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He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
Oh! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Steve Rogers sat on the floor in the living room of his spacious Brooklyn home, attempting to tie a red bow around a festively wrapped box. The house might not have been big by most modern standards, but considering he could fit the entirety of the apartment where he grew up, inside the living room, it seemed huge to him. Still, it was in his beloved Brooklyn, even if it was the fancier part that his mother never could have afforded when he was a kid, and the yard was surprisingly big for a single-family home in the city. The neighbors were friendly and didn’t treat him any different, even if he suspected more kids dressed up as Avengers to trick-or-treat at his house on Halloween, than was strictly normal.
“Hey babe? Can you help me for just a second? I just need you to hold your finger right here while I tie.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever asked how is it that a man who grew up in the Depression is so good at wrapping presents?” Sharon, his wife of five years, marveled, as she sat down beside him and held her finger to the knot.
“We didn’t have much, but my Mom went out of her way to make what we did have as special as she could. She’d bake cookies for friends and neighbors and we’d wrap them in tissue paper or whatever we had handy that looked nice,” he shrugged. “I loved helping her.” He finished tying the bow and slid the gift under their large twinkling Christmas tree. They stood up and Sharon took his hand, leading him over to the couch.
“That’s enough present wrapping for tonight,” she suggested, cuddling up to him when he pulled her into his arms. “I’d like to spend some quality time with my husband.”
A grin spread across his face and he wiggled his eyebrows at her salaciously. “What a great idea. How ‘bout I take my best girl upstairs and remind her why she agreed to marry me in the first place?”
“Really, Rogers? You think that at is the reason I married you?”
“Well, I’m hoping that it’s at least one reason. One really enjoyable reason.” He pulled her closer and kissed her, one hand tangling into her hair.
“It certainly was a factor,” she replied breathlessly between kisses. Even after years together, Sharon was amazed at how easily they found themselves lost in each other. So much so that they barely heard the click of a door opening upstairs.
“Uh oh, incoming,” Steve whispered, as he broke off the kiss.
They both turned toward the circular wooden stairs in time to see a tiny little blonde-haired girl holding on to the railing as she carefully took each step one by one. She wore a frilly green nightgown with candy canes decorating the front, and in her free hand she clutched her favorite stuffed animal, a well-loved Bucky Bear that Bucky brought to her when he and Sam visited her in the hospital after she was born. The twinkling Christmas lights from the banister reflected in her tear stained eyes.
“What happened, Angel?” Steve scooped his daughter into his arms from the last step. She buried her tiny face in his shoulder as he carried her back over to Sharon on the couch.
“I’m scared, Daddy,” she sobbed.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
She nodded her head solemnly, wiped the tears from her eyes, and sat back on Steve’s knees to face them both. Sharon recognized her attempt to be brave and gave her an encouraging smile. “You wanna tell us about it?”
It took her a moment to gather her thoughts, and Steve and Sharon waited patiently as she cuddled her bear and worked out what she wanted to say.
“Earlier today, when we were at Uncle Tony’s tower, Nate and Lila were coloring with me. I said that you and Daddy were going to take me to see Santa Claus tomorrow at Macy’s, and I asked if they wanted to come, too.”
Sharon nodded her head and listened intently to their little girl’s story. They had spent the day at the Tower going over intel and assessing threats that AIM were working on, because getting married, having kids, and even Christmas didn’t stop the threats the world faced. The Barton kids were staying at the Tower with Natasha, while Clint and Laura spent the day with Cooper visiting West Point and Empire State for college tours.
When she was at the Tower, 14-year-old Lila Barton was always happy to babysit while the Avengers took care of business, especially because Steve would slip her a $20 for her time, even though Clint insisted that she should do it for free because they were family.
“Well, Nate told me that he would never go see Santa anymore because Santa is so scary! He said that he has big scary claws, which is why he’s really called Santa Claus!” Both Steve and Sharon had to stifle their laughter. Obviously, someone had decided to show little seven-year-old Nate The Nightmare Before Christmas.
“Mama?” She turned her trusting eyes to Sharon. “Is it true that he can see me when I’m sleeping, like the song says? That’s creepy, isn’t it? How can he tell when I’m awake if he’s not watching me?”
“Oh sweetie, that’s just a song,” Sharon replied, but she was too worked up to listen. Sharon always got a kick out of moments like this because she could see the indignant Captain Steve Rogers, who never met a dramatic speech that he didn’t want to give, in their daughter, and it made her love them both even more.
“I try to be good, just like the song says. I share my safe toys with Baby Maria when we visit Uncle Tony and Auntie Pepper, and I’m never mean to other kids on purpose. I try not to tell fibs and I listen to what adults tell me to do. The song says not to cry, but I’m little, and sometimes I forget that part. In my dream Santa came to take me away because I wasn’t good enough. I tried to be brave, but I couldn’t, and Santa took me away from you.”
“Sarah Margaret Rogers,” Steve interrupted in his best dad voice. “We won’t let anyone ever take you away from us, Sweetie. You wanna know something else? You are named after two of the bravest people your Mommy and I have ever known, but even they had moments where they were scared. It’s okay to be afraid, sweetie. It doesn’t mean that you’re weak or bad, it just means that you are human. Everyone, even Santa Claus, is afraid sometimes.”
“Besides,” Sharon added. “You are super brave. Remember when Uncle Sam and Uncle Bucky came to help us put up the Christmas tree, and there was a spider in it? Who was brave enough to scoop the spider up in a cup and set him loose outside in the backyard?”
A little smile broke across her face. “Well, I didn’t anyone to hurt it, in case it was one of Spider-Man’s friends,” she giggled.
“There ya go,” Sharon nodded. “Brave and kind. Just like your Daddy.”
“So, what do you say that we go upstairs and go back to sleep, Sarah Bear?” Steve scooped her up again and headed for the stairs. “We’ll go visit Santa tomorrow and you can see for yourself that Nate was mistaken about the claws. Maybe you can even ask him what his name really means.”
She looked at Steve with big round eyes. He had no idea what she was about to say, but it was the same look that Sharon gave him when she wanted something, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to deny either of them anything when they looked at him that way.
“Can I stay with you and Mommy tonight, just in case I get scared again?”
Steve glanced at Sharon. “What do you think, Mommy? Do we have room for the sweetest little girl I know and her Bucky Bear, just for tonight?”
Sharon nodded, as she joined them at the stairs. “I think so.”
“Yay!” she squealed, as Steve started up the stairs with her. “Mommy will keep us safe!”
“Hey, wait a minute,” Steve objected as they rounded the staircase and headed for the bedroom. “I’m Captain America! I keep everyone safe!”
The little girl shook her head. “You might keep everyone else safe with your big shield, Daddy, but if someone has to fight Santa Claus, it should be Mommy. I don’t think Captain America fighting Santa would be a good thing for your image, ‘specially if Santa beats you.”
Steve looked back at Sharon, who was barely containing her laughter. “You’re right, sweet girl. Mommy is much braver than me anyway.” He lifted her up above his head and flew her the rest of the way down the hall, making airplane noises while she giggled uncontrollably.
Sharon turned out the hallway light and sighed contentedly, as she followed her husband and daughter through the bedroom door.