelena asked as she approached them.
“Little Nathaniel here wanted to hear stories about my adventures as the Red Guardian, but Bucky is calling me a liar.”
“Because you are!”
“How would you know, you wouldn’t remember!” Alexei waved his hand dismissively. Thankfully, Bucky only rolled his eyes. “The Winter Soldier attacked me while I was on a mission, and I had to rip his arm off to save my own life! Then we realized we were both fighting for Mother Russia, and then we fought together! You believe me, right, Lena?”
“No,” she scoffed. Ava and Nathaniel giggled.
“If that had happened, they would’ve killed me.”
“Bucky,” Ava hissed, nodding to Nathaniel.
“It’s okay, Daddy already told me that you were an assassin. Just like Auntie Nat and Auntie Lena!”
“Oh… and do you know what an assassin is?” Bucky asked him nervously.
“Yeah, it means you used to kill bad people. But now you stop bad people without killing them, because you’re superheroes, just like Daddy!”
“Yeah, that’s right, buddy,” Clint said, coming up behind him and ruffling his hair. He smiled at Yelena, Ava, and Bucky. “They’re superheroes just like me.”
They steered the conversation away from their pasts after that, with the groups shifting around as the topics changed. But the room was filled with laughter, no matter who was talking to whom; everyone was having a great time. And it wasn’t until nearly two hours had passed that Yelena realized that she hadn’t seen Kate in a while.
“Barton, have you seen Kate?”
“Yeah, she’s in your room,” Clint answered. “But you might not want to go in there right now.”
“Why not?”
“‘Cause she just got a call from her mom.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. You might want to give her some space.”
Yelena went and stood outside their bedroom door to listen. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but she needed to know if she was still on the phone or not. And after a few minutes of silence, she decided that the call must’ve ended.
“Kate?” Yelena called softly as she knocked on the door. “It’s me. Can I come in?”
“Yeah.”
Yelena opened the door slowly to find Kate curled up on the edge of the bed and petting Fork through the bars of his cage with her pinkie. Tears glistened on her cheeks. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just… I got a call from my mom.”
“How did it go?” Yelena asked, sitting next to her.
“Pretty well,” Kate said, sitting up and leaning toward Yelena. “She got the books I sent her. She liked them. And I’m gonna go visit her next week and tell her all about our Christmas, so that’ll be fun. It’s just… I wish she was here.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, детка,” Yelena breathed, wrapping her arms around her comfortingly. Kate buried her head in Yelena’s shoulder as she started to cry. “I know how hard it must be to be away from her, especially on Christmas. I wish I could’ve gotten her out for you. You did all of this for me, and I hate that I can’t do the same for you.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to her being in prison. I mean, it took years for it to feel normal without my dad around, and sometimes it still feels weird. And now my mom’s gone too. And I know it’s different, but still, it just… it sucks!” Kate sobbed.
“I know, baby. I know.” Yelena kissed her forehead gently and rubbed her back, slowly rocking them back and forth.
“I’m sorry,” Kate sniffled, pulling away a few minutes later. “I didn’t mean to ruin the mood. It’s Christmas, I shouldn’t be crying.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Yelena said quickly. Her tone left no room for argument. “How many times have you told me not to apologize for my emotions, huh? It goes for you, too. You can cry whenever you need to.”
“Thanks.”
“Do you… do you want me to stay? Or I can give you some time alone, or I can go get Barton-”
“No, I want you.” Kate grabbed her hand, her voice sounding small and desperate. “Just give me… just give me five minutes. Then I’ll be good.”
“Of course, my love. Take your time.”
Yelena continued to rub her back as Kate fell back into her. Yelena let her trace nonsense patterns on her palm as the breath from her nose tickled her neck. She lost count of how many kisses she pressed into her hairline.
“I told her about the trick arrows you made for me,” Kate said after a while. Her voice was hoarse from crying.
“Oh yeah? What did she say?”
“Well, first she said they sound dangerous. I told her they’re only dangerous for the other guy.” Yelena could hear the small smile in her voice. “Then she said that it sounds like you really get me. And that you must really care about me a lot to go to the trouble of making them for me.”
“She’s right, I do.”
“She wants you to come with me when I visit her next week. If you want to, of course. But she wants to get to know you better. I think she’s finally realizing that you’re here to stay.”
“I’d like that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, of course. It’ll be fun.”
Kate smiled up at her before leaning in and kissing her lips. “Thank you, Lena.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I would do anything for you, Kate Bishop.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Kate kissed her again, soft and languid, her fingers trailing gently across Yelena’s thigh and under her hoodie. Then she pulled away and wiped her eyes again, shaking her head. “Okay, I’m ready to go back out there. How do I look?”
“Beautiful. Just like you always do.”
“Yeah, but what are they going to think?”
“How could anyone think any differently?”
“I meant, can you tell I’ve been crying?” Kate said exasperatedly, grinning at her.
“Oh, I know. I’m just messing with you.” Kate turned to grab one of the pillows off the bed and slammed it into her chest. Yelena laughed. “Okay, okay, I surrender! You look fine, baby. No one will know.”
“Okay, good.”
“You know what you haven’t done yet?”
“What?”
“You haven’t heard an embarrassing story about me.”
Yelena smiled to herself as Kate’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah, that’s right! We’re doing that now.”
“We?”
“Well, yeah, it’s no fun hearing the story if you’re not there to be embarrassed by it.” She grabbed Yelena’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, let’s go!”
“Who are you going to ask?”
“Hmmmm. Well, my first thought would be to ask Ava, Bob, or John, since you spend the most time with them and would be more comfortable doing “embarrassing” things around them. But they already tell me all the good stuff anyway, so whatever they haven’t told me yet isn’t going to be very good.”
“Wait, what all have they told you?”
“And Alexei would be my next thought, since he’s your dad, but he’s not going to have the same idea of what’s embarrassing that you do. And he tells me all the cute things you do already, so he probably won’t have anything good either.”
“How often do you talk to my dad about me behind my back?”
“Not often, really. He just sends me the pictures he takes whenever you fall asleep next to him on the couch or when you wear anything with the New Avengers logo on it.”
Yelena raised an eyebrow at her. “You need to tell him to stop.”
“I have! Trust me, I never respond to them. But it’s harmless; most of them are just blurry selfies anyway. He just loves you and thinks you’re adorable, and I happen to agree.”
Yelena crossed her arms and glared at her for a few moments. Then she sighed. “Fine, whatever. So who are you going to ask, then? Bucky?”
“Yes! Exactly, Bucky. You spend a lot of time with him, too, but he doesn’t talk to me unless you’re here, so I’ve never heard any stories from him. He seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t like to gossip, so he probably has a lot of stories that he’s never told anyone. And if anything ever happened while the two of you were working on mission plans late into the night like you two like to do, then he’ll be the only one who knows about it.”
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve thought about this so much,” Yelena sighed. She tried to look annoyed, she really did, but she loved that about Kate far too much to keep it from her eyes. “Go on, then. Ask him.”
“Ask me what?” Bucky looked up from his spot on the couch, where he’d already started reading the book Ava got for him.
“Yelena and I had a bet on the way over here, and she lost. So now I get to ask one of her teammates to tell me an embarrassing story about her.” Kate vaulted over the back of the couch to sit next to him, a shit-eating grin on her face. “So, do you have any good stories?”
“An embarrassing story about Yelena? Hmmm… ooh, I’ve got one,” Bucky smiled. “So this happened a couple months ago. We’d just gotten back from some mission, and we decided to have a team movie night. But Yelena was exhausted, so she fell asleep almost immediately.”
“Oh, no, I know what this is,” Yelena groaned.
“And in her sleep, she latched onto my arm and would not let go. But it was my vibranium arm, so I just took it off and let her cuddle with it because I didn’t want to wake her or get covered in drool.”
Kate snorted, and Bucky smirked. Yelena glared at her.
“So the movie ends, and we’re all just hanging out, finishing our snacks, and waiting to see if she’s ever going to wake up. But at this point, she is out. Must’ve overworked herself that week or something. She was even mumbling in her sleep, I wish I remembered what she was saying. But somehow, over the course of the movie, she’d managed to turn my arm around so that my fingers are up by her face. And then she rolls over, and my finger, like, pokes her, and it wakes her up. And she screams so loud! I mean, it was impressive. I’ve never heard anyone scream like that! I don’t think she could make a sound that high-pitched again if she tried.”
“Oh my god, that story is amazing!” Kate laughed. “Baby, that’s so cute!”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Yelena rolled her eyes.
“What were you dreaming about that made you scream like that? I’ve seen you get woken up by a cold dog nose to the face, and you barely react!”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“Thank you, Bucky, that was absolutely worth it!” Kate wiped a tear from her eye, and Yelena wasn’t sure if she was exaggerating or not. Bucky winked at her; they both knew he could’ve told a worse story. But then he smirked again, and the feeling of dread returned.
“So, what was this bet?” he asked.
“Oh, no, we don’t need to..”
“I think we do, babe,” Kate grinned. “I mean, quid pro quo and all that. Besides, it’s not that bad.”
“Yeah, but I don’t trust you right now.” Yelena narrowed her eyes, but her tone was playful.
“You tell it, then.”
“Alright, I will. On the way here, we stopped at a place in Pennsylvania to do a hamburger-eating challenge. Kate ate the whole thing, and I couldn’t, so I lost.”
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Kate teased. Yelena stuck her tongue out at her.
“A hamburger eating contest? Really?”
“Yeah, it was fun! And the best part is, Yelena got a free t-shirt!”
“Wait, shouldn’t you have gotten a free t-shirt? You’re the one who completed the challenge.”
“Yeah, I did, but Yelena’s was better.”
“This is why I don’t trust you,” Yelena muttered.
“Well, now I have to see the t-shirt,” Bucky grinned.
“No, you really don’t.”
“I really think I do.”
“Yeah, show us the shirt, Lena!” Ava said, walking in from the kitchen.
“You don’t even know what we’re talking about!”
“Yeah, but you look uncomfortable, so that means it’s gonna be embarrassing for you and funny for us.”
“What’s gonna be embarrassing for her and funny for us?” John asked as he and Bob walked over. Alexei wasn’t far behind.
“You’re drawing a crowd, babe. I think you know what you’ve gotta do.”
“I don’t have to do shit.”
“Yelena, language! There’s a child here,” Kate said, scooping Nate up as he ran by. “Do you want to see Auntie Lena’s new shirt, buddy?”
“Yeah!”
“Come on, you have to show us now! You can’t say no to this face!” she cooed, swinging Nate back and forth in her arms as he giggled. Yelena gaped at her.
“Oh, that is dirty, Kate Bishop! How dare you weaponize his sweet little face?”
But Kate just shrugged her shoulders and grinned at her.
“What shirt is this? I want to see it!” Alexei bellowed.
“Come on, Yelena, show us the shirt!” Ava chanted. John, Bob, Kate, and Nathaniel quickly joined in. “Show us the shirt! Show us the shirt!”
“Fine,” she sighed, trying to hide her smile as they all cheered. “You’re making way too big a deal out of this.”
“We’ll be the judge of that,” Bucky said.
So Yelena went to put on the stupid t-shirt. They cheered again when she walked back out into the living room, and everyone had a good laugh at the stupid saying on the t-shirt. Yelena didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help it; she had to laugh, too. It was funny, and everything was funnier with her family around.
“Where is this restaurant?” Alexei asked. "I want to go, I will defeat this challenge in record time!”
“I think you’d be disqualified; they had rules about superpowered individuals in the fine print,” Yelena said.
“Well, I still want to try it!”
“Of course, you do.”
Then, suddenly, the sound of laughter was punctuated by loud barking. Fanny began jumping up on them, trying to lick as many faces as she could, her tail wagging furiously.
“Okay, okay, let's go outside!” Yelena cried once she finally grabbed her collar. “She needs to go run around some more.”
“We should run with her!” Nathaniel cheered. “Come on, let’s go play!”
“Oh, honey, I don’t know if-”
But Laura was cut off by a chorus of agreement from the New Avengers. Kate had been right; none of them could say no to Nate’s cute little face. They all put their coats on and ran outside, chasing each other around. Snowballs were thrown, a snowman was attempted and destroyed, and they made a game out of trying to tackle Ava before she could phase out of the way. They were playing and laughing like children, the New Avengers almost having more fun than Nate. Soon, the other Bartons joined them, and the house was left empty as they all enjoyed the freshly fallen snow. Yelena had never had so much fun.
But it had to come to an end eventually, of course, and soon the others had to leave. They said their goodbyes and climbed into Valentina’s private jet, which they’d somehow managed to hide behind the barn, leaving just Kate, Yelena, and the Bartons. Nate got everyone to color with him for a bit, and it turned out to be the perfect relaxing activity for her. Nothing she drew looked quite the way she wanted it to, but Cooper assured her that all her drawings were better than the fish. And when they decided to put the crayons away, Nate gave her a picture he drew of her and Natasha… and a lion in the background. Then, they ended the day by drinking hot cocoa, eating leftovers, and watching more Christmas movies. Die Hard became yet another favorite of Yelena’s. And before she knew it, Christmas day was over, and she and Kate were climbing into bed.
“Oh, I almost forgot! I have one more present to give you,” she said just before she pulled back the covers. Yelena’s heart began to pound.
“No, Kate Bishop, you didn’t! You’ve given me too much already.”
“Not possible,” Kate smiled.
“Yes, it is! You’re doing too much, I can’t take it. I appreciate it, I really do, but it’s… it’s overwhelming.”
Kate froze. “Wait, really?”
“Yes,” Yelena sighed. She tried to blink away the tears in her eyes. “I have loved every minute of this trip, truly. But I’m not used to all of this. It’s so much. I mean, I’ve never had more than one gift to open at a time before, and I can probably count the number of gifts I have had on one hand. And it’s not that I don’t want this, but I just… I… the emotions are too much.”
“I’m sorry,” Kate said softly. “I didn’t think about it like that. I never meant to overwhelm you.”
“I know, it’s okay. I’m sorry, I feel like I’m being ungrateful-”
“You’re not. I know you’re not,” Kate reassured her. She held Yelena’s hand tightly, her touch grounding her.
“I guess… I just don’t know how to handle this much love.”
“That’s okay, baby. We have the rest of our lives for you to learn how.” Kate kissed her hand lovingly. Yelena gazed at her, mouth agape, getting lost in her deep blue eyes.
“Thank you,” she breathed.
“Of course. And this is the last surprise, I promise. You don’t have to open it now if you don’t want to, we can save it-”
“When did I say I don’t want my present?”
“That’s what I figured,” Kate smirked, handing her the gift bag. Yelena gave her a shy smile as she wiped her eyes.
“Why didn’t you give this to me this morning?”
“I didn’t want Nate to get jealous.”
Yelena raised an eyebrow at her. “What could you have gotten me that a little boy would be jealous of?”
“Open it, and you’ll see.”
So Yelena did just that. And Kate was right, Nathaniel probably would’ve been jealous. Who wouldn’t want a hammerhead shark stuffed animal?
“Oh my god, it’s so cute!” Yelena gushed, holding it to her chest. “I love it!”
“I knew you would, baby,” Kate grinned.
“It’s so soft!”
“I know, right?”
“I think this little guy might be better to cuddle with than you.”
Now it was Kate’s turn to raise an eyebrow at her. “What, you’re going to turn me into that meme?”
“I might,” Yelena teased.
“Yeah, okay, sure.” Kate rolled her eyes and lay back against her pillow.
“I’m just kidding, детка.” Yelena lay down next to her and wrapped her arm around her middle, squashing the stuffed shark between them. She kissed Kate’s shoulder with a smile. “I think today was the best day of my life.”
“Oh yeah? Really?”
“Yeah. And you know, every time I’ve thought that, I’ve been with you.” Kate shifted around so she could press a kiss to Yelena’s forehead. “And I keep thinking, there’s no way she can top this. It can’t get any better. But it still does.” Yelena grinned up at Kate reverently. “You’re amazing, Kate Bishop. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Yelena.” Kate kissed her deeply, her snaking her arm around her waist to pull her impossibly closer. Yelena had no idea how long they stayed like that. But they did eventually turn off the light, and she fell asleep with her nose buried in the crook of Kate’s neck.
They arose early the next morning and packed as quickly as they could, eager to get on the road and start their long journey home. They weren’t eager to leave, of course, but the Bartons assured them that they’d get together again soon. Clint even threatened to bring the whole family to stay in Kate’s apartment. And then they were off, with two days of driving through the snow and their own warm beds ahead of them. There would be no eating contests or giant cows on the return trip. But they had decided to make one stop in Ohio on the second day.
“Here we are,” Yelena sighed as she parked outside the cemetery. Kate squeezed her hand.
“You can do this.”
“I know.” Yelena gave her a sad smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
Then Fanny barked and shoved her nose into Yelena’s side.
“Okay, okay, we’re going,” she chuckled. She scratched Fanny’s ears as Kate hooked the leashes onto her and Lucky, and they got out and started walking toward Natasha’s grave. The cemetery looked different now that it was covered in snow, but Yelena knew exactly where she was going. She didn’t even need to think about it, almost as if some otherworldly force was guiding her feet. Then they reached the little bridge, and Yelena’s breath caught in her throat. “We’re here.”
Kate took Fanny’s leash from her silently, and she drifted to the headstone as if in a trance. She brushed the snow off of it and ran her fingers across the letters of her name, ingraining the feeling of every divot in the cold stone into her mind. Then she let out a long, low whistle.
“Привет, старшая сестра. It’s been a while. I still miss you every day. But I’m doing really good now. You would be proud. Alexei and Melina are in my life again, and they want to really be my parents now. Alexei does the most. He’s… well, he’s Alexei. But he’s actually a really good dad. He and Melina aren’t really together, but they’re still gross. But it’s also kind of nice that they like each other. Makes us feel like a normal family. And we still talk about you all the time. I just spent my first Christmas with them, actually. At Barton’s farm. He’s so lame, I don’t know why you liked him so much. But spending time with him makes me feel closer to you. And I think I do the same for him. He gave me your necklace, and it looks way better on me. I’m never going to take it off. And his kids are wonderful. Nate drew me a picture of you and me. He says he doesn’t remember you, but his daddy tells him stories all the time. Cooper and Lila remember you, though. They were telling me stories. And they all call me Auntie Lena now. It was almost the whole family. And my other family was there too, the New Avengers. That’s right, I’m an avenger, just like you! And I’m the leader of the team. We’re way better than you guys ever were. They really are my family, though. I would be lost without them. Alexei is on the team, too, which is definitely weird. But I like getting to be so close to him. And your old friend Bucky is on the team. He’s like everyone’s grumpy uncle. He says I remind him of you. Says he likes me better, though. Then there’s Bob, he’s like my little brother. He’s sweet, you would like him. I feel the need to protect him all the time, even when he doesn’t need it. Just like you always protected me. He and I are similar. We have similar pain. But he makes it better. Then there’s John, my stupid, annoying older brother. But I love him too. You would’ve enjoyed messing with him, it’s very easy. Then there’s Ava, she’s my best friend. She’s, uh… she’s like a second sister to me. Her past was both the same and very different from ours, and we’re learning how to be normal people together. It’s so fun. You would love her. I love them all so much. They all take care of me, and I take care of them. We are a real family, and I hope that’s what the Avengers were to you. And getting to have them all together… a real big family Christmas, it was a dream come true. I never thought I could have that. It feels so cruel to say when you’re gone, but my life is the best it’s ever been. Better than I ever hoped for. I’m so thankful.” She looked up and saw Kate still standing awkwardly by the bridge with the dogs, and she stood and wiped her eyes before waving her over. “And this is the person I’m most thankful for. She’s the one who brought us all together for Christmas. I wish you could meet her most of all.” Kate approached her slowly, looking afraid to speak. Yelena took her hand and pulled her close with a warm smile. “This is Kate Bishop. She is the love of my life. And now that you’re gone, she’s my favorite person in the world. She is the best person- and perhaps the only truly good person that I’ve ever met.”
“Hi, Natasha,” Kate said softly, giving the gravestone a small wave. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Yelena beamed up at Kate and hugged her close. “It’s okay, you can talk to her. Or not, that’s okay too.”
“Yelena’s told me so much about you. And so have Clint and Laura. I… I really wish I could’ve met you while you were still here. But I hope you know I’m taking care of them.”
“Better than anybody,” Yelena whispered. “She would’ve loved you.”
“I’m sure I would’ve loved her, too.”
“I told her about you the last time I was here. About when we met. I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve been here.”
“Yeah, it can be hard to visit as often as you want. I haven’t seen my dad in a long time, either.”
“Maybe we can visit him when we get back home.”
She felt Kate’s breath shudder in her chest, and she held her tighter. “I’d like that,” she smiled, resting her head on Yelena’s shoulder. “It’s about time he met you.”
They stayed for a little over an hour, until Kate was shivering, and Yelena decided to ignore her insistence that she was fine. They talked about everything from their first date to Christmas, telling every story they could think of. Sometimes they talked to Natasha, and sometimes they talked to each other, but Yelena could feel her the whole time. It was the happiest she’d ever been visiting Natasha, the experience marked by love and hope instead of grief. The grief wasn’t gone; it would never be truly gone. But it wasn’t weighing her down any longer. Her heart was full of so much more now. And as she and Kate said their goodbyes and finally began to walk away, their perfect American Christmas finally at an end, Yelena heard the wind whistle through the trees.