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Being a dad was hard.
Magnus and Alec had learned that pretty early on in their career as parents. Alec still cringed at whenever he saw a commercial for baby food. They triggered way too many memories involving cushions, fresh laundry or Alec’s favorite shirts being ruined by mushed veggies and whatever else they put into those tiny glasses of hell. Being a parent had also made Magnus spend an additional five minutes in front of the mirror every day, applying extra layer of moisturizer to his non-aging skin because he was convinced that being a dad to these monsters makes me age much faster than I am supposed to, Alexander.
However, those were only very small problems compared to what other hardships parent life liked to throw at them. Looking back, Alec could only laugh when he remembered how Magnus and him had thought that raising one young warlock girl had been hard. Raising said warlock girl after adding another two kids to the equation was harder. Especially since all three of them were way too smart for their age. And a little too cunning.
Rafael had turned eight two months ago, and started his serious shadowhunter training not much later. Alec had been teaching him runes and some demonology basics ever since he’d learned to read, but now that Rafael had officially reached the required age to start training, classes like combat training and survival practice had been added to his schedule as well. This resulted in Rafael tagging along when Alec left for the Institute in the morning, and spending most of his day with Izzy or – even worse – Jace. While both of Alec’s siblings adored spending time with their little nephew, Alec wasn’t all too satisfied with that solution. Not from a professional point of view – he knew Izzy and Jace were the best instructors the New York Institute had – but from a parental one. Spending so much time with Alec’s very smart and competent, but also overly confident and slightly vain siblings started to rub off on Rafael’s behavior. Even though Jace and Izzy were exceptional instructors and there was nobody that Alec would trust more with his son’s training, they had a tendency to turn their students into sassy little monsters. And it was starting to show on Rafael, too.
Ever since Alec and Magnus had started their family, both of them tried their best to schedule their working hours so they could be home at a reasonable time. For Alec, that meant starting his day as early as he always had. But he now made sure that he was home by 8pm at the latest. Most days that worked fairly well, especially since he had taken a step back from operative business and didn’t go out on missions that often anymore. One of the things he’d had to learn when he’d become Head of the Institute was how to delegate tasks and while he’d had his difficulties with that at first, now he had no trouble at all handing over late-night missions to eager young recruits.
Appointments could be scheduled, same as meetings and downworld cabinets. Paperwork could be taken care of sometime in between. So if there wasn’t a particular emergency or the inquisitor acting out, Alec would be home by dinnertime. Working overtime was slowly becoming the exception instead of the rule.
Regardless of Alec trying his best to not work too much, on some days the amount of work that was left for him to do was just overwhelming. Like when a video conference with the Head of the LA Institute went longer than anticipated and the paperwork after that just wouldn’t get less, no matter how hard Alec worked on the sheer endless amount of forms, contracts and letters.
He was so focused on one particularly complicated report that he didn’t even realize how much time had passed. He was still stuck behind his desk, chewing on a pen as he tried to decipher the sloppy handwriting of whoever had filed that report, when a light, amused chuckle dragged him out of it.
When Alec looked up, Rafael was leaning in the doorframe, obviously waiting for him. “Dad, you do realize that Papa is probably making dinner, right? No need to start eating your pens,” he said.
Alec raised an eyebrow at him, looking at his tiny 8-year-old now leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed in front of his chest and his posture and that cocky grin making him look an awful lot like a certain instructor. “And you do realize that I don’t like this cocky tone, right? You done with your training already?”
Rafael shot him a bright smile. “Well, Uncle Jace lets me off the hook around 6 every day so…yeah?”
Alec pinched his nose with his fingers. “You spend too much time with your uncle,” he said. He then looked at the stack of papers still waiting for him and let out a defeated sigh. “I won’t get done with this any time soon. Let’s go home and grab dinner.”
+++
On second thought, staying at the Institute and finishing those papers might not have been that bad of an idea. At least that’s what Alec thought when they got out of the elevator in their building and walked up to the front door of the Lightwood-Bane penthouse. Even though the door was firmly closed, Alec could hear muffled crying from inside and closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath before he pulled out his keys from his pocket – they had started locking the door after an incident involving 5 year-old Rafael opening the door by himself and taking a stroll around the building – and unlocked the door.
As soon as Alec and Rafael walked into the loft, Magnus came into the hallway, a crying Max on his arm and a slightly desperate expression in his eyes. Exchanging a quick glance with his husband, Alec quickly took of his coat, hung up Rafael’s jacket and then walked over to Magnus, talking their youngest from his arms and cradling him in his own.
“It’s okay, Maxie, everything’s fine. No reason to cry,” he murmured in his most soothing tone. Max’s tiny shoulders were shaking with sobs, and his little blue hands clung to Alec’s shirt. “It’s okay, blueberry. Calm down. Nothing happened,” he continued while rubbing Max’s back. He walked slowly up and down the living room, trying his best to calm down their young warlock. Max hid his face in Alec’s neck and Alec ran a soothing hand through his son’s tousled dark curls. Eventually, Max’s sobs decreased into a soft sniffle every now and then and Alec sat down on the couch, placing Max on his lap and looking at his son with a worried frown.
“You okay?” he asked when Max finally looked up at him. The little warlock just sniffled as a response, but nodded eventually. Alec smiled. “Are you gonna tell me what happened or do I need to ask papa?”
“Madzie shouted at me,” Max mumbled and pouted, wiping the tears from his face with his little blue hands. His eyes were glassy and his cheeks blotchy from crying. If the situation hadn’t been anything but funny, Alec would have found the sight adorable.
Instead, he kept talking to Max to find out what had made the little warlock so upset. “Did she?”, he wondered, sending an intrigued look over to Magnus, who had been leaning on the kitchen counter and was now walking over to them. Magnus just shrugged and then sat down on the couch next to Alec, apparently not completely sure of what had happened himself.
“I had to head out for a few ingredients for a potion earlier today, so I asked Madzie to watch him for the afternoon,” Magnus said, worriedly looking at his youngest, who was slowly calming down. “When I came back, he was already crying and Madzie was in her room. When I asked her what happened, she slammed the door in my face and locked it from the inside so…seems like another one of her tantrums.”
Magnus sighed and then nodded over to the door to Madzie’s bedroom that was still firmly shut. “You wanna give it a shot?”
Alec smirked at his husband. “Scared of facing the storm?”
Magnus huffed. “Ha. I’ve faced the storm that is our teenage daughter plenty of times in the past couple of days. This particular crisis is your job, my love. And I wish you the best of luck with it, because Madzie has been a nightmare recently.”
“Fine,” Alec laughed, looking back at Max. “You gonna be okay, buddy?” he asked him, cupping Max’s little face in the palm of his hand.
Max sniffed one more time but then nodded. Alec dropped a kiss on his head and then handed him over to Magnus, who wrapped his arms around the little warlock and cuddled him close. “That’s my boy.”
+++
Dealing with their daughter had once been one of the easiest tasks in Magnus and Alec’s lives as parents. Unlike her brothers, Madzie had always been a rather quiet, introverted kid and had never really caused her parents much trouble. However, ever since puberty had hit her in full blow, she had become the most nerve wrecking of all three of their kids. She got upset easily, and her mood swings were as frequent as they were unpredictable. More often than not, her wrath would be triggered by something her fathers or her brothers said or did, or at least they would be the ones her anger would be directed at. On those days, her mood would put a raging thunderstorm to shame, on other days she would be the sweetest girl in the world. To Alec, it felt a bit like Russian Roulette – they never knew what version of Madzie they would have to deal with until she joined them at breakfast in the morning.
When Alec came back from trying to talk to Madzie, it wasn’t hard for Magnus to guess that it was one her bad days. Magnus had just put some of the pizza he had made onto Max and Rafael’s plates, when Alec sat down at the dinner table with a monumental sigh and a frown on his face. Offering him a sympathetic smile, Magnus took one of Alec’s hands in his and gently ran his thumb over Alec’s knuckles.
“I take it your talk didn’t go so well?”
Alec scoffed. “As far from well as it can get. I just wish that overdramatic phase of hers would end soon. I try to be understanding, but I feel like there’s nothing that doesn’t upset her these days.” He looked at his husband and then smirked. “She gets that from you.”
Magnus chuckled. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that last part and tell you something nice instead. Even though you don’t deserve it after that obvious lie.” He squeezed Alec’s hand and smiled softly at him before he continued. “I know how much you hate this, but don’t let it get to you. She’s fifteen, pretty much everything upsets people her age. It’s not your fault. Whatever it was this time, I’m sure it’s just another episode of unnecessary teenage drama. We’ve been through worse with her.”
“Indeed,” Alec agreed. “At this point, we’re pros at dealing with unnecessary teenage drama.”
“What’s unnecessary teenage drama?” Rafael suddenly chimed in, his voice muffled by the bite of pizza he was chewing on, tomato sauce smeared around his mouth.
“Something that will take you another few years to cause us, my darling,” Magnus said, adding a “thank Lilith” under his breath. He then narrowed his eyes at their 8 year-old. “Now, I believe your father and I taught you some table manners not so long ago. What did we say about talking with your mouth full?”
Rafael stuck out his tongue at Magnus, which made them all laugh and the conversation shift to lighter topics. As they chatted about their days, Magnus could slowly feel Alec’s tension fade away. When he looked over to his husband, there was a light smile pulling at his lips and the frown from earlier had disappeared completely. His entire posture was more relaxed as he listened intently to Rafael’s stories about what he had learned at the Institute that day. The scene made Magnus smile softly to himself. He knew how much Alec hated conflicts in their family and how much he tended to beat himself up over them – even if they were not his fault at all.
+++
After dinner, Max and Rafael dashed off to their room to play some more before bedtime. Magnus and Alec stayed back to clean up the mess and turn it into a kitchen again. Afterwards, they decided to relocate to the living room to watch a movie. While Magnus stayed back to make them drinks and popcorn, Alec got comfortable on the couch and flicked through Netflix in search for something to watch. He had just settled for a recent drama that had earned a lot of praise from the critics (and Magnus) when the door to Madzie’s room suddenly opened and the young warlock stepped into the room. She was wearing jeans and a black shirt that sparkled with sequins, combined with a leather jacket, boots and a purse that Izzy had gotten her for her last birthday. And she was making a beeline for the front door.
When she passed the couch and kept pointedly ignoring her father, Alec sat up and cleared his throat. “And where exactly do you think you’re going?” he asked, forcing Madzie to stop and turn towards him. However mad she might be, she knew better than ignoring her parents like that. It had earned her plenty of days being grounded before.
So she stopped and turned towards Alec, albeit with a not too happy expression on her face. “Out,” she said, voice clipped and leaving no doubt at how little she wanted to have this conversation.
Alec remained unfazed by his daughter’s petulant mood. It took more than just a grumpy teen to make him angry. “Care to explain where, or with whom?” he deadpanned instead.
Madzie rolled her eyes. “No. I’m heading out, why do I have to explain everything to you,” she grumbled and resolutely turned towards the door again, slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder. She was just about to reach for the door handle when a flash of blue magic closed around it, preventing her from turning it.
“Papa! Really?!”
Now Madzie definitely didn’t bother hiding her annoyance anymore. But Magnus remained unfazed by that. With one eyebrow raised, he sauntered out of the kitchen, balancing a tray with two cocktail glasses in his right hand, sparks of magic still dancing around the fingers of his left one. He set down the tray on the coffee table and then turned towards Madzie, who was fuming with frustration.
“Your dad is right, sweet pea,” he said in a gentle tone. “You can’t just go out and not tell us where you’re going or when you will be back.”
Madzie let out a frustrated groan. “What the hell did I do that you guys always go Big Brother on me like that,” she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air in frustration. Purple sparks of magic flickered around her fingers when she let her hands fall back down.
“Language,” Magnus scolded pointedly, earning a look from his daughter that told him very clearly what was thinking of his comment. “Also, we’re not going Big Brother on you. We’re your parents, we have a right to know where you’re going.”
“Fine,” Madzie groaned. “I’m heading downtown with Caleb.”
“Who’s Caleb? And what happened to your plan of going to that concert with Izzy?”, Alec chimed in, looking at her with an eyebrow raised and his lips pulled into a smirk, enjoying this situation clearly more than he was supposed to.
“He’s a friend. Aunt Izzy told me she couldn’t make it, so Caleb offered to go with me instead.
“A friend, huh? And he offered to go with you? Interesting,” Alec teased, exchanging a knowing look with Magnus. He pushed himself up on his elbows and placed the remote back onto the coffee table. “So, who is he?”
Madzie let out a frustrated sigh. “I met him when I was at the Institute last week. Satisfied?”
Alec just opened his mouth for a sarcastic comeback, but before he could say anything, Magnus cut in. “Of course he is, sweet pea. Go ahead, have a good time. But make sure you’re home by curfew.”
Alec watched as Magnus unlocked the door with a snap of his fingers and Madzie stormed out, letting the front door fall shut behind her, her angry “You two are so embarrassing,” staying behind.
After their daughter was gone, Magnus turned towards Alec, raising an eyebrow at him, an amused smirk pulling at his lips. “Really, Alexander?”
“What?” Alec shrugged and reached for his glass. “I’m her dad. I’m allowed to embarrass her. Also, she’s fifteen, Magnus. Fifteen. She’s not supposed to go out with anyone for another ten years, at least.”
“I know perfectly well how old our daughter is, love,” Magnus sighed and sat down next to Alec, rubbing his hand over Alec’s thigh. “Just because you didn’t start with dating until you were in your twenties doesn’t mean she can’t go out and have some fun.”
Alec huffed. “That was entirely different. I was…”
Magnus silenced him with a quick kiss and smirked when he pulled away. “…so far in the closet it hurt. I know that, my love. Anyway, I still don’t see how your experience prevents Madzie from having a good time. Besides, one of us has to be the cool parent.”
He glanced towards the bedroom Max and Rafael shared, and seemed to be pleased with the low noises of the brothers playing. “Also,” he added, “with her out of the house and the boys busy, that leaves some alone time for you and me, which I appreciate very much.”
Alec let out a low laugh. “On second thought, you’re right. That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“I’m always right,” Magnus muttered, before capturing Alec’s lips in another gentle kiss. His lips pulled into a tiny smirk when he felt Alec’s hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in closer, and Alec’s tongue grazing over his bottom lip. Breaking away from their kiss for a few seconds, he shifted so he could sit on Alec’s lap instead of beside him, and loop his arms around Alec’s neck. Magnus may not have intended for this to go any further than a quick peck, but who was he to complain? They hardly ever got any alone time anyways.
They kissed lazily for a while, enjoying the relative quiet of the loft as long as it lasted. Magnus was just about to test the waters for turning their gentle, lazy kisses into something a tiny bit more passionate, when they were interrupted by an all-too familiar high-pitched yelling coming from Max and Rafael’s room.
“Daaaaads! Max spilled watercolor on my shirt!”
Alec pulled away and let his head drop against the back of the couch with a defeated sigh. He only opened his eyes when he heard Magnus giggle. His husband had already stood up and was patiently waiting with a hand stretched out for Alec to take. “You coming, babe?”
+++
As it turned out, solving the watercolor incident turned rather quickly into a calming their 3 year-old incident, as Rafael’s yelling had made Max cry again. While Magnus took care of Rafael’s shirt, putting the stained one in the laundry and conjuring up a new one just for good measure, Alec took care of Max.
Luckily, their little warlock could be calmed down easily this time around, especially since as soon as Rafael had gotten his new shirt, he went over to where Alec was sitting on the floor, talking softly to Max, and apologized to his brother for yelling at him. He might have done that due to a few rather convincing “arguments” from Magnus, but nobody could prove that.
“I’m sorry, Maxie. I overreacted,” Rafael murmured, looking at his brother with sad eyes and a frown.
“’s okay,” Max retorted, padding over to Rafael and opening his arms. Rafael smiled and hugged his brother tight, while the little blue-skinned warlock giggled happily.
As Alec watched them, his gaze shifted over to Magnus, who was standing a few steps away, arms crossed in front of his chest and a warm smile on his face. Their eyes met and they smiled at each other. Max was only three, but both Alec and Magnus had long noticed how much their youngest son hated it when people argued around him. Even more so when it was people that he loved. Out of the five of them, Max was the one that nobody could ever really be mad at. He was only a toddler, but already the reason for so many potential arguments in their family never becoming actual arguments at all.
Magnus and Alec stayed in the kids’ room for a while to tell them a bedtime story until both Max and Rafael were yawning every few minutes and barely able to keep their eyes open. While Magnus changed Max into his pajamas, Alec tucked Rafael in and kissed him goodnight.
As soon as their boys were in bed, Alec and Magnus met outside in the living room again and sat down on the couch. Magnus magically switched on a low instrumental tune on the stereo and dimmed the lights, then relaxed into Alec’s side.
With both of their schedules being so busy, they barely had time for themselves anymore, so it had become a habit that they would meet at the end of the day either in the living room or on the balcony and spend some time together over a glass of wine. It was also the only time of the day where they could discuss things that they didn’t have time to discuss over breakfast or the occasional lunchbreak. And apart from that, their evenings also served as a precious opportunity to cuddle after a busy, exhausting day and both Alec and Magnus valued that tiny bit of alone time everyday dearly. More often than not, it was the only time of the day they would get to spend together without their kids or anybody else interrupting.
With another snap of Magnus’ fingers, a bottle of wine and two glasses appeared on the coffee table. Alec reached for the bottle and poured each of them a glass, then leaned back into the couch and sighed. “I thought this day would never end.”
Magnus nodded. “I love our kids, but…sometimes I feel like portaling them to the other side of New York so it will be quiet for at least a few hours.” He let his head fall back against the couch and groaned. “I miss the times when it was just you and me. Why did I let you convince me that it was a good idea to have kids?”
Alec laughed. “Me convincing you? I’m pretty sure that it was the other way around and you suggested adopting Madzie. If my memory doesn’t deceive me, that is.”
“Your memory sucks,” Magnus teased and smirked at Alec over the rim of his glass. “You forget where you put your keys and wallet all the time, Alexander.”
“Well, good thing I have a husband who can magically retrieve them for me then,” Alec retorted. He put his glass back onto the coffee table and then took Magnus’ glass out of his hands as well. “And who is also an amazing father, and somehow manages to still look incredibly attractive, even when he has been up for 20 hours straight because our 3 year-old is sick.”
“Mmhm he sounds pretty amazing, your husband,” Magnus smirked.
“He is,” Alec muttered and then closed the distance between them for a long-overdue kiss.
+++
When their wine glasses were long empty and the both of them on the verge of falling asleep, they retreated to their bedroom and got ready for bed. Or at least Magnus did, since Alec had brought home some work that he needed to finish. Alec was so focused on the papers that he didn’t even hear the door to their bathroom open and only looked up when the mattress dipped beside him and the smell of expensive shampoo filled the air. Magnus cuddled up to Alec’s side, resting his head on his husband’s shoulder. His skin was still warm from the shower he had taken minutes ago and his hair was damp and smelled like sandalwood.
“Love, what did we say about working in our bedroom?”
Alec smiled apologetically and pressed a kiss into his husband’s hair. “I know. But this needs to be done by tomorrow and it’s not really a lot. I couldn’t finish it at the Institute because Rafael was done with his training earlier than I thought.”
Magnus hummed. “I’ll leave you to it, then. But I’m going to sleep, I am dead tired. Can I get a good night kiss?”
Alec grinned and put the papers down, turning over to his husband and pulling him in for a short, but sweet kiss. “Always. Goodnight, babe.”
“Mmhm, I love the sound of that,” Magnus murmured as he turned away from Alec to get comfortable. As usual it took him a while of twisting and turning and stealing some of Alec’s half of the blanket, but eventually his breathing evened out and he fell asleep, chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm.
Alec watched him with fond eyes and a soft smile on his lips. It was always moments like this when it hit him how incredibly lucky he was. His life could have gone an entirely different path if it hadn’t been for Magnus’ courage and determination all those years ago. Sure, he would probably be a father today too if Magnus hadn’t interrupted his wedding. But he wouldn’t even be half as happy, half as content as he was right now, with the love of his life snoring softly beside him. Alec reached out to gently push a stray strand of hair out of Magnus’ face. When his fingers brushed over Magnus’ features, the warlock’s nose scrunched up adorably in his sleep and Alec felt his heart swell at the sight.
No, he would definitely never have been this happy.
+++
Alec had just gotten done with his papers and was about to close their bedroom door and switch off the lights when the peaceful quiet of their apartment was disturbed by the sound of the front door opening. Alec and Magnus usually kept their bedroom door open until the both of them went to sleep – just in case the kids needed anything – so he could see the light falling through the tiny gap between the door jamb and the door and hear the familiar steps approaching their bedroom. A few seconds later, the door was gently pushed open and Madzie poked her head through the gap.
Alec smiled gently at her when their gazes met. “Hey, baby girl. How was your night?”, he whispered.
“Good. Really good. Look I…,” she glanced over to Magnus peacefully sleeping next to Alec, curled up under his blanket and his face halfway hidden in the mountain of pillows he preferred to sleep on as of recently. Madzie frowned. “Can you maybe get into the living room? I need to talk to you and I don’t want to wake Papa.”
Alec nodded and put his folder aside. He pushed back his blanket, got up and padded over to Madzie, carefully closing the door behind him once they had walked out of the room so Magnus wouldn’t be disturbed by them talking. “What’s up?”
Madzie bit her lip, not looking up to him. “Look, I…I just wanted to say I’m sorry for how I behaved earlier. I know it wasn’t the nicest.”
Alec scoffed lowly. “You could definitely say that.” His gaze got soft when Madzie looked up at him and he smiled. “Apology accepted, love. I was never mad at you anyway.”
At that response, the slight frown on Madzie’s face resolved and she beamed up at him. “Really?”
Alec just shook his head. “Come on Madzie, you know it takes me more than my teenage daughter being a typical teenage daughter to really get me angry. You and your brothers made sure of that.”
The girl chuckled. “I guess we really did.” She paused, looking up at him. “So you’re really not mad? Like, really not?”
“No, I am really, really not mad,” Alec teased. “Is that good enough for you or do you need a signed confirmation?”
Madzie didn’t bother to respond to that. She just rolled her eyes with the same annoyed acceptance that Magnus showed whenever he thought that Alec was being ridiculous. Alec chuckled at the familiar expression. Their children may be adopted, but they certainly had inherited a thing or two from Magnus and him.
“You make the worst jokes, Dad,” Madzie finally murmured and then surprised Alec by pulling him into a hug. Alec wrapped his arms around his daughter and pulled her close, enjoying the moment and the warmth that bubbled up in his chest at the rare hug. Hugs from Madzie were rare these days, which made this one even more special.
“Which is your new way of saying that you love me?” Alec joked, not really expecting to receive an answer. But once again, his daughter surprised him by looking up and smiling at him.
“I guess you could say that,” Madzie chuckled before she hid her face in Alec’s shirt again. “You’re the best. Don’t tell Papa I said that, though, he will never let me live it down."
“Tell you what,” Alec said, rubbing small circles over Madzie’s back. “I promise I won’t tell him, and instead you tell him tomorrow and give him the same apology you just gave me. How about that?”
Madzie let out a soft laugh. “Fine. Goodnight, Dad,” she said, then stood up on her tiptoes to peck Alec’s cheek.
As he watched her walk to her bedroom, Alec couldn’t help but smile to himself. Yes, being a parent was hard. Actually, it was one of the hardest tasks Alec had ever come across, more difficult than any mission and requiring more sensitivity than any diplomatic conflict.
But it was also one of the most rewarding things Alec had ever gotten to experience. Madzie, Max and Rafael may drive them crazy on some days, and make them complain about premature gray hair and wrinkles on others. But however often they misbehaved, fought with each other or made their fathers curse the day they had decided to adopt – at the end of the day, Alec was extremely proud of being their father. And he knew that Magnus felt the same way about it. So no matter how often they had a hard time staying patient or got to witness the hard side of parenting – neither Alec nor Magnus would have it any other way.