Chapter Text
Christmas used to be Yelena’s favorite holiday, back when things were simple and her parents were together. She remembered waking up at the crack of dawn excited and ready for the time she spent with her family. But over the past 14 years, that had changed. She and her mom never really celebrated the holiday while they lived in Russia. No more extravagant dinners or presents under the brightly lit tree, no more Natasha or her dad boisterously laughing. When she had returned to the states to finish her nursing degree when she was 20, Natasha had tried to bring some of that back, but it wasn’t the same.
So, when she wakes up on Christmas Eve morning feeling excited, she knows it has more to do with the brunette sleeping soundly next to her and not the fact that her family was going to celebrate together this year.
The previous night had been blissful. They had stayed another hour at the gala before going home and walking their dogs. But what followed is what made the night special. It was the first time that Yelena and Kate decided to take their relationship to the next step.
They spent the rest of their night exploring each other’s bodies; mapped out and memorized every mole and scar, every peak and valley, every curve and contour, the sound of curse words and names being rasped out from kiss-bruised lips. It was the most intimate thing that Yelena had ever felt, Kate being as close as humanly possible to her, learning things about each other.
She gently removes herself from Kate’s side, her skin immediately missing the feeling and warmth of Kate’s on it. She stretches her arms above her head and yawns, hands rubbing the sleep from her eyes on the way down. Fanny and Lucky hear her moving around, ears perked up as they stare at her expectantly. If she wanted to go back to sleep, the dogs wouldn’t allow it as they both rush out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen.
Yelena gets out of bed and moves to her closet to grab some sweatpants and a hoodie before heading into the kitchen to feed the pups, Lucky’s tongue sticking out and his tail wagging excitedly while Fanny sits prim and proper, patiently waiting for her kibble.
“Fanny, wait.” Yelena says as she sets the bowl down in front of the Akita, who happily stares at her. “Okay.”
Fanny takes the cue and starts eating, Yelena patting her back. “Good girl. You need to teach your brother manners.” She turns her attention to Lucky who is tap dancing in excitement. “You know the rules, Luck. You gotta sit.”
The golden retriever finally listens and sits, and Yelena hardly has time to set his bowl down (and not even enough time to tell him to wait) before he leaps forward and starts scarfing it down. They would have to work on it.
While she waits for the dogs, she looks out the window in the kitchen. Fresh snow had fallen overnight and she dreaded taking them outside because they both had a tendency to roll around and get themselves covered. With Kate still sleeping, she knew it’d be a hassle to reel them back in and get them toweled off.
She heads back to the bedroom to grab snow appropriate socks and a beanie, making her way to Kate’s side of the bed. The brunette was still sleeping soundly, and Yelena leans down and places a kiss on her forehead, Kate stirring awake at the gesture.
“Mm. What time is it?” She asks groggily, eyes still closed.
“It’s 8:00.” Yelena replies, and Kate opens her eyes.
“How are you not exhausted after last night? Also, why are you dressed?” Kate pouts.
“Gonna take the dogs out real quick.”
“Nooo, come back to bed.” The brunette whines, making grabby hands at Yelena. “I wanna cuddle with you. Preferably naked.”
“You do not hit the plant, Kate Bishop.” Yelena chuckles. “I will be back shortly, I promise. They have already been fed and you know how Fanny is about routine.”
“Mm, you too, you know.” Kate smiles at her. “But fiiiiine, okay. I will just freeze until you get back.”
“You could put clothes on.” Yelena offers.
“But that defeats the purpose of wanting to cuddle with you while naked.” And fair.
“I will come back to bed when I’m done.” She leans down and kisses Kate on the lips. The brunette pulls her closer by her hoodie, deepening the kiss.
“Hopefully clothesless.” Kate mumbles against her lips.
Yelena pulls away, not wanting to get tempted because she can hear Fanny and Lucky pacing by the front door. “You’re impossible, Bishop.”
“I know.” The brunette says with a shit-eating grin on her face which causes Yelena to just playfully roll her eyes and head towards the living room. “Hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave.”
Yelena turns her head to look back at her girlfriend whose eyes were definitely staring at her butt. “Ha! You are so funny, Kate Bishop. I love you so much.”
“Love you, too!”
The next time Kate Bishop wakes up, she’s wrapped tightly in Yelena’s arms. She had stayed awake while the blonde took their dogs out, laughing when Yelena had chastised Lucky on pulling one of his boots off, and chewing on it.
“Lucky, you will thank me later when your paws are not bitten with frost!” Yelena had told him as she wrestled his boot back on. They still had a lot to work on with him.
When Yelena had returned, she got back into bed, much to Kate’s dismay, with her clothes still on. But to her credit, she had felt how cold Yelena’s skin was from the sub zero temperatures outside, and even she had to go get dressed because she too was freezing.
Yelena was still sleeping, head buried in the crook of her neck. She looked so peaceful and Kate was glad that her girlfriend was finally getting the experience of good sleep since she had taken a break from work. Did she still wake up early? Yes. But did she always come back to bed to sleep until later after taking the dogs out? Also, yes.
Kate had felt her heart swell at the thought of Yelena being so comfortable with her. When they had first started dating, she always made little notes of the boundaries she felt she needed to keep. Yelena had once been so shy and reserved, and she got to watch her blossom as their relationship went on. And last night had been the perfect example of that. The nurse had been so confident in not only telling Kate that she loved her, but showing her as well.
Who needed Christmas presents when you had the whole package?
Kate knows she should get up, her whole body aches in the best of ways possible, and she needs to stretch and finish secretly wrapping Yelena’s present, but she doesn’t want to wake the blonde. They had decided to do their Christmas together today, since tomorrow they would be going to Natasha’s to spend it with Yelena’s parents for the first time in over a decade. She knew her girlfriend still had reservations about going, but they meticulously planned going to Christmas at Kate’s parents’ house later that evening so there would be a time limit on how long they could stay at the aforementioned. That also gave Jack and Eleanor time to chill after the big gala last night.
Kate lays there for a few more moments before she decides to delicately remove herself from Yelena’s arms. The nurse mumbles in her sleep, pulling Lucky into her grasp in the absence of Kate. He stares at her with a sleepy eye, content with the cuddles and lays his head down on the bed.
Fanny follows Kate out of the bedroom and into her old room which was now just their office. The Akita sits at Kate’s side while she works at her desk, fighting with the wrapping paper, enjoying the few pets Kate would give her in between curse words about how wrapping a gift shouldn’t be this hard.
When the gift is finally wrapped, Kate gets to work on her next present. She knows they said only one gift, but a note didn’t fully count as a gift, did it? They had still written each other notes, mostly short ones when Kate will be out late working on a project or Yelena would be gone by the time she woke up. Sometimes, they snuck in long ones, but they were few and far between since they started dating. Kate thought it’d be a good callback to them meeting for the first time; through pen and paper. Notes had always been an integral part of their relationship, and with the newfound confessions from last night, Kate knew she wanted Yelena to have one on Christmas.
YB,
I know what you’re thinking: ‘Kate Bishop, we said one gift per person this year, why am I also getting this note?’ Well, think of this note as just another note that you just so happen to be getting today as well. ;)
I won’t lie, it feels kind of weird to write you a note and not ask you questions about your life because I don’t have to anymore. I get to know you inside and out every day, knowing that I’ll get to see you and not wondering about the time when we’d meet. To think that the first note I ever wrote would lead us here. I am so thankful I wrote it, that this became our thing, and that you didn’t make fun of me when I said that I thought you were a ghost.
Every day, I get to watch you grow and also grow with you, and it is my favorite thing in the world. I love being able to fall asleep and wake up next to you and our dogs, to see you sitting at the kitchen table (that you said you were to busy to use lol) working on your homework or just enjoying a cup of coffee. I love watching your favorite TV shows or getting my ass kicked by you in Mario Kart. I love the little sticky notes and snacks that we leave for each other, that I finally got you to try Pringles and see how excited you were when you saw exactly how they were cuddling in the can.
I love the way your nose scrunches up when you’re laughing or when you make that face when you don’t like something, the way the light catches your eyes and it feels like I’m looking at a gemstone. Really, I just kind of love everything about you, and all the moments we get to spend together.
You are one of the most important people to me, easily. Loving you and being loved by you is just an added bonus. I cannot wait until we both graduate this next semester and continue our lives by each other’s side (if that’s what you want, too, obviously). Also, Fanny is currently sitting next to me as I write this and I am so honored that she sees me as her other mom. It really warms my heart. I heard you telling Lucky this morning that he needed better manners. We will have to keep working on that.
Merry Christmas, babe. I love you dearly.
Kate Bishop
It’s a little after 11am when Kate hears her stomach rumble and decides that she should probably make food. She creeps out of her old bedroom and peeks through the door to catch her girlfriend and Lucky still cuddling, and still very much asleep. She figures it’s just best to leave them be, Yelena hardly slept in and even if she was up for twenty minutes earlier that morning, Kate thinks she deserves the rest.
Fanny was still following Kate around as she made her way to the kitchen, nudging her hand every so often with her nose.
“Your mom already fed you.” Kate states to the Akita who quietly whines. “You can’t trick me.”
Fanny lets out a low ruff and saunters off into the living room, lying down on her bed with some much added dramatics, pouting as she stares at Kate in the kitchen. Kate chuckles to herself, shaking her head at the dog.
She gets to work on grabbing all the ingredients she needed for breakfast, and if she was luck, she could surprise Yelena with breakfast in bed for once instead of it being the opposite way around. She puts on a Spotify playlist, making sure the volume of her phone wasn’t too loud before she gets to work.
20 minutes and many songs later, Kate is swaying and quietly singing along to a t.A.T.u song as she finishes up the scrambled eggs and pancakes, lost in her own little world.
"I keep asking myself, wondering how.
I keep closing my eyes, but I can’t block you out.
Want to fly to a place where it’s just you and me.
Nobody else so we can be free.
All the things she said, running through my head.
All the things she said, running through my head.
This is not enough. This is not enou-AHHH”
Kate screams out in shock as she feels a pair of hands at her waist and the voice of her girlfriend saying, “I didn’t know you had a thing for Russians, Kate Bishop” (probably in reference to herself being Russian and the fact that Kate was listening to a Russian band). Thankfully, she had just set the pan down and it wasn’t in her hands. She turns around to see Yelena smiling at her with a toothy grin.
“Jesus Christ, Yelena! You scared the shit out of me!” Kate chastises the blonde, who she can tell is trying so hard to hold in a laugh. “I thought you were in bed!”
“I was until I was not.” Yelena states pointedly.
“Smartass.”
“I do not see how this is an insult. You’re saying I am smart, and I do in fact have an ass, a decent one, I might add.” The blonde chuckles and if she didn’t look so God damn cute and innocent, Kate would probably be more frustrated.
“You’re lucky you’re cute and I love you. Yes, you do have a nice ass and you are very smart But in English slang, it means you’re being flippant and sarcastic.” Kate explains and Yelena just shrugs.
“What’s all this?” Yelena motions towards the kitchen.
“Well it was supposed to be breakfast in bed, but since you are no longer in bed, it’s just breakfast.”
“Is this you being a smartass?” Yelena raises an eyebrow.
“Totally.” Kate admits with a smirk. “Also, I think we need to establish some kind of ‘don’t sneak up on Kate in the kitchen for fear of being hit with a frying pan or Kate dropping her phone in water and cutting herself on a sharp knife’ rule.”
“I’m sorry, detka. I truly thought that you heard me say your name the first time.” Yelena apologizes sincerely and takes Kate’s hand in her own. “Also, thank you for making breakfast. I appreciate you a lot.”
“It’s no big deal.” Kate shrugs it off. “I just know Christmas is your favorite holiday and this year it might feel a little different with your parents getting together for the first time in years, so I wanted to do something nice for you, so you didn’t lose the spirit of the holiday.”
“You’re the best, seriously.” Yelena leans up and kisses Kate on the lips. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, smart ass.”