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Saturday nights were movie nights.
When Rafe had joined them, Max had announced that Rafe was allowed to pick the movies for movie night for a full month.
Alec had teased Magnus mercilessly when his husband had teared up at the declaration and how excited Rafe had been that he’d slipped between English and Spanish for the better part of an hour as he looked over the movies with Max. Of course, they’d both told Max what a good idea it was and encouraged Rafe to pick whatever movie he wanted to watch.
The choices were surprising, and not.
Alec had been prepared to sit through a certain type of movie, maybe ones that Rafe had heard about on the streets, and while there were a few of those, others surprised him. Rafe had his clear favorites in Mulan and Princess and the Frog, and always wrinkled his nose at some of the others. It was endearing in a way that made him want to wrap the boy up and protect him from the horrors of the world.
Magnus sipped his wine as he watched Alec bring in the pile of blankets from the boy’s room, settling on the couch as a movie was carefully debated over and then selected. He conjured two large bowls of popcorn and leaned into the kiss Alexander gave him when he handed over the one with extra butter and salt.
“Salt for my salty Shadowhunter,” Magnus teased, smiling at him. When Alec rolled his eyes, he grinned and settled closer to his husband, watching as the boys finally picked a movie, offering it up. He recognized Alec’s favorite, The Iron Giant, a moment later and his eyes flickered over to Alec.
“That’s an excellent choice, and it’s my favorite,” Alec told Rafe, watching his eyes widen as it was suddenly up on the tv with a wave of Magnus’ fingers. It was a matter of seconds before the boys were joining the giant blanket pile on the bed. Rafe preened under the attention and cuddled close.
Magnus smiled and watched as the boys dug into the popcorn, staring at the television with wide eyes as the movie started to play. It was a longer movie, and he glanced to the side as they started to get further into it and saw that Max was curled up in Rafe’s lap, and Rafe’s eyes were closing slowly. He smiled.
It was a matter of a few more minutes before they were both asleep. Magnus gave Alec a small nudge with his shoulder and couldn’t help smiling as his husband tucked a blanket around the boys carefully, making sure they were comfortable, before standing up to stretch his legs. He stood up as well, stretching and heading to the kitchen. A quick glance at the clock told him that they still had a few minutes before they needed to put the boys to bed.
“Dance with me?” Alec whispered, wrapping his arms around Magnus from behind. "They won’t hear us if we step outside for a few minutes, right?“
“Nah,” Magnus said, letting Alec lead him outside.
With a quick snap of his fingers, music filled the air, and they began to dance. Magnus closed his eyes and lost himself in the gentle sway of his husband’s arms.
~!~
After that, it became a habit on movie nights.
If the kids fell asleep early, Alec would tug Magnus out onto the balcony so they could dance together for a little while until it was time to put the boys to bed. Alec wasn’t afraid to admit that he loved those moments almost as much as he loved the movie nights themselves. Just he and Magnus, dancing together, slowly, while their boys slept, cocooned and safe on the couch.
Magnus relaxed and leaned against Alec’s shoulder, humming quietly along with the music. A flash of something caught his eye and he glanced towards the loft, catching sight of both Max and Rafe watching them, their eyes wide with delight and awe. He smiled and pressed his face back to Alec’s shoulder.
Looked like their munchkins had been planning this. And to think, they’d both been fooled by it.
Magnus spun with Alec for a few minutes more, giving the boys time to get back onto the couch so they could pretend to be asleep. If his boys wanted to be closet romantics and give him more time to dance with his husband, well. He certainly wasn’t going to say no to that!