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*****Alec and Magnus
These were Alec’s favorite days. The ones where he could put off being Consul for a few hours and just be father for a bit. Today, Maia and Lily had agreed to take over training Mark Blackthorn on running the Alliance, and Jace had been all too eager to let him have a day off and watch for any pressing issues he might be needed for.
He and Julian had decided to take Rafael, Max, and Tavvy to Central Park and out for ice cream. Emma, Julian, and Tavvy were in New York for a few days before Emma and Julian started their travel year together. Emma was happy to spend some time with Clary and Julian wanted to spend some time with Tavvy, knowing how nervous his baby brother was at the idea of him being gone for so long.
“So where are you and Emma headed to first?” wondered Alec as they watched the kids play on a jungle gym. All five of them were glamoured so Max would be able to play without also having to focus on keeping his skin and horns hidden.
“We were thinking Venice, but since Christina is down in Mexico visiting her parents, we might stop by there first so we can catch her before she leaves,” answered Julian, wincing as he watched Tavvy almost lose his footing near the top.
The two continued to make small talk, laughing sipping the coffees they had gotten when the boys had gotten ice cream. Their silence was broken when Max, out of breath, came running up to them, almost tripping into his father’s lap, his little eyes widening in panic.
“Max what happened?” asked Alec, kneeling down, unconsciously scanning his son over for any injuries. Julian quickly looked over the park, his stomach dropping when he couldn’t see Tavvy or Rafe anywhere. The jungle gym they had been climbing standing abandoned near the edge of the park.
“Rafe and Tavvy said the jungle gym was for babies, and that they were real Shadowhunters, so they wanted to climb one of the bigger trees,” Max cut himself off to take a breath, the truth seeming to spill out of him more quickly than he could keep up with.
“Slow down Max, deep breaths remember,” soothed Alec, taking comically large breaths in an attempt to calm Max down.
“Now, what happened?” Alec questioned after a moment, meanwhile Julian was biting his nails, his skin crawling as he fought the urge to call up all his extended family and demand a manhunt be conducted to find Tavvy, worst case scenarios flashing through his mind, each one worse than the last.
He tried to push the image of Livvy in his arms in the Council Hall out of his mind.
Max nervously glanced from his father to Julian, “They went to find a bigger tree to climb, and when they got to the top Rafe dared Tavvy to jump down, cause that’s what a real Shadowhunter would do, like Uncle Jace. But when Tavvy jumped down his foot went all sideways.”
Julian ran a hand through his hair and tried to push down the panic in his chest before he turned to Max, “Do you remember where they are?”
Max nervously looked up to Alec, who nodded at him to continue “Yeah, it was over there,” he said as he pointed to a cluster of tall oak trees on the other side of the park.
Alec scooped the warlock up and ran after Julian who had already sprinted off in the direction Max had pointed.
“Tavvy!” Julian yelled as he got closer to the two boys. Rafe kneeling down beside Tavvy who was holding his leg, little sniffles escaping as he tried to hold back tears.
Julian dropped down to his knees next to Tavvy and wrapped his arms as tightly around him as he could without jostling his leg, pressing a kiss to the curls on top of his head.
“Rafael Santiago Lightwood-Bane, what did we say about jumping and falling?” demanded Alec. He knelt by his son and looked him in the eye as the small Shadowhunter tried to turn away.
“Only in the training room with you or Jace,” mumbled Rafe, “but I didn’t mean for him to jump for real, I was only joking! I promise!”
Julian pulled back to look at his younger brother, “Octavian Blackthorn is this true?” Tavvy’s lip wobbled dangerously, prompting Julian to soften his tone a bit. “We’ll talk about this later, let’s get to Magnus to fix you up.”
He scooped Tavvy up into his arms quickly, the younger Blackthorn turning his head into Julian’s chest, shoulders shaking as he couldn’t hold back his tears any longer.
Alec nodded at Julian, already on the phone with Magnus when a portal started shimmering in the air behind them, Magnus strutting out of it like a model on a runway. Hair, makeup, and clothes pristine as always.
Alec looked at him confused, “How did you know where we were?”
“Well you told me you were planning on going to the park,” he paused, “plus both the boys have tracking spells in all of their shoes. Just until they’re past this age where they feel the need to run towards every shiny object they see.”
Smirking, Alec remarked, “With you as their father I don’t see them ever passing that age.”
At this Julian huffed impatiently, “This is fun, but can we get a move on, please?”
Together, the six of them passed through the portal and into the Lightwood-Bane’s apartment. Magnus quickly led Julian to the couch while he went to his workspace to get the ingredients he needed.
“Won’t you just be able to use your regular magic for this?” questioned Julian, holding Tavvy close. Alec curiously noticed that he seemed to be unconsciously rocking him back and forth. He recognized the soft shushing noises he made as the same ones he used when Rafael woke up from a nightmare.
“I will but his ankle will probably still be a little sore from such a bad break, so I’m making a sleeping potion that should help him sleep the worst of the pain off,” answered Magnus, “With him being so young I don’t want to overload his body with too much magic, so I’m just gonna heal the break.”
Magnus quickly entered the living room and sat on the coffee table, facing the two Blackthorns as he called up his magic, not missing the protective way Julian eyed the blue sparks as they came closer to Tavvy.
After a few seconds, Tavvy’s sniffles quieted down as his ankle slowly knit itself back together. After his tears had subsided, Julian slowly lifted him up to place him on the couch next to him.
“Octavian, you know better than to do something so dangerous. What if you had landed wrong, and hurt more than your leg? What if we hadn’t been able to reach Magnus so easily?”
Tavvy slowly lifted his head to meet Julian’s eyes, his eyes still glossy and wide from his crying, “But Rafe dared me, and Emma always says that if someone dares you, you have to do it cause otherwise you’re a little bitch.”
“Language!”, scolded Julian. Prompting Magnus and Alec to raise their eyebrows a bit, not missing the distinctly paternal tone his voice had taken.
Julian sighed, “Ok, I’ll let you off with a warning this time, but you, me, and Emma are going to be talking about when it is and isn’t a good idea to accept a dare. I’ll go ahead and give you a hint, if it involves jumping out of a tree, the answers no.”
Magnus reached out to hand Julian the sleeping potion, noticing Tavvy’s eyes growing heavier as the events of the day slowly caught up with him. After Tavvy had finished it, grimacing at the unpleasant taste of magic, Julian picked him up under his shoulders and left to tuck him into the guest room Magnus had conjured for him to spend the night in.
Alec walked back into the living room from tucking his own sons into bed, collapsing on the couch.
“How’s Tavvy?” he asked as Magnus came to sit with him, Alec’s arm going around him as he did.
“Seems better. Julian is tucking him in now.” answered Magnus. After a while, he followed up, “In fact, he should be back by now.”
“I’ll go check up on them,” said Alec, getting up to walk back to the guest room, Magnus trailing behind him.
At the door, they slowly peeked in, careful not to make too much noise, especially when they saw the scene inside. Julian had Tavvy’s head resting on his chest, just above his heart, while Julian hummed quietly to him, running is fingers through his soft curls.
Smiling softly, Magnus and Alec turned away, slowly closing the door behind them, recognizing the look of a father who needed a quiet moment with his son.
******Jem and Tessa
Tessa was relaxing with a book in her favorite spot, the bench by the largest window in Cirenworth overlooking the rolling fields and hills. It was a stormy day, but perfect for staying in with the book that Jem had recommended a few days back, hot tea, and Mina sleeping in her bassinet next to her.
The silence was broken by Kit racing in, a goofy smile lighting up his face as he looked down at his phone.
“Ty and I are going to dinner tonight, is that ok?” asked Kit, coming to sit down on the bench next to Tessa.
“Sure, it’ll be nice to get to see him again. I feel like every time I see him it’s under tragic and dire circumstances,” remarked Tessa, marking her place in the book and leaning to rock Mina gently.
Kit laughed, silently agreeing, “Yeah, well I think Julian may be dropping him off. He and Ty were spending a day together since Emma and Julian have been up fixing Blackthorn hall.”
“Oh fun! I haven’t been up there since Benedict Lightwood turned into a giant worm. But it’ll be nice to see it after they’ve renovated everything.”
“He turned into a worm?”
“Oh yeah, really big one.”
Kit paused, “Well, Emma says it feels kinda haunted so they took the day off to show Ty all the sights and then Julian will drop him off.”
Throughout the rest of the day, Tessa noticed the small smiles Kit wore, laughing down at his phone. She had no doubt who was responsible for that smile and she couldn’t wait to see him tonight.
About an hour before the two Blackthorns were supposed to arrive, Jem came home just in time to see Kit pacing from his bedroom to the bathroom.
Jem looked at his wife curiously, “Is something wrong?”
She laughed quietly, “Apparently, his hair is being ‘impossible’ and all of his clothes ‘don’t fit in an LA chic way’. Whatever those things mean.”
The two laughed as the doorbell rung, prompting the young Herondale’s stress to skyrocket to unseen levels.
“They’re here already? I was supposed to have another half hour. What I am supposed to do about this?!” He said, gesturing madly to his whole body.
Jem looked at him with a vaguely amused expression, “Kit, you look fine. And didn’t Ty sit outside your room at the LA institute? I’m sure he’s seen your less put together morning look.”
Before Kit could come up with a suitable comeback, the door rang again, stirring Kit to hurry to the door, mumbling out a “Don’t embarrass me,” to his surrogate parents.
Tessa looked insulted, “I have never embarrassed him in my life, and even if I did embarrass James and Lucie, they were at least polite enough not to point it out.”
Jem let out a sigh, “It’s a different time my love.”
When Kit opened the door, his heart skipped a beat at seeing Ty, headphones strung around his neck as he smiled at something Julian had said.
“Hey Kit, how are you?” greeted Julian, standing up from where he was leaning against the wall outside.
“Pretty good, how’s Emma and Blackthorn hall?” Kit asked as he stepped aside to let the two of them into the foyer. His cheeks slightly reddening as he locked eyes with Ty.
“Oh Emma’s good and Blackthorn hall is as creepy and potentially haunted as always.”
A new voice chimed in, “Oh, if I knew Tatiana Blackthorn then there is no doubt that it’s haunted.”
Julian smiled going to shake Jem’s hand, “Well if you wouldn’t mind not mentioning my psychotic ancestor to Emma I would appreciate it. She already is regretting ever stepping foot in that place.”
For the first time Ty spoke up, “Me and Kit should probably get going, I made us reservations at restaurant that’s about a 20 minute walk from here.”
Kit looked completely smitten, “You did?”
Nervously, Ty met Kit’s eyes, “Well I didn’t wanna risk us not being able to get a seat there, it’s supposed to be really good though.”
Jem smirked at Kit’s blushing face, “Well, you guys should probably get going then, Kit, midnight curfew. Julian, do you wanna stay for some tea?”
Julian nodded, eyes widening slightly at the invitation, “Sure sounds good. Ty same rules, you need to be back in London by midnight.”
The two young Shadowhunters nodded, not entirely listening as they walked out the door, eyes only for the other.
Jem and Julian walked into the living room, Tessa coming down the stairs to greet Julian.
“Hey, it’s so good to see you Julian, sorry I missed Ty, I had to put Mina down before the waterworks started.”
The smile Julian gave her was knowing, “Hey we’ve all been there, I remember when Tavvy was a baby and how picky he was about bed time.”
Tessa and Jem shared a look between them. Neither of them knew Julian as much as they wished, and were surprised how much of a parent they saw in him.
Tessa broke the comfortable silence that had settled between the three of them, “Well the tea should be done brewing by now, we can go sit in the drawing room to catch up?”
Both men quickly agreed, the small group leisurely making their way to the considerable drawing room just off from the kitchen.
“I’m glad I was able to come, it’s great inspiration for how Blackthorn hall could look, I had started to lose hope,” commented Julian.
Tessa smiled, “Trust me, Blackthorn hall can be absolutely stunning.”
Jem gave a wry smirk, “Provided it isn’t being ripped apart by a giant Shadowhunter turned demonic worm.”
All three laughed before Tessa piped up, “So Ty and Kit seem to be absolutely enamored with each other, don’t they?”
Julian smile tightened a bit, “Yeah, Kit was all Ty could talk about the whole way here.”
“Yeah, it seems all Kit can talk about most days is ’the most beautiful, kindest, smartest man in the world: Tiberius Blackthorn’,” Jem dramatically replied, mimicking Kit’s ever creative romantic monologuing.
Julian tried to hide a smile, “Well I’m just glad that Ty’s happy. When Kit left the first time, Ty locked himself in his room. That plus Livvy, I was worried he wouldn’t smile again.”
Jem and Tessa exchanged a glance, neither of them missing the not so subtle implication that if there was a first time, there might someday be a second time.
Treading carefully, noticing the colder tone that Julian’s voice had taken, Jem replied, “I think Kit was just overwhelmed, I mean his father had just died, he learned about being a Shadowhunter, then everything with the Cohort, then he learned about his Fae heritage. I think it’s understandable that he needed some time to sort through things.”
Julian nodded, but neither Jem nor Tessa was fooled into thinking he was satisfied with that answer, “All I know is Ty really needed Kit and he wasn’t there and I hope it doesn’t happen again. Do you think it will?”
His look was challenging, and the couple understood the warning in his eyes: if your son hurts mine again, they’ll be hell to pay.
This time it was Tessa who attempted to placate the man, “I’m sure Kit would die than leave again. In his eyes, Ty hung the moon and the stars.”
Julian genuinely smiled at that, “That’s good to hear, they do make a good couple. And Ty is definitely happier with Kit around.” After a pause he continued, “So how is Mina? How is Kit taking to being a big brother?”
Just like that, the tension was broken and they continued their conversation making pleasant small talk, and before long an hour had passed and Julian was standing to leave.
“Well I better get back before Emma accidentally summons a centuries old demonic worm. Sad part is it’s more likely she’d do it for fun.” As he spoke his eyes grew larger as he realized that this scenario was actually very plausible.
Jem laughed, “Well just another reason not to mention the ill-fated tale of Benedict Lightwood.”
The three laughed before Tessa summoned a portal to London for Julian, the group saying their goodbyes before parting.
Once the portal had closed, Tessa wrapped her arms around Jem’s waist, “Well, I don’t know what I expected but getting a mildly threatening shovel talk was not it.”
Jem laughed, “Yeah, at least we know as long as Kit and Ty are together, Kit has Julian in his corner. And I’d much rather have him in his corner than against him.”
Tessa looked up at him, “As long as? Do you think one day they won’t be together?”
Jem looked at her skeptically, “Not a chance.”
The two laughed before a cry from the baby monitor on the mantel made itself known. Both made their way to the nursery, already ready to see their baby and say goodnight.
******Simon:
Being at the new Shadowhunter Academy was weird for Simon. On one hand, the food was a million times better. On the other hand, the old Shadowhunter Academy carried so many memories for Simon that were both happy and sad for him. But when Catarina had called him, saying she needed help organizing classes and curriculum for the new students, he felt it would be a betrayal to George not to go help.
As he was walking through the halls, smiling down at a text from Clary, proclaiming that he needed to get back soon before Isabelle and Jace wallowed any more watching Star Wars, missing their fiancé and friend respectively.
Simon had been at the Academy for two weeks now, and he was just about ready to declare his work done. He had done his best to incorporate all the valuable information he had learned, while filtering out all the frighteningly rhetoric against Downworlders thrown in.
As he turned a corner, he heard a small sniffle come from one of the curtained off window benches that lined the hallway.
“Hello?”
At his greeting, the sniffles abruptly stopped before the curtain pulled back a bit, distinct blue-green eyes meeting his. Seeing who it was, Dru Blackthorn sheepishly pulled the curtain back the whole way, trying and failing to be discreet at wiping the traces of tears from her eyes.
At Dru’s invitation, Simon sat down next to her, wondering how to go about comforting a crying teenage girl, thinking back to many middle school days spent with Clary where she would cry to him about school.
“What’s up?” Simon softly asked, trying not to spook Dru into shutting down and refusing help.
Dru’s eyes shifted left and right before she spoke up, “Nothing just thinking about Livvy.”
Simon gave her a small smile, before calling out her fib, “You know, me and Clary went to mundane school for a long time, and we’ve both been through a lot since being thrown in to this world, you know what that means?”
Dru shook her head, confused where he was going, but certain she wouldn’t like it.
“It means that I recognize the difference between crying because you’re grieving or remembering someone you lost, and crying out of embarrassment or because someone was mean.”
Dru looked down, fighting down more tears.
“It’s not like I’m not used to it. My own aunt couldn’t wait to tell me all the things wrong with me and how fat I am. Why should I be surprised that the other kids wouldn’t say the same things.”
Simon’s heart bled for her. He remembered middle school and high school bullies well. He knew from watching Clary that the hateful words spewed from mean girls could be much more damaging than the punches thrown between boys after school.
“That sucks and I know it may seem like their opinion means a lot now, but it doesn’t,” Simon was feeling a bit out of his element. He didn’t know Dru very well, didn’t really know any of the Blackthorns as well as Clary or even Alec.
Dru scoffed, “I’m stuck here for two years, their opinion might not matter in the long run but it definitely can affect whether the next year is shit or not.”
Simon raised his eyebrows at her choice of words. Specifically the first part.
“‘Stuck here?’ You didn’t want to come to the academy?”
Realizing her mistake, but too tired to backtrack, Dru explained, “Well Livvy’s gone, Ty left and might as well be gone too, Kit and Mark left LA, Julian finally got his freedom, and Tavvy’s still a kid. I love Helen, I do, but I don’t know her and I don’t want to burden her especially when her and Aline might want a kid of their own.”
Simon’s mind reeled with the new information, trying to formulate a response, before settling simply on, “Have you talked to Julian about it?”
Dru laughed, “I told you, he just got free of having to be our father, I’m not gonna drag him back here to deal with me.”
Simon’s heart broke a little more, not only for Dru who clearly had no concept for the amount of love Julian, not to mention Helen, had for her.
Hours later, the conversation was still rattling in Simon’s head when he decided he had to let someone know about what Dru as said. After weighing his options Simon, unfortunately, knew who he needed to talk to.
The next day, Simon was letting Julian Blackthorn into the temporary office that Catarina had been kind enough to let him borrow.
Clearing his throat, Simon dived in, “Well, I’ll just go ahead and say why I called you here, I’m worried about Dru.”
Simon could see the shift in persona the news brought about in Julian. In one moment, he was Clary’s friend’s boyfriend to a concerned parent who’s child was partly Simon’s responsibility.
Seeing that a delay in an explanation would not be appreciated, Simon continued, “The other day I caught Dru crying because of some shit other girls were saying, I’ll handle that,” Simon waved off Julian, seeing that he was rearing to interject, “what worried me more was what she said after.”
“Go on.”
Julian’s tone left no room for argument. Simon needed to learn how to get his voice to do that in the event him and Isabelle ever had kids.
“She talked about being stuck here, and when I asked her if she had talked to you about this, she seemed to think that it would burden you and she mentioned not wanting to ‘drag you back’.”
If Simon thought Dru’s words had hurt to hear, seeing their effect on Julian was devastating. It felt like he was watching Julian’s heart get torn apart in real time.
“Where is she now?”
Julian’s voice wavered a bit, unsure if Dru wanted to talk to him, but sure that he needed to see her.
“I can go get her from class real quick.”
If looks could kill, then the Simon would be dead at the way Dru glared at him when she saw who was waiting for her in his office.
“I told you it was fine, you didn’t need to call him.”
Julian just barely flinched back at that, before recovering and moving to lead Dru onto the couch next to him, keeping her hand in his.
Takign a deep breath, Julian looked Dru in the eye, “I know that things have been hard since Livvy, and that things have changed really fast, but you have to know that if you are having a hard time here, or you don’t want to be here, I’m a phone call away and I’ll be here and we can figure it out together.”
Dru huffed, trying to hold back tears, “I don’t wanna bother you, you’re finally happy with Emma, instead of being stuck trying to raise all of us.”
Julian quickly shook his head, wanting those thoughts out of his baby’s head, “Dru, I chose to do that and I would do it again at a drop of a hat. You guys and Emma are all I have in the world, and I will do whatever I can to make sure you are happy and healthy and safe. I need you to understand that.”
Seeing that Dru wouldn’t be able to hold back tears much longer, Simon quietly slipped out of the office, seeing Julian wrap his arms around his sister as he left.
He made his way to the cafeteria, passing his time texting Isabelle and Clary and even Jace at one point, when a shadow showed up over him, prompting him to look up.
Julian stood over him, awkwardly looking to the side with his hands shoved deep down in his pockets.
“Thank you. For calling me. That was a conversation we should have had months ago.”
The gratitude on his face was so gut-wrenchingly sincere that Simon wasn’t sure how to react. He’s not sure his response was worthy.
“Hey man, don’t worry about it. Just looking out.”
Julian laughed softly, without much humor to it, “Well, thank you anyway. If anything else happens, you know how to get in touch with me.”
He turned to make his way from the cafeteria, but SImon couldn’t hold back the question that was burning in his mind.
“If you could go back and make it so that you didn’t have to raise them, have to be their father instead of their brother. Would you? It might have saved you some heartache in the end.”
Julian looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered with the utmost confidence, “No. I wouldn’t change the decisions I made. Including raising them. If me and Emma have kids one day, I can’t imagine loving them any more or differently than I love Ty, Dru, and Tavvy. Like I loved Livvy.”
At his sister’s name, Julian paused, voice breaking a little, “Thanks again Simon, you’re a great guy.”
Simon smiled, before laughing at Julian’s closing remarks.
“Also Emma would kill me if I didn’t send Clary her regards through you, so be sure to send her that message.”
At that, the eldest at heart Blackthorn made his exit, leaving Simon to reflect their conversation, before going to finish the last of his work at the Academy with Catarina.
*****Mark and Helen
Helen had finally coaxed Emma away from Julian’s side and into a bed. She had carefully drawn a rune on her to let her fall into the bliss of unconsciousness for at least a few hours.
Helen hadn’t allowed herself to fully process what had just happened. That she had just gained back Livia only to lose her hours later. To see her so brutally cut down. To watch as her baby brother, who in her head was still a child, grieved over her body as a parent would.
Instead, Helen had thrown herself into trying to coral her family where they needed to be. She had left Emma in the room next to where she knew Julian and Mark had settled after leaving Livvy’s body in the Silent City, Dru she had left with Aline, Tavvy with Magnus and Alec, and Ty was in the infirmary with Kit. She more than anything dreaded the moment Ty woke up to a new reality.
Scratch that. More than anything in this moment, she dreaded having to face Julian’s grief.
She quietly slipped into the room, locking the door behind her, to a sight that made her heart clench painfully.
Julian’s mind had seemingly paused in the midst of his grief. His eyes looking just above his knee where he was sitting at the edge of the bed. His clothes, neck, and hands were still covered in blood. Livvy’s blood. His baby’s blood.
Every few seconds his eyes clenched shut, as if to physically push back the images that were haunting him.
Mark was kneeling in front of him, his hand cupping Julian’s face softly, trying to catch Julian’s own eyes with his own mismatched ones.
“Little brother, please,” was all Mark needed to say before Julian was crumbling before them.
Helen had to leap from her place across the room to help catch Julian on the side that Mark wasn’t supporting, her brother like a puppet with its last strings cut.
She and Mark exchanged worried glances as their younger brother was overcome with sobs, soon falling into Mark’s lap as everything that had been keeping him going came to a halt.
“Come on,” whispered Mark, as the two of them gently lifted the taller boy between the two of them, half dragging him into the small bathroom that was connected to the room. If Helen listened close enough, she could still hear shouting out the door, towards the Council Hall, but the cries and whimpers Julian let out with every other breath seemed to roar above everything else in her ears.
Step by step, they walked Julian into the bathroom, just getting him in front of the toilet before he was dry heaving what was left in his stomach. Helen quickly turned around to wet a washcloth while Mark held Julian’s hair away, rubbing soothing circles on his back as he did, tears silently falling down his own face.
Giving her brother a knowing glance, Helen handed him the washcloth and made her way out of the room, leaving Mark and Julian alone.
Mark steeled his heart for what he had to do next.
“Ok, Julian I need to get you out of these clothes,” Mark’s eyes filled again as Julian let out a cry at those words, wringing is hands at the bottom of his shirt, crying harder as the small drops of blood hit the floor.
Mark waited until his brother had loosened his grip, before reaching for the the hem and working it over Julian’s torso and over his head, doing his best to keep the bloodied edges from touching Julian.
Putting the shirt in the sink filled with water, Mark’s stomach rolled as the water started to turn a horrifying pink shade. He turned his back to it and focused next on getting Julian’s jeans off him, an easier task, before lowering him into the lukewarm water he had filled when they got to the room.
As Mark worked a soft washcloth over Julian’s shoulders and neck, his brother quietly spoke up.
“It’s my fault.”
Mark’s eyes shot up to Julian’s red-rimmed ones, before shaking his head vehemently. Mark pulled his brother into his arms, turning his head into his neck as Julian’s whole body trembled from shock and grief.
After what felt like a lifetime, Mark was able to get Julian into some more comfortable clothes and into the bed. When Julian’s hand kept a tight grip on Mark’s wrist, Mark slid into the bed as well, sitting up against the headboard as Julian buried his head into Mark’s side.
Helen silently slipped into the room and settled on Julian’s other side, running her fingers through his head as his exhaustion finally let him sleep.
Helen and Mark locked eyes before letting out a collective breath. After a few minutes, Mark broke the silence.
“I remember doing this when mom died, having to corral dad to eat and sleep.”
Without looking, Helen responded, “Julian’s not dad.”
However both knew, looking down at their baby brother between them, what they were looking at, and who Julian was to Livia.