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Natasha felt like she had never celebrated Christmas. Ohio didn’t count, the photos were staged and the boxes under the tree were empty. The few Christmases that had felt real were just a waiting game, terrified for the moment she would have to return to the red room.
Despite their relationship being relatively new, when Maria suggested that they celebrate Christmas together, Natasha jumped at the opportunity. Natasha figured it could be good for both of them- Maria had mentioned her parents being too drunk to care about giving their children a good Christmas. It would be a great opportunity for the both of them to have a clean slate to start their own traditions.
'Hey Nat,' Maria called out from the entrance way where she was hanging up her coat. 'Hey Masha,' Natasha replied. 'I got the turkey,' Maria said, putting the plastic bags she was holding on the counter. 'Oooh yay, I can't wait!' Natasha replied with a smile, placing a quick kiss on her girlfriend's lips. Maria paused to sniff the air as she smelt something burning. 'Nat, did you burn something?' Maria asked, eyebrows creased as she stared at the stove in confusion. 'Nope,' Natasha said unconvincingy, eyes flicking to the rubbish bin so briefly that most people wouldn't notice the slight movement, but Maria was a spy after all. Maria smirked and walked over to the bin, pressing the pedal to open it which revealed a pile of blackened cookies. 'Did you try to bake cookies?' Maria asked. Natasha went red, 'yeah I wanted to surprise you, but I've never baked anything before and it didn't go so well,' Natasha said, a slight blush painting her cheeks. 'I can help you make some cookies if you want?' Maria offered with a smile. 'Really?' Natasha asked, her face lighting up. 'Of course, new traditions right?' Maria said with a smile. Natasha hugged her girlfriend, 'I won't burn anything else,' she said with a laugh. Maria wrapped her arms around the redhead and kissed the top of her head.
After a few hours of baking, Maria and Natasha had an abundance of different Christmas cookies. It was already late in the afternoon as Natasha had somehow managed to get flour on the ceiling, so it had taken the women a while to clean up. Maria sunk down on the couch and Natasha walked in carrying two mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies. Maria smiled and grabbed her mug and the plate so Natasha could sit down. Natasha settled on the couch next to Maria, their sides pressed together. Natasha grabbed the tv remote and started playing the Christmas movie.
Throughout the movie, Natasha had moved around a lot, by the time the credits showed on screen she was sitting on Maria's lap. Natasha grabbed the remote and switched the tv off. She then turned and wrapped her legs around Maria's waist. She looked into Maria's eyes, 'hey,' Maria said with a loving smile. She reached out and pushed a strand of Natasha's hair behind her ear. 'Hey,' Natasha replied softly before leaning down and pressing her forehead against Maria's. Maria pushed her head upwards and caught Natasha's lips with her own. The kiss was slow and tender, lips pressing against each other. The kiss got progressively more intense, Maria’s hands snaked around so they were under Natasha’s ass. Maria caught Natasha's bottom lip in her teeth, allowing both women to catch their breath.
'I'm so excited to celebrate my first real Christmas with you Masha,' Natasha breathed out, her forehead once again resting against Maria's. Maria smiled and pulled her into another kiss. Maria pushed Natasha down so she was lying on the couch. 'Hmm, you sure you don't want to take this to the bedroom?' Natasha asked, eyebrow raised. Maria just smirked and reached under Natasha's hoodie to cup one of her breasts. She pinched a nipple and Natasha gasped in pleasure. 'I'll take that as a no,' Natasha replied breathlessly, leaning up to catch Maria's lips.
Maria settled in bed next to Natasha, pulling the thick blanket over herself. 'Hey, blanket thief,' Natasha said with a pout, pulling the blanket back. Maria pulled it back again so Natasha just gave up and rolled over so she was partially on top of Maria. 'Did you just do that to get me on top of you?' Natasha asked. Maria laughed, 'I thought it would be nice for you to be on top for once'. Natasha chuckled lightly and snuggled her head further into the crook of Maria's neck.
'Morning Nat,' Maria whispered, kissing her forehead. Natasha slowly stirred awake, squinting in the soft light shining through the curtains. 'Hey Mia,' Natasha said quietly before yawning and snuggling into Maria's body. 'It's Christmas,' Natasha whispered. 'I know, I wonder if it's going to snow?' Maria whispered back. 'Oooh, I hope so,' Natasha said excitedly, rolling over to look out the window at the city below.
'Since this basically both of our first Christmas, I did some research and made a list of things we should do,' Maria said. Natasha took a bite of her breakfast before speaking, 'okay, sounds great'. 'First on the list is opening the presents I got you,' Maria said. 'Awww you got me presents?' Natasha asked teasingly. Maria smirked, 'trust me, I'll be getting some enjoyment out of them too'. 'Then we'll have Christmas dinner, nothing too fancy because there's only two of us,' Maria added. Natasha nodded for her to continue. 'And then I thought we could go for a walk in the city, see the lights and then go ice skating tonight,' Maria added. Natasha smiled widely, 'I can't wait'.
Natasha grabbed the first present from under the tree and tore open the wrapping paper. ‘Oooh another book!’ Natasha said with a smile, then she frowned when she looked at the title. ‘I don’t speak Italian’. ‘I know, but I do, so I figured that when you’ve finished reading the Russian book to me then it’ll be my turn,’ Maria explained. ‘That’d be nice,’ Natasha said with a grateful smile before grabbing another gift. She ripped open the paper and a very lacy garment fell to the ground. ‘You got me lingerie?’ Natasha asked with a smirk. ‘I told you I’d be getting some enjoyment out of your gifts too, and besides, red is really your colour,’ Maria said with a shrug. Natasha opened her last gift, eyes widening in excitement. ‘These are my favourite knives!’ Natasha exclaimed, smiling widely. Maria laughed, ‘I know, just refrain from killing Barton with them’. Natasha rolled her eyes, ‘No promises’. ‘Come on, my present for you is also something we’ll both enjoy,’ Natasha said with a smile. She grabbed Maria by the hand and dragged her out to the balcony. ‘Jesus Nat, it’s freezing,’ Maria said, the cold air biting her cheeks.
‘It’ll be quick, I promise,’ Natasha said. She pulled a piece of mistletoe out of her back pocket. Maria smiled warmly. ‘I was reading about Christmas traditions, and I figured we couldn’t miss this one,’ Natasha said. She held the mistletoe above her head, reaching up on her toes to make sure it was above Maria’s as well. Maria pulled Natasha forward and pressed their lips together, tongues clashing as they made out. Maria grabbed Natasha’s hand that was held above her head and took the mistletoe, holding it just above her own head hight. Natasha smirked against Maria’s lips, before pulling away and speaking softly ‘if you make a short joke about me now then there will be no more kissing under the mistletoe’. ‘That would be a disaster,’ Maria whispered back with a grin. She moved her free arm around Natasha’s waist and pulled her in for another kiss.
‘That smells amazing Maria,’ Natasha called from the living room where she was watching Christmas movies. Natasha had been banned from helping in the kitchen that day due to the burnt cookies and flour incident. ‘Can you set the table?’ Maria called out to Natasha. Natasha wondered in to the kitchen and grabbed the cutlery and plates. She also got two wine glasses. A few minutes later, Maria brought the food out to the table. Natasha’s eyes widened. ‘Surely we can’t eat all of this?’ Natasha asked. Maria rolled her eyes and smiled, ‘there’ll be lots of leftovers, and I’m sure Barton will raid our fridge’. Natasha nodded, ‘it looks incredible Mia,’ she said with a smile. Maria returned the smile, ‘I hope it tastes incredible too’.
'I know you're Russian Nat, but you still need to at least bring a scarf and gloves, it's freezing out,' Maria said as she laced up her boots. 'I'll be fine,' Natasha insisted, walking out the door excitedly. Maria rolled her eyes and stuffed a spare pair of gloves in her pocket before closing and locking the door. The two women walked out onto the usually bustling streets. Most people were indoors and celebrating Christmas with their families. 'Do you ever wish for a normal Christmas?' Natasha asked. 'What do you mean?' Maria asked with a frown. 'Like suburban house with a picket fence Christmas?' Natasha explained. 'Not really, my family tried to be like that, but my dad would always get drunk and beat me harder than usual,' Maria said sadly. 'I'm sorry Maria,' Natasha said, hugging the taller woman and patting her back comfortingly. 'It's fine, it sounds no worse than the Christmases you had in Ohio,' Maria said. 'I guess this will be the first normal Christmas we both have then?’ Natasha said.
The women walked through the unusually quiet park, admiring the trees which had been delicately strung with Christmas lights. The sky was darkening behind the city lights as the evening neared. Natasha was getting cold, so she huddled closer to Maria, hooking her arm around the brunette's. 'Hah, told you that you'd get cold,' Maria said with a smirk. Natasha pouted, trying to huddle as close to Maria as possible. Maria rolled her eyes and pulled the pair of gloves out of her pocket. 'You're lucky I came prepared,' Maria said. Natasha took the gloves gratefully and put them on her cold hands. She then grabbed Maria's hand, giving it a squeeze. 'Thanks,' Natasha said with a smile.
'Do you want to sit down for a minute?' Maria asked, gesturing to a bench with a good view of the park. 'Sure,' Natasha replied. Maria sat on the bench and Natasha lay across it with her head in Maria's lap. The women sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before it started to snow lightly. 'It's snowing Masha!' Natasha said excitedly. 'I know,' Maria replied, looking down at her girlfriend lovingly. Natasha stuck her tongue out in an attempt to catch a snowflake. Maria laughed, stroking Natasha's hair with her hand. She smiled down at her girlfriend, taking a deep breath. 'I love you Natasha,' Maria said softly. Natasha looked up and retracted her tongue into her mouth, her eyes widened. 'You love me?' Natasha asked. 'Yes, I do love you,' Maria said. 'I don't know what love feels like,' Natasha said. Maria frowned, 'there's no definition for love, I didn’t really know what love was before I met you'. There was silence for a minute as Natasha was deep in thought, after a while she spoke, ‘I think I love you too’.
'I love you,' Natasha said, grabbing onto Maria's hand as they slowly skated on the ice. 'Huh, it feels weird to say,' she added. 'A good weird?' Maria asked. 'A great weird,' Natasha reassured. Maria smiled and let go of Natasha’s hand so she skated off, spinning gracefully. 'Of course you're amazing at ice skating,' Maria said, rolling her eyes. 'It's like ballet,' Natasha said with a smile. She then skated towards Maria and put her arms around the taller woman’s waist. She rested her forehead against Maria’s, warm breath visible in the cold.
Natasha moved carefully, never letting go of Maria. Despite her inexperience, Maria managed to stay relatively in tune with Natasha’s movements. The woman skated on the ice, their arms wrapped around each other. Natasha ducked her head into the crook of Maria’s neck. ‘Thank you Masha, this has been the best first Christmas ever,’
Natasha whispered. Maria smiled down at Natasha and kissed her hair, ‘It really has’.