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“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” – George Bernard Shaw
-
It was around eight in the evening, late enough for the city to be settled into night, but early enough for people to still be buzzing around. However, in a loft in Brooklyn, Magnus was currently leaning against the arm of the sofa with Alec’s back against his chest. And their daughter curled up on Alec’s chest. Both of them were fast asleep, Alec still carefully holding onto the baby on his chest.
And Magnus? He was ignoring the book he was reading previously to look at his husband and his daughter. It was times like this when he couldn’t believe his luck. And especially because it was still so new. He and Alec had been married for two years and their baby girl was nearing her first birthday.
She was still small, her birth parents having not cared for her properly before abandoning her. And when Magnus came home with a baby warlock wrapped up in his arms, the look that was on Alec’s face at the sight of them told him that he wanted to keep her. And when Alec rocked her to sleep that same night, Magnus had the same look, because he wanted to raise this little girl with Alec.
From then on it was simple for them. They adopted her officially and soon enough they had a little baby girl named Cinta. And there was nothing Magnus loved more than these small moments where he got to just be with the two people who held his heart the most.
As he looked over the two of them, Cinta started to move around restlessly in Alec’s hold, small noises bubbling from her as she woke up. Magnus could tell that she was about to let out more noise. He moved his arm from the back of the sofa to cup her head, stroking his thumb across her hair.
“Hey, bubba. Let’s be quiet yeah? Let daddy sleep a little longer?” Cinta looked up at him, her wide eyes blinking slowly at him as she stopped moving. After a few seconds a huge smile broke over her face, making Magnus’ heart flutter as he smiled back. “Oh, you’re an angel.”
His fingers flittered along her side, causing her to giggle loudly at the ticklish feeling. He couldn’t help the huff of laughter that left him as he continued to tickle her. And it wasn’t long before the room was filled with their laughter. He didn’t realise that Alec had awaken until he heard him let out a small laugh and seen him move his head to kiss the top of Cinta’s head.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Alec hummed, as he tilted his head to press a kiss to Magnus’ jaw, unable to reach his lips. “I don’t mind. If I get to wake up you two laughing, then it’s not really such a bad thing.”
Magnus rolled his eyes, as he circled his arms around Alec and his hands coming to rest on Cinta’s back. He looked over at her, smiling softly at her trying to chew on Alec’s shirt as she watched them both. And he really couldn’t imagine a life where he didn’t have them both. And frankly? He didn’t want to.
Right there, in their home in Brooklyn, cuddled up with his family, it was where Magnus was happiest.
-
Alec was sat on the floor, his back against the sofa and his legs stretched out in front of him. In his lap, was Cinta. She had been sat there for a while now, and he was pretty sure his legs were going numb, but he couldn’t really complain. Magnus was sat in front of them both, and he was showing Cinta how to control her magic.
He was teaching her small tricks, since her magic had started to come through in bursts when she was the most emotional. One day when Magnus was tickling her, she laughed so hard that she had somehow managed to change Magnus’ hair colour to pink – much to the amusement of Alec. And the other night when she had had a nightmare, she had shattered a light bulb and cracked the window in her room from the crying.
Magnus decided that it was best that he teach her to control her powers, for her own safety. And there was no one better to teach her than the High Warlock of Brooklyn. He was currently showing her how to make a small light in the palm of her hand, and Alec watched on with amazement as he watched them both produce small fireflies around the room.
He had subconsciously started to plait Cinta’s hair, his fingers moving slowly as he combed through her dark hair to give her pigtails. He hadn’t done this since Izzy was still little and needed help with it, but sat there with his little girl in his lap, it was almost like second nature.
“Daddy! Look!”
Alec broke out of his daze to look at Cinta who had started to bounce excitedly in his lap. She was a very bubbly girl, and the majority of the time the loft was filled with her laughter. She loved to be on the move, to dance and sing and to play with her dads. And looking at her toothy grin as she looked up at Alec, he couldn’t help the smile that broke on his own face.
“What is it, princess?”
“Papa taught me how to make pretty lights.” Alec looked around the room at all the small bulbs of light that were floating around, illuminating the room. He looked over at Magnus who looked at Cinta with pride evident in his eyes. Some of the lights were floating around his face, lighting up his feature and casting shadows over his cheeks.
“They are very pretty. I’m proud of you, princess.” Alec leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head. Cinta clapped her hands and laughed, reaching up to grab the lights. “You know, the lights are pretty but not as pretty as you, princess. And they’re not prettier than Papa either.”
Alec was looking Magnus straight in the eye as he spoke, a sappy smile on his lips. Magnus looked at him and bit his lip, trying to suppress his grin. The love that was shining in Alec’s eyes was matched in Magnus’ as they continued to look at the other. Magnus crawled over till he was sat closer to Alec and Cinta.
He ran a hand down Cinta’s cheek as he leaned forward to press his lips against Alec’s. It was only a small kiss, but it conveyed everything that they felt, all the love and happiness of just being with each other and their daughter. It meant the world to them both.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Magnus.”
They were so lost in themselves that they didn’t realise that Cinta had stopped what she was doing to watch them. They broke from their trance when they both felt a small hand on their cheeks. Cinta was looking up at them with love and happiness clear on her face.
“Kiss!”
Alec burst out laughing at the demand in her voice, Magnus joining in with him. “Well, we gotta do what the princess wants, Magnus.” Alec leaned forward to press another kiss to Magnus’ lips before he pulled back and lifted Cinta up in the air. “Oh, I think we should give someone else kisses, don’t you?”
Magnus grinned, catching onto what Alec was hinting at. He leaned forward to blow a raspberry on Cinta’s tummy, her laughter illuminating the room. Literally. As she laughed the balls of light glowed brighter around them. But Alec didn’t mind, not when his daughter and husband were happy.
He stood up with Cinta in his arms and lifted her high, making her squeal. They both spent the rest of the day playing around, making the others laugh, until they all collapsed on the sofa with exhaustion. And with a few tiny little lights still floating above their heads.
-
“That way, Daddy!”
Alec swerved his direction at the last minute from the instruction of Cinta. Magnus was away at a meeting for all High Warlocks which lasted for an entire week. So for the past week Alec had been looking after Cinta, his sister and mother popping in from time to time to help. Not that he needed it, but it was nice to have a breather sometimes.
He tried his best to stay away from the Institute for the week, but he was unable to get someone to cover for him. His mother was back at Idris with Max and his sister had priorities of her own. So he had brought Cinta with him.
They spent the morning in Alec’s office. While he was writing up reports, Cinta was sat across from him reading. She had picked it up seeing as Alec and Magnus were reading in their spare time. So they taught her, and at the age of six, she was becoming one of the most advanced readers that Alec had seen, surpassing himself and his brother.
But as the time went on, Cinta became restless, and didn’t want to sit anymore. She wanted to explore the Institute, seeing as she had never been outside of the main ops room and Alec’s office. Alec didn’t trust anyone else to take care of his daughter, so he put down his pen and stood up holding out his hand for Cinta to take.
However, she had different ideas. After a couple minutes of walking she complained that her feet were getting tired. Alec rolled his eyes, a smile growing on his face at the tone that she was using, knowing exactly which of her dads she had picked that up from. He tried to hold back, but whenever it came to Magnus or Cinta, he was weak to not give them what they wanted.
So he lifted her up and sat her on his shoulders. She squealed with joy, her hands coming to grip on his head and she exclaimed that she was the tallest person in the whole building. Which, with her on Alec’s shoulders, she probably was.
As they wandered through the corridors, Alec had to remember to duck through doorways so that she wouldn’t hit her head. Cinta would shout out a direction, winding Alec throughout the halls, wanting to know what all the rooms were for.
Every time they passed someone else, Cinta would tell them to bow, because she was a princess. And some of them would actually bow to her, and call her Your Majesty and Alec couldn’t wait to tell Magnus that Shadowhunters were bowing for Cinta. He could see his face already at the thought of Shadowhunters bowing to a Downworlder.
Some however, would just sneer at the two of them, mainly those of the older generation who were still bitter about Alec’s relationship with Magnus. Things started to get a little easier, but then they got married and things got worse again, people complaining about how they were both ruining the sanctity of what was considered pure.
And then when they adopted Cinta, people rivalled that Alec wasn’t fit to lead them anymore, seeing as he would rather have Warlocks in his home than his own kind. He calmly told them that he would rather Warlocks than bigoted Shadowhunters who think they have a say in his family. It was why he was so weary to take Cinta to the Institute, he didn’t want their opinions to get at her, and not when she was so young.
He knew he couldn’t protect her from them forever, that one day she would be exposed to their words. But she was still a child, and he wasn’t going to let her think that she wasn’t worth anything less than the princess she believed she was.
“Daddy, if I’m a princess, does that make you a King?”
Alec stopped in his tracks, lifting Cinta from his shoulders so that she was sat against his hip. “Hm, I suppose it does.”
“And Papa is a King as well?”
“Oh, he’s most definitely a King. He’s very important and powerful.”
“You’re the best Kings ever!” Cinta wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him close. Alec couldn’t help the smile on his face as he hugged Cinta close to him, closing his eyes as he swayed them both gently in the middle of the corridor, not caring about anyone else that passed them.
He opened his eyes when he felt a hand on the small of his back. He knew it was Magnus before he caught his eye, but when he did, he could feel the softness settling into his own eyes. Cinta had lifted her head and noticed him too, her hands pushing against Alec’s chest.
“Papa!” She reached out for him and Magnus gladly took her from Alec, holding her tight and pressing a kiss to her head.
“Hi there, princess. And hello handsome.” Alec grinned at the nickname, leaning forward to give him a kiss. Despite having Cinta with him all week and Magnus phoning them at least once a day, he still missed his husband dearly, not liking going to sleep without him there to hold. He stepped closer to them both, one hand on Magnus’ waist and the other on Cinta’s back.
“Hey yourself. You’re back early, I missed you.”
“Yeah, the meetings were all wrapped up and finished. There was a big dinner and party, but I passed, I wanted to come home to my family. They all called me a sap and an old man, but I missed you too much to care what they think.”
“Mm, you are rather old.”
Magnus squinted his eyes, trying to feign annoyance. “Watch it, Alexander.”
“But. I love you. And I’m glad you’re back. We both missed you, didn’t we Cinta? Someone was sharing the bed last night because she wanted Papa back.” Cinta nodded her head, cuddling into Magnus again, her eyes starting to droop with tiredness.
“Someone’s tired. Why don’t we go home?”
“Have you finished all the work for today?”
Alec stood thinking about the pile of reports still on his desk. They were bound to take at least a few more hours, if he rushed them. And then he thought about spending the night in with his family. About cuddling up on the sofa together and reading Cinta a good night story. And about getting to have Magnus back in his arms for another night.
And well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which is the better offer.
-
Magnus was sat in his office, reading through documents that he had to write up for some clients, and wishing that he was doing anything else when the door to his office opened and Cinta poked her head in. Magnus looked up, his smile dropping from his face when he saw the look on his daughters face.
Cinta was a bubbly and happy person and always had a certain positivity around her. So seeing her with her eyes red from crying and tear tracks imprinted into her cheeks, was a shock to Magnus and it broke his heart. He stood quickly, forgetting about his work and making his way over to her. He held out a hand for her as he knelt down to her height.
She rushed forward into his arms; sobbing into his shoulder and making his heart ache in his chest. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her and whispered words of comfort to her. Once she had managed to calm down, he pulled back slightly, wiping away the tears that were still falling.
“Cinta, darling, what’s wrong?”
“Papa, do you think my warlock mark is ugly?”
The heartache in her voice made Magnus’ heart break all over again. He was stunned and unsure of what to say. He had always made sure that Cinta knew that her warlock mark was beautiful, and would show her his mark all the time when they were practising magic together, or eating breakfast. The only time he was comfortable to let his cat eyes out was around Alec and Cinta. And he never let Cinta believe that her mark was anything less than beautiful.
So to hear her ask him if he thought that shook him to the core and he started to wonder where she could have heard such things.
“Darling, you and I both know that your warlock mark is gorgeous. I know so, your dad knows. What brought this on?”
Cinta sniffled, rubbing at her cheeks with her palms. “I was at the Institute with Daddy and I was just walking around and these kids all started pointing at me and laughing. They said that my warlock mark was ugly. I went to Daddy and told him what happened, and he told them off, but then older Shadowhunters said that they weren’t wrong, that my mark is ugly. Why would you and Daddy lie?”
Magnus had seen his fair share of Warlock Marks through his centuries. He had many of his kind come to him to ask if there was a way to rid themselves of them, of how to glamour them. He had to heal people who had tried to change their Marks without consoling anyone and harming themselves in the process. But to hear his own daughter think of her Mark as ugly, to insinuate that he and Alec weren’t genuine when they told her she was gorgeous, it was too much for him to bear.
He could feel the tears prickle at his eyes, a lump forming in his throat but he had to be strong for Cinta, so that she knew he was genuine. He took both her hands in his and looked down at them. Her Mark had come through when she was four, a blue tint coming to her skin. And at the age of ten it was now stronger and clearer.
Her Mark faded into her skin, the tone of it changing to blue around her hands and her feet and along her hairline. Magnus thought it was the most beautiful Mark he had ever seen. It suited her, seeing as she was a big lover of the ocean and when the colour started to bleed into her skin she exclaimed at it, saying that the sea was a part of her.
But right now, Cinta seemed like she wanted to look at anything else but her hands, not wanting to see the blue skin. Magnus let the glamour from his eyes slip, wanting to be truthfully honest when he spoke to her. He looked up at her, trying not to cry at the sight of her breaking down.
“Hey, princess, look at me.” Cinta slowly looked up at him, her mouth falling open at the sight of his cat eyes. “I know it’s hard to believe, seeing as your dad is a Shadowhunter, but for centuries they’ve looked down on people like us. Especially towards our Marks, and even more so towards people who have more prominent Marks such as yourself. They believe themselves to be above us, as they have Angel blood and we have Demon blood. But that doesn’t mean anything.
“There will always be those Shadowhunters who will laugh, and will look down at you because of it. But you must believe me, darling. You are the most beautiful little girl, and you are miles better than they are. They have runes on their skin, and you have your Mark. It’s a part of who we are, who you are. And I want you to believe that you are beautiful too. Your dad and I will tell you this every day for the rest of forever if we have to.
“Don’t listen to those who look down on you, because they are less. Listen to those who treat you like an equal, like your Dad and your Aunt Izzy. Even they had to learn to not look down on us. Because it was ingrained in them. But Cinta, your Mark is not what you believe it to be. It is not ugly. Far from it. Tell me, do you think my Warlock Mark is ugly?”
Cinta’s head whipped up quickly, seriousness settling into her eyes. “No, Papa, your eyes are pretty.”
“I’ve spent centuries of people being scared of me because of my eyes. But hearing you and your dad affirm that they are beautiful, is enough for me to learn that maybe they aren’t terrible. I want you to learn that same feeling. I want you to be proud of your Mark and that anyone who laughs at you just tell them they’re jealous, that they’re not as beautiful as you are. The only time we should have to glamour our Marks is in front of Mundanes.
“Sweetheart, you’re beautiful, inside and out, and I want you to know that. Okay?”
More tears streamed down Cinta’s face but not out of repulse for herself, but because of how serious Magnus was in telling her that she was beautiful. She nodded her head and fell into his arms, her body shaking from how overwhelmed she must be. Magnus held her close, pressing kisses into her hair and not letting her go.
A couple moments later, a knock sounded on the door and Alec stepped inside, his eyes immediately coming to rest on Magnus and Cinta. Magnus could tell that Alec felt the same heartache over the sadness that their daughter felt. He walked over to them, and kneeled down pulling them both into a hug.
“I brought her straight home, I figured it would be best for her to talk to you on this matter, I didn’t wanna say something wrong. I went back to the Institute to reprimand those who said all of that. I should have kept an eye on where she was.”
Magnus pulled back, still holding onto Cinta. “It’s not your fault, Alexander. We just need to make sure our little princess knows that she’s beautiful and loved.”
Alec pressed a kiss to Cinta’s head, stroking her cheek free of tears as she looked at her parents.
“Well, that won’t be hard.”
-
“A whole new world!”
“Don’t you dare close your eyes!”
When Magnus first stepped into the loft that evening, the last thing he expected to hear was a very off-key but very enthusiastic rendition of A Whole New World. But as he stood in the doorway with the door still left slightly ajar, he had a clear view of his husband and daughter both stood on the sofa’s singing along to the Disney classic.
He used magic to silence the door shut and to make sure neither were aware of his presence as they continued to sing loudly throughout the room. He stalked forward to lean against the door frame as Cinta ran towards Alec, who caught her and spun her around.
“Let me share this whole new world with you.” They both sang the last line together, dramatically staring into each other’s eyes as they held the note for as long as their breathe would allow them. As soon as they stopped singing, Cinta burst into laughter, Alec following suit straight after.
Magnus watched them both for a short while, loving to see how happy and carefree they both were. Cinta had gotten to an age where she was more likely to be embarrassed by her dads, and whenever she met with friends, she never let them come by the house. So getting to see Cinta singing with Alec, not caring about if anyone walked in, reassured Magnus that they still had their little girl.
He decided to make his presence known by slowly clapping, cheering the two of them on. Cinta’s head whipped around to Magnus, her eyes wide with shock until she saw who it was. Alec however, stood staring at Magnus with the same shocked look.
“Oh, don’t stop because I’m here. What about an encore? I only got to see the last part.”
Alec scoffed as Cinta rolled her eyes at him, and Magnus couldn’t help but grin at how similar they both were. “If you want an encore Papa, you’re gonna have to pay up.”
Alec quirked an eyebrow at how Cinta managed to sound innocent and demand money at the same time. Magnus slapped a hand against his chest in faux astonishment. “Pay? My own family?”
“Mhm, wasn’t it you who told me never to do anything that I’m asked of for less than it’s worth? Our performance is worthy of more than getting it for free, you see. So, I’m just taking your advice Papa. Now, pay up.” Cinta held out her hand in front of her and wiggled her fingers, her face still holding that innocent look.
“You know, she has a point. I’m on her side. Pay up, babe.”
“Of course you’re on her side, you just want to whittle money out of me, don’t you?”
Alec winked at him, standing behind Cinta who was still looking at him expectantly. Magnus let out a sigh as he fished into his pocket to pull out his wallet and slapped a twenty dollar bill into her palm. Cinta closed her fist and grinned at him, walking over to him and leaning up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek,
“Thank you, Papa. Unfortunately, there are no more performances ready for tonight, so we’ll have to get back to you. I’m gonna go study, love you both.”
Magnus stood watching in shock as Cinta skipped off to her room. Alec on the other hand burst into laughter, bending over to control himself. Magnus watched him and scoffed but he was unable to stop the smile that was growing on his lips. Alec stood up, still laughing as he walked over to Magnus, and wrapped his arms around his waist. Magnus circled his arms around Alec’s shoulders, letting the smile on his face take over.
“I think you just got played.” Alec leaned in to kiss Magnus, their smiles making it impossible for it to be anything more than a press of their mouths.
“I think I did. I don’t mind though, as if I’ll forget that you both owe me a performance.”
The smile on Alec’s face softened and his arms tightened around Magnus, pulling him closer to his chest and causing him to let out a pleased sigh. They both stood there in the doorway, exchanging small kisses and losing themselves in their own little world.
Even after sixteen years of marriage and many more before that, they still managed to lose themselves like this, and they never stopped loving, the feelings only seeming to get stronger between them every day. Especially when they had their family to care for, and when every day they were still fighting the world that was against them.
“You guys are so in love, you didn’t even notice me standing here for the past minute. You were too busy smooching.”
Magnus turned towards Cinta who was leaning against the door to her bedroom, watching them both with a soft smile on her face. Alec huffed out a small laugh leaning his head on Magnus’ shoulder as his own shook.
“I thought you had studying to do young lady?”
-
“You’re never gonna let me grow up, are you?” Cinta was stood in front of the sofa from where she had previously been sitting in front of her dads. Her arms were crossed over her chest and a scowl was set on her lips, her brows creased.
“Darling, you know it’s not like that.”
“Then what is it Papa? Because all I’m hearing is that I’m too young.”
Alec sighed, running his hand through his hair and leaning forward in his seat. “It’s not that we don’t think you’re too young to travel, but on your own? Cinta, it’s too dangerous.”
“Oh, so now you think I can’t even protect myself, well that’s good to know.” Her tone was dripping with sarcasm and spite, the look in her eyes matching her tone.
“Hey, don’t speak to your dad that way.”
“You’re not letting me grow up! God, I am not your little girl that you can just boss around anymore! I know how to portal and I know how to protect myself. And I won’t be on my own, I’ll be with friends.”
Magnus stood up, making his way towards Cinta. “That’s not the same, darling. We can’t protect you if you’re not here. And I don’t want you to be hurt.”
“I don’t need you to protect me; I just need you to trust me. But I guess that will never happen. At least now I know.” Cinta laid them both with one more look before she stormed away to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Both Alec and Magnus stayed quiet for a moment, replaying everything in their heads before Alec broke the silence with a sigh, hanging his head down in his hands. As soon as he saw the look of hurt in Cinta’s eyes when she thought they didn’t trust her made Alec’s heart ache. He looked up from his hands when he felt Magnus sitting next to him, his hands coming to rest on his knee.
“Magnus, what do we do?” The look that was in Alec’s eyes was mirrored in Magnus’, and for once they were both unsure of what to do. They were both powerful and important in their fields, but when it came to this, it was something that would affect them both as well as their daughter if they made the wrong choice.
Cinta had approached them both, asking if it was okay to travel with her friends. It was summer, a prime time for teenagers to travel with their friends, and Cinta had managed to perfect the use of the portal at age fifteen, so the fact that now at seventeen she wanted to travel was no surprise. Alec and Magnus had both spent time travelling, going all around the world on dates and savouring it all.
But this was their daughter. They were both fiercely protective over her, wanting her to be safe, especially when they both knew the dangers that she could be in outside of their sight. But they couldn’t keep her under lock and key. She would just grow to resent them, Alec knew that all too well himself.
Even after he married Magnus, his father was still trying to hold things over him, to control him and his life. He didn’t want Cinta to feel the same way about him that he did his own father.
“I think, we should really think this through, set out a plan, but she’s right. She can protect herself, she knows the dangers. I guess I never really understood how protective I was till we had Cinta, and now she wants to go out, on her own as well. I’m just-“
“Scared?” Magnus nodded, leaning his head against Alec’s. “So am I. You’re right though. If we sit down with her, and really plan this out then there’s nothing that could harm her. I mean, have you seen who her dads are? She’s the most badass girl I’ve ever known, right alongside Izzy. And she’s gonna become a badass woman, but not if we keep holding her back. She’s strong, and smart. As long as she knows the dangers, then well, I don’t see a problem with her going.”
Magnus brought a hand to cup the back of Alec’s head, his fingers carding through his hair. “Neither do I. And you know, I think we did a good job bringing her up. She can handle anything, our girl.”
Alec smiled, leaning forward to press his lips to Magnus’. He pulled back, leaning their foreheads together.
“You’re damn right I can handle anything. And have I ever told you two you’re huge saps.” Alec and Magnus broke from the reverie that they were in to see Cinta stood by the sofa, her hands nervously clenching in front of her. Alec smiled as he pulled away from Magnus and patted the gap between them. Once Cinta was sat down, Magnus turned towards her, gripping her hand with his own.
“So, I don’t know how much you heard, but we’re gonna let you go and travel. But, you gotta keep in contact with us okay? We may have stopped aging at one point, but we’re old souls so we’re still gonna worry a lot and we have weak hearts in regards to you. And you gotta know that, even though the Circle isn’t that big of a problem anymore, there are still people out there who want to hurt our kind. And the fact that there will be a group of young Downworlders together will just make them more likely to go after you.
But you were right, you do know how to protect yourself, and you know that if you need us, we will be a phone call away and you can get us to come and help you. But we trust you darling. There’s still more to discuss but at the root of it, we trust you. Wholeheartedly.”
Cinta looked from both Alec and Magnus, seeing the confirmation in both their eyes and a small smile growing on her lips. “I love you guys. And I know there’s a lot to discuss but I promise to keep in touch, I know how old you both really are, I wouldn’t want to send you into a shock because I’m out doing ‘young people’ things.”
“Hey.” Alec faked offence at the fact that she was implying he was old as Magnus laughed at the look on his face.
“But, I gotta apologise too. I shouldn’t of shouted at you guys, I should have listened to you. And I get why you would be cautious of me flying from the nest, I guess all parents are. I’m just lucky that I have the best dad’s in the world.”
Alec curled an arm around Cinta’s shoulders, pulling her closer to him in a hug. “And we’re lucky to have the best daughter in the world.”
After sharing hugs and curling up on the couch to watch movies, the tone of the day had settled down, a calmness settling over the household as they all managed to get out what they needed to. Magnus had fallen asleep; his head on Alec’s lap, and Cinta was curled up against his side. He thought that she had fallen asleep as well, until she turned her head to look at him.
“I’m always gonna be your little girl, you know that right?”
Alec smiled at her, tightening his hold around her and pressing a kiss to her head.
“I know that princess. I know.”
-
Alec was currently on the sofa, leaning against Magnus’ side and gripping at the hand that was draped around his shoulder. He and Magnus both had the day off, and Cinta was back in New York to visit them both and also to meet the new addition to the family –Ragnor Alexander Lightwood-Bane, a young Shadowhunter.
They had adopted him a couple weeks prior, when Alec received the message that his parents had been killed whilst out on patrol. They had written that they wished for their son to go to the New York institute in case of this occurrence, that they wanted him to grow up in an environment where he would be safe and where there was more progress than any other institute in the world.
And more importantly they wanted their son to be brought up under Alec’s supervision. They had named their son Alexander after him because they looked up to everything that Alec had tried to do in regards to bridging the gap between Shadowhunters and Downworlders. When Alec heard about the one-year-old boy, he immediately knew that he and Magnus had to take him into their home, and to care for him.
Having a son named Alexander proved to be difficult however, so they came to the agreement of naming him after someone else who was an inspiration, a good friend and a good person - Ragnor Fell. And after two weeks of living with them and officially being their son, Ragnor proved to live up to the name in that Magnus claimed he had down the trademark scowl that his friend always seemed to wear.
Cinta had come home after travelling to some of the other Institutes around the world, to help her father’s spread the word that there should be peace and to help with the prejudices that were still evident in the Shadow World. But right now, they were all at home, Alec and Magnus watching their daughter play with her brother.
Alec couldn’t help the smile that was on his face as he watched Ragnor laugh as Cinta produced bulbs of light from her hands.
“It looks beautiful, doesn’t it Dad?” Alec hummed in agreement, turning to look at Magnus, whose light in his eyes shone brighter than the ones floating around the room. He looked at his daughter, at the woman she had become and how strong willed and beautiful she was. He looked at his son, at the laughter on his face and his hands clapping together as he tried to catch the light.
He sat and watched his family, the ones who owned his heart, and the ones that he would protect and be there for forever. He looked at them, unable to contain the happiness that was surging through his chest.
He watched and couldn’t help but realise how lucky he was to share this with the man he loved, to have two beautiful children and to be this happy. Alec smiled as he pressed into Magnus side, feeling him press a kiss to his temple.
“Yeah. It’s beautiful.”