Longing (Steve Rogers x reader)

Decorating the tree

"Are you kids ready to decorate the Christmas tree?" Clint asked at the supper table. You had been wrapping most of the day, and Steve still had a huge grin on his face. Bucky had passed on the message about the evening attire, and everyone was in their pajamas for the evening.
"Yes!" Nathaniel and Connor said almost immediately.
"Of course" Lila smiled broadly, making doe eyes at Bucky who just nodded. She seemed a little taken with Bucky, but he was none the wiser.
"And you three?" Clint asked, looking pointedly at you, Steve, and Bucky.
"Very excited" you nodded and gave a smile. Steve nodded at the same time as Bucky, and Steve wrapped one arm around your shoulders and gave you a kiss on the cheek.
"Did you get all your wrapping done?" Laura asked you, with a bit of a smirk.
"I had Steve's help. I even let him have one before we started" you giggled.
"Is it the one I'm thinking of?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes" you nodded.
"Best gift I ever got" Steve smiled broadly.
"What was it?" Bucky asked curiously.
"I'll tell you at Christmas" Steve shook his head. "This one is just for us right now" he said cryptically.
"You know I'm going to figure it out," Bucky chuckled. "You haven't been able to keep a secret from me since we were kids."
"This one I will," Steve said with confidence.
"Well we can't wait to find out" Clint gave a fatherly smile. "I was thinking about Christmas, and I think I can make two bedrooms in the basement and have a large gaming room down there. The boys will move down there, and then there's room for Nat, Bruce, Yelena and Bucky"
"Yelena is coming?" you asked curiously.
"Nat's trying to talk her into it. Tony is trying to convince Nat and I to spend Christmas at the compound and bring our families there. He knows where we go, the rest of you will go" Clint admitted. "It's been an ongoing text today. I think Tony wants to do a big family thing."
"I'm good either way, although I do love coming here" you sighed.
"Don't forget Loki and Thor if they don't go to Asgard. They will be coming with Y/N" Bucky pointed out.
"True, Loki will follow Y/N, and Thor will follow his brother" Clint hummed to himself. "I do have two weeks off before Christmas booked for vacation..." he drifted off seeming deep in thought.
"Why don't we worry about it later, and see what happens" Laura put her hand on Clint's shoulder and he nodded, but was clearly still deep in thought. "Honey," she said a little more sternly. "Dear, you are not tearing apart this house again. I agreed to the basement because it gives the boys more room but we are not adding another addition to this house this year" Laura told him, and he flushed but took her hand with a nod and kissed the back of it.
"We will talk about it" he gave a dazzling smile.
"No way dad, you say that and then the next thing we know there's lumber in the yard" Connor pointed out quickly.
"The answer is no. There's not enough time before Christmas" Laura shook her head. "Next year it's a maybe," she said firmly.
"Alright, fine" Clint huffed a little, and went back to focusing on his supper.
"We could put a few air mattresses in the living room," Laura offered an olive branch.
"I'll pick them up from the department store," Clint nodded. "Just in case, of course," he added.
"You should order them online tonight while the deals are still good," Laura suggested.
"I'll do it after supper," he grinned.
"So why is it when I cook, I have to make these big meals... and when you cook, it's pizza hmm?" you sassed Clint.
"I didn't feel like cooking" he said with a shrug and you shook your head with a light laugh. "What are you making tomorrow?" he asked boldly.
"We are going to make a turkey pot pie," Laura advised him. "We brought all those leftovers, we better put them to good use!"

"A little higher," Laura instructed, standing behind you with her arms crossed. After supper and a quick clean up everyone headed to the living room to put on "The Grinch" with Jim Carrey and started to decorate the tree. You were currently putting a glittering fairy, with a blue tutu on the tree. The kids had already done most of the lower parts of the tree while you, Steve, and Bucky were working on the higher branches. "She's made of porcelain, we need her a little higher up" Laura told you. Steve came up behind you and plucked the figurine from your fingers and put it almost at the top. Roxy was laying under the tree, seeming to be enjoying herself immensely. Clint was busy with making sure all the lights were wired together properly before he turned the tree on. Laura was mainly handing everyone the decorations to put up and helping to guide where the bald spots were. Steve had spent a large portion of the night touching you at every chance he could get, and taking over when it looked like you were going to lift anything that weighed more than a pound. You wanted to sass him, but you didn't have it in your heart to do so.
"This brings back so many good memories" Bucky gave a broad smile.
"Yeah, Tony's always getting the tree professionally done. This brings me back to when we were kids" Steve quickly agreed.
"Is it true that you grew up in the thirties?" Nathaniel asked. "We learned about it in school," he added.
"Yeah, we did," Steve nodded. "It's better now than it was back then. But things seem a lot more complicated."
"Food is much better," Bucky commented.
"That's true," Steve agreed.
"But it feels like we never left the war," Bucky said a little more softly. "All this fighting all the time."
"We will, pal" Steve responded after the room had gone incredibly quiet. The only sound beside's Bucky and Steve's voice was the movie going on in the background. "We will leave this life behind eventually," Steve promised as he wrapped his arms around you from behind and kissed the top of your head. You had a feeling he truly meant what he said.
"I've tried retiring. Something always pulls me back in" Clint sighed. "It always seems like the battles are never ending. But I figure, one of these days a younger generation can take over and can leave us old guys in peace."
"Like Peter, Pietro and Wanda?" Lila asked.
"They are a pretty good start. They are strong kids. There's also Vision too" Clint nodded. "There's a few more on Tony's radar I'm sure."
"I can't retire, I barely started" you frowned, wondering what would happen when the team found out you were pregnant.
"No, but you can take Tony's advice and start working in the office more," he replied. "Bruce barely goes in the field now, neither does Tony. They are always working on something."
"I don't know where I would belong," you sighed, thinking again of the baby growing in your womb. "Or if I do..." you trailed off, your voice going soft.
"Hey" Steve held you tighter. "You belong with me."
"Us" Clint corrected him.
"Exactly, we are all family here" Laura agreed.
"Sometimes I'm still scared that someone's going to wake up one day and I'll be back in that crummy apartment with newspapers for a pillow" you admitted.
"Never again" Bucky shook his head. "I know that punk, you'll never see that side of life again" he promised you.
"I think it was fate that I went into the ice and joined the avengers initiative. You know why?" Steve turned you in his arms. "It brought me to you, and I'm not going to question it," he brushed your hair out of your face and kissed you softly on the lips. "When we retire, we are going to do it together," he promised.
"With Bucky" you giggled.
"Definitely with Bucky" he agreed.
"When did I get added to this relationship?" Bucky asked with a chuckle.
"You two were in the relationship long before I got here" you giggled and he just rolled his eyes. Steve gave you another soft kiss and Clint stood back, seeming content with his work.
"Alright, come here Laura!" Clint called to her, seeing all the decorations were on the tree already. Laura seemed almost giddy as she grabbed the Angel that went on the top of the tree and she went to him. He grabbed her by the hips and picked her up off the ground by a foot or so and she quickly put the blond angel on top. He set her back down and everyone stood back to look at the tree. "Okay, Nathaniel, hit the lights" Clint instructed and his youngest son went to the switch on the wall and turned off the lights. Clint plugged in the lights and the room was lit up in a soft white glow from the tree. You leaned against Steve and smiled happily at the completed work. It looked perfect.
"You know what?" you whispered.
"What?" Steve asked you.
"I think we need a tree in our suite now" you pulled back to look up at him and smile.
"I'll take a turn heading into town tomorrow morning with Bucky and Clint while you rest and we will pick up everything we need" he kissed you on the forehead. "Anything specific?" he asked.
"Hmm... how about an Avengers tree?" you asked with glee.
"A what?" he asked with a laugh.
"Yes! There's a lot of decorations with Avengers as little figurines" you giggled.
"How about I meet you halfway?" he asked.
"What do you have in mind?" you asked, curious to see what his plan was.
"You just want to see everyone on the tree right?" he confirmed and you nodded. "I'll order some decorations, you'll see and you'll like it. I promise" he winked. "I've got you, my Angel"